Chapter 46 The Scavenger No. 3, Constantly Revised

Time flew by during the painful yet joyful "tutoring" that Lin Yuan endured.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

During this month, Lin Yuan felt as if he had been skinned, only to have a new layer of "cultured" flesh and bone grow back.

He had lost over ten pounds, his eye sockets were sunken, and he looked quite haggard. However, his eyes were brighter and deeper than ever before.

If the Lin Yuan of the past was like an unpolished piece of jade, relying entirely on the cleverness and ruthlessness of his rough-and-tumble background.

Then now, this piece of jade was being polished by the nation's top craftsmen, bit by bit, with the most meticulous skill, bringing out a brilliant luster.

That afternoon was the "Quantum Physics" class that gave Lin Yuan the biggest headache.

The person teaching him was an old professor surnamed Qian, who looked even more rigid and serious than Academician Wang.

"Student Lin Yuan, please explain, what is the 'Observer Effect'?" Professor Qian pushed up his reading glasses and asked in a tone devoid of emotion.

Lin Yuan jolted, waking up from his drowsy state.

He stood up, scratched his head, looked at the famous "double-slit interference experiment" diagram on the screen, and stuttered an explanation using his unique "junkyard language":

"Uh... Professor Qian, my understanding of the 'Observer Effect' is... when something isn't being watched, it likes to wander around aimlessly, like a drunkard. You have no idea where it will pop up the next second. It could be here, or it could be there, in a state of... 'both here and there' superposition."

"But!" He changed his tone. "Once you open your eyes wide, wanting to see what it's actually doing, it just goes 'pop' and behaves. It instantly appears in a fixed location, pretending to be a model student. It's as if the wild drunkard from a moment ago wasn't it at all."

"So 'Observer Effect' means that whether you watch it or not, its state is completely different. The act of 'watching' itself determines what it ultimately becomes."

This crude explanation made the few young doctoral students auditing the class burst into laughter.

The corners of Professor Qian's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

He had taught his whole life and mentored countless physics geniuses, but he had never heard anyone explain such serious, profound quantum physics concepts so... hooligan-like.

Drunkards? Model students? What on earth is all that!

He really wanted to slam the table and curse this good-for-nothing fellow for insulting science.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Because when he thought about it carefully, although the kid's metaphor was crude, it... actually explained the essence of 'observation' and 'collapse' clearly and correctly.

"Ahem..." Professor Qian cleared his throat, forced a stern face, and said: "The explanation... is... easy to understand. But it lacks rigor! Science requires rigor! Sit down!"

"Hehe, thank you, Professor." Lin Yuan, as if granted amnesty, quickly sat down.

Over this month, relying on this "obstinate" way of understanding, he had forcefully chewed through more than half of the "heavenly books" like college physics, advanced mathematics, and material chemistry.

Although in the eyes of these old professors, he was still a dilettante who didn't know much.

But compared to himself a month ago, he had undergone a complete transformation.

At least now, when he went to "look" at the "ashilya" database, that knowledge about spaceship engines and material technology was no longer just garbled code that he couldn't understand at all.

He could already vaguely understand some of the underlying logic and key parameters.

And the information he provided, even if it was just snippets, was like rain after a long drought to the scientists on the project team.

"What? The core of the 'Miniature Curvature Gravity Engine' isn't to generate gravity, but to 'cancel' it? By creating a 'zero-gravity' channel in a specific area, allowing the spaceship to 'glide' along the curvature of space itself?"

"My god! This line of thinking completely overturns our previous assumptions! Quick! Recalculate the model!"

"Lin Yuan! You must ask that 'ashilya' again! To manufacture this kind of 'zero-gravity channel', it requires something called a 'Higgs Field Suppressor'. What is the principle behind that thing?"

"Uh... let me see... it says the principle of that thing is like using a spoon to push aside the porridge in a thick pot, allowing the spoon to glide through easily... that 'Higgs Field' is the pot of porridge..."

"Porridge... spoon..."

The experts in the physics group fell into a long, deep contemplation over Lin Yuan's brand-new "Porridge and Spoon Theory."

Although it sounded absurd, they vaguely felt that hidden behind this might be some ultimate truth of the universe they had yet to touch.

Just like that, while passively accepting the knowledge infusion from Earth civilization, Lin Yuan was also actively digging out more advanced knowledge from the alien civilization's database to feed back to his "teachers."

This formed a wonderful and efficient cycle of "mutual learning."

Lin Yuan, this small-time junkyard owner, was like a magical "catalyst," causing Earth technology and alien technology—two substances that were originally unrelated—to begin a violent, explosive chemical reaction.

And the most intuitive result of this reaction was manifested in the "scavenger three" currently under construction.

Its design blueprints changed every day.

Today, the materials team, based on the new theory provided by Lin Yuan, optimized the energy circuit of the "Adaptive Lattice Armor," increasing its repair speed by 30 percent.

Tomorrow, the energy team would, based on a new formula, improve the energy conversion rate of the "Miniature Curvature Gravity Engine," reducing its energy consumption by 15 percent.

The entire "Ghost" project team fell into a crazy, adrenaline-fueled state of work.

Everyone was like a sponge, frantically absorbing that brand-new knowledge from the sea of stars, and trying to turn it into reality.

And as the "source" of all this, Lin Yuan naturally became the most special existence in the entire base.

He enjoyed the highest level of treatment.

He ate the most scientific nutritional meals prepared by top-tier chefs.

He lived in a luxury suite comparable to a five-star hotel.

Chen Weiguo even specially approved the installation of a one-of-a-kind, lightning-fast 10-terabit fiber optic line in the entire base for him.

Ostensibly to "make it convenient for Comrade Lin Yuan to learn about current events and relax through the internet."

In reality, it was to make it convenient for him to... play games.

That night, after finishing a day of "mental labor," Lin Yuan slumped into his comfortable gaming chair and skillfully turned on his computer.

He now relied on these two hours of gaming time every night to relax his nerves, which were about to snap.

He logged into his favorite space-war-themed online game.

Looking at his character, geared up in god-tier equipment and piloting a top-tier warship, a strange feeling suddenly arose in Lin Yuan's heart.

In the past, he played this game to experience the thrill of flying spaceships and fighting aliens in a virtual world.

But now... he felt as if he had brought the things from the game into reality.

No, that's not right.

In reality, the "scavenger three" he was about to possess was much more awesome than this so-called "top-tier warship" in the game.

"Boring."

Lin Yuan controlled his warship, charging recklessly through the game's most dangerous "Death Star Zone."

Those so-called high-level AI pirates that used to give him such a headache now looked like toddling infants in his eyes, their movement patterns full of flaws.

He could even predict the opponent's next move in advance, whether they were going to activate shields or fire missiles.

"Too slow... too stupid..."

Lin Yuan yawned, effortlessly performed a "Z" jitter, easily dodged a volley of over a dozen tracking missiles, and then retaliated with a combo of skills to kill the opponent instantly.

Dull and tasteless.

He suddenly realized that once you have witnessed the true "sea of stars" in reality, these virtual worlds composed of data become... ridiculously childish.

Just as he was preparing to log off and go back to memorizing that damn "theory of relativity."

On his game friend list, an avatar that had been gray for a long time suddenly started flashing.

It was... a friend from reality he hadn't contacted in a long time.