Chen Chen immediately became silent when he saw this web page.

His eyes were locked on a certain phrase on the web page as if he was trying to pierce through the text with his gaze.

It was not Zhao Shanhe he was looking at but instead…

w.a.n.g Xi!

It was at this moment when Chen Chen realized that the similarity between himself and Zhao Shanhe went beyond both of them being the owner of the USB drive. They were both students at Jiao Tong University and more importantly, both their tutor was w.a.n.g Xi!

A raging storm immediately emerged in Chen Chen's mind. He quickly replayed everything that had occurred to him in the past. His enrollment, daily studies, discovering the USB drive, the incident with the thesis, dropping out, getting a loan…

It was then when Chen Chen suddenly noticed that w.a.n.g Xi was more or less involved in everything that had occurred to him ever since he had obtained the USB drive!

“Coincidence?”

Chen Chen squinted his eyes and he felt his hair raising to a point. Could it be that Professor w.a.n.g Xi was related to the USB drive?

Was it w.a.n.g Xi who gave him the USB drive, just like he gave it to Zhao Shanhe many years ago?

Chen Chen immediately recalled the kind smile that came to the old man like second instinct. The way he would always carry a thermos flask with tea inside everywhere he went and how he would ramble on and on in cla.s.ses. He could not believe that the tender and kind old man would be involved in this conspiracy.

“Maybe this is the true message Zhao Shanhe was trying to leave behind?”

Chen Chen muttered to himself while he opened the previous video and replayed it.

“My name is Zhao Shane, the second person to hold the dimension key… Well, I only found clues of one previous owner of the dimension key, so I'm going to a.s.sume I'm the second…”

Chen Chen tapped pause at this portion of the video.

“Is he intentionally mentioning the existence of a previous owner?”

Chen Chen paced around while pondering the subject. “Could it be that the reason he intentionally rambled on and on about a bunch of nonsense in the video was to leave his name behind as a clue?

“He left this file behind because he knows that we're going to search his name to find more information. Was he trying to tell us that w.a.n.g Xi was the previous owner of the USB drive?”

“Who's w.a.n.g Xi?”

Upon hearing Chen Chen's rapid deduction, Little X suddenly asked curiously.

Chen Chen had an uneasy feeling the moment he heard Little X's remark. He turned to her and asked solemnly, “Professor w.a.n.g Xi of the Chinese Academy of Sciences of Jiao Tong University. I cured him of his Alzheimer's disease back then, don't you remember him?”

“Hm?”

This only made Little X more confused. She shut her eyes and searched for this person online. “But there's n.o.body who went by the name w.a.n.g Xi in the university. This person doesn't exist in the Chinese Academy of Sciences database either…”

“What?”

Chen Chen's pupils shrunk. He rushed to the computer in disbelief and started searching for the list of professors in Jiao Tong University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It was just as Little X mentioned, there was no w.a.n.g Xi in any of the databases.

Everything concerning w.a.n.g Xi had completely vanished from the Internet…

“When did this happen?”

Chen Chen turned to the web page again. The glaring name of Professor w.a.n.g Xi still remained on the web page as if to remind him that this person truly existed at one point and that it was not all in his imagination.

“I knew it. This confirms that everything that happened with the USB drive has to do with w.a.n.g Xi.”

Chen Chen took out a box of candy and swallowed one immediately. “I originally thought this was all a string of coincidence. That Zhao Shanhe probably just so happened to leave the USB drive in Jiao Tong University and Professor w.a.n.g Xi just so happened to be his tutor. It's easy to have a misconception based on the context, but now I'm certain that w.a.n.g Xi has something to do with the USB drive.”

“Could it be due to the antimeme?”

Little X had no reason to doubt Chen Chen, but she still questioned the legitimacy of it all, “Could antimeme have an effect on artificial intelligence like myself?”

“The problem doesn't lie with you.”

Chen Chen gestured. “The antimeme doesn't affect people but the abstract idea of 'information'. When it wipes away a piece of certain information, it ceases to exist and extends its effects to both the human brain and computers, wiping away all traces of this information. Even if it doesn't make sense for there to be certain gaps in certain information, people still won't be able to connect the dots because it's impossible to remember what doesn't exist…

“But here's where the mystery lies.”

