AI Operations Center.
The room was completely silent; even the sound of the wind had disappeared.
Several people froze in place awkwardly, staring blankly at the large StarNet server in the center of the room and looking at each other in bewilderment.
To prevent cheating, the examination process of this competition was controlled only by AI, and Wei Lan and his colleagues could not see the actual situation inside the simulation cabin.
But the faint blue light on the server kept flashing, proving that the CPU was running at high speed and the competition was proceeding in an orderly manner.
Jiang Yuanliang's tone was very difficult: "Can you... stop?"
He knew that carelessness had ruined everything, so he spoke carefully while secretly glancing at his mentor out of the corner of his eye. Seeing Wei Lan's face turn pale and scary, he immediately lowered his head in panic.
The organizers were also panicking: "This competition has already started a while ago, we can't just interrupt it and start over."
"How about I send instructions to the AI to delete the unnecessary questions?"
Someone nearby immediately objected, "No, that won't work! The order of the questions is random. If there were any extra questions inserted into the question bank, some teams would have already picked them. It would be fine if they passed immediately, but what if they took a long time to answer them?"
"It would be so unfair to them to delete it now!"
"What should we do then?"
Jiang Yuanliang's face also turned pale with fear.
This inter-school league is the first stop of a reform pilot project that the federation attaches great importance to. Many important figures are paying attention to it. If something goes wrong, he, a small researcher, will not even have room to defend himself.
The most important thing is that it might even implicate his mentor...
The room was as quiet as a chicken. Everyone was at a loss. I looked at you, and you looked at me in confusion.
Fortunately, at this moment, the door was pushed open with a bang——
"I heard there's a problem with the competition question bank?"
A tall, burly man came in. He was carefree, with scattered stubble on his chin and a rough voice. "I heard that the extra questions were copied in, right, Professor Wei?"
Wei Lan took a deep breath and turned around: "Instructor Dong, I'm very sorry. It was my mistake at work."
"What are you afraid of?" the man laughed heartily. "It's just a few questions. Just answer them."
He pinched his chin and gave a malicious smile. "This is a good opportunity to test these kids' decisiveness. You know, in the future, on the battlefield, no one knows what will happen. It's common to encounter unexpected situations and difficult and intractable problems."
“Like now, when they see an insurmountable problem, do they know to quickly skip it?”
"If you don't know, wasting time on these trick questions is like wasting your chance on the battlefield, leaving you empty-handed in the end... Humph, we at the First War College don't want people like that. Let's teach them a lesson!"
Wei Lan was stunned for a moment: "Is this... okay?"
"I think that's great," Instructor Dong waved his hand. "Of course, you're the chief examiner for the written exam. The final decision is yours."
Wei Lan gritted his teeth and raised his hand to push up his black-framed glasses.
"Let's do it." He turned around, "Xiao Jiang?"
Jiang Yuanliang raised his head in panic: "Here!"
Wei Lan spoke quickly: "Remember, there are no mistakes in this competition. Those are trap questions we prepared. On the one hand, they broaden the children's horizons, and on the other hand, they test their decision-making ability."
"Go and refine the AI program right now. Look at the children's answers, pick out the ones that shine, and give them a few points... Got it?"
Jiang Yuanliang paused for a moment, his eyes flashing with surprise: "I understand!"
Great, this way it won’t be considered a mistake on his part!
Glancing at Instructor Dong with secret joy and gratitude, Jiang Yuanliang hurried to contact the staff.
He managed to overcome the mistake.
Next, just mark the work of the teams that have answered these questions.
This is a very simple job, Jiang Yuanliang thought easily.
If we give a group of college students the most cutting-edge scientific research questions, they would be lucky if they could squeeze out a few definitions. Can we really expect them to come up with any real insights?
Then all his scientific research over the years would have been in vain.
…
Room A012.
Several people were still gathered around the light screen in deep thought.
Time passed by minute by minute. They had already wasted a minute on this question, and their ranking on the leaderboard dropped from second to fifth.
