Researcher

Institute of Electrical Research, Information Technology Building.

"Everyone!"

William clapped his hands, signaling everyone in the lab to put down their research and gather together. "I have something to announce!"

Everyone looked bewildered.

"Sulu, come here!"

William gestured for Sulu to step forward and handed him a document. "Your DC thesis has passed review, and we have decided to award you 15 points. Therefore... from now on, you are a formal researcher. Congratulations!"

Slap! Slap!

He led the applause, and Andrew and Cecilia immediately followed suit, as did the other researchers.

Only Victor looked grim, but still raised his hand.

"These are your points, and they're already recorded in your file."

After everyone finished speaking, William handed a small bag to Sulu.

"This is... a token?"

Sulu looked at it, his face turning somewhat embarrassed.

Inside the small purse were silver tokens, very light but not made of plastic, with a cursive 'L' symbol on the front.

You can even sense a mysterious aura emanating from it.

Such currency is even more difficult to counterfeit than Silver Dollar.

"The real points are already recorded in your file and will only increase, not decrease, unless academic fraud is proven! And these points are available for you to use; there are 15 in total!"

William's expression turned serious as he looked directly at Sulu: "I suggest you... not use them immediately, but rather save them up carefully, and cherish them like you cherish your eyes!"

"Thank you, Professor, I understand."

Sulu bowed politely to express his gratitude.

Knowing that these points might only be redeemed for Gold Dragon and ordinary research results in the outer academy, but if you accumulate enough, you might be able to directly enter the inner core, or even redeem extraordinary knowledge.

Professor William's words were clearly a well-intentioned reminder.

"Alright... everyone, get back to your work!"

Professor William forced a smile and returned to his office.

Sulu glanced at Victor, not considering him an opponent, and followed him into the office.

"What? Our official researcher, is there something else?"

William, holding a cup of coffee, said, "A full-time researcher earns three Gold Dragon a week. If the research project is successful, you can receive some bonuses... Are you having trouble choosing a project?"

"That's not it. It's about the previous experiment, the electrolysis information transmission..."

Sulu thought for a moment, then spoke up.

Although William sometimes has a stern face, he is actually quite upright.

"I've given up on that experiment!"

At this point, William sighed and put down his coffee cup, "Indeed... that method is too resource-intensive and simply cannot be put into practical use. Apart from proving the possibility of transmitting electrical information, it has no other value."

"Um?"

Sulu was startled.

He had thought William was the kind of stubborn kid who wouldn't change his ways until he'd hit a brick wall. Had he suddenly changed his mind?

Seemingly sensing his confusion, William continued, "It was Lord Slayden Walter who convinced me; he used... uh... some means to demonstrate the potential of this experiment."

"So that's how it is!"

Sulu thought of the power of the mystical side.

As the Ninth Seat of the Green Tree Council, Slayden Walter is highly likely to be a professional on the [Arcanist] path. His thinking and deductive abilities are terrifying, and he may even be able to use magic to simulate experiments.

We didn't know the road before, but once we know the direction, we can check for dead ends and exits. There shouldn't be any major problems.

Only with such people at the helm can the research institute be guaranteed to stay on the right track, or at least, even if it takes a wrong turn, it won't stray too far off course.

"Also, the adults mentioned you!"

William's face was full of admiration, clearly showing his great respect for Slayden Walter: "He read your paper and praised you for being very 'talented'!"

"Really?" Sulu immediately showed a look of flattery.

Slayden Walter is the sole bigwig at the Institute of Electrical Research. For an ordinary researcher, such a reputation is an unparalleled honor, and it would be problematic to remain too calm about it.

"Yes, you must keep up the good work!"

William looked at Sulu, but there was something else he didn't say.

That Lord Slayden Walter even intends to take on a student, not in the ordinary sense, but as a true Apprentice!

That's why he didn't directly become Sulu's mentor.

Otherwise, Sulu would have received a hint after becoming a formal researcher.

'A talented and lucky kid!'

William mentally assessed the situation and waved his hand.

Although his idea of transmitting information via electric current failed in one direction, he was not discouraged and prepared to immediately begin research in another direction.

He firmly believed that it was possible to achieve fast, convenient, and inexpensive information transmission using the speed of electric current!

This is not just the researchers' confidence in themselves, but also because this was a topic directly assigned by the Ninth Seat!

The general direction is definitely correct, but the method needs to be changed. As for that Electrolytic Prompt Terminal, let it go to hell!

"And... the professor!"

Sulu stopped in his tracks as he was about to leave. "I actually have an idea about this experiment!"

"Oh, tell me about it!"

William's attitude was different this time.

It's unclear whether it was because they accepted the failure or because Sulu became a full-fledged researcher.

"Regarding that transmission experiment... I think it's wasteful of us to use more than thirty lines, and the electrolytic reaction at the terminal isn't very stable either... Why not just use one?"

Sulu took a deep breath.

"One message? How will that display?" William instinctively shook his head.

"One is enough. Electric current inherently contains information, even something as simple as 'on' and 'off', which can be controlled by a key... What we need to do is encode the original information and transmit it through this signal. As long as the terminal receives and decrypts it, that's all that's needed."

With just two variables—on and off—a whole world can be built! That's the magic of binary!

William seemed struck by lightning, frozen in place, muttering to himself, "That's right... as long as the encoding is followed by decryption, one line is enough to carry the information... This reduces too many variables, making success entirely possible, and the cost is low... Perfect! Why... why didn't I think of that?"

Sometimes, scientific research is just a thin layer of paper away from understanding the truth.

Seeing this, Sulu smiled and handed over his actual thesis, "I have a thesis on this topic here. Please submit it for review, supervisor!"

William took it and glanced at it. "<On a Concept of Encoding and Telegraphy>? You've finished it?"

"That's right."

Sulu answered affirmatively.

After observing him for some time, he felt that Professor William was trustworthy, and besides, he had to make this trip eventually.

If anything goes wrong, he still has the trump card of radio communication, so he has nothing to fear.