Chapter 7: The Performance Begins

"Teacher, from my observation, this tablet is a military-grade product manufactured during the Five-Core Era, with a precise kiln exit date of the year 2023. However, its user wasn’t a soldier, but rather belonged to an ultra-secret project called ‘Third-Generation Biological Neuron Network Supercomputer,’ and was in the possession of the project’s programmers."

"As everyone knows, 2023 was a pivotal year before the great catastrophe, marking the height of national revival and the most intense competition with America. Domestic tablets of that era, including their operating systems, adopted a design distinct from before. Though their craftsmanship lagged a generation behind American products, their reliability and security were greatly improved. This made my cracking both easier, and more difficult..."

"According to historical records, biological neurons are mainly composed of dendrites, cell bodies, axons, myelin sheaths, nodes of Ranvier, branches, and terminal buttons. The so-called neural network computer breaks away from traditional computer architecture, directly simulating the structure and activity mechanisms of biological neurons at the hardware level, ultimately achieving a supercomputer capable of self-learning and self-growth..."

"Moreover, this system can even possess emotions similar to humans, fuzzy recognition, data reconstruction, associative memory, and abilities like visual and auditory recognition—capabilities rarely found in other computer systems..."

Ye Chao spoke eloquently.

As he continued, the examiner’s expression grew increasingly grave.

At first, the teacher was gentle and approachable, but gradually, beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, growing ever more abundant.

Because he... didn’t understand a word.

The materials prepared for repair in the military tablet certainly weren’t these. He flipped through the documents again and again, but nothing matched up.

Those gathered around, eager for drama, were equally baffled.

"What is he even talking about?"

"Why is it that every word is clear, but put together, it makes no sense?"

In the end, everyone turned their gaze to Xu Tiange.

During the exam, teachers wouldn’t explain anything. Among the students, if anyone could understand Ye Chao, it would surely be Xu Tiange, whose score in academic subjects was consistently ranked second.

Xu Tiange stood tall and composed, unmoved.

Between you and me, it’s the difference between scoring eighty and failing; with Ye Chao, it’s the difference between eighty and a hundred—but only if the test is out of a hundred...

Now he’s working on extra credit beyond the hundred, even the teacher is panicking, and you think I can understand?

Ye Chao continued.

"...From the materials I decoded, due to its high level of secrecy, the project not only used multiple encryption protocols, but even its data transmission was conducted through the legendary quantum mode said to disturb ghosts. I even used it to connect to a place called ‘Mozi Network’ and downloaded..."

"Hold on!" The examiner couldn’t take it anymore. Sweat poured down his forehead as he loudly interrupted Ye Chao, "I need to report this to the department director. No—better yet, come with me."

Though he didn’t say it outright, his expression betrayed everything: what you’re saying is beyond my authority; let’s ask someone higher up.

"Alright." Ye Chao nodded calmly, following the teacher for a few steps before suddenly raising his hand. "Excuse me, teacher."

"What is it?"

"I think my ability has grown stronger. I made a breakthrough during the internship... According to regulations, this should count as extra credit, right?"

"There is such a rule. Fine, we’ll have the ability assessor take a look."

Normally, he would have Ye Chao demonstrate his abilities first, but now, shaken as he was, he’d forgotten even basic procedure.

Ye Chao took a deep breath and followed the examiner into the back chamber, where he met Guan Junyuan, the third-year department director—a burly man with a gleaming bald head, broad shoulders, knotted muscles, and arms strong enough to gallop a horse or support a man standing atop his fists.

"What’s the matter?" The bald director was applying something to his head, making it shine like a bulb.

Interrupted, he sounded impatient, his voice booming like thunder.

"Ha! This must be it. I got stronger—and balder, too." A chuckling voice suddenly echoed in Ye Chao’s ears.

What?

She’s out again? Ye Chao felt a bit helpless, scanning every direction, but saw nothing. He focused inward, peering into the virtual number space, and what he saw made him even more helpless.

Alpha Princess was still in the virtual number space, hadn’t emerged, but within it, there were countless virtual screens opened, each showing different faces, characters, and perspectives throughout the cave.

She had tapped into nearly all the cave’s surveillance terminals! Whether student or teacher, she had access to them all.

Though she remained in the virtual space, her gaze encompassed the entire cave.

Click! Click! She watched the screens, munching on some sort of plant seeds, the sounds crisp, the flavor apparently quite delicious.

On the ground, heaps of scattered white shells could be seen, each about a centimeter long, pointed at one end, blunt at the other, convex on one side, concave on the other—but Ye Chao didn’t recognize them.

However, now was hardly the time to get entangled with Alpha Princess.

Lost in thought, the examiner had already reported Ye Chao’s situation in detail, and now waited for the bald director’s decision.

Ye Chao unconsciously clenched his fists, mentally rehearsing his prepared lines.

Guan Junyuan took the military tablet, wiped his greasy hands on his clothes, tapped the screen at random, sometimes looking at the tablet, sometimes at Ye Chao, back and forth, until even the normally slow Ye Chao felt the tension. Finally, he spoke, "You’ve gotten stronger?"

"...Yes." Ye Chao nodded, surprised that this was the first question.

The examiner was surprised too, then realized—the department director had previously worked in ability assessment; he was a professional.

Guan Junyuan nodded in approval, "You’ve strengthened quite a bit, almost two stars, I’d say? Otherwise you wouldn’t have managed to crack this military tablet. Well done, truly the son of Old Ye!"

He patted Ye Chao’s shoulder hard.

Ye Chao was rocked back and forth, disheveled in the wind.

This man had served as department director for nearly a year now, and though they’d spoken several times, it was the first time Ye Chao realized he knew his father, Ye Shulou.

Sensing Ye Chao’s confusion, Guan Junyuan sighed, tinged with nostalgia and reminiscence, "All teachers in River City know each other... Well then, since you could identify those technical terms, it proves you really cracked it. According to the rules: bonus for extra credit +20, ability improvement during internship +40..."

Ye Chao seized the moment and handed over the emergency kit.

"Submitting the emergency kit cancels out one deduction for emergency use."

Was it really this easy to pass?

A knowing laugh echoed from Alpha Princess.