So... fuck!
Feeling utterly confused, Li Jian Gao simply sent two words in the group chat: "Watermark."
Those two words immediately blew up the group.
"Watermark? What watermark?"
"Jian Gao, don't stop halfway! You're going to keep me up all night like this."
"Exactly! Hurry up and tell us what's really going on. Did Ackerman Konietz really plagiarize Qiao Ze's paper?"
...
Watching countless questions @him in the group, Li Jian Gao took a deep breath and then sent screenshots of these conversations directly to Qiao Ze, while briefly describing the showdown happening in the academic world.
He quickly received a reply: "Oh."
Seeing this "Oh," Li Jian Gao still felt a bit uncomfortable.
The entire mathematical community was about to explode, how could this kid remain so calm?
Couldn't he at least show a little more emotion?
"Qiao Ze, how do you think we should deal with this?"
"It's fine."
"What do you mean it's fine?"
"Fine to tell them about the watermark. Forget about the rest."
"This... I'll head to the studio later."
"Good!"
...
After looking at the brief exchange with Qiao Ze, Li Jian Gao couldn't be bothered to say anything more.
He simply edited what he had demonstrated to the editors of "Duke Mathematical Journal" the day before and then sent it directly to the small group.
"This is the watermark, created by Qiao Ze himself. Sumant must have decoded it using this method, too."
The group fell silent for a moment.
Then suddenly, it exploded.
"I... I'm seeing something new every day, watermarks in a paper?"
"Could a normal person even come up with this method?"
"No, how did he manage to integrate this system of equations perfectly into the proof process?"
"Jian Gao, could you please ask Qiao Ze if he's taking on new students?"
"So say it clearly, did the paper plagiarize your entire work? Or just happen to copy this process?"
"Jian Gao, don't leave, how about you drop Qiao Ze's WeChat contact in the chat!"
Li Jian Gao didn't reply to any of the messages in the small group.
He couldn't wait to go to the research team and see for himself.
...
In Huaxia, Capital, at Yanbei University, on the second floor of the small conference room of the International Mathematics Research Institute.
A few top-tier professors were so engaged that they couldn't care less about their seeds and peanuts.
Indeed, the situation was too baffling to comprehend.
No matter which logical chain one used to analyze, there was no straightforward explanation.
On one hand, Sumant's performance seemed to indicate that he truly had evidence that Ackerman had plagiarized Qiao Ze's paper, to the point where he even wished to take down the journal that published it.
However, both papers had been reviewed, and their similarity was far from reaching the level of plagiarism accusation.
The restored text was even highlighted in bright red.
Strikingly eye-catching!
Not long after this Facebook post went up, Sumant Jair's comment section completely exploded.
Various mindless exclaims were rapidly multiplying...
The only pity was that the English exclamations were too meager, too homogeneous - thumbs down!
...
In Germany, at the University of Cologne, School of Mathematics.
Ackerman Konietz, sitting in his office and staring at the computer screen, felt his brain go blank.
The final blow had come too quickly.
He had still been considering how to more firmly tie his relationship with Coran when they viciously delivered this blow.
The key issue was that he couldn't defend against this blow.
How could he explain this?
Coincidence?!
Where are there such coincidences in mathematics?
Who the hell could have thought that a sentence like this would be buried in a paper?
Really, at this moment, Ackerman was beginning to feel a sweet taste in his throat.
This paper truly was original!
At least 95% complete.
It had taken nearly two years to finish and now because of that one sentence, it had become a joke.
At this point, Ackerman Konietz wasn't even able to feel a hint of annoyance or regret.
What on earth had happened?
This trance-like state lasted until his office door was suddenly pushed open.
"Mr. Konett..."
Ackerman looked up, seeing the bewildered expression on his most promising student's face, suddenly feeling dizzy, then everything went dark...
"Bang..."
"Mr. Konett... oh my God..."
...
"Bang..."
"Clang..."
"Oh God..."
"How can this be possible?"
At 'Pure and Applied Mathematics Communications' editorial office, where the workday had just begun, there was now utter chaos.
No one had expected Sumant's last Facebook post to be so sharp.
Especially Jack, who had just taken a sip of coffee at his workstation, ready to see how this incident would finally end.
It was too fast!
So fast that he hadn't even had time to react...
As the editor responsible for both papers, Jack realized that this was no longer just Ackerman Konietz's problem.
He could even imagine how dark the expression must be on Carl's face right now.
Of course, at this moment, no one would remember that, just a month ago, on a warm afternoon, they had discussed the paper from Huaxia so casually and comfortably.