"Professor Zhuo, this person is…"
Ghost Gate Needle Bi Yuan touched his glasses, which reflected the moonlight with a white glare, and asked.
"This person came here under false pretenses. Their body-hardening martial arts are excellent, and their strength is quite high. I'll need to take them outside to investigate their true identity."
There were some things Qingshui couldn't disclose to these people.
Bi Yuan glanced sideways, not responding.
"Why don't we wait for the village chief to return before deciding? This person's background is unknown…"
"Do we have time for that? How much longer until Old Ma gets back?"
Qingshui slapped Chai Yan's head again. Only after confirming that Chai Yan was completely unconscious did he take off his combat armor and apply a sealing spell to Chai Yan.
Chou Rang immediately made a call.
It didn't connect.
Qu Tong was probably prepared.
"It's fine. The village chief said before he left that he'd definitely be back before dawn. I have an Immortal Binding Lock that I crafted for practice a while ago. It's not very high-level, but we can use it for now to prevent this person from resisting."
Chou Rang handed over a chain made entirely of brass-colored metal.
"Good."
Qingshui weighed the Immortal Binding Lock and infused it with Qi, securely tying up Chai Yan.
Based on Qingshui's understanding of the human body and his assessment of Chai Yan's physical resilience, with the sealing spell suppressing him, it would take at least twelve hours for him to regain consciousness.
The quality of this Immortal Binding Lock was average; it was only a mediocre low-level Magic Tool. Chou Rang probably hadn't crafted this type of restraining Magic Tool before, but it was still usable.
Even if Chai Yan was strong and regained consciousness, it would take him some time to break free, which was enough.
Perhaps it was unexpected that Chai Yan would fall into the hands of a young man who had only been an Anomalous Human for a few months, or perhaps it was because Ma Xianhong knew of Qingshui's strength and had no other available abilities, but Ma Xianhong didn't return until dawn.
"My apologies, Brother Zhuo. I had some urgent matters to attend to this time, and the signal there wasn't very good, so I couldn't rush back in time."
In the courtyard, Ma Xianhong grasped Qingshui's arm, apologizing profusely.
In half a month, Ma, the honest guy, had truly come to see Qingshui as a friend.
Ma Xianhong was greatly impressed by Qingshui's accomplishments in engineering and manufacturing, and he had learned a lot during this time.
"It's alright, Old Ma. Waiting this long was just to say goodbye to you. I've been out long enough this time, and I plan to head back."
Qingshui sat on a recliner, looking at Chai Yan, who was still unconscious on the ground not far away, and said to Ma Xianhong.
The latter's expression shifted slightly.
"Don't misunderstand, Old Ma, I'm not blaming you. It's just that I need to take this person out for investigation, and I'm not like the others in your village. I can't stay here indefinitely. At least by the end of February, I need to go back to school for classes. Besides, Chinese New Year is in a few days. You can't possibly not let me go home for the holidays, can you?"
Qingshui stood up from the recliner with a relaxed expression and grabbed a towel from the table.
"Alright, but don't worry, I won't ignore this matter. Regarding this person, I will use my methods to help you investigate. No matter what, this happened while you were here with me. It's a good thing nothing happened to you, otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do."
Ma Xianhong said earnestly.
"Okay, I appreciate it."
Qingshui nodded slightly at Ma Xianhong.
In reality, Qingshui didn't take Ma Xianhong's talk of investigation to heart.
What investigative methods could Old Ma possibly have?
He had no sect, no family background. Apart from Biyou Village, which he had painstakingly built up himself, he had no influential backing whatsoever.
If he wanted to investigate something, what could he rely on besides that so-called sister, Qu Tong?
"Oh, right, Qingshui, if you're not in a hurry to leave, you can wait a moment. I have two things to give you."
Ma Xianhong seemed to remember something, rushed off excitedly, and then jogged back a few minutes later.
In his hand was a red agate bead.
"This is a Spirit Control Bead, a defensive Magic Tool. It can autonomously sense hostility and expand a Qi barrier to defend against one attack, or you can actively infuse Qi into it to activate it manually. The defensive power of the Qi barrier depends on the quality and quantity of the Qi you infuse. You can turn it into a necklace or a pendant to wear. Consider it a small token of appreciation from a friend."
