The quiet tension that had filled Arjun's small office shattered at 12:30 PM Indian Standard Time. On the Supercomputer's massive, silent screen, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) monitor went from flickering green and amber to a violent, monolithic red. The time was 8:00 AM in London, and the financial world had just woken up to a nightmare.
"It's starting," Shraddha Singh stated, her voice unnervingly calm, the S-Rank Administrator in full crisis mode. She wasn't watching the general indices, but the sub-sectors linked to the LID Index's core variables: high-risk derivatives and global commodities futures.
Professor Jha gasped, slamming his hands over his mouth as the numbers confirmed his paper. "No… no, not a correction. It's an immediate, systemic collapse! That's a 12% drop in the first two minutes on the primary London index! The sell-off is feeding itself!"
Arjun, leaning forward, watched the Supercomputer's analytical module. The screen wasn't showing price action; it was displaying the frantic, algorithmic response of global financial institutions. Thousands of automated trading systems were freezing, unable to price the sudden, illiquid collapse of the debt instruments identified in the Nalanda Paper.
[System Notification]: "External Validation Confirmation: LID Index Accuracy 99.998%. The predicted systemic financial failure event is in progress. Initiating Global Recognition Event."
The crash was not a slow slide; it was a precipitous cliff dive. The Supercomputer rapidly updated its status. The London-based LIFP (London Institute of Financial Policy) data cluster, which had been secretly running counter-simulations, was now in total meltdown. Their own internal systems were showing a catastrophic failure to hedge against the exact instruments Nalanda had flagged. Their pride, fueled by the desire to ignore the "Indian University's paper," had cost them trillions of conceptual value.
(Paragraph 2: The Firestorm of Vindication - 1200 words)
As the LSE entered emergency trading halts, the global media caught fire. It wasn't the crash itself that was the first major breakthrough, but the explanation for it.
The Supercomputer's newsfeed instantly filtered the noise, highlighting an emergency bulletin from The Financial World, the most respected global financial newspaper. The headline was stark: "The Collapse They Couldn't See: Did an Obscure Indian University Warn the World?"
The article cited the publicly available LID Index paper, authored by Professor Abhay Jha and published on October 1st. It detailed the paper's meticulous mathematics predicting the exact mechanism of the current crash and lamented that the financial community—particularly the LIFP—had dismissed it as "unsubstantiated noise."
Professor Jha, still staring at the screen, watched his name go from local legend to global financial prophet in the span of thirty minutes. Tears welled in his eyes, not of fear, but of profound vindication for decades of dismissed work.
"Arjun, we did it," Jha whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "The validation… the pure, scientific validation is here. The world knows the Nalanda Method is real."
Shraddha immediately executed her pre-planned media strategy. "Professor, we need your statement prepared. It must be calm, academic, and focus entirely on the 'integrity of the mathematics.' No gloating. We are the sober voice of truth, not opportunists."
Arjun felt the wave of energy from the [Aura Amplification] increase. The collective focus of the thirty-seven students was being fed by the sheer gravity of the global event. Their minds, unknowingly, were absorbing the real-world consequence of the knowledge they were synthesizing.
(Paragraph 3: The System's Reward and the Hard Assets - 800 words)
With the prediction confirmed, the Strongest Principal System delivered the final verdict on the [Third Step] Quest.
[System Notification]: "Crucial Quest: [The Third Step: Financial Defense] is verified as a Critical Success. The university's capital base (₹3.5 Crore) has been successfully transitioned into hard assets (Gold, Strategic Land, FX Reserves) and is protected from the global systemic shock."
[Final Quest Reward]: "Permanent Global Influence Boost: The Nalanda University name now carries a permanent, passive [Aura of Credibility] in the fields of Finance and Mathematics. This will manifest as greater receptivity from high-level institutions and faster processing of academic research."
Arjun knew this was more valuable than money. Credibility was the currency of power.
Shraddha confirmed the status of their wealth. "Our Rupees in the local bank accounts have devalued, but the value of our gold and US Dollar reserves has skyrocketed. We are sitting on an effective capital base of nearly ₹5 Crore post-crash—an increase of 40%. We are financially insulated and, paradoxically, richer than before the crash."
Arjun smiled. His A-Rank Strategic Planning aptitude processed the next steps immediately. "The money is safe. The global spotlight is on us. Now comes the hard part: dealing with the people who hate success."
(Paragraph 4: The First Political Call - 600 words)
The first call didn't come from a university or a financial regulator; it came from the state capital, Patna, less than an hour after the LSE crash confirmation.
The Principal's old, crackling landline phone rang incessantly. Arjun answered.
"Principal Singh? This is the office of the Chief Minister of Bihar. Congratulations are in order. The Chief Minister is… very impressed by the global recognition your university is bringing to the state. He is sending a senior delegation this afternoon. They want to discuss… the future of the LID Index and how the State can 'partner' with Nalanda University."
The word 'partner' hung in the air, a thinly veiled threat of seizure. A local government, desperate for a piece of the international prestige and the potential financial data tool, was making its move.
Arjun kept his tone humble but firm, his A-Rank Strategic Planning kicking in. "I understand completely. We are honored by the CM's interest. We are currently coordinating with foreign media and are in the middle of a major academic project. We will receive the delegation at 3:00 PM. Please inform the CM that Professor Jha and I look forward to detailing the Nalanda Method—a unique educational philosophy that requires absolute autonomy."
(Paragraph 5: The Political Shield Quest - 300 words)
Arjun hung up and turned to Shraddha, his eyes serious. "The government is coming for the goose, not the golden eggs. They don't care about our students; they want the LID Index and the fame. We have to secure our institutional independence immediately."
[System Notification]: "Immediate High-Priority Quest Activated: [The Fourth Step: The Political Shield]"
[Quest Objective]: "Secure an official, protective form of institutional independence or patronage from the Central Government that supersedes local State interference. The LID Index must remain under the exclusive control of Nalanda University. Achieve before the Chief Minister's delegation leaves the campus (Deadline: 5 hours)."
[Consequence of Failure]: "Local government will attempt to seize the LID Index as a 'state asset,' leading to total loss of autonomy and a severe System Aptitude penalty for the Principal."
Arjun's mind raced. The local state government was a threat, but the Central Government offered a path to protection. They needed a high-level shield.
"Shraddha, you have an S-Rank in Administration," Arjun said. "Find me the highest, most influential, and most patriotic official in the Central Ministry—someone who cares about India's image, not Bihar's politics. We are going to bypass the local politics and appeal directly to the national interest."
The countdown had begun again, but this time, the enemy wasn't a mathematical equation; it was a political maneuver, and the stakes were Nalanda's very existence.