The spaceship, equipped with brand-new warp technology, flew incredibly fast. While it couldn't warp directly to its destination like a train, its cooldown was quick, making up for the difference in speed with frequency.
Soon, the spaceship landed at First University of Truth. The hatch opened, and Bai Luan stepped out, pulling his luggage.
Hmm...
This university...
Why does it look like a laboratory?
Did I really leave Herta's laboratory?
As soon as Bai Luan exited the spaceship, a middle-aged man, about forty or fifty years old, immediately approached him.
Dressed in a white lab coat, like a researcher, he wore a formulaic smile, like a meticulously adjusted mask, as he extended his hand to Bai Luan.
"Hello, Mr. Bai Luan, I am Professor Herman. It's an honor to meet you."
"A pleasure."
Bai Luan glanced at his surroundings and asked,
"Am I not here to attend university? Why have I been sent to a laboratory?"
"It's like this, Principal Heimerdinger is very busy with his duties and couldn't come to greet you personally.
So, he entrusted me to show you some of our university's excellent achievements, to demonstrate our sincerity."
"I see."
Bai Luan casually pointed to the spaceship behind him and asked,
"Among your achievements, what level is that spaceship considered?"
"That is one of our university's top achievements, equipped with a brand-new engine. Its theoretical inspiration comes from the 'Zero-Energy Blackbody Radiation Generator' proposed by Professor Ratio of our university..."
Oh, so they wanted to directly apply Truth Father's achievement to the engine. No wonder there was a distinct sense of grafting.
I wonder how much the final product has been optimized compared to this prototype. If the improvement isn't significant...
Then Professor Ratio's achievement here would be like a famous quote in a college entrance exam essay.
"How many achievements here utilize Professor Ratio's theory?"
Herman's smile froze for a moment, then took on a cold, hard edge of offense.
"With all due respect, Mr. Bai Luan, have you... perhaps only heard of Professor Ratio?"
"Oh?"
Hearing Herman's slightly prickly retort, Bai Luan raised an eyebrow, a playful smile curling on his lips.
So confident, you'd better have something to show for it.
In a blink, Bai Luan entered the Little Black Room, copying this advanced laboratory into it.
"You're at the university?"
"Yes, I'm here to see if there's anything worth looking at in this laboratory."
"Really?"
Herta, with a hint of nonchalance, began to stroll through the laboratory.
Achievement after achievement flashed before her eyes, quickly receiving a score in her mind.
Average, average, average, somewhat interesting, average, average, average...
Soon, Herta had a general idea.
"It's just the level of any simple laboratory in my home. Nothing much to see."
"Your assessment isn't very objective. I'm all too familiar with the level of any random laboratory in your home."
"Then you can see for yourself."
Herta, losing interest, turned to tinker with the Herta Puppet.
When Bai Luan was in the Little Black Room doing things Herta wasn't interested in, and she wasn't in the mood to tease Bai Luan, she would turn to her own affairs.
Either she would continue to decipher the system's Little Black Room, or she would forcibly pull Bai Luan into something she was interested in.
Anyway, Herta knew that her priority in Bai Luan's affairs was the highest, and the Little Black Room had no concept of time. Even if she made Bai Luan drop what he was doing to accompany her, he would immediately comply.
A laboratory at a university whose name she couldn't even remember was indeed unlikely to pique her interest.
Bai Luan first wandered around the laboratory, generally familiarizing himself with its layout and structure, constructing a rough temporary map in his mind.
Then he began to focus on each product. Perhaps for easier demonstration, each product was equipped with an electronic description.
Well, since they've gone to such lengths, what else is there to say?
Time to disassemble.
After a period of tinkering, Bai Luan had disassembled every product here.
To be honest, the products here were indeed abundant, with relevant projects in various industries.
However...
They weren't that impressive.
He could disassemble and reassemble these things after just one look.
For something to be disassembled and reassembled by someone of his caliber means its structure has no earth-shattering ingenuity.
Moreover, for transportation, it was inferior to his Anywhere Door; for close combat, inferior to his Chainsword; for long-range power, inferior to a Bolter; for medical purposes, inferior to his Extraction Gun.
The only interesting invention was still standing on the shoulders of Truth Father.
So,
Bai Luan exited the Little Black Room and looked Herman directly in the eyes.
Is it that I only know Professor Ratio, or is it that only Truth Father's name here is worth remembering?
Herman flinched under Bai Luan's gaze, feeling for a moment as if his innermost secrets had been seen through by this young man.
"It seems there isn't much worth seeing here. I've received your sincerity, and I'll be leaving now.
As for the rest, Mr. Herman, you needn't worry. I'll go directly to negotiate with the principal."
After saying this, Bai Luan immediately pulled his luggage and walked towards the laboratory exit.
He was here to learn and improve himself, not to waste time with this bunch of meaningless things.
Ms. Herta's simulated universe project was rapidly progressing, and he couldn't afford to waste time on these matters.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Bai Luan paused, turning slightly to offer a piece of advice.
"For the laser weapon you're developing, it's best not to continue down the path of miniaturization. If you do, the gun body won't be able to withstand it."
"How did you..."
Herman realized and said no more.
"Our project team will handle it ourselves!"
"Of course."
