National Competition
The national competition venue was even more magnificent than the provincial competition venue, and the atmosphere was even more solemn. Top students from all over the country gathered here, and an invisible spark filled the air. Every exchanged glance seemed to carry a sense of weighing and scrutiny. In the huge exhibition hall, a dazzling array of project booths were displayed, and high-tech equipment flashed incessantly, like a preview of the future.
The booth for Shixu and Yunxi wasn't in the best location, but it wasn't in a corner either. They had finished setting up a day in advance, and the equipment had been repeatedly checked and was in optimal condition. Shixu was wearing a well-fitting dark suit, which made his figure appear even more upright. His cool face looked like a meticulously sculpted statue under the bright lights of the venue. Only his eyes, which occasionally glanced at the demonstration screen, were sharp as a hawk, revealing his inner focus and tension.
Yunxi opted for a sharp pantsuit, her long hair tied up high, making her look capable and energetic. Unlike Shixu, who kept all her tension inside, Yunxi channeled her nervousness into a more outward energy. Her eyes were sharp as she constantly inspected the equipment and prepared materials to ensure everything was in perfect order. She had even prepared contingency plans for various unexpected situations, from equipment malfunctions to tricky questions from the judges.
The judging began. People moved between the booths, the judges serious, their questions often incisive, directly addressing the projects' core weaknesses. The projects by Time Sequence and Cloud Gap, with their unique innovation and solid implementation, attracted many judges.
Initially, everything went smoothly. Shixu was responsible for the main technical explanations, delivering clear logic and precise language, breaking down complex technical principles in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Yunxi provided seamless support, demonstrating the operations and supplementing Shixu's explanations with information on application scenarios and actual test data when needed. The two worked together perfectly, like precisely calibrated gears, showcasing the project's strengths to the fullest.
Several judges visibly showed interest, and their questions focused more on the in-depth technical details and the potential for future applications. Shi Xu even noticed that an elderly professor from a top-tier engineering university nodded slightly when he heard about their solution to a fault-tolerance mechanism in a specific environment.
However, just before a crucial round of review—by an expert panel composed of core members of the judging committee—an unexpected incident occurred.
Yunxi was performing a final system self-check when suddenly, the data stream on the main demo screen experienced a momentary, extremely slight, almost imperceptible pause, before returning to normal. Had she not been completely focused, she would have almost ignored it as a normal system fluctuation.
“Timing,” she lowered her voice, her tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of alertness, “there was a brief, unusual jump in the data stream just now.”
Shi Xu's brow furrowed instantly. Their system had undergone countless stress tests and was extremely stable; such meaningless fluctuations shouldn't have occurred. He immediately leaned over, pulled up the background logs, and rapidly swiped his fingers across the touchpad, his sharp eyes scanning every line of code.
The log entries appeared normal, with no obvious error reports. But his gut feeling told him this was no accident. He recalled Shi Zhiyuan's expressionless face, and his so-called "stress test." An ominous premonition, like a cold snake, coiled around his spine.
"Activate backup protocol three." Shi Xu made a decisive decision, his voice low and swift.
Yunxi's eyes sharpened, and without the slightest hesitation, he immediately entered a series of commands on the auxiliary terminal. This was one of their plans for dealing with extreme situations; it would add an extra layer of monitoring and protection programs around the core system. Although it would slightly increase the system load, it would greatly enhance the ability to detect and block abnormal operations.
Just minutes after the backup protocol finished loading, the expert team arrived. Leading them was a commanding academician with piercing eyes, followed by several equally senior professors.
The demonstration resumed. I adjusted my breathing, getting myself into peak condition, and delivered the explanation smoothly. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, with the project highlights being presented one by one. However, when the demonstration reached the most crucial part—the verification of the core algorithm—
The visualization model on the main screen suddenly started flickering, and the data curves showed irregular distortions. Then, the simulation environment slowed down significantly, and even several instances of rendering errors that violated the laws of physics occurred!
"Oh?" The academician raised an eyebrow, leaned forward slightly, and looked at the screen with great interest. "This phenomenon is very interesting. Is it due to the instability of the algorithm itself, or a problem with the operating environment?"
The other judges also looked on with suspicion and scrutiny.
Shi Xu's heart sank. His worst fears had come true! And at the most crucial moment, in front of the core expert panel of the judging committee!
A surge of immense pressure and anger welled up inside him, but he forcefully suppressed it. At this moment, any panic would be fatal.
"Please wait a moment, Professor." Shi Xu's voice was unexpectedly calm, even tinged with coldness. "The system seems to have been subjected to unknown interference. We'll activate the redundancy check module."
As he spoke, he gave Yun Ying a look. Yun Ying understood, her fingers flying across the keyboard, so fast they left afterimages. She directly severed the connection between the main demonstration system and some external data interfaces, while simultaneously launching a clean, locally backed-up demonstration environment. This was an emergency measure in the backup protocol, essentially creating a secure "isolation zone" in the event of system contamination.
The unusual flickering and errors on the screen disappeared within seconds, replaced by a simplified yet smooth-running backup presentation with clear results. The entire switchover process was clean and efficient, demonstrating the team's exceptional crisis management capabilities and technical expertise.
Seizing the opportunity, Shi Xu continued to explain without changing his expression: "As you can see, our system has a high degree of fault tolerance and self-recovery capability. The phenomenon just now, according to preliminary judgment, may have originated from interference from the complex electromagnetic environment of the venue or other unknown factors. However, this does not affect the effectiveness and robustness of our core algorithm, and the results of the backup demonstration are completely consistent with the main system."
He downplayed the deliberate sabotage as "environmental interference," thus defusing the awkward situation and highlighting the project's stability.
The academician looked thoughtfully at the screen that had returned to normal, then glanced at the composed Shi Xu and Yun Xi, who had just completed a series of complex operations, his forehead slightly sweaty but his eyes firm, and a cryptic expression appeared on his face.
"The ability to adapt to unexpected situations is also part of the evaluation," the academician said casually, not delving further into the unexpected incident, and instead began to inquire about other details of the project.
The subsequent Q&A session passed without incident. When the expert team left, Shi Xu's back was soaked with cold sweat. Yun Ying let out a long sigh of relief, feeling her legs go weak.
"Was it... that he did it?" Yunxi asked in a low voice, his voice filled with suppressed anger.
“There’s no one else but him.” Yunya’s eyes were icy cold. He quickly checked the background logs and, after loading the protection program, finally caught a very subtle trace of unauthorized access from the external network, as well as a hidden code fragment marked as malicious, attempting to trigger a system logic error under certain conditions.
(Shi Xu's inner monologue: Using such despicable methods... Shi Zhiyuan, is this all you can do?)
He made a note of this debt.
At the other end of the venue, when Shi Zhiyuan learned through some means that the interference had not achieved the desired effect and might even have enabled the other party to demonstrate additional adaptability, his face remained expressionless, only his knuckles tightened slightly as he placed his hands on his knees.
The first round of direct confrontation ended with Time Sequence and Cloud Gap barely holding their ground. But the national competition is not over yet, the final judging results are about to be announced, and that unseen hand from the shadows will not give up so easily. The real storm may have only just begun to brew.
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