Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 310: I never thought that I would end up taking over one day...

At 7:50 PM, when Li Zheng arrived at the large lecture classroom, there were already over twenty people gathered.

The scene far exceeded expectations.

Li Zheng was well aware that this was a group thirsty for knowledge, ambitious and proactive, and brimming with youthful energy—a group that surpassed simple utilitarian goals. Their enthusiasm for learning was likely far greater than that of the competition faction.

Faced with such a group, all starting at the master’s level, whether Li Zheng could play a role similar to Zhou Yi and Jie Qifen from his past, became an issue.

Fortunately, following an hour-long research on the educational field earlier, he had already formulated a plan to cope.

Seeing Li Zheng enter the classroom, the participants stood up to greet him, showing no disrespect due to his age.

Yin Hang even took on the role of class leader automatically, jogging over to hand him the list of participants.

This list was quite detailed; not only did it list each participant’s institute, but it also registered their job responsibilities and technical sequences.

"I’ve already said it, Teacher Li, no recording or filming throughout the whole course," Yin Hang said, tapping on the list, "Also keep an eye on the level of technology access, don’t let anything happen."

"Thank you, I’ll pay attention to that," Li Zheng looked up and said, "Organize everyone according to their institutes into groups and take your seats, we are about to start."

"OK!"

Within minutes, several more people hurried into the classroom, and even a teacher clutching a notebook arrived; Li Zheng hurried forward to meet them.

"Ah, you..."

"I’m free this evening anyway," the teacher lifted his phone and shook it, "I came here to take a few photos of everyone studying hard by candlelight. Don’t mind me, act like I’m not here."

"Well... find yourself a seat then," Li Zheng pointed offhandedly.

"That, I won’t be affecting the depth of your lecture, will I?" the teacher asked, "If it’s inconvenient, I can leave."

"Not at all; I’m actually not discussing anything confidential."

"Then... what are you talking about?"

"You’ll find out in a moment," Li Zheng winked and ushered the teacher into the classroom.

At 8:00 PM sharp, not counting the administrative teacher, a total of 29 participants had arrived in the classroom, though they came from different institutions, all were in engineering or technical positions.

Seeing all 29 people rushing to take seats in the front row of the classroom, Li Zheng began with a deep bow.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the session."

"After all, not everyone is willing to let someone younger guide their learning."

"Your presence here is a great trust in me, and I firmly believe that my own skills may not surpass anyone here. During the following time, I hope we can learn and improve together."

While it is said that when three people walk together, my teacher is among them, everyone seated here started with a master’s degree and chose to spend their free time listening to a high school senior lecture; this decision alone is worthy of respect.

Li Zheng returned to the front of the podium and first launched into an unrelated PowerPoint presentation.

"This is an excerpt from a higher education report."

"As we can see, over the past decade, the proportion of rote teaching in master’s and higher education programs has been decreasing annually."

"Instead, project work and job internships are replacing it."

"In top-tier institutions, this ratio is even more pronounced."

"As the report states, due to the prevalence of the internet, knowledge has never been so inexpensive."

"A person in a top university and a regular public university can access virtually the same knowledge and courses."

"Thus, leading universities are also slowly changing their own roles."

"From a place that imparts knowledge, to a platform for cooperative exploration."

"A good university, its core competitiveness is no longer just about disseminating profound knowledge most efficiently."

"But in bringing together the best people, providing them a platform to collaborate."

"At the same time, the university and its professors, with their good reputation and standing, cooperate with institutions and businesses to provide students with top-tier projects, allowing them to demonstrate their talents and explore themselves."

"And now, in front of me..."

Li Zheng looked around at 29 pairs of eyes and nodded confidently.

"...stands an elite team specializing in carrier rocket technology, encompassing everything from theory to engineering, from propulsion systems to technological processes."

"I have no reason, nor any qualification, to regurgitate the specialized knowledge you have all already learned."

"Personally, I’m only slightly ahead in the breadth of knowledge and project experience."

"Therefore, please allow me to serve as the commander-in-chief and chief designer of this carrier rocket development simulation training camp, and together with all of you, start from scratch in developing our own new generation liquid rocket."

"Young Eagle-1."

"We will create our own engineering diagrams, build our engines, establish our trajectory, and based on my project experience, form a mini space system to cooperate. Over eight nights, we will simulate the process from rocket development to launch, ultimately achieving liftoff in the simulation software, though we may also explode on the launch pad."

"This is the entire course schedule."

"Once you participate, you cannot quit, and you must ensure perfect attendance, otherwise, I will give you a negative review when the training ends."

