Super God-Level Top Student-Chapter 920 - 348: Stability is the Most Important! _2

Of course, it also included the implied meaning of "You can leave now."

On any other day, Li Chengze would have just turned around and left.

But today, after being reprimanded by his superior earlier, Li Chengze realized he couldn't afford to be so passive anymore. Although trial and error came with a cost, he genuinely didn't want to be that cost. Summoning his courage, he asked, "Professor Qiao, as your secretary, if there's anything you need, you can just let me know. I believe I could provide some assistance."

Qiao Ze lifted his head for the first time and glanced at him, his expression slightly puzzled: "You? Assistance?"

That one sentence was enough to dent Li Chengze's confidence. Feeling emotionally bruised, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and hurriedly clarified, "Of course, not in academic matters."

"Non-academic help? What kind of help would I need?"

Qiao Ze shook his head and said, "I don't need an official secretary. You just need to guard the door, ensure that whoever comes in for deeper discussions poses no so-called confidentiality risks, and that's enough. If your superior has any objections, tell them to speak directly with me."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "I don't have much of anything to do here. If idleness makes you uncomfortable, feel free to do something you like. Don't make it hard on yourself."

Having said that, Qiao Ze felt he had conveyed his point adequately and shifted his attention back to the screen in front of him. Having finally found his train of thought, he didn't want to waste time on unnecessary explanations. But to Li Chengze, it felt like another demoralizing blow, leaving him doubting whether he truly was incapable.

After all, the task Qiao Ze assigned to him really did sound exactly like what the leadership had said earlier—something even a dog could do.

Especially those last words, "Don't make it hard on yourself," which sounded warm and considerate, but actually made him feel like a useless failure.

What Li Chengze didn't know was that the current Qiao Ze had already been far softened by Su Mucheng and the unborn baby in her belly.

If this was before meeting Li Jiangao, he would most likely have spared him a glance and then treated him like air, which would have been even more awkward.

If this was before Su Mucheng had her baby, he would probably have responded with something like, "Got it, you can leave," and dismissed him.

Now, Qiao Ze was even willing to waste tens of seconds to express himself fully, even offering to help him reconcile with himself by saying things like, "Don't make it hard on yourself."

Honestly, Li Chengze was quite fortunate.

Even though Qiao Ze, softened as he might be, still managed to strike a nerve with his words.

Fortunately, Li Chengze didn't have much time to wallow in self-pity. The information he had gathered here had to be urgently reported.

He believed the leadership back in the Capital was already anxiously waiting.

...

"...That's how the events unfolded. In Professor Qiao's words, the confidence level of all the data is approximately 1.793 Sigma."

Li Chengze might not possess Qiao Ze's mathematical genius, but being chosen for this communication mission proved that he was exceptionally talented.

Indeed, this was true.

For instance, Li Chengze had an excellent memory. While not at the level of photographic memory, he could accurately recall important figures he heard even once, for up to a day, without needing to jot them down.

Similarly, his ability to summarize was outstanding.

Dou Dou spoke for ages in Qiao Ze's office, yet Li Chengze managed to condense it into three sentences using a strategy akin to "A bigwig spent eight million for me."

As for why it was expressed in terms of Sigma rather than percentages...

It wouldn't do for him to be the only one appearing uneducated, would it?

Anyway, Dou Dou had phrased it like that, and he was merely relaying the information. Substituting "Professor Qiao" for Dou Dou simply added credibility.

Sure enough, after finishing his report, the superior on the other end fell silent for a moment before asking, "What is this sigma you're talking about?"

"A statistical concept representing standard deviation, a measure of data distribution's dispersion. Well, in simpler terms, the confidence level is roughly 92.7%."

Another period of frustrating silence ensued, followed by the predictable reprimand: "Li Chengze, you've grown some brains in Xilin, haven't you? With all this talk of statistical concepts! The task is a total mess, yet you've managed to pick up useless theories. What, are you planning on quitting to pursue a Ph.D.? Whatever, I don't have time for your nonsense. Be prepared to face consequences! Also, this matter is classified—don't speak of this to anyone. Many people will panic. Ensure the safety of the Mathematics Research Institute and Professor Qiao."

