Chapter 46 I Am Not an Attendee, I Am the Lecturer

After finishing the letter, Su Wen opened his phone to check the latest posts on the Omninet:

Publicly available news regarding the Transcendents' trending list included:

[A sudden series of explosions occurred in the Brooklyn district, located in the southeastern part of Manhattan Island, New York. Police suspect the heinous crime was caused by 'Zero-Sum Game - The Bishop'.]

[A stowaway appeared at the St. Petersburg Abyss Frontier; the joint international screening operation has currently concluded its initial phase.]

[Due to the Inari God sacrificial festival in Hokkaido, the Red Leaf Township ruins have been opened further.]

[Following the departure of Typhoon 'Ewiniar', regions in Jiangnan that escaped direct disaster experienced an unseasonal blooming of flora. Reports indicate that the Great Library has termed this phenomenon a 'Disaster's Gift'.]

Just as he was about to tap the screen to view the details of the news, a notification popped up.

It was a message from Jiang Menghan:

"Su Wen, my father found out that you saved me and that we co-authored our submission. He wants you to participate as a special guest in the lecture he will soon be holding at Binhai University."

???

Seeing this message, which carried a massive amount of information, along with that familiar tone, Su Wen could be certain that the beautiful young lady sending the message had presumably not been replaced by an impostor.

He replied: "Why would Professor Jiang invite me?"

Three seconds after sending this question, the eldest Miss Jiang replied with a cute, winking cat sticker:

"He wants to find a transcendent who has insights into both social issues and the future direction of scientific development."

"So, you threw me under the bus, didn't you?"

"I initially suggested he choose someone among the resident transcendents aboard the 'Wanderer'."

"And what about those crew members?"

"More than half of them set sail toward the Detroit Gulf and Windsor Port under Captain Spring-Farr. The rest went on extended leave and nobody knows where they went. Besides, that's only one factor; my father is very rigorous when selecting special guests."

Jiang Menghan sat at her desk, wearing casual autumn loungewear. Her sleek, soft hair draped over her shoulders. At that moment, watching the message notification pop up on her screen, a trace of a gentle smile inevitably appeared in her eyes.

The young girl had always believed that meaningless conversations were a waste of life. But for some reason, if the person she was chatting with was Su Wen, occasionally wasting a little time to brighten her mood didn't seem so bad after all.

"It looks like I won't be able to decline this task."

***

Su Wen disliked trouble, but he did not particularly mind such matters. So he casually asked another question:

"Are you free these next few days?"

"Emm~ I'm reading research papers in the morning, but the afternoon is still open."

"I heard that the Great Library's classification of the unseasonal blooming of flora in the Jiangnan region as a 'Disaster's Gift' is worth checking out."

A day later, Su Wen and Jiang Menghan went on a short sightseeing tour around the area. The underlying principles described by the Great Library remained unclear, but the scenery before their eyes was truly breathtaking. The emerald mountains and clear waters were veiled in a misty haze, painted by the slanted rays of the setting sun, imbuing the entire Jiangnan region with an ethereal charm. As for the sweet scent of osmanthus drifting for miles along the riverbanks, it could truly be worthy of the name—a gift from nature.

Midway through, he actually considered projecting a 'Blue Marguerite' racing car and taking the beautiful young lady for a dashing joyride down the highway. However, the high probability of being detained by traffic management for driving without a license—not to mention drawing an investigation from the Nightwatchers—made him reconsider.

After a moment of thought, he ultimately chose that trusty old bicycle with its own built-in sound effects.

***

Five days later, Jiang Xiuyuan, as a world-class theoretical physicist, was about to hold a lecture at Binhai University.

The topic was: [Science After the Origin Era].

As soon as this news spread, it immediately caused a sensation across the entire Binhai region. After all, he was not only a top-tier scientist but also a 'survivor of Lighthouse No. 43'.

Having watched that live-streamed desperate struggle for survival between human civilization and a super-natural disaster, Professor Jiang undoubtedly carried an indelible aura of legendary status.

Students throughout Binhai University hovered over ticketing websites, praying that luck would be on their side. Even so, those who managed to secure a ticket were few and far between.

At one-fifty in the afternoon, inside Binhai University's highest-specification auditorium, as ticket checkers verified passes one by one, the vast majority of attendees qualified to listen to the lecture had taken their seats.

Two students who knew each other whispered idly:

"Did you know? I only managed to get this ticket by pulling strings with Teacher Zhang."

"You're lucky; I bought a scalper ticket, and you wouldn't believe how expensive it was."

Right at that moment, Su Wen walked in through the side door, dressed in casual attire.

The male student sitting near the aisle said to him:

"Hey, there are no seats left up front, classmate. Did you walk into the wrong room?"

Hearing this reminder, Su Wen smiled and replied:

"I am not an attendee."

Not an attendee?

The two students sitting in the back row were somewhat baffled.

But the next moment, they watched as Su Wen walked straight down the auditorium's stepped aisle toward the main podium.

This sight shocked many students and faculty members who had participated in physics competitions and were faintly acquainted with Su Wen.

By this time, Jiang Xiuyuan was already seated at the primary podium, and Su Wen took a seat directly across from him.

Ten minutes later, the lecture began on schedule.

Everyone in the audience fell silent.

Jiang Xiuyuan said warmly:

"The special guest beside me may be somewhat unfamiliar to some of you. But if I mention the primary author of [Analysis of Pressure-Bearing Model Spatial Characteristics of Lighthouse No. 43]: Su Wen, perhaps you will have some context."

As the behind-the-scenes restorer of Lighthouse No. 43, Su Wen had also utilized spacetime tools to conduct numerous reality simulations across future timelines. In this world, there was likely no second person who understood the wind-resistant structure of Lighthouse No. 43 better than he did.

As a hyper-hurricane disaster subject that human civilization had never before conquered, this paper had indeed caused a massive sensation in the academic world the moment it was published. Moreover, to avoid attracting the attention of the Nightwatchers, he had relied entirely on theoretical and logical analytical formulas, revealing not a single scrap of data beyond what was publicly released by the Binhai Research Institute.

Therefore, following Professor Jiang's brief introduction, thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall.

This handsome young scholar was deeply etched into the memories of everyone present.

As for the two Binhai University students who had just offered their 'kind reminder', they were now struck dumb with astonishment.

Forty minutes into the lecture, Professor Jiang finally posed a warm question that everyone cared about most:

"Su Wen, in your view, what exactly is the future of the Origin Era?"