Chen Chen suddenly remarked, “If it has to do with the antimeme, then how come I'm the only one who remembers everything about Professor w.a.n.g Xi?”

Needless to say, there was no sure answer to this question.

Ten minutes later, Cheng Cao appeared in Chen Chen's laboratory.

“Cao, there's something I need you to do for me.”

Chen Chen stated seriously, “I need you to take several people with you and head to Shangdu, that's where my previous school is. I need you to look for someone named w.a.n.g Xi.

“w.a.n.g Xi is seventy-four years old. You won't be able to find this person online or using any other networks, but there's one clue I can give you — w.a.n.g Luo. That's w.a.n.g Xi's daughter. You can start investigating from there and see if you can find anything concerning w.a.n.g Xi.

“You're probably going to meet something completely unexplainable during this mission. I believe I've told you about antimeme, I'd advise you to revise your knowledge on the subject before heading out for this mission. It might save your life in crucial moments. Also, having a larger force won't make a difference for this mission so you'd better bring maximum ten people, understand?”

“I understand, Boss.”

Cheng Cao nodded and turned around to take his leave.

Chen Chen sighed silently after watching Cheng Cao leave. “I should've figured this issue with the USB drive is a lot more complex. If not for the 10 December n.o.bel Prize award presentation ceremony, I'd prefer to do it myself.”

“Sir G.o.dfather, the aeros.p.a.ce base in the southern suburbs of the Eco Science City is about to be completed and the military procedures are halfway complete as well.”

Little X said, “We already have the estate for launching satellites. All we need now is for the s.p.a.ceX technicians to help us launch five Gantz satellites into the sky.

“The help we've enlisted from them is only temporary, it's most optimal that we properly extract the s.p.a.cecraft technology from Elysium.”

Chen Chen nodded. “Continue recruiting internationally for now. Right, have you contacted Musk?”

“I'm contacting him now.”

Little X noted. A display of a video call being connected immediately appeared in front of Chen Chen.

“Beep!”

With a gentle beep, the video call was immediately connected as Musk's familiar face appeared on the display.

“Mr. Musk, it's been a while.”

Chen Chen greeted, “The construction of my s.p.a.ce base has been built, but the matter of our company's 10% share contract in s.p.a.ceX still hasn't been finalized. Do you have anything to say about that, Mr. Musk?”

“I'm sure you know what the situation is like as well, Mr. Chen Chen.”

Elon Musk expressed helplessly, “Congress has called for the suspension of this shareholding contract many times. I wouldn't dare to blatantly object their authority. I think you should have the people in G.o.d's Forbidden Zone step up and lobby in the White House to convince the politicians to act in our favor. The way I see it, most of them only need a gentle nudge to move in the right direction.”

Chen Chen snickered. He knew that it was all an act the people in the White House put on. They only wanted to give the impression that all they needed was further encouragement so that they would receive further political contributions and resources. The truth was that none of them ever planned to agree to this shareholding. They were planning to move against Chen Chen.

Despite knowing this, Chen Chen played along and pretended to be disappointed. “In that case, alright. How about your technicians? We've already signed the launch contract.”

The contract Chen Chen spoke of was the agreement that he and Musk had come to when he visited back in June — Blacklight Biotechnology would be funding the launch site while s.p.a.ceX would contribute with the relevant technology. Five geosynchronous...o...b..t communication satellites were scheduled to launch within a year to officially debut Blacklight Biotechnology's global communication technology.

“Of course. Since your site is complete, I'll have thirty of my best engineers head over in three days.”

Musk gave his word immediately. “The equipment and required parts will be s.h.i.+pped overnight as well, don't you worry.”

“Excellent.”

Chen Chen noted with pleasure before ending the video call.

Chen Chen's expression immediately became dark after ending the video call. He proceeded to inform X, “Next time Musk comes to Eco Science City for the Medpod 3000 therapy, tell him that it's out of commission and to return next year.”

“Understood.”

Little X snickered mischievously. “Musk must be immensely frustrated upon hearing of this news.”

“I only extended him this mercy because I understand that he's in a difficult position concerning the shareholding contract. Otherwise, I guarantee you that I'll be detonating the chip in his brain.”

