Ambushed

After finishing all his afternoon classes, Li Qiwei took advantage of the fading sunset to head home.

He needed to finish the first draft of his paper as soon as possible, not wanting to keep Planck waiting too long.

On top of that, he had to write to Einstein—he couldn't let his connection with the God of Love slip.

He planned to outline the paper's main ideas for Einstein, fully igniting the man's potential.

If necessary, he would even make a trip to Switzerland to speak with Einstein face to face.

His mind churning with plans, Li Qiwei didn't let his guard down.

He walked the whole way without spotting Li San, but he knew the man was lurking in the shadows.

That was because he'd specifically instructed Chris to arrange it.

Li Qiwei strongly suspected Raymond would make a move tonight—that spoiled brat was a hotheaded fool.

In Cambridge's April evenings, there was no trace of chill left.

The trees lining the road swayed in the breeze, sending leaves fluttering down in waves.

Suddenly, several figures darted out ahead of Li Qiwei, Raymond among them, arriving "right on schedule."

Raymond's face was brimming with arrogance and barely contained rage.

"Fuck! You goddamn yellow monkey, I'm going to make you taste despair."

With a snap of his fingers, four burly men stepped forward from behind him, all wielding clubs and weapons, vicious-looking—clearly hardened thugs.

Li Qiwei had no idea what the British underworld was like at this time.

Even if they didn't dare kill, they'd probably beat him half to death.

Given his status, even if things blew up, it wouldn't cause much of a stir.

Good thing he'd taken precautions.

Seeing Li Qiwei still putting on a calm front under these circumstances, Raymond's fury skyrocketed, and he ground his teeth in hatred.

"Get him! Cripple this piece of trash."

The four black-clad men were about to step forward when Li Qiwei shouted loudly in Chinese:

"Third Brother, it's your show." With that, he stepped back a few paces.

Raymond and the four men all froze in shock. They had no idea what Li Qiwei had said, but why wasn't he running in a situation like this?

Something was up!

Sure enough, from behind them, a figure slowly emerged.

The newcomer wore martial robes unlike anything Raymond and his men had seen, with tall boots, moving with the stride of a dragon or tiger.

As he drew near, he stopped and stood as still as a pine.

In his left hand, he held a Red Tassel Spear; his right hand hung at his side. A fierce aura suppressed the entire scene.

"Damn, Third Brother is even better at showing off than I am," Li Qiwei silently grumbled.

He hadn't expected Li San, who usually seemed like a chatterbox, to look so ridiculously cool once he got serious.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

Suddenly, the tension snapped, and the black-clad men struck without hesitation.

They swung their clubs and charged at Li San.

Thud!

Li San kicked hard, and the Red Tassel Spear shot like a cannonball into the crowd, slamming deep into the ground.

The four men jolted to a halt, dodging sideways.

Seeing this, Li San pushed off with his legs, moving like shooting stars. In three strides, he was in front of one black-clad man.

Without even looking, he threw a punch—fierce as a tiger descending a mountain, overwhelmingly domineering.

Another black-clad man tried to close in, but Li San delivered a side kick.

Almost simultaneously, the punch and kick each took down one man. The two lay on the ground, wailing in pain.

The remaining two, now terrified, tried to launch a sneak attack.

But Li San spun gracefully, pulled the Red Tassel Spear from the ground, and with a few swift swishes, it danced like pear blossoms.

Smack! Smack!

Two more fell, unable to move.

Finally, Li San gripped the spear with one hand, the tip pressed against Raymond's throat.

If the latter dared move an inch, it would be a spear through the throat.

From start to finish, the fight lasted less than a minute!

By then, Raymond had pissed himself, an unknown liquid streaming down his pants.

Terror gripped his heart.

This Qing Dynasty martial artist was utterly terrifying.

He hadn't even seen how the other party had struck.

Li Qiwei was equally stunned. He didn't know what gun technique Li San had used, but it was surely from a renowned school.

