Chapter 121: The Born Scholar Player

Upon entering the yacht's main hall, everyone was stunned by its luxury.

Ma Lou saw Omar's wine cellar. Once in space, the wine rack could simulate gravity by rotating, and there was a complex mechanical damping system to counteract the yacht's vibrations, all to ensure the wine's optimal taste. It was as exquisite as a work of art.

Jubian saw a zero-gravity bathtub that didn't exist in reality.

It was a glass sphere over three meters in diameter, with massage jets at various angles. After being filled with warm water, the yacht owner and guests would need to wear oxygen masks to enjoy it, avoiding the oppressive water pressure found in terrestrial baths.

Moreover, judging by the restraint straps installed on the glass wall and the retractable soft hoses, this bathtub likely offered some extremely high-speed, indescribable play.

“If you adjust the oxygen flow on the mask, you can enjoy zero-gravity bondage and breath play in there.”

A knowledgeable young player commented.

“But in the water, how do you say the safe word?”

“You'd definitely have to use hand gestures. Speaking of which, wouldn't being completely submerged in warm water feel similar to being swallowed whole?”

“Perhaps, that soft tube is probably for—”

“Alright, alright! If you guys keep talking, this game is definitely going to be censored,” Ma Lou quickly covered his mouth. “Let’s focus on the main task first!”

As expected, Apollo, in his self-important manner, had installed timed explosives and listening devices in various corners of the yacht's chairs.

All of them were easily found by the players with their scanners and dismantled one by one, followed by further inspection and exploration.

Although the yacht was only about 30 meters long, it was fully equipped with bedrooms, a dining room, a reception room, and so on. While the decor was luxurious, it seemed quite ordinary compared to the striking zero-gravity bathtub.

The crew quarters were also quite upscale, though much smaller, and completely separated from the entertainment areas, ensuring no disturbance to the owner and guests. This aspect was consistent with real-world yachts.

The yacht also came with a garage, large enough to fit an all-terrain vehicle. Currently, it housed a space escape pod.

Of course, for Cangyuan, the true objective of this extortion was only the precious warp engine in the power cabin.

The yacht itself was merely a bonus.

Now, in terms of aerospace, at least within the confirmed intelligence, Cangyuan and the “Star Alliance” factions, with whom they had not yet formally interacted, could be considered to have roughly caught up in technology.

Ten minutes later.

Jubian was not online today. He specifically took a half-day leave, hung his aerospace institute's work ID around his neck, put his hands in his pockets, and stepped through the gates of Yuzhou University, a top-tier domestic institution.

The “expert” he was looking for had agreed to meet him at the school.

This was not Jubian's alma mater, but because he often ran across the street to attend lectures, he was intimately familiar with the campus layout and quickly found the agreed-upon student cafeteria.

“Yo, good morning.”

The person Jubian was looking for was the same age as him, named Zheng Mingyu, a well-known young theoretical physics Scholar in China.

His appearance could not be described as outstanding, only as highly recognizable: he wore a black long gown, had a bun, and exuded an otherworldly, scholarly aura, making one think he was a historical costume enthusiast if they didn't know better.

“What games have you been playing recently?” Jubian swung his satchel and sat opposite his friend.

The expert smiled slightly.

“You skipped work this Monday morning to meet me just to talk about games?”

Jubian: “You're absolutely right, it's precisely to talk about games. Do you still often play space sci-fi titles?”

Zheng Mingyu: “Occasionally I play Kerbal Space Program and Children of a Dead Earth. Sci-fi games with unrealistic settings find it hard to attract me now; I always feel a lack of accomplishment after completing them.”

Jubian: “What about EVE and star citizen? Have you abandoned those too?”

Zheng Mingyu: “star citizen, hehe—EVE, too tiring.”

Jubian: “You're just depressed because you're not getting results from your research in reality, and you're trying to compensate in games. Perfect! Are you interested in playing 'Star Sea'?”

Zheng Mingyu, whose eyes had been drooping, looked up.

“Your game's graphics and control methods are indeed stunning, but in terms of settings... they're just so-so, somewhere between star citizen and Star Wars. Not rigorous, more like fast-food entertainment.”

Hey!

Who are you calling fast food!

Jubian shifted his posture, leaning forward.

If you're going to put it that way, I'll have to have a proper discussion with you.

The person opposite, like an old Taoist, shook his head slightly as he spoke, extremely confident due to his Ph.D. in science,

He didn't even take “Star Sea” seriously.

But Jubian knew that his visit today would likely change the other person's worldview.

And not just in terms of games!

Jubian: “Alright, but you must have a standard for judgment, right? Just tell me, what kind of setting oversights in a space game would make you consider it particularly 'fast food' and particularly childish?”

Zheng Mingyu held up three fingers, answering almost instantly.

“First, disregarding Newton's First Law: the main engine shuts off and then slowly stops. This goes without saying, right? Many movies and games do this. Essentially, it's a reskin of the Age of Sail, and the creators might not be ignorant, but they sacrifice scientific accuracy to cater to the audience's viewing experience.”

Jubian: “Exactly, go on.”

“Second, violating the laws of thermodynamics by not dealing with waste heat, or having no waste heat at all.”

Jubian: “No problem, continue.”

“Third, sub-light and super-light speed travel lacking a theoretical basis that can withstand numerical calculation; it's essentially magic.”

Jubian nodded: “Still agree. But you probably haven't seen the recent 'Star Sea' livestream, have you?

,

Zheng Mingyu: “No, I haven't. I've been busy being depressed lately, haha.”

Jubian: “Then I recommend you take a good look. We are advancing into deep space! I can tell you in advance that the spacecraft built by Cangyuan needs both acceleration and braking, and also has heat sinks designed, so waste heat must be considered.”

“Oh? That's not bad then. How is super-light speed achieved?”

“Currently, it can only rely on natural wormholes.”

“Hmm—that's still realistic. What about sub-light speed? How fast?”

“1% to 99% of the speed of light.”

“How is it achieved?”

“This is where it gets really interesting!”

Jubian knew the other person was slowly taking the bait and shared the recently acquired information about zero element with him.

“What do you think of this zero element setting? Is it exciting enough, hardcore enough?”

Zheng Mingyu rubbed his chin, as if staring at a calculation draft paper only he could see, and remained silent for a long time.

“I can only say now that the game designer has done their homework. A special fermion with 'special abilities' that 'mimics' a quark is barely within the scientific realm. Some cutting-edge hypotheses can be applied as explanations, making it a relatively rigorous setting.”

At this point, Jubian shifted his body, leaning closer, and lowered his voice by three points.

“So, if—and I mean if—zero element also existed in the real universe, could it be detected by some method?”

“Why do you ask?”

As a “kindred spirit” whose intelligence was comparable to, or even slightly higher than, Jubian's, Zheng Mingyu immediately realized there was “something fishy” about this question.

“Don't overthink it for now, just play a thought game with me.”

“It would certainly be difficult to detect,” Zheng Mingyu replied.

“With current human technology, it's very difficult to smash neutrons and protons to see what's inside. Strictly speaking, only CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the US's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) can do it. In recent years, particles, including new quarks, have indeed been continuously discovered.

“However, according to what you said, zero element is extremely rare and its content is extremely low. If the particles smashed by the collider do not contain zero element pseudo-quarks, then it's useless. Nothing would be found in a cloud chamber, and its properties couldn't be studied.”

Jubian nodded with some disappointment.

“Alright, I actually realized that myself.

“Hmm—alright, I've answered my question. Now it's your turn, why did you ask that? For fun? Or for serious business?”

Jubian lowered his voice by another three points.

“For serious business!”