Chen Chen remarked icily before leaving the laboratory.

A day later, it was the 5 December, which was the day where the full list of n.o.bel Prize winners in 2024 would be announced.

Due to certain changes, the announcement date of the n.o.bel Prize winners had to be delayed for two months and only set to be announced in December. Only five days remained until the award ceremony set on the 10 December.

As the most heralded award in the world, the n.o.bel Prize was a spectacle even for outsiders. After all, such awards were unlike the awards presented in other award ceremonies for films and the likes. Its existence had a long-lasting effect on the scientific and technological progress of all mankind and was closely tied to the everyday life of every person in the world.

Therefore, news of the delayed announcement had garnered several headlines around the topic.

For the people deeply involved in the field, they would be surprised to see an extremely foreign name.

Winner of the n.o.bel Prize in Physiology and Medicine: Chen Chen.

The name was accompanied by a matching photo placed in the n.o.bel Prize winner section on the web page.

More importantly, this was someone from the Mainland!

This would make the third person from the Mainland to ever win the n.o.bel Prize and simultaneously the second to ever win the n.o.bel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. This announcement was immediately met with robust reception. When they realized who this person was, they were surprised but not too astounded by it.

This was the description online:

On 5 December, local time in Sweden, at the Karolinska Inst.i.tute in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Thomas Perlman, the general secretary of the n.o.bel Prize Committee, announced that the Swedish Karolinska Inst.i.tute officially designates the n.o.bel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2024 to Chen Chen, a scientist in the Mainland, in recognition of his “contribution to the Blacklight Virus epidemic in 2023”. He will also be awarded 9 million Swedish Kronor.

What followed after was a summary of the Blacklight virus as well as the significant timestamps of the events which occurred last year, with the many contributions of Blacklight Biotechnology in Africa enclosed in the end.

On top of catching many scientists all over the world by surprise, it was the Mainland that was especially enthusiastic about the news. After all, Chen Chen was not a foreigner but a born and bred Chinese man from the Mainland. Additionally, he earned the award with excellent credit instead of having to rely on popularity or being vouched for by important people. His name started to appear on the headlines of major forums within hours.

[I was just wondering who could pull something like this off, winning the n.o.bel Prize award out of nowhere. Of course, it's the founder of Blacklight Biotechnology. Everything is right in the world again!]

[This is unbelievable, this Chen Chen rarely appears on networks. I'd never even know about this person if not for this award!]

[When did this Blacklight Biotechnology company come from? I've never even heard of this company until the recent V.1 holographic system, and they are registered in the Mainland?? Nani??]

[Commenter above must have recently climbed out of a well. If you've been paying attention to Eco Science City, you would have been well acquainted with this company by now. The infamous age-reversal treatment was founded by none other than this company! Extending human lifespan by thirty years!]

[Hehe, so what. You're making it sound like common folks get to access it, what does it matter if only the rich get to extend their lifespan by thirty years?]

[The next Edison? More like just another filthy capitalist. Scientists labored day in and out to research something like this and he sweeps in and gets all the glory, even claiming the n.o.bel Prize for himself, heheh…]

Whether it was praises or criticisms being sung, the point was that the topic revolving around Blacklight Biotechnology and n.o.bel Prize immediately began trending everywhere. Many people began to come to know the name Chen Chen.

If possible at all, Chen Chen still preferred to keep a low profile. Xia Yin on the other hand, wanted Chen Chen to step on stage during the previous TED talk because most companies these days required a “symbol”.

Just like how people immediately thought of Ma Huateng when Tencent came up. When one mentioned Alibaba, they immediately defaulted to Ma Yun, and how Show Lo was synchronous with JD…

These representative figures had become the persona of companies and a standard to strive for. Not only do they benefit from it, but it was also a free advertis.e.m.e.nt for the company in essence.

Being young and successful was Chen Chen's “persona” but this idea of establis.h.i.+ng himself as a symbol was not in line with what Chen Chen had in mind. At the end of the day, failure was just as much a symbol as success. JD corporation had become a laughing stock on the Internet precisely because they failed to step up to this standard they set for themselves…