Chapter 275

Page Eighty-Six Lecture

Professor Shí Huǒróng, wearing a welder’s helmet, held up her custom-made welding gun, which was akin to a magic wand.

The front of the gun emitted increasingly unstable purple lightning. Just as I worried that the dancing arc might hit the professor herself, she fired a laser shot at the open space in the center of the cave.

The spell struck the ground and lay dormant for a few seconds.

Boom!

With a dull rumble, the originally hard rock surface gradually softened, rose, and took shape, eventually turning into neat rows of stone chairs, still retaining the texture of rocks. In front of the seats was a half-meter-high podium with a lectern, and on the lectern was a stone microphone… of course, this microphone had no function.

Seeing such a skill demonstrated in front of so many people naturally drew applause, but Professor Shí just scratched her head bashfully.

“Hehe, I’ve made a fool of myself.”

Bā Hé Mèi also clapped and remarked, “Professor, you’re amazing! You’ve become more proficient in using terrain-altering spells!”

“But it’s only natural to be proficient when you use it every day. Why don’t any of you help her out?”

Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a virtue of our Chinese nation.

Not only is the professor old, but now she’s also young, so she should be taken care of even more.

Working long hours every day under such poor conditions underground, with stale air, no sunlight, and heavy humidity, it’s no wonder her rejuvenated body has been worn down.

Bā Hé Mèi said, “Sister Língmèng, you’re wrong about us! We want to help, but Professor won’t let us do anything! Every time we come down to assist, she sends us back to the surface… she really enjoys building!”

A workaholic who works alone will remain a workaholic even after rebirth.

There’s no hope for this person.

“That young lady’s spellcasting technique is quite good, isn’t it?”

After seeing the professor’s ‘performance,’ the old lady rarely expressed approval.

“But the spell is too crude, not only wasting magical energy but also difficult to operate. The last one used up an entire battery.”

As expected, Professor Shí withdrew an empty bottle from the welding gun.

She raised her eyebrows, confirming there was nothing left inside, then sighed as she put the ampule into her pocket.

…Due to insufficient magical energy, everyone in the research institute was quite frugal.

I nudged the old lady’s back.

“Exactly because you’re not professional, you need to teach a class. The podium is ready, so it’s about time to start, isn’t it?”

The researchers who were teleported down began to take their seats. Bā Hé Mèi suddenly ran off to the side, entering the Third Laboratory… don’t ask me how I knew it was the third lab; it was clearly marked with large red characters at the entrance.

The old lady turned to look at me.

“Xiǎo Kǎi, are you going to listen to my lecture too?”

“Hehe, I know very little about divine techniques, so I want to hear it too.”

She rested her chin on her hand and said, “Mmm, although divine techniques perform better, spells are more complex? A single permission call can achieve what a spell needs multiple techniques to combine.”

After all, this is the path of mortals imitating deities.

I asked, “Won’t teaching this get the attention of the Heavenly Path?”

“Haha, that doesn’t matter anymore. Even if the small sins accumulate, they won’t affect the outcome… Yòu Zi, follow Xiǎo Kǎi first.”

As she spoke anxiously, the old lady placed Yòu Zi on top of my head.

“So, I’m preparing to be a teacher. Give me the materials!”

Taking Play-Doh and an air pump from my backpack, the old lady turned towards the podium, while the senior sister herself held a notebook and sat in the first row waiting for the lesson to begin.

Yòu Zi whispered softly, “Master, she must not have much time left, right?”

I vaguely felt that the old lady knew how much time she had left.

—”Xiǎo Kǎi, I think you shouldn’t attend this spell class.”—

Suddenly, Cherry Sauce spoke.

But why?

—”You don’t need to learn these dark arts. Once you become a deity, all my knowledge will belong to you.”—

She still disliked the existence of spells.

—”It’s not that I dislike them, I just don’t want these knowledge to influence your trials. If the Heavenly Path knew you secretly learned spells, they would likely lower their evaluation of you.”—

Bā Hé Mèi ran out of the laboratory holding something, looked around, and then ran towards me.

“Sister Língmèng, please combine these techniques for me!”

She handed me two metal plates engraved with spell runes.

—”She plans to make an amplifier on the spot for us, quite innovative, but combining them is a bit complicated.”—

Can you help with this?

—”…Didn’t I say it was a bit complicated?”—

So you can’t do it?

—”How about I give you a ready-made speaker? It’s simpler.”—

That would disappoint Xiao Bā Hé!

—”You lazybones still care about face?”—

Seeing me hold the metal plates in a daze, Bā Hé Mèi asked, “What’s wrong? Can’t Sister Língmèng combine them either?”

I explained awkwardly, “Cough, cough, our techniques are systemically different. Although I know you want to make a microphone, I’m not sure I can combine them…”

“Oh my~ Is this the level of the legendary witch you always talk about, Xiao Bā Hé?”

