To be honest, he was a little tempted.
Not in public.
"Hey... Liu Bai, don't tell me you think your big sister here is too old? You always call me things like 'Professor'..."
Planck put on an utterly unconvincing fake cry.
I really wished Professor Planck could be more serious.
"Compared to eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and smoking, isn't this still a good habit?" Planck instantly switched into righteous indignation mode. "Scientists come in all kinds, you know."
Not good at all.
Liu Bai curled his lip. Still, had Edison's relationship with Schicksal Headquarters really deteriorated to that extent?
Liu Bai meant Planck going to Headquarters to deliver a report. Originally, that should have been handled by Edison, the one actually in power.
"It's terrible. Ever since the relationship between both sides turned into a transaction, Headquarters' council has never had a good word to say about the North American Branch—probably because they can't get any benefits from us anymore."
Planck gave a bitter smile.
Calling it benefits was really just exploitation.
"Anyway, I'm probably the lubricant between the North American Branch and Headquarters now—and Liu Bai, you've noticed it too, haven't you?"
Planck took out a notebook and began writing in it.
We know that the person who took the Soulium was likely an ancient person from this era—namely that H.A.—who took the Soulium from the ruins and left behind clues.
Then, can we hypothetically assume that H.A. believed it was unsafe to leave the Soulium there?
Even after properly hiding it away, he still left hints for young people to inherit his work.
If Einstein had not led the way, in ruins that vast, others might not have found that room even after years—or perhaps most of their lives.
In other words, that room was not simply waiting for descendants. It was waiting for "clean" young people.
When faced with ruins on such a scale, an established organization would inevitably send people with sufficiently high seniority. Generally speaking, such people were probably already in their fifties or sixties, and no matter how young their subordinates were, they could not possibly be minors.
Tell me, what kind of conflict of interest could make someone go this far?
It went without saying that this entire series of arrangements was clearly aimed at an established organization.
Then—
What established organizations in the world were interested in Soulium?
Schicksal.
Schicksal.
Combined with Otto's previous interest in them... the more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
Perhaps Planck was the only one who had noticed this.
Among these scientists, Planck was probably the most politically sensitive.
It was impressive that she could think of this and still keep a straight face.
Planck held her index finger to her lips.
"Alright, let's put this topic aside for now."
Planck smiled at the screen before her.
"Come play a fun little card game with your big sister—an innocent one, of course."
Not playing.
"Huh—?"
What decent person played innocent card games?
Images Within Soulium
Londonderry.
Planck had gotten off the plane back in Vienna, so only Liu Bai, Einstein, Tesla, and Welt remained on Londonderry's walls, "wandering around aimlessly."
"...The research obsession of you theorists is terrifying."
After Tesla and Einstein began chatting about cultural interests, Tesla could not help sighing at Einstein.
"I think you experimentalists are far more destructive."
Einstein did not take Tesla's assessment seriously, but then she suddenly stopped.
"...It jumped."
Einstein lowered her head to look at the army-green instrument in her arms.
"This is... a Geiger counter?" Tesla looked at the suddenly serious Einstein in confusion. "Is there a radiation source nearby?"
"No... This is a Honkai Energy detector I had Aida modify some time ago."
Einstein leaned beside an old-fashioned cannon on the wall.
"Pretty stylish, isn't it?"
"Stylish? I'd rather it were a Geiger counter!"
Honkai Energy was far more frightening than radiation.
"Mr. Liu Bai, please."
"Under the cannon barrel, there's a spot of tar that has been painted over repeatedly. Beneath it are the words: 'The innocent Queen was blindfolded.'"
Liu Bai spoke softly. Einstein quickly found the spot he had mentioned, and after scraping it open, the words beneath were exactly as Liu Bai had said.
"'The innocent Queen was blindfolded'..." Tesla looked at the line beneath with some confusion.
"'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.'" Einstein quickly thought of a painting. "Jane Grey was forced onto the throne due to political and religious struggles and ruled for only nine days. In that painting, Jane Grey was blindfolded on the execution platform."
