Chapter 43: One Month Later, the First Public Trial Run of the Unmanned Tram

The national security crisis dissolved in a way no one could have anticipated.

Not only was He Yu cleared of all suspicions, but the artificial intelligence algorithm he handed over possessed a profundity and forward-looking vision far surpassing the so-called "Genesis." Regarded by two national-treasure-level experts as a spark capable of changing the future, it was submitted with the highest level of cryptographic clearance.

From that moment on, the construction of Longhai University obtained an intangible, national-level "special authorization."

All external obstacles and noises completely vanished.

Longhai University officially entered a fast lane without red lights.

A month passed in the snap of a finger.

To the outside world, these thirty days might have been just an ordinary month, but for the "Valley of Hope" campus of Longhai University, it was a cataclysmic transformation.

He Yu did not hesitate to invest all the [Construction Acceleration Cards] rewarded by the system.

An invisible force enveloped the entire valley. Several urgently deployed national-level elite construction teams operated like precision-wound machines, running three shifts twenty--four hours a day, with workers resting while the machines kept going.

The roaring sounds of the construction site were confined within a limited range by high-efficiency soundproofing barriers, but the speed of construction transformed into a visible miracle, breaking records day after day.

A continuous stream of new eco-friendly building materials and high-efficiency engineering equipment was redeemed by He Yu from the system mall, appearing quietly in the material warehouse before being swiftly deployed to every corner of the project.

A month later, the core area of Phase I construction was declared complete.

This was no longer a blueprint, but a tangible land of the future.

Within the "Heart of the Dragon" ecological park, purified mountain spring water re-converged into streams, murmuring through meticulously designed riverbeds.

The ecological foundation at the bottom of the water had already begun to nurture life, with a few lively fry chasing and playing among them.

Specially introduced rare Chinese hairstreaks, their wings flashing with a metallic sheen, fluttered and danced among the colorful flowers, showing no fear of approaching humans.

Several main buildings had already risen from the ground.

Devoid of the squareness and rigidity of traditional architecture, they embraced a streamlined, vibrant posture that blended perfectly with the natural contours of the valley, as if they had grown naturally from this very land.

Deep underground, where no one could see, a vast and complex web had already quietly taken shape.

It was a driverless tram rail network spanning the entire valley, connecting every teaching building, dormitory building, laboratory, and public area.

The continuous inquiries and expectations of tens of millions of netizens across the entire network for a month had accumulated to a critical tipping point.

He Yu knew it was time to show the world the first "miracle" of Longhai University.

He decided to hold the first public manned test broadcast for the [Driverless Tram System].

The news was released through the official website, causing a massive uproar with a single stone.

On this day, the gaze of the entire internet converged here.

On the day of the broadcast, the online viewer count in He Yu's personal streaming room skyrocketed at an unprecedented speed.

Ultimately, the number stabilized at over several millions, with new viewers continuously pouring in.

The air in front of the screens seemed to grow scorching hot due to this immense wave of attention.

Under the gaze of tens of millions of eyes, the camera turned on.

He Yu's figure appeared in the picture. Standing beside him were two spirited elders—Li Weimin and Qian Liqun.

On the faces of the two grandmasters, anticipation, curiosity, and a trace of the prudence typical of top-tier scientists were intertwined.

Behind them stood several engineering project managers led by "Old Cannon," whose tanned faces could hardly conceal their excitement and pride, their clenched fists betraying their turbulent inner emotions.

The group walked together into a station located on the first basement level of the main teaching building.

The camera followed their footsteps inside, and the livestream chat was instantly flooded with a wave of exclamation.

There was no sense of oppression typical of traditional subway stations.

The lighting did not come from overhead, but permeated evenly from the milky-white polymer material integrated into the walls and floors. Soft and bright, not a single glaring light source could be found in the field of view.

The design of the entire space was filled with a minimalist, futuristic feel; not a single exposed cable or pipe could be seen, and light-blue luminous bands flowed along the walls, indicating directions and information.

The air was filled with a refreshing scent filtered by the purification system.

At that moment, a soft, non-mechanical artificial intelligence female voice seemed to come from all directions, ringing out clearly in everyone's ears.

"Please hold on firmly, passengers. 'Dragon Vein No. 1' is pulling into the station."

The voice had just fallen.

Deep within the dark circular tunnel ahead, two sharp beams of light illuminated the space.

There was no roaring sound of rail friction, no buzzing sound of current conduction.

A tram slid out of the darkness just like that, completely silently.

Its exterior completely subverted everyone's perception of rail transit vehicles. The entire body was forged from a composite material with a texture close to obsidian, presenting a flawless "bullet-head" streamlined shape. The surface of the car body was as smooth as a mirror yet non-glaring, seeming to absorb the surrounding light.

It had no wheels; the entire car body levitated about a few centimeters above the rails, moving like a droplet of mercury sliding across the ground, terrifyingly smooth.

The tram stopped precisely in front of the crowd, with absolute accuracy.

With an imperceptible hiss of airflow, the doors slid open silently to both sides, revealing the interior space.

He Yu was the first to step inside.

Li Weimin and Qian Liqun followed closely behind. Their footsteps carried a hint of hesitation, yet their eyes immediately began scanning every detail within the compartment.

The interior space was far more spacious than it appeared, and the soft lighting was of a piece with the external station.

The seats were not arranged in traditional rows, but were closer to comfortable rest capsules, each made of memory material capable of perfectly conforming to the passenger's bodily curves.

When "Old Cannon" and the other engineering managers walked in, they excitedly stroked the inner walls of the compartment with their hands, feeling the cold and smooth texture, their eyes filled with parental pride.

Everyone was in position.

The doors closed silently, isolating the inside and outside into two different worlds.

He Yu stood in the center of the compartment, his gaze sweeping over the two grandmasters and the project managers before finally looking at the live broadcast camera.

Without any superfluous words, he used just four words to announce the dawn of a new era.

"First trial run, initiate!"

His voice was not loud, yet it was clearly transmitted to every corner through the in-car speakers.

The next second.

The tram started.

There was no anticipated push-back sensation, nor even the slightest bump or sway.

The group only felt the station scenery outside the window begin to move backward smoothly, accelerating faster and faster, yet feeling no inertial pulling force at all. It was as if the space they occupied was being steadily pushed forward by an invisible giant hand.

The tram smoothly entered the underground rail network, completely plunging into the dark tunnel.

The live broadcast camera faithfully recorded everything.

Outside the window, the indicator light bands on the tunnel walls flashed past, forming streaks of flowing light.

This futuristic tram, following a rail network as complex as human blood vessels, traveled silently beneath the valley's woodlands and turned flexibly among the massive foundations of the grand teaching buildings.

There were no drivers, no conductors throughout the entire journey.

All acceleration, steering, obstacle avoidance, and dispatching were calculated and executed within fractions of a millisecond by the encrypted central AI system.

The speed was extremely fast.

So fast that the scenery outside the window had already dissolved into a flowing blur of light and shadow.

Yet inside the compartment, it was so stable that it gave people the illusion that time had slowed down.

Academician Qian Liqun couldn't help but place the thermos cup he carried with him onto the small table in front of him.

The surface of the water in the cup did not have a single ripple.

Still as a mirror.

His pupils suddenly constricted, and his breath stopped for a fraction of a second.