A casual high-pitched voice came from behind, and a girl with an earpick walked out from the outpost. Under her loose white coat, she wore a long-sleeved shirt that didn’t fit the season, and there was a hint of dark red among her shoulder-length black hair.

I had visited the research institute many times but had never seen this person before.

“Sister Xìn, you’re late! And don’t underestimate Sister Língmèng; she just happened to not know!”

Bā Hé Mèi was still making excuses for me…

“I didn’t say I underestimated her? Well, let me try~”

She snatched the metal plates from my hands and then focused intently… or rather, started welding.

Purple light from magical energy surged between the metal plates, and faint odd smells could be detected. So, this so-called combination technique was simply welding these metal plates together?

—”To connect spells, this is a simple method, but the excessive roughness of ‘welding’ will lead to more severe magical energy leakage.”—

Several metal plates were stacked together to form a thicker plate.

“Hey hey hey—”

The girl called “Sister Xìn” shouted at the metal plate twice, resulting in an infinite loop of screeching sounds.

“Ugh! Too noisy!”

Bā Hé Mèi screamed and threw the metal plate to the ground, and the loosely welded metal plate split into pieces.

“What’s going on? This thing is completely useless!”

Sister Xìn tapped Bā Hé Mèi’s head and said, “You didn’t consider the problem of self-oscillation at all, did you?”

“Oh! Sorry, I assumed wrongly!”

Bā Hé Mèi’s plan to create a microphone failed.

But the old lady didn’t need that anyway. In the enclosed cave, as long as one spoke loudly, it was like a karaoke room with built-in echo.

“The lecture is about to start. You’d better take your seats quickly.”

Hearing my urging, Bā Hé Mèi asked, “What, isn’t Sister Língmèng coming?”

I wanted to listen, but Cherry Sauce wouldn’t allow it!

“Mmm, I plan to meet someone I caught yesterday. Where is he being held?”

Naturally referring to that jerk, Yǐn Tiānjié, who served as a free test subject. I wonder what she looks like now. As the victor, I believe I have the right to mock him thoroughly.

“Haha, you mean that embarrassing guy who wet his pants?”

Bā Hé Mèi covered her mouth and giggled, adding, “She’s locked in the infirmary next to the data room. The door is locked from the outside, and she’s wearing restraints. She can’t move even lying in bed, and I have to feed her… we played a scene according to your script, even you would be surprised.”

What if she needs to go to the bathroom?

“In fact, this wasn’t my idea…”

Her so-called script was the scenario arranged by the old lady yesterday.

Probably in Yǐn Tiānjié’s mind, she was sold to a black-market hospital and treated as a deprived animal. Even if she died, no one would know… I wonder what experiments Miss Kē Màn conducted on her.

Bā Hé Mèi added, “Although she’s already terrified, don’t show your hand.”

“If you’ve already scared her, her thinking ability will definitely decline. Even if my acting is a bit clumsy, it won’t be noticeable.”

“Go ahead then. After the morning lecture, I’ll come check on you.”

“Okay.”

I returned alone to the outpost, preparing to teleport back to the surface via the stone slab.

“Xiǎo Kǎi, who are you going to see?”

A voice echoed in my ears. I almost forgot that there was a little creature in my hat, using its tiny paws to scratch my hair to see my expression.

“To confront a jerk who offended us.”

Realizing its presence, I suddenly had a new idea.

“Yòu Zi, can you decide what form you want to take?”

“…Only during transformations. Unless I touch you to transform again, I can’t change at will.”

“Then can I ask you for a favor?”

——————

“Girilgulu!”

——————

—”You’re just as bad as your mother when you want to cause trouble.”—

Passing through the elevator, I had completed my plan to bluff almost perfectly.

But as a key part of the plan, Yòu Zi was still conflicted.

“Xiǎo Kǎi… I really don’t want to turn into a man.”

This furry little creature wriggled uncomfortably on my arm.

“If you find it disgusting, you don’t have to show the lower part… I’ll cut off your magical energy supply in five minutes, making you revert. Isn’t that fine?”

“I have psychological barriers!”

“Afterwards, I’ll buy you beef jerky.”

“You actually think food can sway me? How shallow!”

“What do you want then?”

“I want perfume… not the cheap stuff from supermarkets!”

“You know, I’m not very rich. Let’s set a price first.”

“One, one thousand! Is one thousand okay?”

Such a large sum came from such a small mouth.

Although I don’t know what level a thousand-dollar perfume is, it’s clearly not supermarket quality.

—”Don’t forget, Shàojié owes you twenty thousand for portrait usage rights. A thousand is just a drop in the bucket.”—

Cherry Sauce reminded me, and I almost forgot about it.

How long has it been? When is Shàojié going to pay up?

“Alright, cooperate with me for this performance. Afterwards, I’ll take you to the commercial area’s cosmetics counter to pick out perfume.”

Seeing my agreement, Yòu Zi happily climbed onto my head.

And asked, “So what kind of appearance do you want?”

“A fierce and strong gangster, preferably with a scar on the face.”