IJWTRQ Chapter 036

“You guys, really…”

The next day, when Liang Xian took Cui Heyu three people to see assistant teacher Chai, Ah San was so angry that he didn’t know what to say.

“Do you even know how confidential our operations are?” Ah San reprimanded, “Even many leaders of the country don’t know about it, except for the Ministry of State Security and the top few leaders of the country, namely those of us in the operation who know clearly, and you just let this matter out?”

“Anyway, sooner or later, the candidate will be selected,” Liang Xian said with a look of a dead pig doesn’t fear scalding water¹死豬不怕開水燙 sǐ zhū bù pà kāi shuǐ tàng: lit. a dead pig doesn’t fear scalding water (idiom); fig. to be unaffected (by sth); undaunted, “Why not take the initiative?”

“You…” Ah San almost died of anger at him.

This is the difference between professionals and students. Students always think of things very simply, but Ah San knows clearly that choosing a team member is not so easy. First of all, there is a political review. The upper and lower of the three generations must be investigated clearly. Not to mention the quality of the team members themselves, even the credit records of the immediate family members must be taken into consideration. People are always susceptible to the influence of those around them, after all, they are social creatures, and it is impossible to only look at one side.

“Assistant Teacher Chai, we are all students in the special class. We passed the political review when we were admitted, and we have reported the situation of the eight generations of our ancestors. Do you think we can’t pass the political review?” Cui Heyu heard that Ah San didn’t trust him, so he said, unconvinced.

Ah San’s face was so green with frustration, and he said to Liang Xian: “Like this, and you still dare to pull in? At first glance, it is a character with a heart loftier than the sky²心比天高 xīn bǐ tiān gāo: idiom originates from Dream of the Red Chamber – a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. 心比天高，命 比纸薄 Xīn bǐ tiān gāo, mìng bǐ zhǐ báo, the heart/intention/ambition is higher than the sky; life/fate is thinner than paper. It generally means that what one desire or aspire to can sometimes be far removed from reality.. If an accident happens and you don’t obey the rules, take whose life to compensate?”

These days, Ah San has almost gone through all the grades and teacher comments of the interest group members from kindergarten to university. He has also considered that it is best to choose members from the classmates Liang Xian and others are familiar with, but the first one he ruled out is Cui Heyu.

Nothing wrong with him, Cui Heyu is a good student and will become an excellent soldier in the future, his qualifications in all aspects are not inferior to Liang Xian.

Just one point, the sense of competition is too strong, and Liang Xian is also in the same boat. In the comments of Liang Xian and Cui Heyu, all the instructors made a special note. If Qiu Qizheng is not present to mediate, they absolutely could not put these two people on the same team.

Hearing Ah San talking about himself, Cui Heyu wanted to argue again, but was held down by Qiu Qizheng. He glanced at the squad leader. Qiu Qizheng’s expression was unprecedentedly serious, so Cui Heyu held back the anger in his heart, shut his mouth, and didn’t speak.

Well, fortunately, Liang Xian also chose Qiu Qizheng, so that he could hold Cui Heyu down.

Ah San rubbed his temples with a headache: “I can’t make the decision by myself. Ask Instructor Qiao after class in the evening. Even he has to report to the superior.”

“Everything is so dogmatic, ‘void’ waits for no one.” Liang Xian smiled sarcastically, “What if we have to go into the ‘void’ tonight? Your selection speed is also too slow.”

“There are emergency countermeasures in case of emergencies, but there is enough time now… Hey, forget it, you have finished selecting people, you can’t format the memory of these three people, what else can I say.”

Ah San looked at Tan Yan and said angrily: “Why don’t you hold him back a bit?”

After the selection, Tan Yan was under the most significant pressure, he was the one who had to drag the six people, Tan Yan was the one who had the most say, even the organization had to ask for his opinion.

“I think Liang Xian’s choice is right, everyone is a good boy, I believe them. And… I also think that if you really want to choose team members, compared to the strangers assigned by the above, the survival rate of familiar people is higher.”

