Are We Talking About the Same Person?

"Good afternoon, Dr. Jackal."

"... Miss Durandal? Ah... Good afternoon... Achoo!"

Jackal lay listlessly at the entrance of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, his mask half-lifted, a large stack of documents scattered beside him.

If there hadn't been no blood under the Jackal, Bianka would have thought the World Serpent biologist had been shot.

What's wrong with you?

Bianka bent down to help the Jackal gather the documents scattered on the ground.

"It's nothing... I just haven't slept all night... Could you do me a favor and take off my mask? I'm having trouble breathing with this on."

"Didn't sleep all night? It's really nothing serious, that puts my mind at ease."

The honest boy Bianka nodded with relief, then lifted the Jackal mask, revealing a face full of Egyptian charm.

"Dr. Jackal, you must be lacking in training. Back in 2015, I fought Rita for more than 30 days without sleep, but I still couldn't do what you did."

"..."

Jackal suddenly realized he had nothing to talk about with Bianka... This kid is too honest, isn't she?

And then again, after that operation, they clashed with the Britain, right?

"... I did half a month's worth of work in one night. Dr. Mei is simply a workaholic..."

Jackal struggled to sit up, leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window of the office building, panting heavily—he looked more like he had been shot.

"If that idiot Raven ever dares to say I disregard human life again, I'll shoot her dead... In terms of disregarding human life, I'm not even worthy of carrying Dr. Mei's shoes... Do you know how I spent this night? I never imagined a night could be this long..."

The Jackal no longer possessed any of its former arrogance.

With overtime work keeping me in this state, how can I possibly have the energy to be arrogant?

"Um... how did you manage?"

Although Bianka is an honest girl, she knows what it means to do half a month's worth of work in one night.

This could kill someone...

"Data copying, data copying, data copying... and repeated experiments, repeated experiments, and repeated experiments—can anyone tell me how Dr. Mei is conducting three experiments simultaneously? Is she even human? She did half a month's worth of work in one night... Dr. Mei is simply unscientific!"

Bianka then noticed that the Jackal's hair was now a mess, and besides the sand it had picked up from when it fell to the ground, it was also quite greasy.

However, the Jackal's complaints did not stop at all.

"I'm all alone! At least give me an assistant! I don't have three heads and six arms—I don't even think I'll survive."

"Well... that must have been quite tiring."

"... If I didn't have no bad habits and hadn't strengthened myself, I would be calling for emergency help right now."

Although Jackal is a mad scientist, he still has a certain level of integrity, and the ability to work himself to the bone is a very important quality among scientists.

"Dr. Jackal, would you like to take a nap?"

"... No way, now every time I close my eyes I see those awful parameters and data."

The Jackal rubbed his temples.

"Thank goodness the master took Dr. Mei out this morning, otherwise I'd probably be carried out of the lab by now..."

"Did Liu Bai and Dr. Mei go out?" Bianka asked thoughtfully.

"Hmm, it seems like Rita was also with them... And who was it again? Gray Serpent said it was Raiden Mei? The one who looks a lot like Dr. Mei."

Jackal said weakly, "We can ask Gray Serpent for the exact location, so we don't get left too far behind."

"Leaving it too far?"

Bianka tilted her head.

"... No, you really didn't realize? Achoo... It must be that Raven guy cursing me behind my back again."

Jackal muttered, "If I still had the strength, I would definitely humiliate you properly... Never mind, my suggestion is to go find Gray Serpent and join them. Didn't you notice you're all alone here?"

The Jackal now has a kind of "a dying man's words are good" feel to it.

"Huh? The team's still here? And I have work to do later..."

"... Don't mention work to me."

The Jackal twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Forget it, I haven't even finished my own work yet, why should I care about yours... Can you help me to the top-floor office? That's my room—just put me in the elevator, and don't forget the documents, it took me several hours to organize them."

"Oh, no problem."

"Miss Durandal, are you free right now?"

Bianka had just seen off the Jackal when the Gray Serpent came looking for her... What a coincidence.

"Mr. Gray Serpent, is there anything I can help you with?" Bianka asked in a measured tone.

"An unidentified flying object was just spotted in Sky Dome City... It seems to be a drone. We can't determine which side sent it. Although it's a bit abrupt, could you please ask Miss Durandal to handle it?"

The Gray Serpent pleaded very earnestly.

