Chapter 240
The countdown timer beeped.
The national teams participating in the finals submitted their results one by one.
Only the Sakura Nation team, due to an equipment failure, failed to calculate the final result and was excluded from the final ranking.
Jackson whistled. Sato-kun, decades ago your country could do whatever it wanted on Huaxia soil, but this era belongs to our Lighthouse Nation. Let the light of our Lighthouse Nation illuminate the entire physics world.
The final whistle of the competition blew, and the entire venue fell silent.
The data submitted by the various countries slowly appeared on the large screen, numbers jumping constantly before finally freezing—
Huaxia Team: Orbit Correction Accuracy: 99.7%, Fuel Utilization Rate: 98.9%.
Lighthouse Nation Team: Orbit Correction Accuracy: 93.1%, Fuel Utilization Rate: 86.4%.
Germany Team: Orbit Correction Accuracy: 89.0%, Fuel Utilization Rate: 81.7%.
Russia Team: ...
Under the gaze of the entire audience, the Huaxia team was first, and the Lighthouse Nation team was second.
The smile on Jackson's face didn't even have time to fade. How, how is this possible? Didn't they have a problem halfway through? Why did they still get first place? This is impossible, absolutely impossible! Right! Cheating, they definitely cheated!
His teammates stood silently to the side; no one echoed his sentiments. The Asian female vice-captain glanced at him coldly. Jackson, that's enough.
What do you mean enough! Jackson spun around abruptly, his eyes bloodshot. Didn't you see it? Their vacuum chamber clearly had a problem! How could they—
They just did it, the female vice-captain said in a cold voice. They encountered a problem and solved it in time, and surpassed all teams in both accuracy and utilization rate. This is enough to show that Huaxia's level of physics is not inferior to our Lighthouse Nation. Stop saying ridiculous things and embarrassing us.
The usually confident and composed Jackson's expression instantly twisted, as if he had been stabbed in the chest.
The captain of the Sakura Nation team, Sato, stood at the forefront of his team, his hands hanging by his sides, his fingertips trembling slightly.
The three months of closed training in the laboratory, the noise of the Hall thrusters that he had treated as a lullaby, all turned into ringing in his ears at this moment.
He remembered the battle sword hanging in his great-grandfather's study. Many years ago, his great-grandfather led his comrades on this piece of land, invincible in every battle... But now, on that large screen symbolizing honor, there wasn't even the presence of the Sakura Nation. He could only lead his companions and return in defeat.
We lost thoroughly, Sato said slowly. Pack up the equipment, consider it maintaining our last shred of dignity.
The team members were all stunned.
Sato had always been proud and never bowed his head, yet now...
At this time, the chief judge walked onto the stage. Next, please invite the entire winning teams to the stage to receive their awards. Mr. Ole, the pioneer of international physics, and the International Physics Association... will present the awards to these outstanding students...
The national anthem of Huaxia played in the arena, and the lighting of the entire venue suddenly turned to Huaxia red.
Such a familiar melody made the heart in Rong Yu's chest beat wildly. This was her country, the motherland she was proud of. She was honored to be able to stand here and earn a piece of glory for her country.
She stood in the center of the podium, the gold medal on her chest shining brightly under the lights. She looked up at the dome, where staff members were raising the five-star red flag.
After the award ceremony, the organizers held a celebration banquet.
The students from the twelve countries participating in the finals were all invited to attend this banquet.
Rong Wangtian and a group of parents had been waiting there for a long time. Seeing the children return wearing gold medals, they couldn't close their mouths from smiling so happily.
Pei Yaru was very excited. Rong Yu, Song Huai, you represent the Huaxia Nation, and of course, you also represent Haicheng First High School. From now on, Haicheng First High School is proud of you.
Madam Song hugged her son's shoulders. Next, our Song Huai will also participate in the Global Math Olympiad. When he gets another first place then, he should be the number one honorary alumnus of Haicheng First High School.
When she said this, she gave Rong Yu a faint look.
So what if Rong Yu was excellent? She only gained honors in the single subject of physics.
But her son was excellent in physics and even better in mathematics, developing in both directions, and was the prized pupil of Academician Liu.
Rong Wangtian said neutrally, Then let's wait until Song Huai gets first place in mathematics to talk about it.
Song Huai pursed his lips.
When he participated in the domestic Math Olympiad finals last time, he felt it was very strenuous. It was only out of good luck that he won the gold award.
When it came to the international finals, facing so many outstanding mathematical geniuses from all over the world, he didn't know if he would still have such good luck.
The Huaxia side was jubilant.
Meanwhile, Jackson from the Lighthouse Nation stood in a corner, gripping his champagne glass so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His teammates had long since blended into the banquet; only he stared fixedly in Rong Yu's direction, unwillingness surging in his eyes.
Clearly...
He suddenly smiled and strode toward Rong Yu's direction.
Rong Yu was chatting with Sheng Ciyuan. At first, they were talking about the orange cat Pangpang, but somehow, the topic shifted to Sheng Qingyan.
Sheng Ciyuan said, My grandmother said that when my eldest brother was just born, a Daoist priest passed by our door and asked for a sip of water. The master read my brother's fortune then, saying that my brother suffered a lot in his previous life, and in this life, he reincarnated into our Sheng family to enjoy blessings. He said the family just needed to feed him well and raise him properly, and that we shouldn't force anything. Before, my grandmother didn't understand what it meant to not force anything. Later, when my brother got sick, she realized what it meant...
Halfway through his words.
Jackson's voice rang out. Huaxia Team, first place, congratulations.
Rong Yu raised her glass and smiled brightly. Also congratulations to the Lighthouse Nation for winning second place. Joy to us both, congratulations.
This smile was too blinding for a loser.
Jackson sneered and spoke loudly, Captain Rong, you are too dishonest. I spent so much money to make you have a problem during the experiment phase. In the end, you took the money but didn't do the job, and you actually dared to take first place?
The bustling banquet hall instantly fell dead silent.
All conversation came to an abrupt halt, and countless gazes shot over in unison. The judges frowned, the participating team members from various countries looked at each other in dismay, and even Rong Yu's teammates froze in place.
You son of a bitch, what kind of nonsense are you spouting! Rong Wangtian was the first to react. He quickly rushed forward and shoved Jackson away. Is the character of you Lighthouse Nation people this inferior? You lose the competition, so you start spreading rumors?
He was also someone who had attended university and knew English, but he was not good at it. He stumbled through the sentence, cutting its lethality in half.
Jackson scoffed and pulled a folded piece of paper from the inner pocket of his suit. A transfer record, two hundred thousand US dollars, remitted to an offshore account—don't tell me you don't know who received this money!