Chapter 29

The voices in the discussion were so loud that they bubbled like boiling water, incessantly surging.

Lin Shuicheng arranged the printed papers in order and projected them onto the large screen. He turned back to adjust the size and clarity. The original quantum computer algorithm formula was densely displayed, but due to the limitations of the scanner projector, only this complex record of calculations could be seen.

Before he could explain, Professor Luo Song stood up, interrupting him, "This is an art authentication project, completely unrelated to your field of quantum analysis. I can't fathom how you would use quantum analysis to distinguish between these two famous paintings solely through computational methods. The professors present may not specialize in this area, but that doesn't mean we'll tolerate a student spouting nonsense – quantum analysis is mainly applied in big data prediction. Your theoretical tools sound as absurd as using a chocolate bar to lure sharks from the depths of the ocean!"

Luo Song spoke rapidly, conveying a sense of urgency. He glared sharply at Lin Shuicheng on the podium, his demeanor firm and unyielding.

Next to him, Yu Fan had slumped into his chair ten minutes earlier, drenched in cold sweat with a deathly pale face.

Ever since Xiao Jue pushed open the door and mentioned "Project Group One sponsored by Unit Seven," Yu Fan had been like this. He had the support of Yangfeng Nanotech, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect Lin Shuicheng to actually have the backing of Unit Seven!

Unit Seven dealt with the deepest layers of scientific secrets. Just the equipment they could access was beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.

If Lin Shuicheng had used the facilities at Unit Seven, did he conduct a molecular-level comparison?

Should their data differ in any way, a real-time confrontation would unfold in this hall, and everyone would know that Yu Fan – had falsified his data!

Yu Fan's fingers trembled slightly. He laughed bitterly to himself, muttering, "It's alright, it's alright. He used a quantum computer. He probably didn't do a molecular comparison, probably not..."

Faced with Luo Song's inquiry, Lin Shuicheng smiled gently. "Teacher, the question you raise was once one I wished to ask as well."

"Perhaps not just me, but every faculty member and student in the department might have questioned the rationality of assigning this project to the Quantum Analysis Department. From any angle, it seemed like a hasty decision made on a whim, with unrealistic deadlines, irrelevant expertise required, and pressure exerted from above on the research personnel. There was no aspect of it that appeared reasonable."

Here, he paused momentarily, and this fleeting hesitation stirred up silent, towering waves in the hearts of many. The atmosphere became as tense as the calm before a storm, frozen in anticipation, causing everyone's hearts to skip a beat.

The target of this statement was clear to everyone present.

Up until this moment, Lin Shuicheng had not set aside his doubts about this project and the department leadership. Standing on this platform before all these influential figures, voicing this sentiment was practically equivalent to slapping the higher-ups directly in the face!

Stardom Academy, the academy's president, the security department, and even He Muya himself were all implicated by his single statement.

His stance was clear: he remained dissatisfied with the decision made by the department leaders, and still held a grudge against Xu Kong for the hypertension episode in the office.

This was unreasonable, unjust, and he would never concede to such reality. A dazzling light flickered in his eyes, almost searing the gaze of those who looked at him. With the gentlest and most refined tone and demeanor, he expressed his boldest defiance.

"Oh ho, quite the tough one. He's offended so many people with just one sentence," the recorder next to Dong Shuoye whispered, unsure whether to express shock or admiration, but mostly revealing a sense of awe, "He truly doesn't care about his future prospects!"

Han Huang, standing by the wall, also had a grim expression, his hands clammy with cold sweat.

The agent whispered, "This is truly the end... Chairman, there's no way to salvage this."

Dong Shuoye remained silent. He shifted his position and leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed intently on the figure on stage.

Lin Shuicheng had rushed over in such haste that he was still wearing his lab coat. He was strikingly beautiful, but not because of his delicate features, slender build, or the vivid red teardrop mole at the corner of his eye. It was as if his very soul burned with an intense passion and unwavering determination.

No one could sway someone like him. In Dong Shuoye's two decades of experience, Lin Shuicheng was among the few individuals with such sharp edges.

"Excessive rigidity leads to fracture; it's not a good omen," Dong Shuoye murmured.

He Muya sat in the back, expressionless, still maintaining her composed demeanor.

After a brief pause, Lin Shuicheng smiled and said, "However, after conducting my own research, I discovered that quantum analysis is, in fact, the most suitable method for this project. It not only confirms the visionary insight of our leaders but also illuminated my path through the fog. For the specifics, I ask for your patience, esteemed teachers. Let's first review all the known detection results we have."

Han Huang exhaled in relief.

With those words, the atmosphere in the hall eased slightly.

