Blue Cocoon

After practicing driving three times, Du Ke drove his father home.

Then Du Ke told his father about publishing papers and being recommended for graduate school at Xiake University.

"Really?" Du Ke's father still could not believe it.

Although every father hoped his son would become successful, he knew his own son well. Du Ke had been average in school, not particularly gifted or exceptionally intelligent. His strengths were that he was obedient and hardworking, which was why he had gotten into the ordinary second-tier Anhui University. After graduation, Du Ke had not mentioned taking the graduate entrance exam, and neither had his father. Perhaps deep down, both of them believed Du Ke did not have what it took for graduate school.

Who would have thought that so much could change in a single year? Leaving aside the money Du Ke had made, his father had never expected him to quietly secure a recommendation to Xiake University.

"Huaxia University of Science and Technology?" Du Ke's father repeated. People from Anhui Province generally called Huaxia University of Science and Technology "University of Science and Technology," not Xiake University. "Didn't you say you were starting a business? How did you suddenly get recommended for graduate school there?"

"The professors appreciated my paper, so they gave me a graduate school recommendation slot. It's basically just giving me a degree, and it won't interfere with my business. Besides, my paper is related to the direction of my business. Professor Tao Xun will supervise my master's studies, and Dean Chen Yang will supervise my doctoral studies. In a few years, I'll be Dr. Duke Ke." Du Ke was very pleased with himself. "The highest degree anyone in the Old Du family has had so far is a bachelor's degree. I'm raising the Old Du family by two whole levels."

The Du family was not some great clan, but Du Ke had plenty of paternal cousins, and there were many cousins of his generation as well. Including Du Ke, only three of them had graduated from college, and that was thanks to the expansion of undergraduate enrollment.

"A doctorate!" Du Ke's father was stunned again. "Are you sure you haven't been scammed? How did a doctorate suddenly enter the picture?"

"Dean Chen Yang is the dean of Xiake University School of the Young Class. He had already achieved fame and success twenty years ago and was selected for the Hundred Talents Program. Why would he scam me? What would he gain from it?" Du Ke said. "Of course, if I don't perform well in the future, then his promise to supervise my doctoral studies probably won't count."

"Then you need to perform well. Study hard in graduate school and don't waste this opportunity. This is a doctorate! If you can become a doctor, your mother and I will have no regrets in this life."

At noon, the family of three happily had lunch together.

That afternoon, his mother went to play mahjong as usual. His father had originally planned to practice driving, but now he did not bother. He simply took the Journal of Chemical Physics and the separate-print papers with him as he went visiting. As for Du Ke, he returned to Luzhou City after lunch. He still needed to discuss his fourth paper with Tao Xun and Chen Yang, revise it as soon as possible, and submit it to Physical Review B. Although he had left, his name continued to echo through his hometown.

"Have you heard? Du Laosan's son, Du Ke, got into graduate school at Xiake University!"

"He didn't get in through the exam. He was recommended. That's even harder than getting in through the exam—graduate school at Xiake University!"

"His papers have even been published in foreign journals. He's really capable."

"Didn't he buy a house and a car in the city last year? What exactly does Du Ke do in Luzhou? He's making money while preparing for graduate school?"

"He must be doing scientific research. Researchers make money these days. Develop a new technology, sell the patent, and who knows how much you can make."

"I also heard he's doing a combined master's and doctoral program. In a few years, he'll be a doctor."

"Does Du Ke have a girlfriend?"

"You really couldn't tell there was anything special about Du Ke before. He was just an ordinary kid. He went to Anhui University for college, right? That wasn't particularly impressive either. You know Lao Zhou's son, right? He got into Fudan University. And there's a student over in Qianwei who got into Zheda University."

"What place doesn't have geniuses? Quite a few people from our town got into University of Science and Technology too. In today's society, a diploma is your ticket through the door. There's a difference between graduates from ordinary universities and graduates from prestigious ones. Since Du Ke can get into graduate school at University of Science and Technology, whether he becomes a doctor or not, he'll never have to worry about food or clothes for the rest of his life. Wherever he works, people will want him. What people compete for now is talent!"

