"Awesome! That opening line is unbeatable!"
"That's Zhang Menglong, the cocky Zhang!"
"The last time someone talked like that was the Table Tennis Demon King, right?"
"Listening to this, my DNA is starting to ignite, oozing with dominance!"
After all, it was a global conference, and the opening ceremony was being live broadcasted. However, the audience wasn't very large, only some scholars and people with graduate-level education were watching.
But Zhang Menglong's appearance was like a free traffic-grabbing tool; suddenly, hordes of netizens poured in, and even the official live streaming channels had to add several more channels on the fly to avoid a network explosion.
"I just heard the topics prepared by the scholars and saw the significant achievements you all have made in these scientific research domains. I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to everyone here."
"Hold on, isn't Zhang part of the attendees, not the organizer? Why do I feel his speech is kind of odd?"
"He's stolen the host's lines, it's like a massive unemployment scene!"
"However, sorry to say," continued Zhang Menglong, "first, I must apologize to everyone because we didn't prepare any materials in advance!"
"Wow!" The crowd below was in turmoil, even the translator was a bit taken aback.
This was an international conference; if you've prepared nothing, what are you doing here, just purely to learn?
Or are you saying that your talents have been exhausted, that besides achievements in chip technology and physics, you have nothing else?
But looking over at the other representatives from Huaxia, all the academicians were unfazed, even smiling, treating Zhang Menglong's words as if he was just making a regular statement.
"Mr. Zhang, are you implying that your country's representatives are not planning to present anything this time and just choosing to be in the audience?" the host asked.
"No, that's not what I said," Zhang Menglong shook his head, "it's really quite troubling, because our country has developed so quickly over the past two years, we have achieved very good results in almost every research field. But today's conference is about sharing the most top-level academic achievements; however, all of ours are top-level, so which one should I talk about?"
"Listen to this! Can you believe it?"
"Whoa, scared me there, same old formula, same old taste."
"Come and see, it's a grand Versailles scene!"
"Boss Zhang has started to show his power again, putting on an act!"
Zhang Menglong's incredibly arrogant remarks were just like those of a protagonist in a self-satisfying narrative. There's no helping it, we Huaxia are just that awesome. You all chose a few fields you're good at to report on, but sorry, we're awesome in every field—we can't possibly talk about all of them, can we?
Still, many people were worried about this overconfidence. Words had been said, but if the material presented got easily overshadowed by others, wouldn't it be pretty embarrassing?
"It's genuinely thrilling to watch. I remember last time that Professor Proko even used one of our experimental accidents as a case study when sharing, to highlight his own photocatalysis domain. That really pissed me off."
"But with his brashness, won't it be a problem if he fails to deliver?"
"Yeah, no matter how excellent he is, he can't possibly master every domain, right?"
"And those academicians, at most each person excels in two or three domains, aren't they going to make a fool of themselves this time?"
"Mr. Zhang, what did you just say? I'm sorry, I might have misunderstood." Although the host was not specifically engaged in scientific research, he knew that Zhang Menglong's statement was a bit too arrogant.
"Oh, my apologies, I forgot that everyone here is from abroad," Zhang Menglong said with a polite smile, "Let me repeat that!"
Following that, Zhang Menglong repeated the sentence in dozens of languages from around the world, ensuring that every person present could understand.
It was no secret that Zhang Menglong was fluent in global languages; he had already demonstrated this once before, but even so, it still managed to shock people sufficiently.
"Setting aside the level of Zhang Menglong's scientific research, the fact that he is proficient in so many of the world's languages is already very commendable."
"Hmm! They really do like to show off. With so many subjects in the academic community, I admit that Huaxia's academic level is very high, but is all of their work top-level in the world? Do they think the researchers from other countries are all useless?"
"Mr. Zhang, are you saying that your country has already reached a level in all domains sufficient to present at this seminar?"
"This is trouble, they've run into a tough one!" Several Huaxia academicians in the audience suddenly showed uneasy expressions on their faces.
The European professor who asked the question was an expert in mRNA drug research, owning dozens of patents.
Huaxia's published papers on genetic DNA transcription regulation accounted for nearly one-fifth of the global total, but their research on RNA translational regulation was almost non-existent.
Over the past decade, European and American countries have published over 1,500 papers each year in this domain, with their research on mRNA drugs undergoing explosive growth, but Huaxia had just started in this area.
This was something these European and American countries were very clear about, so since Zhang Menglong had said it, what he meant was that they were also impressive in the field of mRNA drugs, right?
"Exactly!" Zhang Menglong nodded, "So, to accommodate everyone, I think it's better that I openly solicit topics. If there's a particular aspect of research you want to hear about, you can tell me today, and then we'll answer and clarify any doubts for everyone when the time comes!"
The phrase "answer and clarify any doubts" was posed very cleverly.
What does "answer and clarify any doubts" mean? It implies that you need us to explain things to you when you are not up to par. The undercurrent of this phrase suggests that your work is lacking and that you should come to us to learn.
The face of that European scholar visibly darkened. You claim to have a multitude of blank areas, what gives you the right to say such a thing? Search the top journals for articles on mRNA, and if you find one written by a Huaxia scholar, consider it a loss for him.
But of course, in front of the media, he could not directly say that.
So you think you're impressive, the best in the world? Fine, let's see how you handle this later!
"Then I assume your country has also made breakthrough progress in the mRNA field? I wonder if we have the honor of hearing about your research, especially in vaccine self-amplification, RNA modifications, and lipid nanoparticles that encapsulate RNA."
"Of course," Zhang Menglong said to the host next to him, "Sir, could you please note down this topic for me?"
"Certainly, Mr. Zhang."
"Then I would like to hear about your country's recent achievements in photocalysis," Professor Proko answered with a smile, "I hope that your country has emerged from the shadow of that laboratory explosion incident."
"I won't disappoint you, Professor Proko. Let's add photocalysis to our report as well."
One by one, scholars stood up, and the topics they raised ranged from basic to applied science. However, without exception, they all chose Huaxia's weakest areas.
But Zhang Menglong accepted them all without showing any sign of fear, as if he indeed had full confidence in his answers.
"So, there are a total of 13 topics, right?" Zhang Menglong confirmed with the host, "Please bring paper and pens and your brilliant minds when the time comes so you can learn and observe well!"