I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property-Chapter 720 - 718: Anyway, the First Place is Also Mine

For the entire academic community, this was a sleepless night.

The world's top-level scientific research materials ah, though these items made available for sharing were hardly secrets, procuring them through other means would be an arduous affair.

And today, the whole organizing committee actually opened access to the worldwide scholarly forum for 800,000 scholars free of charge, allowing them to read as many papers as they wished as long as they had the time.

From last night at 18:00 to this morning at 8:00, a full 14 hours— they even wished that time could be extended.

Over 1000 research reports, even if one person read each just once, would amount to more than 800 readings, but the actual number of readings exceeded that by more than tenfold!

If they missed this opportunity, the cost of accessing these materials next time would be considerable, so the scholars read tirelessly, most of them reviewing dozens of papers. Their only requirement was to rate these articles on a scale of 1 to 10, nothing more.

The next morning, the conference proceeded as scheduled, and in line with Professor Siens's plans, a 1 to 2-hour award ceremony was held this morning to honor the top five papers in each discipline, and trophies and honorary certificates were even prepared overnight.

Although it couldn't compare with prestigious awards like the Nobel Prize, this global scholarly exchange forum was one of the most authoritative organizations for scientific research in the world. Recognition from this group meant that the significance behind it was not far behind that of awards like the Nobel.

In the center of the venue stood a large screen, surrounded by 12 disciplines, and 60 honor trophies and certificates. Taking one of these trophies and certificates back to one's own country from among the more than 1000 research reports was undoubtedly a very privileged matter.

"So after an overnight open vote, we have obtained the preliminary results," the same presenter as yesterday said, "Last night, more than 790,000 scholars participated in the scoring, and we received more than 18 million scoring records, which shows that these articles have garnered significant worldwide attention."

The scholars in the audience were all eager and full of confidence in their research achievements. They might not expect to win first place in their disciplines, but being within the top five shouldn't be too much of an issue, right?

"Announce the results, everyone is getting anxious!"

"Yes, we also want to see if the boastful scholar from yesterday is indeed as formidable as he claimed to be!"

"Exactly, release the results quickly, I can't wait to go up and receive my award."

Many in the audience were actually filled with indignation towards Zhang Menglong's arrogant tone from yesterday; his behavior was no doubt a declaration of war against the global scientific community. Who could endure such a challenge?

But when they turned their gazes towards the seating area of the Huaxia delegation, they were momentarily stunned.

To their surprise, each one of them was dressed in formal attire, as impeccably suited as leading actors waiting for their Oscar moment.

Not only that, but they all actually wore uniform sunglasses, looking straight ahead as if no one else existed.

"Who's going up to receive the award first?" Zhang Menglong asked.

"Academician Wang should go first!"

"Academician Liu should go first!"

"No, Academician Zhou should go first; you are the eldest and most senior among us. It would be most fitting for you to represent us in receiving the first award."

"No, no, no, the opportunity should be given to the younger generation. I think Menglong should go."

"Don't, don't, don't, my qualifications are rather shallow, how can I be the representative?"

"Then shall we do rock paper scissors? Whoever wins goes up first?"

"Alright, rock paper scissors it is!"

...

"What are they doing?"

"They haven't even announced the rankings and they're already discussing who goes up to receive the award? Where did they get this confidence?"

"Haha, I think it would be quite good if they won one or two awards; they probably rank quite low!"

"Well, that's hard to say. You see how confident they look; shouldn't they take home a first-place prize in every subject?"

"You make a good point!"

They simply regarded the behavior of the Huaxia representatives as nothing more than a bluff meant to seek attention.

"Hey, we're all old bones here, yet we're going along with your act."

"Exactly, if you don't win any awards later, we'll have to find a hole to crawl into!"

"This is a global live broadcast, we can't afford to lose face!"

"Gentlemen, rest assured, you'll find out soon enough!"

"So, let's announce the awards for the physics domain, starting with the fifth place!" A string of English appeared on the big screen.

"From Professor Boer of Germany, for research on quantum entanglement, with a composite score of 9.372!"

"Whirrrrr!"

A round of applause broke out as a scholar in his fifties, beaming with joy, walked up to the award stage. Although it was only fifth place, it was important to note that there were over 200 papers in the field of physics this time. These were the results of top-level physicists from around the world, and securing the fifth place indicated a high value.

"Fourth place, Professor Mucordova from England, for outstanding achievements in the field of neutrino oscillations! With a composite score of 9.451!"

A blond scholar with a smile on his face walked up to the award stage, bowing slightly to the audience below.

"Third place, Professor Garidno from Austria, for a significant contribution to laser physics on the map, with a composite score of 9.562!"

"Hahaha, there are only two places left, I bet they must be Huaxia's, right?"

"Yeah, you see they are all set to receive the award. If it's not them, I would feel embarrassed on their behalf!"

"Second place!" The award presenter's face evidently flashed a hint of surprise, then slowly turned his gaze towards Zhang Menglong.

"The Huaxia delegation, for research on the curvature of cosmic space, with a composite score of 9.877!"

The entire venue became incredibly quiet for a moment. They had all been ready to ridicule Zhang Menglong, but the display struck them with a resounding slap—his research had indeed received such a high evaluation!

Professor Garidno had won the Nobel Prize in Physics 18 years ago for his work in laser physics!

And now, his research had surpassed his own achievements from 18 years ago. Could it mean that Zhang Menglong's research had surpassed what the Nobel Prize in Physics represented?

Moreover, his score was as high as 9.877, a quite astonishing gap from Professor Garidno's score!

"I'll go up first then!" Zhang Menglong adjusted his sunglasses, then climbed the award stage, "Thank you, everyone, thank you all!"

Despite the fact that not a single person in the audience was clapping, as he had what is called "social swagger syndrome," Zhang Menglong still acted as if he was being pursued by thousands. It was only after everyone realized their own rudeness that thunderous applause began to resound.

"Mr. Zhang, congratulations to you." Although the presenter was somewhat reluctant, he still presented the trophy to Zhang Menglong.

"Well, it's just second place, not first!"

"Yes, thankfully it's only second. Otherwise, their arrogance would have soared to the skies!"

However, Zhang Menglong, having received the trophy, did not leave the stage but stood calmly next to the host.

"Mr. Zhang, you can step down now, we need to announce the first place," the host said.

"You announce it," Zhang Menglong said, "since the first place is also me, there's no sense in going up and down—it's too much trouble. I might as well just wait right here for you to announce the results."