Translator: Abyssruler Editor: Lucas
Ye Zisu and the rest of the group wouldn’t miss this event. They were the supporting team for Wang Zheng and were anticipating it.
From Beijing University, the group of professors with Guo Dongliang as their leader was sitting on the first row. Xiao Fei and Marcus were sitting at the side.
“What is Guo Dongliang doing here? Could it be that he is here to create trouble?” Marcus was feeling a little surprised. Guo Dongliang was considered to be very famous within the scientific circle on Earth. He was able to get along with people well and had some ability. However, his abilities outside the scientific circle were greater. He was occupying various positions of importance at the same time and Xiao Fei could be considered to be his opponent.
Xiao Fei did not have any good impression of Guo Dongliang. Although Dong Xuewu had a problem, he did know his stuff. He was just too focused on achieving fame. However, Guo Dongliang was a purely unscrupulous person in the academic realm and was a pervert. He had tried to hit on her a few years ago and received a slap from her as a lesson. Since then, he had become more honest, and it was truly unexpected to see him here looking for trouble.
“If he is here to cause trouble this time, he will be asking for trouble himself,” said Xiao Fei calmly.
Marcus felt surprised that Xiao Fei was so convinced. He smiled and said, “I’m looking forward to Wang Zheng’s performance. The topic for this public class isn’t easy. If it was too shallow, he would not be able to please the professionals. However, if it was too deep, the students wouldn’t be able to understand it.”
“You don’t have to worry about the kid. His strongest ability is to act like a pig to eat a tiger! He knows his stuff.” Xiao Fei laughed.
Wang Zheng came prepared. The important thing in this type of class was to explain profound concepts in simple terms. At the same time, one should focus on one or two of the hottest topics and present their own personal views and it would be fine. Moreover, there were some surprises this time.
At exactly 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Wang Zheng entered the room. The room that was filled with chatter immediately went silent. Everyone was staring at the impossibly young professor.
Wang Zheng was wearing formal clothing today. There was no attempt to hide his age. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to hide it. What was more important was the way he presented himself to the crowd.
Wang Zheng walked towards the podium and looked down at the people below the stage. He had faced multiple problematic situations and had undergone numerous life-and-death training sessions. However, the current situation was something he did not have much experience with. Even the face-off in Roland Garros felt different from this time. However, such feelings flickered away, and what replaced it was excitement. This was because he saw his old friends.
With a smile, Wang Zheng said, “Thank you, everyone, from coming today. I would like to discuss the topics on space.”
Wang Zheng went straight to the point and did not waste any time talking about irrelevant things. These people weren’t here to see what he looked like, they were here to verify his knowledge, to see if he was fitting of the title of “professor.”
As he finished his line, he wrote the topic: General Conjectures of Time and Space in the 13 dimensions.
Suddenly, lots of whispers could be heard from below the stage. What a broad topic!
Such a topic wasn’t an easy topic to talk about. It wasn’t because there was nothing to talk about, but because there were too many things you could talk about it. Moreover, the topic was too broad.
This was also something that a physics-loving person would be interested in. It was similar to the theory of relativity 2 generations ago. Everyone knew a little about it, but the amount of people who truly understood it was really few.
Guo Dongliang grinned coldly. “What an ambitious topic!”
On the other hand, Xiao Fei and Marcus were interested in the topic. They knew about the character of Wang Zheng. If he was serious about it, he would be completely different as a person. They were really interested to learn about Wang Zheng’s view in this field.
Choosing the question was like drawing a sword. One ought to be accurate and to the point. Looking at the reaction from the audience, they were at least interested in it.
“In interstellar navigation, what would be considered to be the most important factor? If we were to summarise, there would be many answers. However, in my view, I believe that the most important factor is speed. Our research has always been about how to increase one’s speed. No matter whether it is acceleration, warp speed, or the current research on spatial transmission, we have been trying our best to increase our speed. Till now, we have been able to obtain great achievements and humanity was able to occupy a space within the Milky Way Galaxy. However, why have we stopped? One of the reasons is that we can no longer keep up with the developments in speed,” said Wang Zheng.
This was also a status quo that everyone knew. Energy propulsion, spatial awareness, and other related issues had resulted in constraints. When the time and costs spent no longer generated returns, the pace of humanity’s exploration had to stop.
“To solve this problem, energy, materials, and many other things are crucial. However, the most crucial thing is about the understanding of the world. In other words, in the understanding of space and time, we have to rise above the fifth dimension. In other words, we have to surpass the understanding of the secondary dimensions. This is the end point. Let us talk about the differences of the 13 dimensions first and I have some new viewpoints regarding it.”
Once he started on the topic, it was as though Wang Zheng was immersed in the time where he could talk about anything after dinner with Old Merchant.
Over the past decade, Old Merchant had left behind the research he had been doing. This had allowed him to achieve peace and calm. In those decades where he was completely immersed in the devilish research of the secondary dimensions, it was like he was on a blind goose chase. He had approached a dead end.
After he was able to calm down, Old Merchant was able to find more time to think. To fully understand a concept, letting go could also be for the sake of truly attaining it.
To attain something, sometimes one ought to be ready to discard the idea first.
Old Merchant was already many generations ahead previously. After gaining back his composure, his understanding of the theory on the 13 dimension was able to reach a higher level. Wang Zheng was the only person he could share his views with. Therefore, the world view that Wang Zheng obtained was different from that of the masses, and the explanation of complex concepts that were built on these world views seemed to be less difficult.
