Chapter 484: % Sweet Plain Water

「Waaah.... 」

「Humanity! Why are you leaving.... 」

「Xiao Jiu hates you! Hates you!! 」

Xiao Jiu was wailing loudly on the other end of the communicator, her sniffling made Zhang Jie feel a burst of laughter.

Help, my Ship Girl is too clingy—what should I do?

Option One: Stern scolding! Don't let her whine! Don't let her smirk!

Option Two: Go soft-hearted! Abandon the project, head home right away, and start a shamelessly happy life with your little Ship Girl.

Option Three: Coax her, tell her you'll come back later.

No need to ask! Zhang Jie obviously picks three!

He tried to coax Xiao Jiu, but that little thing still said in a grievous tone.

「But... Qiong said she's embarrassed to see you, went out to clear her mind, and 7774 won't keep me company. 」

「Dai Tao goes to compete every day, I'm so lonely all by myself.... 」

ε=(′ο｀*))) ah.....

Hearing Xiao Jiu's little complaint, Zhang Jie felt his genius-like brain itch, and for a moment he really couldn't think of a good solution.

「No, no... can't just think about playing! 」

「Mm! Can't play anymore, humanity! 」

Zhang Jie:......

「All your previous words were just emotional venting... 」

「Hehe.... 」

「I really miss humanity.... 」

Although everything looks sparse and ordinary, it seems Xiao Jiu just went out for a stroll.

But in fact, Xiao Jiu has repeatedly brushed with death on the disaster battlefield; if not for Qiong, with her small ship's combat power, how could she have survived?

You should know that on the vast stellar battlefield, the role of small fleets is to be used as cannon fodder.

Between life and death, Xiao Jiu suddenly understood many things, just like now.

Although she is now eager to see Zhang Jie, she won't show a downcast demeanor that would trouble him.

Just being able to see humanity again is already good; as long as I can keep watching him...... that's fine.

But she needs to learn to do something......

「All right, humanity, go about your business; Xiao Jiu is going to train. 」

「Training? Train what? 」

「Don't bother with it! 」

Xiao Jiu hung up the communicator, leaving Zhang Jie utterly bewildered.

「Is that little thing back? 」

Yuan wore a white robe, holding a drink of indeterminate name, and raised an eyebrow at Zhang Jie.

「Hmm, by the way, Teacher, what are you drinking? 」

「300% sweet plain water. 」

Zhang Jie:......

「Can that stuff really still be called plain water.... 」

「Don't idle; you have plenty to do—we need your strong hands-on ability. 」

「...... 」

「Let me rest a bit, Teacher, I'm about to die from exhaustion... 」

「No. 」

Yuan grabbed Zhang Jie's collar and dragged him straight backward.

「You can't rest yet. 」

From the end of the corridor came Zhang Jie's wailing....

「The experiment is proceeding in full swing, but here you haven't seen any other members from 'hellouniverse' besides Yuan and Zhelegu—only Yuan and Zhelegu, plus thousands of staff and researchers. 」

「Your hand-cranking technique has also received universal praise; hand-cranking isn't truly bare-handed, but rather you can use the existing equipment to produce more refined creations. 」

「During the experiment, you gradually realized the truth about this universe: this world doesn't have much time left. 」

「This news was just something Yuan casually mentioned; this common knowledge seems to have existed for them for a long time. 」

「The future of the universe just needs anchoring—that's all there is to it! 」

「We don't need a so-called Star Sea Leader telling us what to do! 」

「Yuan.... calm down first... 」

The two bigwigs' first clash erupted over whether to install a super AI on the supercomputer.

Yuan believes that installing AI is basically courting destruction; such an entity that can influence quantum collapse via computing power, if it loses control, would truly become the so-called 'God'.

Zhelegu, on the other hand, thinks AI would save them huge amounts of search and operation time, making the speed of influencing quantum instantaneous—an absolute necessity.

This in itself isn't strange; having disagreements is normal, and Zhang Jie had already thought of how to resolve it—but he didn't expect their argument to keep escalating.

Until Zhelegu inadvertently revealed that he had leaked the research project to the Iron Law Star Alliance....

Yuan didn't know why, but suddenly he exploded like a bomb—although he had been excited but still composed before, he instantly lost control.

「What gives me the right to stay calm! 」

「Star Sea Leader? Ha, the most ridiculous joke of this era! 」

「He's just a newcomer, Yuan. 」

「I know, the previous Star Sea Leader caused you harm, but he really is dead, you should let go of your prejudice. 」

「The future of the universe needs anchoring, you also said, we need the Star Sea Leader to help, this is for the continuation of civilization! 」

「Get lost, you *! 」

Zhang Jie's tiger body suddenly shuddered, this Yuan teacher.... actually also knows how to swear, he still thought Yuan was that kind of scholar who would stay calm and smoke even if the world is destroyed.

So out of control, uh, there probably is a major incident here.

「You, a single Insect disaster, can still understand what is called the continuation of civilization? 」

「I tell you! The Star Sea Leader, once selected, already represents that he is a madman! 」

「You hand this thing over to him, sorry, I cannot possibly agree! Never possibly!!! 」

Yuan flicked off a sentence, strode away, leaving only the headache-inducing Zhelege and a curious Zhang Jie.

At this moment, Zhang Jie still does not know what he will face.

Star Sea Leader, this mysterious, great, bearing an extremely important responsibility, possessing supreme power, until now, he has not truly had any contact with the other party.

He merely learned of this thing's existence from others' words, and does not know the specific situation, nor does he know what grudge he has with Yuan.

「We need to let your teacher calm down.... 」

「How so, do you still want to continue researching with me? 」

「Emmm, I'd better go check on my teacher's situation. 」

Research? Come on, Yuan looks like this, as his student he naturally should go check.

Besides, research? Research what? The technology that should exist now is already available; what needs to be done now is merely to continually increase the server's computing power, and then research how to convert that computing power into a force that affects quantum.

He has learned it all; if he were to do it himself, Zhang Jie dares to guarantee, although he cannot produce a complete version, he can still make an inferior version.

「In half a month.... the Star Sea Leader will come.... 」

「This matter is my fault, please tell Yuan, if she now disbands the project, I also absolutely have no complaints.... 」