The origin of the sketch in Professor Abel's notes has become a mystery.

Later in the note, it can be seen that the scholar seems to have placed all of his dreams on the gods, completely abandoning the search for this clue.

Combined with the background of the times, this is actually understandable.

Although Lu Zhou himself is an atheist, this does not prevent him from understanding Professor Abel's mentality.

Entrusting the unknowable mystery to some powerful being is a common feature of human civilization.

In fact, why not himself? Assuming that the system comes from some "higher civilization" or "future man" is not necessarily much more clever than pinning this assumption to the "spirit of the universe".

Anyway, none of these three have a solid scientific basis to prove that they actually exist, do they?

In short, I don't know whether Abel has gotten rid of that bizarre dream, or whether he has actively chosen not to think about it anymore, and the rest of the note has completely become a reflection on the problem of the century that "there is no algebraic general solution to unary quintal equations".

And what happened in the future, even if there were no notes, Lu Zhou would know.

In 1824, Professor Abel achieved great success and successively completed a series of mathematical achievements such as "Abel's theorem".

However, these achievements did not improve his life, and did not even attract the attention of the Parisian mathematical community at that time.

Finally, in the spring of 1829, he fell ill and died in his fiancée's home. Most of the later accounts of his deeds come from the anthology published for him ten years later by his teacher, Professor Holm.

The world depicted in that sketch was as if it had never been in history.

All the clues about it were interrupted on that painting......

Standing at the gate of the courtyard, looking at Lu Zhou who came out of the house, Molina lowered her arms and asked.

"Where are you going next?" I can stay with you until the afternoon. ”

Lu Zhou: "That's it." ”

Molina raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Enough?"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Well, I stayed up all night last night, and I have to make a long trip tomorrow, so I should go back and rest."

After saying goodbye to Molina, Lu Zhou got into Wang Peng's car and returned to the hotel where he stayed.

Rested all day.

Early the next morning, a black stretch car from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs stopped in front of the hotel and picked up Lu Zhou in the car.

The small town of Omites, which they were going to, was located in the south of France, not far from Paris, and the sooner they planned to return on the same day, the better.

Before getting in the car, Lu Zhou originally thought that it would be almost enough for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange a bodyguard and tour guide for him, but he didn't expect that he would be accompanied by Director Giacombino of the Basic Department of the French Ministry of Science and Technology.

To put it simply, this position is roughly equivalent to the deputy department in charge of basic scientific research in the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

Lu Zhou didn't particularly know the administrative level, and even today he didn't quite understand what level he was as the chief designer and consultant of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, but before he set off, he heard the old man who came to France with him say that the director Giacombino who came to pick him up should be at the same level as Xiao Li.

The Xiao Li in the old man's mouth, Lu Zhou estimated that it should be referring to Director Li.

Anyway, the level is not low.

Aside from the polite greetings before getting on the bus, there wasn't much communication along the way.

Lu Zhou, who took a book with him and got into the car, didn't seem to be interested in chatting at all, but quietly flipped through the books in his hand, which made the Giacobino owner, who wanted to have a good relationship with this "titan" of Chinese academia, feel quite tricky.

Glancing at the time on his watch, seeing that there was not much time left, he gave the driver a look and asked him to slow down a little, then looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting opposite him, and said with a smile.

"...... 'Harvest and Sowing', it's an interesting name, is it poetry?"

Flipping the page casually, Lu Zhou said in a relaxed tone.

"Strictly autobiographical."

Autobiography?

After thinking about it for a long time without the slightest impression, Giacombino hesitated for a moment and continued to ask.

"Who is its author?"

"Professor Grothendieck, I don't know what year it was written...... Do you need me to read it to you? ”

Giacombino smiled and said with kindness.

"There are not many opportunities to listen to Academician Lu's lectures."

Looking at the smiling Director Giacomino, Lu Zhou smiled faintly.

He knew exactly what the flattery behind the smile was.

But although he sees through this, he will not be so low as to debunk it in person.

Clearing his throat, he read out loud a favorite passage in a steady tone.

“…… We derive a pure harmony from every science, when we use it not as an instrument of power and domination, but as an adventure in knowledge that we have strived for generations of mankind. This harmony goes from one period to another, more or less, enormous and abundant. And in different eras and centuries, they present us with different themes, and subtle and delicate correspondences...... It's like coming from the void. ”

As if from the Void......

Lu Zhou read this sentence twice, the first time in French, and the second time it was translated in combination with his own understanding, and he always felt that every time he read it, he could feel the meaning in it.

What exactly is the Void?

He's been thinking about it a lot.

