When There's Fun to Be Had, You've Got to Drag Someone Else Into It! (Part 2)

Liu Bai looked through the document he had edited and nodded in satisfaction.

"..."

Mei has already covered her face; this is undoubtedly a dark history.

"Although I've mentioned it before, I think you really could develop in the field of biochemistry."

"Please stop talking..."

"But speaking of which, isn't today the day of the competition? Are you really planning to go on stage like this?"

Over the past few days, Mei's cooking skills haven't improved at all, but they've remained unchanged.

Liu Bai watched as Hua, who was conducting daily video lessons, gradually became exhausted.

Well... at first, when Hua saw Mei's pitch-black dish, she could still manage a hesitant expression, but now that she sees Mei's pitch-black dish... well, her eyes are dead.

Completely unmoved, he simply told Mei to make the next dish in a nonchalant tone.

"Excuse my bluntness, but if Mei's dishes are served, they might not even pass the initial review."

"No, Doctor, I've found a direction." Mei suddenly calmed down when she mentioned this. "Passing the initial review shouldn't be a problem."

"Hmm? Which direction?"

Mei's words are really quite thought-provoking.

"...salad."

Mei took a deep breath and said calmly.

"I've realized that my biggest challenge in cooking is heating – high temperatures cause food to carbonize and a series of chemical reactions to occur inside the pot. So, for me now, the most likely way to succeed is with foods like vegetable salads."

"No, don't blame everything on the high temperature—this doesn't happen when other people cook."

"Others? You mean Dr. Mobius?"

Mei said expressionlessly.

... Good grief, you two are trying to outdo each other in being the worst, huh?

But it seems like you're the worse one, right?

At least Mobius's cooking can guarantee the appearance, even if there are some landmines inside. But Mei, you obviously can't even guarantee the appearance, right?

All that can be guaranteed is that the food will be carbonized...

Hmm... looking at it this way, Mei's idea of making salads is actually quite good, as it can effectively prevent the ingredients from carbonizing—although Liu Bai personally thinks that salads are a bit unqualified as dishes to be served on the table.

But if that's the case...

"Since it's a salad, let's just skip the dressing, or just add yogurt and fruit. Hmm, let's just make a fruit salad."

Since we're already planning to make salads for the cooking competition, why not go all out and make a fruit salad?

Just chop up the fruit, throw it in, and pour in the yogurt; it'll definitely taste pretty good.

"--By the way, durian is not allowed in fruit dishes."

To prevent Mei from causing any more trouble, Liu Bai didn't forget to remind Durian of this.

Although durian is considered one of the tastiest fruits if you disregard its smell, when it comes to its odor... who knows what kind of trouble it might cause.

For example, poison gas, poison gas, poison gas, and things like that~~

"Don't put in any fruit that smells bad, even if you put fruit peels in, don't put in any fruit with an odd smell."

"...knew."

Mei felt that the trust she had built up with Liu Bai over the past six or seven years had been completely lost in an instant.

Is it really necessary to give so many instructions?

... Well, it's still somewhat necessary.

Mei thought about Einstein, who had been sent to the hospital for gastric lavage, and had to admit that her teacher's advice made some sense.

Competition venue

"Dr. Einstein... what were you thinking, sponsoring the competition venue?"

Klein looked at the eccentric Dr. Chicken Hair with a bitter expression and asked.

"Don't you know that those two made dishes that could kill people?"

"I know."

Einstein nodded. As a victim who had personally experienced food poisoning and had his stomach pumped, Einstein was well aware of the potency of the two men's dishes.

"But it's not like I'm the one who's here to taste it."

Klein: "..."

I thought we were already comrades-in-arms!

"No, Klein, don't look at me like that, it makes me feel guilty."

As Einstein peeled off the gold foil wrapper and put the chocolate in his mouth, he remarked— Klein couldn't see any guilt in the way he ate the chocolate.

"How should I put it... It's precisely because I've tried it myself that I want to drag others down with me. It's a bit unfair that I'm the only one hospitalized with food poisoning, isn't it?"

Einstein candidly revealed his thoughts on being a comedian.

"... I ended up in critical condition, so in terms of severity, my situation was clearly much worse, wasn't it?"

What's the point of dragging me down with you? I'm already sunk to the bottom of the sea!

"Don't you have new people in your lab? Those twins... are they named Danzhu Cangxuan respectively? They've already agreed to be taste testers, look, here they are."

"... Huh?" Klein glanced at the entrance of the testing ground and saw two girls, one lively and one quiet, walking in chatting and laughing.

"... Dr. Einstein, you could face legal consequences if you do this."

"Oh, you mean you want to continue doing research here while atoneing for your crimes?"

"..."

