117: Chapter 37 Cooperation 117: Chapter 37 Cooperation In July 2036, a car came to a smooth stop in front of the new building of the Magwen Brain Science Institute at Beiping University.

Xiang Shan pushed the car door open, then shook his impeccably tailored suit, and made a phone call.

Soon, a middle-aged man emerged from the building.

Xiang Shan reached out and shook hands with the man, “Senior Brother Hu, long time no see.

Ever since you hit rock bottom at Zhongguan Village College of Arts and Sciences, you’ve put on weight.”

The man sighed, “Tell me about it.

If it weren’t for making a living, why else would I come next door to earn it!

Life is so rough that I don’t even know if I can work for the motherland for another fifty years or not.”

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled, understanding each other without words.

This is Hu Zhengyu, Xiang Shan’s senior brother, also known as “Hu Says”, who had been Xiang Shan’s classmate for a while in 2027.

In 2028, Xiang Shan left the country to develop his career in a tropical international research organization, while Mr.

Hu Zhengyu came to the Magwen Brain Science Institute in 2033 through a project in cooperation with Liu, working as the second in command in a laboratory.

Last year, Xiang Shan returned to Beiping.

Hu Zhengyu heard that his junior brother was actively pursuing various ventures, seemingly preparing for a “major project.”

Hu Zhengyu led Xiang Shan into the institute’s new building, saying as they walked, “Junior brother, just a reminder, don’t repeat what you said earlier later on.

Our big boss here is a spirited Fencing Kid, quite different from the meek students of the neighboring arts and sciences college.”

“Got it, got it.

We shouldn’t judge our neighbors with a biased view,” Xiang Shan gestured “OK.”

Hu Zhengyu took Xiang Shan to an office, which was empty.

Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “Maybe you picked the wrong time, the monkey waits for no one.

The big boss has gone to handle the monkey.”

“Monkey?”

“Yeah, right, a monkey.

In fact, there are only so many projects a monkey can take part in.

Too many, and not only does the monkey suffer, but it also affects the mental health of the experimental staff.” Hu Zhengyu shrugged, “And if the monkey’s condition is abnormal, it can also impact the objectivity of the data.

For some experiments, you even have to race against time to do them while the monkey is in good shape.”

Xiang Shan grimaced, “Tsk, a moment of silence for the poor monkey.”

“Eats better than I do, and unless it’s the unlucky recipient of a fad procedure, after one or two years, each will get a spacious house for their retirement.

In terms of their lifespan, it’s like retiring right after college graduation,” said Hu Zhengyu disdainfully.

“If it weren’t for the ethics committee being so stringent, I’d even consider giving myself a whirl and retiring early.”

Xiang Shan looked around the office.

The office was at the corner of the building with floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, offering excellent lighting.

However, the furnishings were simple: a desk, a bookshelf, and a sofa set.

The office was so clean it was almost excessive, lacking a personal touch.

Except for the realistic mecha model about ten centimeters tall on the desk, and a steel Feathered Fencing Sword hanging on a rack in the corner of the wall.

And that pile of documents on the desk that looked like they were for an elementary school presentation.

Xiang Shan nodded, “Indeed, the talents of your esteemed school are filled with martial virtue.”

Hu Zhengyu asked Xiang Shan to sit for a while, then he went back to check on some data he was running.

Xiang Shan ate some pastries and waited for about fifteen minutes.

After giving a few instructions to the master’s students he was supervising, Hu Zhengyu came back to keep Xiang Shan company.

A little while later, he sighed, “Boss Chen is probably still busy.

How about I just take you straight to the lab’s lounge area?”

Xiang Shan had come this time to discuss cooperation.

After returning to the country in 2035, Xiang Shan had started to prepare for a major project concerning “human cyberization.” Although part of the Rama Project’s content had not been disclosed publicly, Hu Zhengyu at least knew where his junior brother had been the past few years and with whom he had been interacting.

He was quite interested in the “major plan” as described by Xiang Shan.

Xiang Shan waved his hand, “Is that really appropriate?”

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it, there’s nothing secretive going on with the project today…” Hu Zhengyu was quite casual, but then he stopped himself, adding immediately, “But no pictures are allowed.

Also, don’t step out of the lounge area into the experimental zone.”

Unlike Liu’s lab in the basic industrial training center, this lab’s lounge was separated from the experimental area by a glass curtain wall.

The lounge was narrow, and standing behind the glass curtain wall, Xiang Shan and Hu Zhengyu felt like they were visiting a zoo.

The experimental area wasn’t very large, with various electronic devices piled up on one side and wires strewn messily all over the floor.

In the center of the lab was a special restraining platform with a monkey surrounded by various instruments sitting on a closed “throne” made from acrylic panels, its head, fixed in a steel frame, opened up for a group of lab coats to work on.

Around those researchers, several air projections were displaying data in real-time at positions convenient for everyone to see.

Xiang Shan couldn’t help but touch his head, “That monkey looks pretty painful, how come its head is all bloody and messy?”

“Dental cement, the color is just pink.

Actually, the wound on that monkey’s head has long healed.

They just cleared some tissue from the top of the head and replaced a small piece of the skull with a transparent material, to allow for observation of the brain with a two-photon microscope.

