Chapter 235

Chapter 235: Success?

Today’s experiment did not go smoothly at all.  

At first, the assistants were in awe when they saw the Star, marveling at how their boss had managed to obtain such a thing despite just being there for the paycheck.  

But soon after, the progress of the experiment fell far behind the usual pace, even lagging behind what Heli could achieve alone. The atmosphere among the team grew increasingly tense and restless.  

Two researchers who usually got along well even ended up in a heated argument, which escalated to the point of physical confrontation.  

It was clear that this had everything to do with the stone.  

When a white mouse was placed inside a glass chamber with oxygen supply, it became agitated within minutes, frantically jumping around and even bashing its head against the stone.  

If it were merely due to discomfort from the heat, it should have been hitting the glass instead. White mice aren’t stupid—unless the stone could also affect intelligence.  

Heli hadn’t expected that the Federation’s containment for the Star would literally just be a glass cover, without even any radiation shielding.  

The key issue was that the Second Division probably didn’t have such equipment either. Although the prototype drug needed to be filtered by Xiao Mi, its production site was at headquarters, and the Star used to produce it was also kept there.  

Transportation was easy when the Fourth Fractal was around.  

Helpless, she had no choice but to give the assistants a two-day break to adjust their moods, while she also left work early to go home.  

But she didn’t have time to relax. She used this opportunity to organize the experimental data and list the necessary equipment to avoid missing anything when visiting the Second Division.  

It wasn’t that her mood was completely unaffected by the Star—it was just that Xiao Mi was currently sitting on her lap, hugging her and sleeping soundly.  

Her steady breathing brushed against Heli’s ear, tickling slightly.  

Heli simply wrapped her arms around Xiao Mi and continued typing.  

“The situation is bad. In fact, it’s pretty much as you expected—the Dark Element has worsened.”  

“To what extent?” Okulet asked.  

“Probably already in the late stages. Blue Flame exacerbates the Dark Element more severely than ordinary abilities. At this rate, she’ll be bedridden for at most a month, and dead within two.”  

“…Can we develop a cure for the Dark Element in such a short time?”  

“Unless a miracle happens.”  

Heli pinched the bridge of her nose. “Two things need to be done. First, I need to get the equipment from the Second Division as soon as possible. Second, I might have to try destroying this Star to extract samples.”  

“I’ve heard that no existing equipment can damage it.”  

“As long as you don’t object. Tomorrow, I’ll have Xiao Mi try to decompose it.”  

“…”  

There was no other way.  

The two fell silent.  

Perhaps due to her inner restlessness, Heli’s right leg began shaking unconsciously as she typed, causing Xiao Mi on her lap to jiggle along with it.  

Okulet noticed this and tapped Heli’s shoulder, pointing at her leg.  

Heli stopped shaking her leg.  

But Xiao Mi woke up instead, rubbing her eyes and staring intently at Heli, her forehead blocking Heli’s view of the computer screen.  

Heli tilted her head.  

Xiao Mi tilted hers too, continuing to block her.  

Heli tilted again.  

Xiao Mi kept blocking.  

“What’s wrong?”  

Mischievous like this—it seemed the kid was somewhat affected too.  

Xiao Mi patted Heli’s smooth, plush thigh.  

Heli understood and resumed shaking her leg.  

Xiao Mi lay back down on her and fell asleep again.  

Okulet: “…”  

—  

The next morning.  

“Miss, time to wake up.”  

“Mmm.”  

“You’ll be late for school.”  

“Mmm.”  

No matter how much she was nudged, she didn’t budge, only letting out sleepy murmurs. This young lady was too lazy.  

Helpless, Ji Yueqiu began changing Xiao Mi’s clothes for her.  

“Let her sleep a bit longer.”  

Heli stopped her.  

In this state, sending her to school was impractical anyway. It wasn’t like she was learning much there to begin with.  

It was almost noon by the time Xiao Mi finally woke up, and Heli took her straight to the lab.  

This time, she went a step further. To prevent a repeat of yesterday’s incident, she had Okulet seal the container and instructed Xiao Mi to decompose whatever was inside.  

She didn’t specify how far it should be decomposed.  

Xiao Mi looked up at her.  

Heli encouragingly patted the back of her head.  

“Mommy Heli is getting more and more excessive,” Sasha remarked.  

Xiao Mi took out everything she could from her system space and placed her hand on the container.  

After about two minutes, she removed her hand, staring in confusion at the items in her system space.  

—  

Mind-reading isn’t always about hearing inner voices. In reality, most of the time, people don’t silently narrate their thoughts. So when seeing the images in someone’s mind, it’s hard not to feel disgusted sometimes.  

Humans are manageable—aside from a few perverts, most are tolerable. But animals…  

Some dogs constantly think about eating feces and even relish the memory in their heads.

In comparison, the specially bred lab mice could be considered clean, but the thoughts of animals are indeed a form of mental pollution for humans.  

After two days of effort, Lu Mingxue finally managed to teach the lab mouse to spin in place before eating, though this resulted in her dreaming of spinning mice at night.  

“You might have a future in training police dogs,” the coach remarked.  

No—Lu Mingxue never wanted to see inside a dog’s mind again.  

