Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 132: Inappropriate

Xiang Ning internally struggled, wondering if he should intervene and nudge the calculations along to complete this project when an alarm sounded. He froze. The numbers on the screen had suddenly turned chaotic. There must have been some deviations in certain data sets.

Alia quickly led him to the control room below the screen. Tens of researchers in white were furiously typing on their keyboards at almost three hundred characters per second. All he saw were afterimages of their hands.

When they appeared in the room, the researchers stopped. Alia asked, Old Jin, hows everything?

The elderly man she called Old Jin wiped the sweat from his forehead with a smile. Ive found the error. As long as I enter the figure from my calculation, Im thirty percent sure itll stabilize.

It was then that the rest of the crowd noticed their arrival.

Team leader, we still have enough time. How about you do the calculations once, too? Old Jin suggested in an agreeable tone. Xiang Ning guessed that Alia held a high position in this lab.

Alia thought for a moment, then shook her head. Its alright, Ill just arrive at a similar solution to whats already there. Weve failed a few hundred times already, lets just record this wrong method and use another calculation route next time.

Old Jin nodded with a smile. It had been the same since the dawn of time, every invention came from failure. But just as he was about to key in his data, Xiang Ning spoke up. Uh if theres enough time uh you know uh Id like to make a suggestion.

Xiang Ning suddenly realized there must be something wrong with him, because he felt extremely uncomfortable seeing Old Jins calculations. All he needed to do was round up the last two numbers, but it was easily overlooked. It shouldnt be a problem to make a suggestion.

Everyone turned to Xiang Ning, their eyes judging him. He awkwardly scratched his head.

Whore you? They realized this awkward kid had been brought in by Alia.

Uh... Im Xiang Ning, a student from Qiling Academy. Im very interested in scientific inventions, so I have some basic understanding of it uh, thats all I have to say. Xiang Ning felt like his introduction was solid, though the researchers didnt trust him the moment he said he was a high school student.

Hmmph, do you know who Old Jin is? Hes a scholar thats only second to the Twelve Prodigies, the top academician within the space field! A quarter of the numbers you see on the screen were calculated by him! A handsome young researcher walked out from the side, though his condescending glare was irritating.

Plus, do you know what space-folding, space-induction, and the universal gravitational constant are?

No.

No? So why are you talking then?

Alright, alright. Wang, please dont scare Xiang Ning.

No, Old Jin, hes a kid who doesnt know anything. How could he question you during such a serious occasion? What right does he have? He doesnt know the consequences of his own actions.

Xiang Nings mouth twitched. He only wanted to give a small suggestion, was such a huge reaction necessary?

The youth grew more and more excited, telling everyone about the great deeds of Old Jin.

Seeing as he was still talking, Alia cut him off. Everyone, this is Mr. Dongs disciple, hell be one of us in the future.

Everyones eyes widened in disbelief. Wang Jiayan, who was still chattering away, suddenly shut his mouth like he had just seen a ghost. This kid who knew nothing was Mr. Dongs disciple? Why? Wang Jiayan was the one who published his thesis before he turned thirty on the academic websites, the one who received praise from many great masters saying they saw great potential in him. Otherwise, he wouldnt be here in this team that averaged forty-three years old. He was proud of himself for it too. Before coming here, he, too, had heard of the great Dong Qianyi and felt he was good enough to have Dong Qianyi as a mentor.

It went without saying that everyone knew what came of that.

Oh! Mr. Dongs disciple! Youre so young! Tell me your suggestion then, lets discuss it, said Old Jin with a smile.

Old Jin. Wang Jiayan couldn't believe it. What did Old Jin say? Lets discuss it! It seemed he saw Xiang Ning as an equal?

Alright, alright. Young people are creative and much bolder, we may get inspired by it, too. Researchers like us must be bold with our ideas. It doesnt matter if were right or wrong, or how else will we progress? Old Jin was calm and kind as ever.

Xiang Ning had a great impression of him. However, he must still keep a low profile, since he only knew about the relationship between objects and space. He didnt know anything beyond that.

Uh, Old Jin, I think the numbers look fine other than the last two numbers, they look off to me. I was thinking if we could round the number up so the last three numbers become 666 itll smooth the data out, dont you think?

The crowd was speechless.

Wang Jiayans eye twitched. Thats your suggestion? You dont like the two last numbers? So youre changing them to numbers you like better? Are you sure you arent here to cause trouble?

No, no, I have no other intentions. Its fine if you dont want to take my suggestion, forget I even said it. Xiang Ning also felt awkward, and Wang Jiayan was right, this was a proper institution and he should have used proper jargon instead of his layman terms.

To their surprise, Old Jin clapped. Impressive! Its true, if we round the last two numbers up, the data looks much smoother!

Wang Jiayan and Xiang Ning were both dumbstruck.

Let me try. Old Jin turned to test Xiang Nings theory, but Wang Jiayan stopped him in a hurry. Old Jin, are you really going to take the kids suggestion? It makes no sense!

Yeah, Old Jin, it doesnt sound like he can be trusted.

The crowd thought Xiang Ning must have inherited Dong Qianyis great knowledge, as he was his disciple, but it looked like he was just there to cause trouble. But here, they couldnt overrule Old Jins stubbornness as he was the oldest and most experienced researcher there. Thus, they begrudgingly agreed upon his insistence.

When they keyed in the modified numbers, the screen returned to its initial smooth flow of numbers and Old Jin let out a hearty laugh, It worked.

Everyone who was suspicious of Xiang Ning was stunned. They felt like their years of experience in research had gone down the drain. That wasnt right at all!

Doge & Chacha's Thoughts

new grandpa dropped! thank you for reading! - doge