31: The Silent Battlefield and the Daily Life of a "Nanny"

Excellence's life had entered a strange and tense "new normal."

His dormitory, or rather his "hand-crafted laboratory," had transformed into a special space that appeared ordinary but was filled with hidden mysteries.

On the surface, it was still that college dormitory piled high with clutter, circuit boards, and instant noodle boxes, but in secret, every corner might conceal unknown monitoring equipment.

Vibration sensors were embedded in the walls, seemingly casual decorations on the windowsill were actually high-sensitivity audio collectors, and even the smoke detector on the ceiling had been modified into a multi-spectral monitoring device.

Excellence's system often detected various weak signal streams, like an invisible spider web wrapping him layer by layer.

On the surface, he remained an ordinary (albeit a bit nerdy and slovenly) college student, but in secret, every one of his actions, from his daily experiment schedule to his eating and sleeping habits, could be presented on Wang Jianguo's desk through these hidden sensors and regular reports.

Xiao Zhang, that young man with few expressions and extraordinary skills, had become his "exclusive liaison" and "living nanny."

He no longer appeared only occasionally; instead, he would "drop by" almost every day or two, his arrivals always perfectly timed.

Sometimes, Xiao Zhang would carry a bag of fresh fruit and say in a flat tone, "Director Wang ordered this to supplement vitamins and maintain your physical condition."

But Excellence knew this was actually to check if he was eating properly, to prevent him from dying suddenly in the laboratory due to over-immersion in his research.

Sometimes, Xiao Zhang would bring tightly sealed metal boxes containing electronic components of unknown origin—those special materials that Excellence would have originally needed great effort to obtain.

The quality of these components far exceeded those available on the market; they were clearly special-issue items.

Sometimes, Xiao Zhang would just sit expressionlessly in a chair in the corner, watching Excellence scratch his head over a pile of wires and code without saying a word, but that invisible pressure made Excellence feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

This meticulous "care" put Excellence under tremendous pressure.

He felt like a lab rat being observed; even if the force he used to tighten a screw was wrong, it might be recorded and analyzed.

Once, while debugging a circuit, he subconsciously hummed a few lines of a song, and the next day, Xiao Zhang "casually" mentioned, "That song yesterday was quite old; I didn't expect you to like it."

At that moment, Excellence truly realized that his every move was being closely monitored.

"Zhang... Brother Zhang," Excellence complained one time, unable to hold it in any longer, to Xiao Zhang who was helping him tidy up the messy wiring, "You guys doing this... it puts me under a lot of pressure. Can you give me some privacy?"

Xiao Zhang didn't even look up, his hands skillfully separating and straightening a bundle of tangled wires, his voice flat and calm: "Director Wang said your 'privacy' might endanger national security."

"My task is to ensure you conduct 'research' within a controllable range and to eliminate potential risks in a timely manner."

"Risks? What risks could I possibly have? At most, I might electrocute myself or set the dormitory on fire..." Excellence muttered, trying to alleviate this suffocating pressure.

Xiao Zhang finally looked up and glanced at him, his gaze as if saying, "Try setting one on fire and see what happens."

Then, he pointed to the core coil of the wireless energy transmission device that Excellence was building: "Your calculation for this resonant frequency is off."

"If you wind it according to these parameters, the efficiency will only reach 25% at most, failing to meet your target of 30%."

"Moreover, the Q-factor is too high; if there's even a slight issue with the matching circuit, it's easy to generate high-voltage arcs, which indeed carries a risk of fire."

Excellence was dumbfounded: "You... you understand this?"

Xiao Zhang lowered his head again and continued tidying the wires: "I know a little. I tinkered with similar things back in the army."

Excellence was instantly filled with respect, and also felt a wave of inexplicable shame.

It turned out that this "monitor" by his side was a hidden expert!

His own level was probably like playing house in their eyes.

He couldn't help but think of Uncle Liu at his father's factory, who was also seemingly ordinary but possessed hidden talents.

With the implicit guidance of Xiao Zhang, this "technical supervisor" (although his methods were usually "this is wrong" or "that will explode"), and the almost unlimited supply of high-quality components, Excellence's wireless energy transmission project progressed rapidly.

He quickly built a rather professional-looking prototype.

Two carefully wound copper coils were fixed on special brackets, surrounded by various precision circuit boards and monitoring equipment.

