Chapter 308: How Could He? [Part 1]
Was there a mistake?!
A deafening uproar followed after the initial silence.
Cillin’s true age wasn’t shown on the screen, but everyone knew that he was in his twenties at most because he hadn’t graduated from AF1 yet. He wasn’t a creep who pretended to be young.
A lot of elderly academicians couldn’t help but compare themselves to Cillin and feel ashamed. It was frustrating enough to know that he was an AF1 student, but an honorary scholar of the RAS as well? The more information was revealed on the large screen, the more some people felt like grabbing Cillin by the collar and asking: how the hell did you achieve all this?
The people erupted in realization again when they noticed that the name listed as Cillin’s mentor was “Guan Feng”. No wonder! He was Guan Feng’s student!
Cillin didn’t have many research results to his name, but everyone of them raised eyebrows and drew looks of admiration. The most notable of them all was the line, “Project Owner and Developer of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation cure for the Zebra Virus”.
Before Cillin joined the RAS, Guan Feng occasionally gave him tasks to complete. Sometimes it was about mechanical weaponry, and sometimes it was about building construction and so on. But the key here was that everything Cillin did could be published in the RAS top ten yearly achievements if he wanted to. The reason he hadn’t was that Guan Feng thought that it was child’s play, and that it was only good for situations like this presentation. The same opinion was shared by researchers like Neo. They didn’t think that these projects were worth bragging about at all unless you were still in high school or something.
If the audience could read Guan Feng and Neo’s mind, they would probably be throwing up blood right now.
The students who were lucky enough to interact with Cillin while he was touring San Calombo—especially the group of students who greeted him on the lake, and the students who got into a discussion with him in the bookstore—were pretty excited as well. After all, who would’ve expected to run into such an accomplished person during a random encounter? They bragged about their meeting to their friends, families and acquaintances, and drew envious looks from every direction. It was an honor to be able to speak with a representative of the RAS.
Chang Four watched the calm man walking onto the stage quietly. When did Cillin climb so high?
At first, he thought that Cillin was just a technician who knew a bit about repairing. Then, he thought that the Cillin might be a noble and a pretty high ranking one no less. But the truth turned out to be even more outlandish than that.
Old Chang always said that Cillin was no ordinary person, and Chang Four was starting to realize that he wasn’t just referring to his background. How strong was Cillin? No one knows, at least not everything. For example, Cillin’s noble background was like an inconspicuous decoration tacked onto the person compared to the list of achievements on the screen. At least, that was what Chang Four thought.
In the past, Chang Four always thought to himself: I wonder what a dream looks like?
Today, he might have found an answer: It might just look like the man walking up to the stage right now.
He didn’t need colorful clothes or a shiny emblem to make himself seen. Right now, Cillin was like a walking light source whose shine couldn’t be ignored. Once upon a time, he was just another nameless person. Today, he was in the center of the limelight.
“Heh, this kid.”
Zhu Ming and Tousen were sitting at an inconspicuous corner of the academic hall. Tousen wasn’t even wearing a military uniform, so no one paid them any attention whatsoever.
“How do you think those people would react if they learned that Cillin was a close friend of the Gen Family and a half-royal?” Zhu Ming asked with a smile.
Instead of answering, Tousen asked a question of his own, “Do you know what it means to be Guan Feng’s student?”
“Guan Feng is well-reputed within the academic circle, so one might call him an authority...” Zhu Ming’s smile was slowly replaced by a serious, thoughtful expression. He narrowed his eyes and didn’t say anything until...
“Purgatory Thunder Snake!” he said finally.
Very few people knew that there were more to the PTS series than just guns. Zhu Ming himself was one of those who got a chance to understand the PTS, but was disqualified in the end.
Zhu Ming knew that he got it right when he saw the smile on Tousen’s face. He smiled back and asked with a searching look in his eyes, “So? Which letter does he use?”
“I heard that it was...” Tousen drew a letter with his finger, and Zhu Ming’s pupils contracted in disbelief.
