47: Want to use academic platitudes? Then let me show you the difference! (Draft Naming)

When Lu Chen's "humble" and "reverent" "inquiry" clearly echoed in the extremely strange atmosphere of the reception room.

Professor Hans Schmidt's face, which had been stiff from extreme shock, finally slowly regained a bit of color.

He looked at the youth in front of him, whose face wore a "pure" smile, and a deep trace of apprehension and... suspicion flashed in the depths of his sharp eyes.

Chief Director?

Chief Scientist?

What kind of international joke is this!

How could a mere greenhorn, a child whose fuzz hasn't even grown in, possibly shoulder such a heavy responsibility?!

This must be a smokescreen created by the Huaxia people!

They deliberately pushed him forward to confuse me... a puppet!

Right!

It must be so!

Thinking this, Professor Hans's heart, which had been scattered by shock, finally settled down again.

He picked up the cup of steaming Goji berry health tea in front of him, took a small sip, and his face once again displayed the composure and... arrogance befitting a world-class scholar.

"Oh?"

He looked at Lu Chen and smiled faintly.

"Young man, you are quite good."

"To be able to participate in such an important project at such a young age."

"Your future is limitless."

His tone was full of the "encouragement" and "patronage" of an elder toward a junior.

As if he didn't take Lu Chen, the "Chief Scientist," seriously at all.

"Go on."

"If there are any academic questions you can't figure out."

"As long as I know the answer, I will certainly tell you everything without reservation."

He spoke these words with magnanimity and confidence!

Full of the absolute... control a top scientist has over the knowledge in their specialized field!

Long Weiguo, and Academician Li Zhenbang and Academician Zhang Jingtong, who were sitting nearby, all sneered inwardly upon seeing this scene.

Old fox!

Still pretending!

Still probing!

It's just that I wonder... in a little while, when you realize exactly what kind of "monster" you are facing.

Will you still be able to smile!

Meanwhile, Lu Chen seemed completely oblivious to the condescending superiority in Professor Hans's words.

He still maintained a look of "humility" and "adoration" as he pulled a small USB drive from his pocket.

Then, he inserted it into the reception room's holographic projection equipment.

The next second!

A complex, three-dimensional structural diagram, filled with various molecular formulas and data models, was instantly projected into the air of the reception room!

That was precisely Professor Hans's proud, groundbreaking paper model concerning "Solid-State Electrolytes"!

"Professor, please look."

Lu Chen pointed to the perfect model, displaying a "just right" look of confusion on his face.

"The idea you put forth in this paper, regarding the use of 'Sulfides' as the main material for Solid-State Electrolytes, is simply a brilliant concept!"

"It perfectly solves the global problem of low conductivity in traditional Oxide Electrolytes!"

He first launched into a round of generous, fervent praise!

He praised Professor Hans so much that the professor was ecstatic, almost smiling so hard his face looked like a blooming chrysanthemum!

Then... he abruptly changed the subject!

A perfectly timed hint of "stupidity" flashed in his pure eyes!

"But..."

"While studying your great paper, I found one small problem that I just couldn't figure out."

He stretched out his finger and lightly tapped the perfect three-dimensional model!

"Look here."

"To increase the stability of the Sulfide Electrolyte, you doped it with a 'Phosphorus-Sulfur Compound'."

"This approach is correct."

"But my question is..."

He looked at Professor Hans's still "confident" smiling face and asked clearly, word by word:

"Why..."

"Did you insist on using 'P2S5' (Diphosphorus Pentasulfide)?"

"Why..."

"Couldn't you switch to something with a more stable structure, lower cost, and a wider electrochemical window..."

"The 'PS4' Tetrahedral Anion Cluster?"

Boom!!!

The moment the chemical term, "PS4 Tetrahedral Anion Cluster," filled with demonic implications, left Lu Chen's mouth!

Professor Hans Schmidt's face, which had maintained "composure" and "arrogance," instantly... froze!

The smile on his face was like a clown mask instantly frozen solid!

Appearing incredibly ridiculous and... laughable!

For the first time, his sharp eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything, showed a ghost-like horror!

He stared intently at the youth in front of him, whose face still wore a "pure" smile!

His mind went blank!

"PS4... Anion Cluster"?

This... this was a completely new research direction that he and his team had only accidentally discovered two weeks ago after tens of thousands of failed experiments!

It was the highest level of absolute secrecy at their Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research!

It was the trump card they were preparing to use for their next paper, aiming for the Nobel Prize!

How could this young fellow... possibly know?!

Could it be... a terrifying thought that made him shiver instantly sprang up from the bottom of his heart!

Do we have a Huaxia spy in our institute?!

No!

Impossible!

Every member of his team had gone through the strictest background checks!

It was absolutely impossible for a traitor to appear!

Then... there was only one terrifying possibility left, one that was even harder for him to accept!

That is—

This ridiculously young man right in front of him!

His knowledge reserve and theoretical level in the fields of Materials Science and Energy Science... actually!

Actually, he had already far surpassed him, the "Man Closest to the Nobel Prize"?!

And not by just one or two steps!

But by a vast... distance, one where he couldn't even see his back!

"No... this... this is impossible..."

Professor Hans slumped onto the sofa, utterly distraught, mumbling to himself.

His pride of a lifetime!

His belief of a lifetime!

At this moment, it was completely... shattered by a single, casual remark from the youth before him!

Meanwhile, Lu Chen acted as if he hadn't noticed the professor's distraught appearance at all.

He still looked at him with an expression of "humility" and "adoration."

His voice was full of the infinite "eagerness" of a "junior" toward an "elder."

"Professor?"

"What's wrong?"

"Was my question too... stupid?"

"Please, hurry and teach me..."