The workbench was covered with oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, and energy detection devices, all of which were professional equipment that Xiao Zhang had "borrowed" for him.

On the day of the test, Excellence was so nervous that his palms were sweating.

He placed an LED bulb equipped with a miniature receiving coil exactly five meters away from the transmitting coil and carefully adjusted its position and angle.

Xiao Zhang stood to the side, holding a handheld energy detector, his expression still calm, but there was a hint of focus in his eyes.

"Ready?" Xiao Zhang asked.

Excellence took a deep breath and nodded: "Let's start."

He pressed the start switch.

A slight high-frequency humming sound immediately rang out, the space around the transmitting coil began to produce distortions difficult to perceive with the naked eye, and the air was filled with the smell of ozone.

Five meters away, the LED bulb flickered a few times, and then suddenly lit up! It emitted a steady and soft light!

"It worked!" Excellence jumped up in excitement, almost hitting the ceiling.

He couldn't suppress his inner excitement, spun around in place, his face glowing with an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

Xiao Zhang calmly recorded the data on the side: "Energy transmission efficiency is 31.2%, meeting expectations."

"The field strength distribution conforms to the calculation model, and radiation leakage is controlled within the safe range. Not bad, you didn't mess it up this time."

Even Xiao Zhang had rarely given a positive evaluation!

Excellence excitedly looked at the wirelessly lit bulb, feeling that all the pressure and frustration were worth it!

This was the first time he had completely finished a system task under relatively "formal" conditions!

That sense of accomplishment far exceeded any previous "hand-crafted" experience.

[Task: [Energy Upgrade] Completed.]

[Civilization Contribution + 0.0005.]

[Reward distributed. Detected that the host was still able to effectively utilize resources to complete the task in a restricted environment. Evaluation: Survival Ability + 1.]

The system's prompts arrived on schedule, and the interface even rarely displayed an icon indicating approval.

However, Excellence's excitement didn't last long.

The next day, when Xiao Zhang came over, his expression was more serious than usual, and his eyes carried a kind of vigilant light.

"Excellence, have you felt anything unusual lately? For example, has anyone tried to contact you in an unconventional way? Or have you received any information from unknown sources?" Xiao Zhang asked, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's.

Excellence's heart tightened, and the shadows of Evelyn and The Foundation flashed through his mind instantly, but he remembered Wang Jianguo's warning and quickly shook his head: "No! Besides you guys, who else would look for me?"

He tried to make his expression look natural, but his heartbeat uncontrollably accelerated.

Xiao Zhang stared at him for a few seconds; those eyes, which seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, made Excellence feel a wave of guilt.

"Good if there isn't. Stay vigilant." Xiao Zhang's tone was flat, but Excellence could feel the implicit warning within it.

"Also," Xiao Zhang continued, "Director Wang asked me to remind you that your previous brainwave interference project... it's best to pause it."

"Why?" Excellence asked, puzzled.

Although that project had been initially successful, it had been shelved later because of the wireless energy task.

"We have monitored that recently, an unknown signal source has been attempting to scan and analyze the characteristics of brainwaves in specific frequency bands."

"The pattern is very special and has a faint similarity to the residual signal characteristics produced by your previous project," Xiao Zhang explained, his tone serious.

"Director Wang suspects that someone may have become interested in your previous research. Until we figure out their purpose, pausing is the safest option."

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Excellence's back.

Someone... is scanning brainwaves? Is it The Foundation? Have they already noticed this? Or... some other force?

He felt as if he were in a silent battlefield, where invisible electromagnetic waves intertwined and collided in the air, engaging in a contest he could not fully understand.

And he was the center of this battlefield.

That night, Excellence lay on his bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

Thinking of the success during the day and the warning at night, he felt like he was walking on a thin steel wire with a bottomless abyss below.

The joy brought by the success of the wireless energy transmission had already been replaced by new worries.

He knew that every one of his breakthroughs could attract the attention of more forces; every innovation could push him closer to a more dangerous edge.

Under this seemingly calm "new normal," undercurrents were surging, and crises were lurking everywhere.

Excellence stared at the ceiling, a thought surging in his heart: Perhaps he needed to re-evaluate his situation and his future path.

In this invisible technological game, he was not just a passive pawn, but more likely to become the key to changing the situation.

But this realization did not bring comfort; it only brought deeper anxiety and a sense of responsibility.