181: Chapter 181: Wherever my brother goes, he gets loot.

"The theory of quantum decoherence extended to macroscopic consciousness phenomena... This... this theory is too bold!"

"But it is logically self-consistent. If the many-worlds interpretation is true, and consciousness can affect collapse, then Professor Leng's high-intensity feelings of regret, as a macroscopic observation behavior, could theoretically allow the decohered worlds to re-entangle weakly—that Professor Leng in France would only be identical to the Professor Leng behind us through a screen. Once they make contact in reality, then all the [images] would collapse!"

"But damn it, how much consciousness energy would that require?—This is no longer psychology; it's fucking quantum metaphysics!"

"No, wait—if [Possibility Afterimages] truly exist, does that mean that every major choice we make creates countless [Ghost Selves], and every time we feel regret, we are actually... summoning them to the world we inhabit?"

This speculation from a professional quantum physics genius immediately sent shivers down the spines of the other geniuses.

At this moment, in Kyoto, at the History Staff Quarters.

Professor Chen Runzhi's hand, holding his tea, trembled slightly. "Damn!"

Old Qian, sitting nearby, had his mouth agape, and it took him a long while to speak: "This... this is even more ruthless than the time-life playback from before. Are you saying that our regrets have a physical form?"

Professor Wang Shouren gasped, shaking his head repeatedly. "I'm a bit dizzy now. So, the Leng Qingsong drinking coffee in France is real—he is a person who grew out of the possibilities Leng Qingsong abandoned after feeling regret a year ago, and that person can only exist [on the internet]. Once Leng Qingsong starts searching in reality, then [100% of everything] will collapse, turning into what Xiaoyu's brother described as ['He is just someone who looks very similar to you, nothing else is different']; the only similarity is [the internet]?"

"Yes." Professor Liu Guangyi took a deep breath and said with emotion: "That is what Xiaoyu's brother meant."

Professor Wang was still shaking his head, feeling terrified the more he thought about it: "How many [Possibility Ghosts] must be drifting around the world now? All the unfinished dreams, all the missed lovers, all the lost relatives, all the abandoned paths..."

As he finished speaking, the living room fell silent once again, so quiet that one could hear the dripping of the kitchen faucet.

On the TV screen, at the judges' table.

The other three professors were stunned, their expressions strange and varied, but mostly filled with shock and deep, terrifying realization!

Professor Zhao from the Philosophy Department muttered to himself: "Existence precedes essence, but if essence includes all unchosen possible existences, then the views of the French philosopher Sartre must be overturned and rewritten!"

Professor Liang from History seemed to associate this with some historical research: "If possibility ghosts exist at the individual level, what about at the civilizational level? Those paths we didn't take in history, for example, during the late Ming Dynasty, if we had withstood the advance of the Great Qing..."

"Would that appear in reality as a [Doppelgänger Phenomenon]?"

Of course, no one answered Professor Liang's question. Without involving parallel worlds, it was just too much of an unsolved mystery!

In an instant, not only these professors, but even the highly educated people watching on TVs across the country... Jiang Zhe's words immediately resonated with and shocked countless people!

Just then, the host heard the director's excited voice in his earpiece: "It's exploded! The ratings have exploded! I know who the other party is. The other party is Xiao Yu, who has been very popular recently. Her brother is the one our program team previously tried to contact through the Dougou Platform, but was rejected by the Dougou Platform operations department manager, Wang Shulin... [Xiaoyu's brother]!!"

"Only Xiaoyu's brother could have such astonishing, world-surpassing knowledge!!"

"And it's blowing up! It's all blowing up! Real-time discussions, trending topics, hot searches! Xiao Li, keep him on the line for me! Spend money! Buy traffic! Spend money like crazy on it!!!"

Host Xiao Li looked at the scene about to spiral out of control, and after realizing the person behind the voice changer was Xiaoyu's brother...

This wasn't very friendly to Xiaoyu's brother; he was just tutoring his sister...

Now his voice was even appearing on TV...

After a long while, Xiao Li steeled his heart and rejected the director's selfish request: "Sorry, Director, I can't keep him. His answers have already exceeded our original knowledge competition; this falls into the category of beyond-cognition. Be careful, or the program might be suspected of needing rectification. We can't say too much!"

"This... fine, do as you say!"

Host Xiao Li steadied himself, reined in his surging emotions, and turned to the camera: "This is too shocking! I didn't expect a New Year's knowledge program to touch upon such an unsolved mystery. This lucky audience member's brother, your knowledge and insights are truly breathtaking!!!"

In the studio, the geniuses from the Magic City, Dabei University, and Huaqing University areas were the first to stand up and applaud enthusiastically.

Led by the geniuses, hundreds of people in the audience immediately stood up and applauded enthusiastically.