Qingshui took the pendant from Ma Xianhong's hand and infused his own Qi into it.
With a simple perception, he could tell that the internal structure of this bead was quite intricate. Both the material processing and the refining techniques had reached a considerably high level.
It was clear that the defensive power of this bead should be very strong; it could definitely be considered a good Magic Tool.
Even for Ma Xianhong, who mastered Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements, crafting such a Magic Tool was not as easy as those low-level Magic Tools.
At least in Qingshui's eyes, the strength of this Magic Tool would rank among the best of the twelve top-grade Magic Tools in Biyou Village.
In critical moments, this kind of Magic Tool could save a life.
Old Ma's willingness to offer this Magic Tool showed his thoughtfulness.
"Thank you."
Qingshui put the agate Spirit Control Bead into his pocket, nodded slightly at Ma Xianhong, and thanked him.
"No need to thank me, this is my apology."
Ma Xianhong shook his head and said, "Why don't you stay for a meal before you go?"
"No thanks, I should get going as soon as possible, before things get complicated. Besides, your food here is pretty mediocre. It's not even as good as a bucket of instant sour beef noodles. Once I've developed a chef robot, I'll send one over to you."
Qingshui joked lightly.
"Alright, I'll see you off then."
"No rush."
Qingshui extended his hand and manipulated the platinum Puppet beside him, landing another punch on Chai Yan, who was still on the ground but quickly regaining consciousness.
That should keep him unconscious for a bit longer.
After putting Chai Yan into the Devouring Pouch, and with Ma Xianhong seeing him off, Qingshui got back into his Volvo and drove down the mountain.
At the same time, Qingshui's phone dialed a number.
Qu Tong had already made a move against him; if he didn't retaliate, wouldn't that just make her think he was easy to bully and encourage her to keep going?
He, Zhuo Qingshui, wasn't some isolated individual with no backing.
"Hello, Master, someone's trying to bully your grand-disciple."
At the same time, in Wenchang, Hainan, at the National Space Administration, Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center.
An old academician with white hair listened to his grand-disciple's voice on the phone, turning slightly to look at a National Security member in military uniform and headphones beside him.
This man was a bodyguard specifically assigned to protect Ou Yuan, a national treasure-level scientific titan. He had previously served in the Imperial Palace Guard.
This man was also an Anomalous Human, and very powerful, considered a top-tier expert even among the Anomalous Human special forces in the military.
After hanging up the phone, the latter, after hearing Academician Ou's account, immediately said, "Elder Ou, rest assured, Professor Zhuo is also a first-level scholar designated for key protection by the Republic. I'll make a call to the bureau and request to mobilize colleagues in Guizhou to protect him. That area is also one of the most important borders for anti-foreign infiltration, and the competence of our members there is absolutely reliable."
"Oh? His level has gone up? What new achievement has my grand-disciple made now?"
"That's something I wouldn't know, but this protection level was raised in a document issued just last night. His name happened to be first on the list, which is why I remembered it."
The military uniform bodyguard shook his head slightly.
...
...
After the call with Ou Yuan, Qingshui soon received another call.
"Hello! Professor Zhuo! You finally answered! We've been calling you all night!"
On the other end of the line was a doctoral researcher working at the Institute of Physics.
Qingshui was currently an associate professor, qualified to be an academic leader and head projects. This researcher, Liu Yi, was recruited from his postdoctoral fellowship at Kyoto University.
In his thirties, with good practical hands-on ability, he was a very useful tool.
Qingshui only needed to grasp the general direction, providing the principles and experimental design, and Liu Yi could complete most of the work with the other members of the team.
"Any results?"
"Yes! We completed the modification of the laser interferometer yesterday according to your blueprints, and we've already completed the first batch of high-precision nanobots production according to the established plan!"
"Oh?"
Qingshui's eyes lit up.
"What's the effective channel width in nanometers?"
When people commonly refer to chips in terms of "nanometers," it originally referred to half the distance between interconnect lines inside the chip, or half the lithographic pitch.
