136: genius

As the heavy office door slowly closed with the sound of electromagnetic suction, the sound of Lei Wen's footsteps completely disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The spacious top-floor office returned to silence, with only the faint humming of the climate control system remaining.

Ilya von Klein, one of the scientists standing at the pinnacle of human wisdom, did not immediately get up to deal with the pile of experimental data waiting for approval.

She remained curled up in that huge beanbag chair, her body deeply sunken into the soft filling, the oversized lab coat covering her petite figure like a white blanket.

She reached out one hand and casually grabbed a plush toy shaped like a silly, cute penguin from the pile of dolls beside her, hugging it tightly to her chest. Her chin rested on the penguin's head, but her eyes had lost focus, staring blankly at some point of nothingness in the air.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto her long silver hair, gilding her with a layer of golden-red light, making her look like an exquisite and fragile porcelain doll.

But if anyone could read the gaze circulating in her crimson eyes, they would understand what kind of thrilling thoughts were taking place inside this porcelain doll's brain.

"Lei Wen..."

She parted her lips slightly, whispering the name in a voice only she could hear.

"Director of the Interstellar Affairs Bureau, agent of Paradox Technology, perhaps even its controller, the invisible leader of the Human Federation... or should I say, the screenwriter of all this?"

As a genius with absolute talent in logical thinking and pattern recognition, Ilya viewed the world differently from ordinary people.

In her eyes, the world was not composed of chaotic events, but a precise network interwoven with countless causal chains.

And when you tried to untangle this network, all the threads would eventually point to the same origin.

She began to retrace history in her mind, as if reviewing a grand game of chess.

In the first thirty years of the twenty-first century, although the curve of human technological development was rising, the slope was smooth and predictable.

Moore's Law began to fail, basic physics was locked within the edifice of the Standard Model, unable to make any progress, and the energy crisis and environmental problems gripped the throat of civilization like two large hands.

That was a desperate bottleneck period, just like a fish trapped in the shallows and about to suffocate.

Then, that node appeared.

Around the 2030s, everything changed.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had pressed the "fast-forward button" without any warning.

Paradox Technology emerged out of nowhere, bringing with it those black technologies that seemed to come from the future—perfect room-temperature superconductivity, nano-manufacturing processes, intelligent robots... These technologies had no transition, no long trial-and-error iterations; they appeared mature, perfect, and ready for direct industrialization.

Immediately following was the alien crisis.

The "rebels" of the Faleim People appeared at just the right time, exactly when humanity had just mastered the power sufficient to protect itself (or rather, thought it could protect itself). Although that war was tragic, every turning point was full of coincidences.

Why were the shields of those alien warships almost immune to kinetic weapons but unable to defend against low-speed missiles?

Why, at the moment humanity was on the verge of collapse, did such a group of "friendly" warships appear like a deus ex machina?

Why did the technological gifts humanity received after the war, whether it was antimatter engines or strong magnetic field shields, happen to be right at the edge of human comprehension—able to be learned, yet requiring tremendous effort?

"Too perfect..."

Ilya's fingers unconsciously kneaded the cheeks of the penguin plush toy.

"Perfect, just like a carefully designed script."

If one were to compare Human Civilization to a character clearing a game, then Paradox Technology was like the system sprite constantly handing out "newbie gift packs" and "quest guides" to the character.

And Lei Wen was the player sitting in front of the screen.

Once this thought emerged, it grew wildly in Ilya's mind like weeds.

She even suspected whether the so-called Faleim Civilization was just an illusion created by Lei Wen? Or even if that interstellar war, which had made all of humanity boil with excitement and led to the unification of Earth, was just a ruse played out to integrate resources?

Fear?

Ilya asked herself.

If it were an ordinary person, upon discovering that the world they were in might be a giant Truman Show, and that their fate was being manipulated at will by a mastermind behind the scenes, they would surely feel bone-chilling cold and anger.

But Ilya was not an ordinary person.

She was a new human with optimized genes flowing through her, a scientific freak interested only in the truth.

There was no fear in her crimson eyes; instead, a flame of excitement ignited.

"But what does that have to do with me?"

She let go of the penguin plush toy, which had been kneaded out of shape, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, but there was no smile in her eyes.

"Whether you are a savior or a conspirator, whether you are a god or a demon, as long as you can give me what I want..."

For Ilya, it didn't matter whether this society was real or designed. What mattered was that mathematical laws were real, physical laws were real, and the vastness of the universe was real.

The thing she wanted to do now was to unlock the mystery of Warp Drive, to be able to touch the texture of space-time with her own hands, and to get a glimpse of the scenery beyond the light cone.

She jumped off the sofa; although she was petite, her landing was light and powerful. She straightened her oversized lab coat and casually brushed her disheveled silver hair behind her ears.

