Limited Ambiguity Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Irene was stunned. It took her nearly ten seconds to react.

The process was simply… too swift.

Based on her experience of handling thousands of academic disputes since joining the Committee, it was a very difficult task to conduct an on-the-spot confrontation and prove that the winner of this year’s Roentgen first prize had committed academic fraud.

But she didn’t expect—or rather, the vast majority of people didn’t expect—that Qi Yan would use only five questions to expose the hidden truth to the public.

As the architects, it was impossible to fail answering questions related to the source architecture. If it was just one question, it could be attributed to other factors, but being unable to answer five consecutive questions only meant that the five people on the stage had no involvement in the construction of the work.

Irene: “This academic inquiry—”

“Wait!” Jiang Qi suddenly interrupted Irene. He tightly held the trophy in his hand, trying to ignore the various looks from the audience, and turned towards Irene. “I have something to say.”

Irene made a “please” gesture.

Jiang Qi was well aware that once he was convicted of academic fraud, he would no longer have a place in Turan, or any school in Leto for that matter.

His future would be completely ruined. He would never shake off this stigma in his lifetime.

Just when everything had just begun— he was taken back to the Qi family, he had just come of age, and he had already entered Turan. Whatever he did in the future would be smooth sailing. He would even take over all the businesses of the Qi family…

He had to prevent what was about to happen!

Jiang Qi wore his most courteous smile, appearing humble and polite. “Hello, I am Jiang Qi, a first-year student at Turan Academy. It has been less than a month and a half since I enrolled.”

Hearing this, Ye Pei frowned and whispered, “What is he trying to say?”

“I admit, driven by vanity, I sought out a team composed of seniors from third and fourth years, expressing my desire to join. But being only a first-year student, I hardly knew anything and couldn’t be of much help, so they rejected me.”

Here, Jiang Qi’s expression turned embarrassed. “But I was just so eager to participate, to receive praise from my family and friends, that I proposed to pay a certain fee if they allowed me to join. They agreed.”

Standing beside Jiang Qi on stage, Stanley had already realized Jiang Qi’s intentions, his expression turning grim.

When a first-year student joined a competition team, it was clear to anyone with insight that it was merely to pad their resume. Most were from affluent backgrounds, seeking to gild their credentials—a not uncommon occurrence in Leto, not encouraged but tacitly accepted.

Compared to academic fraud, portraying oneself as a privileged vain kid who uses his wealth to get ahead was almost harmless! It was almost trivial. One could even joke later, saying they almost got duped by someone’s misjudgment.

“After joining the team and confirming that if we won, my name would appear on the list of winners, I had no further involvement in the construction of the project. That’s why I couldn’t answer the questions. I was just too vain, too impatient. I… I never imagined something like this would happen. Academia is noble. It cannot tolerate even the slightest hint of deception!” Jiang Qi confessed, his face showing shame and a hint of confusion.

Meanwhile, on the live stream page of the Roentgen Award ceremony hosted by Starnet, amidst the raging outcry, dissenting voices emerged.

“—Although I don’t condone paying to embellish one’s resume, isn’t it a common practice for the affluent kids of Leto? This first-year student seems to be in a tough spot. He clearly didn’t anticipate that spending money would backfire so drastically!”

“—At eighteen, vanity and saving face are understandable traits, but one should still understand that academia cannot tolerate deceit.”

“—Hopefully, he learns a lesson from this and focuses on his studies in the future.”

Jiang Qi concluded, “But regardless, I will still take responsibility for my actions.”

With that said, he bowed deeply.

Stanley couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

Just a few words, and he thought he could easily extricate himself?

They were all convicted of academic fraud, yet Jiang Qi was merely collateral damage? So, in less than a month, when the dust settles, Jiang Qi could return to Turan for his studies.

But what about them?

Jiang Qi had already been let off the hook, they would undoubtedly be treated as pariahs.

Stanley glanced towards the audience where Jiang Yunyue sat. Without needing to guess, he knew that woman would be glaring at them with a warning, urging them to protect Jiang Qi, or else face retaliation.

