United States, the Science editorial office.
Adam sat in his chair in the editorial office, yawning as he glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was five in the evening.
Time to clock out!
He stretched and moved his mouse to close the file on his desktop.
As a Science editor, he had to review large numbers of submissions from around the world every day.
And of all those submissions, a conservative estimate put the number that had genuine value at just ten percent!
As for why... it was simple.
Science was one of the world's leading journals.
Countless researchers hoped it would accept and publish their papers.
It was not merely a form of recognition, but a mark of status!
That had also led to a rather frustrating situation.
Aside from legitimate researchers, plenty of "self-taught" researchers submitted papers to Science as well.
These "self-taught" researchers had a name all their own.
Citizen Scientists.
Amateur scientists, for short.
It was no exaggeration to say that at least half the emails Adam received every day came from these Citizen Scientists.
Their conclusions were more outrageous than the last.
Atom-splitting technology using water-sharpened knives, antigravity devices, perpetual motion machines...
In Adam's inbox, if you could imagine it, there was a paper on it.
Adam dragged a file into the trash and let out a deep sigh.
This article was a textbook example of a Citizen Scientist's paper.
Its author claimed to have solved the Goldbach Conjecture.
But when he opened the file and examined it carefully, he was horrified to discover that the author did not even understand what the Goldbach Conjecture was!
"God... Michelle, you really should take a look at this paper," Adam muttered as he deleted it.
At his words, the beautiful blonde, blue-eyed editor beside him smiled and turned toward him. "What is it? Did you get another ridiculous paper?"
Adam stopped what he was doing and swiveled his chair to face Michelle. "The author thinks the Goldbach Conjecture is about proving that 1+1=2."
Michelle froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Oh my God... Adam, I honestly don't understand why you always get these ridiculous papers!"
Adam shrugged helplessly. "Who knows?"
Ding!
Just as Adam was about to get up and leave, a crisp notification sounded from his computer.
"Damn it... another submission!" Adam looked indignantly at Michelle, who had nothing to do. "This isn't fair!"
"I've reviewed fifteen papers today!"
"And fourteen of them were garbage!"
Michelle smiled as she shut down her computer and shrugged. "Really? Every time payday comes around, I think it's pretty unfair too. Want to trade places?"
Adam was speechless.
"On second thought, never mind..."
With a sheepish smile, he sat back down.
The instant he saw the paper's title, his eyebrows shot up.
"Well! It's actually a paper on controlled nuclear fusion!"
"Michelle, let's make a bet. I bet this paper is garbage!"
At his words, Michelle raised her slender eyebrows and rolled her office chair over beside him. "What's the stake?"
"Dinner?"
As Adam spoke, he clicked the mouse to open the file.
"If it's at a Michelin restaurant, you're on!" Michelle glanced at the email's subject line and considered it briefly.
Adam's hand paused on the mouse.
Michelin... that would cost a pretty penny!
But remembering the fourteen worthless papers in a row he had reviewed that day, Adam felt a strange surge of confidence.
"All right! A Michelin restaurant it is!"
"I refuse to believe I'll get a decent paper right before quitting time!"
As he spoke, the attachment opened.
Adam quickly moved his mouse, scrolling down to the author credits.
"...Oh!"
The instant he saw the names, Adam sucked in a sharp breath!
"The second author is actually the Nuclear Physics Laboratory at Sandao Kou University in Xia Country?!"
The corners of Adam's mouth twitched.
"You owe me a Michelin dinner. Don't forget!" Michelle's eyes practically overflowed with amusement.
Adam shook his head helplessly. "Fine, Michelin it is... I'm more interested in this paper's first author."
"This Lv Yongchang... I don't think I've ever heard that name in nuclear physics."
Michelle's expression grew more serious.
She frowned and thought carefully for a while, then slowly shook her head.
"I haven't heard of him either."
"Could he be a newcomer?"
Adam shook his head solemnly and jotted the letters down in a notebook beside him. "Probably not. Do you think a newcomer could get first-author credit on a paper like this?"
"The second author is the Nuclear Physics Laboratory at Sandao Kou University in Xia Country!"
Michelle slowly shook her head. "I don't know either... let's read the paper first!"
Adam nodded gravely.
Once he learned that the paper came from Sandao Kou University in Xia Country, his expression had grown considerably more serious.
"...According to the experiments, a stellarator can effectively extend the duration of controlled nuclear fusion?"
"Thirty-five minutes?!"
"WTF?!"
Adam quickly moved his mouse and scrolled straight to the experimental data.
His eyes widened as he stared at the densely packed data in the paper.
"God... wasn't Xia Country just kicked out of ITER?" he murmured.
He could already imagine the looks on the faces of those people at ITER once this paper was published in Science!
"Wait!"
Beside him, Michelle suddenly let out a quiet cry. "Adam, did you notice?!"
Adam turned to Michelle in confusion. "What is it?"
Looking incredulous, Michelle pointed at the paper's final page. "Adam... doesn't the formatting of this paper look familiar?"
Adam knitted his brows and carefully examined the final page.
"As I complete this thesis, I would first like to thank..."
Adam's pupils contracted sharply!
"This, this is... an undergraduate thesis?!"
The next day.
United States, Stanford University.
Professor Collins arrived at his office early, as usual.
Knock, knock, knock!
An urgent knocking sounded at the door.
Professor Collins, who had only just settled into his chair, frowned slightly.
"Who is it?!"
Professor Collins called toward the door, his tone somewhat unfriendly.
"Professor! It's me!"
A somewhat panicked male voice came from outside.
It was the voice of his student, Eden.
Professor Collins furrowed his brows and answered quietly, "Come in!"
The next moment, the office door was thrown open, and a young man of around thirty rushed inside with a panicked expression.
"What happened?!"
Professor Collins snapped, "Eden, I need an explanation!"
Eden walked nervously up to Collins and placed a document on the desk before him.
"Professor, this is a paper that was just published in Science."
"I think... you should take a look."
Collins frowned even more deeply.
He shot Eden a displeased glance. "Didn't I tell you not to disturb me before nine in the morning?"
At those words, urgency filled Eden's eyes. "Professor! This time is different! Xia Country may be close to mastering controlled nuclear fusion technology!"
Collins's expression changed dramatically!
"What did you say?!"
He quickly picked up the paper from his desk and began reading it carefully.
"Professor... is this true?" Eden asked anxiously.
Collins looked grim and did not immediately answer his student's question.
"How is that possible... a stellarator can sustain controlled nuclear fusion for thirty-five minutes?!"
"This, this is impossible!"
After all, he was the one who had proposed that the United States abandon stellarators!
Although he was unwilling to admit it, the detailed data in the paper dealt him one slap in the face after another.