The moment her feet touched the ground, those messy thoughts about conspiracy theories and masterminds were swept into the recycle bin of her mind, just like cleaning up junk files on a computer.

Now, she was Dr. Ilya von Klein, the head of the Human Federation's FTL engine project team.

She was going to push open that door leading to the stars.

...

Walking out of the office, Ilya did not choose to take the internal transport vehicle but instead walked towards the core experimental area located in another building.

The corridors of the Earth Science Research Center were spacious and bright, with walls made of pristine white building materials, and scrolling screens displaying the latest scientific research achievements embedded at intervals.

Coming and going were the top minds of the Human Federation, wearing uniform white or gray uniforms, rushing about, each person racing against time to push the progress of civilization.

When that petite, silver-haired figure appeared at the end of the corridor, the somewhat noisy discussions unknowingly quieted down.

A senior professor who was hurrying along with several graduate students stopped. He recognized the figure, immediately stepped aside respectfully to make way, and bowed slightly: "Good morning, Academician Klein."

The young graduate students behind him were stunned at first, looking at the little girl who didn't even reach their chests, a flash of surprise in their eyes. But after seeing their mentor's solemn attitude, they also reacted immediately and hurriedly lowered their heads to pay their respects.

"Hmm."

Ilya just nodded indifferently, not even slowing her pace. Her red eyes looked straight ahead, as if everything around her was just unimportant background scenery.

If it were anyone else, this attitude would be called arrogant and rude.

But at the Earth Science Research Center, this was her "privilege."

The privilege of IQ.

Everyone knew that this girl, who looked like an exquisite doll, had a brain loaded with complex formulas enough to drive an ordinary person insane. She was the monster who had corrected the Solar System orbital model at sixteen and pointed out the flaws in old quantum mechanics at twenty.

Some even called her the empress of the scientific world.

Two fully armed security personnel immediately stood at attention and saluted when they saw her. In this era where technology was supreme, top scientists enjoyed a halo even more dazzling than rock stars of the old era.

Ilya ignored all of this, passing through layers of security checks—retinal scans, gait recognition, genetic verification... One heavy alloy door after another slid open automatically before her.

Finally, she arrived in front of a black door with no markings.

This was one of the areas with the highest security clearance in the entire research center, and it was her exclusive laboratory.

"Welcome back, Doctor."

The moment the door opened, a soft electronic voice sounded.

This was a huge circular hall, with a complex holographic projection suspended in the center—the mathematical model of the [Klein Field] generator that Ilya had conceived.

Dozens of elite researchers who were already there immediately stopped their work and looked at the door in unison. Among them were gray-haired old professors and spirited young geniuses, but at this moment, there was only one focus in their eyes.

Ilya stepped onto the central platform. Her petite figure appeared insignificant under the huge holographic projection, but the moment she turned to face everyone, the aura around her instantly expanded, filling the entire hall.

"Everyone," her voice was crisp, echoing in the empty hall, carrying a convincing penetrative power.

"I have just obtained what we need most from the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau."

She raised her right hand and shook the data terminal in her hand.

"A 30% computing power quota of the [Apocalypse] mainframe, and..." the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, revealing that iconic confident smile, "material science support from the Faleim Civilization."

A suppressed exclamation sounded in the hall, followed by excited whispers.

They all knew what this meant.

If cost-free computing power was the fuel, then the Faleim People's materials were the engine, and what they had to do now was ignite it.

"Don't get too happy too soon." Ilya clapped her hands to quiet everyone down, "This is just the beginning."

She turned to face the huge holographic model, her hands operating rapidly in the void.

"I told Director Raven that we needed ten years, but I hope I can tell him again that that is the time limit for mediocrities."

With her operation, the previously static model began to run, and countless data streams washed down like a waterfall.

"Now, everyone connect to the logic port of the [Apocalypse Optical Quantum Supercomputer Array]."

"We are going to start the first full-parameter simulation."

"We are going to verify the interference effect of the Klein Metric on space-time curvature at a macroscopic scale."

"I want you to forget Newton, forget Einstein, and forget every definition of [Speed] you learned in textbooks."

"Because from today on, we are going to redefine [Distance]."

As her voice fell, the lights around the hall dimmed, and only the holographic projection in the center became brighter and brighter.

With the terrifying computing power of [Apocalypse], the mathematical model began to twist strangely; it was no longer a three-dimensional object but began to evolve in higher dimensions.

It was a graphic that ordinary people could not understand at all, but the researchers present could all understand the meaning of the strange image through the abstract thinking in their brains.

Ilya stared fixedly at the jumping data; at this moment, her brain seemed to resonate at the same frequency as the supercomputer.

At this moment, she had only that formula in her eyes, only that door of truth that was about to be pushed open by her own hands.

"Come on, Universe."

She whispered softly, her voice carrying a trace of crazy intoxication.

"Let me see what you are hiding under your skirt."