"Yukino."
Luo Shu glanced at the striking high school girl, briefly noting her uniform before asking:
"Did you come straight after school?"
"Only 15 minutes before you."
As she spoke, Yukino turned and pressed the elevator button. When the doors opened, she added:
"Chairwoman Clyne is already waiting in the third-floor reception room."
"Oh?" Luo Shu's brows rose in surprise. "I didn't receive any news of her return from Copernicus. Did something happen?"
While speaking, Luo Shu quickly stepped into the elevator. Yukino followed, pressing the button for the third floor:
"It seems an unexpected result emerged from a certain test."
"Interesting." Luo Shu thought of the girls taken to Copernicus and smiled with interest.
The elevator soon arrived. Luo Shu exited first, heading straight for the reception room and knocking on the door.
Knock. Knock.
Before long, a gentle female voice responded:
"Please come in."
Luo Shu pushed the door open, his gaze immediately drawn to the blue gift box lying open on the glass coffee table at the centre of the sofa area.
Inside the box, a silver ring set with a ruby glittered under the lights.
'An engagement ring?' Luo Shu instinctively wondered before scanning the faces of Lacus, Kirika Tachibana, Tabane Shinonono, Natsuki Minamiya and Mira Tsubakihara.
He couldn't help but take a step back, looking at the girls gathered around the sofa as he joked:
"This isn't some kind of intervention meeting about me, is it?"
As his words fell, Mira Tsubakihara immediately burst into giggles, lowering her head to hide her laughter.
Beside her, Natsuki Minamiya also curled her lips slightly before suppressing a smile and scolding him:
"Stop being ridiculous. The rings are just normal rings - we're not making you choose someone with one."
Hearing this, Luo Shu strode forward towards the single sofa on the right while saying:
"I was thinking, even if they're normal rings, one wouldn't be enough to go around."
As he spoke, he settled into the sofa and glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita, who had just closed the door and was heading to the counter to prepare tea:
"Black tea will do."
After saying this, Luo Shu turned back to look at Lacus before asking:
"Another one of the Doctor's creations?"
Before Lacus could respond, Tabane Shinonono nearby pouted and complained:
"So biased~ Not everything can be blamed on me, you know~~"
"Oh~ So I should be praising you instead?"
Luo Shu shot Tabane Shinonono a sidelong glance, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Is it a praise kiss? That's fine~ From Luo Shu, anything goes~ Should I offer my right cheek?" Tabane deliberately tilted her right cheek towards him.
The corner of Luo Shu's mouth twitched as he averted his gaze, turning back to Lacus instead.
Watching their exchange, Lacus simply smiled, holding her teacup as she said:
"See the rings on the table?"
"They're accidental byproducts from testing Mukuro's abilities during our recent trip to Copernicus."
"Mukuro?" Luo Shu blinked in surprise, then scanned the room. Not spotting Mukuro Hoshimiya, he asked curiously: "Where is she now?"
At this moment, Kirika Tachibana answered from the side:
"Don't bother looking - she's still in space trying to replicate more of these rings."
"Along with testing optimal material compositions."
As Mira Tsubakihara, seated at the far right of the long sofa, spoke, she reached beside her and lifted a small suitcase. Placing it on the table, she opened it for Luo Shu's inspection.
Looking down, Luo Shu saw a red cloth inside with twelve ring indentations. Only three differently styled silver rings with gemstones remained in their slots.
"This is..." Luo Shu looked questioningly at Mira.
"Rings crafted using the Research Department's new alloy through Alchemy methods."
As she spoke, Mira picked up a sapphire ring and slipped it onto her finger. With a thought, golden Sun Dying Will Flames ignited around it:
"Originally intended as Dying Will Flame rings for senior operatives, but we had to repurpose them due to... unforeseen circumstances."
Nearby, Kirika sipped juice through a straw while quipping:
"Initially, I'd asked Tsubaki to make them for me. Never imagined they'd end up being used like this."
Hearing this, Luo Shu glanced at Kirika before surveying the group. After a pause, he asked:
"So what exactly is this 'unforeseen outcome'?"
"Hi-hi-hi~ Let me explain—"
Tabane Shinonono raised her hand eagerly, only to be abruptly cut off by Natsuki Minamiya:
"Never mind, let me demonstrate it directly."
