As a second-level researcher with the Academic Committee, Qi Yuan was qualified to submit an independent paper.
Moreover, because this paper was not registered with the Biological and Mechanical Research Laboratory, he did not need to add the name of the laboratory at the end of the paper. He did not need to give the corresponding reward to the laboratory.
However, Qi Yuan did not intend to do this. A little reward would not affect anything. What was important was his attitude.
I was bullied to this extent, but I didn't forget to add the name of the laboratory. You have the nerve to make trouble for me with something as trivial as malicious competition?
Qi Yuan believed that with the current state of public opinion, even if he did not add the name of the laboratory at the end of the paper, the project review team representing the will of Chief Molin would never speak up for Xiao Yu on this matter.
However, what Qi Yuan wanted was not only for them to not do anything on this paper, but also for them to continue to remain silent on the second and even the third paper.
These benefits were the project review team's hush money. Even if they did not want to, they had to accept these hush money.
Qi Yuan spent two days writing the paper. He originally planned to submit it directly to "Hope", but after thinking about it, he finally took the paper and went to find Tan Qiu.
"Hope" was the top journal published by Doomsday Munitions. Not all papers were qualified to be published in it.
For ordinary third-level research projects, if one chose to submit to second-level academic journals such as "Machinery Home" or "Energy" and other second-level academic journals, they would basically be able to pass. However, the academic points and points that second-level journals could bring were correspondingly lower.
Although the third-level project that he took away from Xiao Yu was more valuable than ordinary third-level projects, it was only a third-level project after all. Moreover, it was far less powerful and disruptive than the previous energy matrix project. If he submitted it to "Hope", there was a certain possibility that he would be rejected.
If this paper could be recommended by Tan Qiu, even if it was not an official recommendation, the possibility of it being published in "Hope" would be greatly increased.
After Qi Yuan found Tan Qiu, he directly explained his intentions.
"You completed Xiao Yu's third-level project?"
Tan Qiu looked at Qi Yuan in surprise. It had been less than 20 days since Qi Yuan received information about Xiao Yu's research project.
"This is the project paper!" Qi Yuan handed the prepared paper to Tanqiu.
Tan Qiu took a look at the thesis and found that the content of the thesis was indeed not the three research projects that Qi Yuan had applied for. Instead, it was the level three project that Xiao Yu had been working on the most smoothly.
After Qi Yuan had taken the materials related to Xiao Yu's projects, Tan Qiu had a brief understanding of these projects.
Although Xiao Yu's character was not good, his research ability was there for all to see. Without enough ability, even with Feng Qian's support, he would not have been able to climb to the position of a third-level researcher.
Xiao Yu had already spent nearly half a year on this project, but he still hadn't gotten the results he wanted. This was enough to prove the difficulty of this project.
A level three research project of this difficulty could not even last a month in Qi Yuan's hands before it was completed.
Looking at the detailed experimental data and results, Tanqiu suddenly had an illusion that the Qi Yuan in front of him was not a Level 2 researcher at all, but a Level 4 researcher disguised as a Level 2 researcher. Only this could explain his incredible research ability.
"You want to publish this in Hope?" Tan Qiu asked.
Qi Yuan nodded.
"I spent more than 500 Academic Points to complete this project. If I publish it in Hope, I might be able to recoup some of the cost, but if I publish it in a secondary journal, I'll lose everything."
Tan Qiu glanced at Qi Yuan with a smile that was not a smile. Things like experimental costs were not much of a secret in front of a level 4 researcher. He only needed to do some calculations to calculate how much Qi Yuan had invested in this project.
The cost of every project was different. For the same project, different people would have different experimental costs.
If there were too many failures and too many detours, the experimental costs would naturally rise. This was completely dependent on the researcher's ability. In the past, there was a Level 3 researcher who was not willing to accept that his project application was rejected by the review team. He held back his anger and spent his own money to conduct the research. In the end, the research did not go well, and the entire project became a bottomless pit. All the money he had accumulated over the years was used up.
Therefore, unless it was a special situation, even Level 4 researchers rarely spent their own money to conduct research. This was because the cost of this project was very difficult to predict. If they were not careful, it could become a bottomless pit.
