Before the Scientific Research and Development Committee hosting this forum, Pym felt like a clown.
Standing beneath the spotlights, with hundreds of peers staring at him from below, he could only awkwardly operate the projector and haltingly explain his ideas.
His girlfriend's phantom was clinging to his side, constantly making gestures to draw his attention. He could not focus on the matter at hand, while the audience could not see the illusion. As a result, they grew increasingly impatient with his stumbling academic presentation.
After forcing himself through his ideas, Pym wiped the sweat from his forehead and held the microphone with trembling hands.
"I'm finished. Is there anything anyone would like to discuss?"
The audience fell silent. A few scientists yawned, several looked relieved, and quite a few had gone to the restroom to empty themselves out for the next speaker.
The atmosphere was exceedingly awkward. Hank gave a bitter smile as he wiped his sweat onstage, feeling as though he were naked.
But this was, after all, an academic conference, and the organizing committee had long prepared for such situations. Scientists who were poor speakers were hardly rare, so the event naturally had academic brokers arranged by the hosts—plainly put, plants.
Whenever someone was left unable to step down gracefully, these plants would offer them a way out. They did not possess profound academic knowledge, but they could at least keep a simple conversation going.
At that moment, an elderly expert with a full head of white hair and an air of great prestige raised his hand.
"Doctor Pym, your proposal is to use giant ants to pull turbines and generate electricity. You also said ants can lift objects four hundred times their own weight and drag objects over seventeen hundred times their own weight. If that is