"According to the cohabitation schedule, it was supposed to be my turn today."
"Professor, deliberately acting cute is very boring."
Einstein was completely unmoved by her teacher's act. "Besides, Lab 42's cohabitation schedule expired ages ago."
Einstein truly had been raised single-handedly by Planck. Planck's tricks could not shake Einstein in the slightest.
"Then I have no choice. Big sis can only 'launch a night raid' on you girls."
Planck suddenly struck a pose like a magical girl, as though declaring, "My heart-piercing shot has hit you."
"Want to look at the stars?"
Einstein tilted the umbrella slightly and looked up at the sky, where countless stars glittered.
They really were beautiful.
"Liesel's moved, isn't she? You won't see a night view like this in downtown London."
Planck provocatively wagged a finger at her student, but then abruptly changed the subject.
"Still, everyone needs to get a good night's sleep tonight—we're heading to the site tomorrow, and everyone has to get up early."
"You're so naggy. You were the one who brought it up in the first place, Professor."
A trace of awkwardness finally appeared on Einstein's calm face.
"Elders are supposed to nag a little." The thirty-four-year-old girl chuckled. "Oh, right, since I'm an elder, then Mr. Liu Bai today..."
"I think you should discuss that with Schrödinger, Professor."
Einstein pointed at Schrödinger, who had barely made her presence known until now.
At some point, Schrödinger had already moved beside the typewriter. One person and one ghost were secretly passing notes.
Planck: ...
This student was beyond saving.
Yellowstone Lake Ruins
The next day
Einstein sleepily opened her eyes inside the camper van.
Tesla had really put her through the wringer last night. Drunk Tesla had been incredibly destructive.
Einstein glanced toward the front seats. At some point, the driver had changed from Planck to Schrödinger.
Planck, who should have been driving, was smiling as she wrote notes.
Liu Bai really was popular... Einstein looked away from her teacher.
"We just left Livingston. We're currently heading south along Highway 89."
Schrödinger spotted the awakened Einstein through the rearview mirror.
Incidentally, although Schrödinger looked rather petite, she was already an adult, so driving was not a problem at all.
Although Einstein was Tesla and Schrödinger's senior apprentice-sister, she was actually the youngest among them.
"Then let's go over Yellowstone's situation first."
"Shouldn't we let the others rest a little longer?"
Planck showed absolutely no awareness that she had been caught doing something improper.
"This drunk has slept enough." Einstein helplessly looked at Tesla, whose head was resting on her shoulder. Without another word, she raised her fist and hammered the red-haired twin-tail girl on the head.
"Ah—ow, ow, ow!"
A punch truly was the best way to wake a drunkard.
Tesla struggled to open her eyes.
"...Ugh, my head's still a little dizzy. Can't you be a little gentler?"
People with hangovers had no right to speak.
Einstein glared at the utterly unrepentant red-haired twin-tail in front of her.
"Are the other two awake too?"
"Dr. Tesla's voice woke me up..." Finn rubbed his eyes, then put on his gold-rimmed glasses. "Are we getting down to business?"
As he spoke, Finn poked Welt awake beside him.
"Since everyone's awake, let's start with the geography." Planck somewhat regretfully put away the notes in her arms, turned around from the passenger seat, and looked at everyone in the back.
As Planck explained, Schrödinger slowed the vehicle down as well.
"As you all know, Yellowstone National Park was the first natural reserve in human history..."
Planck slowly began explaining Yellowstone National Park, and before long, the topic turned to volcanic eruptions and Honkai.
For the first time, Liu Bai learned relatively detailed information about Honkai from Planck. In this world, from the Black Death to the Ice Age and even the World Wars, Honkai Energy had left its traces everywhere.
After that, the subject shifted to Welt, a man with abnormally high Honkai Energy adaptability.
However, Welt seemed somewhat downcast because of his connection to Honkai.
"Cough, let's get straight to business." Planck lightly coughed twice. "Did you know that no carbon-14 was detected in the samples from the Yellowstone Ruins?"
"Fifty to sixty thousand years?"
Finn asked in surprise, while everyone else showed more or less the same shocked expressions.
"Based on our overall assessment, the last human activity within the ruins should have occurred around 50,000 BC, with an error margin of no more than one thousand years."
"One thousand..."
As an ancient linguist, Finn touched his nose. Against fifty thousand years of history, that number really could only be considered an error margin.