"As for the final simulation results, they are not important, as long as you do your best."

"I’m done," Li Zheng said, scanning the room, "Who agrees, and who objects?"

No one spoke; most were poised to act, but a few had doubts.

Someone raised their hand and said, "Teacher Li, do we have the capability?"

Li Zheng nodded and replied, "I’ve looked at the list. From a technical perspective, we have basically covered all fields. I’ll handle anything uncovered."

"Isn’t the timeframe too tight…" the only female participant raised her hand, "It seems like the official course time is only 16 hours?"

"I have already drafted a detailed schedule. Prioritize proposing ideas during class, and I will fill in any details that we don’t have time to complete. You don’t need to attend my daytime classes; you can work on this part instead."

A bearded man with glasses immediately raised his hand, but he did not look at Li Zheng; instead, he looked toward the administrative teacher in the corner of the room. "Uh… what time does this classroom lock up at night?"

The administrative teacher hesitated for a moment: "Oh… If you need it, we can leave it unlocked."

"Then I’m in," Big Beard said as he pulled out a notebook, "Good thing I brought my computer, which has all the necessary software."

"Teacher Li, what simulation are we going to use?" another person raised their hand, "It’s not the ’Space Simulator,’ is it?"

Li Zheng smiled and said, "Don’t worry, we will use our Academy’s own simulation software, simulate launching 10 times, and my highest expectation is 9 successes."

"Then I’ll join too!"

In the end, except for one person who had to leave due to personal affairs and feared delaying the project, the remaining 28 participants all joined.

The challenge thus officially began.

[☬Demon Monarch Challenge☬]

[Academic Team Formation Complete.]

[Base Academic Power Value: 3465]

[Current Academic Power Value: 3465]

…

Past 11 PM, after taking nearly a hundred photos, the administrative teacher could no longer endure it and left the keys with Li Zheng before rushing off.

It was Li Zheng who reminded her of the fear dominated by studying once again.

Impossible, with this man, even though their ages matched, it still wouldn’t be possible...

She finally understood why such a handsome man didn’t have a girlfriend.

Close to midnight, Li Zheng finally forcibly disbanded the team.

Although it was project practice, as he moved frequently between groups, the technical content he discussed and laid out was no less than during lectures. Although his academic power was far from Ting Lan’s, after a month of work and study, his competence in all technical fields was still sufficient to handle the current simulation engineering.

After the students left, he spent a few more minutes in the classroom organizing the project-related matters before finally turning off the lights and locking the door.

Just then, a handsome man in a white shirt carrying a suit sauntered into the training center lobby.

As soon as he entered, he waved from a distance, saying, "You really organized a late-night study group, huh?"

"Ah," Li Zheng hurried over, "Did Teacher Du organize one too?"

"Me?" Du Songtao looked down at himself and laughed, "Right, right, I also held an event, learned quite a bit…"

"You’ve had too much to drink, huh…" Li Zheng frowned.

"Hey, the rare freedom for a few days. I met up with some classmates for dinner; it wasn’t very interesting." Du Songtao waved his hand and walked toward the elevator with Li Zheng.

Watching Li Zheng stand straight waiting for the elevator, he laughed again, "Relax a bit, Li Zheng. Nobody really takes these trainings seriously. The only reason we were assigned here is that we don’t have any important duties at our units right now."

"Hey, since I’m already here," Li Zheng shook his head and smiled, "When I first started school, I also didn’t like teachers lecturing at me, but since I couldn’t skip school and go home, I just buckled down and studied on my own, and the more I studied, the more addictive it became."

"This... don’t you have any other hobbies?" Du Songtao stepped into the elevator and slung his arm around Li Zheng’s shoulder, shaking it, "There were more normally proportioned boys and girls in high school weren’t there? Wasn’t there a single girl among all those seventeen or eighteen-year-olds that you liked?"

"Teacher Du..." Li Zheng grimaced and turned his head, "We’re not close enough to talk about that..."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

"Ah, sorry." Du Songtao chuckled awkwardly, "Ever since I returned to the country, I’ve had a bit of a social disorder. Everyone is too serious... It’s just... once you get used to a bigger scale... it’s hard to go back... like..."

"Teacher Du, please be respectful!"

"Ahaha." Du Songtao pointed at Li Zheng with a naughty laugh, "See, you get it."

"No, I mean your other hand — could you stop touching my chest already."

"Ah, it happened involuntarily..."

Just then, the sound of a WeChat video call came in; it was from Ting Lan.

