In Mojuke's Laboratory Number 31.
A man in a white lab coat, about 1.7 meters tall, finished organizing the experimental data and threw himself into his chair. He closed his weary eyes, his face full of exhaustion.
The identification badge on his chest read: Level 1 Researcher, Performance Extreme Department, Luo Jiashi.
He was also a Level 1 Researcher, but his credentials did not carry as much weight as industry supernovas like Qu Li, Shang Yin, and Xie Zhe.
When researchers from elsewhere came to the capital, their professional titles were automatically considered half a rank lower.
Luo Jiashi understood this clearly, yet he had still crossed two thousand kilometers from Modu Yanjike to Beijing without hesitation.
To be remembered through the ages as a great scientist was his lifelong dream.
Beijing was a gathering place for outstanding talents, where competition was fierce.
Precisely because of that, it could spark the flames of thought and distill the essence of inspiration!
He was a patient man. He had spent eighteen years in the field, always engaged in basic scientific research.
When he had just graduated, he had turned down an offer to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He had also refused to inherit his father's business and manage a family industrial chain worth tens of billions.
After nearly twenty years as a researcher, Luo Jiashi had been a failure in terms of wealth accumulation.
His annual salary was not even as much as the monthly allowance his parents gave him.
Yet from the perspective of personal value, he felt that every day of his life was filled with meaning and passion.
To Luo Jiashi, amassing vast amounts of money brought no sense of accomplishment whatsoever.
They were merely numbers one could neither bring into life nor take into death.
If his descendants were inferior to him, what use was a fortune worth hundreds of millions?
If his descendants were better than him, what use was a family fortune worth hundreds of millions?
Suddenly, someone pushed open the laboratory door.
A familiar man poked his head inside. "Senior Brother Luo, I..."
It was one of his junior colleagues, a Level 3 Researcher named Huang Zhaolan.
Luo Jiashi frowned deeply and raised a hand with a look of disgust. With his little finger curled, he pointed outside the laboratory. "Stand outside and talk."
A sign hung at the entrance, bearing the words—"No men or dogs allowed inside."
Though biologically male, he loathed interacting and communicating with other men.
Luo Jiashi even hated his own gender.
Deep down, from childhood to adulthood, he had always believed himself to be a girl.
The outside world called it gender identity disorder, but Luo Jiashi believed there was nothing wrong with him.
If he had not been so devoted to experimental research, he would have undergone gender reassignment surgery and become a hormone girl long ago.
If this man had not been a junior colleague who had flown over from the Performance Extreme Department with him, Luo Jiashi would probably have shut the door and driven him away immediately.
Seeing his attitude, Huang Zhaolan gave an awkward smile. "I just wanted to tell you something. You know Qu Li, right? He's been acting like he's better than us researchers from Modu just because he's from Beijing. He's even said some strange things about you..."
It was a crude attempt at sowing discord and killing with a borrowed knife.
But Luo Jiashi fell for exactly that sort of thing.
Age did not necessarily equal experience.
"What did he say?"
Luo Jiashi rose to his feet, his gaze turning dangerous and his tone faintly hostile.
People were complicated creatures. He had dreams, pursuits, and the patience to endure loneliness, but he could not tolerate others looking down on him or mocking him.
Luo Jiashi's posture delighted Huang Zhaolan inwardly, though concern appeared on his face.
"I heard Qu Li was recently singled out by the higher-ups. We'd better not provoke him, right? We should just endure it..."
Back then, Huang Zhaolan had been jealous of Yan Anqing, who was enjoying immense fame. He had tried to play tricks and schemes, hoping to ride the momentum upward, only for the passing Qu Li to slap him down hard.
At the time, wary of Qu Li's reputation, Huang Zhaolan had not dared act rashly. He had even admitted defeat, softened his stance, and apologized.
As the saying went: endure for a moment and the winds stay calm; take a step back and the more you think about it, the angrier you get.
The grudge between Huang Zhaolan and Qu Li had been set.
