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After listening to Shi Huilan's introduction, Chen Yuanguang gained some knowledge that was not visible on the surface and came to understand just how formidable AI was at controlling information.

No matter how high China's GFW was in modern society, people could always obtain news from the outside world immediately. No matter how strict North Korea's measures were, information still spread into its central regions.

But within AI-controlled territory, anything it did not want you to know left no trace online beyond word of mouth.

Chen Yuanguang reconsidered. Perhaps he simply had not integrated deeply enough into that world and did not understand its slang well enough. It was entirely possible that the future internet, like the modern world, used slang and metaphors to spread information AI did not want circulated.

Chen Yuanguang decided to keep an eye on online information later and see whether such metaphors existed.

If not, that would be another cause for suspicion.

"Anyway, Lion City isn't a fun place. If you can avoid going there, then don't. For ordinary people, it's hell.

"Of course, for mega-corporations, it's heaven. They can do many things there that they can't do elsewhere."

Chen Yuanguang still had a question. "Didn't you say that the major shareholders behind those mega-corporations are all Alpha?"

Shi Huilan said, "That's right, but that doesn't mean it can control everything.

"In places outside anyone's jurisdiction, like Lion City, a mega-corporation's branch office is assessed only on hard metrics like revenue and profit. What you need to follow are Lion City's rules, not Alpha's rules."

Chen Yuanguang understood. It was like America being the world's police, yet within America's sphere of influence there were orderly and stable places like Korea and Japan, as well as turbulent places like the Middle East.

He simply did not know whether Alpha did not want to interfere or was incapable of doing so.

He did not ask any further questions. There would be plenty of opportunities to talk with Shi Huilan later. From their brief conversation, Shi Huilan seemed to know no less than Samad.

Chen Yuanguang raised Shi Huilan's importance in his mind. If this timeline were a role-playing game, she was at least an NPC with an important part to play.

The research topic Pangu had found for Chen Yuanguang was a difficult problem in biology. Broadly speaking, it involved studying why different components within cells separated from one another and uncovering the underlying principles.

People had observed this phenomenon centuries ago. New research had continued to emerge over the years, but no one had ever truly explained its underlying principles.

All along, people had merely observed the phenomenon. Even AI only observed it, then summarized and generalized its principles. Whenever a new version of the theory was established, new circumstances would emerge, and the original theoretical system could not accommodate the new phenomenon even after being patched.

After humanity colonized Mars, cells developed new characteristics there, and the separation of intracellular components displayed even more phenomena.

If the underlying principles could be found, many diseases caused by the erroneous separation and aggregation of cellular components could be prevented in advance. According to AI's projections, human lifespans would be extended once again.

The subject was extraordinarily difficult, and Chen Yuanguang had never found a lead. He did not need to conduct experiments; the accumulated experimental data in the database was enough. But whenever he came up with a theoretical framework and tried to summarize the underlying principles, a search through the academic databases would reveal that someone before him had already gone down that path.

Precisely because the problem was so difficult, Chen Yuanguang placed his hopes on improving his brain's overall capabilities. Perhaps becoming one of the Super Humans was the answer.

Yet he had now discovered that Alpha was exceptionally wary of Super Humans, pursuing and blocking them on nearly every front.

Chen Yuanguang felt that he needed more ideas.

After returning to the modern timeline, Chen Yuanguang planned to stay there for a while longer this time.

Chen Yuanguang realized that there was still a vast source of wealth in modern society that he had not made use of: the countless internet users.

As for projections about the future, he already possessed a great deal of information. Some had come through official channels, while some had been gathered from people around him.

The information he was interested in could not be asked about directly, and his own guesses might not necessarily be correct.

Chen Yuanguang felt that he needed to find more conjectures, then select the reliable ones and verify them.

"Using my own identity to do this definitely won't work. If I write science fiction again and ask internet users how the future should be designed, I'll eventually draw the attention of people with ulterior motives.

"Looking at things now, I never should have written Kuala Lumpur Affairs."

After rising to fame in just a year by simulating viral evolution, he realized that with the future timeline as his cheat, his ascent to fame had been too fast. Every move he made would be scrutinized under a magnifying glass.

Chen Yuanguang felt that if he wrote another story about the future and openly asked everyone to use their imagination, people would eventually grow suspicious.

"Doing it myself won't work. What about online anonymity? Anonymous posts won't create enough of a stir, so the efficiency would be too low.

"I suppose finding a proxy to do it would be the most suitable option."

While Chen Yuanguang was considering candidates for his plan, Lin Jia had already arranged their flight home.

They both knew that once they returned home this time, they would most likely never return to America. Lin Jia was a little reluctant to leave. "You still have a year before you get your doctoral degree from MIT. Even if you only defend your dissertation remotely, MIT can't possibly refuse to award it to you.

"Columbia University might not agree to let me skip coming back for my defense. But there's no need to worry too much. Knowing Columbia University's nature, as long as I'm willing to pay, getting a master's degree shouldn't be a problem."

Lin Jia said this on the premise that the viral outbreak in this timeline would end soon.

"Farewell, America. I had originally planned to spend some time as a Wall Street elite in New York before returning home.

"Yuanguang, you've grown far beyond anything I imagined." Lin Jia sounded deeply moved.

Chen Yuanguang was also a figure in the spotlight. Especially during the viral pandemic, news outlets began reporting on his return home the moment he arrived.

"Renowned Chinese scientist Chen Yuanguang quietly returned to China today, appearing at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai."

News like this was normal.

"Chen Yuanguang will join Zhifei Biological after returning to China and participate in Zhifei Biological's latest vaccine development work."

"Really?"

"It's true. An insider leaked the news. They reached an agreement with Chen Yuanguang: five million RMB in stock and two million RMB in cash. Chen Yuanguang accepted the invitation."

"Then Zhifei Biological is about to take off. With Chen Yuanguang on board, they'll have a huge advantage in Broad-spectrum Vaccine research."

"Yeah, Zhifei Biological is really willing to spend. They didn't even blink at a total annual salary of seven million."

After news of Chen Yuanguang's return spread, a screenshot of a chat conversation began circulating wildly on Weibo that afternoon.