Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 712 - 94: Western Suburban Research Institute

"Letting Zhuang Xiao get involved was absolutely a mistake!"

Somewhere in the sanctuary, Chen Qi roared in a nearly feral way. He stood at the entrance of the meeting room, in this dim room where seven elderly people sat in front of the table, facing the hysterical Chen Qi, the elders remained silent, waiting for him to stop complaining.

Chen Qi, realizing his loss of composure after venting, took a deep breath and said, "I stand by my opinion, even if you insist on allowing those two to get involved, she must be implanted with a chip and have her memory erased! We cannot take this risk!"

Chen Qi had no ill feelings toward Zhuang Xiao; what truly angered him was that things had gone beyond his plan.

In his department, someone had launched a new experiment without his approval, which was unacceptable to him. "You should be well aware the dream experiment is still unstable; no one can guarantee what might happen there."

"Colonel Zhuang Xiao is someone who knows boundaries. She completed the mission excellently; 'hero' would not be an exaggeration."

The elder who spoke sat at the far end of the square table. "She is also the only one who has communicated with It... This decision was made after the council's discussion."

"Please understand, I am not questioning the council's decision."

Chen Qi lowered his head and stayed silent.

The elder didn't linger his gaze on him for more than a second. He waved his left hand, and seeing this, Chen Qi had to dejectedly leave the meeting room.

Once the meeting room returned to silence, the elder twisted his wrist, aligning the light ring on his wrist with the corresponding emblem on the conference table.

Deep blue light, like blood, flowed into the grooves on the table, cascading down until it filled the entire meeting room.

Under the halo's reflection, the meeting room became dreamy and mesmerizing. The seated elders all displayed looks of longing; for a moment, it was as if they returned to the past, no longer hiding in an underground sanctuary but rather towering above the city, gazing down from the heights of sky-piercing towers.

A holographic screen appeared above their heads, and on the other side of the screen was a white light sphere.

It was like an eye, scrutinizing everything in the meeting room, causing the elder at the head of the table to feel both fearful and excited, "We have established contact with It, please give us one more chance, this time we will not fail again!"

However, their only response was a cold mechanical synthetic voice, "Code number 52, simulation failed, destroyed... you should not exist."

A failed communication.

As the deep blue light faded, it was as if all the elders' energy had been drained. They collapsed in their chairs, filled with either fear or despair.

Until the elder at the far end spoke again, his expression nearing madness, "No, it's not over, we still have a chance, we must seize this last opportunity."

................

Elsewhere.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

At the entrance of a clothing store in the western district of the city, Ethan displayed a skeptical expression. He had to remind Zhuang Xiao, "The position I'm applying for shouldn't be in sales or anything like that."

Although the clothing store appeared quite luxurious, seeming like the kind of high-end brand only wealthy people would visit, he was in deep discussions on theoretical physics with the boss of Pioneer Technology just yesterday, talking about the "world destruction" hypothesis, and now, after today's interview, he was assigned to a clothing store.

Could it be...

The fact that he never actually studied at Mashu University of Technology had finally been exposed?

"Manager Zhuang?"

"Ah, yes."

Zhuang Xiao recovered, and through the clothing store's glass window, she distinctly saw the tall, thin old man that Merlin had mentioned, who was also observing them through the window at that moment.

Merlin's guess was confirmed, and she never expected she would appear at the clothing store entrance in such a manner.

"According to the company assignment, this is your workplace."

She forced a slight smile.

The clothing store was empty. She opened the door, leading Ethan inside, and took the initiative to introduce Ethan to the store's owner, "This is Mr. Ethan."

The stern-looking tall old man slightly nodded, coldly saying, "You can leave now."

Zhuang Xiao couldn't immediately determine if the old man was also one of Chen Qi's subordinates, so she politely bid farewell and walked out of the clothing store. She still had more matters to investigate, and she hoped Chen Qi wouldn't become suspicious of her before that.

If Chen Qi caught any flaws, the sanctuary would definitely erase her memory and implant a new chip.

That was the sanctuary's standard procedure to ensure plans went off without a hitch. However, on this return, Zhuang Xiao felt a strong resistance to it. She was still willing to keep striving for rebuilding the surface world, but not as a puppet on strings.

"Mr. Ethan, please follow me."

After Zhuang Xiao left, the tall old man became much more polite, taking the lead in guiding Ethan.

