《Stumbled Into An Alien Group Chat To Steal Advanced Technologies》 Chapter 1 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°George, your mentor is looking for you!¡± ¡°Hey, George, it must be because you haven¡¯t handed your thesis to your mentor yet!¡± ¡°George, what they said is true. Your mentor, Professor Eugene, told us to tell you to immediately go to his office if we see you.¡± As George was walking on the Yale campus, all the classmates he met were telling him the same thing: Professor Eugene was looking for him! At first George thought his classmates were joking with him because his phone was functioning as normal since he had just received a message ten minutes ago. There was no reason for Professor Eugene to not contact him by phone. It wasn¡¯t until a very special girl came up to him and said the same thing to him that he believed it to be true. Sometimes the reason one trusted another was simple. George liked this girl called Anna. She was so special. Her looks were so exquisite without a flaw and she was so breathtakingly beautiful that it seemed unreal. She was like an angel left on Earth. All the Yale students nicknamed her ¡°alien beauty¡± behind her back! Because she had the beauty that made all the girls jealous. She was just like the female robot in Terminator 3. George looked straight into Anna¡¯s eyes. From between her beautiful curved lips came a pleasant voice, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t keep staring at me like this. Your mentor is still waiting to see you in his office.¡± George recovered from his momentary daze and returned to normal. In order to hide his embarrassment, he quickened his pace and walked to the academic building not far away. However, Anna¡¯s voice sounded behind him again, ¡°George, if you¡¯re free on Friday night, we can go for a drink.¡± ¡°Okay, I have time on Friday¡­¡± George turned around and found that Anna had already left far away. ¡°Is today my lucky day? Or is it just my lucky day!¡± George hummed a happy tune. He stopped staring at Anna¡¯s charming back and turned around to head to his destination: the academic building that had a medieval architectural style. The dark gray walls gave people a serious and suppressing feeling. George entered the academic building and walked through the corridor to the door of Professor Eugene¡¯s office. ¡°Phew!¡± He exhaled before raising his arm to knock on the thick wooden door. After a few dull knocks, the familiar voice of Professor Eugene came from inside. ¡°Please come in. George! Where have you been these past few days?! Haven¡¯t you received the messages I sent you? Why haven¡¯t you submitted your thesis on the existence of alien civilizations? What?! You lost your thesis?! The deadline is at the end of the month. If you can¡¯t submit your thesis, I can¡¯t guarantee that you¡¯ll get your degree. Alright, you can leave now. I¡¯m going to have a headache again and you know if that happens, the consequences will be very serious!¡± Hearing that his mentor was going to have a headache, George was so scared that he ran out of Professor Eugene¡¯s office. ¡°Dong, dong, dong!¡± The sound of leather shoes stepping on the floor could be heard in the silent corridor. At the same time, the sound of Professor Eugene breaking things could also be heard. It was not until George ran out of the academic building in one breath that he moved his hand to wipe off the fine beads of sweat on his forehead. There was still half an hour before lunchtime ended. When George looked up, an empty space greeted him. His surroundings seemed a little quiet. ¡°Did Professor Eugene send me a message? This is bad. If I don¡¯t finish my thesis on time, I won¡¯t be able to get my degree¡­¡± Just as George was feeling depressed, he habitually took out his phone from his pocket. The display screen didn¡¯t show Professor Eugene¡¯s message, instead, there were messages of a few weird IDs chatting with each other. ¡°What chat group is this? When did I join it?¡± The unfamiliar chat group that appeared before George piqued his interest. In the chat group, some people with weird IDs were chatting with each other. Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Our planet has developed a light-speed spaceship. The video of the first flight has been uploaded to the group file. Everyone is welcome to download and watch!¡± Mokalian (level 1.8 civilization): ¡°Sarlat, are your light-speed spaceships for sale? If yes, how much universe dollars per spaceship?¡± Selkian (level 3 civilization): ¡°Light-speed spaceship? The Sarlatian¡¯s understanding of the speed of light is still in its infancy stage, far inferior to the Selkian¡¯s 10 times light-speed spaceship!¡± Selkian (level 3 civilization): ¡°The newcomer who just joined, why aren¡¯t you say anything? Your rudeness has already offended the Universe¡¯s great Selka civilization!¡± Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization) : ¡°I advise the Selkians to not use such a tough tone when speaking to an unknown civilization. Perhaps the newcomer is from a high-level civilization that far surpasses us. Can¡¯t you see that the introduction panel of the newcomer doesn¡¯t show the level of his civilization at all?!¡± George¡¯s gaze locked onto the screen in front of him. The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. ¡°Damn it, it¡¯s a bunch of crazy people. Why did I join such a chat group?!¡± Other than the weird IDs in the chat group, the strangest thing was that there was a level of civilization represented by Arabic numerals in front of their names. If this wasn¡¯t indicative that they were madmen, then what was? It was probably a group of crazy space enthusiasts who had set up a chat group and unleashed their fantasies about the mysterious universe through such role-playing. It must be so! George operated with both hands and found the function to delete the chat group in the chat software. The eye-catching delete button appeared under George¡¯s finger. He quickly pressed it, not wanting to see the brainless conversations for one more moment! However, something mystical happened right in front of George¡¯s eyes. He couldn¡¯t delete the strange chat group. In the following moments, George used his finger to hit the delete button crazily. After doing as such for some time, to his despair, the conversation in the chat group still continued to pop up on his screen. This could only prove that George¡¯s operation to delete the group had failed. ¡°What the hell!¡± Seeing that the interface of the brainless chat could not be deleted, George was simply speechless. In the chat group, someone with the ID Sarlatian was starting to send red packets in the group. Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°To celebrate the development of the light-speed spaceship by the great Planet Sarlat, I have prepared a red packet with generous rewards. I hope everyone can get the prize they want (the Selkians are from a level 3 civilization, they would disdain to snatch red packets)!¡± ¡°Hm? Someone is giving out red packets!¡± George temporarily stopped deleting and used his finger to click on the red packet symbol that appeared in the middle of the screen. Following that, the red packet interface on the screen started to rotate rapidly for a short time. After the rotation stopped, the prize appeared. [Congratulations on drawing a light-speed spaceship!] [Please enter the coordinates of your delivery address in the pop-up interface!] ??? ¡°Are swindlers so bold now?!¡± George¡¯s eyes widened. He could not believe that he had really encountered swindlers. They wanted his coordinates, right? It just so happened that George majored in space physics, so he could immediately name a few coordinates in the near-earth universe. Thus, he entered a near-earth universe coordinate into the interface in front of him. That coordinate was a famous Lagrange point. After that, George ignored the group of ¡°psychopaths¡± in the chat group. He had to rush back to his dorm to finish his thesis.. Chapter 2 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio When the first ray of morning light passed through the window, the dust in the air came out of hiding. George was lying on a table covered with manuscripts. Saliva had flowed out of his mouth and dampened several blank sheets of paper. After a night of brainstorming, he had thrown the thesis that he had written into the trash as he fell asleep. George had a dream about discovering aliens. In the dream, Earth had been discovered by an alien civilization, and humanity was about to face a huge crisis. The so-called high-tech weapons in the human world were like toys in the eyes of the alien invaders and were destroyed in an instant. When the whole world fell into a huge panic, not only did George complete his graduation thesis, but he also developed a weapon that could destroy the alien warships. He transformed into a hero who saved the world. He led the surviving human soldiers and successfully repelled the invading alien civilization, protecting the home that mankind lived on. Just as George was receiving the public¡¯s respect in his dream, the phone suddenly started ringing in his ear. ¡°Ring, ring, ring!¡± George jumped and his head left the table at an extremely fast speed. Being suddenly woken caused a short headache. ¡°Damn it, who is calling at this time!¡± He picked up the phone on the table. The caller ID showed that it was his good friend Carl. George pressed the answer button while frustrated. ¡°Hey, you better have something important to say, or I won¡¯t let you off!¡± However, Carl who was on the other side of the phone didn¡¯t mind George¡¯s impatient mood at all. He was like someone on a talk show, constantly spouting out unending words. ¡°TV! George, turn on the TV immediately, or go online! Soon, you¡¯ll see everything you had always wanted to see! This is too shocking! A spaceship has appeared in the sky above our planet! Hey, hey! George, are you listening!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Du du du du!¡± George hung up Carl¡¯s call and threw the phone onto the table. The sound it made caused his Maine Coon cat¡¯s fur to stand up in fright. He suddenly remembered that today was the 31st, April Fool¡¯s Day was tomorrow. Was Carl so eager to start his prank? ¡°Wait a minute. Anna invited me to the bar for a drink on Friday night, which is also the night of April Fool¡¯s Day. Is she pulling a prank on me too?¡± This discovery made George¡¯s already bad mood even worse. He sat on the chair, his mind replaying Anna¡¯s previous words. ¡°Should I make a call to ask Anna? It¡¯s better to clarify such matters. Yes, I¡¯ll call her now!¡± George took the phone that had just been violently treated. He found Anna¡¯s number and dialed it. He didn¡¯t have to wait for long before Anna¡¯s pleasant voice appeared in the receiver. ¡°Hello, George. You must have turned on the television and seen the news of the alien spaceship landing on Earth. Are you calling me to ask me what I think? I feel that it¡¯s too shocking. To think that just after one night, we found a spaceship parked in the sky above our planet! I¡¯m very excited at this moment. If¡­ you won¡¯t see me in the future, will you miss me?¡± At this moment, George¡¯s mind was completely blank. He didn¡¯t even hear Anna¡¯s last sentence. After a short silence, George¡¯s body reacted like it had been struck by an electric current. He rushed to the front of the television as fast as he could. His hands trembled as he picked up the remote control on the sofa. When he turned on the television, the screen showed a news channel. A very eye-catching headline was scrolling above the host¡¯s head. [An Interstellar Warship Piloted by an Alien Civilization has Suddenly Appeared at a Lagrange Point!] The news host was saying something. George controlled the remote control to amplify the volume, and with this, he heard more detailed information. ¡°At 5:17 a.m. today, an alien starship suddenly appeared at a Lagrange point. The question is, is this alien starship hostile or friendly? Next, let us contact Professor Lodge from the National Space Administration!¡± After a short wait, a thin and tall old man appeared on the screen. George knew who Professor Lodge was since he was a good friend of Professor Eugene. ¡°Professor Lodge, please tell us whatever you have found out about the alien starship!¡± Professor Lodge pushed the frame of his glasses, no emotion could be seen on his slightly pale face. ¡°It suddenly appeared at a Lagrange point. We weren¡¯t able to discover its trajectory before it appeared. We have sent signals of different frequencies to it, but unfortunately, we haven¡¯t received any feedback from the alien starship up until now. Although I am reluctant to admit it, the efforts in which we took to communicate with it have all failed¡­¡± At this moment, the screen switched to the host who asked a question, ¡°Professor Lodge, is it possible that it¡¯s a satellite created by another country?¡± The host used the word ¡°satellite¡±. What he meant was quite obvious. He wanted to know if a hostile country had created a satellite that looked like a starship. Professor Lodge¡¯s reaction almost made George laugh. Professor Lodge looked at the host on the screen as if he was looking at an idiot. George majored in space physics at university, thus he knew very well that a starship of this size was far beyond the current technology of mankind. This was simply not something that could be created by human technology! The news on the television was still ongoing. Probably to divert the host¡¯s embarrassment, the screen was switched to show the outer space, and the entirety of the starship was thus displayed. George¡¯s eyes widened. He stared at the beautiful alien starship, its pitch-black surface swallowed all the light around it. The moon served as its background, showing the huge size of the starship. The image was transmitted from the International Space Station, who at the same time, was responsible for monitoring and trying to establish communication with the alien starship. George stared at the alien starship until the screen was switched back to the host. At this moment, only then did he recall the conversation in the chat group. ¡°Oh my God! The starship I drew from the red packet yesterday is real! Could it be that the creatures in the chat group are really aliens?¡± George raised his right hand that was holding the phone. He realized that he had still been on the phone with Anna just now, but the other party had hung up when he stopped responding. Right now, he was not in the mood to call Anna to explain. Instead, he quickly opened the chat group. The message that was first seen by George made him feel like he was suffocating. Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Haha, in the red packet that I sent out yesterday, the biggest prize was a light-speed starship. The lucky one who got this prize, please privately chat with me to receive it!¡± Selkian (level 3 civilization): ¡°Hmph! You Sarlatians are really generous. A light-speed starship is worth at least 100 billion universe dollars, yet you gave it away just like that!¡± George could not believe the conversation he was reading. Wait! ¡°The Sarlatian hasn¡¯t delivered the starship, then who sent the starship that is parked at the Lagrange point? And how much is 100 billion universe dollars?¡± Chapter 3 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George couldn¡¯t believe what he was going through. In just one night, he had received a starship. The most ridiculous thing was that when George had opened the red packet, a prompt had popped up to enter the coordinates of his delivery address. But how did the starship come to Earth in one night? How many times the speed of light was its power system? Were there aliens in it? If there were aliens, how many were there? Many question marks filled George¡¯s brain, causing his head to begin to ache. He couldn¡¯t just let this go on! George began to realize the severity of the problem. He cleared his mind of all unrealistic thoughts, what remained were the most urgent and needed to be solved. Firstly, he did not need to continue writing his graduation thesis. This was undoubtedly ¡°lucky¡± as he did not need to look for strong evidence to prove the existence of an alien civilization in the universe. Secondly, he still needed to confirm whether the starship hovering in outer space now was the prize he had won in the chat group. George, who had watched countless sci-fi movies, knew the tricks of the extraterrestrial civilizations in the films very well. He was afraid that this starship that was called the Black Dragon was filled with aliens who were here to invade Earth. If this conjecture was not true, there was another problem: how could he enter the Black Dragon starship? It was apparent that he could only get the final answer to this question through the alien chat group. But asking the question needed George¡¯s careful design as to better conceal his questions as an Earthian. Since George hadn¡¯t sent any messages in the alien chat group, maintaining a sense of mystery was very important to him now. This was a trump card that George temporarily had. If he didn¡¯t use this trump card well, his identity would be exposed. The aliens would know that he was merely a creature from a low-level civilization that was so lowly leveled that it may not even be considered a civilization in the universe. If George¡¯s true identity was discovered by a high-level alien civilization, it could bring a devastating blow to Earth or even the entire Solar System. George didn¡¯t pay attention to the news that was being broadcast, completely ignoring the news that was showing the people buying groceries from the supermarket like crazy. He focused all his attention on the phone screen in front of him. The phone screen displayed the chat group that he had previously treated as a product of ¡®craziness¡¯. After experiencing the matter of a starship landing on Earth, George¡¯s attitude towards the chat group had undergone a huge change. First, he had to stay firm to a few points on chatting with aliens in the chat group. One, he couldn¡¯t reveal his identity as an Earthian! Two, he couldn¡¯t say as he please in the chat group! (which meant telling the truth) Three, he couldn¡¯t talk too much in the chat group! He had to maintain his mysterious image and let the aliens think that he was a creature from a high-level civilization and not a ¡°native¡± from a low-level civilization! George planned to strictly follow the three rules he had summarized when sending messages in the alien chat group. As for how to enter the starship hovering in the outer space of Earth, he felt that he shouldn¡¯t be too desperate. If he acted too hastily in the chat group, it would easily arouse the other party¡¯s suspicion. This was something that George absolutely would not allow to happen because the consequences would be extremely serious, and it was something that the human race could not bear. ¡°Beep beep beep!¡± A new notification sounded in the chat group at this moment. George discovered that someone in the chat group had applied to add him as a friend. What was going on?! Should he accept the friend request from the other party¡­? He clicked on the pop-up screen and saw that the person who had applied to add him as a friend was a Sarlatian. In the other party¡¯s profile, it indicated that his civilization was level 2.5. George had a deep impression of this alien. After all, this alien was the one who had uploaded a video of a light-speed spaceship in the group file. It was also this alien who had sent the red packet into the group chat. Most importantly, he seemed to be at odds with the Selkian. ¡°Hmm, this is a point that can be used!¡± George planned to start with this alien whose ID was named Sarlatian to see if he could get some useful information. After all, the starship with a very beautiful appearance could not stay in low-Earth orbit forever. After accepting the friend request from the other party, George ceased all actions and just waited patiently. He wanted to wait until the other party spoke first so that he could take the initiative. As expected, after he had accepted the friend request from the other party, a few minutes passed and a private chat box popped up. Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Hello, I looked through the records of the lottery, and found that you won the light-speed spaceship. Please state the coordinates of your galaxy. If possible, please add the civilization level of your planet!¡± ??? When George saw the private message sent by the other party, a series of question marks appeared in his mind. ¡°I have to state the coordinates of my galaxy? and the civilization level too?¡± This was a dangerous signal! If George only stated the coordinates of his galaxy but hid the civilization level, the other party would definitely be suspicious. In the eyes of those high-level civilizations, a civilization that didn¡¯t even dare to state its civilization level was something that could be invaded and occupied. ¡°Didn¡¯t he receive the coordinates of Earth that I entered in the red packet interface yesterday? With this, it¡¯s intriguing why a starship has appeared in the sky above Earth¡­¡± After thinking carefully for a moment, he found that there weren¡¯t any effective measures he could take for the time being. In the end, George decided not to reply to the Sarlatian. At this time, a new message appeared in the chat group. George did not respond to the Sarlatian who had just sent him a private message. After all, it was also important to maintain a sense of mystery. His gaze returned to the chat group and saw that it was a Selkian who was sending messages. Selkian (level 3 civilization): ¡°The Battleax Galaxy under the rule of the Planet Selka is looking for a buyer. The price is very attractive, and I wonder if any high-level civilizations are willing to buy it?¡± When George saw the message in the chat group, he felt like a native entering a world filled with high technology. He was extremely shocked when he saw that an entire galaxy was being sold in the chat group that he started talking to himself. ¡°Selling a galaxy! So this is the so-called high-level civilization in the universe!¡± Just as George was surprised, a new message appeared in the chat group. Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Humph, the Battleax Galaxy is just a low-level civilization. The number of life planets in it is pitifully small. Low-level life planets can¡¯t even be sold for 100 million universe dollars!¡± Seeing the Sarlatian jump out to mock the Selkian again, George felt that it was all very interesting. But when he read the message again and saw that in the eyes of these high-level civilizations, the low-level life planets were items that could be traded, he felt very uncomfortable. Because if his speculations were right, the Earth couldn¡¯t even be considered a civilization in the universe. ¡°A low-level life planet can¡¯t be sold for more than 100 million universe dollars?¡± This made George think of the starship that had just appeared in the sky above Earth. That was worth 100 billion cosmic dollars. It could buy 1,000 life planets! Chapter 4 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio A low-level life planet, in the hands of those high-level civilizations, could be bought for less than 100 million cosmic dollars. This was something George couldn¡¯t imagine. George¡¯s gaze had been focused on the aliens¡¯ chat group, which was still discussing the value of life planets. This allowed him to ponder about the messages he was seeing alone. ¡°According to the aliens¡¯ classification of life planets, Earth should be at a very low level of civilization, which means Earth¡¯s value is not even worth 100 million cosmic dollars!¡± In the chat group, the aliens were constantly sending messages. George did not dare to join in on the conversation with the aliens. He merely maintained his identity as a ¡°spectator¡± to silently read through the messages that were constantly scrolling in front of him. At this moment, an unexpected situation suddenly appeared in the chat group. The message sent by the Sarlatian, who had previously sent the red packet into the chat group, had ended the discussion of the value of life planets in the chat group. Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Can any of you contact that newcomer?¡± Mocalian (level 1.8 civilization): ¡°What¡¯s wrong? That newcomer hasn¡¯t spoken since entering the chat group!¡± Selkian (level 3 civilization): ¡°Stupid Sarlatians. With my intelligence as a Selkian, even I can guess that the grand prize of the red packet you sent must have been drawn by that newcomer. It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t get in touch with that newcomer now!¡± Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Although I don¡¯t want to admit it, the Selkian is right. I just can¡¯t get in touch with that newcomer. Which one of you can?¡± When George saw the newest messages in the chat group, his pupils shrunk. ¡°Is he looking for me? Damn it, I¡¯ve already received the prize, why is this Sarlatian so persistent to find me?!¡± It was normal for George to be worried about an unknown high-level civilization in the universe. This was because he didn¡¯t know if an alien civilization with advanced technology could find out about his galaxy or even the planet that humans survived on. The sudden question from the Sarlatian in the chat group caused the aliens to start a new discussion about the newcomer again. Mocalian (level 1.8 civilization): ¡°Sarlatian, I don¡¯t think you should continue asking. That newcomer might be a creature from a super civilization. My reason for saying this is very simple: If he was from a low-level civilization, he would¡¯ve contacted you soon to ask about the prize.¡± Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization): ¡°Mocalian, what you said makes sense. What should I do next? Give up on the promise of sending the prize?¡± Selkian (level 3 civilization): ¡°Hmph! Ignorant and stupid Sarlatians. You knew that the other party is likely from a super civilization, yet you tried to gain the newcomer¡¯s details through us. Your intentions are sinister!¡± George read through the interesting conversation in the chat group and had a preliminary impression of these aliens. ¡°So these so-called high-level civilization creatures are the same as us humans in some aspects.¡± He could feel several familiar personalities from the aliens¡¯ conversation. Crafty! Jealousy! Mockery! These were originally the labels of humans, but now they were being displayed in the aliens¡¯ chat group. Just as George was still thinking, there was an ear-piercing roar from outside the window. He tilted his head to listen. There seemed to be a crowd marching outside the window. He didn¡¯t even need to think to know that it must be related to the starship that appeared in the sky above Earth. ¡°Pa!¡± He stretched out his hand to open the window. The united chants of the crowd marching on the streets bore their way into George¡¯s ear canal. Hearing the contents of their chants, George didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. ¡°Welcome, aliens!¡± ¡°Welcome to Earth as a guest!¡± ¡°Oh! This must be the divine beings sent by God to save us!¡± In the parade, the yells were of different contents, some of them were even unimaginable. For example, at this moment, George saw a scantily clad girl through the window who was in the parade as well and was shouting at the sky, ¡°Alien, come down quickly. I want to give birth to your child!¡± ??? Such scenes were many from where George looked. ¡°What a bunch of lunatics!¡± George felt that this group of humans parading here was hopeless. To think they were looking forward to the arrival of aliens! These people could not obtain material or spiritual satisfaction in life, so they placed all their hopes in an unknown fantasy. George originally planned to close the windows to isolate the noisy streets, but just as he reached out to do so, he saw a familiar figure among the crowd of people in the parade. ¡°Anna! Why is she in the parade?¡± As Anna¡¯s classmate, George felt that he knew Anna quite well. At least in front of their classmates, Anna was very rational no matter what she did. Therefore, when he saw Anna appear in the crowd of the parade, he felt that it was a little incomprehensible. However, George had no intention to stop Anna since his relationship with Anna was not at the level where he had the right to do so. At this moment, the phone rang. The caller ID showed that it was Professor Eugene. ¡°Why is Professor Eugene calling at this time?¡± George¡¯s previous thesis on the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization did not need to be continued because of the sudden arrival of an extraterrestrial starship on Earth, thus he answered the professor¡¯s call in a very relaxed mentality. ¡°Good morning, mentor!¡± After greeting his mentor, Professor Eugene¡¯s anxious voice came from the receiver. ¡°George, no matter where you are now, I want you to be in my office within half an hour! George, this is very important. You must do as I say and come here within half an hour!¡± ¡°Du du du¡­¡± ¡°Hello? Hello? Professor¡­¡± The call was hung up by Professor Eugene. It seemed that he did not want to hear any excuses or words of dissatisfaction from George. George could only release all the doubts and dissatisfaction he was feeling now when he saw his mentor. He left the rented dormitory in a hurry and headed to the Yale campus. However, it was not until he got into a taxi and had left some distance away that George realized that he had left his phone in the dormitory. He glanced at the time. If he went back to get his phone, he wouldn¡¯t make it. ¡°Sigh! Hopefully, there won¡¯t be any important messages while I¡¯m away!¡± George was still worried that without his phone by his side, he wouldn¡¯t be able to check the messages in the alien chat group in time. The taxi was not very fast, mainly because the entire city had fallen into chaos. There were crowds of people parading everywhere on the streets, which causes inconveniences to the normal traffic. The ear-piercing sirens had not stopped since George left his dormitory. It was obvious that there were uncontrollable riots going on in other streets. The radio in the taxi was broadcasting the latest emergency. ¡°The procession on the 5th Avenue has been violently stopped! There are witnesses who saw that it was not only the demonstrators who died in this conflict but also the police! According to the latest news from the authorities, the federal government has just announced that the whole country has entered a level three state of emergency! The Liberal Party¡¯s chairman has held a press conference and accused the ruling party of making a major mistake in their prediction. They should have issued a level one state of emergency!¡± At this moment, George was expressionless. He was quietly listening to the news broadcast on the radio. Outside the taxi that was moving forward with difficulty, there were crazy crowds everywhere. In the car, there was only the sound of the driver complaining. ¡°Damn it, what¡¯s wrong with this world? Oh my God! Those madmen with Molotov cocktails are targeting us!¡± Chapter 5 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Bang, bang, bang!¡± A few Molotov cocktails were thrown at the taxi. Instantly, the flames spread and engulfed the entire taxi at an extremely fast speed. George, who was sitting in the taxi, could clearly feel that the temperature in the car was starting to rise. Wherever he looked, it was as if he had entered a sea of fire. The crazy crowd on the street did not care whether there was anyone in the car, they simply attacked anything they could see. ¡°Oh my God! I can¡¯t open the car door!¡± In his panic, the driver broke the lock button, which made George instantly become uneasy. It would take long before he and the driver would be trapped in the taxi. First, they would be choked by the thick smoke that got into the car, then their bodies would be devoured by the flames that burned through the car. ¡°No! I have to find a way to survive!¡± George forced himself to calm down from the panic. He realized that he had to find a tool to open the locked door. Breaking the window was one way, but he did not have a tool in his hand. If he used his body to smash the window, the flames burning outside the window would cause him harm. However, when George was still searching for something hard in the car, the door of the taxi was opened from the outside. This caused a large amount of smoke to enter the car which almost suffocated George. He heard the shouts of a few men. ¡°Don¡¯t move! We¡¯re here to save you!¡± ¡°Damn it, pull him out of the car first!¡± As soon as one of the men said this, George instantly felt a pair of powerful hands grab his ankles, and the scenes in front of him were in high motion. It was not until he felt his body spin and fall to the ground that he realized that he had left the burning taxi. ¡°Cough, cough, cough! Who are you¡­¡± George first forcefully coughed out the poisonous smoke that he had just inhaled into his lungs before he began to observe the few tall and strong men in front of him. What surprised him was that these people were wearing uniforms, as if they were fighters from a special organization. He looked at where they were standing, and the man in the lead was the first to speak, ¡°We¡¯re only here to save you, as for the rest, we don¡¯t know!¡± The other party¡¯s answer was very simple. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even an answer at all. George was very curious as to who was it that sent someone to save him in time when he was in a crisis. In this chaotic street, how would they find the taxi that trapped him? At this moment, two strong men walked to George¡¯s side. Both of them grabbed his arms at the same time. ¡°Take him away from here and send him to District Five!¡± These people did not care about George¡¯s reaction at all, and very roughly brought him to an armored transport vehicle. George entered the car that only had small windows on its sides. He knew that it was the wisest choice to keep his mouth shut now. However, his brain started to become active: The person just now said to send me to District Five? What was that? I wonder if Professor Eugene will remember me? He¡¯s just a university professor though, it¡¯s probably impossible for him to save me. The armored transport vehicle quickly drove away from the street. George could see the scenery outside through the narrow windows. It was not until the vehicle left the chaotic street that he realized that the other streets of the city were still the same as before. Not all of the streets were filled with riots. About half an hour later, through the small windows, George realized that the armored transport vehicle had left the city and was probably heading north. What was the purpose of going north in this season? There was only endless cold! George had originally thought that the armored transport vehicle would be going on forever, but to his surprise, after crossing a bridge, the vehicle left the wide road and turned into a small road. In his field of vision, he could see the broken top of a building. George suddenly remembered where this was. Professor Eugene had brought him here before. To be precise, this was a laboratory of Yale University, mainly used to study various unusual creatures. This reminded him that he had once seen a cat with an IQ of a six-year-old and a strange human who could see the future here. Though, the person who could see the future turned out to be a liar. When the armored transport vehicle stopped in front of the building, George jumped out of the car. He did not walk around but instead waited where he was. The man who talked to him before walked over and gestured for him to follow. ¡°Our mission to escort you is over. Go in directly, someone is waiting for you inside.¡± George looked at the man before he went in. ¡°Thank you for rescuing me. Can you tell me your name?¡± ¡°You can call me Buck.¡± After saying that, the man turned around and walked to the passenger seat of the vehicle. Before he entered the armored transport vehicle, he shouted another sentence, ¡°Perhaps we¡¯ll meet again soon!¡± George raised his arm to make a gesture at the man, then entered the building in front of him. Just as Buck had said, a person was waiting in the hall, and it was someone George was familiar with. ¡°Betty! Why are you here?¡± The person waiting for him in the hall was George¡¯s classmate who was also Professor Eugene¡¯s student. Although when he saw this building, he had guessed that the person who sent someone to rescue him was probably his mentor, Professor Eugene. However, that was just a guess. It was not until he saw Betty that he was finally sure that everything that happened was arranged by his mentor, Professor Eugene. It seemed that his mentor, Professor Eugene, must have mastered some method to locate him. ¡°George, come with me. Our mentor is waiting for you upstairs.¡± A few minutes later, George followed Betty to an office. Sitting behind the wide desk was his mentor, Professor Eugene. Seeing George walk in, Professor Eugene raised his hand and gestured for him to sit in the chair across from him. At the same time, he pushed a document in front of George. ¡°Take a look. Read it first, questions later.