"H-what should I do?" Wang Mingzi almost cried, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. "This question, this question isn't even in the book. I don't have any idea what to do."
He bit his lip and said, "At most... I can explain these few terms."
As he spoke, the boy raised his hand and tapped a few times on the screen, circling a few long words.
Lu Yuanji frowned: “Okay, answer it.”
"Write as much as you can, and take as much as you can——"
Before he could finish his words, Ling Kaixuan's cold voice came from the back of the room: "Pass it, don't answer."
Lu Yuanji: “…”
He turned around in shock, anger and suspicion.
Ling Kaixuan's eyes were profound. "This question is about mind-powered mecha technology. The Federation's most advanced scientists have been researching it for many years, wearing out nearly a thousand super-intelligent AIs, and have only just managed to build a rough framework."
"You expect to give an insightful answer to this question in three hours?"
"Are all the people in the federal research institute stupid?"
Lu Yuanji tried to refute: "We should at least answer a little bit, what if the other teams answer?"
Ling Kaixuan was very decisive: "That's because they are stupid!"
Lu Yuanji: “…”
In front of the light screen, Wang Mingzi, who was responsible for answering the questions, was trembling with fear. He glanced at the two angry young men, and then carefully looked at Sheng Zhang and Zhao Qingke who were standing next to him.
Zhao Qingke pursed her lips and said nothing.
Sheng Zhang shrugged.
"I obey the captain," he said. "Then I won't answer?"
Wang Mingzi nodded nervously and pressed the "Skip" button.
A huge wrong fork popped out——
【Beep, wrong answer! 】
The red light flickered, casting a gloomy light on the hut. In the light and shadow, Lu Yuanji's face was very ugly.
But the next question is of the same type.
Can mental power and mental will be lumped together? If we separate them, the former provides driving energy, while the latter controls the system through brainwave synchronization. While this can achieve rough driving, I always feel that this model doesn't provide a good coordination effect...
Ling Kaixuan's voice was slightly cold: "Tsk."
【Beep, wrong answer! 】
The topic changes immediately.
The next question is again.
"cut."
【Beep, wrong answer! 】
There was one mistake after another, and the number of wrong questions in all the previous ones combined was not as many as in this moment. Lu Yuanji's face became more and more gloomy, and the room became quieter and quieter. Only Ling Kaixuan's unhesitating "tsk" could be heard again and again.
Finally, after cutting through seven or eight questions, the questions in front of them returned to normal mode.
Ling Kaixuan stopped talking, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. Meanwhile, Wang Mingzi began answering questions hurriedly again.
"……call"
Zhao Qingke breathed a sigh of relief.
The string that had been hanging in her heart finally loosened.
It was a close call. She almost couldn't help but ask Ling Kaixuan not to jump again.
Looking up at the ranking list, Zhao Qingke looked at the ranking of "8th" and tried to calm himself down.
"There's still time, don't panic," she whispered.
I don't know whether it was directed at myself or my teammates.
On the other side, Sheng Zhang, who had been acting like a jerk the entire time, suddenly spoke up: "By the way, do you remember what Gu Qiongsheng's team number is in Class F?"
Surprised that a boy would ask such a question, Zhao Qingke looked at him oddly: "I just took a quick look...it seems to be 1056?"
"Hmm..." Sheng Zhang tilted his head back and glanced at the rankings. "A1056, only in the top 20%."
"And it's about to fall out, into the top 30%."
Hearing this, Lu Yuanji's expression finally eased a little.
"You can't expect too much from a bunch of trash. They should be lucky if they can just stay in the top 30%."
Lu Yuanji curled his lips: "Alright, who has time to care about them? Let's work harder and charge forward!"
…
Meanwhile, in room A1056.
Gu Qiongsheng stared at the long question on the screen, her pretty eyebrows knitted tightly together.
These questions were really beyond her scope. Even if she racked her brains and exhausted the original owner's memory, she still had no idea.
Most of the others were like her.
Except for two people.
——Zhou Qing and Tan Yao.
