Knowledge reception ability?

Sampling and judgment?

Lu Xi'an's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that people back then had already anticipated possible future developments and speculated that civilization might regress?

"Please read the following text correctly."

The room's speakers provided the first test prompt, its simplicity almost insulting.

A word appeared in the center of the "glass" screen.

"I know this one! Let me do it!"

Luo Ping recognized the word and showed off, "You."

The word on the screen changed to another.

"I."

"You're amazing, Brother Luo!"

Chai Xin couldn't help but marvel. She was illiterate.

Luo Ping was immensely pleased with himself and boasted, "Of course, I can even read martial arts novels from cover to cover. I'll teach you to read in the future."

Chai Xin nodded repeatedly, "Sure, sure!"

Shu, however, shook his head, sighing at the current literacy levels. Even the old man knows these words.

Next, two characters appeared, Luo Ping only recognized one: "Can... Old Brother and Sister, what is the second character? Do you know it?"

Lu Xi'an said, "Source... energy source."

He didn't give Luo Ping another chance to show off, choosing to take over the task of answering:

"Star."

"Spectrum."

...

One question followed another, later including topics in mathematics, history, and astronomy.

At first, Lu Xi'an could answer them all. He had previously read through this world's history textbook, and the system's questions weren't difficult, so he could answer them.

Regarding mathematics, the system only asked basic questions, and the problems were very simple.

Thus, Lu Xi'an answered them very easily.

But even so, the others were still astonished, thinking Lu Xi'an was unbelievably knowledgeable.

Even Shu clicked his tongue in admiration, "If an old brother were from our time, you'd definitely get into a good university!"

But when it came to the astronomy section, the difficulty deepened, causing Lu Xi'an to unknowingly form a certain hypothesis in his mind.

"Please articulate and connect concepts and definitions in sequence."

"Non-renewable resources, methods of energy release by stars, nuclear fusion, limited resources like coal/oil, synchronous orbit, the position of satellites and planets in synchronous rotation."

Even Lu Xi'an was confused by this problem, unsure if he answered correctly.

Then came the question of "If developing stellar-level energy requires enveloping an entire planet, please select the most likely technologies to be used."

The answers given were solar photovoltaic panels, deep-sea drilling platforms, orbital mirror arrays, geothermal power stations.

This seemed like a multiple choice question, at least that's what Lu Xi'an thought.

When he saw the question, his answer was already very certain in his heart.

So he didn't answer, but said three words: "Dyson Sphere?"

Everyone looked at Lu Xi'an with bewildered expressions, not understanding those three words.

Those three words seemed to signal the end of the test. As soon as he said them, the screen in front of him instantly went dark, and the speakers in the room sounded:

"Your ability to understand popularized concepts of new energy engineering and Institute 923's research results has been confirmed. The final display plan has been invoked, would you like to begin the display? Please confirm."

It really is a Dyson Sphere!

Lu Xi'an trembled all over, confirming it in his heart.

It really is a Dyson Sphere!

This world, unexpectedly, also calls it a Dyson Sphere!

This answer was a bit beyond his expectations, but it indeed explained why the mechanical dog never ran out of energy.

Not some Ark Reactor, nor nuclear antimatter energy, just a massive solar receiver!

No matter where Gou went, there were huge "photovoltaic panels" built around the sun in outer space transmitting energy to it, allowing it to maintain infinite energy.

So, was the new energy engineering back then the construction of the Dyson Sphere?

Is that what the person at the Ox Head Mountain observatory in Jianshan City meant when they said the project was undertaken without adequate preparation?

Then the Dyson Sphere construction went amiss, leading to environmental changes and disasters?

Piecing together the series of information he learned in Mengxin City and Jianshan City, Lu Xi'an made a judgment in his heart—

So after the failure of the Dyson Sphere Plan, people confirmed that disaster was coming and began preparing in advance.

The preparations included but were not limited to devising ways to extend the preservation period of various items, gene compilation, shelter construction.

And...

The usability of the remnants of Institute 923's projects and how to utilize them.

Luo Ping couldn't help but praise, "Wow, Old Brother really is amazing, even knowing about such strange things.

"Brother, why don't you lead us? You would be way more effective than me. If you were in charge, everything would be done by now. Unlike me, I've achieved nothing so far."

Shu nodded repeatedly, the sound of his roots creaking audibly.

Seeing Luo Ping looking over, the old man hurriedly explained, "I'm not! I didn't say that! I'm just saying Junior Luo, you're right; Brother knows everything and is really great!"

In his excitement, he forgot his usual address for Lu Xi'an and followed Luo Ping in calling him "Brother."

However, Lu Xi'an ignored them and continued watching the screen.