¡± Puzzled, George picked up the document in front of him and began to read it. Betty, who had accompanied him in, had already left by herself. There was not much in this document, it only took a few minutes for him to read through it. However, when George saw the contents of the document, his expression changed rapidly. ¡°Professor, are we going to study that starship? This should be something done by the National Space Administration!¡± George did not understand why his professor would take over the research on the starship. ¡°George, only a small group including you will be studying that starship that suddenly appeared. I will be leading the others to study another topic. Also, you have to be prepared to enter outer space.¡± Enter outer space! After George heard his mentor¡¯s last sentence, he suddenly realized that this was an opportunity for him. An opportunity to enter the starship! Previously, he was still having a headache about how to enter the starship. Now, if he agreed to enter the research group, he would have a chance to get close to that starship. Since he had a chance to get close to the starship, George had no reason to refuse. ¡°Professor, I agree to join the research team!¡± Although he had agreed to join the research team, George was actually thinking about how to enter the starship and receive it as his prize.. Chapter 6 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George decided to join the research team on the alien starship. For the following few months, he would have to travel back and forth between NASA and Yale University. After all, only the National Space Administration could provide complete facilities. With this, his graduation thesis would naturally be about the research on alien starships, which meant he was researching his prize. It was more interesting! George didn¡¯t stay for long. Before the sky turned dark, he boarded the Special Ops squad¡¯s vehicle and returned to the city. Along the way, he looked out through the car window and saw that traffic control was starting to appear on the roads near the city. The most obvious point was that groups of fully armed police and National Guards were guarding the entrances and exits of every road. The only fortunate thing was that the Special Ops vehicle George was in did not need to be inspected. Such special treatment was not to be underestimated. It could allow him to return home in a very short time. Originally, the vehicle had maintained cruising speed and sped past one checkpoint after another. When they entered the city, because the streets were filled with objects that were destroyed by the crowd, the vehicle slowed down in turn. ¡°Buck, I remember that when we left the city in the morning, the conditions of the city were still very stable. Now, this¡­¡± George could not comprehend what he was seeing. It had only been a few hours, yet why was it so chaotic? Buck was sitting in the seat opposite George. He took off his beret and took out a small piece of paper from his hat. ¡°Take a look at this first!¡± ¡°What?¡± Although George was puzzled, he still took the paper and opened it, only to see a very short sentence on it. [Don¡¯t just say whatever is on your mind. We must be careful that the aliens are eavesdropping!] ¡°¡­¡± After George read the contents of the note, he had a very strange feeling in his heart. If Buck found out in the end that the starship parked in outer space was his, George wondered if Buck would die of embarrassment and choose not to see him again. However, since they were all treating the starship as a foreign object, George would not expose the truth now. Out of his understanding of the human race, he was well aware that if he told the truth now, the humans might very well take him as a monster and study him. This was not a simple assumption, but a highly possible fact. Therefore, George would not reveal his identity before entering the interstellar warship. ¡°Cough, cough!¡± George played along with Buck. He pretended to be calm, then shut his mouth and did not speak anymore. However, what surprised him was that Buck took out a pen and a notebook from the pocket in his shirt. The meaning of him doing this was very obvious. This was to let George write down what he wanted to say. George quickly waved his hand, indicating that he had nothing to say. Good heavens, they were very wary of the unknown aliens, but weren¡¯t they afraid that the unknown aliens were monitoring the actions of the Earthlings as well? This would include when they were writing too. At this time, the car had already entered the heart of the city. They were already very close to George¡¯s home. After passing two streets, they would see the apartment that he lived in. On the street outside the car window, fire and smoke were constantly rising. These were released by the crowd of demonstrators and it gave people the feeling that they were in the midst of a war. After George shut his mouth, he focused all his attention on the streets outside the car. Suddenly, among the crowd of demonstrators who were being chased by the police, an eye-catching figure was seen by George. It was a girl wearing a gray coat. She had a beautiful face and a curvaceous figure. ¡°Anna!¡± He once again found Anna in the parading crowd. The first time he saw Anna in the procession was yesterday. In the car, Buck heard George call out a name and looked out of the window as well. Then he asked, ¡°Do you know that girl?¡± Obviously, Buck had also noticed the unusual girl among the fleeing crowd. ¡°That¡¯s my classmate, a student of Yale University!¡± After George finished speaking, he locked his gaze on Buck. ¡°Buck, can we¡­¡± He was halfway through his words when he suddenly remembered the small note from before. Then, he reached out to take the pen and paper from Buck¡¯s hand and quickly wrote down what he wanted to say. Soon, Buck received a note filled with words. On it were the words that George wanted to say. [The girl¡¯s name is Anna, and her mentor is also Professor Eugene. Can you save her and bring her to the car? I can vouch for her!] After reading the note, Buck looked at George with a strange expression. Then, under George¡¯s expectant gaze, Buck took the pen and paper and wrote something on it. While this was ongoing, George quickly turned his head to look out of the car window. A muscular policeman was about to catch up with Anna. George looked at Buck again anxiously. He knew that Buck must be unwilling to save Anna and was most probably writing the reasons why he couldn¡¯t save her now. In a hurry, George once again snatched the pen and paper away from Buck who had not finished writing, and wrote a sentence at an extremely fast speed. [I want Anna to become a member of the research group!] George had written these words without thinking it through. What he did not know now was that because of this single sentence that he wrote, the consequences would completely change the trajectory of his life. When Buck saw the content of the note, he was obviously stunned. Then, he reacted quickly and immediately ordered the driver to head in the direction where Anna was escaping. When the car caught up with the policeman, Buck¡¯s voice reverberated in the car, ¡°Stop the car!¡± Before the car had completely stopped, the car door was already opened. Buck¡¯s figure jumped out of the car and he stopped the policeman¡¯s action just in time. Seeing that he was suddenly stopped, the policeman was originally very angry and was about to draw his weapon. However, the moment he saw the badge on the right side of the man¡¯s chest, his action of drawing his gun slowed down, and he gave up on even more dangerous actions. The policeman must have recognized Buck¡¯s identity, or he would have used his weapon. Buck didn¡¯t say anything. He simply put a finger in front of his lips and made a gesture to stop the policeman from speaking. ¡°Anna!¡± After the car stopped completely, George immediately jumped to the ground and shouted at Anna¡¯s back. This sound was very effective. Sure enough, Anna didn¡¯t continue to run. She stopped and turned around to look behind her. ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­ George!¡± The intense running just now caused Anna to gasp for breath as soon as she stopped. Just as George was about to run towards Anna, Buck¡¯s exclamation came from behind him, ¡°George, don¡¯t go over!¡± ¡°What?¡± Initially, George didn¡¯t understand why Buck would say that, but when he turned to look at Anna again, his eyes were immediately filled with fear.. Chapter 7 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°What is that¡­ Monster?¡± Along with George¡¯s terrified voice, Anna who was not far away underwent a shocking transformation. Her face was still exquisite, but her legs were facing away from George, while her upper body was facing towards George. A person¡¯s upper body and lower body were reversed, this was not something a human could do. What frightened everyone the most was Anna¡¯s normal way of speaking. Could it be that she did not feel anything strange at all? At this moment, Anna seemed to have realized it. She lowered her head and saw that her lower body was facing away from her upper body. She went silent. The silence was short. Anna, who was now eerie, finally spoke. However, the words she spoke she made intensified the horrifying atmosphere. ¡°Hehe, to think I was still discovered by you guys. I was too careless!¡± ¡°What exactly are you¡­¡± SeeIng that George was asking her a question again, Anna didn¡¯t wait for him to finish. Instead, she answered in advance. ¡°You want to ask me what kind of monster I am, right?¡± Her body was in a posture that defied human biology, which undoubtedly scared everyone present. This included Buck and the policeman. ¡°Bang!¡± After a crisp sound, the fully armed policeman had removed the gun from its buckle and held it in his hand. His fingers were tightly pressed on the trigger, ready to fire the loaded bullet at any time. ¡°You, you don¡¯t move!¡± The policeman who was aiming at Anna with his gun spoke in a trembling voice due to his nervousness. As for Buck, who was standing not far behind George, one could tell from his expression that he was much calmer than the police officer. However, Buck did not take any action. He was observing everything in front of him, making it obvious that he was a professionally trained secret agent. At this moment, Anna spoke again. However, her body remained still, giving off a feeling that she was very afraid of the weapon in the hands of the police officer. ¡°George, will you still remember me in the future? Just like what I asked you on the phone before, I will ask you again, will you remember me?¡± The phone call from before? George had forgotten about all that. At that time, he had just found out that he had obtained an interstellar battleship, and was not paying any attention to what Anna had said at all. ¡°I¡­¡± He looked at Anna, who had turned into a monster, and did not know how to answer the other party¡¯s question. From a human¡¯s perspective, he knew that he should not develop feelings for a non-human. However, when he observed the alien chat group that he had inexplicably joined previously, he could tell that they went through the same line of thought as humans when the aliens were chatting. They were all carbon-based creatures, it wasn¡¯t impossible for them to become friends. Anna kept staring at George¡¯s bright eyes. She was waiting for his answer as if it was very important to her. After George confirmed his thoughts, he immediately gave Anna a signal to indicate the dangerous situation behind him. That was because a few more agents had come down from the armored transport vehicle. The agents were rich with combat experience. They did not rush to George¡¯s position as soon as they got out of the vehicle, instead, they immediately spread out. They were planning on blocking Anna¡¯s escape route from the outside. Then, George¡¯s warning to Anna about the danger began to take effect. Anna immediately understood his kind hint. In the next instant, a sudden change happened again. Anna¡¯s upper body bent, and with her hands on the ground, she escaped in a random direction at an extremely fast speed. Because it had happened too suddenly, the police who had been locking on to her with a pistol still reacted more than a second slower before pulling the trigger. ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡± The bullets whistled out, but they all landed on Anna¡¯s previous positions. ¡°Damn it, this monster is too fast!¡± At this moment, Buck in addition to three of the agents who had caught up began to chase after Anna. ¡°Buck, don¡¯t hurt her. We want her alive. We can study her!¡± George deliberately revealed his interest in Anna¡¯s non-human body to hide the uneasiness in his heart. Not long after, the four secret service agents disappeared from the street corner in front of them. After the policeman missed his shots, he did not follow after the four agents to continue chasing after Anna. Instead, he came to George¡¯s side. In his understanding, George was definitely a member of a national secret organization, thus the policeman¡¯s attitude was very humble. ¡°Sir, do you need me to escort you away?¡± As he spoke, the police pointed at the police car that was parked not far away. It was a given George did not want to see the police stay here, but he had to find a good reason for the police to leave. ¡°Officer, we don¡¯t wish for many to know about what we are doing,¡± George paused after he said this and observed that the police officer was already in his middle age. ¡°This is a dangerous incident. I believe your family still needs you!¡± The last sentence that he said had an effect. The policeman looked hesitant. He valued his family very much. In addition, he had seen the speed of the monster earlier. In the end, the policeman no longer hesitated. Facing George, he raised his arm and gave a standard salute. Then, he turned around and left the scene. Seeing the police leave, George let out a breath of relief. If the police had refused to leave, there was nothing he could do. All this would inevitably attract more police and they would seal off this area. At that time, if George wanted to enter this place alone, it would be a little troublesome. George wanted to be alone for a reason. Before Anna had escaped, she had inserted something into the ground when her palm came into contact with the ground. Her actions didn¡¯t escape George¡¯s eyes. After waiting for a few more minutes, George saw that there were no suspicious people in his field of vision. Then only did he walk to the place where Anna had placed the item. George knelt on one knee and used his hand to gently dig through the soft soil, revealing an item that looked like a bank card. This was something that Anna had specifically left for him. He wondered what it meant. The style of the card was a little old. From its appearance, he could roughly tell that such a card with an old-fashioned chip would only have been around a few decades ago. That was because back then, there were chip telephone booths everywhere. Yes, that¡¯s right, what Anna left for George was an old-fashioned phone card. On the back of the phone card, there was an unfamiliar number written with a ballpoint pen. ¡°Could it be that she wants me to call this number?¡± Right now, George¡¯s mind was filled with a lot of questions. To think that Anna, who was in the same school as him, was non-human. This was enough to overturn his previous understanding. ¡°If Anna isn¡¯t human, then what is she? An alien?¡± George associated Anna with the aliens in the chat group. He suddenly realized that he had left his phone at home for a whole day. He wondered what had been said in the aliens¡¯ chat group. ¡°I should go home first!¡± Chapter 8 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization), Mocalian (level 1.8 civilization), Selkian (level 3 civilization)¡­¡± George was walking back home as he muttered the names of several aliens and their civilization levels. Currently, there were only three aliens in the alien chat group. Two of them had a civilization level above 2.0, and one of them had a civilization level of 1.8. George was not sure what criteria the aliens used to classify their civilizations, but it was obvious that level 1.8 meant that the alien was of a lower level civilization than the other two high-level civilizations. After all, he had only been in the alien chat group for a short time of fewer than three days. The sky had already darkened. After the commotion caused by the day¡¯s procession, the entire street was filled with a burnt smell. This smell made people uncomfortable, and George was no exception. He frowned and quickened his pace. After a few minutes, George hurriedly opened the locked door and entered his apartment. The first thing he did was to go to the bedroom and get his phone from the bedside table. ¡°Oh my God! The battery is dead!¡± George had no choice but to hurriedly find his charger to charge his phone. While waiting for the battery to be charged, he replayed the events that had just happened in his mind. The fact that Anna was not human was already shocking enough. But now that he had calmed down, George realized a problem: he did not have the power to change the things around him now. And he had accidentally obtained the alien chat group system. If his speculations were right, it would become the norm for him to encounter unexpected events like Anna¡¯s in the future. However, he was still very weak and was still lacking the ability to handle unexpected events. This made George feel very distressed. At this time, the phone showed that the battery had been charged to 5% and he could turn on his phone. After a short wait, the screen in front of him lit up and the phone was turned on successfully. George looked at the lower right corner of the screen where the chat group software was, and a red 99+ was displayed. This meant that during the time he was away, there had been more than 99 messages in the alien chat group. ¡°So many messages¡­ What did the aliens say?¡± George immediately clicked on the screen and entered the alien chat interface. Messages flashed past his eyes quickly. There were a lot of messages in the chat, so George could only use his hand to scroll the progress bar up to find the conversations he thought were useful. It didn¡¯t take long before George finally found a piece of information related to him. He glanced at the person who had sent the message. It was the Sarlatian (level 2.5 civilization) who had previously sent the red packet. [Let me tell you an important piece of information. I asked my planet¡¯s oracle, and that newcomer can be confirmed to be from a super civilization that far surpasses us!] As soon as George saw this piece of information, he guessed that it was probably because he had not spoken in the chat group, and that had caused the aliens to be unable to understand him. It seemed like he had done the right thing by maintaining a distance and a sense of mystery to make the other party feel that he was unfathomable. Furthermore, George didn¡¯t show his civilization level in the chat group, thus he had successfully tricked the high-level alien civilizations to make them think that he was from a super civilization in the universe. Following this, he continued to read the messages in the chat group. Mocalian (level 1.8 civilization): [Is the newcomer really from a super civilization? No, I shouldn¡¯t call him a newcomer, I should address him with respect! But, I don¡¯t know what to call him¡­] Selkian (level 3 civilization): [A super civilization! That is a universe faction with a civilization level of more than 5.0. It could destroy us with the ease that we destroy low-level civilizations!] Selkian (level 3 civilization): [Damn you Sarlatian. It was you who insisted on sending a red packet to the chat group, but the other party didn¡¯t even take a fancy to the prize. If you anger the super civilization and they launch an attack on Planet Selka, I swear we will destroy Planet Sarla before we die!] When George saw that the Selkian in the chat group was starting to issue threats, his first impression was that this alien had a bad temper. At the same time, he imagined the appearance of the Selkians in his mind and couldn¡¯t help but murmur in a low voice, ¡°The Selkians should look very scary, just like the ugly alien creature in ¡®Men in Black¡¯ !¡± As George¡¯s fingers scrolled through the screen, the messages in the chat group were skimmed by him one by one. Just as he was about to finish reading all the messages, a very valuable message finally appeared. This message was sent by the Mocalian, who had the lowest civilization level of 1.8 in the chat group. [Everyone, as you know, the Mocalians were born to control space. Therefore, soon, our space technology will be greatly improved. This will allow us to skip past level 2 and directly become a level 3 civilization or above!] Under this message, the Selkian immediately expressed his doubts. [A level 3 civilization? If you¡¯re not spouting nonsense, how long will it take? You should know that the consequences of deceiving a high-level civilization are very serious. The price is the destruction of the civilization!] Hiss! George saw that whenever there was a sharing of technology or results in the chat group, the Selkian would jump out immediately to mock or even threaten the other party. Presumably, the superiority the Selkian felt from being from a high-level civilization had made it so that he couldn¡¯t put down his arrogance. After the Selkian finished saying sarcastic words, the Sarlatian who had sent the red packet also expressed his opinion. [Mocalian, how long will the technological breakthrough you just mentioned take?] Mocalian: [Oh, I can¡¯t tell you the duration, this is our secret!] After George, who had been checking the alien chat group, read all the messages, he understood that it was very difficult to upgrade one¡¯s civilization level in the universe. Even for the aliens in the chat group, the time they needed to upgrade their civilizations to a higher level was probably measured in the units of hundreds of millions of Earth years, or even longer. After all, Earth years was a very short time unit in the universe. George majored in space physics in university, so he knew very well that there was no commonality in the measurement of time in the universe. Usually, a galaxy explosion would last for hundreds of millions or even tens of billions of years. At this time, a new message popped up in the chat group. George saw that it was the Mocalian who was sharing the results on space technology. [Everyone, I have already sent the latest space research results to the group file. Please do check it out!] ¡°Hmm? The latest space research?¡± This aroused George¡¯s great interest. He immediately clicked on the chat group file. Sure enough, a video had just been uploaded. As his finger touched the screen, the video was opened.. Chapter 9 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George was presented with a demonstration. The background was deep space, and he saw a planet with a green surface. He wanted to know how far away the planet was from Earth or the Milky Way. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t get to know the answer with just one video. At this moment, a bright spot appeared on the screen, and the bright spot grew bigger and bigger. Only then did George see that the bright spot was the white light emitted by the engine of a starship. The appearance of the starship was very similar to the one George had obtained. They should all be starships of the interstellar warship type. However, he did wonder which starship could travel faster with the speed of light, though this was also something he couldn¡¯t find out through the video. Not long after, the spaceship hovered on the surface of the green planet. George immediately enlarged the video so that he could take a closer look. ¡°Hmm! This method of building a space station in the orbit of the planet is the same as ours, but their technology is far superior to ours.¡± George could see in the video that on the orbit of the planet, there were spectacular space stations arranged in a row, like a huge belt that surrounded the green planet. It was very beautiful from a technology point of view. In the next moment, George suddenly noticed that on the orbit of the starship that had just docked at one of the space stations, another starship with the same appearance had appeared. What puzzled him was that the trajectory of the starship that had just appeared was the same as that of the previous starship. This meant that if the starship that had just appeared did not change its direction, it would collide with the docked starship. That would be a very serious space accident, and it might even destroy part of the space station. ¡°With such high-tech technology, how could they make such a low-level mistake?¡± Just as George was feeling puzzled, a shocking scene appeared. The starship that was docked at the space station suddenly disappeared from the screen for some unknown reason. ¡°Why did the starship suddenly disappear?! It can¡¯t be a special effect. I must have overlooked something!¡± George immediately replayed the video and looked at it frame by frame. The second before the starship was about to disappear, he finally found something suspicious. A strange-shaped instrument had appeared at the head of the starship. George could only guess that it was an instrument because it looked like the satellites that were launched by Earth into space. After the instrument appeared, a waveband that was difficult to see with the naked eye appeared and began to lock onto the starship. If George had not slowed down the video and watched them frame by frame, he would not have caught the waveband that was launched from the instrument. Following this, George watched as the starship that was docked instantly disappeared in the video. ¡°Unbelievable!¡± George¡¯s eyes were wide open. He did not know what theory could be used to explain everything that he had just watched. ¡°Has the appearance of the starship been hidden? Or did the starship enter a special space?¡± As a top student in space physics, he could only think of a few methods one could achieve these. However, they were all based on the fantasies he got from watching sci-fi movies. It was simply impossible to achieve this level of technology in reality. For the next few moments, George repeatedly watched the video of the starship ¡°disappearing¡±. He watched it for several hours until his eyes felt dry and swollen before he turned off the video. ¡°Sigh, this alien demonstration video is too advanced in technology. If they can really do this, it won¡¯t be difficult for them to become a level 3 civilization, or even surpass it. I wonder how long it will take for them to achieve the effect in the video though. To think that a huge starship can disappear in an instant! If Professor Eugene saw this kind of technology, he would definitely think that it was a special effect from a sci-fi movie!¡± George knew very well that he couldn¡¯t get more information on such advanced technology through the video. ¡°Mocalians!¡± At this moment, he stored the name of the alien in this chat group in his memory. It was really because the technology demonstrated in the video was just too shocking. The conversation in the alien chat group was still going on, but it was all useless information. It was a good time for George to rest his swollen eyes and clear his mind to prepare for the next move. Half an hour later, George, whose eyes had recovered a lot, entered the chat group first to check if there was any important information during the time he was away. Unsurprisingly, the conversation in the chat group had stopped for a while. Seeing that no one was chatting and there were no new messages, George opened the chat group file and first downloaded the video of the starship disappearing before continuing to watch the second half of the video. In the video, after the starship disappeared, the other starship docked at the space station as well. This starship did not disappear. Instead, it stayed parked in the docking area of the space station. Soon, just as the demonstration video was about to end, George abruptly saw a few strange-looking creatures in the video. They had features similar to Earthians, but their limbs were much longer than the Earthians¡¯. They were like tall monkeys. He was sure monkeys were a more suitable description as compared to orangutans. This unexpected discovery ignited George¡¯s interest. To be able to see the appearance of aliens in the video was an exciting thing in itself. Although he hadn¡¯t witnessed them with his own eyes, this did not hinder George¡¯s excitement. ¡°This should be the appearance of the Mocalians, right? Hm, why do I feel like I¡¯ve seen them somewhere before?¡± George clearly knew that this was the first time he had seen the appearance of the Mocalians. He couldn¡¯t have seen such strange-looking creatures at any time before. However, he couldn¡¯t explain it, but he kept feeling that he had seen such a creature somewhere before. This feeling was like deja-vu. It was like seeing someone or something in a dream, only to see it again in reality not long after. Just as George was rummaging through his memories, the progress bar of the video was about to end. The aliens with long limbs in the video would also disappear as the video ended. The long-limbed Mocalians stood together neatly as if they were doing a final performance for the video. The first Mocalian standing in the front row on the left suddenly turned its body to the other side, as if something outside the screen was attracting it. However, George could clearly see that when the Mocalian turned, its upper body had moved, but its lower body remained in its original position, not moving at all. At this moment, George¡¯s pupils dilated and his mouth formed an ¡°O¡± shape. He had seen the posture of the Mocalian that went against the understanding of Earthians not long ago. George finally understood why he kept feeling that he had seen the appearance of the Mocalians before. It was because when he had helped Anna escape previously, her body had also made the same strange posture.. Chapter 10 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The video of the Mocalian¡¯s demonstration had finished playing. However, George¡¯s eyes were still fixed on the screen, and he stayed unmoved like a statue for quite some time. When he saw the strange posture of the Mocalian just now, he immediately recalled that Anna had done the same posture before. One could imagine the shock in his heart at this moment. ¡°Anna! Could she be a Mocalian? That¡¯s impossible! I¡¯ve searched through Anna¡¯s past before she entered Yale, how could she¡­ Could it be that she deliberately hid her past? That¡¯s not possible too. If that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no way she could have escaped Yale¡¯s strict background checks. Or, could it be that after Anna entered Yale, her body was taken over by aliens?¡± George was guessing Anna¡¯s identity, which reminded him of his previous actions in university. There were quite a few male classmates who liked Anna, and many had investigated Anna¡¯s past. As long as one¡¯s past could be entered into the archives of Yale University with no issues, it was enough to prove that this person¡¯s background was trustworthy. It was even an important proof to build a network. Anna¡¯s past had been recorded in the archives as well. From her childhood to the school she went to, the number of times her family had undergone change and why, and even the people she had come into contact with. A very detailed report of her past had been recorded. This was because Anna and George had entered the university to major in space physics. Space physics was a subject that aimed at leading the nation with technology, and thus required the background of anyone who entered to be extremely clean, without any stains. This was also why George did not believe that Anna was an alien. He guessed that something must have happened to Anna after she entered Yale University, causing her body to be abnormal. This was not George¡¯s random guess as there was evidence that such events had happened before. As a space physics student, he would often come into contact with some very strange things, many of which were rare materials that had entered Earth from outer space. As George thought of this, he had a clearer idea in his mind. ¡°Anna must have come into contact with outer space materials before and was affected to some extent! That must be it! So the most urgent thing now is to find Anna!¡± With this, George took out the phone card that Anna had given him before she escaped. There was an unknown number written on the back of the old phone card. This was the only way he could contact Anna at the moment. George picked up the phone and started dialing. But halfway through, he suddenly stopped. ¡°This can¡¯t do, If the agents eavesdrop on my phone call to Anna, things will be troublesome!¡± Thus, George gave up using his phone and put on his coat to leave the house. He was going to go to the mall outside and call Anna from a public phone. Night had fallen. After more than ten minutes of traveling, George entered a store that was open 24 hours a day. There was only one man on duty in the store, acting both as the salesperson and the security guard. The man was about 40 years old and had a beard. His pale face revealed that he had not had much rest recently. When the man heard the sound of the door ring, he looked in the direction of the sound and saw a handsome young man walk in. ¡°Hello, may I borrow your phone?¡± George, who had just entered the shop, asked. The man did not speak but pointed behind George. There was a landline, which was currently unused. ¡°Thank you!¡± After George thanked him before walking over and picking up the phone. Then, he dialed the phone number that he had memorized in his mind. After a short wait, an unfamiliar voice sounded in George¡¯s ear. ¡°Hello, who are you looking for?¡± The other party¡¯s tone was very tough. He didn¡¯t even ask who was calling first, and directly asked who George was looking for. Under normal circumstances, the other party was very likely to be a staff responsible for receiving calls. It was likely that there would usually be a lot of calls, causing the other party to develop a habit of asking who the caller was looking for first, and not who the caller was. George immediately fabricated a fake identity to deal with the other party. ¡°I¡¯m a teacher from XX University. I¡¯m looking for a girl named Anna!¡± After that, he did not forget to add, ¡°This number was given to me by Anna. She said that I could find her by dialing it!¡± On the other side of the receiver, there was a short silence. The other party did not hang up the phone, nor did he respond. George did not speak either. He waited patiently. Under strange circumstances, remaining silent was always the wisest thing to do. After about three minutes, the sound of objects hitting each other came from the receiver. It was like two iron bars hitting each other. After the other party had answered the phone, he had only asked who George was looking for and then remained silent to his response. And now, there was this strange sound, which made George very anxious. George was thinking that he would wait for a few more minutes. If there was still no response, he would hang up the phone. However, as the sound of things clashing became clearer and clearer, a low male voice sounded, ¡°Are you looking for Anna?¡± The voice that suddenly appeared made George unable to react for a moment. He paused for a moment before coming to his senses. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m her teacher. Do you know where Anna Is?¡± ¡°She¡¯s dead!¡± Hearing the other party¡¯s words coming through the receiver, George was so shocked that he almost lost his grip on the phone. ¡°What?! Say it again, who¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°Anna is already dead!¡± The other party immediately said it in a more certain tone, causing George to feel as though his head had been struck by a bludgeon. He was completely dumbfounded¡­ George originally wanted to continue questioning the other party, but a series of beeps came from the receiver. Obviously, the other party had hung up the phone. He was very unwilling to accept it and dialed the number again. However, when the beeping sound came from the receiver again, it was apparent that the other party refused to answer the phone. ¡°Damn it, what kind of strange people are these!¡± George did not believe the news of Anna¡¯s death that he had heard on the phone just now. This was because there were only two possible scenarios: that was Buck had found Anna, or had accidentally killed her during the chase. If any of the two had happened, Buck would have definitely informed him at the first moment. George picked up the phone again and dialed Buck¡¯s cell phone. Not long after, Buck¡¯s voice rang in his ear. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Buck, it¡¯s George. How¡¯s the pursuit of Anna?¡± At the same time, in order to hide his concern for Anna, he immediately added, ¡°Our team is very interested in Anna¡¯s strange body¡­¡± However, before he could finish his words, Buck interrupted him. ¡°George, I¡¯m very sorry. We were unable to capture Anna. Two of my colleagues have died, and I¡¯m currently recovering in the hospital¡­¡± Buck¡¯s tone was very weak, while George was very worried about Anna¡¯s situation. ¡°Why did you have such serious casualties? How is Anna? Did you not capture her?