Du Ke no longer cared how the people back home talked about him or how his parents showed him off.

After discussing things with Chen Yang and Tao Xun, he formally submitted his fourth paper, "An Overview of Electron Flow Theory and Research into Its Practical Applications." The paper was roughly a review-style piece, introducing and supplementing the first three papers while looking ahead to the next stage of electron flow theory research. Its total word count was still Du Ke's favorite: six thousand words, neither too long nor too short.

"Dean Chen, Professor Tao, I'm going out for a while soon. I'll be back in as little as three to five days, or as long as half a month."

"That won't be a problem. Physical Review B takes at least two months to review a submission. Even if they reject it and send it back, a month will have passed."

Everything was settled.

On a clear day in May, Du Ke got up early and ate a delicious meal. Then he activated the positional coordinates within the Mind Armor. In an instant, time seemed to stop, and his consciousness once again stretched countless light-years away. Before him was the familiar scene of Fantasy World, the very place where he had first crossed over: the center of the Great Blue Forest. Behind him was still his villa on Earth.

He stepped across. The Mind Armor's energy rapidly dropped by a third, his consciousness snapped back to reality, and he was already in Fantasy World.

"Whew, I'm back again!" Du Ke smiled faintly and looked up at the sky. The weather was somewhat overcast today. Clouds obscured the two suns overhead, and there was a light breeze, no stronger than Force 1. The thermometer showed a temperature of 36°C. It was probably already summer in Fantasy World. "According to the original plan, the first step is to collect Bomb Caterpillar samples."

Wearing the Titanium Alloy Nano Armor, he quickly reached a large Blue Maple tree and tried to find Bomb Caterpillars. To his surprise, however, he found none.

He switched to another Blue Maple tree, but still found nothing. Instead, beneath the branches, he saw spindle-shaped objects hanging one after another. "These look like cocoons or chrysalises. Don't tell me all the Bomb Caterpillars have started metamorphosing into butterflies?" Caterpillars underwent complete metamorphosis, passing through the stages of larva, pupa, and butterfly. Whether Fantasy World followed the same biological laws was still uncertain.

With that thought, he plucked a grayish-white cocoon. It was about the size of a child's fist. He carefully cut it open, revealing a strange pupa inside, a pure blue pupa. Du Ke cautiously touched the Blue Cocoon with tweezers. The instant he made contact, the Blue Cocoon exploded with a boom. The tremendous blast swiftly tore apart his reinforced Titanium Alloy Nano Armor.

Some kind of corrosive substance continued eating away at the armor.

"This should be the pupa of a Bomb Caterpillar." Du Ke did not panic. He had prepared thoroughly beforehand. Inside the Nano Armor, he repeatedly manifested new protective gear, layer after layer, blocking the damage until the Blue Cocoon's explosion was quickly neutralized. "The explosive power is far stronger than Long-Haired Bombs. The corrosive energy is both similar to and different from the high temperatures produced on Earth. There may be some substance here that Earth lacks."

Long-Haired Bombs could not explode on Earth, yet in Fantasy World, the slightest touch could trigger a violent explosion. Clearly, some substance was catalyzing them.

Du Ke had suspected before that this substance was likely related to "magic." He had even irresponsibly imagined that it might be Magic Element. The magic shields of Shield Crows and the Fire Resistance Ring of Horned Rocs both drew upon Magic Element. Long-Haired Bombs also drew upon some kind of Magic Element to produce such violent explosions. Perhaps starting with Bomb Caterpillars would allow him to uncover the secrets of magic.

"Now that the Bomb Caterpillars are gone, I'll collect more cocoons and run experiments after I return. Comparing the two may speed up research on the Long-Haired Battery." Delighted, he picked ten cocoons and sealed them inside airtight containers.