15: Wang Chu's doubts and Su Mu's probing

Deputy Director Wang Jianguo's office was not a typical bureaucratic space; it was more like a fusion of a command center and a technical analysis outpost. A massive main screen occupied an entire wall, displaying not static images, but a continuous flow of data waterfalls and simplified national situation maps. The faint blue light served as the primary illumination in the room, reflecting off his well-defined facial features. At this moment, he was intently reviewing the latest analysis report that Analyst Xiao Liu had just submitted and projected onto a secondary screen. Between his habitually steady brows, a subtle furrow quietly appeared.

The data curves and spectral analysis charts in the report were starkly different from the two previous instances of recorded abnormal fluctuations. The distinct micro-fusion signatures and eerie optical modulation disturbances that had briefly appeared in the University Town area seemed to have been quietly erased by an invisible hand, vanishing without a trace. In their place was a type of bioelectrical signal disturbance with a much weaker energy level—almost hugging the baseline of environmental background noise—yet possessing unique and difficult-to-parse patterns. After cross-verification through multiple algorithms, the latitude and longitude coordinates of the signal source pointed precisely to the familiar location they had already marked.

“High-energy physics... materials optics... and now it's shifted to bioelectrical signals, and specifically... brainwave research?” Wang Jianguo's fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the smooth metal surface of his desk, producing a rhythmic and low-pitched clicking sound—a habitual movement whenever he fell into deep thought. “The span of this research direction... isn't it a bit too imaginative? One might even say... it's a leap without any logic?” He seemed to be asking Xiao Liu, yet also talking to himself. “Which top-tier domestic laboratory or research team would switch their research focus so frequently and without warning between such vastly different, cutting-edge, and even niche fields? And they’re keeping the energy levels so... 'low-key'?”

This had completely exceeded conventional scientific research paradigms; it looked more like a casual, even chaotic, technical experiment.

“Our people have conducted a very preliminary and peripheral screening of all laboratories and key project groups in University Town involved in high-energy physics, optical engineering, biomedical engineering, and cognitive neuroscience,” Xiao Liu reported steadily, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet room. “The feedback indicates that there are currently no registered official projects conducting such cross-disciplinary, non-standard experiments—especially ones with such low energy levels and such... peculiar signal characteristics. Everyone's research schedules are full, but they are all operating within their respective tracks.”

He paused briefly and pulled up another supplementary intelligence summary. “However, during the screening process, our peripheral comrades happened to hear an... interesting bit of peripheral news from internal school channels.”

“Oh? What news?” Wang Jianguo shifted his gaze from the screen to Xiao Liu.

“A sophomore student named Excellence from the Physics Department of Polytechnic University,” Xiao Liu said as he operated the console, pulling up an extremely brief personal profile. Next to it was a somewhat blurry candid photo obviously taken from a distance. The young man in the photo looked unremarkable, even appearing a bit listless from a lack of sleep. “At the end of last semester, he... failed the makeup exam for fundamentals of analog circuits. But strangely, according to the library management system records and our observations, this student's frequency of visiting the library has increased abnormally recently. The books he borrows and spends long hours reading... are quite baffling.”

A list of books was projected: 'Principles of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion (Introductory)', 'Foundations and Cutting-edge Applications of Metamaterial Design', 'EEG Signal Processing and Pattern Recognition Algorithms', 'Rough Set Theory and Its Applications in Biological Signals'... and even 'Recycling and Utilization of Waste Electronic Equipment' and 'Practical Hardware Processing Techniques'.

Wang Jianguo looked at this bizarre book list that spanned from top-tier theory to street-side craftsmanship, and his finger stopped tapping the desk.

“Furthermore,” Xiao Liu added the most critical point, “one of our comrades conducting routine environmental observations accidentally captured a set of images last weekend. This student, Excellence, was seen hauling a metal box out of a taxi's trunk with considerable effort. It looked... quite heavy and old, styled similarly to early medical or experimental equipment. He moved it back to his dormitory alone. The appearance of the equipment has a... certain vague correlation with the fields we are monitoring.”

“Excellence...” Wang Jianguo repeated the name. With a light tap on the console, he pulled up the previous file marked 'To be observed, low priority.' The coordinates of the two abnormal signals overlapped highly with this student's activity area. “Him again?” A student who failed and needed to retake a basic circuits course would suddenly become obsessed with reading these works that were far beyond his knowledge level—even cutting-edge? And he was hauling unidentified old equipment into his dorm?

It sounded completely illogical, even absurd. But if... if those two weak yet distinct abnormal signals were truly related to this seemingly ordinary student... then the implications hidden behind this were far from just being 'interesting.' How could a single student, by his own strength, dabble in and tinker with such vastly different high-risk or cutting-edge technologies?

Wang Jianguo leaned back slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes—the kind of look a hunter gives when discovering an unexpected trail. “This is getting interesting... Continue observing, maintain distance, and absolutely do not disturb him,” he issued a clear command. “Utilize all non-invasive remote means. I want to know who he meets every day, what books he reads, what packages he receives, and even... what trash he throws away. I want to see what this little fellow is really up to. Is there someone behind him, or... is he the 'big deal' himself?”

Meanwhile, within the ivory tower of the university, another person had also noticed Excellence's increasingly abnormal behavior through her keen observation.

