Wandering Spaceship in Deep Space - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Intelligence Enhancer?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Since it was impossible for him to bring his property on the ship, it would be better to donate to a social welfare institution and get it over and done with. Doing that would also save him from a headache.

However, there were tricks when it came to donations.

Among the current welfare institutions, there were many crooks mixed in with the honest folks, and many of these organizations were actually set up by the wealthy for inheritance tax evasion purposes. Therefore, donating money to these organizations was a lost cause, and a futile attempt at doing charity.

However, after much consideration and research, Zhang Yuan still maintained his initial decision to donate all his assets, and he donated to an organization called the ‘Deep Space Foundation.”

That massive global non-profit organization was the initiator of the interstellar colonization project, and it was directly managed by the coalition government. Therefore, all its procedure of cash flow was extremely strict and in compliance with a proper non-profit organization.

Standing before his camera, Zhang Yuan said, “I am willing to donate all my fixed assets, cash and cash equivalents to Deep Space Foundation, with effect in Year 2266…”

After he recorded the video and filled in the required information, the entire donation process was complete.

Before the effective date passed, he still possessed the assets and he could renege on the contract if he wanted to.

After carefully contemplating for a period of time, he filled in the effective date to be two years later.

With two years as a buffer, ‘Earth Age’ was expected to have reached the position of Pluto’s orbit. It would be best if nothing happened, but in the event of an accident, they were unlikely to survive even if a rescue team was dispatched.

“That’ll be it!”

“A prodigal. I’m really a prodigal!”

After he clicked confirm after much consideration, he felt both heartache and happiness at the same time, which resulted in an inexplicable empty feeling in his heart. He felt as if he was paralyzed.

Those assets were all left behind by his father, and yet he had donated them all out just like that.

Very soon, Zhang Yuan comforted himself and threw his reluctance to the back of his mind.

Following which, there seemed to be nothing he could do.

In the past when he worked in the space city, there was endless work to complete, and the intern team leader ordered them around like dogs. That period was the so-called ‘pressure training’. So now, when he suddenly had so much free time on hand, he felt somewhat at a loss.

Humans were a type of creatures that had a debauched lifestyle

Some liked to frantically party around and unleash themselves before their departure, but Zhang Yuan did not think it was necessary.

“I’ll read a book then. It’s always good to study and learn more things.”

Zhang Yuan went into the study room and looked through the catalogue.

When he saw those book titles, Zhang Yuan could not help but click his tongue.

There were two types of mathematical books in this world. The first type was, those that you gave up after the first page, and the second type was… those that you gave up after the first sentence.

However, these books belonged to the third type, where you gave up after reading the book title.

Zhang Yuan bit the bullet and casually opened one of the books.

On a certain page, a certain line, these words were written: For prime numbers p, (Z/p^nZ)n ≥ 1, the projection limit…”

“1/5 =…5412541254125412”

What he was reading was not English or some alien language and when all these random words and numbers were placed together, it became incomprehensible. In particular, what were those the ellipses before the string of numbers supposed to mean?

A neat line of words was written on the space above the page: … regarding the question on prime integers, I have a better idea. But unfortunately, the space here is too limited and I cannot find a way to fit it in.

The bulging vein on Zhang Yuan’s forehead twitched and he sighed before giving up the useless struggle.

As for why he had such books in his house? Of course, it was because his god-like father left these behind.

His father once said, “All the problems in this world are classified into two categories. The first category is philosophical problems, and the other is mathematical problems. Mastering mathematics will make anything you do become simple…”

That’s right, Zhang Yuan was the son of a scientist.

The advantages of that were, he could receive the best education and cultivate numerous good habits from a young age.

The disadvantage of it was, when his innate intelligence was at the standard of ordinary people, he would always feel like a failure, leading him to constantly doubt himself if he was really mentally retarded. Even if he had worked hard, enrolled in a good university, and graduated with stellar results, he still felt like a retard as compared to his father.

The intellectual gap between humans was sometimes wider than between a man and a dog.

*Ding-dong, ding-dong*

Just then, an ear-piercing ring sounded, pulling him back from his thoughts.

Zhang Yuan leaped up from the chair and opened the door to see a delivery robot standing outside.

