Chapter 273: Should Still Be Greater Than or Equal to 100%

As Xia Madam defended her family's dignity at a community event, revealing the inner strength within her, deep within the New Era Science Council, a fierce debate raged over a top-priority research directive issued by Qin Feng before his departure.

The directive's core stemmed from the fragmented information Xia Wan risked her life to transmit, and the ongoing deep-space data returned by Pioneer One. Qin Feng ordered the Science Council to concentrate all computational power and top-tier intellect on a unprecedented, model-breaking comprehensive simulation and probability assessment of the Star Ring's threat level, its recurrence cycle, and any possible connection between it and the Black Object from Shenhua Tianfu (tentatively named Kunlun Star Core).

At this moment, in the council's largest holographic conference room, the atmosphere was heavy as lead.

Across the massive circular screen, countless complex data streams, star maps, energy models, and hypothetical mechanisms of the Star Ring inferred from the Kunlun Star Core's properties rolled, collided, and reconfigured at a dizzying speed. Dozens of top scholars from astrophysics, high-energy physics, information science, even philosophy and cosmic sociology, argued fiercely over several core parameters.

"... No! The existing Karls Civilization Filter model is completely inapplicable! The Star Ring's behavior is not mere physical destruction—it's closer to a rule-level 'formatting' or even a 'harvesting'!" A white-haired astrophysicist slammed his fist on the table, voice hoarse.

"But the Kunlun Star Core is a variable! Its information signature exhibits a degree of antagonism against the Star Ring's background radiation! It could be a 'key'—or a 'buffer'!" The chief information science expert pointed at a set of comparative data on the screen, eyes blazing.

"Antagonism? Buffer? What are we using to oppose it? We can't even fully understand its operating principle! Based on the G-01 Prototype's performance under simulated Star Ring energy radiation, existing human technology has less than a 0.0001% survival probability when facing the Star Ring!" Chen Academician, responsible for the Guardian project, delivered a brutal statistic with a grim face.

"That's conventional technology! Don't forget Mr. Qin! The power he wields has already surpassed the boundaries of our current technological tree!" Someone immediately countered.

"But his power isn't infinite! And we don't even know what the Star Ring's true nature is! If it's a multidimensional entity—or some cosmic civilization's creation..."

The debate intensified, weaving together pessimism and optimism, none able to convince the others. Every mathematical model became wildly unstable once the variables of the Star Ring and Kunlun Star Core were introduced, with simulation results jumping chaotically between "human civilization's total extinction" and "bare survival of the Civilization Spark," the probability distribution scattered and meaningless.

Professor Smith (the German-born elder who once oversaw the Geological Monitoring Array and was now one of the Council's core members) watched the chaos before him, rubbed his throbbing temples, and spoke in a low, steady tone: "Gentlemen, arguing won't solve this. We need a conclusion—a baseline assessment of survival probability, at least sufficient to guide near-term decisions."

The conference room gradually fell silent.

Baseline assessment?

How could that possibly be done, with so many unknowns and uncontrollable variables?

In the silence, a younger but exceptionally calm voice spoke up—Evans from the Deep Space Exploration Department. He had just received an award for his contributions and personally participated in analyzing the alien signal; his mind was at its most active.

"Perhaps we've been approaching this wrong," Evans stood, walked to the screen, operated a few controls, and temporarily hid the complex data and models, leaving only two core symbols—a simplified vortex marking for the Star Ring, and a black sphere for the Kunlun Star Core.

He turned to face all his senior colleagues, his tone calm yet carrying a peculiar penetrating force:

"We've been forcing our current scientific paradigm onto two phenomena that clearly originate from a higher dimension. It's like using Newtonian mechanics to explain Quantum Entanglement—doomed to failure."

He pointed at the two symbols.

"We don't need—and cannot—calculate a survival probability precise to ten decimal places within our current understanding."

"We only need to answer one question—"

Evans's gaze swept the room, finally locking onto Professor Smith, and he asked, each word deliberate:

"After introducing Mr. Qin—the greatest, and only—X Factor..."

"What is the probability that our New Era, the Civilization Spark, will endure..."

"Shouldn't it still be greater than or equal to 100%?"

!!!

The entire room froze in shock.

Greater than or equal to... 100%?

How could that be?! In science, probability maxes out at 100%, meaning certainty. "Greater than or equal to 100%" violates mathematical logic—it sounds less like calculation and more like... an absolute declaration of faith!

Professor Smith stared, stunned. He looked into Evans's eyes, glowing with something akin to faith, opened his mouth to refute this absurd claim with scientific reasoning—

But the words died on his tongue.

Because unbidden, his mind flashed with Qin Feng's calm, profound gaze, with the way he casually stirred the planet's pulse, tore through the Barrier, with his absolute, detached indifference toward every crisis and provocation—as if he had already seen the ending...

Science?

Logic?

Did they even still apply before that man?

Evans's question, though absurd, was like a key—suddenly unlocking a mental chain.

Of course.

They had spent their lifetimes calculating vanishingly small probabilities.

Yet they had forgotten: their greatest asset had never been technology or models.

It was that man—who had turned the impossible into reality, again and again.

With him,

Hope was no longer a matter of probability.

It was... a certainty.

The conference room sank into a longer silence.

But this time, the silence was no longer confusion or debate—it was a slowly coalescing, silent consensus.

Professor Smith slowly rose, his aged eyes reigniting with light. He surveyed the room, voice steady and powerful:

"Dr. Evans is correct."

"Our simulations must be built upon the foundational premise that Mr. Qin exists."

"Then, based on this premise..."

He paused, as if expending all his strength, uttering the sentence that defied his lifelong scientific creed yet felt utterly right now:

"... Survival probability: assessed as greater than or equal to 100%."

"Meeting adjourned. All teams, realign your research directions and resource allocation according to this baseline!"

No cheers. No objections.

Only a heavy, solemn resolve—as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted, yet all hope now rested upon one man.

Everyone rose silently and left the conference room.

They knew: from this moment on, the New Era's future was irrevocably bound to that man's fate.

And all they could do was give everything they had to make this "greater than or equal to 100%" hope...

A reality.