Inside a small office, Shi Luo sits poised on a chair. There is little sound except the turning of pages and some hums of the ventilation fans above.
Shi Luo skims through the dissertation in record speed. It only takes him twenty seconds to process every word on the page – double-sided, eight-point font size and all. When finished, he places it neatly on the desk. He swivels his chair away from the desk and gives a friendly smile to the young boy in front.
“It isn’t bad,” the doctor comments as he folds his arms. There is not a crease on his pristine lab coat and his very aura screams high-class elite. “Though there is a mistake in your calculations – you’ve rounded the coefficient to ten decimals. A minor quantity error resulted in a dragged variable and your entire magneto-hydrodynamical equation is miscalculated. Furthermore, you’ve forgotten to account for centrifugal pressure in step twelve point three.”
Strangely, despite the very verbose spew (that may as well be foreign drabble to untrained ears), Shi Luo exudes zero brag. His eloquence is only brought out the more he speaks and only a fool would question his vast intellect.
“And here,” he says as he points at a blob of ink that’s so tiny no normal human could read. “You’ve generalized both diffusivities with only one expansivity equation. You are prone to making these sorts of simplifications. When you are calculating magnetic permeability, however, one minor oversight means complete inaccuracy.”
The young boy studies the paper intently as Shi Luo marks almost every part of it in red – “it isn’t bad,” he had said, though the bold red inking indicates otherwise. Perhaps the doctor is too good-natured or perhaps he simply has a way with words. Extremely sociable, a great personality, and not to mention his extraordinary appearance – Shi Luo is very well-respected indeed.
“Understood?” he asks five minutes later after he had proceeded to point out (with great detail) every single mistake on the dissertation paper, even going as far as to correct the grammar mistakes. The doctor pushes his glasses up and continues with that same attractive smile, “Ming Tang, correct? You are very intelligent, though there is a lot of room for improvement. Including your handwriting. In some parts, I do wonder if your charts are written in a foreign language—hieroglyphics, rather. Data visualization is an acquired skill.”
“Alright,” the young teen says with a nod. “I will make adjustments.”
“Not adjustments,” Shi Luo tells him. “Redo your research. It’d be more efficient to start from scratch than to fix it blindly – and Ming Tang, it is evident that you’ve applied these principles without full comprehension. Which sources have you learned from?”
“Yours.” Ming Tang points to a bookshelf by the corner of the office and reads a title at random. “’Seismic Analyses and the South Atlantic Anomaly’ – I’ve referenced your paleomagnetic simulations in my paper. I’ve also studied some of your colleague’s research journals. Is that wrong?”
Shi Luo blinks slowly, a tad surprised by the reveal. “My works? I don’t believe I’ve shown you my reference materials. And if I recall correctly, Ming Tang, you’ve resided in the outer districts prior to your arrival to the city a week ago. It may be presumptuous of me to imply, but there isn’t much of a proper educational background for children like yourself.”
“There was someone who brought your books for me to read,” Ming Tang replies. “He would often speak of a Dr. Shi… though I didn’t know Lucifer wrote science textbooks as well.”
“…” Shi Luo looks speechless. The doctor does connect the dots soon enough and then he recovers very quickly – he’s trained himself to put up a very believable, poised façade after all. He smiles. “Lucifer is a rather dark history. I don’t often write those propagandist novels anymore – especially not when my partner, pseudo-editor, shows up once in a lunar tetrad. What a coincidence, Ming Tang, for the both of us to be associated with this certain ‘someone.’ You’re a child from Huru Village, I presume. It is no wonder you display an applaudable level of intelligence. Very precocious for your age—just like he was.”
There is some oddity to the way he compliments the younger boy – sort of, he makes comparisons and categorizes the teenager in a very scientific scope. Shi Luo holds a never-ending pursuit of interest but only for certain topics. The doctor views everyone in a rather neutral light – almost everyone, though it is plain and clear he has his bias. Shi Luo has a tone of condescension that is seamlessly disguised in vernacular.
Ming Tang looks at him knowingly. “It is strange. The way Noah speaks about you is different.”
“Oh?” Shi Luo quirks one neat eyebrow and his lips curve into his signature smile. “What has he said about me?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The doctor only gives a low laugh and uncrosses his legs. He taps the table lightly, beckoning for the young man to leave. “I do hold scientific biases. Regardless, Ming Tang, my office is now closed, and I do not prefer working overtime. Come back the day after if there is anything pressing you’d like my thoughts on. The next time you have questions, I’d much rather you give an advance notice. Ring up my assistant for the less significant matters.”
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“The Nexus requires for a six-through-nine, fifteen-seven schedule, but I hardly have such stringent requirements.” Shi Luo seems to ponder something else before saying, “However, Ming Tang, what do you say about changing the scope of your research? Rather than studying on geodynamic shifts, I suggest you focus on radioactivity—specifically, vertebrate immunity and evolution.”
“Alright,” the boy says simply without questioning. “You are very invested in the theory of evolution, Dr. Shi.”
