The pointer spun a few times according to inertia and finally slowed to a stop.

　　【Congratulations, you drew trash.】

　　【You received a bottle of cola. Please don’t be discouraged, keep trying.】

　　Damn you OOOO!

　　Forget it, cursing this crappy system is useless, there are more important things to do!

　　Looking at the 【Cola (Trash)】 note in parentheses after his points, the furious William Carter quickly left the system space. After confirming once again that there was no one around, he stared at his hand and, like someone constipated, silently chanted in his heart.

　　Cola cola cola cola cola...

　　Duang——

　　Without any warning, William Carter suddenly saw a flash before his eyes, and a can of cola appeared in his hand.

　　In the next instant, his expression became indescribably strange.

　　What the hell?

　　He felt his worldview was shaken, and the law of conservation of mass was facing an unprecedented challenge.

　　How could one explain the existence of this can of cola using current scientific principles?

　　William Carter had no idea.

　　Maybe only black technology beyond LV10 could explain it.

　　Anyway, seeing this can of cola, he was finally convinced that this system wasn’t just his imagination, but actually existed, able to interfere with the material world from deep within his sea of consciousness.

　　For now, he put aside these pointless thoughts.

　　He pulled the aluminum tab, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp, letting out a long breath.

　　“Ha—!”

　　Even though the system rated it as trash, the taste was actually pretty good. Even William Carter, who wasn’t much of a fan of carbonated drinks, couldn’t help but lick the corner of his mouth, wanting more.

　　“Future? Is there really a cola brand called that? Whatever, doesn’t matter.”

　　William Carter shook his head and tossed the can into a roadside trash bin.

　　He had checked it over and over again—this was just an ordinary aluminum can, except for that mood-lifting magical effect, there wasn’t a trace of black technology about it. Even its design and packaging were full of a “retro nostalgia” vibe.

　　The recycling station would be its only destination.

　　After washing his face at the pool next to the basketball court, William Carter turned and sat back in the shadows, entering the system space once again.

　　Facing this last chance at the lottery, William Carter took a deep breath, like a gambler with bloodshot eyes, and pressed the button without hesitation.

　　“I’m drawing!”

　　“Stop for me!”

　　The pointer began to slow down, and William Carter’s heart leapt into his throat.

　　The pointer stopped, and it felt like William Carter’s heartbeat stopped with it.

　　【Congratulations, you drew a blueprint!】

　　William Carter was overjoyed—turns out washing your face really does make a difference!

　　A five percent chance and he got it—he’d really turned his luck around!

　　【You received the blueprint—Precise Formula for the Distribution of Mersenne Primes and Its Proof Method.】

　　William Carter was stunned.

　　WTF???

Chapter 6: The Answer to a Proof Problem

　　As a math major, William Carter of course knew what Mersenne primes were.

　　After all, when it comes to Mersenne primes, you have to mention a great mathematician from China, and his 1992 publication “On the Distribution Law of Mersenne Primes,” which turned Mersenne primes into a formula expressible in mathematical symbols—what’s internationally known as Zhou’s Conjecture.

　　Before that, although British mathematician Shanks, French mathematician Trolletat, German mathematician Berlichardt, Indian mathematician Ramanujan, and American mathematician Gillis had all made their own conjectures, they all had one thing in common: they were all approximate expressions, and none of them matched reality very well.

　　But Zhou’s Conjecture’s precise formula was very simple: when 2^(2^n) < P < 2^(2^(n+1)), there are 2^(n+1) - 1 Mersenne primes.

　　Sounds simple, right?

　　You think you could do it too, right?

　　Yet this one conjecture, still unproven or disproven to this day, has become a famous mathematical problem, puzzling the entire mathematics community for over twenty years.

　　But just like the Riemann Hypothesis, even though it can’t be proven, that doesn’t stop people from assuming it’s true and using it.

　　Of course, even with a precise formula, even if you let computers do the treasure hunting, finding Mersenne primes is still no easy task.

　　As of now (2014), mathematicians have discovered a total of 44 Mersenne primes.

　　So what are Mersenne primes good for?

　　Not much, really.

　　If you have to say something, the RSA algorithm is one example—every time you shop online, you have to thank those huge primes hidden in the encryption that can’t be factored. At the same time, large primes are used to test computer performance. For example, Intel uses the GIMPS program to test chips, and the SKYLAKE chip once had a bug discovered this way.

　　Besides, worrying about whether math is useful is kind of pointless. Many times, the motivation driving mathematicians isn’t about how much economic benefit solving an equation brings, but simply because it’s there.

　　On a grander scale, humanity can’t just live for the present; we need poetry and distant horizons too.

　　But William Carter wasn’t having it—he didn’t care about poetry or distant horizons, all he wanted was to get by right now!