Tan Yan smiled gently at Liang Xian, his eyes were full of tolerance and firm support, Liang Xian blushed and lowered his head.

Ah San: “I hope the organization won’t give you disciplinary action.”

–

It was better than Ah San imagined, Qiao Zhixue was the leading researcher of the ‘void’ project, and Minister Yu gave him all the permission to select candidates at some point. Hearing that Liang Xian and others had already made their choice, Qiao Zhixue agreed without even blinking an eye.

He didn’t even need to report it to make a decision, Liang Xian was able to escape unharmed, as long as Qiao Zhixue didn’t say anything, they didn’t have to be punished.

“First of all, if you participate in this operation, your family members may be protected.” Qiao Zhixue said, “Of course, this protection is covert, and the person concerned will not be aware of it.”

Everyone is mentally prepared for this, the average national security officer of the country may encounter danger, but protecting their family is not only reassuring for them but also for the country, the best of both worlds.

None of the family members of the three are abroad, and they are very qualified. Qiao Zhixue passed on their files to Minister Yu, and began to counsel them on matters in the other world.

“The above is all the information mankind has so far,” After the lecture, Qiao Zhixue said, “Our exploration of the unknown world has just begun, if you have any opinion, you can say them, even if it’s wrong, it does not matter. Behind every correct theory, there are countless false assumptions and denials, in tens of thousands of experiments, if there is even one success, we are victorious.”

Those who engage in scientific research know that success often comes with chance. The countless attempts they have made are to turn chance into necessity.

“I have a question, since the basis of abilities is consciousness, why can they only be used in different worlds, but not in the real world?” Cui Heyu’s words were amazing, and the first question hit Liang Xian’s sore spot.

Liang Xian knew it wouldn’t be long before he couldn’t hide it, but he didn’t expect this question to come so soon.

Sure enough, Cui Heyu saw him fly into bed because of his carelessness that day. This question has always been hidden in his heart, and he asked the question immediately after he knew the existence of the supernatural power.

“I’m also not clear,” Qiao Zhixue’s face remains unchanged, “These are unknown, you need to go to the other world to find out the answer. But everyone should be clear, our operation is life-threatening, and there are orders from the organization. Once there is a danger to life, the first to be abandoned must be you.”

The three of them knew about this a long time ago, and Cui Heyu puffed out his chest confidently: “I don’t think I can’t awaken my abilities.”

He never felt that he was inferior to Liang Xian. Since Liang Xian could do it, then so could he.

Qiao Zhixue did not hit Cui Heyu, but nodded: “I certainly hope that all of you can awaken.”

“What’s this?” Yan Yongfeng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, he pointed to a box next to Qiao Zhixue’s desk.

Qiao Zhixue opened the box and took out several Rubik’s Cubes, ranging from the second order to the seventeenth order, some assembled, and some messed up.

Liang Xian casually picked up a standard third-order Rubik’s cube that is common in the market, twisted it a few times, and assembled all six sides of the Rubik’s cube. Seeing this, Cui Heyu picked up a fourth-order Rubik’s cube, and quickly turned the Rubik’s cube with both hands, even faster than Liang Xian’s third-order Rubik’s Cube.

The world record for the fourth order Rubik’s Cube is 18.42 seconds. Cui Heyu only took 20 seconds. Judging by his proud expression, he should be able to be even faster.

“You brought this box for us?” Liang Xian asked.

“That’s right,” Qiao Zhixue handed the Rubik’s Cube to everyone, “Our lesson today is to play Rubik’s Cube.”

Every action of Qiao Zhixue has a meaning, he will not just let everyone play with toys. Everyone picked up the Rubik’s Cube and turned it around. For example, Liang Xian and Cui Heyu reached out to the seventeenth-order Rubik’s Cube, but Tan Yan didn’t dare to touch such a high-level Rubik’s Cube. He first started playing with the second-order Rubik’s Cube, after finishing the second-order Rubik’s Cube quickly, he went to get the third-order Rubik’s Cube.

