Chapter 47
Xia Anran was not expecting to return to the Academy of Sciences to such a scene.
A blond, blue-eyed old man in a patient’s gown was sitting unceremoniously on the steps at the entrance. Beside him, two young people stood with worried expressions, holding a coat and a thermos, hesitating, wanting to persuade him but not daring to. The old man’s face was stern, his back ramrod straight, his gaze as firm as if he planned to sit there for the rest of his life.
“What’s going on?” Marshal Yue asked, looking at Professor Gong with confusion.
Professor Gong gave a helpless, bitter smile. “Professor Gacy was already sitting here when I left. He said he wouldn’t set foot in the Academy of Sciences until the exchange and study program is formally approved.”
“What is he, a child? Is he throwing a tantrum?”
“It’s not a tantrum…”
Before Professor Gong could finish, Professor Gacy suddenly saw the group approaching. His eyes lit up, and he quickly walked over. His two students followed resignedly behind him.
Xia Anran didn’t understand the F nation’s language and could only hear a stream of gibberish. Professor Gong, having studied in country F for many years when he was young, had no problem communicating with him.
Professor Gong must have explained their identities, because Professor Gacy’s expression immediately turned serious. He said something to the top leader and then bowed.
Professor Gong translated on the side. “Chief, Professor Gacy says he is very grateful for the Hua nation’s help and expresses his sincere gratitude to you and the Academy of Sciences.”
The top leader smiled and shook his hand. “It’s getting late, and the temperature is too low. Let’s have Professor Gacy come inside first,” he said.
After Professor Gong dutifully translated, Professor Gacy shook his head, waved his hands, and said another long string of words.
Professor Gong said helplessly, “Professor Gacy says he doesn’t have official permission for an exchange in the Hua nation yet. His treatment is over, so there is no reason for him to enter the Academy of Sciences again. It’s a matter of his professional ethics not to get involved in the scientific secrets of other countries.”
But that doesn’t mean you have to stand guard at the gate. Xia Anran secretly thought that he was still in a sulk with country F. As expected, the older people got, the more like children they became, and these top scientists were no exception.
The other leaders present clearly understood as well, and they all showed a hint of a smile. In the end, it was only after the top leader persuaded him that he was still in the observation phase of his treatment that Professor Gacy reluctantly returned to the rest area on the outskirts of the academy.
“It seems Professor Gacy’s desire to stay in the Hua nation is very strong,” Xia Anran whispered to the top leader as they walked.
The top leader also played along, whispering back, “Yes, but we don’t have a headache over it anymore. Let Florence and his people have the headache, hahaha.”
The system, hearing this, vibrated proudly in her hand. She didn’t even need to look to know that this guy was being smug again.
…
After going down to the classified research area on the second basement level, Professor Gong opened a laboratory with his fingerprint and face scan. The body repair instrument was inside.
[Your security technology is too low-level. What’s the difference between this level of access control and having none at all?]
[Now on sale in the Shop—Advanced Protection Suite! Only five thousand Activation Coins! You won’t regret it!]
[A hundred times better than this pile of junk you have!]
Because her phone kept vibrating, Xia Anran took it out for a look. As it happened, the top leader, who was walking beside her, saw it.
“This… little comrade, is very lively,” the top leader said, thinking for a moment about how to address it. Finally, he said with a chuckle, “Could you introduce this Advanced Protection Suite to us?”
Hearing the top leader speak to it so politely, the system’s tail immediately shot up.
[Have this woman who doesn’t respect one of the top ten outstanding systems of the year open the shop.]
Xia Anran: “…” This damn thing! It could clearly pull it up itself. This was just it tattling on her in front of the top leader!
The top leader was stunned for a moment and looked at Xia Anran, whose face had clearly darkened. She viciously poked the screen and opened the shop. This cursed thing. She would deal with it later when the leaders were gone.
The Advanced Protection Suite was in that row of discounted items she had complained about being cheap and no good. It was indeed only five thousand Activation Coins, just enough for her to afford with her remaining money.
As if it knew what she was thinking, the system popped up with a comment.
[Although this Advanced Protection Suite isn’t exactly high-end, it’s more than enough for you guys. Super cost-effective!]
