With his level of knowledge, there was definitely no way to solve it, so he had to use some conventional methods.

If he remembered correctly, the points from that black-tech system could be used to solve real-world technical problems. He tried using it to solve the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis, but there was no response at all. It seemed that either the answer was beyond his mathematical level, or the point cost was astronomical and he simply couldn’t afford it.

With a problem of this level as the target, the system should at least give some kind of response, right?

Thinking of this, William Carter focused his attention on the computer screen and began silently chanting in his heart, “System, system, system...”

Hmm...

There didn’t seem to be any response.

Hmm?

Suddenly, a warm current surged from his back up to the crown of his head. William Carter felt a rush of heat in his brain, and then with a “boom,” a massive stream of information exploded in his mind, lines of text floating past his eyes one after another.

【Points consumed: 65】

【Based on Mathematics LV0 level, providing the optimal solution...】

The sensation wasn’t painful; in fact, it was somewhat enjoyable. Just as William Carter was starting to wonder if he’d become a masochist, he suddenly snapped awake.

Staring at the snow-white computer screen, William Carter looked at his own hands, then at the keyboard, a trace of barely concealed excitement in his muttered words.

“It’s... it’s solved?”

It really was solved!!!

If he weren’t in the library, he probably would have cheered out loud in excitement.

Just like when he first mastered the proof of Zhou’s Conjecture, the core argument method of the entire topic was imprinted in his mind like a branding iron.

From the process to the answer, every number, every symbol, even every punctuation mark, was so concise, filled with the beauty of mathematics.

The only flaw was that this beauty was too bare-bones; it needed to be enriched with language, to turn it from pure theory into a paper.

A paper that others could understand.

In that moment, William Carter seemed to understand something about the meaning of the black-tech system.

But what he couldn’t figure out was—why was all this happening?

At that moment, a ballpoint pen reached over and gently poked his arm.

“Um, classmate...” Sarah Brooks asked shyly, blushing, “Could I ask you about another math problem?”

She hadn’t wanted to ask him, but she’d already asked everyone around her about this problem, and no one could solve it.

There was no choice—when under someone’s roof, you have to lower your head.

Sarah Brooks chose to swallow her pride and decided to forget the “humiliation” he’d given her the day before yesterday.

Snapping back to reality, William Carter said, “Sure, give me the problem.”

Sarah Brooks breathed a sigh of relief, quietly moved her chair over, and sat down next to William Carter.

William Carter glanced at the problem and found that it was much harder than the one from the day before yesterday—about the same level as the one David Foster had asked him.

But no matter how difficult it was, it still couldn’t escape the framework of advanced algebra. Especially for him, as long as it was a problem from the exercise book, there was no such thing as one he couldn’t solve.

Picking up his pen, William Carter began scribbling on the scratch paper.

While William Carter was working on the problem, Sarah Brooks secretly glanced at his profile.

Although his personality wasn’t exactly likable, he actually looked surprisingly good when he was focused.

As Sarah Brooks waited idly for William Carter to solve the problem, she suddenly noticed the Word document open on his computer screen and asked in a low voice, “Classmate, are you working on your graduation project?”

Dragging out a graduation project until June and still not finished—now that’s talent!

Still working on the problem, William Carter casually replied, “No, that’s a paper. I’m submitting it to SCI.”

Hearing this, Anna Brooks was full of admiration.

Oh my god, I’ve run into a genius!

You really couldn’t tell—he looked so young, but he was actually a graduate student!

And already submitting to SCI during grad school—amazing!

Sarah Brooks asked with a look of worship, “Senior, what’s your major?”

Originally expressionless as he worked on the problem, William Carter suddenly gave a shy smile when he heard the word “senior.” “Uh... mathematics.”

“Mathematics, oh my god, anyone who can master math is a genius...” Sarah Brooks sighed sincerely, her admiration growing even stronger.

She was from the business school. Although she was doing quite well in her own major, the only thing that troubled her was math. She was about to be a senior, and the mountain of the graduate entrance exam loomed ahead, making her, who wanted to continue her studies, quite anxious.

“It’s solved. I’ve written the process and my thought process on the paper. If you think it over, you should be able to understand.” Pushing the scratch paper over to Sarah Brooks, William Carter said softly, “With math, it’s partly talent and partly practice. Unlike other sciences, just listening to explanations isn’t enough.”

After all, this was the library—not the best place for discussing problems. A few quiet words were fine, but if they kept talking, they’d probably get a lot of dirty looks. So William Carter stopped there, leaving the rest for the girl to figure out on her own.