¡± Chapter 11 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George¡¯s tone was very urgent and he spoke very quickly. When he didn¡¯t hear Buck¡¯s reply over the receiver, he realized he may have spoken too quickly just now, so he patiently repeated his question. Buck¡¯s voice sounded again, but his voice was much softer than just now. ¡°We, we never managed to catch up with Anna, but we were attacked by a monster on the way!¡± ¡°A monster?! What kind of monster?¡± When George heard the word ¡°monster¡± again, all the muscles in his body began to tense up, and he entered a nervous state. What he was afraid of was that the monster Buck and the others encountered had something to do with Anna, or that the monster was Anna herself. Buck¡¯s voice disappeared for some time again. When he spoke again, George had to press the receiver close to his ear to hear him clearly. ¡°It¡¯s hard to describe the appearance of the monster because we almost couldn¡¯t see it clearly¡­ it was just too fast.¡± George knew that Buck was seriously injured. Otherwise, based on his understanding of the muscle-man Buck, normal attacks wouldn¡¯t have been able to hurt him at all. ¡°From his tone, he sounded weak. He should be very seriously injured!¡± After hanging up the phone, George analyzed Buck¡¯s condition. The only thing George could do now was to go to the hospital to visit Buck and get some other information from him. When he was about to end the call with Buck just now, Buck had told him which hospital he was in. The hospital was located in a nearby neighborhood, which was a little far from George¡¯s residence. To get to the hospital as soon as possible, George decided to drive there himself. Ten minutes later, an old SUV rushed out of Second Street and drove along Fourth Avenue to Fifth Street. George, who was driving the SUV, received a call from his good friend Carl on the way to the hospital. ¡°Hey, George.¡± ¡°Speak, I¡¯m driving!¡± ¡°Oh, I heard from my classmate that you¡¯ve entered a special research group¡­¡± George had a good guess at why Carl had suddenly called. He must be worried about his career path after graduation. ¡°Carl, how did you know that I entered the research group?¡± George knew that there was almost nothing that could be kept a secret between his classmates at Yale. He simply asked this question to tease Carl. ¡°George, stop joking. I¡­ I want to join your group. Can you recommend me to Professor Eugene?¡± ¡°Why? I mean why do you want to join Professor Eugene¡¯s group? Did you have a disagreement with your mentor, Professor Lodge?¡± George found it hard to understand his friend¡¯s request. Under normal circumstances, no student would choose to change one¡¯s mentor midway, especially when one was just about to graduate. Doing so would be equivalent to ruining one¡¯s career. One had to know that although each mentor¡¯s research direction might be roughly the same, the difference was still huge when it came to the detailed subdivisions under the same research direction. When Carl¡¯s voice rang in George¡¯s ears again, his tone had changed greatly, and he seemed to be particularly impatient. ¡°George, I don¡¯t have time! You must help me! I¡¯ll call you later!¡± ¡°Beep Beep¡­¡± George held the steering wheel with both hands, and the sound of Carl hanging up the phone came from the earpiece. ¡°Why has this guy suddenly become so strange?¡± Carl used to be his neighbor. The two of them had been together since they were young, and they were already very familiar with each other¡¯s personalities. The Carl on the phone just now was obviously different from the Carl he was familiar with before. ¡°When did Carl become so serious?¡± George couldn¡¯t figure out why his good friend¡¯s personality had suddenly changed. Perhaps it was related to Carl¡¯s mentor, Professor Lodge. Thinking about his friend¡¯s problems while he was driving made George feel that time passed quickly. When the hospital building appeared in his field of vision, George slowed down and drove into the hospital parking lot. At this time, the parking lot was full of all kinds of vehicles. Even in the streets near the hospital, there was no parking space available. As for why it was so crowded, it should have something to do with the discovery of the alien starship. After all, not only did the chaotic crowd cause damage to the buildings and facilities in the streets, but they also hurt many people. After some time, George finally found a parking spot. He locked the car and immediately dashed to the hospital building. When he entered the hall, even though George was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by the crowded crowd inside. The originally spacious waiting hall was now filled with patients waiting to be treated. The scene was very chaotic. George observed for a moment and realized that it would be very difficult for him to pass through the crowd on his own. At this moment, the police who were maintaining the order in the hall caught his attention. ¡°There are so many people, I should just ask the police for help!¡± With this, George squeezed into the crowd and with much effort found a police officer who was maintaining order within the crowd. He first revealed his identity. Then, with the help of the police, he got the phone number of the hospital¡¯s reception center. This way, he could find Buck¡¯s ward quickly and reduce unnecessary waiting. Buck was a special agent. Since he was injured in the line of duty, he could enter the hospital¡¯s special ward. Soon, George found out where Buck¡¯s ward was. With the help of the police again, he entered the elevator. ¡°Phew, if this goes on, the entire city¡¯s medical system will be paralyzed!¡± Just the discovery of an alien starship had led to such chaos. If that starship landed on Earth, who knew what kind of crazy actions the humans would take then. George started imagining the chaos that would happen if the alien starship did land on Earth. ¡°Ding!¡± The elevator reached the 23rd floor. All the wards on this floor were special wards. When George walked out of the elevator, he could see the signs on the wall. ¡°I need to go to ward 19, so I should take the right corridor.¡± The wards on this floor only accepted special personnel, thus there were close to zero patients or their families in the corridor. Even the medical staff weren¡¯t seen. Ward 19 was not very far away. George had only walked for a few minutes before he saw Buck¡¯s ward. ¡°Knock, knock, knock!¡± George stood in front of the ward door and knocked on the door. ¡°Please come in!¡± An unfamiliar voice came from inside the room. George opened the door and looked into the ward. He saw a lady in a special dress sitting next to Buck¡¯s bed. ¡°Hello, I¡¯ve talked to Buck on the phone before.¡± ¡°Yes, I know, you¡¯re researcher George. I¡¯m the person in charge of taking care of Buck. Oh, please sit on the sofa and wait for a moment, it will take a while for him to wake up.¡± George looked at Buck, who was lying on the bed. He had fallen into a deep sleep.. Chapter 12 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio After waiting for nearly half an hour, Buck finally showed signs of waking up. His arm began to move, and the female agent by Buck¡¯s side spoke to George who was sitting on the sofa, ¡°He¡¯s about to wake up!¡± ¡°Phew.¡± George felt that he had heard the most wonderful sound of the day. He exhaled and left the sofa. He came to Buck¡¯s bedside. George had a lot of questions that he needed Buck to answer. Just as he was thinking about how he should phrase his questions, the female agent suddenly made a very dangerous move. She drew a pistol from her side at an extremely fast speed and pulled the trigger without any hesitation. ¡°Bang, bang!¡± With the two gunshots, George¡¯s muscles tensed up and he reflexively dodged. ¡°What, what are you doing?!¡± What frightened George was that the female agent had suddenly pulled out her gun and fired without warning. She was aiming at the French window! Not long after, George¡¯s tensed nerves finally relaxed and he turned to look out of the window. The large French window was now covered with spider-web-like cracks. However, the glass did not shatter. It was obviously high-strength Plexiglas, though it wasn¡¯t bulletproof. There were two bullet holes in the glass. At this moment, it was dark outside the window. Other than the lights from the tall buildings in the distance, there was nothing abnormal. George did not understand why the female agent suddenly fired. Could it be that she had seen something just now? ¡°What did you see?¡± The female agent maintained a vigilant posture and did not answer George¡¯s question. At this time, Buck, who was lying on the hospital bed, had already woken up. There had been two gunshots in the room. If that was not enough to wake him up, he may never wake up. ¡°Camilla, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Buck¡¯s tone was still very weak, but it was much better than when he spoke to George on the phone previously. The female agent Camilla still maintained a vigilant posture, but this time she answered Buck. ¡°Just as you were about to wake up, a figure appeared outside the window. I think my bullets should have hit the other party¡¯s body.¡± ¡°What? A figure appeared outside the window? This is the 23rd floor, who could climb up to such a high place?¡± When George heard Camilla mention the reason for her shooting, he immediately voiced his doubts. However, on second thought, he felt that what he said just now was a little rash. After all, one didn¡¯t necessarily have to climb up. One could achieve such an action just by using a sling from the top of the building. However, George also thought of another possibility: could it be Anna?! When this thought first appeared, he initially felt that it was a little unbelievable. ¡°I think it might be the monster that attacked me earlier¡­¡± Buck finally gave a sure answer because this was the only one reason that could explain the figure that Camilla saw earlier. When George looked at Camilla again, she had already taken out a small communicator and was talking into it. ¡°Three minutes ago, the ward where Captain was in was attacked by an unknown creature. Go and retrieve the hospital¡¯s surveillance camera now. Bring it up when you find it.¡± George ignored Camilla and went to Buck¡¯s bedside. ¡°Buck, how¡¯s your mental state now? Can you answer my questions?¡± Buck made a gesture to indicate no problem, then signaled with his eyes for George wanted to fire away. ¡°Wait a minute, Captain is not in a suitable condition to answer your questions now!¡± ¡°You!¡± George abruptly turned to look at Camilla. He was very uncomfortable with the commanding tone of the female agent. However, he had no right to refute her words. After all, a special agent was not someone he could order around. The two sides entered a confrontation. About 10 minutes later, the door of the ward was opened, and agents in the same uniform walked in. George saw that they were holding a video system. It was probably the surveillance record that the female agent had requested them to bring. Soon, the few agents installed the surveillance system in the ward. One of them inserted a memory card into the port. They retrieved the surveillance footage on Buck¡¯s ward. They probably wanted to see what creature was out the window through the surveillance footage. Curious, George walked to the front of the screen. He was also very interested in the figure that appeared outside the window. ¡°Could it really be Anna?¡± As he waited for the screen to light up, he guessed to himself. The pitch-black screen lit up, and the surveillance interface with nine squares appeared. Camilla immediately gave the order, ¡°Find the surveillance camera in Captain¡¯s room, quickly!¡± The agent controlling the machine very skillfully found the screen marked 2319. 23rd floor, ward 19. This was the ward Buck was in. George¡¯s eyes were fixed on the screen, full of anticipation and fear. He was very curious about what had just appeared outside the window, but he was also afraid that if it really was Anna, then the entire special agent organization would focus on capturing her. A hospital bed appeared on the screen, and Buck was sleeping soundly on it. Beside him was the agent Camilla. George was sitting alone on the sofa, looking like he was deep in thought. ¡°The rest is not important. Magnify the screen to focus on the French window!¡± After Camilla gave the order, the screen quickly showed only the huge French window. George saw Camilla look down at her watch, then told her companion to fast-forward the time of the surveillance recording to 47 minutes. At that time, Buck was just about to wake up. The people around the screen all focused their attention on the outside of the French window in the video. The time in the upper left corner of the screen was slowly ticking. When the video was played to 49 minutes and 12 seconds, Camilla was the first to notice that the figure had appeared. ¡°Start from here, frame by frame!¡± After hearing Camilla¡¯s words, George felt his palms start to sweat. He stared at the screen without blinking, afraid that he might miss something. In the next moment, where it was close to the edge of the French window, a shadow that looked like an arm appeared on the screen. The reflection of the glass made it impossible for everyone to see if it was a human arm. As the video played frame by frame, the figure outside the window grew larger and larger. However, everyone also had a strange discovery. The thing that looked like an arm had appeared on the screen for some time, but it seemed like there was still a long segment of it that was not displayed on the monitor. ¡°What the hell is this thing! How can it have such long limbs!¡± When George heard one of the agents voice everyone¡¯s doubts, he recalled the demo video he had watched in the alien chat group. He remembered clearly that the Mocalians had long limbs. At this time, Camilla seemed to be a little impatient. She asked the agent to speed up the surveillance. ¡°Speed it up, I want to see the monster¡¯s face first!¡± Chapter 13 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George looked at Camilla with disdain. The female agent standing at the front right of him was giving orders to the agent controlling the surveillance. Just a moment ago, Camilla was the one who requested the agent to slow down the speed of the surveillance video to check it frame by frame, and now, she was impatiently urging the video to be played faster. ¡°This woman¡¯s mentality is unstable. How did she get into the Special Ops squad?¡± As George was silently criticizing Camilla, the surveillance footage was adjusted back to normal speed. Soon, an even larger figure appeared on the screen. However, due to the layer of reinforced glass and the time being nighttime, everyone present could not see the appearance of the monster clearly. Unless they could pull up the surveillance footage of the entire hospital and find the image of the monster from the surveillance camera placed outside the building, then perhaps they could see what it looked like. George pondered but did not speak up about his thoughts. The few special agents also quickly thought of such a method. The special agent who was controlling the surveillance footage stood up and looked at Camilla behind him. ¡°Vice-captain, we can¡¯t see the monster¡¯s appearance from this surveillance footage. Why don¡¯t we get a hold of the surveillance footage outside the hospital?¡± So Camilla was the vice-captain of the Special Ops Squad! George listened to the male agent¡¯s suggestion and anticipated his next move. Camilla frowned. ¡°There are too many surveillance cameras outside the hospital. We don¡¯t have that many people to check all of them, but we can ask Captain to apply for help from the police.¡± Everyone turned their gazes to Buck who was on the bed at the same time. George didn¡¯t say anything. After all, he was conflicted. He wanted very much to see what the monster looked like, but he was afraid that it would be Anna. Buck raised his hand as a signal to his teammates to raise his bed so that he could feel more comfortable. At this moment, George suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. There must be a call coming in, or there must be new messages in the chat. With the excuse he needed to go to the bathroom, George left the ward alone. He walked through the corridor and pushed open the door of the escape corridor. In the dim corridor, the screen lit up, and messages appeared one after another. George drove the monster out of his mind and placed his focus on the chat group that he had clicked open. In the alien chat group, there were less than 10 new messages. They were conversations between the level 1.8 Mocalian and level 2.5 Sarlatian. Mocalian: [Everyone, we have quite a sum of spare space storage cards produced recently on our planet. If any civilization is interested, feel free to contact me to purchase them!] Sarlatian: [Mocalian, your understanding of space far surpasses the major civilizations in the universe. If it wasn¡¯t for the difficulty of converting space into combat power, you would have long been a high-level or even super civilization! ] Mocalian: [Thank you, the noble character of the Sarlatians has always been praised by the civilizations in the universe. ] Sarlatian: [Mocalian, how much does a space storage card cost? ] Mocalian: [This depends on the level of the space storage card. How about this, I¡¯ll upload the detailed price list to the group file. If you buy it in bulk, the price is negotiable!] ¡°Space storage card?¡± Seeing the words ¡°space storage card¡± that was the center of discussion in the alien chat group, George was puzzled. This was very similar to the subject he was studying now, both belonged to space physics. At this time, a notification that a new group file had been uploaded appeared at the top of the chat group. George immediately clicked into the group file and saw the document that had just been uploaded. After selecting the document, a very detailed price list was displayed. It listed the various levels of space storage cards and their corresponding functions, behind all the descriptions was their respective prices. For example, at the bottom of the list was the F-grade space storage card. The function column was only filled with a short phrase: ¡°It can store one universe unit¡±. The price of one was 15 million universe dollars. After George finished reading about the F-grade space storage card, he was even more confused. ¡°It can store 1 universe unit? How much space is that?¡± He didn¡¯t understand the measuring units in the universe, so he couldn¡¯t make an accurate judgment. However, George could still comprehend the price of the space storage card. This was based on his knowledge that the light-speed starship that he had obtained was worth more than 100 billion universe dollars. In addition, the aliens in the chat group had once said that a low-level life planet was worth around 100 million universe dollars. Using this as a basis, an F-grade space storage card could be considered to be quite expensive since it was worth 15 million universe dollars. ¡°I wonder how much space one universe unit is?¡± After George finished looking at the F grade space storage card at the bottom, he slowly moved his gaze to the top of the table. The levels of the space storage cards increased, and at the top of the table was the A-grade space storage card. When he saw the price of the A-grade space storage card, he was shocked by the exorbitant price. ¡°An A-grade space storage card costs 60 billion universe dollars! This much moment is enough to buy almost 600 life planets similar to Earth!¡± When George first obtained the interstellar battleship, the price of one was around 100 billion universe dollars. However, that was after all a colossus that could travel through space. To think that a space storage card on the price list could be sold for 60 billion universe dollars, for a moment, was simply unacceptable to George. He was unable to accept it because his vision and level of thinking were still at the level of an Earthian. George didn¡¯t dwell on the price of the A-grade space storage card but looked to its functions. ¡°It can store 10,000 universe units! The A-grade storage cards¡¯ storage capacity is 10,000 times that of the F-grade storage cards. Looks like I have to figure out how much space 1 universe unit is.¡± George closed the group file. When he entered the chat group interface again, he discovered that the Selkian who liked to post sarcastic comments was sending out insulting messages to the Mocalian in the group chat. [Mocalians are simply black-hearted businessmen! An F-grade space storage card can only store one universe unit, which means it can only store one adult Mocalian at most. To think you would dare sell it at 15 million universe dollars. Hmph! One day, Planet Selka will destroy your planet!] What surprised George was that the Selkian who liked to post insulting messages had answered his doubts. ¡°It seems that one universe unit is the space about the size of an adult.¡± When George had watched the demo video shared by the Mocalian previously, he had a rough estimate of the size of the Mocalians. They should be slightly bigger than an adult Earthling, but the difference should not be very big. According to this calculation, and the fact an A-grade storage card¡¯s capacity was 10,000 times that of an F-grade storage card, which meant an A-grade storage card should be able to store an interstellar battleship! George finally understood why the interstellar battleship would disappear into thin air in the demo video. It turned out it had been stored in another space by a higher-grade storage card.. Chapter 14 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George guessed that although the video of the starship disappearing into thin air was a demonstration, it was very likely that the Mocalians had already mastered that kind of black technology. As someone who studied space physics, George was very eager to obtain the Mocalians¡¯ black technology. To him, obtaining such technology was even more exciting than owning an interstellar battleship. A black technology like space storage far surpassed the human ¡°black technology products¡± on Earth. Think about it. A storage card that could store something as colossal as an interstellar battleship, enabling the user easy storage and easy transportation, as well as granting the user a surprise factor when facing opponents. George once again entered the group documents folder and opened the price list shared by the Mocalian. He saw that the space storage card was similar in size to the bank cards used on Earth. ¡°This is just super black technology! If only I can have a space storage card, even the lowest F-grade will do!¡± As George admired the space storage cards shared by the Mocalian, he habitually inserted his right hand into his pocket and touched a phone card. It was the old phone card that Anna left for him when she escaped. His thoughts were disrupted the moment his hand touched the phone card. The most important thing at the moment was to find Anna, but George found himself addicted to the alien black technology. ¡°That kind of black technology is not something I can get. Even the cheapest F-grade space storage card is an unattainable black technology for Earthians.¡± After mocking himself, George retracted his gaze from the screen and stopped paying attention to the chat group. He took out the old phone card from his pocket and looked at the phone number on the back. A bold idea formed in his mind. ¡°Hmm, why don¡¯t I use the power of those agents to check the number Anna left behind!¡± Although this idea was a little dangerous, George currently did not have a better way to find Anna. Instead of letting the agents find Anna, he might as well take the initiative and give the agents the strange phone number. Then, he could get Anna in the name of the research group. After making up his mind, George hurried back to Buck¡¯s ward. He reached the ward and was about to open the door when he heard the sound of arguments in the ward. He listened carefully. It was Camilla and Buck who were quarreling. Camilla wanted Buck to apply for help from the police force, but Buck didn¡¯t seem to agree. As for why he refused, George wasn¡¯t sure because he wasn¡¯t around when the argument started. George opened the door of the ward, and his appearance attracted the attention of everyone inside. ¡°Why were you gone for so long?¡± It was Camilla who asked the question. George could clearly feel the suspicion in her eyes. He ignored Camilla¡¯s question and walked towards Buck who was lying on the hospital bed. ¡°The occupational disease of special agents makes them feel that everyone is suspicious! Captain Buck, I have some information for you, and only you!¡± George walked to Buck¡¯s bedside. What he meant with his words was quite obvious. ¡ª he wanted to tell Buck about the information alone. Buck stared at George for a while. During this process, he must have been pondering as well. Finally, Buck gave the order, ¡°You guys go out first. Wait, take the surveillance camera out too!¡± George rolled his eyes at Camilla when he saw her leave the ward. Soon, only George and Buck were left in the ward. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s just the two of us now. George, what do you want to say?¡± George didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he took out the phone card from his pocket and handed it to Buck who was on the bed. ¡°This is? Whose phone number is this?¡± Seeing George shake his head, Buck more or less understood something. ¡°You want me to check this number?¡± George pulled over a chair and sat down beside the bed. ¡°Buck, don¡¯t ask me how I got this phone card. I need you to help me find out who the owner of the number is and where he lives.¡± ¡°I can help you, but I have a condition!¡± George had anticipated that Buck would name a condition, so he waited for him to continue. ¡°Let me join your group!¡± Buck knew that George had set up a research group under the instruction of his mentor. The authority of this group was quite big. As long as he could become an extended member of the research group, he would get a lot of resources too. His initial goal was to become an extended member of the research group anyway. When George heard Buck¡¯s condition, he looked at the other party with a hint of surprise. ¡°Buck has quite the appetite!¡± After silently criticizing Buck¡¯s request, George pondered for a while and felt that the deal was worth it. In the future, matters that were inconvenient for him to handle on the surface, or those that could not be achieved through normal channels could be handed over to members like Buck to do. ¡°Sure, but you can only be an extended member of the group!¡± Buck replied with a ¡°sure¡± gesture. Then he heard George ask again, ¡°Buck, how long will it take? I need to know the owner and address of the number as soon as possible.¡± ¡°You will be able to get the information you want before midnight today.¡± After reaching an agreement with Buck, George left the hospital. He had brought the old phone card back along with him. He did not leave it with Buck. God knows what else was hidden in this phone card. What if Anna asked for it when he saw her again? It would be bad if he couldn¡¯t take it out. What George didn¡¯t know was that when he left the hospital, the female agent Camilla was standing in front of the window and watching him. It wasn¡¯t until she saw George¡¯s figure was about to disappear into the street, that she ordered a disguised agent to follow him. After Anna¡¯s body had mutated, the captain and his men were attacked when they pursued her. This, coupled with the incident that happened outside the window of the ward today. Camilla put two and two together and found it hard not to suspect that George had something to do with Anna. She decided she could only find out through secret investigations. However, Camilla¡¯s actions were not authorized by Captain Buck. She was doing it secretly behind Barker¡¯s back. About half an hour later, George returned to his apartment. At this moment, the clock on the wall showed that it was 21:51. George took a look at the time and turned on the television. The news channel was broadcasting the report of the alien starship in outer space. ¡°It has been 75 hours since the alien starship had appeared at the Lagrange Point! According to the latest monitoring results of the National Space Center, the alien starship is most likely to have met with a major accident. Professor John from the National Space Center has reminded the public not to panic. At midnight today, the XXX army division will be stationed in the city, please stay at home and do not enter the streets without permission!¡± George sat on the sofa and watched the news broadcast. It made him realize that the chaos caused by the starship was not as simple as the news said. ¡°At midnight, the army division will be entering the city. Are they trying to enforce a curfew?¡± Just as George was pondering, his phone rang with a notification. ¡°It¡¯s Buck. He has gotten the information with such speed?¡± George picked up his phone and was surprised to see that it was a message from Buck.. Chapter 15 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Early morning, George was sitting on the couch and would turn his head to look at the clock every few minutes. He had only slept for about three hours since midnight. In the message Buck sent him last night, he had found out who the owner of the phone number was. The number was registered under the name Eliza, but Buck found out that the real owner of the number was a guy named Brooke. Brooke had no criminal record in the police force and ran a furniture factory. On the surface, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything wrong with him. However, Buck told George that the guy¡¯s actions in hiding his identity as the owner of the number showed that Brooke was not the law-abiding citizen he appeared to be. It was a given George chose to believe Buck¡¯s investigation. This was because Anna was the one who had given him the number. He believed that there was a secret behind why she had chosen to give him an unfamiliar number. Originally, after George received Buck¡¯s message on the discovery of his investigation, he planned to go to the address mentioned in the message that night. However, because the entire city had entered a curfew, idlers were prohibited from appearing in the streets from midnight to 6 am. George could get a curfew travel pass through his mentor, Professor Eugene, but if he did this, his actions would be known by his mentor. Thus, he had no choice but to sit on the sofa and wait until the curfew was lifted at 6 am. At this time, there were still more than ten minutes till it was 6 am. The television opposite George was broadcasting the morning news. One of the news items caused George¡¯s suspicions. ¡°Good morning, everyone. We have an urgent message to be broadcast on the morning news! Yesterday at around 2 am, a 12-man team of the XXX army division, who was patrolling District 5, was attacked. Currently, the military has not provided any information on casualties. As for exactly who had attacked the military, please pay attention to the news at 6 am!¡± George retracted his gaze and looked at the clock on the wall. Then, he softly voiced out the doubts in his heart, ¡°The news didn¡¯t say who the unit was attacked by¡­ The time was around 2 am, I should have been asleep on the sofa at that time¡­ The attack happened in District 5¡­ Buck found out that Brooke has another factory, and it seems to be in District 5 as well.¡± George picked up the phone and opened the message Buck had sent him. It clearly stated that Brooke¡¯s factory was in District 5. ¡°It can¡¯t be such a coincidence, right?¡± At this moment, the clock on the wall sounded, indicating it was 6. After 6 am, the curfew in the city would be lifted. George put on his coat and left the apartment with some necessary items. There was a chill in the early morning neighborhood. After the curfew was lifted, a lot of people who lived in the area came out of their homes at the first minute as well. George did not drive. Instead, he planned to walk to the subway station and then take the subway to District 5. The subway station closest to his apartment was about 10 minutes walk, and he would have to pass through two intersections along the way. He could see the traces left by the roadblocks set up last night. The roadblocks were most probably made of metal, the kind that was used to block tanks in war. ¡°This is definitely not what the TV news had reported. The army is not stationed in the city just because of the rioting crowds.¡± George had seen such roadblocks once in a documentary. If the army were here to suppress the rioting crowds, they would have used soft roadblocks that were more portable. Something very serious must have happened in the city that would make the army use the kind of roadblock that could stop tanks after they arrived. What George found strange was, if something terrible had happened in the city, why did the army only control the city at night? From 6 am to 10 pm, people were allowed to move freely in the city. This was very strange behavior. After George entered the subway, he contacted Professor Eugene by phone. He voiced his doubts about the curfew naturally because there was no need to hide such things from his professor. However, Professor Eugene¡¯s reaction was unexpected. Professor Eugene used a warning tone to tell George not to care too much about anything outside the research group. He even told George to come to the research center ahead of time. When the call with the professor was about to end, to Geroge¡¯s surprise, Professor Eugene told him to leave the city as soon as possible. Although he didn¡¯t explain his words, George could roughly guess that it had something to do with the military being stationed in the city. It was very likely that they had discovered something terrible in the city. ¡°Why on earth does the military only enforce curfews on the city at night?¡± Even until the subway arrived at his destination, George still couldn¡¯t figure out the reason. He walked out of the subway station and came to the streets, then followed the address Buck had sent him and headed to Brooke¡¯s factory in District 5. The area was mostly filled with all kinds of small private factories. It was not difficult to find Brooke¡¯s factory. George turned on the map function on his phone and quickly located his destination. ¡°Hmm, it will take about 20 minutes to walk there!¡± He quickened his pace and headed to his destination following the map. More than 20 minutes later, a small factory with a neat appearance appeared in front of George. Above the door, there was a sign that indicated it was a wood furniture processing factory. The two metal doors were closed, and only a small door that could accommodate an adult was open. George was not in a hurry to enter. He first walked around the factory and found that this private small processing factory did not have a back door. The processing factory was only a one-story building which took up most of the grounds. Looking from the outside, it looked like a super-large private residence. ¡°Is Anna in here?¡± While George was pondering, he had arrived at the factory gates again. He pushed open the small unlocked door and asked loudly, ¡°Hello, is anyone there?¡± He had already thought about an excuse before he came. If the other party asked, he would say that he was here to customize a set of solid wood furniture. ¡°Hey, who are you looking for?¡± A voice suddenly appeared behind him, giving George a fright. He turned around and saw a middle-aged man not far behind him. When he saw the man¡¯s face clearly, his pupils shrank and he almost cried out. The man in front of George was no other than the driver of the taxi when he was attacked, the taxi driver who had abandoned his car and ran away. Why was he here? Did he own the factory? Chapter 16 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio While George was observing the middle-aged man opposite him. the man was also staring at him. Finally, the middle-aged man recognized George. ¡°Are you the passenger from that day?¡± ¡°You are?¡± George pretended not to remember who the man was. He had to do this. Otherwise, the other party would most likely link his motive in coming here to a direction that was not beneficial to him. The taxi driver looked puzzled as he continued to stare at George. ¡°You don¡¯t remember me!¡± George noticed that he did not use a questioning tone. It seems the taxi driver had long recognized him. George cursed in his heart, ¡°Why do I have to recognize you!¡± This guy had abandoned the car and ran away, causing himself to almost be burned to death in the car. He hadn¡¯t even settled the score with him yet! If it weren¡¯t for his mentor informing Buck to rush over, perhaps his funeral would have been over by now. The taxi driver had escaped at that time. A few hours later, he had turned back. When he saw that only the frame of the taxi was left from the fire and that George¡¯s corpse in the car was nowhere seen, he thought that the police had cleared the scene. ¡°Sir, you¡¯re really lucky to be able to escape from the car!