It’s not high-end, but it’s called the Advanced Protection Suite…
She opened the product description. There was only a short sentence: This product includes an intelligent protective door and a foldable protective room. All sales are final. The picture is for reference only.
Xia Anran: ?
“What does ‘the picture is for reference only’ mean?” She could barely understand “all sales are final,” but “the picture is for reference only” was a bit too much!
[It just means that the black one in the picture might not be in stock. There are also silver, white, and yellow. They’re shipped randomly.]
“…”
They couldn’t tell much from the product description. After some discussion, the leaders felt it seemed pretty good and quite practical, so they decided to have her buy it.
Xia Anran nodded and chose to purchase, but the delivery box was slow to appear.
[There’s not enough space here. Go look at the machine first. We’ll go to a more open place later.]
She relayed the system’s words to the leaders. The top leader said with a smile, “Alright, then let’s go in first. Thank you, little comrade.”
[You’re welcome! Hehe!]
This laboratory had a double-layer security door. Professor Gong entered another password before they truly entered the innermost research room. The body repair instrument was in the center, with several researchers in white lab coats inside, recording various data. After the leaders came in, Professor Gong had them leave first.
Under everyone’s gaze, Xia Anran took out her phone, circled the machine, and then shook her phone. “Well? Do you get it now?”
[Hmph, how could such child’s play be a problem for me!]
[Just you wait!]
Xia Anran threw up her hands.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long before the system returned.
[Open the file manager.]
She opened it and saw a new file called “Repair Instrument Analysis Report.” She opened it and saw it was a Word document of over a hundred megabytes.
[No need to thank me too much.]
Professor Gong squeezed to the front, opened it, glanced at it, and then, as if he had found a priceless treasure, grinned from ear to ear. “Good, good!” he said anxiously. “Little Xia, send me a copy of this file!”
Even after she agreed, he stood over her and watched her send it before he was satisfied. Then he turned and rushed out to study it, completely forgetting that he had left a group of leaders here.
The top leaders didn’t mind, seeming to be used to him forgetting everything else when it came to research.
Having solved the problem of the body repair instrument’s operating principles, which had been giving them a headache, the only thing left was the Advanced Protection Suite that had just emptied Xia Anran’s pockets.
They took the elevator down to the academy’s second basement level again. This was a large warehouse used to store instruments and medicines in different sections. There was still a lot of empty space.
“Is this big enough?” Xia Anran asked, taking out her phone.
[Pretty much. You all step back a bit.]
Hearing this, everyone stepped back. In the blink of an eye, a domed, silver room with a diameter of several dozen meters and a height of about five meters suddenly appeared in front of them.
The sight of such a large object appearing out of thin air stunned everyone for a good ten seconds. Finally, it was the top leader who spoke. “No matter how many times I see this, it still makes me question my own eyes.”
After a moment of awe, everyone went forward and circled it. The entire room was made of a metallic substance, but just by touching it, one could feel it was extremely sturdy, several times harder than any material on Earth. The door, however, looked very ordinary. Xia Anran tried turning the handle and easily pushed it open. The inside was empty.
Xia Anran: “…This is what you call ‘enough’?” A two-year-old child could open this door!
[You uncultured swine! You haven’t activated it yet!]
[Have the person who’s going to use this come over. Stand in front of the door and don’t move.]
After some discussion, the top leader stepped forward and stood in front of the door. He smiled and asked, “Little comrade, what should I do next?”
The system seemed to like the top leader very much, and its voice was very sweet.
[Grandpa, you just stand still. Please wait a moment.]
The top leader smiled and nodded.
Suddenly, several red lights appeared at the door and scanned him from head to toe. This startled everyone. Fortunately, the scan ended quickly. The leaders were all extremely nervous. “Chief, are you alright?”
The top leader shook his head. “Little comrade, is that it?”
[Yes. Your genetic data has been entered. From now on, only you can open this door.]
There was an uproar. Unlocking with genes?
Marshal Yue didn’t believe it. He tried the handle and found that he really couldn’t open the door. The other leaders also eagerly tried, but none of them could open it. Even Xia Anran, who had opened it easily just now, couldn’t open it again.