Bai Luan shrugged indifferently, his figure disappearing into the light and shadow outside the door, leaving only a final, prophetic whisper:
"The choice is yours. When it goes out of control and explodes, taking a few young lives... it won't be too late to change then."
Herman's face was ashen. He stood with his arms crossed, staring intently in the direction where Bai Luan had disappeared, his chest heaving violently.
The sudden halt of the project, the demand to reconfigure the laboratory for a welcome party—such requests had already infuriated him.
And then, after receiving him, every word and gesture seemed to look down on him.
"Hmph... such arrogance. Where did Heimerdinger find this 'genius' now?"
Mu Zi, with a hint of worry and hesitation, finally mustered the courage to speak:
"Mentor... regarding what he said, you'd best consider it carefully."
"What? Are you afraid of him?"
"It's not like that, Mentor!"
Mu Zi argued urgently, his eyes unusually serious.
"He's really terrifying! On the spaceship, he just... just took a few glances, and he saw through the structure, the flaws... everything about our spaceship! As if he had disassembled it!"
"Absurd!"
Herman scoffed, as if he had heard a tall tale.
"Understood it with one glance? Who do you think he is? A genius like Professor Ratio?"
"Mentor, I'm not lying to you. You can listen to the recording of my conversation with him on the spaceship."
Mu Zi, however, stared at Herman with a serious expression, refusing to back down.
Seeing his student's persistence, Herman also grew serious, dropping his smile.
Could it be... he was telling the truth?
But... that doesn't make sense, does it?
Can anyone really know a spaceship's structure and flaws with just one glance?
Unless...
Unless he is...
A genius like Ratio.
Wait, no!
Herman suddenly realized the problem wasn't that simple.
"Play me the recording!"
Herman strode onto the spaceship, listening to Bai Luan and Mu Zi's animated conversation. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
This, this!
If he didn't know better, he would think this was an internal member of his own team!
"He really just looked at the ship a few times and knew all this?"
"Mentor, would I lie to you?"
Who exactly is he?
Heimerdinger! Who did you make me meet!?
Herman's hands trembled as he pulled out his communicator, quickly sending a message to Heimerdinger:
Herman: Who exactly did you have me pick up today?
Heimerdinger: Ms. Herta's assistant.
Ms. Herta?
That Ms. Herta?
Her assistant!?
Herman: You bastard! Why didn't you tell me anything!? Are you using me as a gun to test him!?
Heimerdinger: If you don't think before you speak, how can you blame me?
Heimerdinger: It's because you're always like this that you've ended up in this predicament. So many years, and you still don't try to change.
Herman: You know what I'm like, don't you? If something happens, can you take responsibility?
Heimerdinger: Your mistakes are yours to bear. They have nothing to do with me.
"You old geezer!!"
Herman slammed his fist hard on the cold control panel, producing a dull thud.
Then, the anger that had sustained him instantly dissipated. He slumped back in his chair, like a man whose spine had been removed, leaning despondently.
"Mu Zi, let's stop the laser weapon project. Don't proceed with it anymore."
"Okay, Mentor, I'll notify them later."
"If I get fired soon, as the senior disciple, this place will be entrusted to you."
"Mentor, is it that serious?"
"It depends on luck."
Herman let out a long, heavy sigh.
Constantly pushed aside, constantly suppressed, struggling from humble beginnings to his current position, it seemed... it really was the end.
"Mentor..."
Mu Zi's eyes flashed with panic upon hearing this, then he pulled out his phone and started messaging Bai Luan.
Bai Luan was sending a voice message to Heimerdinger:
"Hey, old man, I might be good-tempered, but if you send people to test me again, I'll mess with you, understand?
I know you guys have your own ways, but I'm too lazy to play your games, got it?"
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the message from Mu Zi.
"Mr. Bai Luan! My sincerest apologies!
My mentor... he just speaks a bit harshly, but he's actually a very good person! Really! He's very responsible with his students!
There must be a misunderstanding! I beg you... I beg you to be lenient and not hold it against him! It's so hard for me to find a good mentor... I beg you!"
Looking at it this way, Herman has a pretty good reputation, doesn't he? Was he used as a pawn?
It seems the internal affairs of this university are quite messy.
Never mind, it doesn't matter.
Bai Luan casually typed a reply:
"Buy me a cup of bubble tea, and I'll forgive your mentor."
In the laboratory, Mu Zi and Herman stared at each other.
"He... he said..."
Herman's voice was dry.
"A cup of bubble tea... and he'll forgive me?"
"M-mentor..."
Mu Zi swallowed.
"He... he's actually quite... easygoing? He was the one who added me as a contact... and just now... you were the one who... provoked him first..."
"How was I supposed to know he was..."
Herman annoyedly ran his hand through his hair, a sense of powerlessness washing over him.
"Ugh! Never mind! It's my fault! Did he say what brand to get? I'll go buy it right now! I'll personally deliver it to his dorm!"
"Mentor!"
Mu Zi quickly stopped him.
"He said you don't need to deliver it, just order it for delivery! I think... our top priority right now seems to be figuring out... which kind of bubble tea... tastes best?"
His voice, by the end, carried a hint of bewildered absurdity that he himself found strange.
In the cold laboratory, a strange anxiety about bubble tea sweetness, completely at odds with the research atmosphere, began to spread.