Dong Shuoye interrupted, "There's no need to repeat that here. Professor Yu Fan has already explained the preliminary screening once. We're short on time."

Lin Shuicheng paused his gaze on Yu Fan for a moment, then calmly continued, "I understand, but I still need to emphasize one particular method of authentication: the Old Dutch Division's Strokeshape Analysis Algorithm. In the past, the principle of stroke analysis relied on AI technology to identify each painter's unique brushwork and digitize their individual characteristics. In recent years, with the development of neural networks in logical reasoning, this algorithm has advanced to a new level – analyzing the underlying logic behind every stroke."

Taking up a marker, Lin Shuicheng turned to the whiteboard and began drawing.

After finishing, he turned around, ensuring everyone could see what he had drawn: two simple smiley faces – just circles with three curved lines.

Lin Shuicheng went on, "I believe everyone here has drawn a smiley face in their childhood. A closed circle, three arcs – no matter who draws it or what their habits are, regardless of where they start, it takes four strokes. So, we can recognize that this is a permutation problem. There are only nine possible ways to create the strokes of a smiley face."

"Wait a minute. I think I get your point," Luo Song said. "You want to use a quantum computer to exhaustively explore all possible logical brushstrokes and compare the painting logic between the two works, right? But the premise is that they meet the basic condition for layer analysis: observable differences in their techniques, meaning at least there should be noticeable differences in color, layers, or hue. We've already tried this, and both paintings have identical layer structures."

A hint of triumph flashed in Luo Song's eyes, but it quickly vanished.

Lin Shuicheng nodded respectfully. "Thank you for your suggestion, Professor. That's precisely what I'm about to address. Since the two paintings have identical layer structures within the range of AI recognition, they also share the same painting logic. Therefore, I've lowered the comparison to a micro scale – comparing at the molecular and atomic levels."

Yu Fan's face paled, and for a moment, he swayed, barely able to stay seated. Several times, he wanted to jump up and leave the auditorium, but reason and his remaining dignity held him firmly in his chair, unable to move.

Lin Shuicheng replaced the paper, and a black-and-white molecular arrangement structure appeared on the projector screen.

"This is a molecular scanning cross-section of the ballpoint pen tip-sized sample I took. Here's the comparison chart."

Hearing this, Yu Fan knew he couldn't let the presentation continue. He stood up and interrupted Lin Shuicheng once more, "Then you didn't do anything innovative at all. You compared on a molecular level just like me, except that perhaps there was an issue with one of our instruments, leading to different results between us..."

"Professor, that's not right," Lin Shuicheng replied. "What you said is incorrect. A molecular-level comparison wouldn't yield any results because I've done it repeatedly. The similarity scale between these two paintings is at the nanoscale. They exhibit identical characteristics even at that level."

The hall fell silent instantly.

Scanning the audience, Lin Shuicheng saw various expressions on their faces.

He had missed Yu Fan's presentation, so he didn't know where this anomaly originated from. He continued, "Everyone can compare for yourselves. I overlapped the molecular arrangements of both paintings, and the overlap rate is over 98%. Moreover, there are no distinctive molecular structures that can distinguish a 15th-century painting from a newly manufactured forgery."

Silence ensued.

Everyone understood the implications of his statement.

"Then your result contradicts Professor Yu Fan's," Yang Shen interjected, pointing out the discrepancy. "Professor Yu Fan mentioned earlier that he found deformed small protein structures in the molecular composition, which he believes to be the result of egg tempera decomposition in oil paint. This structure is absent in the other painting. Can either you or Professor Yu Fan shed some light on this?"

Yu Fan was now in a difficult position but remained steadfast. "That's correct. Egg tempera was indeed detected in both paint samples, but in A, the protein structure is a new, stable formation, while the other painting has shown signs of decomposition. Such degradation only occurs in 15th-century oil paintings. That's why I determined B to be authentic. If your analysis differs from mine, then there must be an issue with the equipment."

Fu Xue was also getting anxious at this point. "There's no way our equipment could have malfunctioned!"

"Yeah," Yang Shen added casually from the side. "We've only ever heard of unclear images or incomplete scans. Even if there were major issues with the equipment, how could it create something out of nothing? I'm skeptical about the structure of the egg tempera molecules. If possible, I'd like to see a comparison of the molecular-level scan results from both sides."

Lin Shuicheng replied, "Understood. In fact, I did discover the egg tempera structure as well, but my scans show that the structures on both sides are still identical, not reflecting the situation Professor Yu Fan described."

He quickly flipped through some pages and pulled out a few, circling the molecular structures in the diagrams with a marker. "Right here, both sides exhibit high similarity, and they're both in a state of approximate decomposition for small protein molecules. The egg tempera characteristics of both paintings are consistent."