However, for Giacombino, it is a little more difficult to empathize with the trace of meaning that Lu Zhou tasted in his heart. And in comparison, he was more surprised by Lu Zhou's French.

The two had been communicating in English before, so much so that he didn't know that Professor Lu was so fluent in French.

“…… You are fluent in French, when did you start learning it? During that time at CERN? ”

Lu Zhou shook his head slightly.

"Probably last month."

Giacombino: "......? ”

To be precise, it should have been at the end of last month, when he decided to come to France.

Of course, there was no need to say this, otherwise Lu Zhou was not sure if his jaw would fall to his knee.

Looking at the stunned expression on Director Giacomino's face, Lu Zhou smiled faintly, didn't care about him anymore, but continued to look at the autobiography in his hand.

Just when the conversation between the two couldn't go on, the driver sitting in the front seat spoke at the right time.

"We're here."

……

Located in the small town of Ometes, the Church of Saint-Lizier is not a well-known tourist attraction, just a small church where locals go to worship.

Standing at the door of the church, looking at Lu Zhou who got out of the car, the old priest with cloudy eyes recognized his face at a glance, stepped forward and said.

"You're here, I'm almost killed by you."

Looking at the wrinkled old priest, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned and smiled a little embarrassed.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"What about the letter?"

Taking out the old envelope from his bosom, Lu Zhou handed it to the priest.

After opening the letter and hurriedly scanning it twice, and confirming that it was Professor Grothendieck's handwriting, the old priest returned the letter to Lu Zhou's hand, and said in a babbling mouth.

"Professor Grothendieck begged me to hand over his notes to you myself, I thought I would have been able to fulfill his wish eight years ago, but I didn't expect to wait from the age of seventy-two to the age of eighty."

“…… I'm really sorry. ”

The old priest snorted unceremoniously, and continued in a hoarse voice.

"You don't have to apologize to me, anyway, even if you don't come to lose, it's not me, the person who really released the pigeon by you is lying in the soil, feel embarrassed and go and say to him, do you need a bouquet of flowers? For ten euros, the dead will forgive you no matter what you do. ”

Lu Zhou was about to take out the money, but after a long time, he only took out a credit card, and Director Giacobino, who was standing next to him, caught the embarrassment on his face sharply, quickly took out his wallet, and looked at the old priest with a serious face and said.

"Please bring me two bouquets! Professor Grothendieck was a great scholar and his departure was a loss to the world and to the French people. And we owe him an apology all along......"

Born into a war-torn era, Professor Grothendieck was a radical pacifist during his lifetime. It was for this reason that he and the Institut Hautes Etudes in Paris had serious disagreements and conflicts over whether mathematics should be used for war purposes, which eventually led him to live a secluded life in a small village in the south of France......

These are some of the old things.

Looking at Giacombino, whose expression was "as if" with a heavy face, the old man snorted with his nose and threw down a meaningful sentence with a smile.

"If you really think so, you won't be here eight years later."

After saying that, he didn't care about the expression on the face of the director Giacomino, which gradually turned into embarrassment, turned around and walked to the back door of the church, and stretched out his hand to push open the wooden door leading to the cemetery.

"Come in, distinguished guests, his tombstone is second from the left in the third row."

Lu Zhou nodded and walked in the direction of the wooden door.

But just as he was passing by the door, the old priest suddenly stretched out his hand and pulled Lu Zhou's arm.

"Wait a minute, here's for you."

As he spoke, he handed out a notebook from his hand.

Taking the slightly yellowed notebook from the old priest's hand, Lu Zhou took it in his hand and carefully opened the title page.

"Is this Professor Grothendieck's note?"

To be honest, there was only such a point, which somewhat surprised Lu Zhou.

Old priest: "There were others, but he said this one was the most important, so I put it in the church." I don't understand what is above, but according to him, it is an unsolved mathematical puzzle. ”

He had always wanted someone to help him, and he had taken a fancy to Deligne, and he had considered a Germanic named Schultz, but he hated Germanic people and felt that he was too young...... It's just that I don't know why, but when he was dying, he finally chose you who he had never met. ”

Feeling the heavy sense of history on this notebook, Lu Zhou did not flip through it for the time being, but took it into his arms, looked at the old man and said solemnly.

"Thank you, for keeping it for me for so long."

The old priest snorted through his nose to this thank-you, still unceremoniously and mercilessly.

"You're welcome, you're rich, if you want to thank me, why don't you donate some money to me, this church hasn't been renovated in fifty years."

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile.

"No problem."

Compared to those complex math puzzles.

Only this matter is a trivial matter for him.