"Just to clarify, I've never sold clothes, nor do I plan on staying long in a sales position."

"You misunderstood."

The old man smiled slightly, "They are all waiting for you."

He opened a door in the staff area, revealing a space similar to a security passage. Incandescent lights illuminated the descending staircase. If anyone accidentally entered, they might take it as a passage to the underground storage room—unsurprising for a clothing store with a large stockpile of goods.

The old man had no intention of following Ethan downstairs. He gestured with his eyes for Ethan to head down. Once Ethan reached the first floor, he slowly closed the door and returned to the clothing store.

Ethan descended the staircase and paused momentarily before the last door.

Finally, he placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Bang—!"

Almost the instant the door opened, fireworks went off on the other side, confetti falling like snowflakes on Ethan's shoulders. Three people in white coats were already waiting for his arrival.

"Welcome, brilliant student from Mashu Institute of Technology!"

It was an underground research lab with such a banner posted on the wall behind the entrance counter.

"I never expected the company to recruit such talent as you!"

"I read your thesis; it was very enlightening for our research!"

"Come, let's first acquaint you with our laboratory, as we'll be colleagues from now on."

...

These three were Professor Sun, Professor Zhang, and Professor Zhou. Just being introduced to their work histories and achievements in their respective fields was enough to make Ethan feel numb. Before his arrival, their latest research achievement was a small-scale space teleportation device.

Professor Sun personally demonstrated the device's use to him. He placed a Rubik's cube into the container on the device's left side. With a sound of thunder and lightning, the device shook violently, and the Rubik's cube was swallowed by dark yellow lightning, soon appearing on the other side of the device.

Ethan couldn't understand the scientific knowledge they discussed, which had achieved the technology of small-scale space teleportation.

This instantly made Ethan feel he shouldn't be there.

Worse yet, it was a job without an internship period. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

No one was there to guide him step by step on how to perform his job. On his first day, they were eager to involve him in an academic conference.

They were dedicated to using this technology for teleporting living creatures. The laboratory's storeroom held many white mice for experiments. The current technology met a bottleneck; though the device could transfer the mice to the other side, they would only receive a dead mouse.

The research was led by Professor Sun, a balding man in his early sixties, previously a professor at some top tech university and the lead on multiple patent studies. The specific research projects were like hieroglyphs to Ethan; he could hardly repeat the titles of their research and papers.

"We've been stuck on this part for a week. In theory, objects undergo a process of disassembly and reassembly during teleportation, but this causes biological death. So far, we don't know where the problem lies."

However, when theory turned into practice, Ethan could finally understand.

Fortunately, he had encountered similar "teleportation technology" in the Empire.

During his first visit to Fireplace Bay, Ave had explained the principle of Teleportation Arrays to him, sounding strikingly similar to Professor Sun's teleportation technology. When the caster activates the teleportation, their body also goes through disassembly and reassembly.

So here lay the question.

Why wouldn't "otherworld" people die suddenly after disassembly and reassembly?

Could it be because the residents of the "otherworld" generally have the physical strength equivalent to an athlete here?

Ethan pondered deeply.

In this world that revered scientific theory, he couldn't directly ask Rowena for a teleportation spell Scroll. He had to figure out a way to crack the principle.

Fortunately, the three professors weren't expecting the newly arrived rookie to deliver a practical solution immediately. They assumed Ethan was merely unaccustomed to his new work environment.

Ethan himself felt disappointed observing his first day's performance.

The three professors had their own research at hand, while his theoretical knowledge was shaky, leaving him wandering around the lab with a cup of coffee like a retiree.

He idled away until evening.

Just finishing his task, Professor Sun approached Ethan, saying, "Young man, there are no fixed working hours here, nor any KPI assessments. You are free to set your research direction. If you need new experimental equipment, you can draft a list and give it to the clothing store manager."

Ethan learned that the three of them usually lived in the lab, where a dedicated living area with all facilities was set up for them.

This job didn't mandate residency, and the three even understood Ethan's wish to go home.

"That said, we are racing against time."

Professor Sun added with deep meaning, "Before the clock strikes at the century's end."

"Understood."

Ethan nodded, deciding to seek external assistance. When he returned to the Imperial Capital, he planned to ask Rowena about the principle that prevented Teleportation Array users from dying suddenly. "I already have some ideas."

"That's good."

Professor Sun looked gratified, "This technology is extremely important; it might directly decide whether we can escape alive at the last moment."