¡± Huh? What did he mean by that? From the other party¡¯s tone, George could sense that the taxi driver felt that it was a pity that he had not been burned to death in the car. There was something wrong with this taxi driver. Perhaps he was not a taxi driver at all. Perhaps it was just a fake job that he used to hide his identity. The strange thing was that after Buck had rescued him, he had informed the police nearby. Why hadn¡¯t the police investigated the identity of the taxi driver? Just as George was deep in thought, the taxi driver moved closer to him. ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t know why you are here. Perhaps you¡¯re here to find me, but the police have already investigated me, and I am innocent. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask the police.¡± The middle-aged man blabbered, but as soon as he moved, George was already on high alert. In his right pocket, there was a small-caliber pistol. At this moment, George held the pistol in his right hand and pointed the muzzle in the direction of the middle-aged man. George had purposely brought the pistol with him when he left the apartment. If the other party made any threatening moves, he would not hesitate to pull the trigger. Besides, when he entered the area, George had noticed a few surveillance equipment, so he was not worried about the consequences of shooting the other party. With his current status, he believed that the judge would give the fair judgment that whatever he did was out of self-defense! However, what surprised George was that the middle-aged man suddenly changed directions and walked towards the factory behind him. It was as if the other party had lost interest in him in an instant, just like a hunter who chose to give up he saw that the prey was about to fall in his hands. ¡°Wait, is this factory yours too?¡± When George saw that the middle-aged man was about to enter the factory, he asked. ¡°No, this is my elder brother¡¯s processing factory. Why, do you want to customize furniture?¡± The middle-aged man stood at the gates of the factory and turned to look at George. ¡°If you¡¯re really here to customize solid wood furniture, please follow me in. My brother should be in the factory now.¡± After the other party finished saying this, he took no more notice of George and disappeared into the gates. This was equivalent to having posed a difficult problem for George. A middle-aged man had appeared unexpectedly, who just so happened to be the taxi driver from before. Something so coincidental had been encountered by George. George looked at the factory gates and hesitated. To enter or not to enter? At this moment, the phone in his left pocket started to vibrate. ¡°Hmm? Who¡¯s calling?¡± Taking out his phone from his pocket, George saw that the caller was Captain Buck. He held the phone as he observed his surroundings. The sound of machinery roaring was coming from the nearby factory, and he was very close to the gates of the factory. Obviously, this was not the place to talk. Holding the phone, George walked out two intersections away before arriving at a relatively quiet place. ¡°Buck, it¡¯s George. I couldn¡¯t talk just now. Did something happen?¡± Although Buck was still lying in the hospital recovering from his injuries, as a small captain of the secret service organization, the authority in his hands was still quite big. ¡°George, where are you now? If you¡¯re in District 5, leave immediately!¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°As expected, you went to District 5 by yourself. Don¡¯t ask why, just leave immediately. I¡¯ll tell you the reason later!¡± ¡°Beep, beep¡­¡± George heard the busy tone which indicated that Buck had hung up the phone. He did not have time to think about how Buck knew his whereabouts so clearly. However, for Buck to inform him to leave this area immediately, it was most probably that something very dangerous was about to happen here. George didn¡¯t hesitate. Although he still had many questions, now wasn¡¯t the time to think. He turned around and sped off the same way he came. After passing an intersection, the factory was right in front of him. For safety reasons, George didn¡¯t go straight through the factory. Instead, he went around to the street on the right and planned to leave District 5 by another road. When he was in university, George had paid a lot of attention to his physical fitness. He went on marathons at least twice a week. This allowed him to run longer than most people. After more than ten minutes, George¡¯s figure was already gone from District 5 and was now at the subway station. George stood at the entrance of the subway station, calming the intense breathing caused by the long run. He didn¡¯t notice that more than a dozen people in different costumes had entered District 5 from different junctions. Their expressions were almost the same. If one observed carefully, it was not difficult to tell that they belonged to the same organization. When his breathing calmed, George took out the old-fashioned phone card from his pocket. He couldn¡¯t understand why the phone number Anna left would put him in such a dangerous situation. Or rather, Anna never believed his words and had always regarded him as an enemy. Leaving the phone number was just a trap that Anna had set up, waiting for George to dive headfirst into it. Suspicions, frustration, and unwillingness to be beaten were the emotions that filled George¡¯s brain. He walked into the subway station with dazed eyes, and like a puppet, he numbly came to the subway platform. The people around were either pouring in or making their way out of the station. A man in a gray jacket walked onto the platform and began to look for someone in the crowd. Not long after, he found his target in the No.2 waiting area. He began to move, using his flexibility to weave through the crowd. Soon, he came to the periphery of the No.2 waiting area. From his angle, George¡¯s silhouette was very clear. At this moment, the people around were either looking down at their phones or chatting with their friends. No one noticed him, and no one looked at the dispirited George. After the gray-clothed man found his target, when he pulled his right hand out of his chest pocket, a pistol appeared in his hand. When the gray-clothed man raised the pistol and aimed it at George¡¯s head, the people who were very close to George were the first to find the black muzzle of the gun pointing in their direction. A girl in the crowd screamed out of fear. George was jolted out of his daze by the scream. When he turned his head and realized that he was locked onto by the muzzle of the gun, he instinctively raised his palm to block it. In his palm was the old-fashioned phone card. ¡°Bang!¡± The bullet whistled through the muzzle and shot at George¡¯s head.. Chapter 17 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George thought that it was very strange when he realized that he wasn¡¯t feeling any pain from the palm that he had raised to block the bullet. Could it be that the bullet had missed? Or maybe someone had subdued that person? No! The sound that he had heard just now was without a doubt the sound of a gunshot. George retracted his palm. Sure enough, there weren¡¯t any signs of it being pierced by the bullet. What was puzzling was, where did the bullet that had just been shot go? At this moment, the crowd that heard the gunshot was fleeing in panic. ¡°Oh my God! Someone has been shot!¡± ¡°Where are the police?!¡± ¡°Run! Run!¡± They didn¡¯t care at all whether the bullet hit the target or not. What they were afraid of was whether it would affect them. As for the middle-aged man who had let out the shot, after pulling the trigger, he was surprised to find that George didn¡¯t fall to the ground as he had expected. However, he had watched as the bullet shot into the other party¡¯s palm. As for why George did not appear to be hit, the middle-aged man was simply clueless and stunned. He couldn¡¯t understand why the bullet had disappeared in George¡¯s palm. ¡°Could it be that you are¡­¡± Before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, he was surrounded by the security personnel who had arrived in time. ¡°Put down the weapon in your hand!¡± The security personnel of the subway raised their pistols one after another and aimed at the middle-aged man. ¡°Don¡¯t move. Put your weapon on the ground, or we¡¯ll shoot!¡± George had already recovered from his panic. Feeling that his body was once again under his control, he quickly moved his body and moved away from the muzzle of the gun that was aimed at him. He ran to the vicinity of the security personnel of the subway and only then did he feel completely safe. After the middle-aged man who tried to shoot him put down the weapon in his hand, he was subdued by the security guards. ¡°Sir, please wait for a moment. The police will be here soon.¡± George knew that the police would definitely get involved in the investigation after such a thing happened in the subway station. As the victim, although he was not injured physically, he still had to cooperate with the police¡¯s investigation. While waiting for the police to arrive, George¡¯s mind was in chaos. He had never seen the person who attacked him just now, but he should be related to the factory. After all, he had gone awfully close to the factory just now. Although he did not go in, he had coincidentally met the younger brother of the factory¡¯s boss outside, who coincidentally was the taxi driver who almost had him killed. What George couldn¡¯t fathom was that the middle-aged man had shot him at such a close distance just now, it would be impossible for the other party to make a mistake. However, he simply couldn¡¯t understand how the bullet that was shot at him had disappeared. After waiting for a few minutes, a few men in police uniforms walked into the subway station. Following protocol, two policemen removed the middle-aged man from the scene away first. Then one of the remaining policemen, who should be the sheriff, said to George, ¡°Sir, please come to the police station with me!¡± George agreed to the sheriff¡¯s request and left the subway station with the policemen. After they walked out of the subway station, George saw a few police cars parked near the exit. One of the cars didn¡¯t have a police car logo, and it should be the car of the sheriff. It was not until he got into the police car that his uneasy mood relaxed. It wasn¡¯t until now that George realized that he holding the old phone card in his right hand. He suddenly realized that the bullet that had shot at him should have hit the phone card first. However, when he scrutinized the phone card and checked it again and again, he didn¡¯t see any signs of damage. An absurd idea formed in George¡¯s mind: could it be that the bullet disappeared because of this phone card? Or was it not a phone card at all? The more George thought about it, the more incredulous he became. The only thing he was sure of now was that the phone card Anna left for him was not that simple. Then, he suddenly remembered that by following the police back to the police station, his belongings would have to be strictly checked. If the phone card in his hand was found to not be an actual phone card, it would be difficult for him to retrieve it. This can¡¯t do. He couldn¡¯t go to the police station, nor could he let the phone card fall into the hands of outsiders. This was something that Anna had left for him. If it really was something magical, it would be almost impossible to retrieve it then. He knew too well how humans dealt with extraordinary items. They wouldn¡¯t allow an extraordinary item to be in the hands of an individual. George looked out the window at the streets. The police car had already left District 5 and was passing through District 3. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they reached the police station. Time was of the essence. He had to think of a way to leave the police car before they reached the police station. Jump from the car and escape? That wasn¡¯t realistic, and it was impossible. Bribing the police in the police car? There were three police officers here, and it was a big risk. Should he ask his mentor, Professor Eugene, for help? No, from the words of the police officer, his mentor would be able to guess that he had a special item on him. George thought of the captain of the Secret Ops squad, Buck. For some reason, he subconsciously trusted him, even though the other party was a secret service agent. Perhaps it was because when the other party was willing to help him, he had always stated his conditions. After George made up his mind, he turned his gaze to the sheriff sitting next to him. ¡°Sheriff, I need to make a call now.¡± ¡°Sir, please go ahead. Before we have solid evidence, you are not a suspect.¡± George gave him a fake smile, then took out his phone from his pocket, found Buck¡¯s number, and pressed the call button. After a short wait, Buck¡¯s familiar voice rang in his ears. ¡°Hello!¡± ¡°Buck, it¡¯s George. I¡¯m in the police car, about to follow the police back to the police station. I¡¯m fine. I was just shot by a stranger on the subway platform. No, no, I¡¯m really not injured. My mentor asked me to rush back today. You should know very well why.¡± At this point, Buck had already realized the purpose of George¡¯s call. Barker¡¯s tone was a little unnatural as he said, ¡°You¡¯re not asking me to use my authority to prevent you from going to the police station, right?¡± George knew that Buck was very smart. He could even be described as a cunning old fox. ¡°Name your conditions then!¡± George knew that what Buck cared about now was the generous resources he had in his hands. The secret service was an organization that burned through funds. If they just relied on the funds provided by the organization for their activities, Buck and the others might not be able to do much. There was silence on the phone, which meant that Buck was thinking about his conditions. The wait did not last long. Soon, George heard Buck¡¯s conditions coming through the phone. It was a condition that he felt was acceptable. George did not say any more nonsense. He simply promised the other party and then hung up the phone. The police car was speeding through the streets. The few policemen in the car pretended not to have any interest in George¡¯s call just now. But George understood that it was only because he was still considered a victim and that this identity would protect him until he entered the police station and no investigations had gone underway. George looked out of the car and saw that the police car had entered District 2. In a few minutes, they would reach the police station. As he waited anxiously, the police car turned at an intersection, and through the windshield, George could already see the police building¡¯s sign. Suddenly, the phone rang in the stuffy car. George¡¯s body did not budge. He knew it was the sheriff¡¯s phone ringing next to him. The sheriff immediately picked up the phone and answered it.. Chapter 18 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Before lunch, George was back in his apartment. Buck was very efficient, though George didn¡¯t know what method he used. When the sheriff in the car had received the call, he had ordered his men to stop the police car at the next intersection and allowed George to get out of the car and leave. After George had gotten out of the car, he had turned around with the initial thought of greeting the sheriff, but instead, the sheriff greeted him with a fearful gaze. It was a strange feeling, and for some reason, he felt comfortable with it. After returning to his apartment, George immediately went into the study and searched for the flashlight he had bought. He wanted to scrutinize the phone card and find out why the bullet had disappeared. The strong light shone on the surface of the card, and George adjusted the focus of the light so that he could see what was inside the card. For phone cards like this, usually one could see what was inside the card under strong light. However, no matter how George adjusted the strong light, he could only see the surface of the card. This meant that the material of the card was either whole or filled with something. He held the sides of the card and squeezed in an attempt to see how flexible the card was, but to his surprise, the thin card was very hard. Its material felt like ordinary plastic, but it was definitely harder than metal. This discovery made George very excited because it was enough to prove that what Anna had left him was not an ordinary phone card, but an extraordinary item. ¡°Could it be that the bullet that shot at me was swallowed by this thing?¡± George softly voiced the doubts in his heart. To verify it, he reached out and took a sharp dagger from the shelf. Then, he held the dagger in his right hand and stabbed at the surface of the card at an extremely fast speed. ¡°Bang!¡± After George stabbed the card with the dagger, he once again brought the card to the front of his eyes to examine it. ¡°There is actually not a single scratch on the surface of the card!¡± The result shocked him, but the scene where the sharp tip of the knife would enter the card that he had hoped to see didn¡¯t happen. ¡°That¡¯s strange. Is it because the condition of entering the card requires an object to reach a certain speed?¡± The bullet that had been shot at him previously was indeed many times faster than the speed of a bare-handed attack. George did not give up his trial and error even though this was the result before his eyes. Next, he took out the pistol he carried and fitted a silencer on the muzzle of the gun to prevent his neighbors from hearing the gunshot. Soon, everything was ready. He raised the pistol and aimed the muzzle at the card. Could this magical card swallow bullets? George pulled the trigger, and after a dull sound, the bullet disappeared from his sight. ¡°Oh my God! That card really did swallow the bullet!¡± He ran to the table, picked up the card, and touched it with his finger. There were no scratches on the smooth surface. To be sure, George put the card on the table again. Then he stepped back and raised the pistol. He kept pulling the trigger, and bullet after bullet whistled toward the card. When the bullets in the magazine were all fired, there were only shell cases scattered on the floor. There was not a single bullet on the table in front of him. ¡°What is this thing? Black technology?¡± George realized that he had unintentionally obtained an item that was far more advanced than Earth¡¯s technology. For him, having such a thing was even more exciting than obtaining the interstellar battleship. This was because the starship was parked in outer space. With his current authority, he would not be able to come into contact with the starship for quite some time. The small card in front of him, on the other hand, was very real. George played with the card in his hand, his face revealing unconcealed joy. ¡°It would be great if I could further understand the use of this card.¡± But he also knew that he would have to find Anna to learn how to use the card. After more than an hour, George had roughly figured out the card¡¯s function. He had tried to stick a button to the card¡¯s surface and then fired a shot to hit the button. The result was just as he had guessed. The button and the bullet disappeared on the card at the same time. This experiment was very important. It made George finally understand that no matter what the object was, as long as it reached a certain speed, it would be able to enter the card. The card should be connected to another space. It probably functioned just like the demo video shared by the Mocalian in the chat group earlier, where they had shown how a giant starship had been stored in another space. At this moment, the phone on the table rang with a notification. George picked up the phone to check and found that there was a new message in the alien chat group. He immediately entered the chat group and messages flashed in front of his eyes. ¡°The spaces where these aliens are are very far from Earth, and the frequency of their conversation in the chat group is also very irregular,¡± George ridiculed as he used his finger to scroll the screen. The first to send a message was, to his surprise, the Selkian who liked to insult people. [Damned Mocalian, why did you lie to me? I spent 600 billion universe dollars, why did you only give me 10 A-rank storage cards! ] When George saw this message, he was very surprised. After all, he was aware of the prices of the space storage cards sold by the Mocalians. An A-grade space storage card¡¯s capacity was 10,000 universe units. It was priced at 60 billion universe dollars, which was equivalent to the price of 600 Earths. The Selkian had obtained 10 A-grade space storage cards by spending 600 billion, the math checked out. Could it be that the Selkian was angry because the Mocalian did not offer him a discount? George was curious as to how the Mocalian would reply. He continued to scroll down and found the Mocalian¡¯s reply below. [600 billion universe dollars for 10 A-grade storage cards. I think this transaction is perfect and there aren¡¯t any problems. If there are any, it¡¯s your problem. You should know I have the transaction records here!] ¡°Haha, looks like the Mocalian is not afraid of the Selkian!¡± One had to know that according to George¡¯s understanding, the Selkian was from a planet with a civilization level of 3.0, while the Mocalian¡¯s planet only had a civilization level of 1.8. According to the law of strength on Earth, a planet with a low civilization level would usually not dare to provoke a high-level civilization. He continued to read the conversation below and saw that the Selkian immediately issued a threat. [Damned Mocalian, your arrogance and mockery may be based on your belief that our king will not easily attack your planet, but don¡¯t you forget, I myself have an elite space fleet. Destroying your planet will be as easy as stepping on an ant!] ¡°Wow, what is the identity of this Selkian? To think he has a private space fleet! He may be a descendant of the ruling family of their planet.¡± George watched the aliens bicker while he absorbed the information that he thought was important.. Chapter 19 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Unknowingly, half an hour had passed. The aliens in the chat group were still bickering with each other, even George was getting tired of it. ¡°These aliens really like to quarrel more than the Earthians!¡± The main reason he was feeling bored was that in their long argument, there was almost no useful information for George. With no other choice, George exited the chat group and opened the group file instead. He opened the video that he had previously downloaded and watched the Mocalians demonstrate the black technology of the starship disappearing once again. This time, probably because he had tried to make the bullets disappear many times before, he discovered that when the starship disappeared, what was placed in front of the starship was not an instrument, but a card, very similar to the one in his hand. George was once again shocked by his discovery. At that moment, many incredible thoughts emerged in his mind. First of all, if the card Anna had left him was a space storage card made by the Mocalians, then how did the card appear on earth? Next, why did Anna have this card? How did she get it? Where did she get it? The series of questions made George feel that his brain cells were simply not enough. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he was! Ever since George obtained an interstellar battleship, strange things kept happening. And now, all the clues pointed to Anna. He looked at the card in his hand, and a hint of determination appeared in his eyes. ¡°I have to find Anna as soon as possible!¡± After a simple lunch, George planned to go to the hospital in the afternoon to see Buck. He still needed Buck¡¯s help to find Anna as soon as possible. However, George¡¯s heart had changed this time. He was no longer as worried about Anna¡¯s safety as before. Unlike before, he set finding Anna herself as the ultimate goal for the search for Anna this time. ¡°Tomorrow is the deadline Professor Eugene gave me. I have to find Anna this afternoon!¡± Tomorrow was the deadline for him to join the alien starship research group. If he did not show, Professor Eugene would kill him. Ten minutes later, George left the apartment. He still had the pistol with him to protect himself. After the crisis he had encountered in the morning, the card in his right pocket had replaced the pistol. There were not many pedestrians on the street at the moment, and even the traffic was reduced. Seeing the bleak scene in front of him, only then did George realize that he had been so focused on looking for Anna for the past few days that he had neglected the changes that had taken place in the city. The situation in the District 1 was still quite well, after all, this was the central area of the city. However, the situations in the other districts had become very complicated. The chaos had allowed the jobless vagrants to join in the protests against the government¡¯s curfew. Their real goal was to rob the shops of food and necessities. Now, the city¡¯s public transportation was paralyzed. George didn¡¯t want to risk driving to the hospital alone either, traumatized by the experience of almost being burned to death in a taxi. Thus, George was only left with the choice to walk to the hospital. It took him nearly an hour to get there as he walked along the sidewalk toward the hospital. On the way there, he took out his phone and called his friend Carl. The guy had called him yesterday with a request while George was driving to the hospital to see Buck. He remembered that Carl seemed to be in some kind of emergency, and had to hang up the phone. Carl had told him before he hung up that he would call him later, but George still hadn¡¯t heard from Carl. It was only because he had suddenly remembered this episode that George decided to call Carl. After the call was connected, Carl¡¯s voice sounded from the other end of the line, but his tone made George feel that the other party¡¯s mental state might not be in a good place. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s George¡­ I, I have something to do right now, I¡¯ll call you later.¡± ¡°Beep, beep¡­¡± The sound that the line was busy came from the other side. Carl had hung up the phone. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this Carl? This line again?¡± Carl hung up the phone after saying the same thing he had said to him the last time. George felt that this was strange. He knew his good friend Carl¡¯s personality too well. They were neighbors since young. They went to high school together and had entered Yale University together. Carl was a very outgoing person. He often used exaggerated actions and words to express the people and things he saw. Therefore, when Carl¡¯s personality suddenly became solemn, George¡¯s suspicions were very much aroused. He dialed Carl¡¯s number again. This time, the other party did not immediately answer the phone, as if he really did have something going on. When the phone was about to enter its busy tone, Carl finally picked up. This time, without waiting for Carl to speak, George first questioned his good friend. ¡°Carl, What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you facing some difficult problem? After we ended the call last time, I¡¯ve been waiting for you to call me. If it wasn¡¯t for my sudden recollection, I wouldn¡¯t have remembered to call you.¡± George spoke very quickly and spat out all the questions he had to his good friend Carl. After he finished speaking, he waited for his good friend¡¯s reply, but Carl¡¯s voice didn¡¯t come up in the receiver, which made George very anxious. ¡°Carl! Is there something you can¡¯t tell me? We grew up together since we were young. You once told me that I¡¯m even closer to you than your brother!¡± After George finished speaking, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the receiver, as if something was hitting the ground. ¡°Carl, are you listening? Is it inconvenient for you to talk now?¡± However, no matter how and what George asked, other than the sound of an unknown object knocking the ground that was coming from the receiver, Carl still did not answer. The abnormal situation made George come to a realization: Carl must have encountered something very urgent. Could he have been kidnapped? That shouldn¡¯t be! George wasn¡¯t lying when he said he knew his good friend very well. Carl¡¯s family was very ordinary, and his social circle was also very normal. He did not have any illegal records, and he only had one girlfriend. While George was still guessing, the knocking sound in the receiver also disappeared. A bad premonition filled his mind. In the next moment, the beeping of the receiver sounded again after the phone was hung up. George was completely enraged. He repeatedly called Carl¡¯s number, but no one answered. At this time, George had already walked out of District 1 and entered District 3. There was an intersection ahead, to the left was the way to the hospital, and to the right was the way to Carl¡¯s house. George stood where he was, thought for a while, and in the end, started walking towards the right.. Chapter 20 - This Whole Time, Anna has Been Hiding in Carls House? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio District 7 was filled with the headquarters of many large companies. When the alien starship had appeared in outer space, it had caused a global panic. The city George was in had received the biggest impact. After George entered District 7, he saw a very strange phenomenon. People who seemed to be parading appeared in front. The people in the crowd were quite young, many of them looked to still be students in school. They were holding all kinds of fancy banners and homemade wooden boards in their hands. On them were slogans written with colorful pens welcoming the aliens to take over Earth. George didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw this scene. Weren¡¯t these just idiotic acts? To think that they were welcoming the aliens to take over Earth! If that happened, the entire human race would probably become slaves of the alien civilization, and Earth would become a planet that produced slaves. These people were probably dissatisfied with their reality, so they placed their hopes on the unknown alien civilization. George shook his head. Although he did not agree with such actions, he would not meddle in other people¡¯s business. He would reach his good friend Carl¡¯s home after this junction. Carl¡¯s house was in an ordinary residential area. He had been there countless times, so he was very familiar with the area. It was now around 3 pm. George planned to go to Carl¡¯s house first. If Carl was really in a crisis, he would make it in time to save his good friend. As for the matter of finding Anna, he could only wait until he finished dealing with Carl¡¯s matter before continuing that. George could not just ignore his good friend and go looking for Anna. Soon, he arrived at the door of Carl¡¯s house, which was landed property, a very common two-story house. At this moment, all the windows on the first floor had their curtains down, making it so that even if outsiders were to get close to the house, they would not be able to see what was inside. George did not go to the door. Instead, he went to the front of a window. He put his hand on the glass, wanting to see what was inside. Unfortunately, the curtains inside were tightly drawn, so he could hardly see anything. This house belonged to Carl¡¯s parents. They worked in another city, so most of the time, it was left vacant. Even Carl did not come back often. Usually, Carl lived in the school dormitory. However, it was now the internship phase of the university, thus Carl had already left the school. Under normal circumstances, he should have returned here. Moreover, George had been here many times before. He knew that Carl was usually lazy and liked to keep the keys to his house in a secret place. Fortunately, George knew where Carl kept the keys. George walked to the door and turned to a section of the guardrail that faced the door. The surface of the guardrail looked very clean, but only George and Carl knew that the guardrail could be opened, and the keys were placed inside. Without much effort, George opened the secret mechanism and found that the keys were still inside. ¡°The keys are still here, is Carl not at home?¡± George knew that if Carl was home, then the keys to open the door would not be in the mechanism, but would be brought into the house by Carl. So, just to be safe, George did not use the keys to open the door rashly. Instead, he took out his phone again and dialed Carl¡¯s home landline. Previously, when he called Carl, he had always called Carl¡¯s cell phone. This time, he deliberately called Carl¡¯s home landline to probe the situation in the house. After more than a minute, George put the cell phone back into his pocket. No one had answered the landline. George decided to use the keys that he had found to open the door and check inside. He wanted to see if Carl was really not at home. To be on the safe side, George sent a simple message to Buck on his phone. The message only contained one sentence which told Buck his current location. This was to prevent any accident from happening. If his personal freedom was restricted after entering, at least Buck could come and save him. There was a strange balance between him and the special agent Buck. They didn¡¯t ask each other¡¯s intentions, but they were bound together by interests. After making all the preparations, George used the keys to open the door of Carl¡¯s house. The moment the door opened, George used his nose to smell the scent that came out from the crack of the door. From the smell, he could determine whether the house had been unoccupied for a long time. For a house that had been unoccupied for more than a week, there would always be a musty smell in the air. As time passed, the musty smell would become more and more pungent. The moment George opened the door, he did not smell any musty smell. This meant that even if Carl was not at home, he wouldn¡¯t have been away for a long time, definitely not be more than a week. George walked into the house that he used to be familiar with. The first thing he saw was the spacious and bright living room. The furnishings inside were the same as the last time he was here to look for Carl. After passing through the living room, there was a staircase leading to the second floor. As George walked towards the stairs, he asked, ¡°Carl? Carl, are you here? It¡¯s George!¡± ¡°Peng!¡± When George made a sound, a strange sound suddenly came from behind him. It was frightening in the quiet environment. ¡°Who is it!¡± George turned around abruptly and held the card and the pistol in his hands. The card could be used to defend against the opponent¡¯s weapon, while the pistol was used to fight back. ¡°Bang!¡± Another loud sound was heard. This time, George heard it clearly. The sound should have come from the basement of Carl¡¯s house. ¡°Damn it! I forgot about the basement!¡± George did know about the basement of Carl¡¯s house, but after entering the house, he had placed all his focus on the stairs leading to the second floor. The sound coming from the basement was still continuing. He could not determine what was making the sound. If he wanted to know, he could only go to the basement to check. This was something very risky to do. George knew this very well, but he could not find a better way. Just as George was hesitating, a very familiar voice came from the top of the stairs, ¡°George, come upstairs. I won¡¯t hurt you!¡± Hearing the voice, George¡¯s muscles tensed. It was as if a bomb had been detonated in his mind. Shock, fear, and bafflement filled his mind. If George remembered correctly, the voice that spoke just now was Anna¡¯s, whom he had been searching for. Yes, he should be right. That was Anna¡¯s unique voice, something others could not easily imitate. George¡¯s pupils contracted slightly as he stared at the stairway leading to the second floor. As if Anna had guessed that George was hesitating, her voice came from the stairway once again, ¡°George, come upstairs, Carl is also here¡­¡± What?! Carl was also upstairs? Could it be that they had been in the house all this time? George tried hard to control his legs, which were somewhat stiff due to nervousness. After calming down for a while, he finally stepped forward and climbed up the stairs leading to the second floor.. Chapter 21 - Activated the Space Storage Card? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The solid wood staircase creaked as George¡¯s field of vision continued to rise until he finally saw part of the decorations on the second floor. He was very familiar with Carl¡¯s house and knew that there were three rooms on the second floor, but he didn¡¯t know which room Anna and Carl were in, or if they were in different rooms. ¡°George, I¡¯m in the room facing the stairs!¡± Sure enough, George saw there a door crack had opened at the room facing the stairs at some point in time. ¡°Why make everything so mysterious?