Out of everyone in the audience, Thomas and his gang was probably the ones who were most shocked by Cillin’s appearance. Although they weren’t completely stupid, their main reason for attending this presentation was to prove to the people around them that they weren’t illiterates. And even if they were, most of the time they could ignore all social customs by just throwing their identities at their offender’s face. But just this time, they were infinitely grateful to Thomas for reining them in before they did anything to Cillin or Chang Four.
Sharalisa felt wronged when she noticed that everyone was staring at her. She didn’t know who Cillin was until now, did she? If she did she would’ve acted to court him already!
Meanwhile, the discussions among the academicians were only growing louder and louder. Sun Fu was sitting on his chair and twirling his staff, unable to stop the corner of his lips from turning upward. Finally, they know how I felt when I learned about this!
Unperturbed by the uproar caused by his inevitable appearance, Cillin smiled and walked calmly to the podium at the front. Countless people were clapping, crying or even shouting as he walked.
There was a button at every armrest where the audience could press to make a clapping sound. They could even change it up to several types of cheering if they felt like it. The device was there because academic presentations usually caused a lot of people to feel dozy, and it was good to have a choice to clap or cheer electronically when they couldn’t muster the energy to do it themselves. But Cillin could see that almost everyone was clapping with their hands. He could see that they weren’t doing it half-heartedly or using the sound device.
Cillin stopped in front of the podium and gave a sweeping glance. Then, he bowed and said,
“Thank you for giving me your claps!”
The clapping and cheers grew even louder. Of course, most of the claps came from his young admirers, but the show was just beginning, wasn’t it?
Cillin introduced himself briefly before diving straight into the presentation. There were three categories to his presentation. The first category was about his research such as the development and synthesization process of the Zebra virus cure and so on. The second category was about relevant topics beyond research. The third and final category was Q&A. The crowd would ask questions, and Cillin would answer them if he chose to.
First, he talked about the development of the drug, its clinical applications, and the kind of problems one might face during a plague. He also talked about how different people might experience different reactions when infected by the virus, the people who died or walked away with permanent scars despite recovering, and various first-aid treatment one could apply during a plague that the people weren’t aware of.
Cillin didn’t put on airs or pretend to be someone he wasn’t. He didn’t use unfamiliar words that most people who have difficulty to swallow. He strung together simple words into sentences so that his audience could better understand what he was trying to tell them.
Cillin didn’t use a speech paper. Most of the time, he wasn’t even looking at the screen behind him. When he put up a molecular model on the screen, he was able to explain every radical, every chemical bond and the relevant effects of various bond energies in a simple and easily understandable manner. He also threw in some real life experiences into the mix to make his explanation even easier to understand.
At first, the researchers who dabbled in the related were skeptical of Cillin’s depth of knowledge. But over time, not only did they become completely absorbed in his presentation, some of them were even taking notes frantically. What he said had generated a spark of inspiration in them, and they weren’t about to let it slip from their minds.
The academic hall slowly turned silent. The audience started imagining themselves in Cillin’s position just like he wanted them to. They imagined themselves entering a planet that was ravaged by the virus and was overflowing with despair; a gray world that wanted nothing more but a messiah to save them. Everyone wanted to be that person, but most of the time they were too busy trying to keep themselves alive, much less extend a helping hand to another person. It had nothing to do with courage or cowardice.
Besides viruses and drug-related subjects, Cillin also talked about one of Guan Feng’s most famous research, the Purgatory Thunder Snake. He mostly talked about the first two PTS models before informing everyone that they would be added to a couple of VR FPS games that were currently popular in the empire right now. He also reminded them that not everyone could master the PTS.
There were just as many gun enthusiasts as there were car enthusiasts. Many spectators including Zhu Ming and Tousen were already itching to show off their skills after that presentation. They resolved to play those games immediately when the update was out. Everyone wanted to know just how difficult it was to master the legendary PTS!
The first category was finally finished, and the presentation entered a small break period. There were barely any people who left their seats to go to the toilet while the presentation was ongoing, so it only took a minute for it to be jam packed even beyond Flick’s imagination. The headmaster hurriedly mobilized a bunch of portable toilets to the scene so as to leave Cillin and the guests a better impression of their institution.