However, with academic fraud established, their future prospects in Leto or even in the Central Region were out of the question.

Stanley exchanged a glance with the person beside him. When Irene asked if he could confirm Jiang Qi’s account, he glanced at Jiang Qi’s composed face and replied, “Certainly not.”

Jiang Qi abruptly turned his head, his eyes betraying unmistakable disbelief.

Stanley responded with a sinister smile, quickly laying bare the truth, “My three teammates and I had originally prepared a different piece, of moderate quality, with no expectation of winning any prizes. About two weeks into the school year, Jiang Qi approached us to discuss collaboration, offering enticing terms and guaranteeing that we could win the Roentgen first prize without fail. After deliberation, we agreed. Later, someone provided us with a pre-structured piece, yes, the one that won first prize. This person even walked us through it from start to finish, ensuring we remembered it in case of any inquiries about the work.”

He looked at Qi Yan. “Those two fixed quantities were definitely not calculated by me, so I really have no idea about them. And as for the Appleton/Herman formula, I’ve never even heard of it.”

Jiang Qi was momentarily at a loss for words, only able to stiffly retort, “You’re slandering me!”

“Slander?” Stanley scoffed. “I came from the Kepler Region. My family is ordinary. I have no power or influence. How could I dare slander you? Oh, I’m sure you’re all curious as to why Jiang Qi was so certain he could win first prize without fail. It’s because Jiang Qi’s mother injects a large sum of star coins into the Roentgen Foundation every year. These are his exact words.”

The room erupted into chaos. On the Starnet livestream page, the comments section went silent for a moment.

Stanley, now throwing caution to the wind, turned to Ye Pei. “By the way, do you know why you didn’t win? Because the day after your submission was accepted, someone from the Roentgen Foundation deleted it.”

Jiang Qi trembled, but he knew he couldn’t admit to it. “You have no evidence—”

“Sorry, but I do have evidence.” Stanley, observing Jiang Qi’s sudden change in demeanor, retrieved a recording from his personal terminal.

First, a slow-paced female voice spoke, “This is a minor matter. I won’t allow those few people’s works to be included in the selection process. Rest assured, the first prize will only belong to you guys.”

Then came Stanley’s own voice, “But—”

The female voice leisurely interrupted, “What’s wrong? Don’t you trust me?”

The recording was very short, as if hastily recorded. At this point, Stanley spoke without restraint, “I was afraid that Jiang Qi and his mother would renege on their promise, so I took the opportunity to secretly record it, just in case. You are all welcome to conduct voice pattern analysis to see if it’s indeed the voice of Ms. Jiang Yunyue!”

The audience at the scene and those watching the livestream on Starnet had almost identical reactions.

“—This development of events surpasses my imagination… Jiang Qi’s impassioned speech just now, was it all lies to whitewash himself? I’m stunned.”

“—Does this count as ‘dogs biting dogs’?”

“—I just want to know what the truth is! Not only academic fraud, but also preselection for first place, and power-tripping to delete others’ submissions? Who gave them this authority!”

Information spreads extremely quickly in today’s world. In just five minutes, the Starnet was buzzing with activity, prompting the Roentgen Award judging committee to pause midway and announce that they would provide a clear explanation after careful deliberation.

During this time, Jiang Qi stood on the stage, empty-handed. The trophies had already been taken back by the staff.

Every second felt like an eternity.

How could he turn the tables? How could he lose here? How could he be trampled underfoot by Qi Yan?

But the reality was, he couldn’t do anything.

Stanley remained silent, standing with the other three, waiting for the final outcome.

Irene, representing the Academic Arbitration Committee, personally supervised the deliberation process and had someone swiftly recover the data of Qi Yan’s group’s deleted works.

Half an hour later, the Roentgen Award judging committee reached a decision.

The decision was to retract the award and trophies given to Jiang Qi’s team, and to ban them for life from participating in the Roentgen Award selection.