¡± Whether it was previously or now, George had never experienced something so eerie. He had witnessed with his two eyes how Anna¡¯s body had mutated back then. George did not answer as he walked to the door in silence. Now, he only needed to push the door open with his hand and he would see Anna, whom he had been painstakingly searching for. As for what he would actually see when he did push the door open, countless unimaginable images were running through his mind. After all, it was a fact that Anna¡¯s body had changed before his eyes. George mentally prepared himself to stay calm even if he were to be faced with Anna who had transformed into an unacceptable form. He knew this was the key to staying safe. After all, at this point, who knew if Anna would fly into a rage and hurt people? As he pushed the door open, George¡¯s reached his right hand into his pocket and grabbed the gun. As the door was gently pushed open by George with his left hand, the scene in the room made him feel that something was simply not right. He had originally thought that he would see a horrifying scene the minute he pushed the door open, but what he actually saw was Carl sitting across from Anna with a picture in his hand, seemingly in a daze. Carl seemed to be reminiscing about their university days with Anna. If he hadn¡¯t remembered why he was here, George would have almost been fooled by the seemingly harmonious relationship between the two. He knew that Carl was definitely not in his normal state now. However, he couldn¡¯t wake up Carl either for fear of bad consequences. Anna was the root of these unstable factors. Anna now looked like a normal human being. Even her mutated body had returned to its normal state. It couldn¡¯t be ruled out that Anna was deliberately hiding the changes in her body. After George walked into the room and sat beside the two of them, he realized that his judgment was right. Carl completely ignored George. It was as if in the entire room, his eyes could only see Anna who was sitting opposite him. At this moment, Anna looked at George and spoke, ¡°I know you have a lot of questions!¡± George looked into Anna¡¯s eyes as if he wanted to see if there were any changes in her gaze. Right now, he only had two life-saving items in his hands, a pistol and the black technology storage card that Anna had left for him. When Anna had escaped earlier, she had displayed astonishing speed, but it was also enough to show that she was afraid of being hurt by firearms. ¡°Yes, what is this phone card?¡± George took out the space storage card. He wanted to know more about the card. ¡°I see you did take the phone card I left behind secretly. This is just an ordinary phone card. You can get a hold of me through the phone number on the back!¡± George didn¡¯t expect Anna¡¯s answer to be like this. Was she lying? Or did she really not know the magical power of this card? ¡°I called the number, but the other party said they didn¡¯t know you!¡± Anna had a strange expression on her face as she said, ¡°Was it a man or a woman who answered the phone?¡± ¡°A man, it was a man named Brook!¡± Anna immediately showed a look of realization, and she said, ¡°Only if a woman named Aida answers the phone will she tell you where I am!¡± George almost rolled his eyes at Anna, refuting in his heart, ¡°How would I have known if you hadn¡¯t told me this earlier?!¡± However, he still remembered the name ¡°Aida¡± in his heart. ¡°Are you planning to stay here forever?¡± As George spoke, he glanced at his good friend Carl. He had to think of a way to rescue Carl. Otherwise, Carl would become mentally disabled if he were left in this state for a long time. ¡°No. I can leave as soon as I meet you.¡± George couldn¡¯t believe Anna¡¯s words. Was there some kind of trap involved? The next moment, Anna stood up and started walking to the door. Anna¡¯s actions seemed to have stimulated Carl, who was still in the room. He made whimpering sounds as if he wanted to stop Anna from leaving. George stood up as well and grabbed his good friend Carl with both hands. Suddenly, he felt something flash past his eyes. In the next second, he could only watch as Carl¡¯s body lost its support. It was just so that George was grabbing onto his good friend, thus this prevented Carl from falling to the floor. He looked at Anna again. Her right arm had extended to be very long. She had just knocked Carl unconscious at an extremely fast speed. ¡°Why did you knock him unconscious¡­¡± Before George could finish his sentence, he saw Anna open her mouth. She didn¡¯t make a sound, but George could feel dizziness. It wasn¡¯t until Anna¡¯s figure disappeared from the door that the suffering completely disappeared. ¡°What did Anna do to me? Why does my head hurt so much!¡± George did not know that the brainwaves released by his brain at this moment had already exceeded the limit for humans. He was feeling very strange. It was like his body was that of a drunken drunkard¡¯s, but his consciousness was very clear. Anna had left, but she did not take the space storage card with her. It was unknown whether she had forgotten or intentionally left it for George. After a few minutes, George finally felt the dizziness in his head disappear, and his control over his body returned to normal. He looked at Carl, who was lying on the ground. This guy had not woken up after being knocked unconscious by Anna. George first walked to Carl¡¯s side and performed simple checks. He found that Carl¡¯s breathing was stable, so it should not take too long for him to wake up. Then, George picked up the space storage card. It was simply mystical that he found the space storage card to be different from before when he looked at it now. It was as if there was now a special connection between him and the storage card. The feeling grew stronger the longer he stared at the storage card. Suddenly, a strange space appeared in George¡¯s field of vision. This space was not very big and looked to be able to fit an adult. The entire space was surrounded by a layer of black special material. George opened his eyes wide and observed the space in front of him. He found that there were some very small objects floating in the space. They seemed out of place in the special space. ¡°What is that?¡± George reached out and grabbed one of the floating objects. The coolness of metal immediately came from his palm. ¡°This is! It¡¯s a bullet, a complete bullet!¡± He counted and found that there were 24 bullets in total. They were the bullets that had been stored in the storage card when he had shot at the card with his pistol.. Chapter 22 - Carls Mentor Was Starting to Be Suspicious of George? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George waited until Carl woke up only to find that his friend¡¯s mental state was very poor. It was probable that it would take him a long time to recover. George had no choice but to bring Carl back to his apartment in fear that Anna would return. When the sky darkened, the two of them finally got back to George¡¯s apartment. Carl¡¯s condition was much better than before, but he was still in a daze. George guessed that Anna had done the same thing like releasing a unique brainwave towards Carl, but Carl was affected much more than he was. After settling Carl, who was in a trance, George immediately began to study the ability he had just acquired. Using brainwaves, he could activate the space storage card. George realized that he had opened up a whole new world. Meeting Anna by accident this time had allowed him to gain control of the space storage card. He first closed the storage space that was now before his eyes, and then tried to open the space again in his mind. As expected, the storage space appeared again. ¡°The opening of the storage space should be related to brainwaves¡­¡± After all, he had just felt Anna release an invisible wave toward him. George was quite delighted. He repeatedly experimented with the opening and closing of the storage space. This feeling was quite mysterious. In the future, he could put items that were inconvenient to carry into the storage space. He took out his pistol and threw it into the storage space in front of him. The pistol that weighed more than 1 kg floated in the strange storage space. ¡°Not bad, I don¡¯t have to worry about carrying weapons in the future!¡± Following this, George bustled around in his apartment. He had to return to the base the next day to join the research team on the alien starship, thus he had to bring many necessities with him. Half an hour later, the items he was prepared to bring filled up the entire storage space. Looking at the space that was filled with all kinds of necessities, George suddenly felt that the storage space in front of him was still too small. This reminded him of the demo video he had seen in the chat group. The storage space he had now should be that of the lowest grade F-grade storage card. He knew that the highest grade storage card was the A-grade storage card that could fit a super large interstellar battleship. He had unintentionally obtained the F-grade space storage card from Anna, but he wondered if there were any higher-level space storage cards on Earth. George wasn¡¯t greedy. He was already contented with having an F-grade space storage card at this point. After finishing his preparations, George got a suitcase and put some light items into it, mainly to confuse the others. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to explain why he had so many items with him if he reported to the base empty-handed. George would definitely make preparations to avoid any unnecessary trouble. He had originally wanted to use the afternoon to see if he could find Anna but to think he coincidentally met her at his good friend Carl¡¯s home. The outcome of it all was also satisfactory, at least it wasn¡¯t as dangerous as he had expected. He still had many questions about Anna and her past, and George planned to investigate slowly after he entered the research group. After all, his power alone was simply not strong enough. The night went by peacefully. Early in the morning, George was woken up by the sound of Carl¡¯s voice. He went to Carl¡¯s room and found that the guy had already woken up. However, there was still something wrong with Carl¡¯s condition. Carl was lying on the bed with his eyes wide open. He looked at the ceiling with an empty gaze. ¡°Carl! How are you?¡± George looked at his good friend with concern. Carl did not pay attention to him at all. Instead, he was talking to himself, ¡°I don¡¯t want to become someone like that! You are all monsters, demons, devils from hell! The humans will defeat you one day!¡± Carl said a bunch of words in a jumble. Seeing that his friend¡¯s condition had not improved, George, who was standing by the bed, made a decision in his heart, ¡°I should bring Carl with me. Perhaps I can use the resources available there to heal him.¡± George looked at the time. There was still more than an hour before the car that his mentor had arranged to pick him up would arrive. He went to the wardrobe and selected some clothes for Carl. The two of them were about the same size, which saved him the trouble of having to go out to buy them. Besides, many of the shops in the city were closed now, in fear that the thugs in the parade would take the opportunity to rob them. Just when everything was ready, the staff responsible for picking him up rang George¡¯s phone. George first explained Carl¡¯s situation to the staff, and then with the help of the staff, they carried Carl into the car. There were three other people in the car. Judging from their clothes, they should be special agents too, though he wasn¡¯t sure if they belonged to Buck¡¯s team. Because the annoying Camilla was not in sight, he wasn¡¯t very sure about his speculations. These agents were all very cold. Not one of them spoke during the whole trip. Even if George wanted to initiate a conversation, he was rejected with silence. More than an hour later, when the damaged roof appeared, George knew that he had reached his destination. Here, three professors were working together on the research of the alien starship. Professor Eugene was one of them. Among the three professors, the one with the most power of speech was Professor Lodge, who was also Carl¡¯s mentor. On the way here, George had already told Professor Lodge about Carl¡¯s situation through his mentor. Of course, he hid Anna¡¯s matter from them. The car that was responsible for transporting them stopped in front of the research institute. After George got out of the car, he saw his mentor and Professor Lodge walk out at the same time. ¡°Damn it, George, you won¡¯t come until the last day of the deadline, am I right?¡± George could only smile awkwardly in the face of his mentor¡¯s ridicule. Professor Eugene turned around and saw the staff carrying Carl out of the car. His expression instantly became serious as he asked, ¡°Why did Carl become like this?¡± Professor Lodge probably wanted to ask the same question as his face showed concern when he heard that Professor Eugene had asked first. Carl¡¯s performance in the aerospace major was very outstanding. His mentor, Professor Lodge had taken a liking to this and took the initiative to become Carl¡¯s mentor. Now that Carl had become like this, as his mentor, it was a given Professor Lodge felt bad. Professor Lodge first had the staff send Carl to the infirmary. The infirmary of the research institute had the most advanced treatment equipment, and it was also equipped with top-notch medical experts. This was also the reason why George insisted on bringing Carl. After watching his student being carried away, Professor Lodge turned to look at George as he asked, ¡°George, you said that Carl was already unconscious when you found him at his home?¡± ¡°Yes, Professor Lodge!¡± Professor Lodge seemed to be thinking about something. It didn¡¯t take long before he voiced his doubts again, which almost made George reveal a flaw. ¡°George, do you know about Anna¡¯s disappearance?¡± Chapter 23 - The Aliens Are Rabbits? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Anna majored in aerospace at university as well, though her mentor was not Professor Lodge, but another aerospace professor. After the appearance of the alien starship, the setting up of a research group was inevitable. Therefore, when the mentors gathered their students, they discovered that Anna was missing. Such a matter could be big or small. Normally, it would have just been a normal missing person¡¯s case and would be handed over to the police. However, after the appearance of the alien starship, Anna¡¯s disappearance was classified as a level 3 incident. The reason was simple. At such a special time, the disappearance of a researcher would definitely be related to the aliens. Only George knew the truth. The interstellar battleship that was parked at the Lagrange point was his, and there weren¡¯t any alien civilizations in it that had come invading. Faced with Professor Lodge¡¯s question, George wondered if Buck had told him about Anna¡¯s body mutation. Although the special agents¡¯ organization was not under the control of the research institute, Buck could have told Lodge about the information. ¡°Anna¡¯s missing? I remember seeing her a few days ago. Oh, right, Buck was there too.¡± George did not mention that Anna¡¯s body had mutated. He was trying to find out how much information the professor knew. Judging from Professor Lodge¡¯s reaction, he clearly did not know that Anna¡¯s body had mutated as he turned to look at Professor Eugene who was beside him. What this meant was obvious. Buck was the assistant Professor Eugene had asked for from the special agents¡¯ organization. Professor Lodge could only direct his questions at Professor Eugene now. ¡°Professor Eugene, did Buck tell you about Anna?¡± Professor Eugene¡¯s focus was not on Anna, but on getting George to start conducting research. ¡°Professor Lodge, I¡¯m not sure either. Why don¡¯t you ask Buck?¡± George could hear their conversation clearly at the side. It turned out that the two old guys did not know that Buck was injured and hospitalized. Seeing his mentor did not seem to care much about Anna, George played along with Professor Eugene. ¡°Professor, which floor is the group on? Is everyone here?¡± Seeing that George was in a hurry, Professor Lodge couldn¡¯t continue pestering him either, so he simply turned around and walked toward the research institute. He could hear Professor Eugene scolding George from behind him. More than ten minutes later, George pushed open the door and walked into his office. All the members of the research group had arrived. The mission of researching and analyzing the alien civilizations officially began today. A small meeting would be held in the evening. Besides George¡¯s team, another special department would participate in the meeting. The Space Assault Team! The team was mainly responsible for getting close to the alien starship and was thus the team that would face the most danger. George was very much looking forward to the meeting in the evening. He wanted to know the series of plans they had towards the alien starship. At this time, there was no one else in the office. George turned on his phone and entered the alien chat group. What surprised him was that since yesterday, not a single alien had spoken in the chat group. It was the first time that there was no new news in the alien chat group for more than a day. This caused George to think that the aliens had left the chat group, until he saw a few new files had appeared in the group file. ¡°This file was shared by that Mocalian, to think it¡¯s the instruction manual of the space storage card!¡± This discovery was unexpected and surprised George pleasantly. He had complained previously that the Mocalian had released the price list of the space storage card, but they hadn¡¯t shared the detailed instruction manual simultaneously. Now, the instruction manual could also be downloaded by George. He waited no longer to open the instructions and saw that the text inside had been translated into English by the system. The power of the system shocked him once again. It took George nearly an hour to read the very detailed instructions for the space storage card. The method the card was to be used that was written in the manual was just as he had guessed. To activate the space storage card, the user¡¯s brainwaves had to be very strong. According to the unit of calculation used in the manual, if an Earthian wanted to use the storage card, their brainwave activity had to reach 10% . George searched on the internet and found that most of the Earthians¡¯ brainwave activity was around 2%. It was apparent that most would not be able to use the storage card, and they couldn¡¯t even activate the lowest F-grade storage card, let alone the higher grade storage cards. The instructions as translated by the system were very clear. Every time the grade of the storage card increased, the brainwave activity needed to activate it almost doubled. To use an F-grade storage card, the user needed 10% brainwave activity. As such, the highest A-grade storage card required a terrifying 80% brainwave activity. The percentage of brainwave activity was mainly related to the level of brain development. It was hard to imagine that the high-level extraterrestrial civilizations had such terrifying brain utilization rates. George looked at the manual in front of him and exclaimed his shocking idea, ¡°The brain utilization rate of Earthlings is around 7%. With this, the brain utilization rate of the high-level extraterrestrial civilizations should probably be more than 80% !¡± Such a conclusion was even the result of him playing it safe and giving a conservative estimation. He was now very aware of the huge gap between Earthlians and the extraterrestrial civilizations. A bold idea emerged in George¡¯s heart. He wanted to improve the physical quality of the Earthlings. The most crucial point was to increase the brain utilization rate of Earthlings. 7% brain utilization rate was simply too low! For Earthlings, there was a very good opportunity before them now. The appearance of the alien chat group showed George the hope of changing the lowly genes of the Earthlings. After George finished comprehending the usage method of the space memory card, he continued to look for black technology in the group files. Not long after, a video shared by the Selkian aroused his great interest. ¡°Selkian? Isn¡¯t that the alien who likes to provoke people in the chat group?¡± It was George¡¯s first time seeing this alien share black technology. From what he knew about the Selkian, it was once in a blue moon for the Selkian to share. The moment the video started playing, a group of cute creatures appeared on the screen. ¡°Could these be the Selkians? Why do they look like the rabbits on Earth? They can¡¯t be the pet of the Selkians, right?¡± Creatures that looked very similar to rabbits appeared in the video. George first thought that the creatures he saw were the Selkians. However, after thinking about it, he realized that the creatures that looked like rabbits should be the pets of the aliens. However, when the group of rabbit-like creatures in the video started to gather and communicate with each other, George realized his speculation was wrong again. ¡°Oh God, the alien rabbits can even communicate with words?¡± The behavior of the rabbit-like creatures made George feel that something was off. ¡°No, could it be that the rabbit-like creatures I¡¯m seeing are really the Selkians?!¡± Chapter 24 - A Capsule that Could Shrink Creatures? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio It took George a few minutes to finally figure out that the rabbit-like creatures in the video were indeed the Selkians. This discovery surprised him quite a bit. After all, the Selkians often taunted and threatened the other aliens in the alien chat group, so George had imagined them as scary-looking creatures, just like the aliens in the movies. And now the truth was that the appearance of the Selkians was very similar to that of the rabbits on Earth. This changed George¡¯s perspective on a whole lot of things. In the future, the scene that would be in his mind when he would see the Selkians threatening other aliens in the group would be very funny. ¡°I wonder if the other aliens know that the Selkians have such cute appearances.¡± After the comment, George saw a type of black technology in the video. A few rabbit-like Selkians were eating blue pills. ¡°What are they eating? They look like the capsules on Earth!¡± George hated such medicine that needed to be taken orally. After all, eating something like that would change the micro-environment of the organism, and might cause irreversible damage to the body. George had originally planned to turn off the video of the Selkians showing off their black technology, but just as he reached out to tap the close button, a scene that shocked him so much that his eyes widened and his pupils shrank appeared in the video. The bodies of the Selkians who had eaten the blue pills had indeed started changing. The rabbit-like Selkians started to become very small. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the Pym Particle?¡± George saw that the body of the Selkians had instantly shrunk to one-tenth of its original size. It made him think of the black technology that he had seen in sci-fi movies, a black technology that could change the size of living things. The Pym Particles! Such a thing had first appeared in the movie ¡°Ant-Man¡±. The Pym Particles could instantly change a living thing into a very small size and could also return the living thing to its normal size. The particles could even turn the targeted living thing into a giant. If he could obtain this kind of black technology, the change for the Earthians would not be about their appearance, but their way of thinking. Such logic was very simple. George had an alien chat group. Through observing the aliens¡¯ chats in the alien chat group, he learned about quite a few black technologies that were far beyond Earth¡¯s current development. With his, his view of the world was advanced, and at the same time, his way of thinking had also changed. George¡¯s goal was to use the black technologies in the alien chat group to completely change the backward thinking of the Earthians. He knew that among his compatriots, people with rigid thinking occupied a large base. It would be difficult to achieve the desired effect just by word of mouth. The best method to do so was to make those people witness the changes around them with their eyes. The Pym Particles were the best tools to do so. If the Pym Particles were to be used on a large scale among humans, it would have huge implications on the stubbornness of the Earthians. Of course, George also thought of the negative effects. If the Pym Particles were to enter the human population in large amounts, it would probably cause an unpreventable social crisis. It was very likely that the filth and evil hidden under the prosperity of human society would explode. After all, everything was a double-edged sword! George retracted the thoughts in his mind. The most important thing now was how could he obtain the black technology of the Pym Particles. In the group file was only the video shared by the Selkian. They hadn¡¯t shared the formula for the production of the Pym Particle. ¡°It seems that the creation formula of the black technology of the Pym Particle is something that even the high-level civilizations would not casually leak.¡± Just as George was feeling a little disappointed, a notification sounded in the alien chat group. George immediately switched to the chat pane and saw that the Selkian and the Mocalian were chatting. He thought that the Selkian was mocking the Mocalian again because they had bought the space storage card. He didn¡¯t expect that it was the Mocalian with a civilization level of 1.8 that had started the conversation. [Cunning Selkians! You bought our planet¡¯s F-grade storage cards and then used the Pym Particles you have to shrink your bodies. This way, you can use the F-grade storage cards to the maximum. However, you have also discovered that after your body had shrunk, you can not enter the storage space.] [Humph! So this is the reason why you wanted to return the goods. You are just too cunning, we will not allow you to return the goods!] After reading the message sent by the Mocalian, George grasped another important piece of information. ¡°It turns out that after creatures undergo change by the usage of the Pym Particles, they can no longer enter the space storage card. This discovery is very important, I should write it down!¡± George was constantly absorbing the important knowledge points in the alien chat group. Although he could not obtain the Pym Particles now, it did not prevent him from collecting relevant information. In the chat group, after the Mocalian had sent the message, the Selkian who liked to mock and threaten people immediately sent a reply. [Damned Mocalian, we will destroy your planet!] ¡°Pfft¡± George could not help but laugh when he saw that the Selkian had indeed started to threaten the other party in his reply. In the chat group, the Selkian continued to send messages. After threatening the other party to no avail, the furious Selkian began to change his methods to disgust the other party. [Mocalian, since you mentioned the Pym Particles that we have, I have a suggestion. I wonder if you have the guts to accept it!] [The suggestion is simple. We will use the formula of the Pym Particles in exchange for your space storage technology! ] [The Pym Particles are very useful for your huge body size!] At this point, George caught another important piece of information. ¡°So the various civilizations in the universe can also exchange their technology to achieve the continuation of their civilization. Hmm, there is another discovery, the Mocalians¡¯ body size should be very big.¡± [Mocalian, what do you think? My suggestion should be a good opportunity for you. After all, due to your huge size, the food reserves on your planet are rapidly decreasing. ] [Agree to my request, you despicable Mocalian!] [You can use a space storage technology to exchange for a Pym Particle formula!] At this point in the conversation, George saw a change in the chat group interface in front of him. A transaction interface appeared on the screen. ¡°This is a trading platform?¡± Just as George was guessing what the new interface was for, the formula for the Pym Particle appeared on the trading interface. As the Pym Particle formula appeared on the trading interface, a system prompt appeared in front of George as well. [Obtained an F-grade Pym Particle formula! ] [Should you choose to receive it, the formula will be automatically stored in your private folder!] The Pym Particle formula! ¡°Haha, there¡¯s such a good thing?!¡± George pressed the accept button. Soon, a precious black technology formula appeared in his private folder.. Chapter 25 - Annas Real Purpose? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George saw that a formula had really appeared in his private folder. He clicked the formula open immediately, and a very detailed document appeared in an instant. In the lower right corner of the document, there was a number showing 1/100. ¡°My God, the Pym Particle formula is actually 100 pages long!¡± Seeing the number of pages displayed in the document in front of him, George was extremely shocked. ¡°How long will it take for me to finish it?¡± It was lunchtime now. George first made stored a copy of the formula in his laptop from his private folder. The main reason he did this was to prevent accidents from happening that would cause him to lose the precious Pym Particle formula. After he finished doing this, he took a look at the time and found that he had just enough time to catch the lunch prepared by the cafeteria. The independent research institute was equipped with a full range of life services. Any food one wanted, they could provide. Of course, if one delayed too long after the food was served, the taste would be affected. George decided to fill his stomach first, and then he would use the afternoon to study the Pym Particle formula. The cafeteria was located on the first floor of the research institute. While George was waiting for the elevator, he bumped into Professor Lodge. ¡°Good afternoon, Professor Lodge. Are you heading to the cafeteria too?¡± Lodge¡¯s expression was not exactly sunny. It was probably because his student Carl had suddenly become mentally disabled, it was a given he could not help but feel worried. Hearing someone ask him a question, Professor Lodge raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s George. I¡¯m going to the cafeteria. You too?¡± ¡°Yes, after you.¡± The moment the elevator doors opened, George turned to gesture at Professor Lodge to enter first. After the two entered the cafeteria, they found a quiet corner and sat down. At this time, there were still many staff around who were eating. Because this research institute had just been established, the people were still not quite familiar with each other, thus they all had their heads lowered as they quickly eliminated their food. A girl with a good figure came to the table with a menu. ¡°Gentlemen, what would you like to order?¡± As the girl spoke, she placed the two menus on the table. George had heard from his mentor that the restaurant of the institute only employed people who had passed the background checks. While he was looking at the girl, Professor Lodge had already finished ordering his meal. ¡°A filet Mignon steak. For the sides, I don¡¯t want grilled aloe vera, but grilled asparagus. No wine, and please give me an apple pie.¡± The girl recorded Professor Lodge¡¯s requirements for the steak, then turned to George, ¡°Sir, please go ahead.¡± George had been thinking about the Pym Particle formula all this time, and he didn¡¯t particularly have an appetite for anything. To save himself time, he simply told the girl he wanted to order the same dishes as Professor Lodge. The girl confirmed their orders and left the table. After Professor Lodge saw the girl enter the kitchen, he pulled his chair closer to George and seemed to have something to say to him. ¡°George¡­ why did Carl become like this?¡± When George heard Professor Lodge ask him this question, he knew that the professor was suspicious of his role in Carl¡¯s matters. He knew very well that it was very difficult for high-level intellectuals like Professor Lodge to hide their thoughts when they encountered something, a big contrast in comparison to agents like Buck. ¡°Professor Lodge, when I found Carl at his house, he was already mentally unstable. I too want to know the exact reason that caused it.¡± George did not lie. He was merely telling the professor a part of the truth and had just concealed any information that involved Anna. As Professor Lodge looked at George, his expression became even uglier. ¡°George, you don¡¯t know this, but I asked Carl to study a subject in secret.¡± After Professor Lodge finished saying this, his eyes became alert. He first looked around to see that no one had noticed them before lowering his voice and telling George something shocking. ¡°We are secretly developing a probe that can fly out of the Solar System!¡± ¡°What!¡± George was shocked by Lodge¡¯s words. ¡°A probe that can fly out of the Solar System?!¡± He repeated these words in his heart and suddenly thought of a terrible guess. Why did Carl come into contact with Anna? There was definitely something involved that he did not know. According to his understanding of his good friend, Carl was unlikely to have taken the initiative to contact Anna. If he did want to contact Anna, he would have had plenty of opportunities and time during university, there was no need to wait until he left school for his internship to contact the aloof Anna. With this line of thought, there was only one possibility: Anna had come to Carl on her own initiative. What was Anna¡¯s motive for coming into contact with Carl? He had never been able to figure this out before. Professor Lodge¡¯s words just now gave him a feeling that he was about to unravel the truth. Why did Anna want to find Carl? Because Carl had secretly participated in a project to fly a probe out of the Solar System. ¡°Could it be that Anna wants to leave Earth through that probe? No, no, this idea is too unrealistic.¡± One should know that even if the probe could fly out of the Solar System, it could not carry any life forms, thus this conjecture was quickly erased from George¡¯s mind. As for the secret that Professor Lodge had told him, it was very easy to understand. Professor Lodge was feeling remorse for a simple reason: he was the one who had asked Carl to participate in the probe project. Coincidentally, the alien starship had suddenly appeared in Earth¡¯s outer space, and then Carl went missing. If one combined the series of events, it was no wonder that Professor Lodge¡¯s imagination was running wild. After all, in the eyes of the professors who had studied outer space for their entire lives, encountering an alien invasion was not an opportunity for humanity, but the destruction of the entire human civilization. At this time, the girl from the restaurant delivered the two Filet Mignon steaks they ordered. George watched as the girl took away the metal lid, and the aroma of the beef wafted, arousing his appetite. Professor Lodge, who was sitting across from him, did not pick up the neatly arranged knives. He was probably still blaming himself for what had happened to Carl. The aroma of the steak entered George¡¯s nostrils. He ignored Professor Lodge and planned to enjoy the delicious food alone. The waitress had already left, and the number of staff around who were eating had also decreased by a lot. George reached out to pull the plate in front of him. Suddenly, he saw a note under the plate. He glanced at Professor Lodge, who was opposite him, and found that he had not noticed the note. After making sure that no one was paying attention to him, George quickly grabbed the note in his hand. He did not know what was written on the note, and the current situation did not allow him to open the note to read it either. Was the note was sent by the waitress just now? What would be written on the note? Curiosity filled George¡¯s brain. He decided to use the excuse of going to the bathroom to read the contents of the note. ¡°Excuse me, Professor Lodge, I need to go to the bathroom.¡± George left his seat and calmly walked into the bathroom. He found an empty cubicle and locked the door from the inside. He opened the note bit by bit. There was only one sentence on it. [Anna told me to tell you that if you want to know the truth, she is waiting for you at No.275 on 14th Avenue..] Chapter 26 - Georges Identity as an Earthling Had Been Discovered by the Alliens? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George returned to his office, locked the door from inside, found a lighter and burned the note into ashes, then only did he collapse into the chair. ¡°Phew, this note must not be left behind. I wonder what is Anna¡¯s real purpose?¡± He closed his eyes, thinking about the contents of Anna¡¯s note and pondering her real purpose. The matter was not as simple as it seemed. The words Professor Lodge had said something in the restaurant made him feel that there was a huge conspiracy behind the whole thing. However, with George¡¯s current authority, he could not find a solution. He might as well put aside all thoughts of going to look for Anna. George opened his eyes, took out his phone from his pocket, and opened the group file. In the folder was the Pym Particle formula that he had saved. There was still a whole afternoon before the evening meeting, so it was just nice for him to finish reading the formula first. Today was his first day in the research group. No formal work had been arranged yet, so he could enjoy a short period of peace in the office alone. When the clock on the wall sounded, George looked up only to find that it was already 5 p.m. He had spent the whole afternoon and had finally finished reading about the Pym Particle formula. The manufacturing method recorded in the document made George feel like he had opened a new door and discovered a new world. The principle of the Pym Particle was to transfer the mass of the target object into the high-dimensional space of the universe. It could shrink or enlarge matter in the high-dimensional space and also return it to its original dimension. The difficulty of the black technology was not collecting the materials in the formula, but creating an instrument to produce the Pym Particle. This was not something that the Earthlings¡¯ technology could achieve unless the utilization rate of the human brain was increased. In other words, they had to first change the current human genes. ¡°The instrument to produce the Pym Particle is just too difficult to make.