Xiao Yu had not only invested nearly half a year in this project, but he had also allocated a total of 400 academic points to the laboratory. Even if Xiao Yu embezzled a part of it, the amount of materials consumed for this project was still not a small number.
Xiao Yu's need to consume so many materials was determined by his skills.
However, this did not mean that Qi Yuan had also consumed as many experimental materials as Xiao Yu.
The fact that Qi Yuan was able to complete the entire project in such a short period of time meant that his experiment was progressing smoothly without any detours. Under such circumstances, the cost of Qi Yuan's experiment would be reduced to the minimum.
Judging by the research time and various experimental data, Qi Yuan's expenditure on this project would definitely not exceed 200 academic points.
For other Level 2 researchers, 200 academic points was certainly not a small amount. However, for Qi Yuan who had just completed a transaction with the Black Moon Chamber of Commerce, 200 academic points was not a large number at all.
Looking at Qi Yuan's self-righteous appearance, Tan Qiu did not expose him. He only said lightly, "The quality of this thesis is not low. It can indeed be published in Hope. Even so, the academic points it can bring are far less than your previous thesis. At most, it will not exceed 60 points."
"Only 60 points?" Qi Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"Xiao Yu spent half a year on a project with 60 academic points. Is the time of a Level 3 researcher so worthless?"
"Do you think academic points are so easy to obtain?
Do you think you can get hundreds of academic points just by randomly publishing a thesis? "Tan Qiu retorted.
"That paper of yours is just an example!
The majority of Level 3 research papers don't even earn 60 academic points! "
"If you publish it in a secondary academic journal, the academic points you can earn will only be less!"
When Qi Yuan heard this, he could only shrug his shoulders.
"So be it. Plus the academic points reward, it's barely enough. It's still better than selling secondary papers at a discount."
For most Level 2 researchers, although academic points were precious, it was not their main goal.
The academic points brought by the thesis were what they wanted.
A thesis with 60 academic points could usually bring them around 30 academic points. This was the ladder to Level 3 researchers.
For other people, investing in research without applying for a project was simply an irrational behavior. For example, Qi Yuan's behavior of using his own money to compete with Level 3 researchers was even more foolish. If he was not careful, he would lose everything.
Even if Qi Yuan completed the research project with the lowest cost by copying homework, the reward from the Academic Committee could hardly recoup the cost of the experiment.
However, in the long run, the returns from this thesis were worth the investment.
This was because in addition to the reward from the Academic Committee, the thesis could also bring in other benefits.
If other people wanted to use the thesis results, they would have to pay a certain amount of academic points to the Academic Committee. These academic points would also be distributed according to the ratio of 2: 3: 5 to the Academic Committee, the laboratory, and the first author of the thesis.
If it was a very general project result, such as Qi Yuan's first thesis, the subsequent academic points would far exceed the reward from the Academic Committee.
Tan Qiu put down the thesis in her hand.
"You took over Mo Sheng's mission and received a large deposit. Why didn't you focus on activating Death Dance instead of wasting time on Xiao Yu?"
"Xiao Yu stole three of my projects. He has to pay the price. As for Mo Sheng, I have my ways of dealing with her," said Qi Yuan.
When Tan Qiu heard this, she did not continue on the topic of Death Dance. She believed that Qi Yuan would not do something stupid.
"Xiao Yu will be in pain for a long time now that you stole this project. What are you going to do next?" asked Tan Qiu.
"Will Xiao Yu stop using dirty tricks?" asked Qi Yuan.
"No!" Tan Qiu gave a negative answer.
"With Xiao Yu's personality, his projects will only make him crazier. Although this revenge made Xiao Yu suffer losses and vent his anger, it will not solve the fundamental problem."
"I won't either!" said Qi Yuan calmly.
"How long are you going to fight with Xiao Yu?" asked Tan Qiu.
"Xiao Yu still has a few projects on hand!" Qi Yuan smiled.
"Since Xiao Yu can make it so that I can't apply for any projects, I can make it so that he can't research any projects!"
"Xiao Yu must regret messing with you."
Tan Qiu smiled and shook her head. If she had not seen it with her own eyes, who would have thought that a second-level researcher could do this?
