Chapter 56: Ambers of the Long Night (12)
Finally, it could begin!
Tang Mobai let out a long, hard sigh of relief.
Had he really been lazing around on the spaceship these past few days? Of course not! Tang Mobai wasn’t really doing nothing. On the contrary—ever since confirming cooperation with Emmanuel and learning about the Scientific Sector’s power structure, he had already known exactly where his best chance to level up lay.
After all, his greatest cheat was the nation behind him, and one of a nation’s most valuable assets was its scientific talent spread across every field.
If this world’s technology was truly on par with that of the Lost City, then he would’ve had no easy entry point. But, after several days of investigation, he discovered that much of this world’s tech tree resembled that of his own world—and that meant there were shared principles he could exploit.
Moreover, this world’s technological development was oddly unbalanced. Fields related to super-intelligent AIs—like bioengineering, robotics, and artificial intelligence—were far more advanced than his home world’s. But others, such as aerospace, lagged far behind.
Yes—Tang Mobai had originally assumed that with their level of technology, this civilization would have at least colonized nearby planets. Yet, upon closer inspection, he realized they hadn’t even succeeded in sending humans into space.
Their activity was entirely confined to their home planet. Aerospace technology was considered low-priority. And that gave Tang Mobai an opening.
Not just aerospace—he was simply using that as an example. Over the past few days, he had been following his expert group’s instructions, gathering cutting-edge scientific data from this world. Anything stronger than his home world’s was recorded; anything weaker was also recorded. This, precisely, was the key to rapid level advancement.
Now that he had the data, how would he act on it?
The most straightforward method was, naturally, publishing research papers. But that brought its own problems.
Because of his account restrictions, the expert group could send only 10 bullet comments per day—barely enough for one or two papers. Even so, a “baby” publishing frontier scientific papers would already be ridiculous enough, and should boost his level significantly.
Still, it wasn’t safe to rely on that alone. The expert group’s research weight wasn’t high enough in the most competitive academic fields.
If they were going to do this, they wanted to push Tang Mobai’s level to the absolute limit in one go—which meant he couldn’t rely on papers alone.
There’s a simple logic: A genius who excels in one field and a polymath genius with similar achievements—the latter is always valued more.
And fame in academia isn’t earned through papers alone. You can also make a name for yourself at a major conference.
The expert group had even chosen the perfect stage. They knew that the Jade Society was waiting to ambush Tang Mobai. They also knew he couldn’t stay hidden on the ship forever.
The World Frontier Science and Technology Exchange Conference was one of the grandest events in this world’s scientific community. Its security was top-tier—enough that even the Jade Society would have to think twice before causing trouble there.
Naturally, this kind of elite conference required credentials—only researchers from relevant fields could attend. As before, Emmanuel forged an identity for Tang Mobai. But this time was far riskier. To manipulate data at a conference filled with high-level researchers made even Emmanuel nervous.
“Are you sure this will really raise your level that much?” Emmanuel asked, uncertain. “This isn’t a joke. If we’re exposed, everything we’ve done will go to waste.”
The Frontier Conference’s influence reached far beyond academia—it attracted scientists, politicians, entrepreneurs, and even figures above level 80 or 90. Some said even the Wise King himself might appear.
If Tang Mobai was exposed, not only he, but Yan Wuzhen, Seth, and Emmanuel might all be dragged down with him—after all, they were all “artificial crown princes.”
“There’s always risk,” Tang Mobai said calmly, meeting Emmanuel’s gaze. “But if you only ever do what’s safe, why invite us into this Super-Intelligence Core project at all?”
Emmanuel’s breath caught for a moment—drawn to that flicker of mad determination burning in Tang Mobai’s eyes.
“The one who should decide this isn’t me,” Tang Mobai continued. “It’s you. I can only promise—if I go, I can reach level 90 or higher. So, will you take that risk?”
At that instant, Emmanuel finally understood why both Yan Wuzhen and Seth centered themselves around Tang Mobai. Maybe Tang Mobai wasn’t just their glue—maybe he was the most dangerous kind of madman among them.
That madness was like a whirlpool—dragging in everyone nearby. Either they’d be destroyed in the storm, or they’d reach an entirely new world.
Whichever it was, the journey would surely be spectacular.
Emmanuel smiled faintly.
“I’ll gamble on it.”
Don’t let me down, Tang Mobai.
*
The World Frontier Science and Technology Exchange Conference was held at the world’s most prestigious university—Maestra University, cradle of countless renowned scholars.
As the ship touched down on the landing pad, Tang Mobai’s group disembarked and passed through strict security. Just as expected, guards patrolled the venue’s perimeter, giving everyone a sense of safety.
This time was different. Knowing the Jade Society was lurking nearby, they all deployed. Seth, in particular, had an important new role—Tang Mobai’s attending physician.
Deville, however, refused to leave the ship after spotting the security forces.
Led by attendants, the team entered the venue. Unlike formal conferences, this event had an open, bazaar-like format. Beyond the main stage for invited luminaries, independent researchers could freely display their work.
A whiteboard, a monitor, or even a printed poster—that was all you needed for a booth. Some featured complete but overlooked studies; others displayed half-formed theories. You might find a world-renowned scholar—or a student fresh out of school. Hidden among false starts and dead ends could be something that changed the world.
Anyone whose level and research passed review could display their ideas and exchange them with scholars from across the globe.
“We’re in,” Emmanuel said quietly. “So—what’s your plan?”
Obviously: copy the answers, fake the genius.
Tang Mobai took a deep breath.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this. Other than Seth, please keep an eye out for the Jade Society.”
Though they shouldn’t be able to enter without chips, this was too critical a stage to risk interference.
He opened his livestream. Instantly, his long-waiting audience—and the national expert accounts—flooded in. The recording crew on the other side also began capturing footage.
Tang Mobai didn’t start right away. Instead, he spent fifteen minutes walking the venue, filming every booth and its displayed topics for the stream.
This served two purposes: giving real-world analysts a reference—and confirming which subjects matched what he’d already seen online.
Ten days before the conference, presenters were required to upload their research to a forum for preview and peer attention. That’s how the expert group had chosen this event—it gave them days to study the material.
With the 10-bullet limit per day, they had only 30 total messages over three days—every one had to count. And Tang Mobai had spent days memorizing all the topics and their weak points. (Which was why he hadn’t moved from the ship—he’d been cramming like mad.)
He avoided too much direct contact to preserve the illusion.
Right then, a physics lecture began, drawing away most of the exhibitors. Many booths were left unattended—their screens or whiteboards still showing their work.
Perfect.
Tang Mobai inhaled, waved Seth over.
“Keep watch.”
Seth silently complied—then watched in bafflement as Tang Mobai snuck up to a booth, grabbed a red marker, and crossed out a formula on someone’s whiteboard, replacing it with a corrected one. Then, without pause, he scurried to the next booth to “edit” another researcher’s display.
Seth: “…?”
Why did a serious academic conference suddenly feel like they were pulling off a heist?
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
