32 The Beehive Conjecture 

"Arrrrrhhh! The both of you are seniors? You?" Kong Huo Yu pointed at Li Tian with a face of disbelief. 

The following Tuesday came, and Hong Yao had to attend to his captain duties in the Strategies Club. Hence, only Li Tian came to the club today. He remembered what Hong Yao had said about the club leaders mistaking them for freshman and so, he proceeded to clarify that they were in fact seniors. This led to Kong Huo Yu's big 'O' face and Lin Xi Xi's normal deadpan face. 

"Mhm. We are both in Class 3A." Li Tian answered. 

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that you're the same age as me?" Kong Huo Yu asked the pressing question. 

"No, I'm twelve, but Hong Yao should be around the same age as you." 

"Then, how are you in high school?" 

"I transferred in during mid term break." 

"That's allowed?" 

"Yeah." 

And so, a Q&A session started in the Enthusiast Club room, where Kong Huo Yu asked questions, Li Tian answered questions and Lin Xi Xi listened to the answers. It turned out that Kong Huo Yu had been living under a rock the entire time as Lin Xi Xi knew that Hong Yao was a Year 3 senior and only did not know of Li Tian's new addition. Both Kong Huo Yu and Lin Xi Xi were in Class 3B and so, technically the entire club was filled with seniors only. 

"Here I thought I was able to pass on my legacy of the Enthusiast Club to my Kouhai (Junior) like in those animes… Guess I'm just a failure…" Kong Huo Yu drew circles on the ground as he mulled over his mistake. 

"Hehe. It's okay, captain." Li Tian comforted. 

"Let's watch anime." Lin Xi Xi did not care about how the captain felt, sending Kong Huo Yu further into the shadow realm. 

Today, the group was continuing with 'The Princess and The Bee'. In proper Otaku fashion, both Kong Huo Yu and Lin Xi Xi had already watched the entire anime and was rewatching it for Li Tian's sake. They enjoyed living vicariously through the fresh reactions of the little boy. 

The story revolves around Princess Elara, who harboured an extraordinary connection with the enchanted bees of her kingdom. As a child, she saved a wounded bee, unknowingly forming a profound bond that grants her the ability to communicate with these winged creatures. 

The plot takes an unexpected turn when the kingdom faces an impending disaster. A menacing force threatens the land, and traditional defenses are proving futile. With no other options left, Princess Elara, with the guidance of her trusted bee allies, embarks on a perilous journey to seek the wisdom of the enigmatic Beeian people. 

The Beeians, living in harmony with nature, are known for their ingenious Beehive tactic. They construct intricate, interwoven hives that are virtually indestructible, owing to the unique materials and protective mechanisms that safeguard their society. Princess Elara believes that by adopting these methods, her kingdom could withstand the impending peril. 

This was the part of anime when Hong Yao had finished his club activities and decided to pop by to see what they were doing. When he came in, he realised that they were discussing the intricacies of the Beehive in the anime and how it related to Hua's current defensive system. This topic was right up Hong Yao's alley as he not only had to study about war and fighting strategies, but he also had to have a good idea on how the country would defend themselves. 

"I'm telling you that the Beehive tactic used by the Beeian people is not going to work in the current context of Hua. There are far more Beeian people per square kilometres as compared to humans per square kilometres. If a Rank 6 beast where to attack the supposed human Beehive, the entire structure would collapse." Kong Huo Yu argued this point. 

"Wait, but have you taken into account the structural capabilities of the Beehive? If we were to also replace the structure from the Beeian people's materials into something more malleable like rubber made from the Hydrolask Rubber Tree, couldn't this then improve the structural integrity of the Beehive?" While Hong Yao argued about that point. 

"Structural materials are one thing, but we also need to consider the defensive capabilities. Bees have stingers, after all. Can rubber trees provide a solution for that, too?" 

"True, the stinging defense is essential. But what if we adapt that as well? Due to the Hydrolask Rubber being extremely porous couldn't we try integrating the stinging mechanism, creating a hybrid structure for both defense and structural stability. Think about it. If we can run an accurate simulation that can determine the tension points in the Beehive, we can easily integrate in the stinging defense as a method of retaliation." 