The bodyguard his family had assigned him was absurdly formidable.

He walked over to Raymond and signaled Li San to lower the gun.

Raymond was already paralyzed with fear, collapsing to his knees and begging nonstop.

Li Qiwei looked at him, his tone icy.

"Raymond, this is my warning to you, and the last one."

"If you take me for a sheep, you couldn't be more wrong."

"From today on, if I see you still daring to bully Huaxia people—whoever they are—think about how many heads you have."

"Get lost."

With that, he led Li San away.

On the way back, Li Qiwei asked Li San where he had learned his skills.

Li San mumbled, "Self-taught."

Li Qiwei pressed, "What if the other side had a gun?"

Li San's killing intent flared: "Then they'd already be dead."

With that, he actually pulled a pistol from his chest.

Li Qiwei jolted, his expression turning serious, his eyes fixed on Li San.

"How do you have a gun? If we're found out, we'll be in big trouble."

Li San stowed the weapon and said, "Young master, rest assured. The master gave this to me. In a critical moment, I can use it to hold off the enemy."

"I'll protect you even if it costs me my life."

A warmth surged in Li Qiwei's heart.

"Keep it safe. Don't bring it out unless absolutely necessary."

"I understand, young master."

In his past life, Li Qiwei had been nothing but a weak student with no physical strength.

Transmigrating into this parallel world, aside from his advanced scientific knowledge, he was just like any ordinary person—fragile and vulnerable.

Especially in 1900, when the so-called law was a joke.

In a foreign land, if he died, it would be for nothing.

But Li San's presence undoubtedly gave Li Qiwei a strong sense of security.

Only then could he boldly go ahead and stir things up.

The two made their way home cautiously.

Hong'er served tea, and Li Qiwei picked up his brush to begin writing the Quantum Theory.

Relying on his past life's accumulation and super memory, he finished a five-page draft of the paper in just two hours.

Papers in this era weren't like those of later times, with many details and rules.

On the contrary, the more groundbreaking the paper, the shorter it was.

This paper, which first proposed energy Quantization, would be the key to unlocking modern physics—so of course it had to be short to carry prestige.

Moreover, Li Qiwei deliberately left some flaws in the mathematical reasoning.

He intended to leave them for Professor Planck to perfect.

"I'm probably the only transmigrator who plagiarizes so cautiously," Li Qiwei laughed bitterly to himself.

In truth, it wasn't just about moral considerations.

After all, a Huaxia person standing out too much would upset many people.

Hiding behind a big tree was much safer.

And in the scientific world, Planck was a big tree.

When the day came that his own reputation was strong enough, he wouldn't need to hide anymore.

Thinking this, Li Qiwei suddenly turned to another urgent problem.

Alone, he could hardly change Huaxia's weak foundation.

He needed a group of Huaxia people to help him spread the seeds of science.

Many hands make light work!

And so, a plan sprouted in his mind.

The Spark Plan!

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

He would select gifted seedlings from Huaxia and bring them to Britain for advanced studies.

From this moment on, he would nurture Huaxia's modern scientific system bit by bit.

Because in this world, only he knew what terrifying weapons the coming scientific explosion would create.

As long as Huaxia could be the first to master those weapons.

Those heart-wrenching, tragic histories would never come to pass.

This parallel world's Huaxia would inevitably stride toward an even more glorious path.

However, this matter required long-term planning, and he had no means to carry it out for now.

So Li Qiwei set aside those thoughts and began writing a letter to Einstein.

"

Albert Einstein:

Regarding the second dark cloud, I have conceived the concept of 'quanta.'

I believe energy is not continuous, but comes in discrete packets.

"

Li Qiwei scribbled swiftly on the letter paper, a hint of mischievous amusement in his heart.

Einstein would surely be astonished when he saw this letter, and would definitely admire him to no end.

Just thinking about it was thrilling.

Soon, the letter was finished, and it was already 11 p.m.

Li Qiwei then went to bed, attended by Hong'er.

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