Madness ecstasy

The mathematician opened his hands and gestured to form some kind of giant cube:

"It's possible with the computing power of a large computer, but whether you can live to see the result is hard to say."

"If I use the one at my university to crack a 1,024-bit key, it would take tens of thousands of years—theoretically. Its configuration is much more powerful than what you have in your provincial and municipal libraries."

"The US military used to have something called ARPANET, which connected several university computers over long distances. Even if you tried to crack it that way, it would take thousands of years to crack."

"It's a shame the [ARPANET] project was stopped. Otherwise, if all the mainframe computers in the world were connected to [ARPANET] or something similar, who knows how much more could be done."

Seeing the mathematician straying further and further from the topic, and even starting to talk about things he couldn't understand, Doudou began to prop up his chin with his fist, pretending to be in deep thought:

"Oh, oh. And then?"

The mathematician pushed his glasses up, his face showing no pride or complacency, but instead a perplexing hesitancy.

"I'm very close to figuring out how to efficiently factor the large prime numbers that the RAS algorithm uses—well, I'm very close to breaking the algorithm anyway."

The living room was quiet for a while, as if the air had turned into sticky mud.

Suddenly, Doudou spoke doubtfully, breaking the solemn silence:

"And then? What happened?"

The mathematician's face suddenly turned red, and his cheeks puffed out:

"What? What happened?! Do you understand the significance and importance of this? This affects society as a whole, as well as the companies that use RAS-based encryption algorithms—"

Doudou spread his hands:

"I don't know. I was just waiting for you to tell me. You're just playing dumb when I don't say anything, and you're not happy when I support you. How can you be like this?"

The mathematician suddenly lost his temper again, his face turning from red to pale.

"Once it's released, it could very well upend the banking credit system! There are also many other significant impacts: if some company gets hold of it first..."

"Anyway. Anyway—I think this is why I was slandered: Originally, I wanted to announce this result after it was completed—"

Doudou clapped his hands:

"I get it! I get it: it's probably because you, this incomprehensible, incomprehensible discovery of something, are incredibly powerful, and now someone is jealous of your talent and wants to kill you and monopolize your achievements!"

The mathematician lowered his head, put his fist to his mouth and coughed twice:

"That's not all. The RAS cracking method is like the innocent man being guilty of possessing a treasure: as far as I know, no one else's research progress can catch up with mine. It's a huge gap."

"So this research is unique, a one-of-a-kind treasure. If you master it, countless political and commercial secrets will become commodities behind glass windows, visible to you."

"If I could publish the entire research after it's completed, that would be fine—but now some people want to get my results, and I want to prevent others from getting them. Some people think it's best if this thing never sees the light of day. The impact on the economic system after it is released alone is a big problem."

Doudou's eyes opened and closed for a while:

“Haa ...

"So you mean to stay here and crack this RAS? It doesn't seem that meaningful, and it's none of my business after you crack it. After all this talk, you still have to stay in the apartment, and I have to stay with you in the apartment to prevent someone from rushing in and killing you."

"Oh, it's really boring, so boring"

Doudou yawned and tears came out.

Seeing Doudou's drowsy look, the mathematician quickly racked his brains and came up with the most tempting reason for Doudou, adding:

"Think about it, if my solution works, wouldn't you be able to find out what the aliens in Area 51 actually look like? And what's going on?"

cluster!

Doudou suddenly sat up straight. Compared to the previous chatter, this sentence made him immediately understand what the mathematician wanted to say. He nodded seriously:

"Sorry, Doctor! I was so abrupt just now!"

"I understand! No wonder you're being hunted; the mission and pressure you bear are indeed considerable."

The mathematician pinched the taped temples of his glasses and exhaled cautiously. It seemed Doudou's approval had finally restored some of his confidence.

"Judging from what I have here, this is why I am now discredited and being hunted down."

Doudou scratched his nostrils and sniffed again—but there was no sound:

"I'm not saying your research isn't important. But if it's causing so much trouble, why were you even researching it in the first place?"

The mathematician sighed:

"Yeah. That's why I studied this before."

Doudou looked at the messy furniture in the room, which hadn't even been put into use yet:

"Then again, who are you waiting for? Someone to work on this RAS algorithm together? In your current situation, shouldn't you just keep running?"