The discrepancy in the data from both sides became evident, leading to an impasse.

Yu Fan was drenched in cold sweat.

Section Chief Xiao Jue from the Seventh Department stood up. "Alright, the situation is urgent for Little Lin, and the documents are printed copies. I'll have someone from the Seventh Department send us the original scan files right away; it won't take long. Professor Yu Fan, please also share the source files with us. Apologies for the delay, Little Lin, but try to stay calm. I hope everyone has no objections?"

Lin Shuicheng nodded.

It was at that moment that he noticed Yang Zhiwei sitting in the corner behind Xiao Jue.

Yang Zhiwei wasn't looking at him, still engaged in a quiet discussion with Yang Shen.

Lin Shuicheng was taken aback.

When he left the laboratory, he had contacted Professor Yang Shen to help him request a leave and delay his presentation. He never expected that his teacher would actually be present at this moment.

Fu Xue immediately made a call to arrange things. At this point, it was no longer about the bet in their group or targeting Lin Shuicheng; it was a genuine issue of Yu Fan accusing them of equipment malfunction!

Yangfeng Technology was a newly emerging tech equipment company that had just established itself in Star City. They absolutely could not afford to have such a problem arise in front of He Muya and Department Seven!

Eight minutes later, the data from Department Seven was transmitted over, revealing a comparison of two cross-sectional scans on the computer screen.

Lin Shuicheng manually zoomed in and froze the image on the protein structures of both samples. Everyone could clearly see that the two samples had highly similar molecular structures.

Meanwhile, Fu Xue had also obtained the raw data from Yu Fan's scan – coincidentally or not, there were no detailed comparison images in Yu Fan's slides.

Now that Yangfeng Technology's scan had been uploaded, Fu Xue magnified the image and compared the two sides. The result was obvious.

There was no significant difference between them. On the molecular level, the two diagrams remained identical – Lin Shuicheng was right!

Yu Fan's data was fake!

"Does Professor Yu need an explanation?" Yang Shen asked, looking at him calmly.

Yu Fan's face was ashen, his lips trembling so much that he couldn't utter a word.

Even Luo Song and Shen Zhui fell silent.

"No... It's impossible for you to prove it," Yu Fan shot a sharp glance at Lin Shuicheng, his voice quivering with a hint of desperation. "You can't prove it, no matter how precise your atomic-level comparison is! You don't have any authentic information at the atomic scale! This is an unsolvable problem!"

"I can, Professor Yu," Lin Shuicheng nodded slightly. "After the molecular-level comparison, I proceeded to the atomic level. Indeed, I don't have the authentic information at the atomic scale, but I can still make a judgment. This brings us back to what I mentioned earlier, the issue of drawing a smiley face with four strokes."

Lin Shuicheng turned around and drew two houses on the small face on the blackboard.

"The criminal group used atomic assembly for an exact replica, like building identical houses with identical building blocks."

"At our current level of knowledge, we can't make any judgments or find any exploitable details. But the people behind them can't be — because we've found a key, a key that isn't in the genuine item but in the counterfeit."

Pausing for a moment, Lin Shuicheng continued, "Atomic assembly, in general terms, is thought to be a technique where a target atom is stacked like bricks one by one using an atomic probe. In reality, it involves multiple complex catalytic reactions, all of which must occur simultaneously in a black box. All the catalytic and synthetic reactions must be digitally controlled and monitored. Since the precision is at the atomic level, such reactions can be error-free, essentially converting into digital processes and reaction equations."

"The criminal group must be familiar with the entire reaction process and conducted meticulous comparative calculations through computers. They've assembled this house with their blocks, but the more bricks they use, the more we can determine the adhesive they employed, that is, the catalyst for the reaction, and the sequence in which they built it."

Lin Shuicheng stated, "The most commonly used catalytic reactions are currently fixed in place, an unbreakable bond between atoms. It's like the unalterable method of using cement to bind bricks together. In building a LEGO house, one person might start from the foundation, while another may opt to build from left to right – that's the difference. By analyzing the various types of atoms, we can deduce how the counterfeiters would have combined these reactions and designed the distribution of distinct atoms – essentially, through exhaustion."

As he spoke these two words, everyone present was subtly shaken.

They all grasped the meaning behind his initial mention of "quantum computational methods."

By exhausting all possibilities, they could uncover the unique assembly technique the replica should possess and then compare it with the two paintings.

The criminal organization had replicated the artwork down to the atomic level, believing that no one could distinguish the genuine piece due to the lack of information at this scale.

However, they hadn't anticipated that their precise atomic arrangement techniques would ultimately expose them!