¡± George could understand most of the theoretical knowledge in the formula, but with Earth¡¯s current technology, it was simply impossible for him to construct a device that could produce the Pym Particle. Currently, there was only one method that George could think of, and that was to increase the utilization rate of his brain. The utilization rate of the human brain was generally around 7%. If he wanted to break through the closed-loop of the current technology, he need to increase the utilization rate of his brain to 20% or above. Previously, George had wanted to increase the utilization rates of the human brains on a large scale. Now, after reading the Pym Particle formula, his thoughts changed. ¡°I should increase my strength first.¡± George stared at the formula on the screen and decided to increase the utilization rate of his brain first. When he went to look for his good friend Carl previously, he had been affected by Anna¡¯s brainwaves. After that, he realized that his brain utilization rate had increased, and he was able to activate the black technology of an alien civilization and open the space storage. George saw a very familiar function in the group file. It enabled him to check the historical record of the files that the aliens had shared. The aliens must have uploaded quite some documents, so there was probably a way to increase the utilization rate of the brain within them. George looked at the time again. There were still two hours before the meeting at night. He should be able to find the information he wanted in the historical record. Thus, George entered the historical records interface of the group files. The moment he clicked it open, he was surprised to see countless historical records displayed in the interface in front of him. ¡°Oh my God, there are so many documents in the historical record, how long will it take to find the one I want?¡± He estimated that the files in the historical record were at least in the millions. This discovery made George realize that the chat group he had joined was likely to have existed for a very long time. George didn¡¯t think too much about it. He controlled the progress bar with both hands and began to search for methods to increase the brain¡¯s utilization rate among the countless historical documents. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t this chat software have a search function?¡± As soon as George finished complaining, he suddenly felt that his brainwaves seemed to have established a connection with the chat group. He tried to search the complicated directory with his mind. To his surprise, the originally messy files in the records suddenly started to be organized automatically. Soon, the methods to increase the brain¡¯s utilization rate were displayed. George saw that within the many documents in the historical record, hundreds of them were all on the methods to increase the utilization rate of the brain. He started from the first in order, and read the documents in order for more than an hour. George stopped browsing the documents about ten minutes before the evening meeting. From the hundreds of documents, he chose two methods that he thought would be most useful. The first was the most basic method of self-training one¡¯s brainwaves. By controlling one¡¯s brainwaves on a daily basis, one could steadily increase the intensity of one¡¯s brainwaves. Though, George knew that this was also the method that would take the longest time. For example, George could now control his brainwaves and activate the space storage card. Doing so could also train his brainwaves. The training method that he needed to do was to continuously activate the space storage card for a fixed time every day. The other method George had singled out would take the shortest amount of time, but it was also the most dangerous. The various potentials of living creatures were usually hidden in their brains. Only when they encountered a crisis that stimulated the reaction nerves in their brains would an effect that was far greater than usual could be triggered. If George wanted to increase the intensity of his brainwaves in a short time, he had to experience all kinds of crises to maximize the activation of the potential abilities of his brain. This process required the release of a large number of brainwaves to achieve. These were two very different ways to increase the intensity of his brainwaves. One was safe but time-consuming, and the other was fast but extremely dangerous. Finally, after some thought, George decided that the two methods could be used interchangeably. Not deliberately creating a crisis was the only way to minimize the danger. Then, George pinpointed the two files on the two methods of brainwave enhancement, downloaded and saved them into his private file. After that, he prepared himself and seeing that it was almost time for the meeting, left the office for the conference room. After he left the office, a new message appeared in the alien chat group on his phone. George, who was walking alone in the corridor, opened his phone and entered the chat group to check. ¡°Who¡¯s sending a message at this time? It can¡¯t be that Selkian who likes to threaten others again, right?¡± In the alien chat group, the Selkian had sent a message. When George saw the contents of the message, he broke out in cold sweat from the shock. [I suddenly discovered something strange.. The newcomer in the group, oh, the super civilization creature that the two of you said far surpassed us, actually downloaded the lowest leveled methods of brainwave enhancement from the group¡¯s historical record!] Chapter 27 - George Can Solve the Problem? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio In the silent corridor, only the sound of George¡¯s pants could be heard. He couldn¡¯t care less that his clothes were now drenched in sweat and that the wet clothes were sticking to his back. ¡°Could it be that the Selkian has discovered my true identity? The Selkian is already suspicious! I have to do something!¡± The message that appeared in the group chat was sent by the Selkian because George had entered the historical records of the group file to look for methods to improve his brainwaves. He did not think that the historical records would show the clicks, views, and downloads of the group members. This loophole that George had missed was discovered by the Selkian who had sent his discovery into the group chat. Once the aliens started having doubts about his identity, they would immediately use some black technologies that he did not understand to search for the real coordinates of the Earth that he was on. According to George¡¯s logic, Warth had not been discovered by an alien civilization before, so it was temporarily safe in the universe. What he was afraid of was that those high-level alien civilizations had mastered black technologies that he did not know about and could use a method that Earthlings could not understand to pinpoint Earth¡¯s coordinates in space. That was the scariest thing! Suddenly, an ear-piercing ringtone rang in the silent corridor. George jumped. He instinctively wanted to throw the phone in his hand out of reflex. Fortunately, his rationality surpassed his fear. He lifted the phone in his hand and saw that it was Professor Eugene calling. ¡°Professor, you¡¯re looking for me?¡± ¡°George, you can¡¯t have forgotten about the evening meeting, right? Where are you? Come to the meeting room immediately. You can¡¯t have everyone waiting for only you!¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be there right away!¡± It was not that George had forgotten about the evening meeting, but he had been frightened by the changes in the chat group, which had caused him to stand dumbstruck in the corridor. George quickened his pace and walked into the elevator. After a few minutes, he entered the meeting room. The room was already filled with the team members of the various groups. The professors in charge of each project were sitting at the front of the meeting room. His mentor, Professor Eugene, was among them. When he saw that George had finally arrived, he rolled his eyes at him and gestured for him to find a seat. The meeting to study the invasion of the starship had officially begun. The first to speak was Professor Eugene. George, who was sitting behind, was staring straight ahead, but he was not listening to the contents of the meeting. He was still thinking of a way to solve the suspicions of the aliens in the chat group about his identity as an Earthling. George had always used the silent method to hide his identity, but now it was not a possibility. If he continued to remain silent for a long time in the chat group, the aliens would definitely be very curious about his identity. Only by speaking in the chat group could he solve the aliens¡¯suspicions. However, what to say was a very difficult problem. If he said something wrong, it would easily have the opposite effect. He had to first analyze the aliens¡¯ personalities, then achieve the result he wanted by utilizing the conflicts between the aliens, which was to continue to hide his identity as an Earthling in the aliens¡¯ chat group. At this time, George felt a pat on his right shoulder. He turned around and saw a colleague using his eyes to signal him to look forward. Oh, shit! George immediately understood that his mentor must have mentioned him during his speech, and then saw that his attention was not on the meeting at all. Sure enough, Professor Eugene¡¯s questioning voice came from the front, ¡°George, what are you thinking about?!¡± Whoosh! Everyone in the meeting room focused their eyes on George¡¯s face. This was too awkward. George¡¯s thoughts were moving rapidly. He could feel that his brainwaves were starting to be released and their intensity was increasing. Such an awkward situation was also a kind of crisis. It could stimulate his brainwaves and make them increase. When Professor Eugene, who was sitting in the front, saw that his student didn¡¯t seem to care about the content of the meeting, he was so angry that his lungs were about to explode. ¡°George! If you don¡¯t want to attend the meeting, get out now!¡± George understood his mentor¡¯s temper very well. In such a meeting, if his student had such embarrassing actions, as the mentor, Professor Eugene would also feel very embarrassed. George knew that whatever Professor Eugene was saying now was something in anger. He had to say something so that he wouldn¡¯t embarrass himself too much. ¡°Professor, I was thinking about the difficult problem that you raised just now and was thus distracted for a moment.¡± Professor Eugene also knew his student very well. After George said this, he could guess that George wanted to use this to ease the current awkward situation. With this, Professor Eugene was even angrier. The mustache under his nose was trembling with anger. ¡°Very well! You said that you were thinking about the difficult problem that I raised. Now, tell me, have you found the answer to the difficult problem?¡± ¡°Pfft!¡± The staff in the conference room couldn¡¯t help but laugh. This time, it was George¡¯s turn to be stunned. After all, he hadn¡¯t heard what Professor Eugene had said about the difficult problem. At this time, a girl sitting behind George was very kind. She lowered her voice and repeated the difficult problem that Professor Eugene had raised just now. The volume of her voice was just right for George to hear. The difficult question that Professor Eugene had just raised was very sharp and belonged to the field of space physics. The alien starship was now hovering at a Lagrange point. After human attempts to communicate with it failed, they decided to launch a probe and take the initiative to come into contact with the alien starship. The difficult part was how to keep the probe close to the alien starship by entering the orbit without colliding with the starship. To put it simply, the space technology that humans currently had simply couldn¡¯t allow the probe to move as freely in outer space as the cars on the ground. This was very difficult. After George learned about the problem that his mentor had just raised, he actually began to try to solve it. Suddenly, he could feel that his brainwaves that were originally not very strong were increasing at an exaggerated rate. The most obvious effect of this was that his thinking ability had improved to a terrifying level. With the fact that his thinking ability had improved greatly together with his professional knowledge from university, he quickly simulated three solutions to the problem in his mind. Professor Eugene was fuming at the front, still waiting for his student to solve the problem. He knew that it was impossible for George to solve the problem, but he intended to let George make a fool of himself so that George would focus on his research. However, what George said next shocked Professor Eugene and everyone in the meeting room. ¡°Professor, I have solved the problem that you just raised!¡± Chapter 28 - Is George Really Human? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Other than the professors sitting at the front, there were also members that the government had sent to observe the operations of the research institute. Those that were left were mostly George¡¯s classmates or seniors. The person in charge of the observer group was also a graduate of Yale University. However, he did not choose to stay and work at Yale University. Instead, he joined the planetary defense organization. As the important figure sent by the government, Professor Franklin looked at George with a mocking gaze. He was a senior expert in the field of space physics. Both his experience and academic status were slightly higher than the professors present. After George said that he could solve the difficult problem raised by Professor Eugene, the entire meeting room fell silent. Everyone was in a state of extreme shock. What kind of joke was this? ¡°How could a student who had just graduated solve a problem that even the professors were clueless about?¡± Such was the thought of almost everyone present. The kind-hearted girl who had warned George before also frowned. She lowered her voice again and tried to persuade George, ¡°George, quickly take back what you just said and apologize to Professor Eugene. Maybe they will forgive you then. Just say that you ate something wrong before coming¡­¡± However, before the girl could finish her words, she was shocked to see a professor sitting in front of her jump up in anger. ¡°George, do you know how important this conference is to humans? Your words and actions now are tarnishing the reputation of your mentor, no, Yale University!¡± When Professor Franklin saw that someone stood up to mock George, he also laughed coldly, ¡°Humph, Yale University has given us such a good student!¡± Professor Eugene, who was sitting in his seat, did not say anything. When he heard how Franklin deliberately emphasized the word ¡°good¡±, his face turned ugly. However, what surprised Professor Eugene was that with his understanding of George, his student should not have acted so rashly and irrationally. What Franklin said just now was a very bad signal. If serious, George might be held responsible for disrupting the important meeting. Professor Eugene pondered in his heart and decided to save his student. As for the rest, he could wait until after the event to punish George alone. ¡°George! What nonsense are you talking about? I suppose you may have caught a cold and are feeling feverish, which is why you took random medicine, right? Drag him out!¡± While Professor Eugene said this, he hinted at the students who were close to George with his eyes. It was obvious that he wanted the other students to drag George out first, which was equivalent to protecting him. With this, a few students stood up and came to George¡¯s side. They grabbed him and escorted him to the door. After George was grabbed by the students, he suddenly understood what his mentor meant. His eyes were filled with gratitude as he looked at Professor Eugene. Just as the few of them were at the door and were about to push the door open to leave, they were suddenly stopped by a voice. ¡°Wait!¡± Everyone looked towards the voice and realized that it was Professor Franklin who had stopped them. After Franklin said that, he deliberately glanced at Professor Eugene before he continued, ¡°I would like to hear his solution to the problem. If what he said is true, we have buried a talent!¡± Professor Eugene¡¯s expression became even uglier. He looked at Franklin and found that his face was filled with the pleasure of revenge. Yes, that¡¯s right! Professor Franklin hated Professor Eugene with his guts. During his time at Yale University, Professor Eugene was very talented and hard-working as well. As such, he always overshadowed Professor Franklin in their same field of study, which gradually caused Franklin to develop a twisted mentality. Franklin liked to see Professor Eugene make a fool of himself in public as this way, his narrow heart could obtain a perverted sense of satisfaction. Professor Eugene really wanted to stop him, but in terms of academic status, due to the authority of the government, he could not say anything against the other party¡¯s actions. Besides, Franklin was looking forward to him standing up for his student so that he would fall into the trap that he had already set up. At this time, Franklin saw that the few people at the door had no intention of turning back, thus he directly let the two assistants beside him walk over and pull George back from the meeting room. The entire conference room was very quiet. Everyone¡¯s eyes were locked on George¡¯s face. There were professors who were worried about him, and there were classmates who were anxious about him. Similarly, there was Franklin who was waiting to see the joke. Franklin sat back in his seat and looked at George with a mocking expression. ¡°You can begin! Show your talent to all of us here! Huh? Can¡¯t you hear what I¡¯m saying?!¡± George knew very well that Franklin, who had been making things difficult for him, was actually slapping his mentor, Professor Eugene, in the face, and he was just the tool for him to do so. Humph! Damned Franklin! You asked for it! Under everyone¡¯s gaze, George walked to the front of the meeting room. There was a simple blackboard with all kinds of mathematical formulas written on it. He picked up a chalk and turned to look at Professor Eugene. Professor Eugene was feeling very uncomfortable and just wished to leave as soon as possible. He blamed himself for not being able to help his student. He could only look away and close his eyes. When George saw this scene, he did not hesitate anymore and quickly turned to face the blackboard. Soon, the mathematical formulas left on the blackboard were wiped clean by him. In the next moment, the sound of rapid writing came from the blackboard in the silent meeting room. Swish, swish, swish! Everyone was surprised to see that a mathematical formula that they had never seen before appeared on the blackboard. One should know that the people attending this meeting were all big shots or elites in the field of space physics. Therefore, the people present could quickly see the significance of the mathematical formula that George had written on the blackboard. ¡°Although we haven¡¯t seen this formula before, the direction of the calculation is correct!¡± ¡°The minimum error in the previous calculation was already quite minimal. Did he borrow the previous train of thought?¡± ¡°Humph, the error is minimal, and that¡¯s the same as not getting the correct result!¡± ¡°George couldn¡¯t have borrowed the previous calculation method. He¡¯s using a brand new method to solve the problem!¡± ¡°Look, George has already calculated the correct result!¡± ¡°Oh my god, he¡¯s still calculating. It can¡¯t be that he can use a second method to get the final answer, right?¡± ¡°I am going crazy, is he still human?!¡± Chapter 29 - How Many Methods Did George Know to Solve the Problem? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio When George finished writing the first formula, the people who thought he was done were surprised to see that he continued to write another calculation method next to the first completed formula. Everyone was shocked by George¡¯s abnormal operation. Even Professor Eugene, who had been pretending to close his eyes, was slapped awake by his colleagues. The moment Professor Eugene opened his eyes, he saw that his student had used a method he had never seen before to get a result, which caused him to jump out of his seat. Professor Eugene rushed to the blackboard as fast as he could. He ignored George, who was continuing his calculations on the side, and focused all his attention on the already written calculation formula on the blackboard. ¡°Professor Eugene has gone to verify it himself!¡± ¡°Haha, Professor Eugene is George¡¯s mentor, after all. He must be the most excited!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The result of George¡¯s calculations should be fine. You can see the answer from Professor Eugene¡¯s expression!¡± ¡°Look at Franklin, he doesn¡¯t look too good!¡± ¡°Shh, lower your voice. Don¡¯t let him hear you. You¡¯ll get yourself into trouble!¡± While everyone in the meeting room was discussing, George had already completed the second mathematical formula on the blackboard. Everyone originally thought that he should be done by now and all that would be left was for the few professors to start verifying the results, which would take some time. However, what made them feel something was off was that after George finished the second mathematical formula, he did not leave the blackboard. Instead, he lowered his head as if he was thinking about something. What they did not know was that George was now in a very magical state. After George¡¯s brainwaves had increased, his brain utilization rate also broke the human average. After he used two different methods to solve the difficult problem, he didn¡¯t think much of the third method that he had thought of previously. During the process of solving the problem, his brainwaves had been in a very intense utilization rate, which in turn made his brainwaves continue to increase. How could George give up such a rare opportunity to improve his brainwaves so easily? So he began to challenge himself, forcing his brain to work at a rapid speed, just like a full-loaded CPU that was about to enter overdrive. By constantly releasing brainwaves, he achieved the goal of improving his brainwave utilization rate. Behind George, there were eyes filled with questions. They were shocked by George¡¯s methods of solving the problem and his speed. At this time, an elderly man was sitting next to Franklin. He was not Franklin¡¯s deputy, but the official who had been sent to record the meeting. His duty was to record the actual situation as seen to bring back for the higher-up officials to view. Of course, Franklin knew of the elderly man¡¯s identity, so when he saw the other party stand up and leave his seat, his eyes flashed with an unnoticeable gloom. He originally wanted to make Professor Eugene look bad in the meeting, but in the end, he helped that kid named George. Franklin was unable to accept such a result for a moment, but he didn¡¯t dare to stop the recorder¡¯s work, because that party was only responsible to the White House. According to normal procedures, once the difficult questions raised in this meeting were solved, they had to be taken back to the National Academy of Sciences to for the most authoritative verification work to be completed. Among Franklin¡¯s few good friends, some held important positions in the National Academy of Sciences. He was thinking that he couldn¡¯t show his anxiousness now. Instead, he should be the first to stand up and praise the boy named George. ¡°Clap, clap, clap!¡± Applause sounded in the meeting room. Everyone looked over and realized that the first to clap was actually Professor Franklin, who had previously posed a difficult question to George. For a moment, there was a dramatic change in everyone¡¯s expressions. Some looked at Professor Franklin with disdain, while others wore a surprised expression. The girl who had been sitting behind George stared at George¡¯s back. She didn¡¯t expect that what she thought was a kind reminder had almost made George lose an opportunity to display his talent. The girl decided that after the meeting ended, she would find an opportunity to apologize to George. At this moment, as Professor Franklin took the lead in applauding, everyone stood up and clapped enthusiastically at George. However, an awkward scene appeared. Franklin, who was the first to clap, had originally thought it all out. In his plans, after he took the lead to applaud, the young man named George would definitely express his gratitude. However, until Professor Franklin began to feel some pain in his hands that had been clapping non-stop, George was still moving his arms and quickly writing formulas on the blackboard. Of course, the people present did not know George¡¯s current state. All he could think about was the formula in front of him, and he was oblivious to the outside world. The smile on Professor Franklin¡¯s face began to stiffen, and then slowly turned into a very ugly expression. Part of his resentment toward Professor Eugene was transferred to the young student named George. ¡°Damned brat, you¡¯re just as arrogant as your mentor, huh? Just you wait, there will come a time when you come crying and begging me!¡± While Franklin was silently criticizing George, George would never have thought that someone with a twisted heart was scheming against him behind his back. The determination in George¡¯s eyes became more and more obvious. The mathematical formula on the blackboard was about to be completed. What he didn¡¯t know was that not far behind him, an older staff member was holding a simple video camera in his hand. He was recording the scene of George calculating on the blackboard. He was only waiting for the meeting to end before bringing the video back to the National Academy of Sciences. He wondered if those old freaks at the National Academy of Sciences would jump up in excitement after seeing the video of George solving the problem. Most of the people present, except for Professor Eugene and Professor Lodge, did not know that the difficult problem that was put forward during the meeting was put forward by an academician of the National Academy of Sciences. This was a problem that had troubled them for a long time. If they could not solve it, it would directly affect the probe¡¯s contact with the alien starship in outer space. For the entire human civilization, they would lose the best opportunity to solve the mystery of the alien starship. Just as everyone was paying attention to George¡¯s solution, they suddenly noticed that his hand that had been completing the formula on the blackboard with haste had stopped. This scene caused the meeting room to fall into silence once more. The people present knew that the final result was about to be revealed. Could George solve the problem in three methods within just half an hour? Everyone was waiting to see it! Chapter 30 - Respect From Everyone! Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio In the large conference room, applause sounded again. However, this time, it was Professor Eugene who led the applause. The silver-haired Professor Eugene had tears in the corners of his eyes. They were tears of excitement. Professor Eugene still vaguely remembered that when George had just become his student, he had solved a difficult problem in his office. At that time, George¡¯s speed in solving problems was not the fastest among his classmates, but Professor Eugene found that his thinking in solving problems was different from others. Professor Eugene could tell that if George was given some time to grow, his achievements in space physics would far surpass most people in the field. What Professor Eugene did not expect was that George had miraculously achieved such a feat ahead of time. In the meeting room, in front of everyone present, George had used three methods to solve a difficult problem that troubled the top scholars of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Eugene was very clear that something like this couldn¡¯t be faked, which was exactly why he was very excited. He wasn¡¯t stingy with his tears. This was the best recognition he had for George. At the same time, most of the people present were equally excited. Many of them were Yale students who had graduated a few years before George. Among them, the most delighted ones were the members in the same research group as George, their delight stemming from their witness of George¡¯s freakish speed and way of thinking. Because this meant that as long as they were in the same group as George, they would receive a steady stream of resources. After all, the key to successful scientific research was funding. If someone godly was in one of the scientific research groups and was very good at solving difficult problems, the country would certainly devote a lot of resources to the research group. The benefits were obvious. Therefore, the many members in the meeting started to praise George loudly. ¡°George, the second research group will always support you!¡± ¡°George, No, God, please accept my worship!¡± ¡°Yale is proud of you!¡± ¡°You are the pride of Yale!¡± All kinds of praises for George continued to ring out. However, the more they praised George, the darker Professor Franklin¡¯s expression became as he stood in the corner. ¡°Humph, don¡¯t be happy too early. The final results have to be evaluated by the Academy of Sciences!¡± In the face of the exciting atmosphere in the meeting, Professor Franklin only dared to quietly complain about his dissatisfaction in his heart. At this time, Professor Eugene walked to George¡¯s side. He placed his wrinkled hands on the shoulders of his student, and his eyes were filled with undisguised admiration. ¡°Yale is proud of you!¡± After Professor Eugene said this, he turned around and left, giving way to Professor Lodge, who was walking over from behind him. Professor Lodge did the same thing as Professor Eugene. If there were outsiders present in the meeting room, they would probably feel that it was strange when they saw the professors pat George¡¯s shoulders separately. What they didn¡¯t know was that there was a long-standing and unwritten rule at Yale. When someone achieved extraordinary success in a certain field, the fellow Yale alumni would come forward and tap the person on the shoulder when they saw the person. This was their way of expressing thier respect for the extraordinary achievements of the alumnus. So, after Professor Eugene first expressed his respect for his student, the other professors in the room began to follow suit. During this process, Professor Franklin watched as the professors belonging to Yale University were about to finish expressing their respect, other than him. At this moment, he was having an intense struggle in his heart because he was also a graduate of Yale University. According to common practice, he should express his respect as well. However, Franklin was very unwilling to do so. He found Professor Eugene in the crowd and first gave him a malicious look. ¡°To think this damned Eugene express his respect to his student at this time!¡± Franklin ridiculed in his heart. He had hoped that the people present would only pay their respects to Geroge after the meeting had ended and he had left. He didn¡¯t expect that Eugene, whom he hated, would carry out this procedure in advance. It was left to one¡¯s speculation whether Professor Eugene had the intention of taking revenge on Franklin by doing so. With this, an awkward scene appeared in the meeting. Other than Franklin, all the professors who had graduated from Yale University had already expressed their respect for George. Among the professors, only Franklin had not taken action. Thus, everyone¡¯s eyes were on him, which made it very awkward for him. Due to George¡¯s outstanding performance, the professors were willing to express their respect for him. After the professors had finished doing so, only could the young Yale graduates could go ahead and express their respect for George. This was a process based on seniority. In other words, if Franklin didn¡¯t go up to express his respect for George, most of the Yale graduates could only stand and wait. At this moment, some of the professors who were not Yale graduates stood up and spoke. ¡°Professor Franklin, many people are waiting for you. If it¡¯s not convenient for you, please say it.¡± Franklin¡¯s face instantly turned red. The person who spoke just now was not a professor from Yale University, thus there was nothing wrong with his etiquette in saying such a thing. ¡°Damn it!¡± Franklin did not expect that he would encounter such an awkward and embarrassing situation. He did not know that all of this was the result of his actions. If he had not made things difficult for George to deal a blow to Professor Eugene, things would not have developed to this stage. However, Franklin had been in the officialdom for decades, after all. With just a little thought, he came up with a solution. He hinted to his assistant with his eyes that he was looking for an excuse to leave the meeting room. The assistant had followed Franklin for many years. He could understand the professor¡¯s intention with just a glance. Soon, the phone rang in the meeting room that was filled with awkwardness. The assistant had used some unknown method to pretend that there was a call coming in, and then Professor Franklin started his performance. When everyone saw this scene, their reactions were almost the same. They did not expect that Franklin, who was usually cold and aloof, would actually use such a crude method to escape from this place. Franklin feigned shock as if he had received a call that something was very serious and urgent. Then, with the cooperation of his assistant, he escaped from the meeting room. ¡°Humph, Professor Franklin should get an Oscar for his acting skills!¡± Some of the professors present mocked. After the farce ended, the Yale graduates began to walk up to express their respects to George. Unlike the professors, it was not a problem for students to show their respect to someone else, even if they were not from the same school. A student who was a few years older than George was the first to walk out of the crowd. He walked up to George and patted him on the shoulder. At the same time, he said his name and the name of his school. ¡°Benson, the University of Chicago!¡± Subsequently, the conference room began to be filled with the voices of names and schools. ¡°Gail, Stanford University!¡± ¡°Bartley, Columbia University!¡± ¡°Angelina, Harvard University!¡± ¡°Audrey, MIT!¡± ¡°Brady, Princeton University!¡± ¡­ A few minutes later, the last girl left in the meeting room began to walk towards George. It was the girl who had previously given George the friendly reminder. At this moment, in her beautiful blue eyes, there was only George¡¯s figure. She had already walked up to George as she glanced at him nervously. Then, she raised her arm and patted his thick shoulder with her soft fingers. ¡°Hannah, Yale University!¡± Chapter 31 - The Academy of Sciences Received the Video! Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio In an ordinary room within the building of the National Academy of Sciences, the staff sitting in front of the computer wasn¡¯t looking at the screen in front of him. Instead, he took the chance when the night was not very busy to bend over the table and sleep. In the quiet room, only the sound of regular snoring could be heard. What the staff member who was sleeping did not know was that a new notification had appeared in the lower right corner of the screen in front of him. An email had been sent to them. His usual job was mainly to handle all sorts of emails and messages. After he sorted them out, he would send them to different departments according to their categories. If the incoming email was from an internal staff member, it would be accompanied by a sound notification. ¡°Beep, beep, beep!¡± The sound wasn¡¯t very loud, but it was enough to be heard by one¡¯s ears in a quiet room. The staff¡¯s upper body was bent over the table. He was not in deep sleep, to begin with, so he was easily wakened by the constant beeping. ¡°Damn it, it¡¯s so late¡­ who sending a message?¡± The staff¡¯s head left the table, and he had no choice but to control the mouse to click on the message that had just been sent. ¡°It¡¯s an email again, can¡¯t it be sent during the day? Damn it!