There were some people who went to a call area to contact the people outside the academic hall, but no one left because re-entry wasn’t allowed. The presentation was broadcast live by the media, so the people outside the hall could watch it on-screen. But obviously it wasn’t as amazing as being present at the scene itself.
Hong Xi used the break period to call his friends and told them about Cillin. My idol is my idol for a reason! Who would’ve thought that he was a good driver and a member of the RAS as well? The more Hong Xi spoke, the more his pals turned green with regret.
When Hong Xi was finally done bragging and hung up the call, he caught sight of Cillin and was about to run up to him again. But he immediately braked when he saw who Cillin was talking to.
If Cillin was just speaking to the institution authorities, then Hong Xi wouldn’t have given a shit. But Nuhach Tousen wasn’t a man he couldn’t afford to offend.
“It looks like your idol is deeper than you think,” Thomas said after walking up to him.
Hong Xi shot Thomas a glance but ignored him, still looking for an opportunity to chat with Cillin again. Although Cillin’s simplified explanation was still too much for him to swallow completely, he still learned a lot of things today. At the very least, his idol’s presentation was much better than the inflexible lectures he had attended, and the knowledge he learned could be applied in real life or used as conversation starters when wooing hot chicks.
Cillin moved onto the second category after the break period was over. This topic had little to do with research and everything to do with the sensitive stuff most people wouldn’t dare to say in public.
“My mentor told me this before I came here: ‘Speak loudly and without fear’. And that is why I’m standing here today.”
Cillin talked about the corrupted state of the academia, as much as he was reluctant to admit it. He talked about how some researchers were marginalized, and the realization of the gap between dream and reality when an academic worker first joined this circle.
“Every time an old professor got slapped by a noble youngster in public, countless educators couldn’t help but wonder why they picked this path in the first place...”
“The word ‘academics’ isn’t an unreachable, insurmountable monster made of countless terminology. It is something that exists in the noble, the common, the academia, the non-academia, the intelligent, the foolish, the rich, the poor, the young or the old. It has no limits, and it is inside everywhere and everyone...”
“Once I ran into a group of noble youngsters while I was driving, and they used me as a shooting target. Luckily for me, I was slightly better than them at driving, and I managed to shake them off before any harm could come to me. Later on, I talked to the princes about this and asked them: do you normally act like this as well? They replied: of course not! What is even the point of that?”
He didn’t just talk about the commoners. He also talked about the upper nobles.
Cillin was aware that there were things that should be said only when you were at a certain height; things that should be done only when you were in a place of power. Otherwise, not only would it be meaningless, it would result in death or a fate worse than death.
Zhu Ming sighed from his seat. “This truly is the age of monsters and geniuses. It looks like things are going to be wild after today...”
Some of the media were contacting their higher-ups in private while the presentation was still ongoing. It was because some of the stuff Cillin said was a taboo even for them.
Some time later, the live broadcast was suddenly replaced by an advertisement video.
“What the fuck! This isn’t a break time! Why are they running an advertisement in the middle of the presentation!?”
“What is this? What’s going on with the media?”
“I don’t know. You’re watching this right outside the academic hall, right? What about you guys?”
“Yeah, all the livestreams have stopped for some reason.”
A lot of people tried to file a complaint, but all they got for their efforts was the sweet, infinite-looping voice of the help AI. Some of them got so angry that they threw their communicators on the ground.
Some people tried to fish for information using their noble identities, but they were all sent away without question.
Gradually, everyone realized that something strange was going on.
But none of these events affected the disconnected academic hall. Roars of applause could be heard from inside again and again.
The Zebra Summit kick-started an intellectual storm among the people, and today a legendary presentation was left behind in the biggest academic hall of San Calombo. Cillin as a person might be forgotten years or decades from now, but every detail of his presentation and his name would forever be remembered in the the academic hall of fame. It would always be a reminder to those who attended this presentation that once upon a time, there was a presentation that everyone had clapped to.
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