206: Chapter 206: Igniting the Entire Internet

"Brother, if even a planet can be alive and possess some level of consciousness..."

"Then what about the universe we're in—could it be, fundamentally, a living being beyond our imagination?"

Seeing Xiao Yu ask this question so earnestly, the relaxed expression on Jiang Zhe's face froze.

He didn't answer; he just quietly shifted his gaze to the night sky outside the window.

After a few seconds, he retracted his gaze and took a deep breath. "Xiao Yu, you've asked a very good question."

Pausing for a few seconds, Jiang Zhe simply shook his head slightly. "The answer behind this question requires more than a few minutes of speculation. It might require the entirety of human civilization—perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands of years—to measure it against a completely new worldview logic."

"The information you've received tonight is already overloaded. It's time for bed. Be careful not to think too much or you won't be able to sleep, and you'll have dark circles under your eyes tomorrow."

Xiao Yu was momentarily stunned by her brother's unusually serious expression. But seeing him already packing up the tablet, paper, and pen on the table, she nodded gently. "Mm!"

The livestream frame froze. Xiao Yu remained on the sofa, watching her brother's retreating figure with a complex look in her eyes.

Jiang Zhe turned his back to Xiao Yu and walked toward the bedroom.

"Wait, that's it?"

"A very good question, and then? Brother, what about the answer, brother?"

"I've already taken off my pants, and you just tell me it's a very good question? Is the universe alive or not?"

"The brother didn't deny it; he just said it takes time to verify. Maybe he actually knows something?"

"The more I think about it, the more terrifying it gets. If the universe is alive, what are we? Cells and bacteria? No, bacteria are still too big!"

"Before, he said the Earth has consciousness, and the Great Xia has consciousness. Now he's jumped straight to the universe. He really dares to say anything; I'm impressed!"

"The brother definitely knows something, but he's afraid to say it, or he can't!"

"Let's disperse, let's disperse. If we keep thinking about it, we really won't sleep. Check the news tomorrow; maybe if the universe sneezes, we'll be gone."

"..."

Inside a dormitory building at Huaqing University.

Professor Wu and several students looked at each other in dismay.

They were just getting ready for an all-nighter; who would have thought it would end like this?

However, they soon noticed the unusual behavior of Ouyang Baili, Li Mo, and Guan Jingming.

The three of them were whispering something: Tonight, assignment, the three of us.

Ouyang Baili stood up shortly after, walked to the door, pulled it open, and made a welcoming gesture to Old Wu and the students. "Old Wu, and you students, it's getting late. We have things to do here. You see, it's time for everyone to head home!"

Faced with the eviction notice, Professor Wu was taken aback. "Alright, I understand."

Then he shot a look at the other students. "Let's go, let's go. The three of them aren't even hiding it anymore. How can such a small bed fit three grown men!"

Watching Professor Wu and the students leave with snickering expressions.

Ouyang Baili looked at Li Mo and Guan Jingming with a bewildered face. "What does that mean?"

Professor Guan shook his head.

Li Mo was somewhat stunned. Just as he was about to rush out to explain, he was held back by Professor Ouyang. "What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you running? Tonight, you (the name on the paper) will be in the middle. You're not allowed to leave!"

As he spoke, the footsteps outside the door paused, then hurried away even faster.

"Uncle Ouyang, Uncle Guan, you guys!!!!"

"It's a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding! Uncle Wu, we're not what you think!!!"

As a result, Professor Wu's loud laughter came from outside the door. "No, no misunderstanding. We won't disturb you!"

...

Jingdu, the faculty housing of the University of History.

Four old professors stared at each other for 2.5 seconds.

"A living universe?" Professor Chen Runzhi shook his head repeatedly. "This idea is bold and romantic, but it's too far from reality. Moreover, anthropomorphizing the universe is humanity's oldest mythological way of thinking."

"I reckon Xiao Yu's Brother won't talk about this topic. After all, it's ultimate philosophy!!!"

Professor Liu Guangyi analyzed, "From the perspective of complex theoretical systems, the Earth Anthropomorphism Theory—I also watched that episode of the livestream..."