¡± The staff member was very angry when he saw that it was a new email. If it was something urgent, the other party would normally contact him by phone instead of email. The staff thought that the email must have been sent by a newcomer who had just joined. The staff made a judgment in his heart. Although he was in a bad mood from being woken up, the movements in his right hand did not stop. He still clicked on the mouse to open the email. Then, he saw a very eye-catching title appear on the screen. [Urgent email, please check it immediately!] ¡°What the hell!¡± When the staff saw the email that had just been sent had used such a very eye-catching title, he was momentarily stunned. However, his duty was to sort out all kinds of new emails anyway. Out of responsibility for his work, the staff still forwarded the email to President Hawking¡¯s assistant. At the same time, in another room in the building, a girl wearing gold-rimmed glasses saw a new email appear on the screen in front of her. When she heard a notification sound, the girl realized that the email was from a colleague. ¡°Sending an email at this time of night? It must be from that annoying guy, John!¡± The girl wearing gold-rimmed glasses was President Hawking¡¯s assistant. She was usually responsible for organizing the President¡¯s non-personal emails and messages. When she opened the email that she had just received, she was surprised to find that it was not from the annoying John, but from the staff of the Academy of Sciences who was in charge of daily work. ¡°Urgent email, please check it immediately!¡± Seeing that the email was marked with a very eye-catching title, the girl did not hesitate and immediately opened the attached video in the email. Soon, the interface of the video player appeared. It showed a person solving a problem on the blackboard. When the girl saw the contents of the video, a look of disdain appeared on her face. ¡°So it¡¯s a video of solving a problem. I thought something new had happened to the alien starship!¡± With a hint of disappointment in her eyes, she used the mouse to speed up the video playback. As Professor Hawking¡¯s assistant, the girl was also a top student of a famous university. However, she was not concerned about the difficult problem in the video. Instead, she wanted to finish watching the video and decide whether she should send it to President Hawking immediately. The entire video lasted for 28 minutes. At that time, the person who recorded the video was a staff member of the Academy of Sciences. Not only did he record the process of George solving the problem, but he also recorded the process of the professors and the top students present expressing their respect to George after he solved the problem. The video was quickly dragged to the end by the girl. She saw that the scene in the video had changed. A few professors she knew seemed to be encouraging the person who solved the problem. One of the professors was Professor Eugene, whom the girl was very familiar with. Professor Eugene was patting a young man on the shoulder with his hand. The girl seemed to be surprised by the scene in the video as she softly voiced out her doubts, ¡°Professor Eugene, the academician of space physics, is expressing respect to a young man?¡± All the scholars in the academic world knew what Professor Eugene¡¯s behavior in the video meant since it was a very famous practice at Yale University. Every scholar who had made extraordinary achievements in their respective fields would receive the respect of other scholars. At this moment, before the girl could recover from her shock, another person in the video appeared to express his respect for the young man. ¡°Oh my God, it¡¯s Professor Lodge, another academician!¡± The girl finally understood what was going on. Although she didn¡¯t know the young man in the video who was solving the problem, it was a fact that she saw a few influential professors in the scientific world expressing their respect for the young man. This had completely overturned the girl¡¯s understanding. ¡°Wow, to think those cold academicians and professors have such a humble side.¡± The girl wondered what the young scholar did in the video. She was driven by curiosity and immediately replayed the video in front of her. The video returned to George solving the problem on the blackboard. The girl was also a graduate of a top university, thus it wasn¡¯t hard for her to notice George¡¯s speed in solving the problem after merely watching the video for a short while, though she wasn¡¯t entirely aware of the difficulty of the problem. ¡°Oh my God, such speed in problem-solving could¡¯ve only been achieved by the President in his earlier days!¡± The ¡°President¡¯ the girl was talking about was the President of the Academy of Sciences, Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking had long become famous in the scientific world. The President had won the highest science award alone when he was young. Not long after, the girl finished watching the video and glanced at the time on the screen. She realized that it was already the time to rest at night. As President Hawking¡¯s assistant, she was familiar with President Hawking¡¯s daily routine. If it wasn¡¯t something important, she wouldn¡¯t disturb President Hawking. The girl looked at the video in front of her and weighed the pros and cons in her heart. She was thinking that if she didn¡¯t send the video to President Hawking immediately, she might be reprimanded by him the next day. After confirming her thoughts, the girl didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately forwarded the video to President Hawking of the Academy of Sciences. As the girl¡¯s fingers tapped on the mouse, the video of George solving the problem was thus sent to President Hawking¡¯s email. After the girl finished doing this, her upper body sunk into the soft chair. She wondered how President Hawking would react when he watched the video. Just as the girl was making wild guesses, in a villa near the suburbs of the city, an old man with a head full of silver hair was about to get up and leave the study to go to the bedroom to rest. Suddenly, a few beeps came from the computer behind the old man, the sound especially clear in the silent night. ¡°Hmm? It¡¯s so late, who sent me a message?¡± The old man was President Hawking of the Academy of Sciences. When he heard that there was a new email, he turned around and returned to the computer to open the email he had just received.. Chapter 32 - Who Is This Young Man? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio President Hawking opened the email and saw a very eye-catching title. The first thing he did was to check who had sent him the email. It didn¡¯t take long. He could see the sender on the top left corner of the email interface. ¡°It¡¯s a video sent by Angie. For her to send it to me at this time, the contents of the video should be very important.¡± As Hawking opened the video, he wondered if it had something to do with the sudden appearance of the alien starship. It was inevitable he would think that. After all, the sudden appearance of the alien starship in outer space had been tormenting the Academy of Sciences that Hawking was in charge of. It was mainly due to the pressure from the authorities. The President of the Stets and the Parliament would ask the Academy of Sciences about the progress of the exploration of the alien starship several times a day. As for the public, they only wanted to see human probes appear in outer space to carry out effective exploration of the starship that had suddenly visited Earth. Hawking opened the video in his mailbox. A handsome young man appeared on the screen whom he didn¡¯t recognize. Hawking obviously did not know George. However, this did not affect him revealing a shocked expression when he saw the young scholar solve a problem quickly. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the problem listed by the Academy of Sciences? Who is this person who solved the problem? How can he be so young?¡± Hawking watched as George solved the problem on the blackboard. As the President of the Academy of Sciences, he could quickly determine that the other party¡¯s thinking in solving the problem was very unique. It was a method that had never appeared before. This successfully attracted the attention of President Hawking. ¡°This problem is not so easy to solve. Several professors of our Academy of Sciences have no idea what to do with this problem. It¡¯s a good thing that this young man has used a different method to solve the problem, but the result may not be what we want.¡± Although Hawking did not quite believe that the young man in the video could really solve the problem, his eyes did not leave the screen as he said this. In his heart, of course, he hoped that someone could solve this problem. This was because it was closely related to a great opportunity for the country. If they couldn¡¯t send out a probe to get into contact with the alien starship at the best time, then other countries would definitely go ahead and investigate the alien starship. The countries that had the power to enter outer space knew very well that if this alien starship that had suddenly appeared were to invade Earth, no matter how much humanity resisted, the result would probably simply be tragic. Just from looking at the starship that was controlled by an alien civilization, one could understand that the alien civilization¡¯s technology was far superior to that of the human¡¯s. Therefore, the most urgent thing now was to fight to be the first country to come into contact with the alien starship. This was equivalent to being in a huge gamble. If they succeeded, they would be able to absorb the alien civilization¡¯s advanced technology faster than other countries. At this moment, the video was still playing. George was about to use the first method to solve the problem. Hawking, who had been watching the video, grew even more shocked as George¡¯s hands continued to move in front of the blackboard. ¡°Ha, this young man has calculated the final result?¡± Because the time Geroge took was very short, which meant that he was solving the problem very quickly, this caused Hawking to be unable to keep up with George¡¯s speed of solving the problem. One had to know that in the process of calculating a formula, even the bystanders had to follow the steps of the solver¡¯s calculation in their minds to determine whether the problem was really solved or not. Moreover, what Hawking saw was only a video. If he had been in the meeting room at the time, he might have already been able to determine if George¡¯s calculations were correct. After all, the professors who were present at the time could only judge whether George¡¯s solution result was correct after he began using a second method to solve the problem. When President Hawking saw that the young man in the video had calculated a result, he habitually controlled the mouse to replay it but was surprised to find something unexpected. ¡°That¡¯s not right. I thought the video had reached the end. Why is there still such a long progress bar?¡± Seeing that more than half of the video had not finished playing, President Hawking realized that things were not as simple as he had thought. Soon, after Hawking sped up the video, he saw a shocking scene. George was using a second method to solve the problem in the video. ¡°Oh my God, to think he¡¯s trying to use a second method to solve the problem! Who Is this young man? Why have I never heard of him before?¡± Hawking frankly dragged the progress bar to the end of the video. He had originally thought that he would be able to find the answer to who the young man was at the end of the video. What he didn¡¯t expect was that in the second half of the video, a very familiar scene was playing. It was filled with a very serious sense of ritual. Although President Hawking didn¡¯t graduate from Yale University, he knew of the ritual that was widely spread at Yale University. It was a tribute to the scholars who had achieved extraordinary achievements. When he saw several very influential professors in the video expressing their respect to the young man who had solved the problem, he knew that the young man¡¯s results didn¡¯t need to be verified anymore. Those professors were not fools. On the contrary, they had made extraordinary achievements in their respective fields of study, so for the professors to recognize and respect the young man, his results would be very reliable. After Professor Hawking finished watching the video, he was no longer sleepy. He just wanted to meet the young man immediately. ¡°Right, I should contact Angie now and ask her to do this!¡± At the same time, Angie, who was wearing her glasses, was about to leave the office and rush home. Just as she was about to close the door, the phone in the room rang. It was President Hawking¡¯s private line, and only he could call her on the line. Angie gave up on the idea of leaving and could only return to the office. She walked to the phone and picked up the receiver. Judging from the familiar voice that came from the receiver, it was indeed President Hawking. ¡°President Hawking!¡± ¡°It¡¯s me. Angie, I¡¯m very sorry to call you so late, but the matter is urgent. I¡¯d like to ask you to do something now!¡± When Angie heard President Hawking¡¯s words, she had a vague idea of what the mission would be about. She guessed that it had something to do with the video she had sent to President Hawking. In less than a minute, the call with President Hawking ended. Angie glanced at the time on her watch while she pouted. ¡°It¡¯s almost 11 pm. Is it really okay to call Professor Eugene at this time?¡± Although she was somewhat unwilling, President Hawking¡¯s request had to be completed as soon as possible. It was just as well that Angie didn¡¯t put down the phone in her hand. She directly called the Academy of Sciences¡¯ switchboard duty room and asked the other party to immediately connect her to Professor Eugene. Professor Eugene was in an office of the research institute at the moment, discussing with George about launching a probe to come into contact with the alien starship.. Chapter 33 - Is That Why George Was Trying to Hide? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio After George solved the problem, the video of him doing so was sent to the National Academy of Sciences as well as to NASA. The video had been forwarded over and over again and caused a huge sensation in the scientific community. The problem that troubled the experienced scientists had been solved by a young scholar who had just graduated, which was something that had never happened before. With this, George¡¯s name began to spread in the scientific community. They knew very well that once they solved the problem in the design of the probe, they would become the first country to send a probe to make contact with the alien starship. At this time, in an office in the research institute in the suburbs, Professor Eugene was sitting on the sofa, sitting across from him was George who was talking. ¡°Professor, now that the problem has been solved, when will the probe be sent to make contact with the alien starship?¡± George did not have to hide his thoughts in front of his mentor. Ever since he had obtained a starship from the alien chat group, he had been looking forward to entering the interior of the starship. Rather, he wondered if he had to come into contact with the starship to activate it and become its owner. At this moment, Professor Eugene replied to George¡¯s questions, ¡°The video of you solving the problem has been sent to the Academy of Sciences and NASA respectively. They will be able to calculate the data needed for the probe by tonight, and will only be able to complete the assembly of the probe by the day after tomorrow at the latest.¡± After Professor Eugene finished saying this, he glanced at George, who was sitting opposite him. ¡°Why? Do you have any new ideas? You can tell me. If your idea is plausible, not only me, but the many professors who graduated from Yale will support you.¡± George felt comforted with these words. After all, the professors who graduated from Yale held important positions in many departments. George lowered his head and thought for a moment. Then, when he looked at Professor Eugene again, his eyes were filled with determination. ¡°Professor, can I get close to that alien starship?¡± ¡°What?!¡± When Professor Eugene heard what his student said, he stood up from the sofa and looked at George in disbelief. ¡°Are you kidding me? Only an unmanned probe will be sent to make contact with the alien starship this time, how can you¡­¡± However, before he could finish, Professor Eugene suddenly realized that what Geroge meant when he said he wanted to get closer to the alien starship was not aimed at the unmanned probe launched this time. ¡°George, are you trying to say that NASA will send a manned spacecraft to make contact with the alien starship after this?¡± In the follow-up plan of NASA to explore the alien starship, there were indeed plans to launch a manned spacecraft to get into close contact with the giant starship. On top of that, the planned launch time was not far from now. After the unmanned probe completed its first mission, the manned mission would be implemented immediately. If George had raised his idea had before he had solved the problem, Professor Eugene might have considered it, but he definitely would not agree now. The reason was simple. With the value George had shown now, the higher-ups would simply not allow him to take the risk of making contact with an alien starship. Professor Eugene sat back on the sofa and told his student very seriously, ¡°George, the higher-ups won¡¯t agree to your idea. You have to know what your value is. If NASA gets hold of the alien starship¡¯s technology, your role on the ground will be much more important than running around in space.¡± George knew that his professor would say this. The request he had just made was just to test Professor Eugene¡¯s reaction because what he was about to say would probably frighten Professor Eugene. George took out his phone as he said, ¡°Professor, do you remember Anna? Buck from the special agent organization has been secretly investigating her. It turns out that Anna is probably an alien!¡± As he spoke, he had already started playing a video on his phone for Professor Eugene to watch. Professor Eugene saw from the video a ¡°monster¡± who was obviously not a normal human that had the same face as Anna. Professor Eugene was scared out of his wits, to the point he attempted a few times but still failed to say what he wanted to say. He still remembered that Anna was also a student at Yale University. He had a good impression of her, after all, Anna had looks that all girls would be jealous of. After professor Eugene calmed down, only then did he take the phone from George and watch the video in detail. George did not interrupt when his mentor watched the video. Instead, he was calculating the next step in his mind. The intensity of his brainwaves was now more than 15%, which was more than double the average of the Earthlings. Thus, George¡¯s brain was very powerful in dealing with complicated formulas. Although he had used three different methods to solve the difficult problem, the result was the same. Thus, to the outside world, his actions were just amazing. What they didn¡¯t know was that getting the same result through various calculation methods was not George¡¯s real goal. George¡¯s real goal was to increase the intensity of his brainwaves through complex calculations. Seeing Professor Eugene was still watching the video on the sofa, George closed his eyes and started to calculate all kinds of complicated mathematical formulas in his mind. Ten minutes later, Professor Eugene had finally finished watching the video. When he returned the phone to George, he voiced the doubts in his heart, ¡°George, you showed me the video of Anna¡¯s body mutation. Are you trying to tell me that she has something to do with the alien starship that suddenly appeared?¡± After all, the mutation of Anna¡¯s body did happen after the alien starship appeared. However, George was not sure whether there was a connection between the two because he knew that the alien starship was a reward given to him by the alien chat group. And he also knew that the mutation of Anna¡¯s body happened after the alien starship appeared. Therefore, George was not sure whether Anna had anything to do with the alien starship at all. ¡°Professor, here¡¯s what I think. Since we want to understand the alien starship, other than making contact with it directly, we can consider the possibility that the mutation in Anna¡¯s body is also caused by the alien starship, right?¡± Professor Eugene pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Your idea is very likely, but this is something they should worry about. Your most important task now is to be vigilant and protect yourself.¡± Professor Eugene was right. After George solved the problem, his identity had changed. He was no longer a young man who had just left university, but a scholar who was to be strictly protected. The defense of the research institute where George was now at had been upgraded to the highest level. All of this was to protect George. When Professor Eugene saw George close his eyes, he thought that he wanted to rest. ¡°George, you can sleep here for the time being. After daybreak, we still have to go to the Academy of Sciences to attend the first flight of the probe. I heard that the White House will send an army to escort you to the destination safely.¡± George closed his eyes but did not fall asleep. He was still calculating all kinds of complicated mathematical formulas in his mind.. Chapter 34 - That Mysterious Big Shot Is So Young? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The next day, just after 9 am, a convoy sent by the military stopped at the entrance of the research institute. From an armored transport vehicle, a man in an admiral¡¯s uniform stepped out. The man had a gaze as sharp as an eagle. He stood in place as he looked at the research institute before giving a series of orders. This convoy belonged to the army¡¯s 3rd mechanized division, and the leader of the convoy was Vice-Admiral Kale. ¡°Tell them to cordon off the area within a five kilometer radius! Let the information team enter the building first and take over all the communication equipment inside!¡± After Vice-Admiral Kale finished speaking, he looked at the time on his watch. ¡°There are still eight minutes left. A helicopter squadron will rush over and be in charge of air defense for this operation. You guys do your job of docking!¡± The adjutant who was next to Vice-Admiral Kale immediately passed down orders. What made the adjutant curious about the mission was that they had received it at the last minute. It was not until they had boarded the armored vehicle and arrived at the research institute building that they roughly knew the mission that they were going to carry out. They had to escort an important figure to the National Academy of Sciences. As the adjutant passed on Vice-Admiral Kale¡¯s orders, he was guessing in his mind which important figure was so important that for a trip, a well-equipped mechanized army unit had to be mobilized. This had never happened before. Not only was the adjutant curious, but Vice-Admiral Kale was also extremely interested in the identity of this mysterious figure. At this moment, Vice-Admiral Kale stood alone at the entrance of the research institute. He was waiting for the person with the special identity to come out of the research institute. There were still 15 minutes before the helicopter squadron arrived. Only then would the mysterious person come out of the building. Kale suspected that even if someone did come out, it would be several people coming out at the same time. He did not have the authority to know who they were really responsible for sending to the Academy of Sciences. A few minutes later, the sound of a helicopter engine could be heard in the air. Kale and the adjutant turned to look at the sky. The black dots formed by eight armed helicopters appeared in the sky far away. As the black dots continued to grow larger, the annoying noise also became louder. Kale watched as out of the group of eight armed helicopters, only two of them landed on the ground not far away. The other six armed helicopters hovered in the air and were responsible for alerting the surrounding environment. ¡°Could it be that there will be people who will go by helicopter?¡± Just as Vice-Admiral Kale was guessing, the adjutant beside him reached out and tugged at the Vice-Admiral¡¯s sleeve. As a soldier, Gale¡¯s reaction was speedy. He quickly turned around and faced the research institute. Then, he saw more than a dozen people walking down the steps at the entrance. The few military officers present saw that among the crowd walking out of the building, there were a few old men. They all began to guess which one of them was the mysterious person. However, the few military officers waiting at the entrance of the research institute did not know that the mysterious person they were talking about, namely George, had long blended into the crowd and boarded a transport helicopter not far away. The old men the officers saw were just a few professors. They had already boarded the armored transport vehicle. When Vice-Admiral Kale saw that no one else was coming out of the building, only did he turn around and lead his adjutant to board the first armored transport vehicle. Rumble! The mechanically beautiful military vehicles left the entrance of the research institute in order. The eight armed helicopters in the air formed a human-shaped formation and flew towards the direction of the Academy of Sciences. Soon, the initially bustling research institute was once again restored to silence. The straight line distance from the research institute to the Academy of Sciences was not very far. The armed helicopters only needed 20 minutes to reach their destination. At this moment, Vice-Admiral Kale who was sitting in the armed transport vehicle, was resting with his eyes closed. Only the adjutant was needed to give orders for the following operation. The more than a dozen armored vehicles were traveling on the road while eight armed helicopters were in the air above the vehicles. Looking from a distance, they looked very imposing. At this moment, the convoy arrived at an intersection. According to the results of the satellite navigation, the convoy that was traveling on the ground could only take the road on the right if they wanted to reach the Academy of Sciences in the shortest time possible. Vice-Admiral Kale, who was resting with his eyes closed, knew that the convoy was turning right from the movements of the vehicle that reverberated in his body. Suddenly, the adjutant, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around and reported an emergency to Vice-Admiral Kale. ¡°Vice-Admiral, after our ground fleet turned right, the helicopter fleet in the air did not follow us!¡± The instant Vice-Admiral Kale heard the adjutant¡¯s report, he immediately opened his eagle-like eyes. ¡°What¡¯s going on! Contact the helicopter squadron leader immediately!¡± As the highest commander of the 3rd army division, Kale was surprised that the helicopter squadron he brought would dare to disobey his orders. One had to know that the duty of a soldier was to obey orders. The armed helicopter squadron was the airstrike force of the 3rd army division. They had to carry out unconditionally the orders that were given by the highest commander, Kale. Of course, there were also exceptions. For example, if the orders received by the helicopter squadron¡¯s leader came from the Ministry of Defense. However, such a situation was extremely rare. It would not happen for years or even decades. Unless there was a very important incident, only then would the Ministry of Defense directly give orders to the subordinate units. They may even give orders to single soldiers. Very soon, the adjutant obtained contact with the helicopter squadron¡¯s leader on this mission. The adjutant was very smart. The second the call was connected, he immediately turned on the speaker mode of the car¡¯s communication device. Instantly, the helicopter squadron¡¯s leader¡¯s voice rang out in the bumpy car. ¡°Please give the receiver to Vice-Admiral Kale, I have something to report!¡± The adjutant glanced at Vice-Admiral Kale who was sitting in the back seat, and said, ¡°Admiral Kal can hear you!¡± Vice-Admiral Kale¡¯s first said in a stern voice, ¡°You should know the consequences of disobeying orders!¡± This was to dispel the helicopter squadron¡¯s leader¡¯s concerns, and at the same time, it did not give him time to think. Vice-Admiral Kale was not threatening the squadron leader who had disobeyed orders. In the army, the punishment for disobeying orders was severe enough for one to be tried by the military court. Facing Vice-Admiral Kale questioning, the squadron leader¡¯s helpless voice sounded in the car, ¡°Vice-Admiral Kale, I just received a direct order from the Ministry of Defense!¡± After the squadron leader said this, there was only the sound of the car bumping. Vice-Admiral Kale and the adjutant temporarily lost their voices. The two of them looked at each other with shocked expressions on their faces.. Chapter 35 - Georges Plan Was Disrupted? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio A fleet of eight armed helicopters whizzed toward the direction of the Academy of Sciences. All that was left was the fleet of armored vehicles that made the dust fly on the road. Vice-Admiral Kale only recovered from his shock when the noise of the helicopters in the air disappeared. Vice-Admiral Kale¡¯s adjutant seemed to have recalled something. He turned to look at Vice-Admiral Kale as he said, ¡°Admiral, I remember that the person who boarded the helicopter was a very young man. Could it be that the mysterious person¡­¡± The adjutant did not continue his words, but Vice-Admiral Kale already understood what he meant. ¡°To think that the mysterious person is very young. This is indeed a little shocking.¡± At that time, Vice-Admiral Kale and the adjutant did see that only one young man had boarded the helicopter, while the rest had left the research institute by means of the armored transport vehicles. The armored transport convoy headed towards the Academy of Sciences, but they would arrive at the Academy of Sciences an hour later than George, who was in the helicopter. This caused the scholars who took the armored transport vehicles to be envious of George at the same time. In one of the armored transport vehicles, two professors and their respective students had a conversation. ¡°Young people nowadays are really amazing. George¡¯s performance in university was very average, but after entering Professor Eugene¡¯s group, his progress in the field of space physics has been really fast!¡± The old man who said this was also a senior professor in the Research Institute. When he said this, he deliberately looked at his students. One of the young female scholars felt her mentor¡¯s gaze, and her expression became unnatural. ¡°Professor, don¡¯t expect us to have George¡¯s terrifying speed in solving problems!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, our field of expertise is different to George¡¯s anyway!¡± When the old man saw that his students were starting to get jealous, he retracted his gaze. However, he still spoke while sighing in amazement. ¡°I know that your respective fields of expertise are different, but you were wrong that George¡¯s strength is his speed in solving problems. Instead, it¡¯s because his brain¡¯s activity has reached a very high level!¡± The other professor nodded in agreement, his body swaying along with the bumpy car. ¡°Your professor is right. George is really good at thinking logically. This is an ability that many people yearn for.¡± The shakiness of the car became more and more intense, causing the scholars in the car to feel like vomiting. One had to know that they were riding in an armored transport vehicle used by the military. The military did not consider the comfort of riding in such a vehicle since everything was focused on maintaining effective combat strength. ¡°Damn this broken car. I¡¯m starting to envy Professor Eugene!¡± The one who spoke was still the professor who had first spoken. He said this because thanks to Geroge, Professor Eugene had also taken a helicopter to the Academy of Sciences. After dozens of minutes, the armored transport convoy finally entered the outer area of the Academy of Sciences. Looking out from the vehicle¡¯s viewport, one could see the very eye-catching steeple of the Academy of Sciences. Vice-Admiral Kale¡¯s adjutant used the vehicle¡¯s communication device to inform the other vehicles that they would arrive at their destination in five minutes. Rumble! The steel track rolled over the asphalt surface. After the armored transport convoy drove onto the smooth road, the bumpiness of the cars improved. With this, the scholars in the cars were aware that they were about to arrive at the Academy of Sciences. They were about to witness a momentous scene in human history. Only after all the scholars had arrived at the Academy of Sciences, then the assembly of the probe would begin. By the time the probe was assembled, the precise trajectory of the launch would be calculated at the same time. Soon, the armored transport vehicles drove into the Academy of Sciences. The scholars, who could not bear the bumpy ride of the vehicles, scrambled to get off the armored transport vehicles. A few professors came to the front of the main building of the Academy of Sciences. They first gathered the young scholars together. Then, under the guidance of the staff of the Academy of Sciences, they began to work in the offices assigned to their respective groups. George and Professor Eugene, who had arrived more than an hour earlier than them, were currently sprawled on a large table, calculating complicated mathematical formulas. Professor Eugene looked up at George, who was crazily solving the problems. ¡°George, do you want to take a break first? The data of the probing has been integrated. We¡¯re just waiting to assemble it.¡± George looked up at his mentor, but the pen in his hand did not stop. Professor Eugene did not know that his student wasn¡¯t frantically calculating complicated mathematical formulas to speed up with the progress of the probe¡¯s Assembly, but to train the intensity of his brainwaves. ¡°Professor, I¡¯m fine!¡± At this moment, George was constantly calculating the complicated mathematical formulas in front of him. He had a premonition that if he continued doing so at the current intensity, he would be able to advance his brainwaves again before lunch. He did not have an accurate judgment as to how much his brainwaves could advance by doing this, so he could only guess based on his feelings. Previously, George learned that after the intensity of his brainwaves was increased to 15%, he had activated the storage card. Then, after he did some calculations in the meeting room, his brainwaves were advanced again. After a few upgrades, George¡¯s thinking became different from before. Many things that he could not figure out before started to become clearer. For example, the matters regarding the alien starship that he had obtained through the chat group. Previously, George could not figure out why he could not receive the alien spaceship even though it had already reached Earth¡¯s outer space. Now that George¡¯s brainwaves had been upgraded, his way of thinking had been greatly improved. He guessed that the alien starship had not detected its owner¡¯s brainwaves after reaching Earth¡¯s outer space. This meant that the brainwave intensity of all living creatures on Earth had not reached the detectable level of the alien starship. After figuring out this problem, George began his plan on improving his brainwaves. The reason was simple. The humans were ready to launch an unmanned probe into space at around 9 am three days later, which would allow them to gain close contact with the alien starship. George wanted to obtain the ownership of the alien starship by getting detected before the probe got close to the starship. As for whether he could become the first human to control an alien starship, he was not sure. He would need to see the feedback of the starship. George felt that the method he thought of was very feasible. The main problem was he wasn¡¯t sure what was the lowest limit of the detectable brainwaves by the alien starship. This required him to constantly increase his brainwaves for trial and error. As George continued to increase the intensity of his brain waves, the scholars who had arrived in the armored transport vehicles had already begun to enter the Academy of Sciences. What George was unaware about was that the time of the launch of the probe was likely to be moved earlier.. Chapter 36 - Were Aliens So Easy to Fool? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio In an ordinary room in the Academy of Science, George was still calculating complicated mathematical formulas while Professor Eugene was answering a phone call, nodding from time to time. After Professor Eugene put down the phone, he walked to the front of George and gently tapped the solid wood table with his hand. With this, George, who had been engrossed in solving the problem came back to reality. George lifted his head left and looked at Professor Eugene. ¡°Professor, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Professor Eugene then told his student the contents of the phone call. ¡°George, the plan to launch the probe has been moved forward to tomorrow morning instead of three days later!