In that applause, there was an indescribable mixture of excitement, confusion, and even the thrill after fear!!!

Professor Leng took a few deep breaths, recovered from the shock, and said to the mobile interface on the big screen:

"I will offer 300,000, within tonight!"

He paused for a moment and added: "Also, if possible, after the program, I would like to ask you some questions in my personal capacity. The remuneration... can be discussed separately!"

"No need!"

Then, Jiang Zhe hung up directly.

At this moment, on the TV screen, the applause continued for a long time, showing no signs of stopping.

The audience applauded while discussing intensely with those around them, many faces showing excitement after the shock.

A few bold young people even squeezed directly to the judges' table, carefully examining Professor Leng's elegant appearance and the doppelgänger photo found on the phone.

The on-site staff had a hard time gradually cooling down the shocked atmosphere at the scene.

It wasn't until host Xiao Li signaled repeatedly that the atmosphere at the scene finally cooled down.

At this moment, in the villa living room, on the sofa.

Xiao Yu held her phone, her beautiful eyes shining brightly. She was watching the recording while looking up the information Jiang Zhe had mentioned.

"Brother, this data, this research..." She lifted her innocent little puppy head, her face full of disbelief. "I just casually checked a few, and they really all have sources. Brother, this is... how much obscure information have you secretly read!"

Jiang Zhe just smiled without explaining too much.

After all, he couldn't say that after gaining the supercomputer and photographic memory abilities, he knew the ending of many things just by seeing the beginning.

"Ding-dong~" Alipay received 300,000!

With Professor Leng's money arriving, Xiao Yu was finally satisfied.

At this moment, in the live broadcast room, the fans were not calm at all.

"Brother is truly awesome!"

"I'm just asking, who else could turn a TV quiz into a scientific seminar just like that?"

"It would be strange if the ratings didn't explode. My whole family was dumbfounded just now."

"So is the doppelgänger phenomenon real? What should I do now that I'm afraid to feel regret?"

"To the person above, you are now thinking only about not feeling regret. This is already another kind of obsession. Be careful not to summon a [Don't Feel Regret] ghost in reality!"

"Am I the only one who noticed how coolly Brother hung up the phone at the end?"

"This is our brother's caliber. Does Brother care about 300,000? He cares about spreading knowledge!"

"Professor Leng said worshipfully: 'Please, contact information. This professor is offering a large reward for a son...' Oops, sorry, it's a large reward for teaching. Brother said: 'Get lost.'"

"To the person above, you're going to laugh me to death."

On the other side, in Kyoto, in the lobby of a high-end hotel.

Wang Shulin and his brothers were sitting on the sofa in the lounge area, the light from their phone screens reflecting in their complex gazes.

They didn't expect that by accidentally coming in, they would see that Xiao Yu's live stream had again indirectly made it to the trending searches.

"As expected of Jiang Zhe, he can become the focus wherever he goes!"

A subordinate said excitedly: "Good grief, another trending search!"

As he finished speaking, everyone opened Weibo. The sixth trending search was: "Intelligence Peak Competition, Mysterious Person Appears, Professor Leng Offers Large Reward for Son, Mysterious Person Bluntly Says You Are Not Worthy!"

Wang Shulin looked melancholic and strange: "This title can make it to trending searches? A sixty-year-old old man offering a large reward for a son, and the object he's seeking is Jiang Zhe—damn, what the hell is this!"

The other brothers covered their mouths and snickered, then clicked on the trending search. The topic was already buzzing.

"Who is this guest? The voice has been processed so I can't tell, but this knowledge reserve is too terrifying!"

"He doesn't feel like an ordinary scholar. Scholars wouldn't use such... such a subversive way to answer. The geniuses in the front row were dumbfounded the whole time."

"I got the gist—quantum physics, neuroscience, psychology, genetics, geography, biology, ecology, virology... damn, can one person be this omnipotent? What exactly did he study?"

"Am I the only one who thinks that guy's speaking style is a bit familiar? Especially that tone of [Unsolved mysteries of the world? They aren't problems at all here!]"

Soon, a series of replies appeared under this comment.

"To the person above, you are not alone. I have a bold guess!"

"I feel it too. Could it be that guy who's very popular recently? The ruthless one who made [Gege] a forbidden word across the whole internet?"

"Dougou Platform, Xiao Yu's live stream, those who know, know."

"Damn, I knew it. No wonder it sounded so familiar. It must be our Brother. Except for him, no one can explain such esoteric things like daily knowledge in this tone!"

"Brother is awesome. As expected of the man this tough guy likes. He's even on TV, although his voice was processed."

"So Brother wasn't skipping tutoring for New Year's Eve, but changed the venue to teach, haha!"