Chapter 146

If MEI's awakening level becomes too high, even though Kallen has awakened now, if things continue to develop this way, she will eventually be suppressed by MEI's consciousness.

At that time, it will be like MEI being resurrected through a body.

This is something Otto absolutely does not want to see.

"Should we build it?" Rita asked, watching Otto calm down and start thinking.

It feels like Lord Otto has returned.

"Establish it," Otto said, "But not now. Go tell MEI that I agree to convert one or more laboratories for her."

"Then I will..." Rita bowed slightly.

"Don't be in such a hurry," Otto said. "Just agree, and we can postpone the subsequent improvements as long as possible."

"Find me the construction team that's best at slacking off."

Kallen's consciousness isn't fully in control yet, but directly disagreeing would affect the relationship, while agreeing would further increase MEI's awakening level. Let's just drag things out for now.

This gives the PhD student something to look forward to, makes Kallen happy, and prevents her from actually doing research.

"It seems," Otto said, standing up and tucking the small photo album into his pocket, "We need to find a way to raise Kallen's awakening level."

"To hell with that PhD student named MEI!"

Chapter 172 Today's Events

"It went more smoothly than I expected."

Li Pu stood at the lab door, holding a mop in one hand and a scooter in the other, and said, "But I always feel like things aren't going as smoothly as I'd hoped."

The approval has been granted.

The process was very fast; it wasn't a new construction but rather a renovation.

This was within Li Pu's expectations.

An acceptable result.

The only problem is...

"It's so slow."

Slow.

It's much slower than I expected!

Moreover, because it was a renovation, the laboratory he frequently used was also taken up. So now, after finishing cleaning, Li Pu felt like he had nowhere to go.

"Is this speed really that slow?"

This construction team, whose origins are unknown, was definitely not from China, according to Li Pu. However, he could tolerate the slow pace.

After all, there's a saying that slow and steady wins the race.

If we only focus on speed and mess things up, then we'll have to go back to work and stuff.

That's not something Li Pu wanted to see.

That's all.

"You only installed one light bulb this morning?"

As the renovation technicians emerged from the laboratory, Li Pu's lips twitched, suppressing his doubts and anger. He asked, "Are you sure you're here to do the renovation work?"

"Instead of coming here to slack off?"

"Of course not!"

The man in the lead, wearing small glasses, also seemed quite displeased and asked, "Who are you?"

Judging by their attire, are they the cleaners here?

Hmm, what an impudent brat.

"Here..." Li Pu began to introduce himself.

"I have other things to do." The man with glasses didn't seem interested in knowing who this person was; he was just a cleaner, and there was no need to waste too much time on him.

"Could you please move aside?" the bespectacled man asked, adjusting his glasses. "My friend."

"You're blocking the door."

Of course we have to block the door! If we don't, he won't even have a chance to talk to us!

"No, I just wanted to ask a question." Seeing that the man didn't seem interested in hearing his introduction, Li Pu cut straight to the point. "Are you sure you're not just here to dawdle?"

"You've only installed one light bulb all morning?"

"No! It shouldn't be just one morning."

"Three days to install a lamp?"

Is this the efficiency you're talking about? That's incredibly low!

"What does this have to do with you?" The bespectacled man was a little annoyed by Li Pu's question.

Li Pu's already unpleasant tone and accusatory manner only made the man more disgusted. He was in business, and as a contractor, he hadn't intended to get angry over this.

But this kid's attitude and tone were really unfriendly.

My good attitude is for the client, not for you, the cleaner.

"I'm sorry, we can't tell you about this," the bespectacled man said. "We have a confidentiality agreement."

"We will not disclose any information to anyone outside of our contractual obligations."

"If you have any suggestions or comments about our work."

"I can't do anything about this; I can only report it to my superiors."

They speak grandly and eloquently, but in reality, it's meaningless and useless. It's all just bureaucratic rhetoric; they can't actually solve any concrete problems.