On the side lines, Li Tian's head was moving back and forth as he watch the two of them fire off hypothetical questions after questions. Not before long, Lin Xi Xi interrupted the debate with a very detailed 3D diagram that described the current contact of the Beehive system but using human and their human materials. The 3D diagram started to simulate a Rank 6 Demonic Beast, the Three Horned Minotaur attacking the Beehive system. As the Three Horned Minotaur attempted to squish the Beehive from the sides, the tension points in the 3D Beehive diagram started to light up, showing the current structural integrity of the Beehive. After 10 attempts, the Beehive managed to survive all of the attacks, with minor lesions that could be repaired if needed. 

"Damn it! I'm wrong again with my conjecture!" Kong Huo Yu became down spirited the instant the simulation did not go in his favour. He stood in the corner and mulled in his disappointment. On the other hand, Hong Yao had a different reaction. 

"This simulation…" Hong Yao's finger was shaking as if he had just seen a ghost. He turned to look at Lin Xi Xi. "What simulation did you use to create something so realistic? Can you please tell me? Please?" 

"I made it myself. It's my own software." Lin Xi Xi did not hide anything. 

"Your own software? You coded this entire simulation software yourself?" 

Lin Xi Xi nodded to Hong Yao's question. The captain of the Strategies Club looked at her with burning eyes as he asked in a pleading voice. "Would you like to join the Strategies Club? If you join, our club would be able to run more accurate simulations and would be able to prove more conjectures that we create." 

Lin Xi Xi shook her head. 

"Then can we be allowed to use your software to run the simulations ourselves?" 

Lin Xi Xi nodded but gave an unfortunate answer. "The software runs on Hexadelectic Code." 

With that answer, Hong Yao was left with disappointment. The captain knew that Hexadelectic Code was not learnt just by anybody and required either an expert of many years in coding to learn or a total genius. It seemed that Lin Xi Xi was the latter as the number of people who could code in Hexadelectic Code under the ages of 18 could be counted with one hand. 

Li Tian then turned to Lin Xi Xi. He requested, "Can I take a look at the software you developed?" 

Lin Xi Xi agreed and handed her laptop to Li Tian. The boy immediately scanned through the functions in the software that Lin Xi Xi had developed. His eyes flashed in intrigue as he noticed adjustments that his vice-captain had added into the software to make it run more precise calculations in the simulations. It took five minutes for Li Tian to understand the gist of the software and handed the laptop back to Lin Xi Xi. 

"You appear to have taken the prevailing simulation software used by most people, SimuNow, and stripped away its front-end code, rendering the entire computing structure 'bareback.' Subsequently, you substituted Machine Language with Hexadelectic Code, integrating multiple direct pipelines to enhance efficiency, capitalizing on the absence of front-end code, and introducing an entire processor that can construct simulations without any loss of data packets when scaling up calculations. Does my interpretation align with your concept?" 

Hearing Li Tian's explanation, Lin Xi Xi got really excited for the first time since Li Tian met her. She nodded, seemingly agreeing with what Li Tian had just said. 

"You can understand how Lin Xi Xi's software work?" Hong Yao asked Li Tian curiously. 

"Yes. I dabbled in Hexadelectic Code recently when I received my laptop. I was trying to improve the accuracy and efficiency of SimuNow just like how Lin Xi Xi had done so. However, unlike me, she was actually able to merge in the code structure. A truly impressive feat." Li Tian explained. He realised that the current simulation software was too slow when he did some further studies himself. 

"You're impressive yourself, Li Tian." Lin Xi Xi spoke this time. This was the first time anyone was able to understand how her software worked. 

"Thank you." Li Tian smiled as he accepted her compliment. "Can I use your software for my simulations then?" 

"Sure thing." Lin Xi Xi agreed to it. She took out a Memory disk from her bag and ported the software over for Li Tian. To her, there was no need to hide her creations. In the first place, she was happy if someone could use it alongside her. 

"Hehe, Li Tian, would you be willing to join my club then? We can run fun and amazing simulations together!" Hong Yao asked while rubbing his hands together in a sneaky manner. 

"No." Li Tian promptly declined. Hong Yao joined the still depressed Kong Huo Yu in the corner of the room.