"As long as one exhaustion result corresponds to the real scanned image, it's a fake. Because a painting from the 15th century couldn't possibly exhibit the perfect arrangement resulting from atomic catalytic stacking – that's the valuable comparison information in their differences and the condition missing at the atomic scale," Lin Shuicheng explained, swiftly flipping through the printouts before adding casually, "In fact, the more complex the reactions involved, the more it narrows down the exhaustion range. The quantum computer produced the results in just fifteen seconds. I inputted the cross-sectional atomic information for A and B, and the quantum computer indicated that the atomic arrangement of A is unattainable with current technology. On the other hand, B has a unique, feasible artificial atom stacking method with completely determined reaction equations and catalytic processes. To ensure accuracy, I ran the calculation seven times, and each time, the result was the same. Thus, I have reason to believe that this is the final outcome."

The series of reactions took up fifty pages, densely packed with information.

Lin Shuicheng put down the documents in his hand and said softly, "My presentation ends here. I apologize for my tardiness today and am willing to take full responsibility for it. Thank you, esteemed professors and leaders, as well as Professor Yang Zhiwei and Professor Xu Kong for your valuable advice and assistance during the assessment process."

After a long silence, Yang Zhiwei was the first to stand up and applaud. The others followed suit, filling the hall with a thunderous applause that seemed to roll like ocean waves, overwhelming and dizzying.

This was a truly remarkable and flawless presentation.

In this assessment report, Lin Shuicheng delved into specialized fields such as atomic assembly, AI neural network algorithms, and quantum computing. It was evident without further elaboration how challenging these topics were. The sheer depth of knowledge he displayed hinted at the enormous iceberg of effort he had invested behind the scenes.

Yang Zhiwei whispered, "Fifteen seconds of quantum computation may sound simple, but he had to manually input all the current technological catalyst reactions and atomic information. A single wrong digit would mean starting from scratch – an immense task of data entry and research."

Yang Shen commented, "He's already an exceptional quantum analyst. He hasn't forgotten chemistry either."

He Muya also stood up to applaud, while Yu Fan remained slumped in his chair, his face drained of color, unable to rise.

As the applause continued, Lin Shuicheng leaned on the table, striving not to collapse – seven consecutive days of overtime had left him with dreams of contrasting paintings, severely damaging his mental state.

During the final three days at Seven, he had slept no more than three hours in total, dozing off directly in front of the quantum computer.

Enumeration was the only viable path, despite his repeated nightmares and the dizziness that forced him to widen his bloodshot eyes. Witnessing the quantum computer produce erroneous results, he meticulously searched and verified possible errors in signs, one character at a time. Still, he held onto the belief that the quantum computer could help him recreate the scene from that day.

Human actions can be quantified, habits turned into numbers; even deceit at the micro level leaves traces. No accident occurs in this world, just as no two paintings are identical. There's no solution he cannot find.

Amidst the overwhelming dizziness, Lin Shuicheng saw that colossal butterfly again. It fluttered past the maze of mirrors, while he pursued it, transformed into a mage with blades for feet and wings. A voice whispered a phrase to him, one he couldn't recall where he'd heard or who had spoken it. The voice intertwined with an eerie children's rhyme, warping his surroundings.

"A tiny butterfly, a tiny flower, playing happily together. One blooms in the spring breeze, one soars under the sun's glow. Two friends inseparable, two names forever entwined... Isn't it beautiful?"

"Little Lin, often a butterfly is just a butterfly, the kind that flies. Not every one brings a storm."

He thought to himself, but there were no accidents in this world.

In his hallucination, he plummeted alongside the butterfly. That enormous, icy-blue blade shimmered with a cold light. The butterfly's wings were flawlessly smooth. In its reflection, he saw Lin Wang's shadow, smiling as he ruffled his hair. Lin Deng brandished his wooden sword, proudly calling him brother. He relived the fiery aftermath of the car accident, the blood-stained, dusky sunset at the pier, and every loss he'd experienced throughout his life.

How could this be possible?

He was determined to find that butterfly, no matter how long it took or where it hid. Then, he would slay it.

With a swing of the blade, the butterfly was cleaved in two, splattering his face with blood.

Butterflies plummeted, and he followed them down, falling straight amidst the wind. A sensation of weightlessness overwhelmed him, and Lin Shuicheng desperately clung to the corner of the podium. However, he soon felt himself on the verge of uncontrollably disintegrating.

Dissolving, collapsing, like a cluster of atoms scattered into the dark expanse of the universe.

Han Huang was the first to sense something amiss, "Lin Shuicheng! Lin Shuicheng's complexion is off! Someone, quickly, come support him!"

He rushed forward in a single bound, catching the faltering Lin Shuicheng. All he could hear were the ethereal whispers of the man before him, "Save me... save me..."