¡± This unexpected result made George somewhat dazed. ¡°Professor, why did they suddenly move the launch date of the probe ahead? Did something happen?¡± Professor Eugene simply nodded and continued to explain the reason for the early launch. ¡°You don¡¯t know this, but the plan to get probes close to the alien starship had been agreed on with other countries that could do so. All the countries had signed an agreement to do so at the same time as planned.¡± After hearing his professor¡¯s explanation, George, whose logic had been improved, immediately thought of a possibility. As expected, the reason that Professor Eugene said was exactly what he had just guessed. ¡°Hmph, one of the countries has unilaterally broken the agreement and is preparing to launch their probe early tomorrow morning.¡± George feigned surprise. ¡°Which is why the probe that we originally planned to launch three days later will also be launched tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°Yes, and we have to launch the unmanned probe ahead of them!¡± The sudden change made George feel very anxious, as it would disrupt his original plans. If the date to launch the probe had not been moved forward, three days was more than enough for him to advance his brainwaves. However, now that the probe would be launched tomorrow morning, even if George did not sleep, it was almost impossible for him to advance his brainwaves to be more than 30%. 30% was the target he set as a result of his estimation. When he was solving the problem previously, the activity of his brainwaves had been more than 20%, but he hadn¡¯t received any instructions from the alien starship. This meant that his brainwaves were still not strong enough to be detected by the alien starship. As for whether George¡¯s brainwaves could be detected by the alien starship after its activity reached 30%, it was not up to him to decide. It would depend on the alien starship. Just as George was thinking, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He knew that there must be a new message that had appeared in the alien chat group. George immediately stood up and looked at Professor Eugene. ¡°Professor, I¡¯m sorry, I need to go to the bathroom.¡± After George entered the bathroom, he immediately took out his phone from his pocket and entered the alien chat group. The chat interface indeed displayed the latest message that had been sent by the Selkians. [I found that the brainwave enhancement methods in the group files were too outdated. I just uploaded an advanced version of the brainwave enhancement method.] After George saw the message sent, he was surprised and had mixed feelings at the same time. It was obvious that the purpose the Selkian had sent this message was to lure him into taking the bait. If George did go to the group files to read and download the advanced brainwave enhancement method, it would completely expose his identity that he wasn¡¯t someone from a super civilization. However, George was indeed very eager to read about the new brainwave enhancement method. The contradictory emotions fought each other in his heart. NASA was going to launch the probe tomorrow morning. Once they discovered that there was no life inside the alien starship, the crazy humans would most definitely speed up the fight for the alien starship. For George, the earlier he became the owner of the alien starship, the less trouble he would have. After all, to let an alien starship hover in Earth¡¯s outer space alone could cause global panic. In the alien chat group, after the Selkian sent the message, there were no new messages n in the group. George was very depressed now. He really wanted to open the group file and read the new brainwave enhancement method, but he couldn¡¯t expose his true identity. ¡°I have to think of a method. It¡¯s best if I can still read the document without arousing the suspicion of the aliens.¡± After his logic was improved, George¡¯s ability to deal with extremely difficult problems was much stronger than before. It didn¡¯t take long for him to come up with a good idea. The Selkian was usually very arrogant and full of himself in the chat group, which made him very unpopular. George planned to use the fact that the Selkian was unpopular in the chat group to obtain the advanced version of the brainwave enhancement method. Now that he had a clear solution in his mind, George decided to start implementing it. He first left the bathroom and found Professor Eugene in the office. ¡°Professor, I want to take a rest first. My Head is a little heavy from calculating all the math formulas earlier.¡± Ever since George had successfully solved the difficult problem, Professor Eugene was treating his student as some treasure. ¡°Go ahead. You must sleep more. I will wake you up after I have asked them to prepare dinner in advance.¡± Then, under Professor Eugene¡¯s concerned gaze, George left the room and returned to the single room the Academy of Sciences prepared for him. After entering his room, George locked the door from the inside and began to implement the method he had just thought of. First, he would privately chat with the Sarlatian in the chat group because the Sarlatian who was also from a high-level civilization had always hated the Selkian. George wanted to use this to use the Sarlatian¡¯s hatred towards the Selkian to achieve his goal. The interface of the chat group changed as George opened the private chat interface with the Sarlatian, and he entered a message into the chat bar. [¡­] The message George sent to the Sarlatian did not contain any words, only an ellipsis. He was testing the other party¡¯s reaction to the ellipsis, because not only had the Sarlatian sent a bunch of friend requests to him earlier, but he had even said unflattering words about the Selkian. Soon, the Sarlatian took the bait and replied with many messages in the chat. [Great being from a super civilization, are you replying to my previous messages? ] [As you can see, the Selkian is making slanderous comments about you in the group!] [I will not let the conspiracy of the Selkian succeed!] When George saw this, he had a rough plan in his mind. He immediately continued to enter messages in the chat bar. This time, he entered text messages. [What conspiracy? I did not look at the messages in the chat group!] Chapter 37 - A Windfall? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio George deliberately made it so that his image in front of the aliens was very cold and mysterious. Only by doing so could he deceive the aliens and make them believe that he was from a super civilization. As expected, the Sarlatian replied to the message very quickly. [Oh, great being from a super civilization, it is a given you haven¡¯t paid any attention to the boring chat group. The Selkian had said that your planet is not a super civilization, but instead likely to be a low-level civilization!] ¡°Humph, this Sarlatian is quite cunning as well. To think he wants to use the Selkian¡¯s doubts about my identity to see if I¡¯m really from a super civilization.¡± George had a conclusion in his heart. Through the conversation with the Sarlatian, it was very likely that the Sarlatian did believe that he was from a super civilization. He continued to type the words that he had already thought of. [The Selkians? Are they also a super civilization? I don¡¯t remember that the super civilizations had a planet with such life forms!] The Sarlatian was probably shocked by George¡¯s message and did not reply immediately. This was the effect that George wanted. He kept instilling the idea of the super civilizations into the Sarlatians, which would make them believe that George was indeed from a super civilization. Not long after, the Sarlatians sent out another message. [Great being of a super civilization, that Selkian is merely from a high-level civilization in the universe, and not a super civilization. It¡¯s normal that you don¡¯t know about them.] [Please allow me to dispel your questions.] [The reason is the Selkian has accused you to be a creature from a low-level civilization is because he found that you had downloaded a document about low-level brainwave enhancement from the group file.] George was fully aware of what the Sarlatian was talking about. The key now was how he should eliminate the suspicion of these aliens. [A document about brainwave enhancement? I remember now. I did download a document from the group files. I thought it was the latest version of the brainwave enhancement methods, but only after downloading it did I find out that it was of the lowest level, so I didn¡¯t even read it.] To better deceive the Sarlatian, George waited for a while before continuing to send another message. [Could there be a creature from a low-level civilization in the group? To think they shared such a low-leveled brainwave enhancement method! I have a top-level brainwave enhancement method, but I will not share it in the group file!] A top-level brainwave enhancement method! The Sarlatian was immediately attracted upon seeing those words. [Great being from a super civilization, can I use other conditions to exchange for the top-level brainwave enhancement method?] George had been treating the Sarlatian as a big fish, and now the big fish had finally taken the bait. George continued to send messages to lure the other party. [Hmph, I believe you know that only a few super civilizations in the universe can master top-level brainwave advancement methods!] [Great being of a super civilization, please forgive my rude request. The Sarlatians only have a high-level brainwave enhancement method. If you are willing, I will send the high-level brainwave enhancement method over, can you help me modify it? Of course, I will pay an additional fee of 500 billion cosmic dollars, what do you think?] ¡°500 billion universe dollars! What¡¯s the use of giving this thing to me? even if it¡¯s useful, I can¡¯t receive it!¡± Seeing that the Sarlatian was willing to pay up to 500 billion universe dollars, George was moved, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have a universal account, so he naturally couldn¡¯t receive universe dollars. [Universe dollars are utterly useless to me!] George¡¯s words were true, but the Sarlatian took it in the wrong way. [Great being from a super civilization, it was my mistake. Money is indeed of no use to you. I will change the 500 billion into the unique secret technology of the Sarlatians, how about this?] ¡°Secret technology? Unique?¡± George did not expect that he would gain windfall when he was just trying to get the advanced brainwave enhancement method. However, George could not immediately agree to the Sarlatian¡¯s request as this would make the other party feel that he was easygoing, and might even expose the truth that he was from a low-level civilization. The mention of the Sarlatian¡¯s unique secret technology reminded George of the video that the Mocalians had shared before. The Mocalians were very talented in space technology and had developed space storage cards, which was the Mocalians¡¯ unique technology. He was very curious as to what the unique technology of the Sarlatians was! George waited patiently for more than an hour before he sent another message to the Sarlatian. [Send it to me and let me take a look first, then wait for my message!] George deliberately did not give any promises. One had to know that in space, the calculation of time varied largely. The amount of time that the other party had to wait was completely up to George himself. If one calculated according to Earth years, waiting for a few years or even decades might only be a very short period for the high-level alien civilizations. Not long after George sent the message, he immediately received a message from Sarlatian and a document that was sent along with it. [Great being from a super civilization, thank you for your help. Please accept my respect for you!] Attached with the message was the advanced brainwave enhancement method! George immediately downloaded the document after seeing that the Sarlatian had sent it over. ¡°Not bad, I have successfully obtained the advanced brainwave enhancement method!¡± ¡°Wait a minute, didn¡¯t the Sarlatian say that he would also give me a secret technique of theirs? Could it be that he will only give it to me after I have finished modifying the advanced brainwave enhancement method?¡± This made George somewhat uncomfortable. Weren¡¯t the Sarlatians too rigid in their ways? Just as George was ridiculing the Sarlatians for being stingy, another document popped up on the private chat interface with the Sarlatian. After George saw the name of the document, he almost turned pale with fright. The document was named ¡°biological genetic modification method¡±. George had never thought that the unique secret technique of the Sarlatians would be the genetic modification of living things. After all, let alone the innumerable living things in the universe, there were countless kinds of living things on Earth alone. If taken literally, the genetic modification method would be to use unique biological technology to modify the genes of low-level living things, so that they could obtain abilities comparable to high-level living things. When George saw that the document on the genetic modification method had been successfully downloaded, he immediately clicked on it to view it. The interface that appeared in front of him displayed information that was originally in an alien language, but that had been quickly translated into the widely used English by the chat group system. Very soon, George was attracted by the contents displayed on the first page of the document. ¡°Low-level organisms can be genetically modified to become high-level organisms? Is it so powerful?!¡± George read for a while and realized that many of the contents were beyond his current understanding. This should be related to the utilization rate of his brain. It seemed that the priority now was to increase the utilization rate of his brain so that he could understand the technology that the alien civilizations had mastered. Next, George planned to stay up all night to advance his brainwaves to the detectable level of the alien starship.. Chapter 38 - The Clock Was Ticking, Was George Going to Give Up? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The next day, 7 am. Everyone in the Academy of Sciences was busy with their work. Today was the date for mankind to launch an unmanned probe to make contact with the alien starship. The plan that had been to launch the probe three days later had been unilaterally violated by one of the countries. As such, the National Academy of Sciences and NASA decided to launch the unmanned probe ahead of schedule. The unmanned probe had already been delivered to the designated launch site last night. There was now only less than two hours before the scheduled launch at 9:00. In a room at the Academy of Sciences, Professor Eugene was sorting through all the information. He was about to leave with George to go to the observation center in the center of the city. There was a set of newly assembled detection equipment there that would allow one to watch the HD live broadcast of the unmanned probe making contact with the alien starship. Professor Eugene glanced at his watch. There were still five minutes left, and the vehicle responsible for sending them was already parked at the square of the Academy of Sciences. Seeing that George was not out of his room yet, the old professor could only knock on his door. Thump, thump, thump! ¡°George, we¡¯re going to leave soon. Are you ready?¡± Just as Professor Eugene finished saying this, George¡¯s voice came from inside the room, ¡°One minute!¡± Soon, the door opened, and George¡¯s figure appeared in front of Professor Eugene. ¡°You¡¯re finally out. We¡¯re going to be late!¡± George replied with an apologetic gesture and followed Professor Eugene to the elevator. A few minutes later, the two of them exited the Academy of Sciences. As far as their eyes could see, the square was filled with all kinds of vehicles, most of which were the armored transport vehicle of the military. George heard the other professors around him complaining about the transport vehicles. ¡°Damn it, they won¡¯t let us ride on that thing again, right? I still remember how my butt hurt the last time we rode those!¡± Last time, the military had sent armored transport vehicles to transport them to the Academy of Sciences, and only Professor George and Eugene had flown over by helicopter. The other professors and young scholars had all taken the armored transport vehicles, which weren¡¯t designed to be comfortable. Professor Eugene knew about this. On his wrinkled face, a rarely seen smug smile appeared. The old professor knew very well that he could take the helicopter because George was his student. Otherwise, he would have had the same treatment as the other professors and would have to take the armored transport vehicle. While the others were complaining, President Hawking of the Academy of Sciences also walked out of the building. He was accompanied by a somewhat cute girl. This attracted the attention of the people present because the girl was President Hawking¡¯s assistant. One had to know that being able to become the assistant of the President of the National Academy of Sciences meant that the person was an exceptionally outstanding scholar in a certain field. The girl¡¯s name was Angie. As she followed President Hawking out of the building, her two big eyes searched for a target in the crowd. Soon, Angie¡¯s gaze locked onto a handsome young man. When President Hawking turned around, he noticed that Angie was paying attention to someone in the crowd. He smiled and asked, ¡°Angie, are you very interested in George? Do you want me to introduce you to him?¡± President Hawking¡¯s words made Angie¡¯s interest grow even more. It couldn¡¯t be helped. After all, the entire academic world knew George¡¯s name now. Angie was no exception. She revealed two rows of white teeth as she smiled and said, ¡°President, I will surpass George!¡± Seeing Angie clench her small hands into fists as if to display her strength to George who was not far away, President Hawking was quite happy. This was because he knew his student very well. Her IQ was very high, at the same time, she had the strong courage to challenge herself. Then, President Hawking brought Angie over to Professor Eugene and George. Everyone around them looked over. ¡°Look at the little girl next to President Hawking. I heard that she used to be a child prodigy!¡± ¡°That¡¯s Angie. She solved a very famous problem as soon as she entered high school. When President Hawking found out about it, he immediately exempted her from the entrance exams and made her his student!¡± ¡°Angie was indeed outstanding back then, but she was still a little inferior compared to George now!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no basis of comparison between the two of them, alright? They¡¯re both in different research directions!¡± Amidst the discussions in the crowd, a shy-looking boy actually mustered up the courage to speak up for Angie when he heard someone comparing Angie to George. This caused the young scholars to immediately shift their discussion to the boy. ¡°Haha, so you like Angie!¡± ¡°I forgot, you¡¯re the same age as Angie!¡± The cheerful atmosphere helped ease the nervous atmosphere in the crowd. The many scholars who were nervous temporarily relaxed. At this moment, President Hawking¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°Everyone, get ready to board the cars. We¡¯re about to set off!¡± Soon, the scholars began to walk towards the parking area. Since they were in the city, there was no need to take the armored transport vehicles to the launch site. After George came out of the building, he had not spoken a word. He was still calculating complicated mathematical formulas in his mind. He had not slept for the entire night as he had spent it calculating mathematical formulas to increase the intensity of his brain waves. Finally, at dawn, George estimated that the utilization rate of his brainwaves had increased to 30%. However, to his surprise, the alien starship¡¯s detection that he had been expecting did not come. He wasn¡¯t sure what had gone wrong, but after some thinking, George came to a conclusion. Although his brainwaves had reached 30%, it was very likely that they had not reached the detectable number of the alien starship. George knew every well that the alien starship might not have the ability to detect brainwaves at all, but he didn¡¯t have a choice. The only thing he could do now was to continue to increase the intensity of his brainwaves. After everyone boarded the vehicles, the large convoy left the Academy of Sciences and headed to the launch site of the probe. As the special guests, George and Professor Eugene would go to the observation center in the city center. There was still more than an hour before 9 am. George was still trying to increase the intensity of his brainwaves. He would do this until the probe was successfully launched and made contact with the alien starcraft. The convoy of scholars separated at an intersection. The car that carried George and Professor Eugene headed to the observation center in the center of the city. After more than ten minutes, the car stopped at the entrance of the observation center. After George got out of the car, he saw that the observation center was surrounded by armed security personnel. To enter the observation center, one had to go through layers of checks. However, George and Professor Eugene were exceptions. They entered the observation center directly through a special passage. Inside was a hall with a wide field of vision. A giant display screen stood in the middle of the hall. The staff who had entered earlier were busy with their work. A staff who was responsible for receiving them led George and Professor Eugene to their area. George sat down. His attention was not on the giant screen at all. Instead, he continued to calculate mathematical formulas in his mind. Time was running out. There was less than half an hour before the launch of the probe. The historic moment when mankind first came into contact with an alien starship was about to arrive.. Chapter 39 - Humanitys Last Hope, Dashed? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The countdown for the launch of the unmanned probe began in the observation hall. All the workers at the scene looked at the giant rocket erected on the launch site. This was the latest rocket developed by the Federation. It had a capacity of 180 tons, which was the largest rocket that humanity could produce at present. The reason why such a large rocket was built was that the rocket contained six unmanned probes from the Federation and the Allied countries. The mission to explore the alien starship this time was also the first time mankind had discovered unknown alien technology. At this time, the countdown in the hall had entered the last 10 digits. Among the scholars and staff present, only one person was not paying attention to the rocket launch. This person was George. Although his eyes were also looking at the huge screen, his brain was still working on the mathematical formulas. Since his arrival at the observation hall more than an hour earlier, George felt that the intensity of his brainwaves had increased by a lot, but he still did not receive any signal from the alien starship. At this moment, the countdown for the last three seconds of the rocket launch sounded in the hall. ¡°3,2,1¡­ launch!¡± Following the command of the field commander, the screen instantly lit up with a dazzling light. It was the orange flames produced when the rocket thrusters started working. Rumble! The rocket, which was nearly 100 meters high, was sent high into the sky by four high-thrust thrusters. At the same time, a large number of people gathered on the square in the city center. They were all looking at the giant rocket that was shown to be constantly rising into the sky on the screen. In the crowd, some began to clench their hands in front of their chests, praying and blessing the giant rocket. On the screen, the giant rocket continued to climb. After a few minutes, it disappeared from the sight of the crowd, which meant that the rocket launched by the Federation had successfully passed through the atmosphere and entered outer space. Next, the giant rocket¡¯s four big thrusters separated from the rocket, and the second stage thruster in the middle of the rocket began to activate. The giant rocket had already entered its predetermined orbit in space by this time, and the second stage thruster would continue to push the rocket to the designated location. Thirty-six minutes had passed on Earth. The scientists and citizens who were keeping an eye on the progress of the rocket were about to see the images of the unmanned probes separate from the rocket on the screen. In the observation hall, the voice of the commander rang out again. ¡°Everyone, the six unmanned probes are starting to separate from the rocket. In two minutes, you will see the six unmanned probes through the surveillance camera of the International Space Station!¡± This was the procedure that NASA had already announced for their plans on the exploration of the alien starship. The commander brought it up again to remind the scientists and scholars present to begin the next phase of their work. This would involve the operation of the unmanned probes and the sampling of the probes. Soon, the screen was switched to the perspective of the International Space Station. The ISS was equipped with state-of-the-art space telescopes that could track the trajectory of the six unmanned probes continuously. On the giant screen, one could see six similar-looking unmanned probes that belonged to the Federation and its Allies. The six unmanned probes flew from their orbit near the International Space Station to the Lagrange point where the giant alien starship was hovering. The National Space Administration broadcast the images from the International Space Station live around the world. All the major internet platforms and online TV stations around the world had suspended their scheduled programs and were broadcasting the images from the International Space Station. Billions of people around the world were paying attention to the historic scene. On the screen, the six unmanned probes would be seen to fly separately before they approached the alien starship, a strategy that had been planned by the Federation and the Allied countries. The six unmanned probes would put some distance between each other whilst getting close to the alien starship to minimize any predictable danger. After all, people could not predict the danger of unknown technology. The only thing they could do was to take precautions under the given conditions that they thought would make the plan the safest. One and a half hours had passed on Earth. The telescope on the ISS that was used to monitor the unmanned probes continued doing its job. The people watching from the ground saw a huge object appearing in front of the Federation¡¯s unmanned probe. In the pitch-black universe, the surface of the huge object reflected the light of the Sun. Seeing that the unmanned probe was about to touch the alien starship, the tension of the viewers who were watching the live broadcast was at its peak. ¡°Oh my God, this is the first time that we humans have ever come into contact with alien technology!¡± ¡°All the best, humans! As long as we stay united, we will definitely have alien technology too!¡± ¡°Hmph, you guys are too naive. This is an invasion by a high-level alien civilization. Don¡¯t expect the high-level civilizations in the universe to help us!¡± ¡°I agree with what the person above has said. Alien civilizations will not develop a favorable impression of Earth¡¯s ecology. They are only here to invade our home!¡± ¡°I think the Federation should send all the scientists to the International Space Station by rocket. They are humanity¡¯s last hope!¡± ¡°F*ck that. How can the International Space Station fit all the scientists? That¡¯s simply a fantasy!¡± ¡°Stop arguing. Look at that unmanned probe. Why is there a dazzling light?¡± Just as the people were expressing their opinions, they could see on the screens that blue light had suddenly appeared on the surface of the Federation¡¯s unmanned probe. Everyone watching the live broadcast was horrified to see that the unmanned probe, which represented humanity¡¯s highest technology, was instantly destroyed by an unknown force after the blue light lit up. The debris from the explosion was like lit fireworks in the pitch-black universe. At this moment, all the humans globally lost their voices at the same time. The scientists in the observation hall were the fastest to react. Time was of the essence, so they could not panic. They could only rely on the variables that they had deduced previously to start the alternative plan. All of a sudden, the observation hall was filled with noises. ¡°The ground monitoring station¡¯s remote sensing signal has failed!¡± ¡°No. 01 unmanned probe is out of contact!¡± ¡°No. 04 unmanned probe is out of contact!¡± ¡°Oh my God, the six unmanned probes we launched are all out of contact!¡± ¡°Quickly contact China and Russia and ask how their probes are doing!¡± ¡°Professor, there¡¯s no need to ask. The International Space Station has just sent back a message. All probes launched by humans have been destroyed!¡± When they heard the news that they dreaded to hear the most, the scientists and scholars in the observation center were in a state of panic. However, no one in the observation center noticed that the corner of a young man¡¯s mouth was slightly curled up. At this time, George, who had not given up on increasing the intensity of his brainwaves, finally received the detection signal from the alien starship.. Chapter 40 - The Alien Starship Had Landed On the Ground. Was This a Disaster For Mankind? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Ten minutes ago, just as the probe launched by mankind was about to reach the alien starship, George, who was sitting in his seat, still did not give up on increasing the intensity of his brainwaves. His brain was constantly overdrawn, and his condition had reached a critical point. George was holding on with his tenacious will. If not for the stimulation of the nervous and noisy surroundings, he would have fainted in the observation hall. George, who no longer had any concept of time, finally heard a language that he had never heard before in his mind. That was probably the language of an alien civilization, which George definitely couldn¡¯t understand. Soon, a sentence appeared in his mind again. Fortunately, this time what he heard was English, the language commonly used on Earth. He wondered what had happened in the time he was first detected by the alien starship. He guessed that there was an artificial intelligence on the alien starship. After it did not receive any feedback from George the first time it sent out a message using alien language, it immediately changed its message into Earth¡¯s common language. The message sent by the alien starship was very short. After being translated into Earth¡¯s common language, there were only a few sentences. [Effective brainwave intensity detected!] [Target¡¯s location detected!] [Warning: Unknown object detected approaching, destroyed!] These few short messages were received by George. It was at that moment that the unmanned probes launched by the humans were destroyed. George was shocked because the alien starship had a passive defense mode. Without the need for control, the starship¡¯s defense system would automatically destroy any object that approached the spaceship. The result was that the 6 unmanned probes launched by the humans were destroyed by the alien starship¡¯s defense system in an instant. ¡­ At this moment, after all the human probes were destroyed, the scientists and workers in the observation hall looked at the huge screen at the same time. In the image transmitted from the International Space Station, the alien starship did not move after destroying the unmanned probes. Instead, it remained in a state of stillness. The people who were watching the live broadcast fell into a state of great fear. Many people were prepared to escape, but they did not know where they could go, so they could only run around like headless chickens. Since the alien starship had destroyed the unmanned probes in an instant, it was pretty obvious if the aliens suddenly launched an attack on Earth, humanity would suffer a huge disaster that had never happened before. This was countless times scarier than any natural disaster. However, what the outside world did not know was that George¡¯s exact location had been pinpointed by the alien spaceship. George also realized this problem. Just as he was about to leave the observation hall, a change appeared on the huge screen that caused everyone present to exclaim in surprise. ¡°Oh my God, that giant thing is moving!¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be that the alien starship¡¯s targets are the humans on Earth, right?¡± ¡°Look, that alien starship seems to be adjusting its direction!¡± ¡°Quick! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± ¡°Stupid! What¡¯s the point of leaving? We have to inform the Ministry of Defense and prepare to defend with firearms!¡± The scientists present knew that even the most advanced weapons of mankind would not be able to harm the alien starship. However, the people would not give up so easily on their last hope. ¡­ At this moment, in a command room in the Federation¡¯s Ministry of Defense building, the Minister of Defense and many important government officials were gathered here. They were the top officials of the humans who had predicted the alien starship¡¯s movements. The Ministry of Defense, which was responsible for defending the Federation and attacking matters, had been preparing for the alien starship¡¯s invasion since its appearance. On the ground, there were all kinds of state-of-the-art missiles laid out in the form of a defense circle with the capital as its center. In orbit near the International Space Station, the attack satellites that had long arrived had already locked onto the alien starship. Of course, humanity¡¯s last hope was still nuclear weapons. However, they would not use nuclear weapons unless it was absolutely necessary. In the command center of the Ministry of Defense, everyone was focused on the alien starship that was shown on the screen. The starship that represented the black technology of the aliens was slowly adjusting its direction. No one in the command center could guess what the alien starship was doing. ¡°Minister John, what is the alien starship doing? It can¡¯t be that it¡¯s trying to leave Earth, right?¡± The tall and buff Minister of Defense looked at the guy who just spoke with disdain. ¡°I don¡¯t think your joke is amusing!¡± ¡°Minister, the President is calling!¡± The Minister of Defense walked to the front of the phone and took the phone from the staff, putting it to his ear. Everyone present turned their gazes to the Minister of Defense because their guesses would be verified soon. Soon, the Minister of Defense put down the phone in his hand and his sharp gaze swept across everyone present. ¡°The President has agreed to use nuclear missiles to stop the invasion of the alien starship! Admiral Feld, let¡¯s commence our plan!¡± With this, the staff started getting busy in the command room of the Ministry of Defense. Using nuclear weapons required a lot of complicated procedures, but now that the situation was urgent, they could only simplify the many complicated procedures to the maximum. ¡­ The International Space Station in outer space was in charge of monitoring the alien starship. The huge object hovering at the Lagrange point was slowly adjusting its direction. From the perspective of the International Space Station, the front and back of the alien starship could not be distinguished. What they did not know was that the alien starship that was causing global panic was actually related to a young man on the ground. The alien starship was adjusting its direction in the coordinates of George that it had detected, preparing to land where its owner was. Soon, the International Space Station observed that the alien starship had stopped adjusting its direction. The image was sent back to the receiving station on the ground in haste. Countless human nerves were affected by the alien starship¡¯s movements. Panic! Helplessness! Worry! Some very few were even excited. When everyone on Earth was paying attention to the alien starship¡¯s next move, the starship that had finished adjusting its direction suddenly disappeared from the surveillance of the International Space Station. In the next moment, the people who were in the same city as George were horrified to find that the surrounding environment had suddenly darkened. The people looked around for the reason that the sky darkened. Finally, they were horrified to find that a huge monster had appeared in the sky above their heads. The panicked people began to run in all directions, shouting. ¡°Oh my God! The alien starship has invaded Earth!¡± ¡°Run! Don¡¯t get in the way!¡± ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t run into the buildings!¡± ¡°It¡¯s over! Humans will be destroyed soon!¡±