"Ah, I remember now. I think I heard that painting was in the National Gallery?"
"That's right. Looks like we can only spend the night on the ship today."
The next day, London, National Gallery.
"Oh my, aren't these Dr. Tesla and Dr. Einstein? Here for another visit?"
A fat middle-aged man in a yellow work uniform greeted them with a smile.
"Uh... do you know each other well?" Welt looked at Einstein in surprise.
"We've just come here rather often."
Einstein nodded. The two of them had come here quite a few times while on dates with Liu Bai.
"However, we're not here to visit this time. We're here to take away a piece of art."
"Take it away... That won't do." The fat man revealed an awkward expression.
"Here are the documents."
Einstein handed over the still-wet document in her hand.
"Mm... this, this really is..."
The fat man briefly looked confused as he examined the document, but his expression soon turned certain.
"Please return it to me after confirming it."
"Alright, alright, here." The fat man returned the document. "May I ask which painting the two doctors are looking for?"
"'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.'"
Einstein silently put away the document containing the mental suggestion.
—How could they possibly have gotten their superiors to approve something like this?
The so-called document was merely writing imbued with mental suggestion, produced by Liu Bai possessing a fountain pen.
If the man kept looking at it for a few more seconds, he would probably notice something was wrong.
"Ah... that painting. It was damaged long ago and hasn't been restored yet. It should be in the storage room... I'll take you there."
The fat man turned and led them to the work area in the back.
"This is the storage room. Do you need me to wait outside?"
Due to the mental suggestion, the fat man trusted Einstein's group much more.
"No, we can go in ourselves."
After the fat man opened the door, Einstein pushed it open and entered.
"The innermost crate. That painting is beneath four others."
Liu Bai had already surveyed the storage room.
The suggestion would only last around ten minutes. Although such a subtle suggestion did not necessarily mean it would be exposed after ten minutes, the man would definitely realize something was off.
If that happened, things would be troublesome.
"It stinks..." The smell of fermented oil and water washed over them—it was the stench of slop.
"The innermost crate, the fifth painting. Help me lift it."
"Got it."
Liu Bai and Welt walked to the innermost crate and moved aside the four paintings stacked on top.
The fifth painting—
"This is wrong! It isn't damaged at all!"
Welt stared in shock at the lifelike execution scene in the painting. From the front of the canvas to the signature on the back, there was not a trace of damage anywhere.
"Liu Bai, possess it."
"It's Soulium—the thing we're looking for."
The painting rose unsteadily into the air, and Liu Bai's voice came from within it.
"It's coated over the painting like protective varnish—what a waste. Shall we extract it?"
"Of course."
After Einstein gave an affirmative answer, a drop of metallic substance like mercury suddenly condensed on the completely undamaged painting.
"Let's go."
With Liu Bai's help, the entire process went far more smoothly than expected.
"So that means we should run now, right?"
Tesla spoke with great interest. "Pretty exciting."
"We're just going to walk out openly." Liu Bai helplessly ended his possession. "We didn't do anything. Look, everything is perfectly intact."
"Tch."
The suggestion had not yet worn off.
Einstein and Tesla merely told the fat man outside that "the experiment had been temporarily halted" before hurriedly leaving.
Soon, everyone took a taxi back to Lab 42 and arrived at its most confidential area.
"Good morning, Aida."
"Good morning, Dr. Tesla, Dr. Einstein. It appears Mr. Liu Bai is here too. Oh, and the new assistant gentleman as well."
Before a row of massive computers, the projection of a pink-haired girl appeared before them, then settled onto a screen floating in midair.
"Th-this is..." Welt was astonished once again.
"Stay calm. Aida, analyze the data inside this Soulium."
Einstein handed the Soulium to Aida.
"...Mm, the data inside this Soulium does not need to be translated." Aida revealed something surprising. "One part is video footage from this era, while the other is a set of data encrypted mathematically."
Before you continue