Did You Destroy the World Today?
Chapter 16: The Smartest Monkey in the Universe

After leaving Ren Jian's office, Jiang Xingye and Chen Yan immediately gathered around Lin Xu with concern.

"How did it go? What did the boss say?"

Jiang Xingye was the first to speak, while Chen Yan watched expectantly from the side.

"Further optimization is needed."

Lin Xu remained expressionless.

"The boss thinks this proposal has similarities with competitor products. To avoid legal risks, we need to provide more technical details."

"I'll be working on this for the next couple days. If anything else comes up in the team, I'll need Group Leader Chen to handle it."

"No problem, no problem."

Chen Yan nodded repeatedly.

"But we're about to officially launch the project soon. The division of responsibilities, role assignments..."

He left his sentence unfinished, clearly trying to gauge Lin Xu's stance on "positions" and see if the boss had given any instructions.

"That's something Group Leader Chen should discuss directly with the boss."

As Lin Xu finished speaking, the reception room door happened to open.

The executive secretary entered and called Chen Yan away. 

Before leaving, Chen Yan gave Lin Xu a complicated look, the eager light in his eyes seeming to dim slightly.

After he left, Jiang Xingye lowered her voice and leaned closer to Lin Xu:

"Not going well?"

Lin Xu smiled.

"Not going well, but also going well."

"Let's say it's conditional success."

"And coincidentally, it's a condition I can probably meet."

"Perfect!"

Jiang Xingye raised her hand for a high-five.

"Smack!"

"You trust me that much?"

Lin Xu asked curiously.

"I ran a credit check on you."

Jiang Xingye said seriously.

"...That's ridiculous."

Lin Xu rolled his eyes.

"Let's go."

"Probably nothing else today, back to work."

"I have important things to do tonight, can't work overtime."

"Tonight? Important things??"

Jiang Xingye looked at Lin Xu warily, as if ready to explode at any moment.

Lin Xu waved his hand amusedly and replied:

"I need to research at the National Library... some papers are only available there."

"That's acceptable."

Jiang Xingye nodded in satisfaction.

They walked back to the office one after another, and the moment they entered, Jiang Xingye resumed her usual aloof, unapproachable demeanor...

...

7 PM.

After work, Lin Xu grabbed a quick meal near the company before hurrying back to his apartment.

The entire way, he kept thinking about matters in Bracelet World. After organizing his thoughts, he roughly outlined a to-do list.

First and foremost - the apocalypse was likely coming in 20 years.

Whether in Bracelet World or reality, he had to solve this problem.

Next, further deduction showed that not just him, but the Planetary Reincarnation organization also predicted the apocalypse. Though their prediction wasn't precise, they likely possessed substantial "apocalypse-related" clues.

If he wanted the truth about the apocalypse, this organization was the most convenient lead.

Finally, it was now confirmed that the real world was connected to Bracelet World. Some of his actions in reality would reflect in Bracelet World.

Therefore, if he encountered unsolvable problems in Bracelet World, he could try changing "variables" in reality to create conditions.

This made climbing the corporate ladder and reaching higher positions extremely necessary.

After all, the higher his position, the more resources he could mobilize, making problem-solving easier.

Alright!

Lin Xu took a deep breath.

First solve the Star Voyager-1 issue.

Get the technical documents first, complete this project ahead of schedule!

This way he could not only secure a higher position sooner, but also accelerate Tianqiong Technology's development.

In the original timeline, Star Voyager-1 took 7 years to complete. What if he could shorten that to 5 years, or even 3?

Technological development is like a snowball - it grows bigger as it rolls.

His small push today might someday become a butterfly's wingbeat that starts a storm.

----So where to begin?

Entering his bedroom, Lin Xu opened his computer and began reviewing the rocket proposal he'd written—copied—from start to finish.

This proposal was designed around the "space shuttle" concept, so the problems to solve were practical space shuttle design and manufacturing issues.

After brief consideration, Lin Xu typed out several key challenges:

[1. Thermal insulation materials for the heat protection system]

[2. High-thrust engines for the propulsion system]

[3. Lightweight composite materials for the structural system]

Listing them out made the major challenges clear.

Looking closer—wow, two of three problems were materials-related.

----Wait, all three were materials-related!

Didn't high-thrust engines also require advanced materials?

Take Lin Xu's previous ideas like variable cycle engines or air-space dual-mode engines—weren't they all bottlenecked by high-temperature resistant materials?

Wow.

Materials science was making another grand entrance in human history.

But honestly, this was also an extremely "opportunistic" yet massively impactful direction.

What is materials science?

Alchemy!

Despite all the systems and theories, the birth of new materials ultimately comes down to one word:

Randomness.

Developing new materials depends on luck.

Using his most familiar algorithm as an example—like bogosort—with near-infinite trial and error, if you're lucky, you might get the right answer on the first try, outperforming all other complex, sophisticated solutions.

Of course, if unlucky, you might never find the answer.

But now, he was the smartest monkey in the universe.

He didn't need trial and error—just pick the ripest fruit.

Every "first attempt" would yield the correct result.

Ha!

Master Lin, when will you become number one in materials science?

Today!

Right now!

Lin Xu grew so excited he nearly forgot about the impending "apocalypse" he needed to solve.

He quickly checked his bracelet—the number displayed was "5."

Energy had replenished.

Now he had enough chances to suffer in Bracelet World again.

Satisfied, he lay on his bed, mentally listing his tasks:

Enter Tianqiong Technology.

Find key material specifications.

Locate key material manufacturing methods.

Memorize them.

Bring them out!

Lightly touching the bracelet, darkness enveloped Lin Xu's vision.

Consciousness emptied, then slowly descended...