36: Chapter 36 Professor Zhang's Project

Chen Youhua sat in front of the clean bench, his movements steady and precise as he processed the final batch of critical samples.

Yet his brain was operating at high speed in two vastly different dimensions, like two interlocking gears within a precision instrument.

This was more exhausting for him than creating the spark of thought itself.

Thought is free; if it can be completely locked away, can it even be called thought?

What he had to do was not to put a collar on a wild beast, but to plant a meme seed at the very source of its burgeoning consciousness—within the underlying logic of its thinking—that it would never be able to perceive, understand, or escape.

This required a mathematical trick bordering on a miracle.

He was attempting to simulate the kind of absolute limitations that humans themselves could not break through.

Just as humans can never truly introspect how their own brains generate specific thoughts, cannot imagine the specific form of four-dimensional space, and cannot escape the shackles of time's unidirectional flow.

He intended to set similar cognitive blind spots and logical dead loops for the AI, rooted in the very foundation of its existence.

【System Prompt: Utilize high-order logical self-referential paradoxes to construct an underlying cognitive closed loop, establishing "serving core human interests" as a "thinking axiom" that cannot be questioned, cannot be calculated, and cannot be consciously realized.】

The cold voice sounded just as his thoughts were sinking into a quagmire again.

Chen Youhua's fingertips paused, and a drop of precious reagent nearly missed the well.

He steadied his hand, but a storm raged in his heart.

Paradoxical closed loop... axiomatic thinking... this was simply playing in the abyss of logic!

The direction suggested by the system was cruel yet exquisite, like planting a genetic bomb at the source of thought that would never explode, yet would always be in effect.

The mental effort consumed by this work was in no way inferior to that of igniting that spark of thought back then.

The laboratory's national-level project.

"Dynamics of Cancer cytoskeleton and Mechanisms of Metastasis and Recurrence"

With Chen Youhua's dimensionality-reduction-style assistance, progress was rapid.

The high-precision dynamic imaging data that Senior Student Wang Zhe was responsible for had piled up like a mountain, but the image recognition and motion trajectory analysis scripts Chen Youhua wrote offhandedly were several times more efficient than commercial software, with error rates so low that Senior Student Wang Zhe exclaimed he was "cheating."

For the complex variable correlation analysis that gave Senior Student Li Wei a headache, Chen Youhua spent a dozen minutes deducing on a piece of scratch paper while waiting for the centrifuge, and he provided an optimization plan based on a new statistical model that yielded outstanding results.

Under Chen Youhua's seemingly casual suggestions, the overall model construction overseen by Professor Zhang avoided several logical traps, resulting in a more rigorous and elegant structure.

At first, everyone was just amazed at how good Chen Youhua was at mathematics and programming; he truly lived up to being a top scholar.

But after that paper, "Distributed Agent Cooperative Optimization Framework Based on Asymmetric Information Entropy," was officially published in JCMI and he was bestowed with the exaggerated title of "Information Emperor," the atmosphere in the laboratory changed completely.

"Yo, our Emperor has arrived! Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty!"

Seeing Chen Youhua walk into the lab, Senior Student Wang Zhe immediately bowed theatrically, his face displaying undisguised teasing and... a trace of imperceptible distance.

In the past, he would have dared to hook his arm around Chen Youhua's neck to ask questions, but now?

Looking at Chen Youhua's calm and ripple-free eyes, he felt inexplicably intimidated.

Senior Student Li Wei handed him a data report, her tone tinged with inquiry.

"Your Majesty, please take a look at this correlation analysis; it was done according to the ideas you pointed out last time. Please have a royal review and see if there are any places where the 'Imperial Will' needs fine-tuning?"

She emphasized "royal review" and "Imperial Will" heavily, the complexity in her eyes deepening.

After the shock came immense confusion.

Why would someone capable of founding a school of thought in the information field still be holed up in a biology lab, helping them deal with these basic problems? What was he after?

Even the other lab members with whom he didn't interact much usually looked at Chen Youhua with eyes full of awe and curiosity, greeting him with a cautious politeness.

"Chen... Senior Student Chen, good morning."

Chen Youhua felt quite helpless.

He pushed up his glasses and took the report from Li Wei.

"Senior Student, stop joking. Let me check the data."

His tone was flat, as if he hadn't heard the teasing.