Natsuki Minamiya picked up the ring from the blue gift box and slipped it onto her finger. With a whoosh, sky-blue Rain-attribute Dying Will Flames ignited on her hand.
Seeing this, the girls sitting on the sofa quickly reached out to grab their drinks from the table.
At that moment, Natsuki Minamiya swung her right hand abruptly.
The long glass table before them instantly vanished.
Clatter.
The small boxes containing rings that had been on the table fell to the floor with a thud.
"My, my." Mira Tsubakihara, holding a cup of milk tea, gave a wry smile. "She didn't even give us time to react."
"Miss Natsuki, you could at least leave us some reaction time."
"No need. This makes it clearer."
Natsuki Minamiya calmly waved her hand again, and the table reappeared before everyone.
Lacus and the others, as if accustomed to this, placed their teacups back on the glass table.
Luo Shu could tell they must have fallen for this trick before.
"Director, your black tea."
"Oh, thanks."
Without looking, Luo Shu took the cup from Yukino Yukinoshita, sipped the scalding tea, swallowed it without hesitation, and then turned to Lacus with a hesitant question:
"A spatial ring?"
"How is this possible?"
Lacus smiled faintly and lightly tapped the table:
"Wouldn't it be better to ask the person responsible?"
Suddenly, a void opened beside Luo Shu's head.
A slender arm reached out and wrapped around his neck, followed by a familiar cheek-rubbing assault:
"Huff huff~~ Has Big Brother seen Muku's achievement?"
"Were you surprised?"
"Muku prepared this especially for you~"
Luo Shu endured Mukuro Hoshimiya's affectionate nuzzling with resignation: "So you hid yourself just to surprise me?"
"Mhm mhm mhm." Mukuro nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Natsuki Minamiya calmly interjected:
"This girl just said it would be easier to make these rings in space."
"So, was the 'easier in space' part a lie?"
Mukuro ignored her, clinging to Luo Shu with a giggle:
"Big Brother~~ Muku was very good today, right?"
"Then... a reward?" Luo Shu hesitated, glanced at the others, then pecked Mukuro on the cheek.
Witnessing this, the girls present averted their eyes as if nothing had happened.
"It seems Mukuro prefers clinging to you over explaining things."
Lacus smiled helplessly, then glanced at Natsuki Minamiya.
Natsuki scoffed, flicking open her folding fan to hide her face:
"The principles remain unclear, but essentially, these rings are products of Mukuro's Master of Seal and Unlock."
"The actual process involves sealing a pre-made empty metal container inside the ring, with the Master of Seal and Unlock reserving the power to open and reseal it. The activation is set to respond only to Dying Will Flames."
"Based on tests, the metal container must be airtight, and higher-quality ring materials allow for larger containers to be sealed."
"Based on the current material tests, the largest ring can maintain a space of approximately 5x5x2 metres, roughly 50 cubic metres, for an extended duration."
"50 cubic metres... that's about the size of a bedroom, isn't it?"
Luo Shu murmured to himself, then glanced at Mukuro Hoshimiya, who was still clinging to his cheek. Unable to resist, he planted another kiss:
"You've really accomplished something remarkable here, Mukuro~"
"Hehehe~" Mukuro Hoshimiya giggled foolishly.
Luo Shu, sitting beside her, glanced at the box that Mira Tsubakihara had picked up and asked:
"So, the box contains materials for making spatial rings?"
Kirika Tachibana replied calmly, "Calling them sealing rings might be more accurate, but referring to them as spatial rings could provide some misdirection, leading those who obtain them to incorrect conclusions."
"Anyway, this isn't my Operations Department's responsibility."
Having said that, Kirika immediately turned to Lacus and asked, "The Operations Department needs 100 rings. Can they be produced in the short term?"
"I'm afraid I can't decide that," Lacus replied with a smile, quietly sipping her tea.
Hearing this, Kirika suddenly realised something and turned her gaze towards Luo Shu.
Noticing Kirika's look, Luo Shu crossed his legs and picked up his teacup with an air of nonchalance:
"My, my, a hundred rings? That's quite a tall order..."