His speed was not very fast, but when Liang Xian and Cui Heyu were competing to turn the Rubik’s Cube of the seventeenth order, Tan Yan completed the Rubik’s Cube of the second to sixteenth order at almost a uniform speed.

Qiao Zhixue didn’t pay much attention at first. After all, the third-order, fourth-order, and fifth-order Rubik’s Cubes are common in the market. As long as one search for strategies on the Internet, one can quickly restore them. But from the sixth level upwards, the number of changes is very scary. If one have not received training in this area, it’s very difficult to restore the Rubik’s Cube.

Moreover, the number of changes in the Rubik’s Cube grows exponentially. If it takes two minutes for a person to restore the third-order Rubik’s Cube, it may take an hour to restore the tenth-order Rubik’s Cube, and it will be even more terrible when it reaches the sixteenth-order.

But Tan Yan takes two minutes, no matter which Rubik’s cube it is, from the second-order to the sixteenth-order.

Liang Xian and Cui Heyu were spinning the Rubik’s Cube wildly at first, but then they slowly stopped moving, and they all stared at Tan Yan’s hand.

There seems to be nothing special, just a few easy turns, and the Rubik’s Cube directly recovered. But for some reason, even if they kept staring at Tan Yan, they still seemed unable to see some movements clearly. Even when Liang Xian used his consciousness, he still could not see clearly.

Putting down the Rubik’s Cube of the sixteenth order, Tan Yan saw that the only two of the seventeenth order were in the hands of Liang Xian and Cui Heyu, so he didn’t take it.

Finding that everyone was looking at him, Tan Yan smiled shyly: “The first time I played it, it was quite fun.”

Everyone: “…”

The first time? Quite fun?

Do you know how many Guinness World Records you have broken in just a few minutes?

“Give him the Rubik’s Cube.” Qiao Zhixue said to the two who occupied the seventeenth-order Rubik’s Cube.

Liang Xian quickly handed over the Rubik’s Cube, and took the opportunity to rub Tan Yan’s finger. The sharp-eyed Cui Heyu rolled his eyes, too doglegs³太狗腿了 tài gǒu tuǐle: Deliberately cater to someone’s preferences/currying favor; a metaphor for a person who runs for his master and accomplices. In Hokkien it means flattery, fawning..

Tan Yan took the Rubik’s Cube and turned it quickly. It was still two minutes, the seventeenth-order Rubik’s Cube was restored, and it was placed on the table together with the previous fifteen ones in a row.

Yan Yongfeng rubbed his eyes vigorously: “My observation ability is top-notch in the class, but why… I can’t see clearly when he turns for the hundredth time?”

“Do you see one hundred? I can’t see it after the fifty turns, my eyes are blurry.” Cui Heyu shook his head.

One hundred turns? Liang Xian looked at Yan Yongfeng, he had already used his consciousness, but he still only lasted up to ninety turns, and after that, his brain became dizzy, and he couldn’t keep up with Tan Yan’s movements.

Can only see until forty Ah San Qin Li Qiu Qizheng: “…”

“One hundred?” Qiao Zhixue glanced at Yan Yongfeng, “You have good observation skills, I only watched eighty turns.”

Cui Heyu: “…”

Even though he knew that Qiao Zhixue’s IQ was much higher than that of ordinary people, he still felt the desire to compete.

“How did you do it?” Qiao Zhixue asked Tan Yan.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Tan Yan was a little embarrassed. He rubbed his hands and said nervously: “I don’t know, it seems that once the Rubik’s Cube is in my hand, I know which direction to turn, and the Rubik’s Cube is also very smooth, and it recovers after a few turns.”

Anyone who is familiar with Tan Yan knows that he only has this answer, and he can’t explain the principle at all. Qiao Zhixue and others were slightly disappointed, but Liang Xian said with admiration: “You’re probably the kind of person with super action power. Before we do things, we have to analyze and calculate, but you act before thinking. When we hesitate, you’ve already completed the task.”

Cui Heyu: “…”

This can also be boasted?

