221: Chapter 221: Oumosphere? Isn't that an alien probe?

"The Academician said it herself, a perfect score among perfect scores!"

"This isn't an exam anymore; it's an Academician listening to a report from a big shot even higher than their level, right?"

"That analysis from materials to UAP just now left me completely stunned!"

"A logical genius, using declassified USA videos to reverse-engineer future technology!"

"You think the guy is here for an assessment? No, he's here to provide a technical roadmap and future visions!"

"My mom asked me why I'm kneeling!"

"..."

Inside the villa, Xiaoyu finally snapped out of her shock and let out a long-held breath.

She patted her chest with her small hands. Had her brother really become this powerful? That near-death experience that night actually allowed him to reach a superhuman level overnight.

If her brother went out to find a job now... it would surely be a national-level classified position, right?

Not just Xiaoyu, even Jiang Zhe was savoring every moment of the past hour.

An unexpected smile appeared on his face. This feeling was just like back in his previous life, the sense of vision he had every time he delivered a cutting-edge scientific data report at the Hidden Dragon Base.

Meanwhile, in Principal Fu's office.

He couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "It feels like Jiang Zhe answered these far too easily. Is this really an assessment?"

Beside him, Old Yu's furrowed brows began to relax. "You can't put it that way. Academician Fang wasn't asking exam questions, but about strategic dilemmas we might encounter in the coming decades."

"Xiao Jiang's performance just now wasn't like a candidate's; instead, it gave me the illusion that I was watching a member of a national-level think tank setting a development goal for the country's future aerospace technology."

"What Xiao Jiang said wasn't a standard answer, but a complete and highly disruptive way of thinking; the kind of thinking that a group of top experts would need several days of brainstorming to even vaguely grasp the boundaries of."

Old Wang just found it novel and impressive. "Even though I only half-understood the physics, giving a self-consistent future technology explanation for real-world tech, especially his poise in front of an Academician-level figure—he doesn't look like a twenty-five-year-old at all!"

...

Huaqing University, in Ouyang Baili's dormitory.

Professor Wu recovered from his deep thought and looked at Professor Ouyang with a fervent gaze. "Ouyang, can what he said really be realized in the future?"

Ouyang Baili shook his head, then nodded again. "As he said, it will take a very, very long time!"

"Quantum Field Theory tells us that the vacuum is 'not empty'; it is boiling with virtual particle fluctuations and contains immense Zero-Point Energy."

"Harnessing Zero-Point Energy is something even sci-fi movies don't dare to write about right now; but in reality, the existence of the principle and technical realization are two different things." (Note: The sci-fi entertainment products in this world are not very sci-fi!)

"Anyway, what Jiang Zhe provided is a path that's theoretically feasible, but for actual realization, we'll have to see how technology develops after 2045."

Li Mo, Professor Guan, and the other students looked at each other, all nodding in disbelief.

They thought it was a joke, but he was actually providing Academician Fang with a future interstellar travel plan!

On the large screen, in the living room.

On the computer screen, Academician Fang had already composed herself, but the heat in her eyes had not yet faded.

She looked at the calm Jiang Zhe with an increasingly curious expression.

"For the first question, you gave me a shocking answer about how to proceed in the future," Academician Fang said slowly. "From your words, I can tell you're perfectly suited for a certain profession!"

Jiang Zhe nodded slightly.

"A think tank member!"

Jiang Zhe was a bit surprised but still managed a smile.

"Now, for the second question, I want to ask about [what might be encountered on the way]; Student J, what are your thoughts on those unusual visitors in interstellar space—like oumuamua?"

As she spoke, countless comments appeared in the livestream room with tens of millions of viewers.

"oumuamua, that name is so weird. What is it?"

"Seems like an asteroid from outer space?"

"No, I remember the news saying it's not like a normal rock; it can accelerate on its own!"

"Right, right, right. It seems to be the first interstellar object discovered by humans, and it looks a lot like a cigar?"

"..."

oumuamua!

This was the first known interstellar visitor discovered by humans in 2017.

There were several points that puzzled scientists the most—

First: Its extreme shape, like a long rod or a flat slab; natural celestial bodies are rarely so regular.

Second: It accelerates on its own. Even though it's already flying away from the Sun, it's as if an invisible engine is pushing it forward.

Third: It has no traces of gas eruptions like a comet. Its observed acceleration was generated 'out of thin air.'

Besides these, there are many other anomalies, and to this day, none of them have a convincing explanation in the fields of astronomy or astrophysics.

Hearing this, the corners of Jiang Zhe's mouth curled up slightly.

He didn't answer directly. "Academician Fang, does your current mainstream explanation suggest it's composed of some special ice, generating a weak thrust through evaporation, thereby moving Oumuamua away from the Solar System?"

"Yes." Fang Jinhua nodded. "The most supported hypothesis currently is the sublimation of hydrogen-rich or nitrogen ice. Oumuamua is similar to a comet, but the process is very clean. Our scientific instruments can't observe its jet. Its acceleration seems to be self-directed rather than natural."

"In short, it's very strange!"

"Your explanation is: a celestial body of special ice..." Jiang Zhe smiled, a hint of 'that's all' in his eyes. "You astronomers and astrophysicists, in order to explain an [invisible propellant], then hypothesize that Oumuamua is a rarer and harder-to-stabilize, and equally massive, piece of [invisible ice]."