With that, the other end disconnected abruptly.

Li Chengze exhaled deeply.

It was fine; the superior was probably very busy. After all, their superiors' superiors were likely desperate to verify the source and authenticity of the information.

Who would have thought, though, that the story could be this dramatically thrilling? Spending over 500 million US dollars, only to bring back a guru who barely opens his eyes at critical moments...

If such intelligence could be consistently delivered back, Li Chengze dared not imagine the implications.

Forget it, those weren't matters he should be pondering anyway.

...

Meanwhile, across the ocean.

A piece of critically important information was transmitted here at great risk, so urgently that there wasn't even time to encrypt it.

"Massive confidential information leaked from Langley to Huaxia!!!"

The three triple exclamation marks said it all.

And, of course, it was understandable.

Langley's secret files involved the safety of countless overseas operatives, including the individual transmitting this message. No one could guarantee that the next leak wouldn't include a list identifying them.

One could be working smoothly only to have their undefined identity exposed by the leaked documents—who wouldn't panic?

Christopher Brown, Langley's newly appointed interim director, who had succeeded Ruel Smith, received the urgent message immediately.

For him as the new director, that single sentence contained too much information—far more than he could process.

Ruel Smith had met a miserable fate, so after taking over the interim leadership of Langley, Christopher Brown's approach was very simple: laissez-faire.

Given the current competitive situation between the two factions, it truly wasn't clear who would ultimately come out on top.

More importantly, he wasn't part of either faction.

His succession to this post wasn't anything substantial, but a short-term measure following one dismissal and another incident of self-destruction by his predecessors.

In a few months, once the two competing factions settled the matter, his position definitely wouldn't be secure. No matter how hard he tried—it wasn't happening.

As a veteran of Langley, Christopher Brown was well aware that competency was not enough to hold on to this role. For him, the next three months would be a success as long as he managed to get through them safely.

No accomplishments, just no mistakes.

With such a mentality, the days were easier to muddle through. That was why he accepted the appointment.

Besides, the heated competition between the factions left neither side paying much attention to him. Even if orders came down, he could delay them by relying on his "procrastination strategy," dragging things out until the inevitable policy resolutions arrived and the new leader took over. Then, he'd hand the tasks over—simple as that.

As a passive attitude spread from the brain to the limbs, even the internal teams started to relax.

A boss who didn't demand KPIs but continued distributing salaries? That's a good boss.

Yet, who could have foreseen this? Even after actively avoiding issues, something still came crashing down.

Does this world even have justice anymore?

Massive confidential information leaks?

How massive?

How confidential?

This was seriously MMP-level absurd! freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Could this world possibly get worse?

If Christopher Brown had the slightest touch of literary appreciation, he'd recognize that Huaxia long ago summed up his predicament with one sentence: "The tree desires tranquility, but the wind keeps blowing."

For someone entirely committed to laying low, his first question upon seeing this message was: "Who else knows?"

"It's an urgent message, sent outside the official protocol but encoded. I was the first to notify you."

"So, are you saying you're the only one who knows?"

"Yes."

Hearing this, Christopher Brown felt slightly more at ease and asked, "Connor, how many directors have you seen off?"

Silence.

"Well, you know this post is temporary for me. In no more than three months, I'll be back to being deputy director. This wasn't our problem to begin with, so keep it under wraps for now. You understand that any issue at this point could be magnified infinitely."

Finally, Connor replied: "Even 1900?"

"Trust me, once someone over there knows, within days the entire world will know. It'll be chaos."

"We can't pretend we never received it, though."

"Yes, that's not an option. Just make up a reason and start investigating. Plug the leak and seal the channel. That's as much as we can do. It's a season of turmoil—we've got to keep things steady!"