“Hello Mr. Zhang, you have a package. Please check and accept!” These types of 6-axis autonomous robots were capable of completing some simple physical tasks. Decades ago, numerous delivery couriers had been laid off and replaced by robots, which had even led to a large-scale riot. Of course, that only happened overseas.

“My package?”

In order to cut back on cost, delivery robots were only equipped with basic AIs, without the ability of processing complex logic to understand a conversation

“Hello Mr. Zhang, you have a package. Please check and accept!”

Zhang Yuan glanced at the sender’s information and unexpectedly, it turned out to be from the Donghua City’s Law Firm. That name caused his heart to skip a beat.

“What the heck? A lawyer’s letter? I’ve broken the law?”

“Hello Mr. Zhang, you have a package. Please check and accept!” The robot repeated mechanically.

“…”

After scanning his fingerprints and confirming Zhang Yuan was the intended recipient, the robot handed over a large package to him.

With a bang, Zhang Yuan shut the door and he felt somewhat nervous as he opened the package in a hurry.

If he had really somehow broken the law, perhaps his qualification to board the ‘Earth Age’ might be revoked—that was something he dearly wished to not happen.

Upon opening the package, he saw a letter that wrote: Dear Mr. Zhang Yuan, these are items your father had entrusted us for safekeeping. This testament will only take effect when you are about to leave Earth…”

Zhang Yuan finally relaxed as he thought, ‘So it’s a present left behind by dad.’

Inside the package was a tablet laptop together with an ice-cold iron box. The dry ice within was still sublimating.

When he switched on the laptop, a familiar figure appeared on the screen, and that was his dear father.

“Zhang Yuan!”

“Hey, dad.” Zhang Yuan muttered to himself as he looked at the screen.

The middle-aged man on the screen revealed a slight smile and said, “I’ve been feeling unwell recently, perhaps my time is coming to an end soon and I’ll be going to meet Einstein…”

“…”

“…If you are prepared to live on Earth for the rest of your life, I believe the assets I’ve left behind can last you for quite some time.”

Indeed, his father had left behind a house in Donghua City along with several hundred million federal dollars—that was more than enough for him to marry a wife and raise a child.

“But if you intend to leave together with ‘Earth Age’, then those assets are useless. Just donate it or something. The only important thing is the knowledge you possess.”

Zhang Yuan forced a smile. Unexpectedly, their thoughts were similar.

“I feel that what I’ve taught you is far from enough and even though you appear to be hard-working, that 1% talent is more important than hard work in many fields. I am deeply aware that you do not have the talent for scientific research. You are only an ordinary man…”

Zhang Yuan awkwardly scratched his head, and remained calm.

Perhaps he was already used to such remarks and his skin was thicker than a dead pig’s.1 “Even though I’m not a genius, I’m not stupid. Otherwise, how could I have passed the astronaut examinations? My intelligence is still average, alright?”

Zhang Yuan was a little confused. What the hell was his deceased father thinking? Why did he send a laptop just to scold him?

After his father nagged on for quite some time, he finally delved into the main topic. “*Cough*…This laptop contains some of my thoughts and ideas. It includes my thoughts about artificial intelligence, potential robot algorithms, and other cutting-edge technologies that have yet to be revealed to the public. You can take a look at them.”

‘Oh my, these are good stuff!’ Zhang Yuan thought.

“Don’t just think of taking a shortcut. These ideas are still incomplete and if you are interested, you can try to perfect them. Just treat it as a small gift from me. Of course, copying knowledge is useless if you don’t understand it.”

Whenever his father talked about his academic achievements, he would blabber on endlessly. It was as if these were the only topics that could stimulate his desire to chat.

After another long period of talking, his father’s complexion slightly reddened as he started to get tired.

“Oh, that’s right. Inside that metal box, there’s a… enhancer.”

His father’s expression looked strange as he paused momentarily before continuing, “There’s a 35% probability that it would turn you smarter, a 50% probability that you will remain the same, and a 15% probability that you’ll become more stupid!”

“If you despise your current intelligence, perhaps you can give it a try.”

“But you’ll have to bear all the consequences yourself!”