Ye Wenjie, watch my moves closely.

Ning Shi came from a well-off family. While her peers were still struggling to memorize English pronunciation and grammar, she had already traveled to most of the world's developed countries.

Her knowledge and vision surpass those of 99% of people in China, so her understanding of the word "reverence" is not profound.

But when she saw the electronic behemoth in the laboratory, her legs suddenly went weak, and she felt that she might never be able to experience such a world in her lifetime.

"Stand up straight, little girl!"

Just then, Wang Lao’s voice boomed like a bell, “We should have awe for nature, but not for science and technology. We don’t need to look up to it from afar; maintaining a thirst for knowledge is the right attitude to seek knowledge.”

"Yes!" Ning Shi suddenly straightened up and answered loudly.

Professor Wang withdrew his gaze and continued walking deeper into the corridor. Ning Shi quickly trotted after him, like a cautious chipmunk, and asked in Professor Wang's ear, "Professor Wang, what does our Deep Space Research Department do? How come we even have lithography machines?"

"The lithography machine is nothing special. The lithography machine you see is a product of GCA from 8 years ago. Its yield rate is only 30%, which can't keep up with our needs."

The lithography machine is the mother of chip creation. Ning Shi suddenly thought of the trial production of Type I chips that had recently caused a great stir in the international market.

Could that mysterious research team be...?

Ning Shi's heart began to pound wildly.

If that's the case, it would be like a mouse falling into a rice jar for her, who desperately needs chips to hone her artificial intelligence skills.

"Professor Wang, do you know about prototype Type I chips?"

Old Wang chuckled, "Li Youyu didn't tell you anything? That's really unacceptable. Stop guessing, young lady. Now that you've joined the Deep Space Research Department, you'll find out about these things sooner or later... The prototype Type I chip is an old chip from two years ago."

The groundbreaking chip is actually a product from two years ago?

Ning Shi was somewhat incredulous. She wanted to ask more, but Old Wang interrupted her, "Researching chips isn't my forte. No matter how many questions you ask, this old man can't answer them. You'll find out the specifics when you meet Xiao Li later."

"Huh? What is Teacher Wang responsible for?"

"Controlled nuclear fusion".

"Controlled nuclear fusion...an artificial sun? Is this really possible?"

Ning Shi had expected to hear a vague answer, but instead she heard Old Wang laugh.

"At the current pace, you should be able to see it in your lifetime."

"..."

Ning Shi dared not ask any more questions. From the moment she stepped into the Deep Space Research Department, everything she saw was reshaping her worldview.

You know, in the outside world, a television set is a rare commodity, but here electronic displays are everywhere. Their flat appearance and clear pixels are like props from a movie.

Everything here made her feel like she had traveled twenty years into the future.

Can the technological gap really be that large?

After passing through another heavy door, Old Wang led Ning Shi to sign a confidentiality agreement. Then he led her to the door of an office. While waiting for someone to open the door, Ning Shi humbly glanced around. The names on the rows of private offices were almost all those of renowned academic giants.

An elderly gentleman carrying a teacup walked towards them. When he saw the nervous Ning Shi, he nodded and smiled at her, saying, "Ning Shi, you've finally arrived."

"Oh my God!"

Ning Shi's expression flashed with excitement. This man was the founder of computers, and her teacher's teacher!

After greeting the old gentleman while suppressing her excitement, she quickly turned to the closed office door, digging her fingers into her palms to prevent herself from shouting out loud.

Just then, the door opened.

Li Youyu stared at Ning Shi, who had a strange expression on her face, and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

cough……

Ning Shi couldn't hold it in and coughed violently. She then darted into Li Youyu's office to hide her embarrassment.

When she caught her breath, she realized that Li Youyu wasn't the only one in the office. All the bigwigs who had refused to see her earlier were now gathered there.

"Find a stool and sit down."

Old Wang greeted her.

"Ah, okay..."

Ning Shi sat blankly in a corner, took out a notebook from her backpack to take notes. At first, she seriously wrote down every word she heard, but soon her expression became strange.

What does it mean that hibernation technology has been initially unbanned...?

What does it mean to establish a sophon monitoring and early warning system...?

What is Zhizi? Why is there a warning? Is the hibernation technology the same as the hibernation she understands?

Ning Shi was completely confused by what she heard, so she simply stopped trying to remember it and started to analyze every word she heard. Later, she discovered that what everyone was discussing stemmed from the same thing that shocked her.

The Trisolarans!

Extraterrestrials have been discovered in this world, and the Deep Space Research Department is dedicated to researching and dealing with them!

Ning Shi once suspected that it was a scripted movie, but what script could possibly make so many academic giants cooperate in acting?

In a daze, Ning Shi heard her own name. She looked up and saw that everyone was silent, smiling at her.

"You must be scared, kid. We had the same look on our faces at first."

"You can't tell anyone, this is top secret, if you do, you'll be..."

"Old man Yu, don't scare people."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ning Shi saw her senior, who exuded an air of authority without anger, make a face at her and take back what she had said.

"Alright, it's time to formally introduce myself to all the senior colleagues."

Li Youyu said, "Ning Shi graduated from the Department of Computer Engineering at Tsinghua University. I plan to have her take charge of a new direction: artificial intelligence."

No one was surprised by this; they were just interested in the intelligent agent in Ning Shi's hand, which only had a few megabytes of memory code.

"Ning Shi will upload it to the scientific research station later, where all the seniors can interact with it."

After finishing their conversation, Li Youyu led Ning Shi toward the scientific workstation at their residence.

On the way, Ning Shi tugged at Li Youyu's sleeve and whispered, "Is it true?"

"real."

Li Youyu knew what she was asking. "Are you scared? The enemy is coming soon."

Ning Shi shook her head and encouraged herself, "I'm not afraid, but I just don't know what I can do. I feel so insignificant here."

"You are not insignificant at all. The sophon I just mentioned is a supercomputer with proton-like properties created by the Trisolarans. The only way to rival it is through true artificial intelligence."

You mean Li Bai?

"Li Bai?"

Ning Shi nodded. "I named it Li Bai."

Why is it called that?

Li Youyu asked.

"Hmm...because I want it to be able to write a poem like Li Bai's someday."