Just like how one would solve a question, not many would approach it from the fundamentals and derive the complex ideas needed to solve it.
As Wang Zheng spoke with confidence and composure on the stage, those that were sitting in weren’t paying much attention. They felt that the topic was for the purpose of attracting attention. No matter how one spoke about it, it was more of a gimmick as there wasn’t any practical point in it.
However, in reality, what Wang Zheng had described about the 13 dimension was very different from the mainstream idea about the theory of 13 dimensions.
“In my opinion, we should see parallel universe as yet another dimension. Parallel dimensions could influence one another and cause constant changes. The changes could result in other parallel dimensions. In other words, there might be countless universes. To make a bold conjecture, the 14th dimension could exist, which summarises the 13 dimensions and everything would become relative…”
Wang Zheng had explained everything in a “common” way, so the students present were able to understand. This was because just like what Wang Zheng had said, everything was just a conjecture.
Conjecture wasn’t the same as theory. It could be true or it could be false and hadn’t undergone verification. However, conjecture could also be classified as one that is logical or illogical.
No one had thought about it before. The 14th dimension?
This wasn’t like the addition learned during mathematics of primary school students where plus one was equivalent to plus one.
In the face of enthusiastic discussions below the stage, Guo Dongliang could no longer hold back. What was he saying? The 14th dimension and influences between parallel dimensions and connections were all simply radical ideas. As for the idea of a parallel dimension, that would mean that there would never be any connection. As they stayed parallel forever, they would never intersect
Guo Dongliang stood up suddenly and pointed straight at Wang Zheng while saying, “A load of nonsense. What is the 14th dimension? There should be a limit when all you want to do is to attract attention. Do you have a theoretical basis? If all you are depending on is your gut feeling and you say whatever you feel like saying, that is an insult to the academic field. Little brat, please do not forget about everything else once you have achieved a little result. The pursuit of knowledge requires time and attitude. How old are you? What have you experienced to have the guts to say that you are enlightened? In addition, Ares College is an Ivy League school, how could you allow this guy do whatever he wants? This is a criminal offence~!”
Guo Dongliang was clearly indignant. His voice was loud and clear and propagated through the room.
When everyone was discussing the feasibility and span of the conjecture, they were shocked by the thunderous voice of Guo Dongliang.
Who was this? Why was he so pissed?
One should know to be not so direct when confronting someone. Whether or not the conjecture was reliable, there should be room for discussion. Why would this guy directly refute and reject the conjecture?
…The crucial thing was that Wang Zheng was able to explain it in an interesting way and that it was logical. If it was a conjecture, it made sense. It was just that the breadth was a little wide and it did sound like a fantastical idea.
Xiao Fei and Marcus could be considered to be at the forefront of the field. The two of them were mesmerised by the topic, and this could be the crucial stage that would allow them to achieve a breakthrough of the third stage.
Just when he thought he had made sufficient preparations, Wang Zheng found himself stuck in a bottleneck.
The problem of having a broad worldview?
When they were waiting in anticipation for the surprise Wang Zheng would continue bringing, this “monkey” had jumped out unexpectedly.
He had even insulted the school at the same time.
Guo Dongliang’s act was good. All that was missing were tears and weeping.
“As someone who has been in the physics community for a long time, I came here with great hopes to give encouragement to the younger generation. However, what have I seen? A show and discussion about the 13 dimensions? Those are the hardest questions in the field of physics and no conclusions have been made for several centuries. How could you just overturn the views of those who came before you so recklessly? Where is the respect for those who came before you? ”
Guo Dongliang was fuming with anger.
A group of students was startled by the situation. They found Guo Dongliang familiar as he was a well-known figure on Earth and frequently appeared on the TV.
“Professor Guo is right, we are here to learn! Please do not fudge the issue,” shouted someone from the crowd.
After shouting, Zhao Lingfeng immediately tried to hide. He had made the right choice coming here this time.
The audience suddenly felt that something did seem amiss. If one purely listened to Wang Zheng and was not interested in the proof that underpinned the theory, it would seem to be as he described, completely sensible. However, if one were to think about it carefully, these theories had no theoretical basis. It was just a conjecture, and yet they were giving applause.
To be direct, it was just like telling a story.
It seemed that there was a loss of control of the situation. Guo Dongliang was maintaining his serious face. “Professor Xiao Fei, there should still be a limit if you are trying to raise your students. If you try to push it, you will only be harming him. You should have done it in steps instead of rushing it.”
Guo Dongliang said righteously while his sights were on Xiao Fei’s chest.
However, Xiao Fei was calm, which wasn’t normal. Marcus knew that Xiao Fei did not have such a good temper, especially when facing such matters. What was happening today?
Wang Zheng, who was on the stage, kept a smile on his face despite the torrential insults from the other party.
“Gentleman, please keep your calm. It is common to have debates in academic discussions. What I did just now was give my own views on the matter. As for now, we shall invite our guests up for a deeper discussion regarding the theoretical basis behind the conjecture,” said Wang Zheng as he shifted his sight to the audience.
There were other guests?
There were other guests? Marcus was startled for a moment. Could it be that he would be inviting Xiao Fei and him to the stage?
If that was the case, Wang Zheng would’ve definitely informed him in advance as the current topic wasn’t something that he was good in.
Xiao Fei grinned and extended her hands. “Let us welcome Professor Mu Fengchun, Professor Gail, and Professor Alvan.”