Su Mu noticed that although Excellence still sported a pair of prominent dark circles and radiated an aura of overextended exhaustion, his frequency of appearing in specific areas of the library—usually the unpopular shelves housing cutting-edge technology and interdisciplinary journals—had increased significantly. More than once, she had seen him either staring blankly at the thick 'Principles of Fusion' or frowning deeply at the formula-laden 'Metamaterial Design.' Recently, he had even begun tackling 'Introduction to EEG Signal Algorithms,' a book she had only heard of.

This had completely exceeded the intellectual scope of a student retaking a failed course, or even a normal physics undergraduate. It carried a sense of desperate, almost obsessive madness. Moreover, on the occasional times they met in the hallway, he would try to ask her, in an extremely clumsy and roundabout way, about very niche and obscure questions that clearly exceeded the general focus of current academic circles. The obscurity of the directions and the advanced nature of the concepts he asked about formed an absurd contrast with his image of having a weak foundation.

All of this gradually overlapped with her memory of the Excellence who had surreptitiously taken ultrapure water, whose hands bore faint scars likely from experimental operations, and who used full-of-holes excuses to ask about 'non-linear circuits.' In her mind, this sketched an increasingly clear yet increasingly baffling mystery.

That evening, the library's reading area was so quiet that only the sound of pages turning and the faint hum of the air conditioning could be heard. Su Mu, holding a professional book, seemingly casually chose the empty seat opposite Excellence and sat down.

Excellence was fully immersed in his struggle with 'Introduction to EEG Signal Algorithms.' His right hand unconsciously tugged at his hair, and spread out before him were the neatly written 'fundamentals of analog circuits' notes Su Mu had lent him. The contrast between the two highlighted a sense of intellectual tearing and struggle. His lips moved soundlessly, as if he were arguing with an invisible opponent.

Su Mu didn't disturb him immediately. She just watched him quietly for a few minutes, her gaze passing over his furrowed brow, his eyes reddened from fatigue, and the messy scribbles on the paragraphs of that 'heavenly book' of an algorithm textbook. Then, in an extremely calm volume that wouldn't disturb those around them, she spoke softly: “Do you need help?”

Excellence jerked like a startled rabbit. He looked up and, seeing it was Su Mu, a flash of panic instantly crossed his face. He reflexively wanted to close the book that exposed his 'extracurricular activities.'

“I've seen you staring at the 'Feature Extraction and Classifier Design' chapter of this book for a long time,” Su Mu's tone remained as calm as water, as if she were merely stating an objective fact without any intent of prying. “The theoretical foundation of this section indeed involves a lot of linear algebra and probability statistics. The derivation process is very complex, and for a beginner, the threshold is very high. Many graduate students in related fields find it quite a headache when they first encounter it.”

Excellence opened his mouth, his throat feeling dry. His mind raced, but he couldn't concoct a single rational excuse to explain his current behavior. Could he say he was trying to understand this algorithm to program a hand-built, junky system used to read his own brainwaves and control a switch? Ultimately, he could only squeeze out a few pale words: “Just... just looking around, expanding my knowledge... learning about the cutting edge...” His eyes instinctively drifted elsewhere, not daring to meet Su Mu's overly clear and calm eyes.

Su Mu watched him quietly, not immediately exposing his obvious cover-up, nor continuing to press for the 'why' that he clearly couldn't answer. She simply nodded slightly and said in her usual flat tone, “If there's something you really don't understand but truly want to figure out, you can ask me. Although my main research direction isn't neural engineering or brain-computer interfaces, the basic principles of signal processing and pattern recognition are common across many disciplines.”

Her gaze seemed to casually brush past a slightly heavy metal plate Excellence had placed at the corner of the table to prop up his laptop—it was an outer shell baseplate he had stripped from the old equipment he’d acquired. It had traces of rust and strange interfaces. Her eyes lingered on the metal plate, which was so out of place in its surroundings, for a fraction of a second. Her pupils seemed to shift slightly as if she had associated it with something, but in the end, she asked nothing. She simply returned her attention to the book in front of her, as if it really had just been an ordinary academic concern born of classmate camaraderie.

However, Excellence felt a cold sweat nearly break out on his back from that one look. He felt as though her calm gaze had already perceived too much, and his little secrets were transparent before her. He felt like he was walking a tightrope, and the eyes watching him from below were becoming more numerous and sharper.

[Warning: The suspicion and focus level of target 'Su Mu' continues to rise. Based on her observational and logical analysis skills, the risk of the host's information being exposed has significantly increased. It is strongly recommended to immediately increase information security levels and reduce abnormal behavior.] The system's alarm sounded in his mind, cold and urgent.

Excellence wailed inwardly: Increase security levels? Reduce abnormal behavior? I want to! But these damn system tasks are more perverted than the last, and the junk equipment provided is more unreliable than the last. What can I do? I'm desperate too! If this continues, I'll be driven to a mental breakdown by this split life and the attention from all sides before the system punishment even gets to me!

He lowered his head, trying to bury his face in the book, but he couldn't take in a single word. He only felt that the warm air in the library was now so stifling he couldn't breathe, as if countless invisible eyes were quietly watching him from all directions, from every corner of reality and the virtual world—a lonely traveler trudging through the fog, unsure if what lay ahead was an abyss or a fortuitous encounter.