Compared to humans, animals are obviously better at finding clues at certain crime scenes.  

Barrett’s training was similarly straightforward, projecting the thoughts Lu Mingxue read into visual evidence. Unfortunately, the results weren’t great.  

Neither of them liked working with the other.  

Both of their abilities required eye contact, meaning Barrett couldn’t avoid having her mind read by Lu Mingxue.  

No one wants their thoughts exposed, especially those with secrets.  

Lu Mingxue also had no interest in seeing what was in Barrett’s mind. From time to time, she’d catch glimpses of Barrett’s active social life, her thirsting over handsome men, and—most annoyingly—her habit of badmouthing everyone in her thoughts. Even passing dogs weren’t spared from her mental commentary.  

And since Lu Mingxue was the one making eye contact with her, she naturally became Barrett’s primary target for complaints.  

“Lend me the mouse for a bit.”  

Yiwen nudged Lu Mingxue, casually showing off the two identical necklaces she was wearing around her neck.  

Wearing a combat uniform yet leaving the necklaces on display.  

Why not just take the mouse by force? Because she was afraid of mice—she needed Lu Mingxue to lock it in a cage first before she dared to take it.  

Lu Mingxue rolled her eyes, grabbed the mouse with her bare hands, stuffed it into the cage, and handed it over.  

Yiwen shook the cage, forcing the mouse onto the running wheel, then used her ability to make the wheel spin.  

Because of this habit of hers, there were times when Lu Mingxue would read the mouse’s mind and end up dizzy herself.  

Once the speed reached a certain point, Yiwen immediately used her ability to slow it down.  

The deceleration was noticeable.  

Instead of trying to amplify the effect as she usually did, Yiwen repeatedly layered deceleration.  

Honestly, it was harder than she expected—like trying to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other, though slightly easier than that.  

The main issue was the physical toll. After about four attempts, Yiwen felt the same exhaustion she had after flying around the forest for half a day.  

No obvious results.  

Scratching her head in frustration, she felt the same despair as a programmer writing code for hours only to find it wouldn’t run.  

Yiwen began questioning her life choices, suddenly remembering how, as a kid, she’d played King of Fighters with her brother on the computer. She’d once accidentally triggered a special move in excitement, only to spend ages afterward failing to figure out how to do it again.  

Stopping her ability, she gloomily watched the mouse running on the wheel—then had another idea.  

What if she tried accelerating instead?  

She hadn’t practiced this much, mainly because improving deceleration naturally improved acceleration too.  

At her current progress, if she could only slow down one person’s time, the effect on Mi Xiaoliu would just be letting her live in slow motion by her side—like freezing someone in a cryogenic chamber, waiting for the world to invent a cure for the Dark Element.  

The real problem was that she didn’t know how to slow only the Dark Element’s spread without affecting Mi Xiaoliu herself. She didn’t even understand what the Dark Element was—some kind of cancer or something else entirely?  

The pain of being academically challenged.  

She wondered, if the Dark Element was just a virus, could she slow only the virus? Or perhaps slow Mi Xiaoliu while accelerating her back to normal time, leaving the Dark Element in a slowed state.  

The opposite approach of deceleration—reducing gravity around the mouse while making it unaffected by gravity. A bizarre application.  

This time, it had absolutely no effect.  

And she hadn’t even layered deceleration yet.  

That couldn’t be right. Just yesterday, she’d used acceleration to charge her phone.  

Even when Yiwen repeated the attempt, nothing happened. There wasn’t even an initial acceleration, leaving her completely drained.  

Damn it, had she run out of “mana” from overusing her ability?  

Behind her mask, Yiwen’s expression fell.  

Exhausted, she decided to go find Mi Xiaoliu to unwind. Mi Xiaoliu hadn’t come to class all day—she’d missed her daily dose of Mi Xiaoliu energy.  

Yiwen turned to leave, tugging her collar once more to flaunt the necklace at Lu Mingxue.  

What a weirdo.  

Lu Mingxue reached for the cage to put the mouse back.  

She should head back too.  

Without Yiwen’s ability powering it, the running wheel gradually slowed until it came to a gentle stop.  

Wait—  

Lu Mingxue frowned.  

The wheel was still moving, but its speed had slowed from that of a clock’s second hand to its minute hand, then finally to its hour hand.  

The slowdown to near-invisibility could be explained by the wheel’s high-quality axle, but the fact that the mouse was still running was eerie.  

It was running—painfully slow, but undeniably in motion.  

Even stranger, it was suspended mid-air in a running pose, descending at an agonizingly slow pace in the middle of the wheel.  

Its speed kept decreasing, but only it and the wheel seemed affected. When Lu Mingxue picked up the cage, her movements weren’t hindered at all. In fact, her abrupt motion caused the mouse to slam against the cage’s edge—  

And bounce twice in ultra-slow motion.  

“What’s going on?”  

The instructor, who had been coaching others nearby, noticed the commotion.  

Clearly, Yiwen had succeeded this time.  

And yet, Yiwen’s ability range was only seven meters.  

But she was already long gone.  

“Ugh—!”  

Lu Mingxue suddenly turned and vomited, filling the training room with an awkward, sour stench.

[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]

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