Qiao Zhixue knocked on the table to draw everyone’s attention: “Why do you think I brought so many Rubik’s Cubes today?”

Liang Xian had a guess as early as when he saw the Rubik’s Cube: “Parallel world, Rubik’s Cube universe? Do you think our crossing is related to the Rubik’s Cube?”

“It’s just a guess, and I’m not sure at first, but seeing Tan Yan’s performance, I think the possibility of this hypothesis is very high.” Qiao Zhixue said, “All celestial bodies in the universe have their own trajectory of motion, we all know that motion is absolute and stillness is relative. Then suppose that in the four-dimensional or even five-dimensional space, the universe we live in and other parallel universes are like this Rubik’s cube, arranged in parallel one by one, never intersecting each other, and moving according to their own trajectories.”

“Then there are countless universes around us, and they are constantly changing. Suppose we travel to other universes, even if we follow the original path, we will never be able to return to our own universe.” Cui Heyu continued.

“Unless there is quantum entanglement with the tombstone like Tan Yan, he is not limited by distance and space, he can return to the real world.” Liang Xian also analyzed this.

Ah San, who is entirely unable to follow the thinking of the intelligent people: “…”

Obviously, he has also studied quantum mechanics, no need to mention that he is not as good as Qiao Zhi and Liang Xian, but how can he not even keep up with Cui Heyu’s thinking?

Fortunately, Ah San didn’t care about that, and asked directly: “Then what is the relationship between the Rubik’s Cube and the ‘void’? What is the relationship between whether your hypothesis is true or not with Tan Yan breaking the Rubik’s Cube world record?”

“Our world barrier has collapsed,” Liang Xian picked up a Rubik’s Cube, directly removed a small piece, and cut a hole in it, “For example, this Rubik’s Cube has a gap in it. If it is filled with water, the water will flow out continuously. But because there is a boundary between world and world, the boundaries of other Rubik’s Cubes block this gap, so there will be no problem for the time being. But if we encounter a world that has collapsed or even completely broken, water will flow from our world into the collapsed world due to pressure problems.”

“Of course, the macrocosmic barrier is certainly not as simple as we can imagine, so Tan Yan leaves and comes back through the ‘void’, forming a circle, the energy generated in it temporarily blocks the ‘void’, giving us a chance to survive.” Qiao Zhixue continued to explain.

“But it’s only temporary,” Cui Heyu quickly followed the two people’s train of thought, “The area at the same longitude as Ping County is this gap, and with the frequent appearance of the ‘void’, we continue to contact the collapsed world, and the gap is getting bigger and bigger, so now the scope of the ‘void’ has expanded to the surrounding area of B City.”

“The fifteenth-order Rubik’s cube change is approximately equal to 7.458*10 to the 813th power. This number is so terrifying that it is difficult for humans to calculate, and this is only the fifteenth-order Rubik’s Cube. If the number of parallel worlds is increased to thirtieth-order, fortieth-order, and fiftieth-order, then even if we enter a world each night in our lifetime, it is impossible to encounter duplicate worlds.” Qiao Zhixue said, “Once there is no quantum entanglement as a guide, you will be exiled in other universes forever, I hope you remember this, this is something more terrible than death.”

Support me here, thank you~~

• 1
  死豬不怕開水燙 sǐ zhū bù pà kāi shuǐ tàng: lit. a dead pig doesn’t fear scalding water (idiom); fig. to be unaffected (by sth); undaunted
• 2
  心比天高 xīn bǐ tiān gāo: idiom originates from Dream of the Red Chamber – a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. 心比天高，命 比纸薄 Xīn bǐ tiān gāo, mìng bǐ zhǐ báo, the heart/intention/ambition is higher than the sky; life/fate is thinner than paper. It generally means that what one desire or aspire to can sometimes be far removed from reality.
• 3
  太狗腿了 tài gǒu tuǐle: Deliberately cater to someone’s preferences/currying favor; a metaphor for a person who runs for his master and accomplices. In Hokkien it means flattery, fawning.