The system from Institute 923 started its introduction, and everyone silently stood in the room, watching the scenery far beyond their understanding.

The "glass" screen first displayed a video introducing the new energy engineering project, with thrilling visuals and an inspiring tone, like a promotional film, introducing a grand project that would change the future of humanity.

And it did change the future of humanity.

"The Stellar Energy Flow Interception Research Group has completed the cross-orbital transmission theoretical model of solar radiation energy, indicating that the 'Dyson Cloud' framework has been confirmed, and the implementation of the model is ready to start."

...

"The plan decided that in 2053, an orbital material synthesis station would be established at the lunar base, for mass production of radiation-resistant lightweight composite materials."

"In 2060, verify the prototype of the optical-microwave beam energy output technology, achieving stable solar energy reception by ground stations."

"In 2063, deploy the first batch of Dyson Cloud units in the outer corona orbit, covering 0.1% of the solar surface area."

"In 2067, construct an energy relay station network around the sun, enabling cross-planetary energy transmission."

"By 2070, complete the basic infrastructure of the Dyson Ring, forming a continuous energy collection belt on the ecliptic plane."

"In 2073, increase the Dyson Cloud coverage to 15%, and simultaneously initiate full-wrap Dyson Shell material stress testing."

"In 2076, establish the Stellar Energy Dispatch Center, achieving real-time regulation of the Earth-Moon system and the Dyson Cloud energy network."

"In 2078, achieve a phased goal of 30% Dyson Cloud coverage, with the energy core fully encapsulated."

"From here, the global energy problem is completely resolved, and humanity will gradually move away from dependence on limited energy sources like oil, achieving energy infinite."

"This plan is named the 'Dyson Sphere Plan,' and for confidentiality, it is referred to externally as the 'New Energy Engineering.'"

Watching the scenes on the screen, Lu Xi'an felt like he was back in a cinema from a previous life, watching the end credits of The Wandering Earth 2.

However, what puzzled Lu Xi'an was why such a vast project was a secret project?

A great deed that would benefit future generations—why did people back then choose to construct it in secret?

Moreover, this project seemed to be a global collaboration. Could something so vast really be built secretly?

As he thought about it, he turned to Shu and asked, "Do you know about the Dyson Sphere?"

Shu replied, "Isn't that what they're talking about? But an old man like me doesn't understand, I only know about ping-pong."

"It's ping-pong."

Lu Xi'an corrected Shu's dialect accent.

Shu nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, ping-pong."

"..."

Lu Xi'an fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you know about the New Energy Engineering?"

Shu nodded again, "I've heard of it. It caused quite a stir back then, everyone was talking about it. I even heard that I had a distant relative involved, but I never saw anyone and don't know what it was."

It seems it really was a confidential project.

But because the project was too large, it couldn't be entirely concealed, and some things were exposed.

So how did this grand, half-century project head towards failure?

What exactly did the person at the Ox Head Mountain observation point mean when they said the world was just a gigantic theater troupe?

This should be an old internal promo on the screen. Once it's over, will it explain how the Dyson Sphere Plan failed and collapsed?

Lu Xi'an pondered this and continued watching.

Next, as the promotional video ended, a cartoon character suddenly appeared on the screen. The image seemed somewhat standardized, feeling AI-generated.

The cartoon character sat in front of the camera and began to speak:

"Hello, Neo-Humans of several decades later. Based on the division of periods, the content following this will be explained by me.

"I'll be explaining the reasons for establishing Institute 923, the research projects, and the achievements obtained.

This will include many prerequisite knowledge points. If you have difficulty understanding during the lecture, you can issue a command through language to rewind to the explanation of prior basic knowledge points.

"Now, you also have the option to go back and review. If not, I'll continue..."

As Lu Xi'an listened to the AI cartoon character's explanation in the video and recalled the previous knowledge quiz, he roughly understood—

The system's analysis of time, as well as the knowledge quiz's content, directs the responder to different video content nodes.

If someone had accessed this Institute 923 decades earlier, perhaps they would see entirely different content, even without the quiz section.

And now, in the quiz section, if it wasn't him answering but Chai Xin, the system would call upon the simplest, most basic knowledge to provide a preliminary knowledge briefing to anyone entering here.

However, he guessed the words "Dyson Sphere" during the quiz section, ending the quiz immediately.

The system likely judged him to be knowledgeable about the Dyson Sphere and related information, knowing it's an energy collection and reception system orbiting the sun, so it wouldn't elaborate further.

So, the masked man using a cartoon image should be ready to continue his explanation in the next part of the video...

He continued listening with the others:

"Due to certain reasons, the Dyson Sphere project suffered irreversible damage..."

Shit!

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