The Scientist Who Predicted the Sun's Destruction

Yan Anqing walked unhurriedly in the direction of the noise.

Upon seeing the culprit, he quickly revised his initial assessment.

Even within the Yaoguang Section's field operations, there were indeed quite a few oddballs.

The person frantically beating a computer was wearing a white lab coat and black-rimmed glasses. Judging by the thickness of the lenses, his myopia was clearly severe.

He had regular features, and despite his youth, his hair was completely white, giving him an air of calm and composure.

However, his actions were somewhat self-destructive to his image.

Yan Anqing patted the shoulder of a young girl beside him and casually asked, "Is it okay for him to destroy public property like this?"

The girl, annoyed at having her enjoyment of the spectacle interrupted, pouted and put her hands on her hips, looking ready to throw a tantrum.

But when her gaze fell upon Yan Anqing's face, her eyes lit up.

She subtly hid her hands behind her back, her tone softening, "Others definitely wouldn't be allowed; they'd be reprimanded. But Shang Yin is different."

"He's a first-level researcher at the Academy of Sciences, holds two PhDs in astronomy, has three master's degrees, has published many cutting-edge papers, and is both talented and diligent. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his published works fill bookshelves."

"Many people had high hopes for him back then, believing he would surely be promoted to special grade, perhaps even become an academician, with a shot at a Nobel Prize. Alas..."

The girl's sigh caused Yan Anqing to raise an eyebrow.

Shang Yin was not a common name.

He was likely the "immature brat" Xie Zhe often dissed him about.

Yan Anqing had initially thought Xie Zhe was being dismissive of a peer, deliberately slandering him. But now, it seemed Xie Zhe's assessment was quite objective.

A normal person wouldn't go around beating up a computer.

"And then?"

Yan Anqing smiled slightly at the girl, his voice gentle.

The girl was taken aback for a moment, then whispered with a blush, "Perhaps fate was too envious of his talent! About half a year ago, Shang Yin suddenly went mad."

"He claimed that near Mars, he observed a sphere that could absorb all energy and matter but wasn't a black hole. The sphere's volume and mass were increasing incrementally. According to its trajectory and rate of increase, it would completely swallow the sun in about ten years, marking the end of the world for humanity."

At this point, the girl gave a dismissive laugh, "His paper at the time really fooled quite a few people. Many of the nation's most respected senior scientists were alarmed. Unfortunately, the claim was later disproven, and no one could find the sphere he called 'The End of the Solar System's Sphere' again."

"However, Shang Yin contributed a lot to the Academy of Sciences. As long as the topic of the sun and the black sphere isn't mentioned, he's still a normal person. Over time, people just let him be."

A brilliant scientist's prophecy: the sun would perish in ten years.

This event had occurred half a year ago.

If Yan Anqing hadn't joined the Yaoguang Section, he would never have known about it.

"Thank you for the explanation."

Yan Anqing politely nodded to the girl, then turned his head, his gaze focusing on Shang Yin.

He looked young, around twenty-eight or twenty-nine, but his hair was completely white.

Before acquiring his golden finger, Yan Anqing had firmly believed the world was material and everything could be explained by science.

But now, he no longer possessed that arrogant, myopic perspective.

How could he explain that modifying photos through the PS game also caused corresponding changes in the material and energy of reality?

Regarding Shang Yin's prophecy, Yan Anqing believed...

It was better to believe it than not.

Even his golden finger required a photograph to erase the source of disaster.

The current situation was that China's top scientists, despite their best efforts, could not observe the "End of the Solar System's Sphere," dismissing it as the ramblings of a madman.

Even Shang Yin himself could no longer observe its existence.

"Ten years from now?"

Yan Anqing's expression was somewhat peculiar.

If Shang Yin's prophecy had been for one year, or three years, he might have felt a bit more urgency.

But ten years...

While it was but a blink of an eye in the vast history of Earth, for humanity, it was a very distant future.

The future would be handled by his future self.

The problem was significant, but rushing wouldn't help.

No one noticed that as Yan Anqing stared at Shang Yin, his pupils dilated and contracted, like a camera focusing.

After saving Shang Yin's photo in the soul-bound photo editing game's database, Yan Anqing returned to his dormitory.

"You're my roommate?"

Yan Anqing looked expressionlessly at the girl in front of him, who was wearing a loose black and red scholar's robe.

Although he knew he was in a double room, he had never imagined this possibility.

Co-ed dorms...

Seeing her excited demeanor, she didn't seem to consider reputation or the separation of sexes at all.

"Hello, senior. My name is Jiang Xinyue."

The girl said, extending her hand with grace and ease.

Her skin had a healthy tan, as if she sunbathed regularly. Her nose was delicate, and her pair of large, bright eyes were indeed a pleasant sight.

It was a shame about her flat chest, making one wonder if her nutrition had all gone to her brain during development.

These were probably all the outward characteristics of the young woman.

Yan Anqing narrowed his eyes and said, "Senior? Aren't you part of the Three-Qing Group?"

Earlier, a colleague had mentioned the background of his mysterious roommate.

"Members of the Three-Qing Group" referred to those who had studied their undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees at Tsinghua University.

He wasn't the kind of genius who could easily get into Tsinghua or Peking University.

Jiang Xinyue chuckled, unfazed by the distance Yan Anqing tried to create. "The first time I took the college entrance exam, I had acute appendicitis and missed the math section. So, I just went to Yunyang Medical College for a year."

"After devouring all the textbooks for their five-year program, I dropped out and took the second college entrance exam to get into Tsinghua."

"Strictly speaking, I am indeed a student from Yunyang Medical College's Class of '12."

Listening to the girl's words, Yan Anqing's mouth twitched slightly.

Zero on the math exam, and her college entrance exam scores were on the same level as his...

However, having been surrounded by oddities like Xie Zhe since childhood, Yan Anqing was long accustomed to being discouraged.

At the age of eight, he had admitted his own mediocrity and powerlessness, and acknowledged that geniuses who made one feel inferior truly existed in the world.

According to Jiang Xinyue's account, she was indeed his junior.

Seeing the faint flicker of madness in her eyes, Yan Anqing raised an eyebrow. "You know Xie Zhe?"

Jiang Xinyue subconsciously replied, "That 'useless genius' who makes no effort to improve?"

Okay.

Hearing the nickname "useless genius," Yan Anqing could be sure.

This junior in front of him was the "Crazy Jiang" that Xie Zhe often mentioned alongside Shang Yin to mock.

Before this, Yan Anqing had always thought Crazy Jiang was a man...

The saying that one's social circle determines their network is absolutely true.

On his first day at the Yaoguang Section, he had already met two people he had only heard of but never seen.

"I have something to do, we'll talk later."

With that, Yan Anqing turned and left the dormitory.

Although Yan Anqing had long believed he wasn't a good person, he still had some mental purity complex in matters of the heart.

Empathy wasn't a particularly profound concept.

He couldn't help but wonder how Li Wan would feel if she saw him living with a girl now, assuming she hadn't died.

This mental block might be washed away by time, but that was for the future.

Yan Anqing voluntarily took on an external task for the Yaoguang Section.

Coincidentally, his first mission was related to the golden-eyed individuals.

(Special reminder: This book has a single female lead, who is Li Wan. Jiang Xinyue is a supporting female character with significant screen time.)