Chapter 240 - 146: Run It on the Machine 3

Chapter 240: Chapter 146: Run It on the Machine 3

His fingers drummed unconsciously on the tabletop.

It was a habit he had when he was deep in thought.

Chen Zhuo’s logic was utterly domineering.

He ignored conventional reasoning. He disregarded the rigid, step-by-step causality of physics. Instead, he used pure mathematics, like welding two iron gates shut at either end of a pipe.

No matter how chaotic things got inside, as long as the data at both ends matched up, the books were considered balanced.

"And the margin of error?"

The Alchemist stopped drumming his fingers on the desk. He looked at Chen Zhuo and asked.

This was a brute-force way to balance the books. It would inevitably produce a margin of error. While engineering projects allow for error, it has to remain within safe limits.

Chen Zhuo turned back to the blackboard.

He raised the chalk. Beneath the matrix equations, he wrote down the convergence limit he had derived after repeated calculations under his desk lamp at two in the morning.

After writing the line, Chen Zhuo lowered his hand.

He didn’t toss the remaining stub of chalk. Instead, he walked back to the lectern and placed it gently beside the chalk box.

He dusted the chalk from his hands. The sharp clapping sound echoed in the quiet room.

"The total margin of error is locked."

Chen Zhuo brushed his hands clean, turned, and faced everyone in the conference room.

His tone was casual again, as if he were discussing a trivial matter.

"0.17 percent."

Chen Zhuo looked at Zhang Yuan.

"Far below the safety threshold of 0.2 percent."

Chen Zhuo let his hands fall to his sides.

"Most importantly, the computational cost of this matrix is only one percent of the original partial differential equations. If we use it as a low-level logic patch..."

Chen Zhuo smiled.

"Even that old Pentium in our lab, the one with the huge fan whirring away, won’t crash when running this."

The conference room fell utterly silent.

There was no discussion, not even the sound of a single sharp intake of breath.

Zhang Yuan stood stunned beside the lectern, staring at the blackboard.

The blackboard presented a starkly contrasting image.

The left side, which took up most of the board, was a chaotic mess of partial differential equations. They represented a dead end in physics, a source of endless despair. Erasures and corrections littered the space like rubble in a ruin.

And on the right, in a small corner...

...were just a few lines of a discrete algebra matrix, neatly written and arranged with extreme regularity.

It was clean, efficient, and devoid of fluff. Its logic formed a perfect, self-contained loop from beginning to end.

It was like an incredibly sharp blade that had sliced effortlessly through the sprawling ruins.

Zhang Yuan’s head was buzzing.

Staring at the 0.17% convergence limit on the blackboard, he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

He knew, with perfect clarity, that Chen Zhuo was right.

This seemingly crude algebraic matrix was perfectly viable for engineering applications.

Seated on either side, Lin Fang and the young man with glasses exchanged a look. They hadn’t fully grasped the complex order-reduction process, but they had understood the final part: "it won’t crash."

The Alchemist remained seated.

His gaze shifted from the matrix on the blackboard to Chen Zhuo, who stood calmly by the lectern.

The Alchemist said nothing, nor did he issue any immediate orders.

He simply leaned back slowly in his chair and let out a long, deep breath.

It was a breath that seemed to carry with it the weight that had been pressing on his heart for over half a month.

Outside, a gust of wind blew through, causing the unlatched window to CLANG.

The sound shattered the frozen atmosphere in the conference room.

The Alchemist retracted his gaze and clasped his hands on the table.

He looked at Zhang Yuan. The fatigue on his aged face slowly gave way to the authority and decisiveness befitting his position as vice dean.

"Zhang Yuan."

The Alchemist’s voice was not loud, but every word carried immense weight.

Zhang Yuan snapped to attention, his body straightening instantly.

"Dean Fang."

The Alchemist jutted his chin toward the blackboard.

"Erase those partial differential equations of yours."

It wasn’t a suggestion.

"Copy down the matrix code Chen Zhuo wrote."

The Alchemist stood, picking up the cigarettes and a lighter from the table.

"Forget about the physical process. Treat this as a patch, code it into the underlying program, and replace that 0.01-second critical point model."

The Alchemist looked at Zhang Yuan and issued his final command.

"Get on a machine and run it. Now."