Crimes

Kong Xiang stood there, stunned, while Li Zhi's figure had already gone far away.

"Excuse me, could I please pick up the report over there?"

He only snapped out of his daze when the student picking up the reports called him.

"Okay." Kong Xiang moved to the side.

After picking up the report, the student stood up, looked at Kong Xiang, and said, "Thank you."

Kong Xiang then noticed that the other party was Xu Zhizhou, another super-academic genius from the First Academy.

My main impression of Xu Zhizhou is based on the words "talent" and "talented person." He was a future professional technician in the virtual world. However, after participating in a rebellion, he eventually disappeared from this world.

No one knows how he disappeared. A promising young man vanished into thin air. However, based on his experience, the reason for his disappearance was either that he was dealt with by the imperial government or that he joined a resistance organization and became a secret member.

So, as one of the reformers of the future society, he is also the one who gets to experience the most authentic side of that society.

"Huh? You're still using paper to write your report?" Kong Xiang asked, watching Xu Zhizhou organize his report.

Xu Zhizhou scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "It's a habit I developed from childhood due to my family environment, but I use a recycling system to process everything, so I never waste anything."

Seeing his anxious look, Kong Xiang said with a smile, "That's not what I meant. The paper is fine; at least it avoids the risk of leakage."

In a future era teeming with hacker talent, paper documents will be far more secure than online information transmission, and their important documents will still be preserved on paper.

Xu Zhizhou smiled shyly, then suddenly remembered something and said to Kong Xiang, "Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Xu Zhizhou from the Virtual World Design Department. My main research areas are logic design and data modeling."

"Kong Lane," Kong Lane said with a smile, "no members of any gangs."

Actually, this should have been when he had just left the student council.

However, Xu Zhizhou, a young man engrossed in his research, probably wouldn't even notice him.

"I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before..." Xu Zhizhou pondered. "Hey? Since you don't have a club right now, why don't you join us?"

Kong Xiang joked, "But virtual world design... isn't that what we usually learn?"

"No!" Xu Zhizhou hurriedly explained, "Our research direction is not the kind of model of creating a new world like in today's test competition, but rather applying the virtual world to the real world. There will be many interesting experiments!"

Seeing his anxiety, Kong Xiang teased him, "Oh... that's much more difficult, and the funding will definitely be plentiful. After all, the virtual world only requires hardware computing power, while the real world really needs materials. If you join, you'll definitely have enough funding to spend."

"Well...that's true..." Xu Zhizhou considered how to phrase it, "But we can't be too wasteful! After all, what we need is the most reasonable calculation, not extravagance! So we must consider the actual costs, otherwise it might cause some things that we can't control!"

"Don't worry, I'm just kidding. I used to be the president of the student council, and I have connections from before. I can help you apply for more funding without any problem."

"I...I wasn't in a hurry..." Xu Zhizhou said nervously, "It's just that I'm not usually very talkative."

Looking at him like that, Kong Xiang was really curious about how he would do such a bold thing in the future.

"Well...why don't we go take a look first?"

Xu Zhizhou pointed in a certain direction.

Kong Xiang was about to nod when he suddenly received a text message.

After the call ended, he pressed his temples as if searching for something, then looked at Xu Zhizhou and said, "My cousin is starting school today, so I might have to wait here to pick her up. It'll probably take about three minutes. If you're in a hurry, you can go ahead, and I'll search for it myself later."

Xu Zhizhou: "It's only three minutes, it's okay, I'll wait with you, maybe we can recruit another member."

Kong Xiang is now starting to doubt Xu Zhizhou's earlier claim of "interesting".

As the two were casually discussing some professional knowledge, a figure silently appeared in front of them.

Both of them noticed the girl. She had a pretty face, short hair that reached her ears, and skin so white it was almost bloodless. She wore headphones around her neck, a short top, cargo pants, and a crossbody bag with a retro monitor pendant hanging from it. She was staring at them expressionlessly.

When his older cousin appeared, she looked like a main character from an anime. Kong Xiang inwardly sighed, thinking that the youthful energy of the girls was enough to give him rheumatism.

“This is my cousin…” Kong Xiang hesitated for a moment, then continued, “Zi Che Yu.”

Having a name makes him seem more like the protagonist; he really doesn't want to explain the complexity of the name.

"What?"

Sure enough, Xu Zhizhou looked nervously at Ziche Yu opposite him.

Kong Xiang, having given up struggling, exchanged information with Xu Zhizhou, who then understood which character was which character and which surname was which surname.

"Let's go then."

Kong Xiang didn't want the atmosphere to become deadlocked, so he took the initiative to break the silence.

"Okay, okay."

Xu Zhizhou walked towards the virtual department, then suddenly said, "The girls' dormitory is also in this direction."

Ziche Yu didn't speak, so Kong Xiang said for her, "She doesn't live in the academy."

"Oh well."

Xu Zhizhou quickened his pace even further.

Kong Xiang knew that the boy was extremely nervous. He probably didn't interact much with strangers or girls, let alone his cousin, who was a typical eccentric girl who had always been a bit of a ditz. Except when she was calculating, she was always like this.

After walking for a while, Kong Xiang asked his cousin, "Have you finished the enrollment procedures? Are you just here for a visit today?"

My cousin nodded.

"How about we check out the Virtual World Design Department? This student, Xu, is very knowledgeable in this area. Combining the virtual and the real is quite challenging."

Another nod.

Well, the dust has settled. Kong Xiang could probably guess that his cousin was currently focused on her calculations, and if she wanted to trick her into joining the department later, she would succeed without a doubt.