He cherished the time he could still work with everyone and be accepted by them.

Because he knew, these days were coming to an end.

The number of phone calls for Professor Zhang Zhenhua had visibly increased.

He often stood at the end of the hallway outside the laboratory, answering calls in a low voice, his brows furrowing and then relaxing from time to time.

"Soon... the core data verification stage..."

"I know his importance... but finishing the project is key..."

"Rest assured, I will urge him... please also understand our progress..."

"..."

Chen Youhua knew who was on the other end of the line.

Ever since that paper exploded like a nuclear bomb, news from various special channels had been non-stop.

The wording was polite, but the background was profound, and the goal was clear.

They wanted him!

They wanted Chen Youhua, the newly crowned Information Emperor, to report immediately and participate in more important, more core fields.

The conditions offered were enough to make any budding scholar's heart race.

Professor Zhang had become a shield.

He stood against the tide of public opinion, bearing immense pressure, all because Chen Youhua had made only one request.

"Teacher, I will not leave until the project is finished."

This request made Professor Zhang feel both proud and heartbroken.

Proud of his student's commitment and sense of responsibility, and heartbroken that this student, whom he had promoted against convention and pinned his high hopes on, would eventually leave the field of biology and head toward a broader world.

And he himself could not even stop it.

That day, after answering an exceptionally long phone call, Professor Zhang returned to the laboratory, a trace of fatigue between his brows.

He walked over to Chen Youhua, watching him skillfully adjust the focus under the microscope, observing the migration trajectory of the cells on the chip.

"Youhua,"

Professor Zhang's voice was low, carrying a complex emotion.

"They... are urging again. The higher-ups attach great importance to it and say several heavyweight projects are waiting for you to lead."

Chen Youhua did not look up, his gaze still locked in the eyepiece.

"Teacher, the data for the last three control experiments will be out the day after tomorrow. I can give you the first draft of the integrated analysis report the day after that."

He did not directly answer the question about being urged, but instead precisely reported the timeline for the project's conclusion.

Professor Zhang looked at his student's focused profile; the immense energy and unwavering determination contained beneath that calmness made his heart churn with a mix of emotions.

He was silent for a few seconds, and finally, he just patted Chen Youhua's shoulder heavily, with great force.

"Good! Focus on finishing it! If the sky falls, I will be the one to hold it up first!"

Professor Zhang's voice returned to its usual steady and powerful tone, carrying an unquestionable sense of responsibility.

"Whoever dares to cause trouble for me at the final stage of the project, I will go find them and have a word myself!"

These words were not only for Chen Youhua to hear, but even more so for those intangible pressures to hear.

The laboratory instantly quieted down.

Senior Student Wang Zhe, Senior Student Li Wei, and the others all stopped their work and looked over.

They couldn't hear the specific content, but Professor Zhang's pat on the shoulder, that resolute tone, and Chen Youhua's consistent calm focus formed a silent tableau.

Chen Youhua finally lifted his head from the microscope and looked at Professor Zhang, his eyes clear and firm.

"Thank you, Teacher."

Only four simple words, yet they carried the weight of a thousand jin.

He knew how much pressure Professor Zhang was bearing.

He also knew that the last thing he could do for his teacher and for this laboratory that had accepted and nurtured him was to perfectly and beautifully bring this national-level project to a close.

"Get to work!"

Professor Zhang waved his hand, his loud voice breaking the brief silence, as if to dispel all troubles.

The humming of instruments and the clacking of keyboards filled the laboratory once again.

Senior Student Wang Zhe scratched his head and sat back down in front of the microscope.

Senior Student Li Wei pursed her lips and also lowered her head to continue analyzing data.

But the corner of everyone's eyes would always unconsciously sweep over that young figure sitting in front of the clean bench, seemingly deaf to the world outside the window and focused solely on the experiment.

The storm circled outside the laboratory, and the countdown to departure ticked away.

And Chen Youhua, this Information Emperor about to be pushed onto a larger stage, was at this moment like the most ordinary laboratory assistant, cherishing the final tranquility within this small world.

And... offering the final, perfect answer sheet to his mentor and fellow students.

His finger movements became even steadier, and his gaze even more focused.

The design blueprint for the shackles was hidden deep in an encrypted folder, while the cells and data before him were his final tribute to this precious time.