The mathematician nervously opened a corner of the curtain, peeked through the blinds, and glanced at the corridor; he even turned around cautiously:

"That's what I thought, actually. But the person who saved me before told me that the most dangerous place is the safest place. Maybe if we stop now and complete the entire research, there will be a chance for this matter to turn around. After all, that way we will have bargaining chips -"

"And don't I still have to help them decipher a code? If I don't finish it, they won't provide me with the resources to escape further."

Doudou looked at his sneaky appearance, frowned and curled his lips:

"Ha, isn't escaping easy? I have a better way to help you. You're too conservative."

He tilted his head—and suddenly realized that he had also been drawn into the mathematician's twisted train of thought:

"No, then how were you wrongly accused? And how did these people save you? You were rambling on and on for a long time, but you didn't mention this."

"Hurry up, tell me what happened on the day of the incident."

-

Chapter 34 Case

"Oh, I'll tell you right now! Although I'm a wanted suspect, I don't know much."

The mathematician tapped his lips with his index finger, perhaps out of trembling or a strange habit:

"You know—besides my research, I don't have any hobbies. I rarely socialize. The only people I keep in touch with are those at Nanyang Technological University."

"Then that day: because research is inherently boring, everyone was frustrated. There were some disagreements on the project, so I had a fight with my supervisor and a senior colleague. I left afterward to prevent the conflict from escalating."

"Before I left, nothing happened to them. They were all fine. The instructor even took out his teaching materials and said he was going to beat me up. I was so angry."

"Then—then, as soon as I got home, I saw the news: My advisor, my senior who was my teaching assistant, my junior who was helping me, and the woman who cleaned the office were all dead. The news also said that some were stabbed to death with a ruler, and some had their heads chopped off with a ruler."

"That's outrageous. The ruler isn't sharp at all, and it's not a cold weapon. It's actually a large triangle. I saw on the news that the murderer just threw it at the crime scene after using it."

"At the time, I thought about it—even though the quarrel caused quite a commotion and there were students gathered in the corridor to watch, would they suspect that I had such a motive?"

"Besides, I live alone, and my dorm is inside the school, not far from the classroom. But someone saw me coming back. It doesn't match the time of their death, so this should serve as an alibi for the police, right?"

"In the end... I heard my fingerprints were on the murder weapon or something. Alas, I don't dare turn myself in or let them arrest me. My research is so sensitive, I'm really worried about a big company tampering with it. Anyway, that's it for now."

Doudou thought of the blurry TV screen in the newsstand and the dramatic descriptions on the radio station:

"That's pretty much what I saw on the news. It's like a blood film, so outrageous: the person who framed you is quite artistic; and he's the real iron-ruled demon."

The mathematician suddenly raised his head, and even the thick glasses could not hide the hope in his eyes:

"So you believe me now?"

Doudou looked at the man with strange behavior in confusion, puzzled by his question:

"Of course I don't completely believe it. But you're my neighbor, so I have to give you some respect. Otherwise, it'll have a terrible impact on this community. Even if you really are a serial killer, let's just assume you're not and give you the benefit of the doubt."

He began to rub his hands together expectantly:

"More importantly! Who's chasing you now? How many people are there? Are there any bionic robots with heavy firepower, biochemically modified weapons, thousand-year-old vampires, alien spy agents, or the like who want to kill you?"

Doudou tried his best to search his mind for any elements that could be related to this matter and would bring him excitement; then he grafted them all on.

Mong Cai City is so small that it can’t even be ranked in Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture - the slightest splash would have caused a sensation in the whole city.

The mathematician shrank and trembled. Even though no one was harming him at the moment and some horrible fate still lay in the future, he couldn't control the uneasiness.

He put both hands into his shirt and scratched his chest fiercely:

"I don't know. I can't figure it out. It feels like any company I've heard of could do this. Who knows how powerful these companies are?"

"So it's not just Interpol—the real scary thing is the company's agents and security forces. I'm afraid they don't intend to capture me alive."

Dou Dou scratched his head - he felt like he had done this countless times since he entered this neighbor's house.