"So it's a ruin with a history of more than fifty-one thousand nine hundred years? Unbelievable... Were there already human activities in North America during the Previous Civilization?"
All the scientists present actually knew of the Previous Civilization—after all, Aida was a product of it.
"Probably something like our Antarctic research stations."
They did not doubt the Previous Civilization's capabilities. It was simply that North America had not been suitable for habitation fifty thousand years ago.
"That doesn't contradict our current understanding of the Previous Civilization."
"If it was really as you described before... a ruin of this scale can't be explained away as a mere research station."
Finn rested his chin on both hands like a commander.
"Um..." The still-dazed Welt raised his hand. "What is this 'Previous Civilization' you keep talking about?"
"Ah... well..."
"I'll explain." As an ancient linguist, Finn naturally took responsibility for this introduction. "The Previous Civilization, as the name suggests, was a technological civilization that flourished before our current history. The earliest traces of that civilization can be dated back to around 53,000 BC at Astrakhan Site No. 3..."
Welt listened, and Liu Bai listened as well.
The history of a new world sounded quite interesting.
"Mountain Time, 11:38—arrival at Yellowstone Lake."
Schrödinger sounded like an emotionless timekeeping machine.
"Lunch is what we prepared this morning. Let's eat while we walk."
Schrödinger called out to everyone.
North of the parking lot, in the area marked "Mallard Lake," a ring of temporary walls bearing restricted-area signs stood conspicuously. Numerous patrol guards were stationed nearby, but under Planck's lead, the group merely exchanged greetings and entered.
Once inside, what appeared before them was a drained lakebed.
"...That's quite a grand undertaking."
Liu Bai looked at the completely drained lakebed before him, where all sorts of equipment had already been set up, and sighed in amazement.
If there had not been signs outside, he might have mistaken the place for a quarry.
"Hi! Dr. Einstein, long time no see."
Edison, still dressed in a black men's casual outfit, stepped out of a raised open elevator.
"It's only been two months, Miss Nancy."
"Still as cold as ever." Edison sighed and swept her gaze around the area, seemingly revealing an unhappy expression.
The next moment, after feeling someone poke her hand, Edison finally turned back to the group with a polite, practiced smile.
Her real interest lay elsewhere.
Perhaps Einstein had already seen through that, which was why her response had been so cold.
"Tch..."
At Edison's change in expression, a certain red-haired twin-tail made an irritated sound.
Edison smiled and shifted her gaze to the red-haired twin-tail.
"My apologies. Could a certain someone please refrain from making pointless noise here?"
"Huh? Who are you talking about?"
"I think everyone knows who I'm referring to now." Edison replied courteously.
They were at it again...
Other than Finn and Welt, everyone was already used to this scene.
Tesla liked contradicting Edison, while Edison also loved "bullying" Tesla. Moreover, after Edison and Liu Bai had lived together for a while, the trend had somehow only intensified.
...It probably had nothing to do with him, right?
Let these two rivals keep bickering.
After all... Tesla could never win against Edison in this regard.
...Poor Dr. Tesla.
The Mosquito-Like Sound Within the Ruins
"Tch, tch, tch—what, you won't even let people make a sound?"
Tesla craned her neck defiantly.
"I will, of course I will." Edison smiled and nodded. "But for a loser who refuses to speak properly—suffering a little should count as a good thing, shouldn't it?"
"Who are you calling a loser?"
This time, Edison did not answer. She merely curled her lips and made a beckoning gesture.
As the actual person in control of the North American Branch, Edison was constantly protected here by a group of bodyguards in suits.
"Y-you, what are you trying to do?" Seeing the bodyguards behind Edison begin to move, Tesla's voice started trembling.
"Hmm... What do you think I'm trying to do?" The blue-haired beauty in menswear innocently tilted her head.
The group of bodyguards behind her remained overwhelmingly intimidating.
"I-I'm warning you, it's broad daylight!"
Looking at Edison's feigned innocence, the red-haired twin-tail instantly lost her nerve and slowly backed away, looking ready to flee at any moment.
"Pfft—!"
Edison suddenly laughed. "I've wanted to say that for a long time... Your reaction really is interesting, Dr. Loser."
"You're the loser!"
After realizing she had been toyed with, Tesla glared resentfully at Edison, who had abandoned all pretense of elegance and burst into laughter.
But when she looked at the large men in suits behind Edison...
Ahem, she would let Edison have this round for now.
"Oh, right, Dr. Einstein, this is a gift for our meeting. Please accept it."
Before you continue