Thinking about it now, at worst he could fight to the death and leave Beijing.
Once he returned to Modu, Huang Zhaolan could make a full recovery!
And Luo Jiashi was just the sort of blade that was fast and ruthless.
If he did not use it now, it would expire and become useless.
Time: May 30.
Location: China, Beijing, Zhaofu Well Secret Base, Internal Investigation Department.
People: Yan Anqing, Qu Li.
Event: The two became Silver-Eyed at almost the exact same time.
"Heh heh..."
Qu Li stared intensely at Yan Anqing, silver metallic light flickering in his eyes. "You've achieved something these past few days, but it's still not enough."
"Don't let me down..."
During this period, Qu Li had produced two research results and was now neck and neck with Yan Anqing.
He only needed a little more accumulation, one new discovery, to advance to Special Grade Researcher and leave Yan Anqing choking on his dust.
"As long as you're happy."
Yan Anqing raised a brow. A faint silver glow swayed in his eyes as he merely chuckled, paying no attention to Qu Li's words.
It seemed the other party had begun treating him as a mortal enemy?
It was all one-sided enthusiasm. He had little interest in competing with this guy over superiority.
The reason he had adjusted the progress and transformed himself and Qu Li into Silver-Eyed at the same time was simply due to various considerations.
Two people advancing at once would divide the attention from the outside world.
It was also repaying a favor—when that Huang-surnamed researcher from Modu had come looking for trouble last time, Qu Li had appeared and crushed him. Strictly speaking, it had been unnecessary and superfluous, but Yan Anqing remembered it clearly.
Besides, it was also to verify the claim of "national fortune's blessing."
On careful consideration, although folk researchers had forcibly explained the notion of luck through "Gaia Consciousness" and "Wa Huang Will," it still could not truly be observed with the naked eye or through experiments. Proving its existence remained somewhat illusory.
Yan Anqing had Panda Customer Service's achievements to verify the reality of "national fortune," but he could not possibly present that as evidence.
To him, the theory of luck was simply far too shameless.
It was an ultimate Panacea Theory born of laziness, capable of explaining almost anything.
That researcher Huang Zhaolan, who had come to pick a fight back then, might have known perfectly well what consequences his actions would bring. The chance of gaining any benefit had been less than one in a thousand, yet he had done it anyway.
That could be explained as "his luck was low, clouding his mind."
Qu Li had initially held an extremely poor impression of him, opposing him like mad and wishing he could stomp Yan Anqing into the mud before grinding him beneath his heel. Yet later, the higher-ups had valued and promoted him, publicizing him as the second Star Scientist.
After receiving the blessing of national fortune, Qu Li's attitude toward him had undergone a mysterious transformation. At a crucial moment, he had even awkwardly stepped in to help, slapping Huang Zhaolan in the face on Yan Anqing's behalf.
What would have happened if Qu Li had never changed his mind and continued targeting him at every turn?
Most likely, one day Yan Anqing would have used the image-editing game to alter him into a "violent illness"—such as a widespread cerebral infarction—then map it into reality. Qu Li would have died silently in his sleep, without anyone knowing why...
Qu Li's shift in thought and behavior could then be explained as "his luck had risen, and blessings had enlightened his heart."
This Panacea Theory of luck was practically a patch for every unreasonable event!
Many things that could not be logically explained could use it to fill in their flaws.
That was why Yan Anqing had added fuel to the fire and used one modification to provide circumstantial evidence for this theory.
It was foreseeable that the phenomenon of him and Qu Li both becoming Silver-Eyed would become a topic of conversation among their colleagues and the higher-ups over tea and meals...
Please vote! Yesterday, I saw someone say they wanted to stockpile chapters and come back in a month. I must refute that by name!
Stockpiling a book is like growing flowers. If you do not water it often or remove the bugs, it will not grow fat. As time passes, it will only become weaker and weaker, and may even wither! Die!
Emmm... you get what I mean, right? Don't let mistaken ideas lead you astray!