However, with technological updates, channels became three-dimensional, and the previous calculation method was no longer applicable. So, people started using other calculation methods.
Regarding this, there is currently no unified standard in the global industry. Institutions capable of manufacturing such chips use their own methods internally, which leads to certain discrepancies.
For example, Intel's 10nm is actually superior to TSMC's 7nm.
"Five nanometers! Five nanometers! This number is expected to improve even further! Professor Zhuo! We've directly broken through the Western blockade technologically! No, we're at least ten years ahead of these foreign devils! Professor Zhuo, don't you think we're going to win the first prize in the National Science and Technology Progress Award?!"
On the other end of the phone, Liu Yi clutched his phone, ecstatic and gesticulating wildly.
He never imagined he could achieve such success.
Just a year ago, he was just an ordinary "research dog" worried about not getting tenure, just churning out papers and projects to make a living.
He never expected that a year later, he would participate in such a significant project and even play a considerable role in it!
Although other "research dogs" similar to him could have done this work, the results were undeniable!
He definitely played a significant role and put in a lot of hard work, and he certainly deserved credit!
Qingshui also smiled slightly.
They were using Intel's calculation method.
This level of processing precision could finally barely meet his requirements for producing Nanobots.
Next up was producing a batch of high-precision Nanobots, and then, following the method developed by Bruce Wayne, using the Nanobots to trim and reconstruct a specific base sequence, synthesizing small molecule proteins with specific functions to act as a smaller class of robots.
With this, these nanobots would act as his molecular-level processing plants, capable of processing palladium metal, infusing hydrogen into the palladium lattice, and creating hydrogen-saturated palladium metal.
Then, he would use Tony's method, relying on hydrogen-saturated palladium metal to achieve a quantum tunneling amplification effect, and build an Arc Reactor for cold nuclear fusion.
Even if the relevant equipment and technological level in this world weren't as advanced as in the Marvel and DC universes, it would only take a few months at most to build an Arc Reactor that met his requirements.
And with his current research achievements, his influence in the domestic scientific community and the resources he could mobilize would certainly far exceed his current level.
With this achievement, he would definitely be on the next list of academicians!
Coupled with the background and connections of the Mohist Sect, the resources he could mobilize would only be far greater than those available to a considerable number of current academicians!
The Arc Reactor would appear even sooner!
And once the technology of cold nuclear fusion, which was so heaven-defying it bordered on magical rather than scientific, appeared in his hands, as long as he didn't commit heinous crimes like treason, basically no one in the country could touch him. Moreover, anything he wanted to do would be easy, and he could easily attain a relatively high position.
At that level, in this world, he would be a scientist surpassing Einstein, a scholar second only to one in human history, and in the field of science, even the highest echelons of the human world would have to carefully consider his suggestions.
At that time, regarding Qu Tong and Ma Xianhong's affairs, he would have enough weight to influence Nadou Tong.
At the very least, when the time came, if he wanted a position on Nadou Tong's board and as one of the Ten Elders, no one would refuse, no one would dare to refuse!
Zhao Fangxu, the chairman of Nadou Tong, that fat Zhao, would have to treat him like an ancestor!
As the car drove on, Qingshui gave Liu Yi some instructions, then quickly received another call.
The number was from an agency deployed by the National Security Bureau along the border.
One hour later.
LPS City.
The local agency with the highest security level.
"Hello! Professor Zhuo, I'm Yue Qian. I've been notified by the top to be responsible for your safety. This is Mr. Hao Yi, the head of Nadou Tong's southwest region."
A man in plain clothes, robust and burly, extended his hand to Qingshui for a handshake, then pointed to a smiling old man beside him and introduced him.
"Professor Zhuo, Major Yue is in charge of your personal safety, and as for investigating the attackers, since it involves Anomalous Humans, Nadou Tong will handle the arrangements."
Hao Yi held Qingshui's arm with both hands, a smile on his face, yet maintaining a steady demeanor.
One look at this person's face revealed that, true to his name, he was a smooth operator who could get along with anyone.
"Then, I'll trouble Major Yue and Senior Hao."
Qingshui shook hands with Hao Yi, nodding to both of them.
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