Launch

Li Shiming was unwilling to live an ordinary life. Though his Previous Life memories contained some knowledge akin to building a Generator, there was not much he could remember in full and put into practice, and even less that suited this world's conditions.

Without the help of a mainframe, there was very little he could do.

But with the help of a mainframe, countless possibilities would open before him.

With that thought, he controlled the Uninterruptible Power Supply to connect power to the IBMz15 Mainframe, then started the IBMz15 Mainframe.

Speck after speck of indicator light lit up across the mainframe's cabinet-like body. Li Shiming sensed the power within the Uninterruptible Power Supply draining rapidly; with just that startup, it plummeted to near the warning line.

Alarmed, he knew that without sufficient power support, a shutdown shortly after startup could very likely damage the components inside the mainframe.

His consciousness entered the IBMz15 Mainframe, and in an instant, he grasped every detail of its condition.

The greatest power consumers were the self-checks of the CPUs and memory. With his consciousness, he shut down the CPUs one by one, leaving only a single CPU running, and reduced the memory to 64 GB.

Apart from the Linux system and a small amount of usable space, all other storage units were likewise shut down.

At once, the power consumption of the mainframe dropped to a level the Uninterruptible Power Supply could bear.

The IBMz15 Mainframe was far, far more complex than the Uninterruptible Power Supply. Had he not been exceptionally familiar with this IBMz15 Mainframe and maintained it for a year, he would not have been able to operate it with his consciousness in such a short time.

With his consciousness inside the IBMz15 Mainframe, the sensation was entirely different from opening the cabinet and examining it.

He could clearly perceive the internal structure of every component, as well as how it operated.

When his consciousness probed the display processor, a familiar interface appeared before his eyes: the IBMz15 Mainframe's Linux GUI.

He tried operating the Linux interface and found that he could control it normally.

His eyes had become the IBMz15 Mainframe's monitor, and his consciousness had become its mouse and keyboard.

He did not open the data stored in the mainframe, as that would require activating the storage space he had shut down.

Opening that data would require turning on more storage units, consuming a great deal of power. He had no need for that at present, nor did he need to increase power consumption.

He created a document and tried typing in it.

He discovered that he did not need an input method at all. As his consciousness moved, characters appeared one after another.

He recalled a text he had memorized in school, Zhu Ziqing's The Back View.

The moment he thought of typing out the text, the complete essay appeared in the document.

Though the essay was not long, the entire thing appeared at once. That typing speed was unimaginably fast.

He then drew upon the memories of this life, intending to type out every passage of Selected Classics he had memorized.

Selected Classics was a comprehensive collection of classical essays compiled by several generations of scholars from the Li Family. Much like the Previous Life's "Five Years of Middle School Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests," it was an exam prep book.

This time too, an immense amount of text instantly appeared in the document: every part of Selected Classics that the previous owner of this body had memorized, nearly two million characters in all.

He saved the document and named it "Selected Classics."

He had a powerful feeling that after being copied once in this manner, those nearly two million characters of Selected Classics had been deeply etched into his mind and would never be forgotten.

With the slightest thought from Li Shiming, he could recall any passage from Selected Classics.

He tried withdrawing his consciousness from the IBMz15 Mainframe. That engraved sensation of memory vanished, returning to the normal feeling of memory from before.

He was not disappointed. Though he still needed to rely on the IBMz15 Mainframe, as long as he remained connected to it for long periods, it would be equivalent to reading through Selected Classics every moment of every day.

One had to know that this was not reading passage by passage, but reading nearly two million characters all at once.

It might not show any results in the short term, but given enough time, even after disconnecting from the IBMz15 Mainframe, he believed it would not be much different from remaining connected to it.

"When I have time, I'll enter the remaining four million characters of Selected Classics into the server as well!" Li Shiming murmured joyfully. But upon sensing the power left in the Uninterruptible Power Supply, he could not help lightly smacking his own forehead.

He had almost forgotten something important. He activated the IBMz15 Mainframe's hard drive array, searching for information on Rosary Peas.

When he saw the Rosary Peas, he had an idea: could he use their deadly poison against Escort Chief Wang?

But he feared that if he ground the Rosary Peas into powder, the poison would take effect too slowly.

He remembered reading reports about Rosary Peas in his Previous Life, including their poisonous medicinal value.

Only after looking through the information in the server did he learn that the deadly toxic component in Rosary Peas was Abrin. He also found a method for extracting Abrin.

However, extracting Abrin required Phosphoric Acid, Ammonium Sulfate, Glycerin, and a Centrifuge.

He transferred the necessary information into the memory, then shut down the extremely power-hungry hard drive array.

He now had all the relevant information in hand. Though he was not a chemist, with this information, he was confident he could extract the chemicals he wanted in this world.

He used a brush to write down a list of materials, then thought for a moment and added several more items.

Since he already had Glycerin, and needed to prepare sulfuric acid before making Ammonium Sulfate, then he only needed Nitric Acid to make Nitroglycerin.

After being kidnapped by Escort Chief Wang, he understood the dangers of this world.

He needed some means of protecting himself. Not to mention harming others—at the very least, he needed to be able to fend off outside threats.

"Young Master, the medicinal herbs have been delivered!" the servant Mo Yan called from outside the study.

"I need these things within one shichen!" Li Shiming instructed, handing the list in his hand to Mo Yan.

The servant Mo Yan looked at the list in his hand. When he saw the names written on it, his face filled with bitterness.

"Young Master, even if I ran my legs off, one shichen wouldn't be enough. I'm not worried about myself—I'm worried I won't be able to carry out your orders!" Mo Yan said with a fawning smile.

"Can't you find more people to run errands? Say it is my order. If it is done well, I will reward you!" Li Shiming Waved His Hand.

"Young Master, it will definitely be delivered within one shichen!" Hearing there was a reward, Mo Yan no longer objected as he turned and spoke.

For others, the items on the list were not easy to purchase. Things such as certain minerals were all difficult to come by.

But by using the estate's connections, many could be found directly in the Nanling Prefecture treasury. It was merely somewhat troublesome.