Then he wouldn't have to worry about taking care of the recent graduate. Although Xu Zhizhou was already a senior, he was about the same age as Zi Cheyu. People of the same age are always easier to talk to. As for him, who had traveled back from the past, he was already having some difficulty integrating into the students' way of thinking.

It's truly painful to be acting alongside a child.

"arrive."

Xu Zhizhou stood in front of a small building covered in ivy. "This is it."

The walls are covered with ivy, and the red brick buildings are quite different from the modern space that Kongxiang had envisioned, created with new materials.

Once inside, the feeling intensified.

The ancient atmosphere... although it feels great, I don't see it as a place that should be used for scientific research.

"Ah...it has already begun."

Xu Zhizhou went inside, picked up an exquisitely crafted porcelain cup, and began to drink tea.

My cousin went to another part of the small building by herself, and Kong Xiang also wandered over to a random place. He picked up a cup and found that it was gradually adding tea by itself. As his thoughts changed, the tea in the cup also began to change.

There are AI-powered self-service tea-filling/changing machines, but they can't generate tea from a cup out of thin air, nor can they change tea while adding it.

But these are, after all, products of research, and they are not entirely absent from the First Academy.

After conducting data analysis, what truly surprised Kong Xiang was that the cup should have been an ordinary glass cup, but what he was holding was clearly a well-made, exquisitely carved porcelain cup. Not only were the materials different, but the height and volume were also different. However, when he used it, it was a perfectly intact porcelain cup, not some kind of projection.

“I suppose you’ve already discovered it.” Xu Zhizhou looked at him, his eyes brightening. “What we’re researching is bringing the virtual into reality and changing the original form of objects.”

Kong Xiang nodded. He was a person who had come from six years ago, so he naturally knew the role of virtual reality. But his surprise just now was more about seeing the technology born now. Although he knew that the leader of this technology was the young man in front of him, there were still six months before the formal application for development was issued. He really did not expect that such results had already been achieved.

"That little building?" Kong Xiang looked at the ancient spiral staircase. "Did it also use this technology?"

He remembered what Xu Zhizhou had said before he entered the room.

Xu Zhizhou nodded and said, "That's right. It was originally an experimental center made of new materials, capable of withstanding nuclear bombs. The minister said he would find a day to conduct a full-scale test, but I didn't expect it to be today."

"Oh right, I almost forgot about the important matter."

Xu Zhizhou turned to go upstairs, then looked back at Kong Xiang and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go and call the minister down."

Watching him rush upstairs in a panic, Kong Xiang couldn't help but glance at his cousin, who was coldly poking at the clownfish in the fish tank that was blowing bubbles against the glass.

These two had such distinct personalities that he didn't know what to say. But that was fine too; it was much easier than dealing with the person from the opposite academy. At least, he could tell what they were thinking at a glance.

"Xiao Yu, what are you doing?" Kong Xiang walked over.

Zicheyu pressed his face against the glass of the fish tank and uttered only two words.

"Fake."

Huh? Fish tanks are also virtual reality?

Kong Xiang conducted another data analysis, but this time, instead of being surprised, he seemed thoughtful.

The fish tank did have special effects added, but the main body remained unchanged; what was truly fake was the fish inside.

These fish were actually just a few pebbles.

No one can create life out of thin air; this is the law of nature.

As far as he knows, future virtual reality will indeed modify life, and it is an important technology in biology and medicine. There is also technology for artificial humans, but these are all gradually established through scientific methods. It is absolutely not the same concept as turning a pebble into life out of thin air.

“Xiao Yu, what’s fake now might be real in the future. What’s fake now might be real in the future, and what’s real might be fake,” Kong Xiang said, watching the fish swimming around.

Zi Cheyu silently looked up at him. She didn't quite understand and just felt that her brother was putting on an act.

But it doesn't matter if she pretends. She never delves into the meaning behind other people's thoughts. She just silently remembers what happens around her and organizes and compiles it in her mind.

"Thank you for waiting."

A man wearing a disheveled school uniform, with a stubble beard, and looking extremely unkempt came down the spiral staircase.

Kong Xiang and Zi Cheyu looked in that direction together.

"Come over and take this form."

The disheveled man waved his hand listlessly.

The two went over, received and filled out the form, and only then were they granted partial access.

The disheveled man said, "Welcome to our family. I am the head of this department, Shen Bai."

Such a clean name paired with such a wild face; after staying here for a while, Kong Xiang couldn't suppress the urge to shave him with his mind.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get started."

Everyone's here? There were only two people here before?!

Kong Xiang sighed inwardly three times, wondering how he had been tricked into joining this "big family," and how his sister had been dragged into it as well.

Xu Zhizhou smiled innocently to the side, and Kong Xiang began to doubt his judgment of people over the years. If he hadn't trusted that this kid was a future genius, given his personality, he wouldn't have gotten himself into trouble so easily.

Shen Bai glanced at everyone and said, "Well, Xiao Yu, why don't you get familiar with the environment with Xiao Xu first? I'll discuss it with Lao Kong."

Who's talking to you, Old Kong?! How can someone be so overly familiar with others, especially when they all look about the same age? Why is he called Old Kong?!

Upon hearing this assignment, Xu Zhizhou's face flushed slightly with nervousness.

"department……"

Just as he was about to ask for help, the two men went upstairs.

Ziche Yu stood beside him, watching him expressionlessly.

As Kong Xiang was climbing the stairs, he wanted to complain about the danger of putting these two people who couldn't say a word for half a day together, when he heard Shen Bai's gloating laughter.

"Letting the two of them travel together, Xiao Xu will probably be so nervous that he won't be able to speak, hahaha. Just thinking about it will make all the fatigue of the day much easier."

Kong Xiang opened his mouth, as if to say something.

Oh well, it's kind of funny when you think about it.