Li Zheng answered the video call as he stepped out of the elevator.

In the image, Shen Tinglan was driving.

"Didn’t sleep after all..." Shen Tinglan glanced at the screen and said, "I just finished a meeting, I need to tell you a few arrangements..."

Before Li Zheng could respond, Du Songtao suddenly leaned in, saluting and saying, "Good evening, Chief Engineer Shen."

"Ah... Chief Engineer Du?" Shen Tinglan exclaimed, "You went to training too?"

"Hey, just waiting for Yellow 2, had nothing else to do." Du Songtao said with a smile.

Li Zheng quickly turned the camera back to himself and explained, "Teacher Du is drunk, he didn’t mean any harm..."

"No problem, that’s a fact." Shen Tinglan remained composed, "Chief Engineer Du is a rare talent introduced in recent years, an expert in satellite technology, learn more from him."

As he was speaking, a small head peeped out from the corner of the screen.

"Um..." Lin Yujing frowned and scrutinized, "Still in the hallway this late, you must have organized a study group, right?"

"You’re monitoring me?" Li Zheng exclaimed.

"I don’t even need to think to know." Lin Yujing scoffed and laughed, "I can tell what you’re up to just by the way you move!"

"Alright, I’m about to enter the garage." Shen Tinglan leaned in and said, "I’ll send you a WeChat message later, make sure you learn well from Chief Engineer Du."

"Mmm..."

As soon as Li Zheng hung up the phone, Du Songtao asked mysteriously, "That was Shen Tinglan’s daughter, right? You seem a bit off..."

Li Zheng hurriedly took out his door card, "It’s always like this..."

"Sure." Du Songtao also took out his own door card, "Shen Tinglan asked me to teach you, so let me start with the first lesson, after 8 PM, all video calls have only one purpose—to check attendance, and you, my boy, are already under scrutiny."

"What?"

Du Songtao smiled, waved goodbye.

Li Zheng could only sigh and enter the house, closing the door.

Indeed, one should not judge others by their knowledge.

...

As the training continued, 7 more people joined the late-night study group, but since the study team was already established, they did not affect the overall Academic Power Value, and Li Zheng did not refuse them.

The students did not expect that in such a training, they could be so fully engaged every night.

Yet, the Academic Power Value’s daily increase did not even reach 0.5%, and the "project schedule" was frequently delayed, with only less than 3 days’ worth of plans completed in 5 days.

In 8 days, to expect such a knowledgeable group of people to enhance by 10% was indeed somewhat delusional; now, even 4% looked difficult.

But since they had started, Li Zheng would of course see it through and treated it as practical education in theory.

On October 6, good news arrived; the first newly improved YF-87 engine completed three long-duration tests of 500 seconds each without any issues.

Stimulated by this news, even Du Songtao did not go out "to relax" but came to the amphitheater during the prime time of night life.

Seeing the students working fervently, he was also stunned.

Li Zheng, seeing the big shot had arrived, hurriedly put down what he was doing and went up to him, "What do you think, are you inspired?"

"Not at all..." Du Songtao swallowed, "Feels like I’ve entered a factory of strivers, it’s terrifying... Is this voluntary 996? Or is it studying PUA?"

"Cough... as a space engineer, mind your stance, Teacher Du..."

"Hmm... then I won’t comment." Du Songtao took out a pack of cigarettes and shook it as he walked outside, "Let’s go."

"I don’t smoke..."

"You, of course, don’t smoke, come out with me." Du Songtao beckoned, "A bit of tar won’t kill anyone."

"..." Li Zheng sighed inwardly, "Given your stature as a grandmaster..."

The two arrived at the entrance of the lecture building, Du Songtao lit a cigarette, and took a deep breath, "The Academy leaders just informed me, the new launch plan has been scheduled, Qiuzhi-1 is tentatively set for next December, seems the test went well?"

"I haven’t seen the data, they all say it went well."

"So, aren’t you happy?" Du Songtao shook his head and laughed, "My carefree days are almost over."

"Hard to say..." Li Zheng looked at the starry sky and sighed, "The previous 30,000-second tests all went well, this 1500-second one doesn’t prove much, I need to see the parameters and data performance before I comment."

"You sound even more overbearing than Shen Tinglan." Du Songtao hit Li Zheng playfully, "Who are you, overseeing it personally?"

"This..."

"Haha, just kidding." Du Songtao exhaled and said, "I know you’ve got the real deal, anyone who can make it out of here to IPHO definitely has the real deal, I got eliminated back then, all damn monsters..."

