She was considered a high-ranking member within the Clyne Faction.
That was why she knew Fred's identity.
At this moment, the young woman gazed at the setting sun outside the window and the calm sea surface while quickly calculating in her mind.
The task Siegel Clyne had given her was to maintain more contact with Fred and probe him further.
After two consecutive weeks of testing, she had reached a conclusion.
That was... Fred was nothing but a wooden, perverted workaholic, so there was no need to worry about him being swayed by feminine charms.
Recalling the past two weeks, she had exhausted all her tricks.
And the result? Fred remained exactly the same.
He did smile.
But that smile was like those in toothpaste commercials.
It looked bright, but it was just a template.
Devoid of any genuine emotion.
As if she were merely a blade of grass by the roadside.
Though that wasn't entirely accurate.
If she were a blade of grass growing in his field, he'd probably be very concerned.
Thinking this, Imanla collected her thoughts and continued.
Since there were no issues in the emotional aspect, the next consideration was capability.
Extremely strong.
And his progress was remarkably evident.
Rapid improvement, yet steady and solid—as if no challenge could ever stump him.
In short, he seemed almost superhuman.
If her initial probing of the young man's emotions was driven by mission requirements,
then the following week had carried a touch of genuine feeling.
After all, she had seen Fred's previous photos—he was quite handsome, and his abilities were formidable.
It wouldn't be bad if pretense turned into reality.
Coordinators and Naturals were more fertile, so she could potentially bear even stronger offspring.
Of course, she hated that he was such a blockhead.
Muttering another complaint inwardly, Imanla refocused.
It appeared now that he was truly immersed in his research.
And his scientific prowess was approaching Lenore's level—definitely a high-value target.
That left only one final aspect to assess.
His political leanings.
Everyone had political inclinations; likewise, no one was entirely selfless—each had their own stance.
But no one had figured out this Fred.
Not even the Clyne Faction, nor that father-daughter pair at the very top.
If you called him neutral, no neutral person would come help them with cultivation research and seem completely unfazed by it.
If you said he wasn't neutral, he firmly opposed Blue Cosmos. Just last week, she had witnessed Fred beating up a researcher outside who kept provoking the parents of a First-Generation Coordinator. It seemed even PLANT's Radical Faction was equally condemned.
In short, he seemed to transcend the world's political landscape.
Simply viewing various factions as forces to be utilized.
Whether this was good or bad, Imanla wasn't sure, but if things continued this way, would he truly be safe?
Even if he were genuinely neutral, others would still covet his value.
If she were Fred and truly wanted to stay out of the world's conflicts, she would have hidden away long ago to thrive in solitude.
Failing to grasp his intentions, Imanla shook her head.
Never mind, it had nothing to do with her anyway.
She just needed to go back and write her report properly.
Fortunately, she could still draw two paychecks.
Unaware of the excited reactions of passersby, Fred stared at the experimental field before him with gleaming eyes, like a starving wild boar spotting cabbages in a farmhouse below the mountain.
Of course, what he was looking at weren't cabbages, but stalks of rice.
Though these rice plants appeared half-dead, Fred could precisely perceive all their data. Numerous metrics unfolded before his eyes - light absorption rates, health indices, even microbial status and metabolomics-related small molecule metabolism. Normally, microbial sampling was complex and couldn't achieve real-time monitoring and analysis. But now, his eyes had become the measuring instrument.
"Identify the abnormally proliferating Pseudomonas and the suppressed key fungal communities," he murmured, "this will directly pinpoint the core issue of metabolic toxin accumulation caused by microbial imbalance."
"From this, we can synthesize an engineered strain specifically designed to degrade these toxic metabolites and rapidly purify the root environment."
Fred's eyes rapidly scanned through the abundant data while his mind, now equipped with Lenore's knowledge reservoir, quickly formulated corresponding solutions. Under normal circumstances, such solutions would require several researchers for data interpretation, numerous personnel for data collection, plus data analysis time - likely taking at least three days. Now... it only took three hours.
Fred gazed fervently at the plan he had devised.
...
"Why hasn't brother returned home yet?" Athrun whispered, watching Fred's still dark room from his window.
"You brother-complex! That's enough!" Yzak exclaimed for what felt like the hundredth time, his face showing clear exasperation.
"I'll stop if you can beat me," Athrun retorted in a tone designed to infuriate.
"...Come on! Let's do this right now!" The short-tempered Yzak immediately stood up.
"You'll disturb my mother's research if you make noise," Athrun said dismissively.
Hearing this, Yzak's raised eyebrows quickly settled down. Both Athrun's mother and father conducted research for PLANT's benefit, and this couldn't be interrupted - a fact Yzak well understood.
"Again then!" Yzak grumbled irritably, picking up his game controller once more. If they couldn't fight physically, they'd settle it through gaming.
"Bring it on," Athrun responded without backing down.
Meanwhile, in the study, Lenore was having a video call with Patrick.
"Based on your observations, are you saying Fred will soon match your research capabilities?" Patrick maintained his composure, though his voice betrayed a barely perceptible elevation in pitch.
This reaction was understandable. While they had abundant talent for battleship and MS research, agricultural researchers were genuinely scarce - a direct consequence of Council Nation policies. After all, if they weren't allowed to grow food crops, why would they be permitted to learn how to cultivate them?
The strict control over such knowledge has most directly resulted in a scarcity of talent.
So far, within PLANT, only Lenore and three others are capable of leading a research team.
If Fred were to possess Lenore's abilities as well, their research capabilities and speed would significantly improve.
This would undoubtedly be an immense benefit.
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