"I just want to know, Mr. Cao, what is the basis for your suggestion? Have you discovered something, or is there something special about this game?" Chang Weisi asked Cao Ge with curiosity.
After Chang Weisi asked his question, Cao Ge didn't immediately reply, but turned to glance at Da Shi, who was sitting beside him, and saw that he was also looking at him with a desire for knowledge.
"Before I speak, I'd like to ask, General Chang, have you played this game?" Cao Ge asked the two of them.
"Not yet, we're still in the investigation phase."
"All right, then I'll start from the beginning," said Cao Ge.
"I also came across this game by accident, because a friend of mine was playing it. I'm not particularly fond of games, so I didn't take much notice at first. However, I later heard that a group of renowned scholars were playing it, so I tried it out at my friend's place. I study Computer Science, so I have an interest in computational challenges, and the main quest of the game, the Three-Body Problem, just happens to be related to computational issues. So, I tried to calculate it, but I couldn't come up with a solution and just noted it down. Later, I came into contact with the scientific community called 'Frontiers of Science,' and realized many of the players were members of this community."
"So you think the suicides of the scientists are related to this game and the Three-Body Problem," Chang Weisi contemplated for a moment, then said to Cao Ge.
Cao Ge was silent for a moment, then decided to reveal a bit more.
"Even if it isn't the direct cause, it probably has a significant relationship."
"Committing suicide over a game seems a bit too..." Da Shi suddenly laughed on the side.
But before he could finish laughing, Chang Weisi looked at him seriously, as did Cao Ge.
Seeing two such grave faces, the muscles on Da Shi's face, which had been half-laughing, slowly relaxed, and he coughed twice before offering a compensating remark: "Though it's strange, it's still possible."
"Mr. Cao, please continue," Chang Weisi urged Cao Ge.
"General Chang, did you know that the Frontiers of Science once invited me to join them?" Cao Ge asked another question.
"I did, but you didn't accept the invitation."
"But do you know why they wanted to invite me?" Cao Ge pressed on with the questioning.
Hearing this question, Chang Weisi glanced at Da Shi, then shook his head at Cao Ge.
"Although Shen Yufei didn't explicitly state it, I could still subtly sense her purpose. They wanted me to join them so that I could help them solve a problem," Cao Ge said slowly and deliberately to Chang Weisi.
Chang Weisi frowned and lowered his head in thought; after a while, he suddenly awoke, looked up, and spoke, "She wanted you to solve the Three-Body Problem from the game."
"Exactly," Cao Ge immediately confirmed.
"Sheesh."
Although Chang Weisi guessed this, he still couldn't comprehend the connection between this Three-Body Problem and the scientists' suicides.
"What is this Three-Body Problem about, and what's so special about it?"
"It's a mathematical problem, and a very difficult one," said Cao Ge as he picked up a glass of water from the table and took a sip before speaking.
"No, Brother Cao, you're making it more confusing for me," Da Shi interjected at this point.
"We're investigating the suicides of scientists, and you say it relates to the game, which we've looked into. Now you say it's also related to math, but how does this math problem relate to the suicides of scientists? It's not scientific to say that they're committing suicide because they can't solve the problem, right?" Da Shi spread his hands as he spoke.
"I'm not entirely clear about the internal connection either, but from the perspective of Computer Science, I believe there has to be a relationship. The suicides of the scientists must be strongly linked to the Three-Body game," said Cao Ge.
"The technology used in the Three-Body game is extremely advanced; the equipment needed just to play the game costs fifty thousand renminbi, and that's not even including the development costs. But this game isn't developed for the general public; only scholars with certain scientific research capabilities understand what it's talking about. Because the threshold is high, the game is doomed not to make money. So what could be the purpose of the developers? What is the purpose of the existence of this Three-Body game? It's to assemble the world's top scientists. And why assemble so many scientists? From my observations, everything in the game is set up to find the solution to the Three-Body Problem. So, the purpose becomes very clear: Shen Yufei is gathering the world's top scientists, sparing no expense, to do the same thing. Does this not explain anything?" Cao Ge said to them.
After Cao Ge finished speaking, Chang Weisi and Da Shi fell into deep thought, carefully considering Cao Ge's words.
Cao Ge didn't disturb them, but sat on the couch drinking water.
Before coming, Cao Ge had already decided to tell them some things; otherwise, they would keep coming to him, which wouldn't work, since he had his own matters to attend to.
But that was as far as it could go; saying more would endanger himself.
He was very likely under Sophon's surveillance at the moment, and although the Trisolarans might ignore some insignificant matters that didn't affect their descent, if he were to reveal anything critical, the Trisolarans would definitely order the ETO to eliminate him.
After a good while, Chang Weisi looked up at Cao Ge and said, "Mr. Cao, according to what you've said, the Three-Body game was developed to solve the Three-Body Problem, right?"
"Yes, General Chang."
"You just mentioned that you've calculated it once. What was the result?" Chang Weisi asked.
"Yes, I've calculated it once, but didn't get the result," Cao Ge replied.
"Mr. Cao, did you refuse to join the Boundary of Science because of this as well?" Chang Weisi fell silent for a while, then suddenly asked.
Cao Ge gave Chang Weisi a perplexed look, quite surprised, feeling that this Chang Weisi's insight was really sharp.
"It has a little to do with this, but the overall reason is that my research philosophy doesn't align with that of the Boundary of Science," Cao Ge thought for a moment before responding.
"How so?" Chang Weisi uttered an "oh," and then looked at Cao Ge with inquisitiveness.
Cao Ge looked at both of them, then said with extreme caution, "Although I haven't calculated the result, my intuition tells me that the Three-Body Problem has no solution. I don't want to waste time on a meaningless problem."
"Are you saying that the problem is unsolvable?"
"No, no, no, I'm saying that the problem has no solution. There's a difference between being unsolvable and not being able to be solved," Cao Ge quickly clarified.
Upon hearing this, Chang Weisi again lapsed into silence, taking a long time to understand it fully.
Then, in a kindly tone, he said to Cao Ge, "Alright, I understand now, thank you for your explanation, Mr. Cao."
"Not at all, it's what I should do," Cao Ge gestured with his hand.
"Da Shi, take Mr. Cao to the resting area. The meeting won't start for a while; let Mr. Cao rest for a bit first."
"Yes."
"Brother Cao, right this way."
...
Ten minutes later, Da Shi returned to Chang Weisi's office.
"Da Shi, you handled that well. This Cao Ge is indeed no ordinary person, and he should prove quite helpful in solving this case. Since he hasn't found a job yet, go and communicate with him to see if he would like to come work with us as a science consultant. This would also facilitate our future work," Chang Weisi said, looking at Da Shi.
"Alright, I'll talk to him about it after the meeting," Da Shi agreed.
"Keep an eye on Wang Miao; I feel that he could also be a breakthrough in solving this case."
"I'm watching Wang Miao. He's already agreed to be our undercover agent. I'll notify you immediately if there's any news," Da Shi said.
"Hmm."
"Alright, you go on down. The meeting will start soon, and I still need some time to organize my thoughts."
"Okay, Old Chang, then I'll go check on that Cao Ge."
Having said that, Da Shi headed toward the door. Just as he was about to leave the office, Chang Weisi suddenly said, "Wait, Da Shi, about the game device, write up an application as soon as you get back, and I'll see to it that finance approves the funds. Since this Cao Ge has made this game out to be so mysterious, we definitely need to research it."
Without turning his head, Da Shi stretched out his hand and made an "OK" gesture, then left the office.