The top leader stepped forward and, as if there were no resistance at all, opened the door with a slight turn.
Xia Anran raised an eyebrow. It really was quite advanced. Using a body scan to unlock with genes was indeed very secure.
The system was triumphant. It had said from the beginning that its shop was full of good things! Only this ignorant woman had called it junk!
[This protective room can be folded and moved at any time. Its durability is also more than sufficient. Even when the planet explodes and Earth is destroyed, this protective room will not be shattered.]
The top leader’s eyes lit up when he saw this. Not only was it highly secure, but it was also so sturdy. He immediately decided that in the future, all of the Hua nation’s classified documents and top-secret information would be stored inside. With this extra layer of insurance, he instantly felt much more at ease.
This five thousand was well spent.
The top leader was extremely satisfied. He praised the system a few times, which made it float with pride.
[See how nice Leader Grandpa is? You should learn from him!]
While everyone was studying the protective room, the system secretly acted tsundere with Xia Anran. She pretended not to see and ignored it. She had long since discovered that this cursed system was a chatterbox, the kind that would suffocate if no one replied. After figuring this out, she had it wrapped around her little finger.
As expected, the system, receiving no response, was miserable and obediently quieted down.
After folding and storing the protective room under the system’s guidance, the leaders were overjoyed. This truly was the power of technology. It was exceptionally reassuring.
After finishing up here, Xia Anran was preparing to go back with the leaders and then return to Yanshan Village through the portal. Just as they got into the elevator and reached the first floor, the top leader suddenly received a call.
“Hmm… I see.”
“Don’t reply yet. We’ll discuss it first.”
After hanging up, he smiled, somewhat as expected. “The latest news from country F. They have agreed to Professor Gacy’s visit to the Hua nation. And there will be an academic team coming for an exchange later, with the theme of cooperation and exchange in the field of atomic physics.”
In the field of atomic physics, the Hua nation was far behind country F. To say it was an exchange was practically an understatement; it was more like assistance. For them to say this meant they were completely placing themselves in a weaker position to request cooperation.
After all, with the personal experiences of both Florence and Gacy, the high command of country F was now completely convinced that the Hua nation’s medical technology had, without anyone knowing, advanced by leaps and bounds, leaving the rest of the world in the dust. In their eyes, compared to technology that could cure all diseases, their atomic physics seemed somewhat insignificant.
The only topic of debate in their day-long meeting had been whether it was necessary for Professor Gacy to personally go to the Hua nation. They had many students he had personally trained who were also well-known experts in the field. If it was just a technical exchange, they would be sufficient. But to their surprise, Professor Gacy had been so insistent. They had taken turns trying to persuade him, but to no avail. In the end, they had no choice but to agree.
Professor Gacy, who received the news immediately, was so happy he danced with joy. That same evening, he began to prepare for the academic conference, planning to have a long, heart-to-heart talk with the professors of the Academy of Sciences the next day and swim together in the ocean of science.
Professor Gong: …Don’t be in such a hurry. Wait a minute. We haven’t figured it out yet.
In the end, they had to delay for a few days with the excuse that the exchange team from country F had not yet fully assembled. Professor Gacy was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan every day, calling each person on the exchange list one by one, with friendly greetings three times a day, without fail, until they had packed their bags and boarded the plane.
The scientists of country F: Numb… Senior Gacy seems to have been brainwashed by the Hua nation.
Only after the two research teams had truly met and begun their exchange did the scientists of country F gradually understand why he had been so eager for them to come.
When they had first received the news of a seminar and exchange with the Hua Nation Academy of Sciences in the field of atomic physics, most of them had been indifferent. The relationship between the two countries had been good recently, and it was common to provide some scientific assistance. It was just that the team this time seemed a bit too complete, with even Professor Gacy in it. And when had he come to the Hua nation? He hadn’t made a public appearance in almost half a year. The topic of exchange from the Hua nation’s side was still in the field of medicine. Their medicine was just average; he didn’t know what was worth exchanging.
After staying in the Hua nation for two or three days, they gradually realized that something was not quite right.
A week later, many scientists from all over the world received a message from their friends in country F:
The Hua nation has something going on right now. Come quick!