Chapter 274

Page Eighty-Five

Sinking Operation

“Oh, these two are the familiars of the Great Witch Master?”

Unable to restrain her affection for small animals, on the way to the barn, Bā Hé Mèi reached out to tease Yòu Zi’s chin.

“Gururu~”

The small animal made some incomprehensible sounds.

Standing at the door of the barn, I reminded her, “Yòu Zi, you can talk now. Ahead are people who know about magic.”

“Oh~ Don’t touch me randomly, little girl with a hat!”

But when this small animal spoke, it made Bā Hé Mèi even more excited. She lifted Yòu Zi up and even tossed her into the air.

“Oh! It can talk! You’re definitely the familiar of the Great Witch!”

Yòu Zi scolded, “What kind of witch! Stop doing dangerous things!”

“Hahaha, sorry!”

Bā Hé Mèi put Yòu Zi back on the ground, but she quickly curled up in a ball inside Old Lady’s hat again.

Seeing Yòu Zi getting depressed, I continued, “This white cat is called Xiǎo Xuě, but she doesn’t understand human speech yet. She’s still just an ordinary animal.”

“Now? Does that mean you’ll make her speak later?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Bā Hé Mèi was quite perceptive, catching onto my hidden meaning. But what we were going to do would surprise her even more—turning Xiǎo Xuě into a human form… though only temporarily.

However, we decided to keep this a secret from Bā Hé Mèi to avoid her getting too excited and tossing Xiǎo Xuě again.

Coming out of the back kitchen, we took a few steps to reach the central barn. Although the doors were closed, researchers had been entering and exiting frequently since yesterday, indicating there must be another way in…

“Someone’s here, open up!”

After Bā Hé Mèi shouted, someone inside opened the door. Once we went in, they closed it again.

That was all there was to it.

I said with a pout, “I thought you’d use a teleportation spell.”

“This is a public place, and the walls aren’t high enough. Using spells carelessly could expose us. Plus, there are reporters wandering around nearby. We have to be careful coming and going!”

As a member of the research institute, Bā Hé Mèi was appropriately cautious?

Considering her true age, I thought she would be more rebellious and laid-back.

Regarding those self-media journalists, Miss Kē Màn could only prevent them from entering the low-rent apartment complex, but outside its walls, she couldn’t drive them away.

Old Lady prodded her cheek and laughed, “Why don’t we blow up a few more cameras?”

“It was definitely you! Please, no more news. When AJ and the others move out, these flies will leave too.”

For example, today there were fewer people.

In the center of the barn, there was a completed portable cabin. This was the laboratory being sent down to the deep research institute. The wall panels were made of a sturdy steel structure, similar to the outpost. Water and electrical pipes were pre-installed, and I hadn’t expected to catch such a large-scale project. Miss Kē Màn and Professor Shí Huǒróng were directing it, and even Senior Sister and Brother Zhú were there…

Hmm, Brother Zhú did return.

It seemed that as long as Xiao Qínglán stayed away from Mom for a while, she could revert to her original form, though she didn’t want to.

“Xiǎo Kǎi is here?”

Noticing Bā Hé Mèi leading us into the barn, they came forward to greet us.

“Looks like this is…”

“Oh, my dear mother!”

Before Senior Sister could finish her greeting, Old Lady lunged towards her. This sudden reunion left everyone stunned.

But Old Lady’s current identity was Qiǎnxià, so calling her that was fine.

But she didn’t seem interested in calling Brother Zhú dad.

Their meeting was destined to be awkward.

“Hehe, you’re Qiǎnxià now?”

Senior Sister knew her situation and wouldn’t expose her, but Brother Zhú’s expression was complicated—calling his lost half-soul wife “mom” couldn’t be easy.

Even if she wasn’t Qiǎnxià, Senior Sister’s extensive life experience allowed her to treat Old Lady as a junior.

She caressed Old Lady’s long hair lovingly and sighed, “You really are a mischievous one… but I’m grateful you came today. However, the lecture might have to wait until after this operation is complete.”

She meant sinking the laboratory down to the deep research institute.

I asked, “How many rooms is this?”

“This is the fourth laboratory!”

Ba Hé Mèi answered, handing me a Jewel.

With four such large rooms already sunk, the deep research institute was starting to take shape.

Professor Shí inspected the laboratory and then stepped onto the transmission stone slab behind her. Her figure was enveloped by a golden light curtain and vanished instantly.

Ba Hé Mèi explained further, “To ensure the precise location, the professor has to go down first to guide the process.”

Old Lady had been pondering something and spoke up, “So it’s not just a simple teleportation. You’re exchanging the room with a reserved underground space?”

“Oh! As expected of the Great Witch! You’ve noticed the difference!”