At the same time, after thorough reevaluation, the committee reclassified Qi Yan and the other two’s work as the first prize winners of this year’s Roentgen Award.

As the representative of the judging committee finished speaking, Qi Yan spoke on behalf of the three, “We apologize, but we voluntarily withdraw from the Roentgen Award.”

Silence fell over the venue.

All eyes were on these three individuals.

Lu Fenghan stood in the corner of the venue, gazing at Qi Yan, who stood firm like a green bamboo.

He thought, this decision was made on the spur of the moment, yet it was completely expected.

Despite Qi Yan’s usual delicate and absent-minded demeanor in daily life, Lu Fenghan knew his inner conviction was unwavering, his principles clear-cut. One of his bottom lines was research and academia, no, it should be said—truth.

Lu Fenghan spent most of his time on the front lines, amidst the smoke and blood, with little leisure to understand or contemplate things seemingly distant from him.

But at this moment, he suddenly understood why so many people throughout history spent their entire lives calculating the answer to a formula or verifying the validity of a hypothesis.

Why, even after the Great Technological Catastrophe, there were still so many researchers fearlessly joining the “Technological Renaissance Project,” dedicating their entire lives to it.

Why, despite the ubiquitous presence of the rebels’ blades and the blacklist looming in everyone’s hearts, there were still so many people indifferent to life and death.

On the stage, after Qi Yan announced the decision to forfeit the Roentgen Award, Ye Pei’s eyes lit up. “We don’t believe that an organization that casually deletes our successfully submitted work and provides perfunctory feedback like ‘you didn’t submit your work on time, so it’s not in the selection process’ can hold much respect for academia.”

Mondrian: “Similarly, we don’t accept using ‘research’ as a stepping stone, a tool for making money, or a means to elevate one’s social status and reputation. Research should be pure. It should be the relentless pursuit of truth by countless individuals day and night. It should be the pursuit of truth without seeking rewards. It should be the earth beneath our feet and the stars above our heads.”

Mondrian stood tall and straight. “We refuse the first prize.”

The whole venue fell silent.

At this moment, four young men walked onto the stage, exuding martial aura.

Returning the trophies they held, one slender young man said with a smile, “We’re students from the First Military Academy. Though we’re happy to receive awards and the hefty prize money, let’s just say we don’t deserve it.”

Then, another team stepped onto the stage.

A young girl with black short hair stood at the forefront of the team, her back straight as she spoke, “We’re students from the Woz Star’s Bergson Academy. Bergson Academy isn’t well-known, it’s quite small, with only a few thousand students in the whole school. This time, we’ve managed to snag a second prize by chance. We’ll probably be mentioned in the school’s history now.”

She shrugged casually. “We’re returning the trophies in full, because… let’s just say we don’t deserve them.”

“We’re students from Turan Academy,” the third and fourth teams walked onto the stage, one of them facing the audience. “In front of Turan Academy’s Museum Hall stands a stone tablet that has been standing for two hundred years, with the words engraved on it, ‘All glory belongs to truth.'”

His gaze was clear, his words precise, “We pursue glory, but we pursue truth even more!”

Irene gazed deeply at these young people before her.

We pursue glory, but we pursue truth even more.

From them, she glimpsed the future of the Alliance.

That evening, countless news articles appeared on the Starnet with headlines proclaiming “We Pursue Glory, But We Pursue Truth Even More,” reporting on the controversy surrounding the Roentgen Award ceremony and academic fraud.

Shortly after the Roentgen Award ceremony concluded, Turan Academy issued an official announcement, expelling Jiang Qi, Stanley, and the other three individuals from the school, barring them from ever being admitted again. Multiple judging committees also issued notices indefinitely banning Jiang Qi and the others from participating in academic evaluations.

“—I was watching the live broadcast at the time! Now, I’m using holographic mode to view the stone tablet in front of Turan Academy’s Museum Hall! The person who erected that stone tablet said, ‘Here, all glory belongs to truth!’ So inspiring! I want to apply to Turan! Has there been any follow-up on this matter?”