"Doesn't that sound a bit like self-deception?"

"Wouldn't that be like using a larger mystery to cover up the mystery at hand?"

As he spoke, Academician Fang's mouth quirked, and the curiosity in her eyes grew even more intense. Did this Student J just deny the explanations of the entire world's astronomy, astrophysics, and even NASA's official stance right from the start?

Jiang Zhe paused for a moment, composed himself, and then began to get into the main topic.

"Academician Fang, we might as well try a different way of thinking: let's not worry about [what it is] for now, and instead take those inexplicable characteristics as clues and look at them together."

He solemnly held up one finger.

"First, the shape."

"Oumuamua's brightness variations tell us that this thing is shaped absurdly—its length could be ten times its width, just like the flatbreads you and I have eaten. Oumuamua is exactly that shape."

"Natural rocks, after billions of years of bumping and grinding, should have been knocked into the shape of a potato long ago."

"But it managed to maintain such a regular, slender exterior!"

"Doesn't this in itself look like it underwent special design—not for aesthetics, but because it was originally this shape to have less resistance or be more stable while traveling through interstellar space?"

"It perfectly conforms to human fluid dynamics!"

Jiang Zhe's eyes narrowed, causing Academician Fang's pupils to suddenly shrink in surprise.

Then he held up a second finger. "Second, the acceleration."

"Oumuamua accelerated very cleverly; it didn't outgas when it was closest to the Sun—the hottest point—but instead accelerated steadily and continuously after it flew further away."

"This evidence doesn't look like the passive evaporation of ice, but rather like a precise ignition maneuver!"

Without pausing, he nodded slightly and continued, "Third, the invisibility."

"When our Earth's technology detects it, no matter the telescope, we can't see any exhaust from Oumuamua."

"So the experts of our world can only imagine this celestial body as a kind of [invisible ice]."

"But why couldn't it be that its method of propulsion itself exceeds our current scope of observation?"

"Or perhaps its exhaust isn't a material jet that we humans on Earth can understand?"

At this point, Jiang Zhe's voice gradually became more relaxed. "And finally, the point I care about most: its entire itinerary."

"Oumuamua came from the depths of interstellar space, then brushed past our Sun, using a Gravity Slingshot—that is, borrowing the Sun's massive gravity—and then flew toward another part of the void without looking back."

"Academician Fang, if Oumuamua were just an aimlessly wandering rock, could it utilize the Solar System's Gravity Slingshot so efficiently and perfectly? Isn't that luck a bit too good to be true?"

Jiang Zhe paused for a few seconds before speaking again.

"But what if its passing by was purposeful all along?"

"What if its acceleration wasn't to escape, but to adjust its direction to head toward the next star system?"

"So, as it stands now, we humans always like to ask: [What is it?], [How do we explain this phenomenon?], [What is this thing again?], and [Is this kind of thing really scientific?]."

"And then!"

"When some things can't be explained, experts compile a relatively logical [false answer] to wrap those unsolved mysteries in a seemingly [decent answer]."

Having reached this point, Jiang Zhe began to summarize, "Back to the topic, but perhaps what we should really be asking is: [What did Oumuamua come to the Solar System for?]"

"And, [In its potential navigational targets, what exactly was our Solar System marked as?]"

"Is it a station worth observing, a resource that can be utilized, or merely a springboard to borrow power from when passing by?"

"Of course!"

Jiang Zhe sat up straight, his expression changing from serious to a gentle smile. "This is all just a thought game."

"oumuamua could completely be just a peculiar natural creation."

"But isn't science interesting because it allows us to reasonably imagine those [what-ifs] even when evidence is insufficient?"

"So, Academician Fang!"

"My view is that it's a reminder to us—the universe might be even more complex than we dare to imagine!"

As the series of words fell, the livestream room fell silent once again.

Academician Fang was silent in her excitement and surprise, her thoughts completely swayed by Jiang Zhe's words.

Although Jiang Zhe didn't explicitly say what it was, his words already told her—[The probability that Oumuamua is an intelligent creation is very, very high!]

At this moment, in the Huaqing dormitory, Ouyang Baili grinned. "It really is his style. He doesn't give you a direct conclusion; he only points out the weak links in the original explanation. This line of thinking is actually more powerful and better proves that the celestial body Oumuamua is extraordinary."

Professor Wu couldn't help but fall into a reverie. If I had his eloquence, would the kids like listening to my public lectures?

In Principal Fu's office.

Old Yu the Physicist took a deep breath. "This guy is guiding everyone to re-examine that Oumuamua object through the lens of an [intelligent creation]; this is much more clever than Jiang Zhe directly saying [it's a spaceship]."

Principal Fu, Old Wang, and Xiao Wang looked at each other and gave thumbs up one after another.

In the History Staff Quarters, the four old fellows were completely confused. For some reason, even if they didn't quite understand, it just felt extremely interesting!

In the villa, in front of the computer.

After a long time, Academician Fang Jinhua finally let out a long breath.

When she looked at Jiang Zhe now, besides admiration, there was an added sense of solemnity.

"Student J, your answer to this second question is likewise impossible to measure with a score."}],