"With Raven out, I can only ask Miss Durandal for help."

"Unidentified flying object? Okay, leave it to me."

Bianka agreed after a moment's thought, without even considering what to do if the UFO was Schicksal's doing.

Bianka also had her own scales in mind. Durandal could still list formulas like Rita> Otto, Liu Bai> Otto, and Rita + Liu Bai>> Otto.

Please tell me the exact location.

"In District E8, the old town of Sky Dome City, I entrust this to Miss Durandal."

"Okay, leave it to me."

Guh~~

I'm hungry...

Tesla, who was operating the drone on the rooftop, silently clutched his stomach.

Mei told her to take care of her own food, but... but she didn't have any money!

Isn't it obvious at a glance who's in charge of the money between the two of them?

After all, Tesla was already living paycheck to paycheck and a shopaholic back in the 1950s...

"How come I haven't been able to save a single penny..."

Mei's phone was also switched off, so there was no way to reach her. Besides, she was on a mission, so it wasn't appropriate to keep bothering her.

Are we going to have to borrow money from someone?

... I'll definitely get laughed at if I go looking for Nancy and Einstein, won't I?

After all, both of these guys are pretty wicked, just in different ways.

Looking for Planck?

No... that old woman is a "class enemy"!

Tesla touched his chest.

So... Reanna?

Reanna will definitely lend it... but she'll inevitably get a lecture.

... Isn't this situation a bit bad?

Okay, to be honest, Tesla has to admit that it just can't bring itself to borrow money.

"Just bear with it... You'll only miss two meals at most..."

Mei, come back quickly and save the Doctor!

Chapter 176 Are you talking about the same person?

Achoo!

"Are you cold, Mei?"

"Hmm... thank you for your concern, Brother Liu Bai, but it shouldn't be from catching a cold."

After all, it's absurd that Herrscher disguised as a Valkyrie would catch a cold.

"I just feel like I've forgotten something..."

"As usual, things that are usually forgotten are not very important."

"Too..."

"It's not that important," Sla shivered silently.

I don't know why, but she seemed to have a bad feeling about it.

Could something have happened to Mei?

No... it shouldn't be, right?

Tesla thought with considerable concern.

"Beep! Low battery!"

"... but at this very moment."

Tesla couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the battery level, which was now in a dangerous state.

"But speaking of which, doesn't Sky Dome City have any 'free meals for big eaters' or similar events? That old saying in Shenzhou is really true... food is the foundation of life, you'll get hungry if you skip a meal..."

The fact that Tesla still has the mood to complain shows that its situation is not bad.

"I feel like I've inexplicably become 'lonely'... What kind of feeling is this? But there is definitely a feeling that everyone is hiding something from me."

Tesla switched the drone to automatic return mode and then sat on the edge of the rooftop.

"Honestly, I'm terrible at handling interpersonal relationships! Do you expect me to figure out what that bastard Nancy is thinking?"

Tesla shouted at the empty air, venting his frustration.

"And that guy Liu Bai, he said he'd be back this year, but there's still no sign of him! If that guy dares to stand me up, I'll teach him a lesson!"

Tesla raged and complained to the air for a long time before finally stopping.

"Okay, okay, Tesla, adjust your mindset... Phew... I don't care about Liu Bai or anything like that, and it has nothing to do with me if that bastard dies out there. Yeah, that's it... Let's see how the drone I just fixed is doing."

Tesla patted his own face to bring his attention back.

"Based on the patrol area, they should be back by now...?"

No, wait, why is the drone's actual range currently limited to the area below my building?

Putting aside why the drone flew to my building, the speed alone is suspicious.

I only complained for two or three minutes, didn't I?

Creak, creak, creak.

The screeching sound of the iron staircase downstairs and the ever-approaching range on the screen undoubtedly proved that something very bad was going to happen.

"Hey, hey, hey... Is today going to be my unlucky day?"

With a stiff expression, Tesla swallowed hard and slowly drew his gun, aiming it at the rooftop entrance.

Squeak... squeak... bang!

The old door on the rooftop flew off, and Tesla finally saw the face of the person who had entered.

"Hey... I haven't done anything yet, is it really necessary for you to come and arrest me personally?"

Looking at the imposing blonde Valkyrie before him, Tesla's face twitched as he dropped the gun and raised his hands.