That's a different matter altogether.

"Could you move aside for a moment?" The man with glasses tried his best to maintain a gentle attitude.

Move aside?

Li Pu was reluctant, but he still stepped aside.

It's pointless; if these people are determined to slack off, then... I don't think I have any good solutions right now. But at least one thing is certain.

It seems Otto wasn't very happy to have his application approved.

'Hmm... where exactly is the problem?' Li Pu watched the technicians leave.

He walked into the laboratory that was under renovation.

The problem I just mentioned won't be solved by asking these people to fix it. Getting angry at them and yelling at them won't help either.

Only by addressing the problem at its root can we succeed.

So what is the root cause?

I'd guess it's Otto. Isn't Otto just Kallen's simp?

Although Li Pu doesn't have a deep understanding of the characters in Honkai Impact 3rd, nor is he very familiar with the relationships between them, Otto's presence is quite significant! There are many memes surrounding him. More importantly, Kallen is a character that can be obtained through gacha pulls in the mobile game.

Furthermore, Kallen and Otto are related, and many captains have persecuted Otto.

It's impossible not to know!

So where exactly did things go wrong?

Li Pu walked to the lamp that had just been installed.

Upon closer inspection, it appears to be just a fluorescent light. However, a power cord is connected to a device.

Then this device also has a server, a monitor, and a keyboard.

Besides these, there are a whole host of other instruments.

Five people came for the renovation, and each of them seemed to have something to do; they weren't slacking off or not working.

But...

Li Pu pressed a key on the keyboard and turned on the monitor.

"There's even a password?" Li Pu frowned slightly and said, "They're putting on a very convincing act."

Li Pu was 100% certain that the power cord that appeared to be connected to the fluorescent light was just that—connected. It was actually completely useless!

As for everything else, it can be seen as stage props.

Everyone's just pretending to be busy.

Li Pu removed his hands from the keyboard, showing no intention of cracking it. Switching to MEI, this level of encryption would be a piece of cake for MEI.

It will be cracked for you in no time.

But even if you crack it, it's pointless!

The key question is why these people are dawdling?

If we don't address the root of the problem, there's no way to solve it.

Li Pu wandered around the laboratory, dismantling everything the technicians were doing. The equipment was unusable; there was no way to conduct experiments.

There was no way to make what she wanted to make.

"I feel... like someone is spying on me?"

Li Pu suddenly felt a gaze fixed on him from not far behind him.

Yes, not far behind.

It might be right at the door.

Li Pu turned around!

"Stare~"

"Stare~"

Their eyes met, and Li Pu immediately recognized who the person peeping at the door was.

Only half her head was visible, her hands gripping the doorway. She looked somewhat like a rodent peeking inside. More accurately, she was looking at herself!

Bronya?

Li Pu was a little surprised.

Why was Bronya peeping through the door?

Among the Valkyrie, Bronya and Fu Hua seem to be the ones who are relatively indifferent and don't pay much attention to me. Fu Hua now seems to be heading in the same direction as Akarin.

Of course, this doesn't mean that others intentionally or unintentionally ignored her.

Instead, Fu Hua herself ran wildly in that direction.

Her daily routine is simple: training, studying, eating, and sleeping. She doesn't have a wide social circle; although she's the most academically successful here, she lacks a strong presence.

It's really not high.

And she rarely comes to Li Pu's place.

Bronya is the same.

Although Bronya wouldn't live her life like Fu Hua, constantly going back and forth between the dormitory, training ground, classroom, and canteen.

However, Bronya didn't pay much attention to Li Pu.

This time, I ran to the door to spy on him.

That's really rare.

Hmm... how should I say hello?

Li Pu felt troubled.

Bronya isn't the kind of person who is devoid of emotion, thoughts, and expressions; she simply doesn't show her emotions on her face, but she does have strong emotional activity inside.

Even something as simple as having no business license, no information, and no connections can be quite troublesome.

So how should I put it?