"On Earth, we human scientists can still infer through experiments that the Earth indeed has a massive ecological regulation system that can be anthropomorphized."

"But the universe? That's absolutely impossible!"

"Of course, Xiao Yu's Brother never plays by the book. We can look forward to it!"

...

Gusu High School, Principal's office.

Old Yu, the physics teacher, let out a long sigh of relief. "Fortunately, he didn't take the bait."

He looked at Principal Fu, Wang Shulin, and Xiao Wang. "A proposition like the universe being alive has completely moved beyond the realm of falsifiable science and entered the domain of pure philosophy and theology."

"He won't talk about it in the next episode. Once he fails to explain it well, his reputation will be ruined; that is, if he doesn't know he's being livestreamed."

Principal Fu, Wang Shulin, and Xiao Wang also nodded one after another.

Although they still wanted more, they also felt that tonight's content was indeed extensive; after all, tonight was New Year's Day, January 1st!

...

Inside Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming looked at Jiang Zhe's evasive manner and couldn't help but laugh. "See? Before, he was talking so eloquently—what Sphere J, what Causality Law Technological Civilization, the Observer Race—bluffing everyone until they were stunned. But when Xiao Yu asked the most fundamental and terrifying question, he just dismissed it with a single comment."

"What's that supposed to be? Was all that previous talk just irresponsible chatter?"

"Now that he's actually encountered a tough nut that could overturn everything, is he scared?"

"I think his level is limited, or he's simply not taking responsibility for Xiao Yu, afraid of leading her into a dead end!"

Professor Zhang didn't chime in; his gaze remained on the screen that had already gone dark.

"This matter isn't that simple."

"If he were just a boastful liar or a pure visionary, it would be impossible for him to propose the Jiang Sphere and Formula J."

"His level is very high!"

Hearing this, Zheng Ming's face darkened. He had originally wanted to replace Professor Zhang with someone younger.

But the content of the next episode was the universe...

It didn't matter, though. He'd bring back the theology mogul, Xu Mu. He really wanted to see who was superior!

"And what is this? Old Zhang, aren't you freaking on my side? How did you turn into a fan of Xiao Yu's Brother after just a few episodes?"

...

Jingdu, a five-star hotel, backstage of the Dougu livestream platform's New Year's Eve gala.

Manager Wang Shulin looked at the frozen data on the real-time backend, his hands trembling slightly.

Peak concurrent viewers in the livestream: 13,041,448 people!

Cumulative value of donated gifts: 1,587,329 Yuan!

Top ten real-time trending topics: Occupying four of them!

"It's exploded! Tonight's program for the New Year's Eve gala has completely exploded!" Wang Shulin said with a look of shock. "How is this a tutoring livestream? This is practically a scene of an ideological nuclear explosion!"

"Brothers, quick, notify all channels, prepare the press releases, and add more fuel to the fire. The authorities haven't blocked the follow-up trending topics for Xiao Yu's livestream, which means it can be broadcast normally!!!"

Several subordinates nearby quickly took out tablets from their backpacks, logged into backend accounts, and pushed the stream one by one.

They had to push tonight's content to an even higher peak!!!

Soon, Dougu's official titles related to Xiao Yu's Brother once again dominated the top of the trending lists across all channels!!!

"Formula J Appears in High Schooler's Tutoring Livestream, Overturning Traditional Civilization Level Classifications?"

"The Concept of the Jiang Sphere Emerges; Could Alien Civilizations Already Be Hidden in the Shadows of Stars?"

"Scientists Wrong in Their Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations? Perhaps We Should Look Toward the Dark Places?"

"Cosmic Laser Detected in the Direction of Cygnus; God-tier Scholar (Xiao Yu's Brother) Claims It's a Targeted Greeting from an Alien Civilization 1,480 Years Ago!"

"Won't You Come in and Take a Look? Causality Technology of Parallel Worlds, a Super Technological Civilization with Quantum Mechanics as Its Core Tech Tree!"

"Is Our 21st-Century Tech Tree Crooked?"