Dr. Tabane Shinonono.
This was a high-ranking member of the Research Department whom Luo Shu had only seen in photographs before.
Her messy purple hair framed a face that perpetually wore a sweet, somewhat lazy smile, clad in the standard white lab coat of a researcher.
She appeared to be an ordinary scientist at first glance.
The only distinctive feature was the pair of mechanical rabbit ears atop her head.
At the end of the passageway, Tabane Shinonono stood blocking the exit with a cheerful demeanour, holding what appeared to be a party popper. With a gentle pull - pop!
Colourful streamers and several cartoonish Lacus dolls burst forth from the popper!
"Welcome, Chairwoman, to Copernicus for inspection~~"
"Haro~ Lacus, Haro~~"
Dozens of multicoloured spherical mechanical balls bounced energetically behind Tabane Shinonono, emitting cheerful robotic greetings.
Luo Shu recognised them as Haros, the mascots from the Gundam universe - apparently recreated here by Tabane Shinonono.
Though this was ostensibly a welcome for an inspection, Tabane Shinonono seemed to be the only one present for the reception. Moreover, her earlier statement had put everyone on guard.
Far from being intimidated by Tabane's threat, Lacus responded with a composed smile:
"Yet the space monitoring system you promised, Doctor, seems only ever to require additional funding."
The Zeus Space Monitoring System.
This was a confidential Research Department project Luo Shu had heard about from Verde - a device similar to nations' surveillance satellites, capable of monitoring Abyssal phenomena.
Lacus had sought to collaborate with Tabane Shinonono to develop this system, hoping to monitor global Abyssal occurrences for early crisis prevention. However, tangible results remained elusive.
"Naughty little Lacus~" Tabane giggled, utterly unfazed by the counterattack. "Scientific breakthroughs aren't achieved overnight, you know~"
Then, without missing a beat, she escalated to blatant blackmail:
"But if you cut my funding, I'll just delete all the research data~"
Lacus suddenly realised, "So you've already achieved results, haven't you?"
"After all, Tabane, you wouldn't casually mention deleting data like that."
Tabane Shinonono blinked, glanced at Lacus, then scratched the back of her head with a silly grin:
"Ara ara, as expected, I can't hide anything from you. But to be honest, the finished product is still far from meeting expectations. To achieve the desired effect, we'd need at least 5 billion USD in additional funding."
"3 billion," Lacus maintained her smile.
"For optimal performance, it would require 6 billion," Tabane continued without listening, speaking to herself: "Though with 3 billion, there's still hope to make the Zeus system detect Abyss fluctuations within half an hour by cutting 90% of its functions."
Lacus kept smiling but remained silent.
She didn't understand technology, especially Tabane's black technology, which was even more incomprehensible. Thus, whenever she bargained with Tabane, she was always at a disadvantage.
Now, she was racking her brains to figure out Tabane's bottom line.
After all, the Zeus system's capabilities were urgently needed by the SDS. If possible, they had to acquire it, even at a considerable cost.
Watching their exchange, Luo Shu glanced at Tabane, then at Lacus, suspecting whether Tabane had deliberately changed their landing location to secure funding.
Truthfully, he didn't particularly care about such matters—after all, the money wasn't his, and he wasn't in a position to offer advice. But... much of the SDS's future budget would be allocated to constructing the Hidden Management Zone and the Abyss Warring States.
In other words, the money would soon be spent by Luo Shu.
This made it impossible for him not to pay attention.
Thus, he finally interjected:
"If I may ask, Tabane, what exactly are the 90% of functions you mentioned cutting?"
Tabane completely ignored Luo Shu, treating him as if he were air, her gaze fixed solely on Lacus.
Seeing this, Luo Shu raised an eyebrow. Though he wasn't the type to get angry over being ignored, Tabane's attitude still irked him slightly.
Narrowing his eyes, he scrutinised Tabane, memorising her aura while simultaneously preparing Calamity Bestowal and tapping into the power of the Mysticism Encyclopaedia to divine what those cut functions were.
Before long, Luo Shu's expression turned particularly peculiar.
Meanwhile, Lacus, seeing that Tabane had resorted to outright ignoring someone, understood she was seriously demanding funding.
At the very least, those 90% of functions were crucial to Tabane—important enough to risk straining their relationship.
Faced with this, Lacus had no choice but to compromise.
However, just as she was about to agree, Luo Shu suddenly grabbed her arm, shook his head, then floated forward, positioning himself between her and Tabane as he said:
"I happen to possess a Demigod-rank divination-type Abyss Artefact. I wonder if Tabane Shinonome is aware of this information?"
Hearing this, Tabane's eyes instantly lit up as she sharply turned to Luo Shu, her smile sweet as honey:
"Ara ara~ If it isn't the Director of the Hidden Management Department~"
"How about it? Interested in making a deal with me?"
Watching Tabane's sudden change in demeanour, Luo Shu remained expressionless—though he felt somewhat tempted to laugh.
At the sight of this, Natsuki Minamiya, standing at the very back, clicked her tongue and remarked, "Why does this scene feel so familiar?"
It was almost identical to the situation when Luo Shu had her completely figured out before.
Just then, Luo Shu calmly looked at Tabane Shinonono and said:
"Let's set aside the transaction for now. I'm somewhat curious about those 90% of Zeus system functions that were supposedly scrapped earlier."
Tilting her head slightly, Tabane Shinonono replied with a smile:
"Oh, that? It'd be too troublesome to explain in detail. You'd need to access my office files to see the specifics."
"How about joining me in my office for some coffee?"
Luo Shu ignored her suggestion and continued:
"So I just used the divination tool mentioned earlier to ascertain what those 90% functions were."
Tabane maintained her smile without the slightest change in expression.
Then Luo Shu revealed:
"The scrapped 90% functionality was officially named the Houki Shinonono Detection Device G6 Type. Its purpose was to monitor whether a woman named Houki Shinonono showed any abnormal life activities anywhere on the planet."
"And just as the Zeus system's primary function is to predict Abyss appearances, this device's main purpose was to predict Houki Shinonono's appearances."
At this point, Luo Shu's mouth twitched as he asked:
"If I may ask... who exactly is this Houki Shinonono to you, Doctor?"
Tabane's smile transformed as she gave Luo Shu a slightly surprised look:
"You actually possess high-level divination tools?"
Then she laughed:
"Houki is my little sister~ My most beloved little sister~~"
"What about those functions just mentioned?" Natsuki's face twitched, suddenly understanding Lacus's earlier comments about Tabane's recklessness.
Tabane cheerfully explained:
"Why, they were specially developed functions to help me find my adorable little sister, of course~"
Lacus suddenly realised something:
"So when I defaulted to sending you to Copernicus..."
"Naturally, because a global tracking system works best when stationed in space~" Tabane giggled.
In that instant, all three present shared the same realisation about Tabane Shinonono.
She was a hopeless siscon!