Chapter 26 Erord University. By 2 pm, students from across the region were arriving one after another for the physics competition. Elvira Fuller had personally accompanied her son, Zayne, to the venue. Before he got out of the car, she leaned in with a few last- minute instructions. "If you can place in the top three nationally, you'll get a guaranteed admission to Evergreen University. So take your time with the test-double-check everything before turning it in…" She paused mid-sentence, her gaze landing on a girl in white ahead. "Wait… isn't that Chloe!" Zayne looked up. It really was her. "She's got some nerve, Elvira scoffed with a laugh. "Showing up here, acting like she belongs? Honestly, she should look in a mirror sometime. From head to toe, not a single thing about her is worthy of the Fuller family She slammed the car door and clicked across the pavement in her high heels, stopping right in front of Chloe. Chloe was mid-thought , mentally solving a set of equations, when a shadow fell over her. She looked up. The woman seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place her right away. "I'm sure I've told you more than once-Zayne is engaged to Erin, not you," Elvira said, her tone sharp and smug. "Chasing him all the way here is just pathetic. Honestly, you're only making our family look down on you more. Chloe frowned. Right. Now she remembered-this was Zayne's mother Elvira. She gave a small, amused smile. "Zayne, your mom's level of delusion is truly something else. Maybe you should talk to her. Elvira's face darkened. "You've been shamelessly chasing after my son, and everyone knows it. You may not care about your reputation. but the Fuller family does. I'm warning you-leave Erord University now, or else "What's going on here?" Gianna had been speaking with a few teachers nearby when she heard the commotion. She quickly walked over, first spotting Zayne, then recognizing Elvira. She smiled politely. "Oh, Elvira, what brings you here? Is there a problem? "She wants me to leave, Chloe said calmly. Tm afraid that's not an option , Gianna replied, her smile fading. "Chloe is representing Erord College in the competition. The exam's about to start-we need to head in." She pulled Chloe's participant badge from her bag, slung a casual arm around her shoulders, and guided her through the unversity gates with the rest of the group Elvira stood frozen, stunned "She-what ? Her?" She looked utterly incredulous. "Chloe even flunked an easy exam. Barely scraped a hundred points! The Lancaster family had to spend a fortune just to get her into Eroad College. With grades like that, how is she even. allowed to competet Zayne glanced at Chilpe's back as she walked away. "She transferred to Class 20. That's the class for underperformers, Maybe they just didn't have anyour better to send" Elvira serted. "Exactly what I thought. The Lancaster family bought her way into Frond College, and she still got dumped in the worst class Total waste of money Zayne picked up his bag. "Tim going in The physics competition was no joke. The best students from top schools had shown up. The contest was divided into three stages prelims, semifinals, and finals Only the top three scorers nationwide would receive uaranteed admission offers from Evergreen University-everyone here was P P. Chapter 26 gunning for it Inside the exam hall, Chloe flipped through the test. Aside from the last long-answer question-which was a bit tricky-she knew the answers at a glance. Still, Gianna had told her to write out every step clearly. So she got to work. Her pen flew across the page. When she finished and checked the time, barely thirty minutes had passed. She stood up The proctor frowned immediately. "What are you doing? Sit down-you're disturbing the other students." "I'm turning in my paper," Chloe replied calmly. Heads snapped up across the room. They thought, "What? 'She's handing it in-already ? Is that even possible?' Zayne looked up, eyes narrowing The moment Zayne glanced over, he quickly looked away. The proctor was just about to scold Chloe for disrupting the room- But then he caught sight of her test paper . It was completely filled out. The layout was neat, the handwriting elegant and fluid. Every answer was detailed, every step clearly shown. There was nothing rushed or careless about it. He had just taken the paper from her hand when Chloe gathered her things and walked out without another word. She began wandering around the Erord University campus. Seventy years ago , after returning from her studies abroad, she'd been invited here to give a week-long lecture on mathematics. Without meaning to, her steps led her back to the same lecture hall. The building was old now, repurposed into a small exhibition space showcasing the university's academic history. As she walked through, it felt like stepping through a time portal. One display caught her attention-a chalkboard. At the top, written in large, faded letters: [Eight Great Unsolved Problems That Have Batlled Mathematicians for Thirty Years.] The board was covered in densely packed formulas . None of them had conclusions . The first problem listed: The Stability of Planetary Orbits and Chaos Theory. She once heard someone say, "Mathematics is the most beautiful language-it expresses the laws of the universe." Back then, Vecraland had been determined to reach the stars, but with limited resources and outdated technology, progress had been painfully slow Seventy years later, the country had made incredible breakthroughs in aerospace. This problem had stumped her even back then. But the harder the challenge, the more interesting it became Chloe packed up a piece of chalk and began writing rapidly in one of the blank spaces "What do you think you're doing?" a sharp voice cut through her concentration. A young instructor stored over. "This blackboard is off-limits. You ar not allowed to del Chloe froze, only now realizing what she'd done. Her squations now filled the entire empty section below the unsolved problems. "Sorry I'll erase it right away" Chapter 26 She reached for the eraser "Hold on." A calm voice came from behind her. Chloe turned to see an older woman in her sixties approaching the board with urgency in her step. The young teacher immediately greeted her, a bit flustered. "Professor Novak!" Ronda Novak held up a hand, silencing him. Her eyes were locked on the chalkboard. She picked up a pen and started working through the equations Chloe had just written, right there in the margins. "Incredible… this leads to an actual result. So this was the right path. She suddenly turned to Chloe, eyes bright. "You worked this out?" Chloe nodded. I think the final answer isn't quite right-there's an error in the middle step. If you reverse the logic here…" She circled a section with her finger. "And recalculate from this new angle, you'll get at least three distinct outcomes . It depends on the specific characteristics of the planetary body. Ronda nodded slowly, "Your method is a bit conservative. It would've been spot-on four or five decades ago. But now? I'd say don't hold back. Push the theory further. And just like that, the two of them fell into deep discussion in front of the chalkboard, fully absorbed. They didn't notice the time passing until the bell rang to signal the end of the physics competition. Chloe blinked in surprise-nearly two hours had gone by. Of course, this was one of the biggest open problems in mathematics. They hadn't found a complete solution, but they'd uncovered a promising direction. Ronda turned to Chloe, eyes filled with admiration. "Who's your advisor?? "I study under Gianna, Chloe replied. Ronda frowned slightly. "Gianna ? That name didn't ring any bells in the math community! "She teaches physics at Erord College, Chloe clarified. "I'm a senior there." "You're in. Erord College?" Ronda's calm demeanor finally cracked. She stared at Chloe, stunned. "You're already tackling world-class math problems? A mind like yours how have you gone unnoticed until now? You must not have an academic advisor yet. Let me mentor you. What do you think?"