“I find it interesting,” the doctor answers with a graceful wave of his fingers. “And I do like interesting things. As you leave, please lock the door behind.”
Ming Tang leaves curtly and sure enough, the door is clicked shut. As soon as he leaves, Shi Luo takes off his glasses and loosens his tie. He still gives off a very dignified aura – only, there is another sort of appeal that exudes from his visible collarbones, his partially exposed chest, his muscles that peek out from the plain white shirt. His alpha nature is magnified tenfold when he shrugs off his lab coat and drapes it behind the chair.
Shi Luo doesn’t waste a second of time. He reaches for his drawer and pulls out a black transceiver. It is one of the many that are placed inside. Perfunctorily, he dials a few buttons, adjusts the frequency and waits for the familiar buzzing to come through.
“Requesting for General Xie,” he says. “Shi Luo of laboratory six.”
It takes almost a whole minute for a response. Shi Luo seems to have calculated this, for he’d already leaned back against the chair to wait.
Then, a low yet crisp voice comes through, crackling along with the static. “You may speak.”
The background noise on the other side is gratingly loud. A rough howl sounds from the transceiver before the creature – whatever it is – drops to the ground with a harsh splat. There are other sounds of sizzling and then there is heavy rainfall that pounds incessantly around.
Shi Luo doesn’t care to inquire on the man’s location. “Are you alone?”
Another ten seconds before the general replies. Gunshots ring out on the other side, though none of them mask General Xie’s domineering tone. Even normal conversations turn stifling when the military man is involved. “Affirmative.”
“Good.” Shi Luo props his elbow on the armrest. Then, his voice turns dozens of degrees colder. “Where is he?”
The general’s movements are very quiet in comparison to the probably five creatures he’d just slain – five corpses in a minute, though rumors circulate his record was hundreds with modded explosives. His dagger cuts through another with a quick swish followed by a metallic clang, then all turns quieter.
The general replies, “Of whom do you refer to?”
“You know who,” Shi Luo says with narrowed eyes. “Where is Xie Xing?”
“A commission is posted to capture a silver-haired hybrid. The location is unknown.”
“You are the one who saw him last.”
“Incorrect,” the man says. “The official report notes the last point of interaction—the Mura Woodlands, two weeks prior. Likewise, the last individual to make contact two hours ago is Colonel Yang, whose current status is that of deserter.”
“And you haven’t contacted any of them since?”
A brief moment of silence before the latter replies, “What are your implications, Dr. Shi?”
Shi Luo lets out an unexpected chuckle. It hints less mirth than it does satire and even when he composes himself, his smile still remains. “No other implications. I merely wished to confirm your feelings toward your son. You set aside personal matters, General Xie, yet you cannot bring yourself to capture him. Indeed, you are a man of many contradictions.”
“Dr. Shi.” The tone is just as aloof, but infinitely more cold. “You as well should set aside personal matters. He is but a specimen I had you study for the sake of humankind.”
“Perhaps he still is,” Shi Luo says, leaning further against his chair, staring up at the empty ceiling. “Only, I’ve grown certain infatuation for such a rare breed. Call it a scientist’s ever-rampant pursuit of interest. Since age five, you’ve forced me into my studies, hoping I’d grow up to find a cure for your cursed son. Nearly two-hundred thousand hours spent on him and naturally, I do hold a fascination.”
“You mix science with emotion.”
“And you, General Xie, mix all sorts of things up,” Shi Luo responds with a small quirk of his lips. “For you connect Yang Rong with your dead friend. You could not bring yourself to kill him, an infectee, and so you raised him in the military, hoping he would die not by you. For you also connect Xie Xing with his mother – you cannot kill him either and thus you throw him away, hoping he would die where you cannot see. In the end, I believe you are simply running away from responsibility. And as for me—you’ve thrown every baggage at me.”
Shi Luo doesn’t wait for a response. “So General Xie, you do need to answer a question of mine. Do you truly not care?”
General Xie answers without missing a beat. “It is none of your concern, Dr. Shi. It would be wise for you to remain quiet.”
“I do know the answer,” Shi Luo says offhandedly. “But I no longer have time to delay. A few more words for you, General Xie: it would be wise for you to remain as you have. Do not meddle in affairs that you’ve long forsaken.”
“…” The man is oddly silent. There is no motion on the other side of the line, no hacking or slashing, no sounds of gunfire. General Xie seems deep in ponder – quite rare of him to be this unassertive. The standstill only lasts for a few more seconds, however, before he says in that same monotone of his, “I will do as I am required.”
The connection cuts off, uncertain if it were Shi Luo or the general who’d broken it first.
In the same office room, Shi Luo doesn’t take a second to unwind before he tosses the transceiver inside the drawer. At the same time, he picks up another – this one, a gray model that isn’t quite old, but definitely not as high-tech as the others in his collection. The doctor taps a few buttons intuitively and waits. To his surprise, a low buzzing resounds.
