Of course, Li Dong knew nothing about the twists and turns surrounding the interview.
He had just walked out of the faculty office and, before leaving, made sure to turn and wave to Elder Chen.
"Teacher Chen, don’t you worry! I’ll definitely work on that Hysteresis Loop project for physics. Just give me a few more days to refine it!"
He said he would refine it, but what Li Dong was really thinking about was Teacher Sun Xiang’s laboratory.
After all, if he finished this project, the reward from Mendel would be absolutely explosive.
Back in the Genius Class classroom, Li Dong took out his phone and opened the "Cyan Dragon Study Group."
He wanted to check if there was any activity from Mendel.
However, two people in the group were currently having a cross-era discussion.
[Isaac Newton]: Gentlemen, my internal combustion and high-pressure steam engines are now widely deployed, but I’ve run into a control problem!
[Isaac Newton]: Operating those steel valves manually is far too slow. I’m wondering if a tool could be made to control these behemoths.
Seeing Newton’s message, Li Dong couldn’t help but feel that this version of him was different from the one in the history books. ’He seems so perfect now. A little arrogant, sure, but eager to learn. Is he too much of a polymath?’
[Von Neumann]: Sir Newton, I am currently building the electronic computer architecture that Lord Senior proposed.
[Von Neumann]: It uses binary 0s and 1s to define the underlying switching Logic. Its logical operations will be performed by electrons moving at nearly the speed of light, far exceeding the limits of human labor and mechanical structures. It should be able to control your behemoths, it’s just...
[Isaac Newton]: Just what?
[Von Neumann]: It’s just that, at the end of the day... code is abstract Logic, physically manifesting as extremely faint on-off states of electrons.
[Von Neumann]: I haven’t yet figured out a good way to make it move your multi-ton machinery.
Li Dong understood their dilemma.
To put it bluntly, Newton’s industry was hardware, and old Von’s code was software.
They just hadn’t figured out how to translate code into physical work.
Just as the two of them were puzzling over how to use electrical signals to interact with macroscopic machinery, an ID that had been lurking for ages suddenly popped up in the chat.
[Michael Faraday]: That is not so difficult, gentlemen.
[Michael Faraday]: Since force cannot directly interact with electricity, why not use ’lines of force’ as the messenger?
Faraday. A man who was the epitome of a dark horse.
Some say that no matter how dumb you are, you should at least know Calculus by age fourteen. Well, he didn’t.
And yet, he was the greatest experimental physicist in human history!
Relying on nothing but a physical intuition that defied all reason, he came up with ’electromagnetic lines of force’.
He single-handedly dragged humanity from the dark ages into the bright new era of electricity.
Before Li Dong could even process this, another lurker emerged.
[James Clerk Maxwell]: Mr. Faraday’s intuition is indeed unparalleled.
[James Clerk Maxwell]: And what’s more, we can quantify it using mathematics.
James Clerk Maxwell!
If Faraday was the one who discovered electromagnetism, then Maxwell was the Prometheus who spread that flame throughout the universe!
Four equations! With just four partial differential equations so elegant they could make one weep, he unified the three seemingly unrelated phenomena of electricity, magnetism, and light on a mathematical level!
Even Einstein hung a portrait of him in his study.
In that moment, these two gods of electromagnetism completely took over the cross-temporal Dialogue.
[Michael Faraday]: Sir Newton, you need only wrap a few coils of conductive wire around your valves.
[Michael Faraday]: When the signal from Mr. Von Neumann’s code passes through, it will generate powerful magnetic lines of force in the space around it. This magnetic field will create an attractive or repulsive force sufficient to push or pull your machinery.
[James Clerk Maxwell]: And to ensure the conversion from code to mechanical action is perfectly precise, Mr. Von Neumann, you can introduce the electromagnetic stress tensor.
[James Clerk Maxwell]: By calculating the surface integral of the magnetic field at the boundary of the medium, you can obtain the precise magnitude of the mechanical force. In this way, the Logic of the code becomes perfectly equivalent to macroscopic work in Newtonian Mechanics.
Staring at the Dialogue on the screen, Li Dong was stunned.
"They’re crazy. They’re all fucking crazy..."
’How is this a technical discussion? This is like force-feeding the source code for automated control into Newton’s budding industrial age!’
’Are these titans trying to brute-force the Third Industrial Revolution into existence?’
But soon, Li Dong realized something.
The concepts these titans were discussing and stitching together—weren’t they targeting his own Achilles’ heel? Isolated pockets of knowledge!
He was strong in mechanics and optics, but the framework of physics in his mind was fragmented. He lacked the bridge to truly integrate macroscopic forces, microscopic electromagnetism, and information control.
’And now, the very things these titans were explaining to Newton—weren’t they the exact blueprint he was missing?’
Li Dong’s eyes were glued to the screen, his pen flying across the paper as he furiously took notes.
"I get it... So this is the true edifice of physics!"
A blueprint had fully formed in Li Dong’s mind.
Newton had laid the foundation with his three laws and universal gravitation, defining the most basic laws of motion in the macroscopic world.
Faraday had wired the great edifice for power with his countless lines of electromagnetic induction.
Then, Maxwell had put the roof on with four lines of mathematical equations.
And atop this great structure, Von Neumann was even erecting the framework for an intelligent central hub.
Mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, information science...
In that single moment, a grand unification of the underlying Logic occurred in Li Dong’s brain! As long as he followed the blueprint laid out by these titans, his edifice of physics would be indestructible!
Li Dong didn’t yet realize what an incredible, god-tier path he had just set foot on.
Countless top physicists of the modern era spend their entire lives toiling away amidst stacks of papers and in laboratories.
And yet here he was, during a high school study hall, having these era-defining founders personally step in and, step-by-step, reconstruct his entire worldview of physics for him.
If, one day, future historians of science were to trace the rise of the great man of the century, Li Dong, they would undoubtedly mark this seemingly unremarkable afternoon as the crucial starting point on his path to a "Grand Unified Theory."
For Li Dong, watching this Dialogue where the titans pointed directly to the essence of physics was more useful than a dozen passive auras!
As Li Dong watched the titans in the group fall silent once more, a strange feeling suddenly crept into his mind.
’This bunch of titans... they’re not putting on an act, are they?’
’After all, the timing of their appearance and interventions was just too perfect!’
But he quickly shook his head with force.
’Impossible! Absolutely impossible!’
’My cover is flawless. There’s no way they could have seen through it.’
Li Dong argued with himself.
’Even if Lord Senior already knew everything they were talking about, his stupid nephew didn’t!’

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