Chapter 26: Hope
Facing Gu Changshan’s answer, Jiang Yang fell silent.
If there was time… there were still 88 hours left, and at the current verification rate of 160,000 formulas per hour, about 14 million formulas could still be verified.
Jiang Yang nodded lightly and asked no more.
Time continued to pass slowly in Jiang Yang’s study.
On the eighth day of the Apocalypse Cycle, the Radiation Formula experiment yielded no results; the ninth day was the same.
On the morning of the tenth day, Jiang Yang opened his eyes as usual.
Arriving at the restaurant, Zhou Yu was already waiting there ahead of time, with Jiang Yang’s breakfast prepared. But today her emotion seemed somewhat low and tense; she only came back to her senses when Jiang Yang called her.
“You’re here? Eat.”
After silently finishing breakfast, the two arrived at the Command Room again.
“Still no results?”
When Jiang Yang asked this question, Zhou Yu also raised her head, staring at Gu Changshan full of hope and tension.
Gu Changshan’s expression was as calm and resilient as ever, as if no result could cause any fluctuation in his heart.
At this moment, no sign of good or bad results could be seen on his face.
He shook his head lightly: “No.”
Zhou Yu’s gaze dimmed instantly, and she became completely dejected.
At this moment, about 16 hours remained until the Apocalypse, and before the Apocalypse, about 2.5 million formulas could still be tested.
But if the testing of the previous over 20 million formulas had not hit the correct goal, the probability of the remaining mere 2.5 million formulas hitting the correct result was imaginable.
“How could it be like this?”
Jiang Yang murmured: “We are not aimless, like a supercomputer brute-forcing a password.
The information I brought from the previous life has roughly framed the Radiation Type and approximate energy. With this data, the total number of formula types we need to experiment on is only about 40 million, and we have now tested 20 million… yet no discoveries at all?”
In terms of probability, the probability that the 20 million formulas verified so far hit the correct result is 50%.
But there is also a very obvious problem: the correct formula cannot exist alone.
For example, suppose the correct formula consists of 16 particles each with energies like a, b, c, etc. Then, this radiation could not possess special lethality only when it exactly matches the standard; a slight deviation would only have normal lethality.
The distinction between the correct formula and incorrect formulas would not be so obvious.
A more likely phenomenon is that the correct formula has sufficient lethality, and formulas with slight deviations would also have lethality exceeding the normal phenomenon but slightly less than the correct formula. In other words, even formulas with slight deviations would show differences and peculiarities compared to ordinary formulas.
Thus, the formulas our side needs to find are no longer just one specific kind, but a “clan” that includes the correct formula.
The number of formulas in this clan could be many. As long as one formula with lethality exceeding the ordinary level is found, our scientists would immediately notice the signs and continuously adjust and optimize, ultimately finding the absolutely correct formula.
Suppose a clan has 100 members, distributed in a total of 40 million samples, and then randomly select half of them, i.e., 20 million; what is the probability that it includes at least one clan member?
Jiang Yang roughly calculated and arrived at the final result.
Even considering that the clan might have clustering, i.e., densely distributed in a certain area with none in other areas, and considering various accidents and errors in our experimental process, the final probability must still be over 90%.
Precisely because of this, Professor Lu Zhaoming initially said “great hope,” and the nation invested such massive resources in this direction, mobilizing so much manpower.
In fact, the scientific research team’s initial estimate was that the first anomaly would be found when about 10 million formulas were verified.
So, why have we still found nothing to this day?
“What does Professor Lu say?”
“Either we are too unlucky and happened to avoid the correct formula, or… we were wrong from the beginning.”
Gu Changshan looked calmly at Jiang Yang: “There is no such thing as the so-called correct formula at all; the true reason low-dose radiation causes Acute Radiation Sickness is based on other principles.”
“The key is still that we lack relevant theory to guide the experiment.”
Jiang Yang shook his head: “Since there are no results, today I will set off for Apocalypse Base No. 7. You go too.”
“Yes.”
At this moment, Jiang Yang had sentenced this life’s human civilization to death.
Theoretically, there was still a little hope, but rationality told Jiang Yang there was no hope; preparations must be made for the next Cycle.
This was cruel, but it was reality.
He couldn’t help but recall the several huge screens he had seen in the Command Room back then, and behind those screens, the people involved—at least tens of millions in scale—who had bustled for the conscription, design, and modification of the Particle Accelerator, and the massive resources the entire nation had invested for this.
Now all these investments seemed to have been wasted in vain.
“No, these investments will not be in vain.”
Jiang Yang silently told himself in his heart: “In the next Apocalypse Cycle, these investments will eliminate one wrong direction for our nation and civilization, saving a lot of time, giving us greater hope to defeat the Apocalypse in the next life.”
Ten minutes later, the Convoy heading to Apocalypse Base No. 7 had set off.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Jiang Yang looked out the window and saw the streets outside still bustling with traffic.
The sidewalk was crowded with people, shops bustling with customers one after another.
A scene of prosperity and leisure.
“At least the people of this life do not have to end their lives in the panic of the Apocalypse Prophecy.
Being able to live out this life in ignorance and unawareness is also a kind of fortune.”
Ahead of the Convoy was a small Park.
Jiang Yang said to the Driver: “Stop ahead; I want to get out for some fresh air.”
“Yes.”
The Convoy stopped by the roadside, dozens of plainclothes Guards disguised as ordinary pedestrians trailing far behind in the surroundings. Jiang Yang and Zhou Yu got out of the car and walked slowly along the Park path.
Having lived in the Underground Base for nearly ten days, this was the first time Jiang Yang had felt the sunlight and fresh air.
Watching the playing children, chatting elders, and basketball-playing youths, Jiang Yang felt as if a lifetime had passed.
The nationwide mobilization of the previous ten days seemed to have left no trace in the world of ordinary people.
Beside him, Zhou Yu remained silent throughout. It was not until Jiang Yang stopped at the railing by the small lake, gazing at the scenery across the lake, that Zhou Yu spoke her first words of the day in a low voice.
“Jiang Yang, do we really have no hope left?”