Ba Hé Mèi forgot her mature act and explained excitedly, “While sinking the laboratory, we can also bring up debris and other large items, but the energy consumption is lower than two separate teleports!”

Compared to her, I couldn’t even see where the spell was cast, looking around like a country bumpkin.

“You’re really meticulous with energy. You must be short on it.”

“Although it’s better than before, we’re still short. When we first achieved electricity conversion, I thought we’d never run out of energy… but with just a few generators, it can’t meet the lab’s needs.”

Old Lady gently tapped Ba Hé Mèi’s beret and looked at Senior Sister, “Your energy is sufficient, but your usage is low. I’m here to teach you how to write spells correctly. Remember, this is the foundation of all spells!”

During this time, Miss Kē Màn put on a full-body hazmat suit and entered the laboratory, activating the spell inside.

“Zzzz—”

With the characteristic hum of energy overflow, the laboratory was enveloped by a golden light curtain and then disappeared, replaced by a pile of rubble, garbage bags, and empty diesel barrels.

“Was it successful?” I asked.

“Not sure, we’ll know once someone comes up,” Ba Hé Mèi replied nervously.

Though the portable cabin was gone, it wasn’t confirmed whether it safely reached the planned depth of four hundred meters below ground. This affected Miss Kē Màn’s safety.

At four hundred meters underground, there were no communication lines. Once inside, it was cut off from the world. If we didn’t check, we could only wait.

Another minute passed, and Miss Kē Màn appeared on the transmission stone slab after removing her hood.

“The mission is complete, very successfully… no deviation in the exchange teleportation!”

————–

Later, I learned that Miss Kē Màn’s protective suit not only isolated the overflowing energy but also had an alloy frame and emergency teleportation spell. If something went wrong, the alloy frame could protect her to some extent and teleport her back.

But this didn’t guarantee absolute safety. The protection provided by the alloy frame was limited. If there was a deviation and she got stuck in the rock layer, aside from NPC A Yu, the outcome was usually grim.

“The changes here are huge!”

Descending again into the deep research institute, I was amazed by the sight. Compared to the natural cave, everything here was man-made.

“Pretty good transformation, huh?”

I asked, “Do you know what it was like before?”

“Yes, I sneaked in before.”

Ba Hé Mèi continued guiding us, “Everything you see is thanks to Professor Shí! She basically transformed this cave into its current state. After setting up the fourth laboratory, Boss plans to force her to take a week off.”

Just looking at it felt exhausting.

Excluding the small power room, there were already four laboratories. Groundwater was contained in reservoirs to keep most of the ground dry. Most of the ground was leveled by Professor Shí, ensuring proper ventilation with well-laid air ducts. The cave, about half the size of a soccer field, was arranged neatly, making it a well-established laboratory.

I finally understood the satisfaction of building a home in farming stories!

Unfortunately, I’m not like Professor Shí, who has maxed out construction skills.

“Xiǎo Kǎi, Qiǎnxià.”

Senior Sister and Brother Zhú came out of the outpost and greeted us, “Can we hold the lecture here?”

“No problem, there’s nowhere else more spacious.”

“Let’s prepare first. You can explore around here… Běihǎi, stay and accompany them.”

With that, Senior Sister headed towards Professor Shí.

“Huh?”

Brother Zhú, suddenly left alone, froze.

He didn’t know how to face my mother.

“You don’t need to force yourself to talk to me. I don’t plan on interacting with you.”

But Old Lady spoke first.

“…I’m really sorry about Chang Wei.”

Perhaps due to pride and stubbornness, or perhaps machismo, Brother Zhú still apologized.

“I understand what happened between you two. It’s not your fault. Everything was caused by Tian Dao…”

Old Lady was reasonable, but she changed her tone mid-sentence, “But, haven’t you been too attentive to Xiǎo Wēi recently?”

Her reason for disliking Brother Zhú… was it because he flirted with our mother?

—”What do you think?”—

I thought Mother was blaming Brother Zhú and Master for neglecting me all these years…

—”Then you overestimate yourself. No matter when, Dad is always number one in her heart.”—

…a bit hurt, but Old Lady’s feelings for me were only blood-related.

“I just want to make up for past mistakes.”

“Why not earlier, why wait until he became ‘her’ to act… do you think you didn’t have ulterior motives?”

Brother Zhú said reluctantly, “But I couldn’t contact him before?”

That was true.

He was the source of Dad’s illness. Even if he wasn’t female, Dad would still fear him. That’s why they took action.

“Hmph! From now on, you’re not allowed to think about Xiǎo Wēi. If it happens again, it won’t be just changing gender!”

“What else could change?”

Old Lady put her hands on her hips and snapped, “I’ll turn you into a pig!”