If Qi Yuan really took away Xiao Yu's remaining third-level projects, then Xiao Yu would become the laughingstock of the entire laboratory. He would never be able to raise his head in front of Qi Yuan again.
More importantly, Xiao Yu not only wasted time on these projects, but also wasted the laboratory's funding. This had a fatal impact on his weighting points. Once his weighting points decreased, his subsequent project applications would be affected. If his weighting points became negative, there was even a possibility that Xiao Yu would be demoted.
Xiao Yu could ignore his face, but he could not ignore his weighting points. If he really was demoted from third-level researcher to second-level researcher, then he would never be able to make a comeback in this lifetime.
For a researcher, demotion was definitely the most severe punishment, second only to death.
"Xiao Yu is just a small fry pushed out by Feng Qian. I don't care about his life or death. What I really want is to make Feng Qian pay the price!" said Qi Yuan.
Tan Qiu shook her head.
"Although you are overflowing with talent, you are still too far away from Feng Qian. All these years, Feng Qian has worked hard and dug a wide moat for himself. It is enough to defend against most threats."
"Remember, unless you become a fourth-level researcher one day, you must not take the initiative to attack a fourth-level researcher. This is my advice to you!"
Qi Yuan nodded. Being forced to fight back under Feng Qian's oppression was one thing, but taking the initiative to attack Feng Qian was another. If a fourth-level researcher did not even have this special status, then there would not be so many people who wanted to become fourth-level researchers.
After the two chatted for a while, Qi Yuan stood up and said goodbye. After Qi Yuan left, Tan Qiu once again picked up the thesis that Qi Yuan left behind and carefully studied it.
As she read carefully, a trace of surprise slowly appeared in Tan Qiu's eyes. Qi Yuan's entire experiment design was very mature. It did not look like a project that was completed in a hurry at all.
Tan Qiu had a faint feeling that perhaps not long after, Qi Yuan would come looking for her with another thesis under Xiao Yu's name, just like today.
Thinking about how Qi Yuan was secretly sharpening his blade against Xiao Yu, Tan Qiu suddenly thought of another matter.
The news of Zhong Yunhai going to Xiao Yu's laboratory had already spread. Feng Qian's intentions were not hard to guess. He wanted to use this project as an opportunity to squeeze a few of his direct Level 3 researchers into the project team and fight for a chance to step into Level 4.
Xiao Yu and Zhong Yunhai were both third-level researchers, and the direction of their research was similar to Mo Lin's project. Feng Qian only needed to put in a little effort, and they indeed had a very good chance of entering the project team.
However, Xiao Yu recklessly suppressed Qi Yuan, and in the end, Qi Yuan took drastic measures to deal with him. If Qi Yuan continued to come up with a few theses that targeted Xiao Yu before the project officially started, even if they were third-level projects, Xiao Yu's research ability would be questioned by everyone. It was very likely that he would miss this free ride to fourth-level.
Tan Qiu could not help but shake her head.
If that day really came, Xiao Yu would probably regret it until his intestines turned green.
With Tan Qiu's recommendation and the influence of Ai Xin's personal comments still lingering, Qi Yuan's new thesis smoothly passed the review.
When the latest issue of Hope was delivered to the Black Steel Shelter, Xiao Yu was still nervously conducting experiments with Zhong Yunhai, so he did not pay attention to the news of Hope.
However, that afternoon, someone specially delivered the latest issue of Hope to him.
Xiao Yu, who was interrupted from his experiment, was clearly unhappy. In order to get a ticket to Chief Mo Lin's big project before it started, he and Zhong Yunhai had been working tirelessly these past few days to speed up the progress of the experiment. However, the experiment did not go as smoothly as expected, and this time, they were interrupted again. This made Xiao Yu's expression turn ugly.
"What happened?" Xiao Yu asked with a gloomy expression.
An assistant researcher who was pushed out to take the blame lowered his head, not daring to say too much. He could only hand over the copy of Hope in his hand.
"This is the latest issue of Hope!"
Xiao Yu's eyes turned cold.
"You interrupted my experiment just for this copy of Hope?"
The assistant researcher, who had his head lowered, trembled and explained in a trembling voice, "This issue of Hope published an independent thesis by Qi Yuan!"