Thesis

"Where are you making your fortune, Ke?"

"Working at my unit, doing some small scientific research projects, just busy with nothing." During the Chinese New Year gathering, when his cousins asked, Du Ke would always brush them off with this answer. "I just took on a big project, and the rewards from above were substantial. I got lucky and received a bit too, which is how I managed to buy a house and a car."

"What kind of project is it?"

"New energy, batteries and such."

"A house isn't cheap, and you bought a car too. You're doing the best out of all of us in the Old Du family."

"I took out a loan... As for the car, the BYD Han isn't expensive, only a little over two hundred thousand." It's a proud tradition for the poor to pretend to be rich and the rich to pretend to be poor. Du Ke understood this deeply.

Even if he wanted to show off, his parents would remind him: "Be low-key. Don't flaunt your wealth. Projects aren't available every day. What if you can't earn money in the future? Wouldn't that be bragging? Besides, if you say you have money, everyone will want to borrow from you. Nowadays, if you can avoid lending money, do so. Once you lend it out, all sorts of trouble will follow, and you might even fall out with them."

"I know, I won't lend money recklessly."

So, Du Ke had a relatively peaceful New Year. Under the guise of having a loan, no one asked him to borrow money. As for buying a car for his father, it was only mentioned internally within the family. If asked, the answer would be that it was bought with a loan, and they owed the bank so much money that they only had enough cash left for daily expenses. Fortunately, rural life has improved, and very few relatives or friends are truly short of money and would easily ask for a loan.

Of course, Du Ke is keeping a low profile now because his career hasn't even started. Once his company is established, leading his relatives to get rich won't be a problem.

After visiting relatives for a few days, buying a large pile of gifts for his grandparents and maternal grandparents, and making a good impression on his uncles and maternal uncles, the New Year was spent busily. He didn't have time to research, so he could only browse information online during his free time, checking the current international technological landscape and understanding the latest cutting-edge developments, mainly the escalating chip war.

ASML's 5nm photolithography machines are already in production abroad, while Shanghai Microelectronics is still working on its 22nm photolithography machine. The gap is not small.

"Making money is important, but contributing to the country's development is equally important. Once I accumulate capital with the Long-Haired Battery, I will establish my own laboratory and develop more technologies from the Fantasy World."

At this moment, Du Ke suddenly felt a surge of ambition. He wanted to rely on his ability to travel between two worlds to contribute to China's rejuvenation.

Du Ke didn't stay in his hometown for long after the New Year. On the sixth day of the first lunar month, he returned to Luzhou City because a wealthy client had come to the car modification factory, requesting an urgent car modification.

Du Ke initially refused, not wanting to earn money during the New Year, preferring to wait until after the Lantern Festival.

However, the wealthy client offered an additional 500,000 yuan New Year's bonus on top of the modification fee. Du Ke blinked his eyes and decided to go.

It was just a car modification, and he only needed to propose the plan; the actual modification work would be done by other mechanics.

Upon arriving at the car modification factory, he met the wealthy owner, a portly man with an imposing presence. He offered cigarettes and drinks, being very enthusiastic and polite.

Du Ke then meticulously planned the modification for the client's Mercedes-Benz G500. In reality, there wasn't much to modify on this type of off-road vehicle, as it was already very capable.

But since the client was willing, Du Ke came up with a plan.

Earning a 500,000 yuan bonus plus a commission on the modification fee, he had essentially recouped the cost of his father's Audi Q5 in just one day. He was quite satisfied.

Modifying cars was too simple and earned money too quickly. If he didn't have grand ambitions, he wouldn't want to travel to the Fantasy World to research alien technology; he might as well open a car modification factory himself.

Afterward, he officially returned to work.

When there was work, he would go to the modification factory; when there was no work, he would go home and frantically research the Long-Haired Bomb.

As his research deepened, the structural principles of the Long-Haired Bomb gradually surfaced. It was a special structure, different from Earth's, that used a unique chain structure to decompose matter into electron flow and proton flow, storing them separately within cells.

