Volume One: The Birth of a "Genius"

Chapter One: The Exhibition Hall

　　“Good afternoon, guests.” An elegant and pleasant voice came from the omnipresent electronic speakers: “Today is the last day the exhibition hall will be open. Starting tomorrow, several of the antiques here will be transferred to the Federal Grand Museum for collection. Please...”

　　The exhibition hall was packed with people. Although it wasn’t quite shoulder to shoulder, it was close.

　　“Mingwei, do you think it was worth squeezing in here with all this effort?” a clear voice complained from the outskirts of the exhibition hall.

　　“I don’t know if it’s worth it or not. I just know this is an assignment from the professor. If we don’t finish it, we’ll be in trouble.” Another young voice replied, sounding equally disgruntled about the visit.

　　After parting ways with his companion, William Carter sighed and braced himself to squeeze into the exhibition hall, which was packed for the first time in decades.

　　William Carter was not very old, only eighteen this year. In this era of the grand universe, where the average lifespan had reached two hundred, he wasn’t even considered an adult yet.

　　His home was on the planet Karim, a beautiful world and one of the thousands of human-inhabited planets governed by the Grand Alliance.

　　Because there weren’t many people on the planet, everyone owned a large piece of private land. Here, there would never be traffic jams, and the air would never be polluted.

　　However, at the same time, there was also a lack of a sense of crisis from competition.

　　As a popular saying in the Grand Alliance went, this was a great place to retire, but not suitable for young people who wanted to make something of themselves.

　　At least, William Carter appreciated this saying right now, even though he didn’t have any ambitious desires in his heart. All he longed for was to go out and see the world. But for someone his age, even this wish was a bit extravagant.

　　Because his parents wouldn’t approve of his wish at this time, and if he lost their financial support, William Carter would be reduced to someone in need of assistance.

　　Inside the exhibition hall, all he could see were heads—nothing but a sea of people.

　　William Carter complained inwardly. Normally, such a crowded situation would never happen on Karim. But this time was an exception—the first in thousands of years since humans transformed this beautiful planet.

　　Just a month ago, a batch of ancient relics was unearthed on this planet, said to be extremely valuable. The governor of Karim made a big show of it, gaining plenty of political capital.

　　However, somehow, word reached the Grand Federal Museum. After sending a few inspectors to appraise the items, they decided to add them to the museum’s collection.

　　Although the governor was dissatisfied, an order from the federal capital left him with no choice but to comply unconditionally.

　　Still, out of respect for the wishes of Karim’s residents, the relics would remain in the planet’s largest exhibition hall for one final week. Today was the last day of that week.

　　William Carter’s professor was a learned man, but for some reason last week, he assigned an observation report on these relics and required all students to conduct an in-person investigation.

　　For a week, people from all over the planet flocked to the exhibition hall for one last look at the relics. William Carter was never comfortable in crowds, but seeing that this afternoon was his last chance, he could only frown and grit his teeth as he plunged in.

　　There were still a lot of people inside. Clearly, these items had piqued the curiosity of everyone on Karim.

　　Fortunately, everyone was well-mannered, lining up on their own and moving toward the interior of the exhibition hall.

　　It was said that the relics unearthed this time came from the planet’s original inhabitants, who had disappeared countless millions of years ago, which was why they attracted so much attention.

　　The real artifacts were placed in the very center of the exhibition hall, while the outer area only displayed some ordinary exhibits.

　　Naturally, no one was interested in those. In the outer area, few people bothered to appreciate things that could be played with in virtual space.

　　Patiently moving with the crowd, William Carter finally reached the large central display platform.

　　There were quite a few items separated from the rock, but not many could be considered truly valuable relics. A small display platform was enough to hold them all.

　　The crowd hadn’t yet reached the platform, so William Carter couldn’t see the items clearly. From a distance, everything was still a blur.

　　As the crowd slowly moved forward, William Carter finally arrived in front of the display platform.

　　On it were some truly strange and bizarre objects, some large, some small. No one could really say what they were.