“—Which follow-up are you looking for? Those who deserved to be expelled have been expelled, and according to Alliance law, they will also be held criminally responsible! Besides, even though the Roentgen Award judging committee held a late-night meeting, it’s futile. Not only the Academic Arbitration Committee, but the entire network is investigating them. Everyone suspects that this wasn’t the first time they cheated but possibly in the past as well, otherwise they wouldn’t be so skilled at it!”

“—One of the follow-ups, the real architect behind the submission of the team that cheated their way to the first prize has been identified. It’s rumored they were paid three million star coins! They’ve been permanently stripped of their research qualifications!”

“—The Executive Director of the Roentgen Foundation, for personally deleting the real first prize submission, has been removed from their position. Jiang Qi’s mother, Jiang Yunyue, also lost her membership in the foundation. Justice prevails!”

“—Another follow-up! The Roentgen Award won’t be held next year. Its qualifications have been revoked! All involved are facing criminal charges!”

“—This might also be considered a follow-up, right? In the First Military Academy’s forum, there’s a collective reflection on why the Alliance’s Strongest Spendthrift are so good at speaking. When they threw their trophies, they could only squeeze out less than ten words!”

Leaving the Riche Music Hall, Qi Yan and the others paid little attention to the commotion stirred up online.

Ye Pei and Mondrian each reclined in their respective hovercars, waving to Qi Yan and Lu Fenghan before drifting off to sleep in a matter of seconds.

The black hovercar stopped in front of them, and the two got in. Lu Fenghan’s hand rested on the control lever, and seeing that Qi Yan wasn’t asleep, he said, “If you get hungry, remember to let me know. I brought some nutritional supplements.”

Starting from the 18th, Qi Yan, Ye Pei, and Mondrian meticulously reexamined all the submissions from the winning team.

After focusing on the submission from Jiang Qi’s team, Qi Yan gathered all the papers and relevant materials from Stanley and his group since they entered school. After thoroughly reviewing everything, he rigorously concluded that several key aspects of the submission’s architecture were beyond the scope of Stanley and his group’s knowledge.

Qi Yan also improvised a search tool, using the logical patterns and structural habits hinted at in the first prize submission to search, compare, and eliminate possibilities, ultimately pinpointing the true architect behind the submission.

It was no longer just about their submission being maliciously deleted or not winning the first prize. It was about academic integrity.

For the sake of these two words, for three or four days, Qi Yan slept only four hours a day, without eating a single bite, relying solely on nutritional supplements.

Today, due to extreme exhaustion, he couldn’t even swallow the supplements.

Lu Fenghan didn’t try to persuade him. Everyone had their own untouchable bottom lines and principles to defend.

Qi Yan paused for a few seconds. “I’m hungry.”

With a slight smile on his lips, Lu Fenghan took out an orange-flavored nutritional supplement, tore open the seal, and fed it to Qi Yan’s lips.

Qi Yan, lacking energy, lightly held it in his mouth.

Lu Fenghan patiently waited until Qi Yan finished drinking in small sips, then set aside the empty packaging, and playfully poked Qi Yan’s cheek with his hand.

Qi Yan only glanced at him sideways, not flinching.

Holding the control lever, Lu Fenghan felt content.

When the hovercar stopped at their doorstep, Lu Fenghan glanced sideways and saw that Qi Yan had already fallen asleep.

His cool, translucent eyes were closed, his eyelashes straight and soft, casting a faint shadow against his fair skin.

As fragile as porcelain.

Staring at him for who knows how long, Lu Fenghan suddenly snapped out of it.

He got out of the car, walked around the front of the car, and stopped at the door. After the car door slid open on both sides, he bent down and carefully released the safety harness on the seat.

Making sure that there were no signs of Qi Yan waking up, he gently lifted Qi Yan’s arm over his shoulder and cradled him in his arms.

The door of the hovercraft slowly closed behind him. Lu Fenghan held the person in his arms, his hand around his slender waist. He lowered his eyes and looked at the sleeping Qi Yan, thinking helplessly——

He’s lost weight again.

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