On the screen was an energy-related question. The question stem was long-winded, and it was about the reasonable integration of the nutrient solution connection system and the mental power connection device in the mecha. The former was in the chemical field that Zhou Qing was good at, and Tan Yao said that the latter was a bit of inspiration.
A little inspiration...
Gu Qiongsheng asked, "Can you organize it into an answer?"
Tan Yao frowned. "...It's hard to say. I just have an idea that needs testing."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and tapped lightly on the light screen.
[Beep, simulation started.]
A huge projection instantly appeared in the center of Room A1056.
It turned out to be a mecha.
It was dark blue in color, and more than four meters tall when standing. The metal lines all over its body were smooth and distinct. Standing in front of Gu Qiongsheng and others, it looked like a giant that they had to look up at.
Tan Yao's eyes lit up: "Wow!"
He happily climbed up and expertly found the cockpit. He stared at the empty core for a moment before suddenly realizing, "This is a semi-finished product."
"It should be."
Gu Qiongsheng curiously pulled at the exposed wiring of the mecha, and the touch felt unexpectedly real.
"What are these, immersion docking stations?"
Tan Yao glanced back and frowned: "No, the docking station should be installed inside."
He thought for a moment and took a breath: "Could it be a mental energy conversion device?"
What was projected in front of them at this moment was actually a mind-powered mecha that was almost completed?
Han Tianming and the others also came over curiously, exploring the problem. "I think this is it. Doesn't the question require us to solve a problem embedded in the device? Give us a simulation device so we can study it more thoroughly. Otherwise, what's the point of just talking about it?"
Gu Qiongsheng nodded.
It seems that this is the auxiliary model they use to understand the questions.
"Well, Tan Yao, can you answer this question if you practice on this big guy?"
“…”
Tan Yao's excited expression quickly disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.
He was thinking and estimating rapidly, many ideas buzzing in his mind.
"...I can try." Tan Yao finally said, "But it's hard to judge how long it will take. It may take a long time."
...It will definitely take a long time.
The young man, who had extensive experience in disassembling and assembling mechas, had a distinct intuition the moment he saw the question. Reason told Tan Yao that he should give up on this question, but the mecha model in the center of the room caught his attention and he couldn't take his eyes off it.
How much federal currency does this cost?
Looking across the entire Federation, currently only the top laboratories in those war academies can handle this newly developed mind-powered mecha, right?
Tan Yao's eyes turned red with envy.
He loved these things the most. At this moment, he was like a child who got a brand new limited edition toy. His thoughts were like fireworks with the fuse lit. All kinds of inspirations were crackling and crowded in his head, almost making him dizzy.
I really want to try it out and try out my own modification ideas on this big guy...
Swallowing hard, Tan Yao forced himself to look away and stop staring at the mecha model.
He whispered, "Let's get to the point."
"This question is too time-consuming. I may not be able to answer it by the end of the competition. There's no need to dwell on it."
Tan Yao knew it clearly.
Shocking as it is, liking it as it is.
Even though he was now madly wanting to dismantle this new mecha to see how it was different from the one he had dismantled on the deserted planet, the young man knew in his heart that the most important thing for them right now was to win the competition.
Time is money.
In front of the light screen, Zhou Qing cooperated and moved her hand to the "Skip" button.
But before she could press the button, Gu Qiongsheng suddenly said, "Wait a minute!"
"We can't skip this question. We have to answer it."
The crisp voice echoed in the small room, and the team members were stunned and turned around in surprise.
Gu Qiongsheng raised his hand and pointed to the ranking list on the side.
She remained calm as always, gathering her thoughts in just over ten seconds: "We're only in the top 20% right now, and we'll soon drop to the 30%. Everyone should know that with our level, there's little hope of breaking into the top 1%, and even the top 20 is practically impossible."
"In that case, why not try the hidden questions?"
As he spoke, Gu Qiongsheng smiled at Tan Yao, his eyes warm.
"Even if I can't type it out, I've learned something new, so it's not a wasted trip."
"Right, Tan Yao?"
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