That's true. As long as Einstein wasn't truly anti-human, the Moth Chasers to Fire certainly wouldn't waste such a top talent... But isn't this situation truly anti-human?!

It has gotten to the point where innocent people are being dragged into this!

"Don't be in such a hurry. Here, have a piece of chocolate to help... cough cough, to calm your mood."

"You were just saying 'Let's get going,' right... Mmm, delicious."

Klein's eyes lit up. "This tastes different from your previous chocolates?"

After sharing a hospital stay, Klein and Einstein became much closer, and Klein even ate chocolates given to her by Einstein.

But clearly, none of the previous chocolates tasted as good as the one she was eating now.

"Because it's a limited edition of top-quality chocolate, with only a thousand boxes sold each year—I guess this is a bribe from an old friend."

"Um... isn't it inappropriate to use bribes as gifts between friends?"

"No, it's a bribe, and of course, a thank you gift—but it's not important. Eat up, it'll be gone once you've finished."

"...Too."

The word "bribery" always feels a bit odd in this context.

"Good morning, Klein!"

Good morning, senior sister.

Good morning, Danzhu and Cangxuan.

Klein forced a smile and greeted the two twins in front of her.

The one with a lively personality and red eyes is Danzhu.

The one with the quiet demeanor and blue eyes is Cangxuan.

A pair of twin sisters with distinct personalities and appearances.

However, it's worth mentioning that Danzhu, who has a cheerful personality and is very caring, is Cai's younger sister.

The quiet but oblivious older sister is Cangxuan.

"Why are you here? Are you here as taste testers?" Klein still wanted to persuade her two younger relatives to go back.

Let her bear the consequences of things that are life-threatening on her own.

"Isn't the prize a Soul Steel figurine?" Danzhu said excitedly, "And it's a half-finished figurine that hasn't been carefully sculpted! If the registration deadline hadn't passed, I would have wanted to enter the competition!"

Ah, Danzhu is a homebody.

Klein recalled that when she was looking at the information, Danzhu had written "anime, comics, and figurines" under his personal hobbies.

"... Don't you know this competition is very dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" Danzhu looked puzzled. "You mean it tastes bad?"

"... You two knew?"

"Dr. Einstein said, don't worry, Senior Klein, we'll only eat one bite of whatever dish it is, absolutely no more! If anything happens, we'll induce vomiting immediately with chopsticks."

... This is already a complete preparation.

But does a faceless Soul Steel doll need to go to such lengths?

Klein felt she still couldn't understand Danzhu's preferences, and of course, she wouldn't offer any opinions on the matter.

"And what about you, Cangxuan? I remember you don't seem to have much of a hobby for figurines or anything like that, right?"

"Dr. Einstein said he could give us some of the funding for the research project."

"..."

So you've been bought off with money, right?

Well, using the word "bribe" might not be the best approach, since Cangxuan was after the lab's funding... although with Mobius's backing, they certainly wouldn't be short of money.

Even though many of Mobius's experiments were restricted by higher-ups, Mobius was still a veteran of the Moth Chasers to Fire. As long as he didn't touch those restricted projects, no one would Mobius's funding.

"By the way, Dr. Einstein, why is the competition being held at the weapons department's testing grounds?" Danzhu asked curiously.

Yes, the competition venue sponsored by Einstein was also the testing ground of his own department.

"Because it's spacious enough, and even if there's any noise, it won't attract attention."

Aren't explosions at weapons testing sites just minor incidents like spilled water?

It would be more abnormal if there were no sounds coming from here.

This person is really determined to watch the show...

Klein was speechless for a moment, then looked at his two juniors.

"... If there's nothing else, you two can find a place to sit down."

"Mmm~~!"

"Both of your lab juniors are interesting guys."

Watching Danzhu and Cangxuan's retreating figures, Einstein smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"A quirky, homebody younger sister and a shrewd, greedy older sister—congratulations to your department for recruiting two treasures."

Congratulations on this kind of thing are anything but happy.

"Don't worry, although they are two clowns, I have assessed them for you, and they are both very capable— Mobius should have discovered this a long time ago; that guy is actually surprisingly good at judging people."

Einstein said with a smile.

"To be honest, I've even considered poaching Cangxuan. His talent is actually more suited to my side."

"You should consult a PhD in this area; I can't make decisions about talent."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that." Einstein shrugged. "It would be strange if Mobius, with his personality, let it go."

"Hi hi~~? Good morning~~ Dr. Einstein, Miss Klein."

A short while later, Elysia arrived, her face still radiating sincerity and enthusiasm, as if today's competition had not affected her at all. She was also carrying a bag of ingredients and a bag of fruit.

"Here you are, Dr. Einstein, Miss Klein, this is a gift."