“Xie Xing,” he says quietly into the mic. “Have you turned on your device?”
No answer. Shi Luo sighs and tries again in futility. “Xie Xing… Noah, I am simply worried about you. I do not have foul intentions. I only want to ascertain your safety.”
Just, then the buzzing fades and is replaced by an incredibly coarse voice that does not sound like the intended contact whatsoever.
“Yeah?”
Husky, deep and very, very distinct – enough for Shi Luo to put the pieces together.
He sighs and massages his nose bridge.
“Yang Rong, what is the situation?”
Dum dum theater:
ming tang, who has been a missing person since chapter 48: …
ming tang: so the only screen time i get is when i’m doing science homework?
author: h-homework is important… young students need to focus on their studies…
ming tang: are you going to pretend like you hadn’t just forgotten about me?
ming tang: your plan is to add me in one or two scenes, pretend i still exist…
ming tang: then throw my character development out the window.
author: …… t-this novel is an ABO
author: ABOs are not for children, okay…?
author: please forgive me.
ming tang bby 💗💗💗 sister missing you sm 🙆🙆🙆🙆😭 cmere bby 😘😘😘
anywya shi luo sounds sus. wtf? that xie bastard made noah as a specimen(?). just d word alr jkjk. but really tho, noah and rong ge, just love with me. I’ll pamper both of you to death
hehe thank you for remembering our poor boy ming tang 🤧
You go Shi Luo, you make things right!
shi luo is such a shady, morally gray character who i tried to make manipulatively charming 💀
I had also forgotten about that kid.
Thanks for the chapter <3
it’s okay, he didn’t show up for 30 chapters 😭
❤❤
💕💕
Do your homework young man! Or else you will end up like a certain dum dum colonel.
Why is Shi Luo so sus tho…
Thanks for the chapter!
shi luo is super sus 💀 who knows if his heart or brain is in the right place….
i dont even know either–
Uhuh… kinda unexpected that a Shi Luo was a chuunibyou patient.
And author-san… on the subject of that science homework, IF I ever get that HW, I will immediately burn every single one of my braincells
i don’t know if ‘chuunibyou’ fits his character but he’s certainly strangeeee
you and me both, what even are braincells? if you have any to spare, send them over pls
well, it was not exactly a chuunibyou case… I think; for it is a rather usual thing for an author to use a pen name for his/her works… but Shi said it was a rather dark history of his, so … [ ]
and sure, I don’t mind giving you some; but it IS filled with conspiracy theorem 😂 and many methods to k̶i̶l̶l̶ bully (my) cats who murdered my laptop.
u___u poor ming tang. it’s ok i remember u
The rest of the 1st unit soldiers : We feel you, Ming Tang , for we are in the same boat..
Ming Tang… I’d never forget you, don’t worry. You live rent free in my head studying whatever science you please. Hmm, Genera, Xie, I have so many mixed feelings! You are so blatantly humane, yet cruel to a point I despise you. Selfish and cowardly, in my opinion. Maybe it’s that humanity that I find so frustrating.
I did miss him though, just like I miss Unit 1 already- *Weeps
Of course, Shi Luo is fast and too efficient, twenty seconds? TWENTY? Sheesh, we get it, you are the equivalent of an AI…..Unless, you are one? OWO
The way Ming Tang dead pans is such a mood.
“…..Which sources have you learned from?” only to be countered by a emotionless “Yours.” I am still wheezing- XD
Okay, that aside, Shi Luo……the irony is, teachers just put their sign and pass the assignments back to the students. And then, there’s level Shi Luo checking, ded. (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)
How fascinating indeed, Noah seems to be like the epicenter of a very strong earthquake. I kind of like this about your novels, everything has a reason and it doesn’t look forced at all. It could be passed off as a coincidence but instead it’s intricately carved out to reveal a masterpiece.
Ming Tang, you…..what are you? Thirteen? Aren’t you too pertinent already? *Weeps in Science
All this General did was receive a call and I really just wanted to burn everything down for no reason at all. I don’t understand him, there’s more to him than just the frosty aura that he exudes. Still doesn’t mean that he gets off the hook for putting Noah through all that he did.
Oh, my…..since age five? FIVE? What was I doing when I was five? Hmm, I ate face cream and the taste was horrible. (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)
Ah, a certain infatuation, you say……Pray do tell about this infatuation that you speak of.
He seems kind of done with the General. “…..baggage to me.” XD
Heh, he doesn’t know where Noah is? Interesting, I thought he’d at least tell Shi Luo of his location. I guess, not…..he is going through so much, and has a lot to process. He needs his time. *Writhes in pain, part 5
The General sure knows how to slay anomalies though…..ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ (Not me thinking that his coldness as of yet could just freeze the anomalies via stares. XD)
Shi Luo……you have no intentions of harming Noah? And you say that because? (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)
OWO, and he dials to Noah. Yang Rong picks up. Thoroughly annoyed, if anything. Let the drama unfold. Mwahahah.