What the new neighbor said wasn't complicated, but perhaps being hunted and forced to hide had made him particularly vulnerable, so much so that his ability to express himself was somewhat lacking:

"Then who helped you escape? You don't look like the tough guy protagonist, or like you have a high IQ but can't use it. You definitely can't run away on your own? The person who helped you must know more than you do. Ask him."

The mathematician took off his glasses and clipped them to his shirt collar. He rubbed his eyes again:

"It's strange, actually: I feel like my brain is a little slow tonight. Maybe I've been too tired lately? Or maybe you've shocked me too much."

"Sorry, I'm off topic again."

"I don't know who is helping me--"

"No, it can't be called a favor; it's also a deal."

"I was still watching the news when I received a call. The voice on the other end of the line was processed, and I couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman, old or young. The caller told me to run—"

"As soon as I left the dormitory, I saw a Singaporean police car and followed their instructions."

He rummaged through the tattered cardboard box, then raised his palm to his pocket. There lay three tiny, pocket-sized tapes—not the usual 3.5-inch AIT cassettes.

"I followed their instructions and went to the self-service storage area at the entrance of the supermarket to get these tapes. They recorded where I should go, what radio station I should listen to at what time, how to convert it into useful information, and where to get the instructions, and then act according to the information."

"I used this information to escape Singapore. Finally, I ended up staying next door to your house."

"And in return, I'm going to help them with a project here."

brush!

Doudou suddenly reached out, snatched all the tapes from the mathematician's palm, and stuffed them into his raincoat pocket—these movements were so swift that they were difficult to detect with the naked eye:

"Oh, I'll keep these tapes for you. It's safer to leave such important things with me. It would be a bit out of place for you to see them."

"And then? Go on. Project? About what?"

The mathematician stared blankly at his empty palm, but he didn't dare to ask Doudou for his belongings.

"Uh—didn't I say that before?"

"Crack a code. Besides that, they also want me to complete the RAS code cracking they just mentioned."

Doudou was completely oblivious to the mathematician's daze and continued to talk to himself:

"Oh? So you're actually a cryptographer, not a mathematician? Do I need to change your codename?"

The mathematician picked up the crumpled cardboard box at his feet and hugged it tightly in his arms - perhaps because he was afraid that Doudou would snatch this piece of junk too:

"No, I certainly wouldn't call myself a cryptographer. But—mathematics is a great help in code-breaking."

Doudou raised his fist and lightly hit his palm:

"Who are they, then? And what's the purpose of the code they asked you to crack? I'm sure you have some idea, some guess, right? Is it some secret organization that wants to conquer the world?"

The mathematician shook his head so quickly that his glasses almost fell off.

"I don't know. I really don't know! I'm just following the instructions they gave me: I haven't even started cracking the code yet!"

Doudou narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful:

"You don't know anything, how can you do this? But you're lucky to have met me: you know, when I was still in elementary school, someone said I could get a postdoctoral degree in the future--"

"You didn't notice it, but I saw the flaw in it!"

"Hey, Doctor, is there a possibility that the same people who helped rescue you actually framed you?"

"Look: the timing of their rescue was just perfect, wasn't it? They must have been keeping an eye on your movements and situation. And then they just happened to need a favor from you."

"If it were a company, they'd definitely consider you a talent. You just made yourself out to be so awesome, like a modern-day Gauss! They'd definitely pay you a fortune to join their lab. As the saying goes, courtesy comes before force."

"Why make things so complicated when money can solve them? Big companies and big groups don't lack money."

"Why would I come up here and frame you? If I were going to do that, I might as well just kill you. Like, I could put laxatives in your coffee and let you die from diarrhea. You seem to have a bad stomach and are as thin as a skeleton. If I tell anyone that you died from diarrhea, no one will suspect anything."

"So, it's more likely that the same people who helped you framed you! After framing you, they then hypocritically came to your aid: wouldn't it be so they could just let you work for free for research? At least you'd be cheap labor. You wouldn't dare do anything else if you were asked to."

"Well, well, that makes sense, doesn't it? That's how it's played on TV. That's why they say art comes from life."

The mathematician's mouth opened wide, his eyes glazed over. He seemed to have never expected Doudou to say something like this:

"Ah—you. It seems that this possibility is indeed more likely. But um. I can't be sure. Especially now—we have to wait until they have their people before we can confront them or get any information, right?"