"No, I think everyone’s pretty normal."

"Well, that just means..." Du Songtao patted Li Zheng seriously and said, "You are the real monster."

"..."

"Let’s talk business," Du Songtao changed the topic, "Why are you pessimistic about the new engine?"

"I don’t understand it, I haven’t even seen the data from this experiment, I’ve been busy optimizing other parts of the rocket," Li Zheng shook his head. "The previous malfunction was reproduced in an extremely harsh environment, but I guess they won’t start with those parameters, probably starting with a stable 5000-second test first, then step up to that environment."

"Why do you think so?"

"Well... if it breaks as soon as it’s tested after efforts to improve it, everyone would feel embarrassed and lose confidence, so they start with the simpler, more certain things first."

"Shouldn’t we save time by starting with the difficult parts?"

"That’s true... but from my time working here at the Academy, leaders often aren’t typical scientific thinkers, they consider more factors."

Twirling his cigarette butt, Du Songtao laughed, "You could just say bureaucracy, saving face, things like that."

"I’m not, I didn’t."

As they spoke, Li Zheng’s phone rang.

"Time for a check-up~~" Du Songtao shook his head and lit another cigarette, stepping away to give some privacy.

Li Zheng answered the phone, hummed a few times, and then hung up.

"Hey, hey, hey!" called Du Songtao from a distance, laughing, "That’s not a good attitude for a check-up."

"I’m just not up for it…" Li Zheng looked gravely at Du Songtao, "Now you can relax for another six months."

Du Songtao looked back at Li Zheng, his face growing steadily more solemn, "No way..."

"Axial fracture, shutdown." Li Zheng turned away, walking back to the classroom as he tried to control his emotions, "Reset, failure."

Hurriedly discarding his cigarette butt, Du Songtao followed him, "This... although I can relax now... I’m really not happy about it..."

"Hmm…" Li Zheng swallowed, continuing towards the classroom.

"It’s not your fault... not your fault..."

"I know." Li Zheng paused at the classroom door, took a breath, "They’re all waiting, I’ll go teach now, we’ll talk later."

"..."

Li Zheng returned to the classroom, where a team leader quickly approached him.

"Teacher Li, we have a structural problem..."

"With a staged combustion cycle, it demands higher process and material strength..."

"We have no choice but to use it..."

"This will significantly exceed the budget... are you listening, Teacher Li?"

"The paper I sent you last night..." Li Zheng slowly said, "look at it again..."

"I glanced over it, but really didn’t have time to delve into it... can you pinpoint where the solution might be roughly?"

"It’s right there, look again..."

The team leader, looking at Li Zheng’s face, dared not say more.

"Let me have a look," Du Songtao suddenly came in, walking up to the table with his arm around a student’s shoulder, "You want to use a staged combustion cycle engine? That’s a lot harder than Yellow 2’s gas generator cycle..."

From behind, Li Zheng weakly raised his hand, "You..."

"Enough, you’ve lost control," Du Songtao turned back, "Now, go to your room, take a shower, get some sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow."

With that, he clapped his hands and announced, "I’ll take the class tonight, anyone objects?"

Nobody objected; after all, Du Songtao was the type of person who might actually slap someone.

"Thank you…" Li Zheng, massaging his forehead, walked out.

Only after hearing the elevator door close did Yin Hang come up and ask, "Teacher Du, what happened to Li Zheng?"

"He’s probably experienced the most disastrous failure in his life," Du Songtao gestured outward with his mouth and said solemnly, "He’s been heartbroken."

It wasn’t that he wanted to tarnish Li Zheng, but many of Yellow 2’s arrangements were still confidential, and these rookies couldn’t be trusted with the truth getting out.

"Ah!" Naturally, Yin Hang believed it, "Could it be that he’s been neglecting Quiet God by leading us in projects every day?"

"Exactly," Du Songtao patted Yin Hang, spreading his gaze around, "I’ve seen him hang up on his girlfriend three or four times..."

Yin Hang held his head, "It must be that! We’ve been too selfish!"

"Alright," Du Songtao slapped Yin Hang’s head, "Get to work, do as much as you can, don’t let your Teacher Li suffer through a breakup in vain."

"!!!" Yin Hang grimaced and nodded vigorously, "Understood, we will walk the path ourselves from here on."

"No, no, no, if I follow you, we’ll all end up in a ditch," Du Songtao sighed in resignation, looking around the room, removing his coat, slapping it on the table, "I never expected, me, untouched by sin, to end up picking up the pieces..."