When the cell membrane ruptured, the electron flow and proton flow would combine, instantly releasing a massive amount of energy.

In the Fantasy World, this energy would cause an explosion. On Earth, lacking a certain medium, it would only release intense light and heat. This was undoubtedly an excellent technical solution for a New Energy battery. By controlling the power output, high-performance batteries could be manufactured.

Of course, there were still many challenges to overcome between the Long-Haired Bomb and the Long-Haired Battery.

But this didn't stop Du Ke from applying some of the analyzed principles to the current mainstream lithium-ion batteries. "I can start writing papers. Just the aggregation of electron flow can be broken down into ten high-quality papers, and the collision of electron flow and proton flow can yield another ten to twenty papers."

Once these papers were published, Du Ke felt he would at least become a prominent figure of his generation. Even if he didn't win the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Top Science and Technology Award should be within his grasp.

"I used to hate writing papers the most. My graduation thesis was revised over and over. Why do I suddenly enjoy writing papers now?" In the spacious and bright study of his villa, Du Ke was comfortably typing on his keyboard.

He planned to write his first paper, titled "Feasibility Study on Compressed Electron Aggregation State." It was an overview paper, only involving some preliminary feasibility discussions on electron flow, and did not involve the core secrets of electron flow—secrets Du Ke wouldn't reveal easily.

He cross-referenced academic papers online while writing his own.

Soon, a rough draft of the paper was completed. After some revisions, he looked at the six-thousand-word paper and, after some thought, called Professor Tao.

"Hello, Xiao Du?"

"It's me, Professor Tao. I've written a paper and would like your guidance."

"Oh? You've written a paper? Are you planning to pursue postgraduate studies?" Professor Tao was surprised. He had previously thought Du Ke just wanted to start a company, which was why he had consulted him for information on the battery industry. He hadn't expected Du Ke to write papers. "Then send it to my email, and I'll take a look when I have time."

"Professor Tao, why don't you look at the paper in person? You can also guide me on how to write papers... The coffee shop by the south gate, I'll drive over now."

With money paving the way, even though Professor Tao was busy with work, he quickly found time to meet Du Ke at a coffee shop by the south gate of Xiake University.

Du Ke got straight to the point, handing over the printed paper: "Professor Tao, please take a look."

"Okay." Professor Tao took the paper but didn't immediately open it. Instead, he ordered a cup of Longjing Tea from the waiter and then said with a smile, "Why the sudden thought of writing a paper? Are you really planning to pursue postgraduate studies?"

"Haha, no, no, no. Even if you asked me to pursue postgraduate studies, I wouldn't have the energy or interest. My goal, as I told you, Professor Tao, is to start a battery company."

After chatting for a bit, Professor Tao finally looked at the paper's title: "Feasibility Study on Compressed Electron Aggregation State. This title... I can't quite grasp it." He casually flipped open the first page. Below the title was the author's signature: "Du Ke Laboratory, Luzhou, Anhui Province, Du Ke."

"What's this Du Ke Laboratory?"

"It's a laboratory I plan to establish under my future company. It's mainly for my personal research into new things."

"Are you telling the truth?" Professor Tao looked up, glancing at Du Ke's serious expression. "I'm getting more and more unable to see through you. What's your background? Could you be a rich second-generation?"

"A university graduate, preparing to start a business. Please think of me that way for now, Professor Tao."

Professor Tao fell silent and chose to continue reading the paper. The abstract at the beginning stated: "Whether it is possible to separate the protons and electrons of an atom through special means, and to form separate proton flow and electron flow while maintaining the interatomic forces, is the main research direction of this paper..."

"Oh my, this... " After reading the abstract, Professor Tao's face darkened slightly. "Is this paper a bit... pseudo-scientific?"

If it weren't for Du Ke's willingness to spend money, he would have thrown the paper in Du Ke's face. He was, after all, an Associate Professor at Huaxia University of Science and Technology, young and promising, with a bright future. Yet, here he was, rushing over to help read a paper that reeked of pseudo-science.