The monkey was anesthetized during the initial surgery, and it has long since healed, there was never any point where it suffered much pain.”

As he spoke, all the lab coats gathered around a large number of screens on the other side of the experimental area, while the area around the monkey and the instruments became opaque.

Hu Zhengyu explained, “They’re starting the experiment now, and to ensure the quality of the fluorescent signals from the neurons captured by the microscope, the experimental area is strictly light-proof during work.

When the experiment is over, I’ll be the one to run the fresh and hot neural activity data through the computer.”

During the wait, Xiang Shan glanced at the electronic bulletin board outside the lab.

He looked it over and felt something odd, “Hmm, senior brother, may I ask if the personnel composition of this lab is a bit strange?”

“Hmm?

Oh, that?

You mean the number of experimenters,” Hu Zhengyu said, “Boss Chen particularly dislikes having students do grunt work, so he prefers to hire professional technicians instead.”

“External staff?”

“A few professionals to do specialized tasks.” Hu Zhengyu pointed and explained, “That Old Wang over there is a vet retired from the zoo, he’s here for a part-time gig and occasionally takes care of the animals.

It’s just due to budget constraints; otherwise, he’d outsource all the miscellaneous jobs if he could.”

“What a man!” Xiang Shan was deeply moved.

Although he got along well with Liu, Xiang Shan knew that he was an “exception.” At this stage, “laboratory” systems were closer to medieval workshops.

A plethora of low-skilled tasks was assigned to the lower-level students.

Generally, lower-level apprentices could get the hang of it after being trained by higher-level apprentices for two weeks, and then they were another ‘fine sprout’ ripe for harvesting.

For the apprentices’ masters, the training cost of such sprouts was virtually zero.

There is this joke that has been around for ages.

A thief went to steal from a lab, but soon the researchers returned.

The lab operated non-stop for a week, and the thief posing as a researcher blended in for a week.

Finally, he found a chance to slip away.

His accomplice asked if he had any gains, and the thief said, “I even learned how to run electrophoresis!”

In many cases, the manual labor in the lab is technically non-demanding.

But hiring people costs money, while exploiting students doesn’t.

Bosses willing to spend money in this regard are truly idealistic!

It seemed that the experiment had finally entered a stable operating phase.

The atmosphere in the experimental area relaxed.

Most people stood up from their screens, stretching and walking out.

One of them seemed to have noticed Xiang Shan and Hu Zhengyu, waved his hand, and then left the lab.

The man was tall and thin, wearing a mask and gloves, and covered in a filthy white lab coat.

After leaving the experimental area, he first took off his gloves and mask, set the lab coat aside, and then carefully washed his hands before coming over with a scent of disinfectant, “Pleasure to meet you, are you Professor Xiang?

So young and talented!

I’m Chen Feng, the head of this lab.”

At this time, Xiang Shan had just reached the age of thirty.

For an ordinary scholar, this was around the time they became a lecturer.

If one’s career went smoothly, it generally took until the age of 40 to become a full professor.

Xiang Shan, however, completely ignored this self-introduction and just frowned at Chen Feng’s face, “Brother ‘Ling Yu’?”

Chen Feng was taken aback.

He had heard of this junior brother from Hu Zhengyu before, knowing that he led an interdisciplinary research institution at the United Nations University at a young age, and was quite the figure.

However, their research fields were quite different, and it seemed they had no opportunities to intersect.

But he hadn’t expected the other party to immediately call out his usual online alias.

After a few looks at Xiang Shan, Chen Feng’s expression changed dramatically, “‘Xiang Shan’?

It was yours!

Ha, I remember, at the ‘Nuclear Fission’ game expo’s fan matches a few years ago, it was you, kid, who knocked me out!”

“Yikes!” Xiang Shan was shocked, “Brother ‘Ling Yu’, you actually still remember that?

Didn’t you write science popularization stuff?”

“Nonsense!” Chen Feng retorted, “I only got the chance to go to the game expo once in ten years!

I had just signed up for the fan match and hadn’t even had time to be happy about it, and then I was beaten in the first round.

I hold a grudge, you know!

Plus, you vanished for months right after, making it impossible to find a rematch!

Also, science popularization is just my hobby; my main job—speaking of which, you’re a sci-fi writer, aren’t you?”

“Hahaha…

I later got taken to research extraterrestrial technology because I wrote sci-fi too well.”

Four hands clasped tightly together.

“It’s fate, fate.”

“Yeah, indeed.”

Looking at his own formal wear, Xiang Shan lamented, “If I had known it was you, why would I have dressed so formally?

I should have just worn a T-shirt.

It’s so hot.”

“Let’s go to the office and talk; the air conditioning is stronger there.”

The group returned to the office once more.

It was then that Hu Zhengyu realized that Xiang Shan and Chen Feng had actually been online friends for years.

But it wasn’t too surprising.

Both locals, hardcore gamers, sci-fi enthusiasts, having some overlap in their social circles was quite normal.

Upon entering the office, Chen Feng snapped his fingers, and a melodious tune filled the room immediately—this was the background music from a cyberpunk game developed fifteen years ago by the famous game studio “Platinum.” Xiang Shan, having been influenced by this older friend years ago, could roughly identify this classic track.

“Since it’s just us, we can let loose a little more.”