Killing in Progress

In a medium-sized research room at the Third Research Institute of Spirit City, several young people dressed in researcher uniforms were not conducting research experiments. Instead, they pretended to be calculating some data and were playing cards on the table and floor.

Yes, poker.

This thing didn't originally exist in the Douluo World, so its origin and "inventor" are self-evident.

Several researchers knew that their lab director disliked this thing. After all, "playing cards" were invented by the very person the director hated most, so they absolutely couldn't let him find out... otherwise, it wouldn't be as simple as just having their wages docked.

Although playing cards in the lab was a rather... weird thing from the start.

However, everything seemed perfectly normal inside this research lab.

Apart from the three young people playing Fight the Landlord (a popular Chinese card game), none of the other research groups were truly focused on their research projects; they were all slacking off.

That's just the atmosphere in this research lab. After all, even their research director doesn't do research during work hours; he just reads pornographic books.

However, although the bad atmosphere in this research lab is indeed a bit extreme, in fact, many research labs in Spirit City have experienced similar situations in recent years.

The reason is simple: the changes brought about by that man were too enormous. Almost everyone's research projects were based on his research results, with innovations and expansions. However, his research results were gradually suppressed and blocked by the current Pope...

In short, the resistance to studying classical mechanics without Newtonian mechanics is considerable, and You Chen's current status and influence in the Douluo academic world are similar to Newton's influence in the field of mechanics.

However, that wasn't the reason for the research director's visit.

He simply gave up after being completely defeated in his competition with You Chen.

"Damn You Chen, serves him right, serves him right, hehehe."

The research director, He Sai, sat in the main seat, chuckling foolishly.

The strange laughter, coupled with the cover of the Imperial Uncle he was holding, would probably lead to some unpleasant rumors spreading soon.

But actually...

What he was looking at wasn't some royal uncle at all, but You Chen's academic paper!

However, it's better to be seen as someone who has stooped so low as to be reading You Chen's paper than someone who knows that he is reading Yu Chen's paper!

This is He Sai's idea.

After losing to You Chen in the competition, perhaps due to a loss of spirit, a major accident occurred in his research, and since then, his research resources have been greatly reduced.

This deepened their resentment towards You Chen.

Therefore, they kept a close eye on You Chen's condition, hoping that You Chen would also suffer a tragic end.

Hearing rumors that You Chen had been demoted, or even that he had demoted himself, He Sai was naturally overjoyed.

Even though he might gloat over You Chen's misfortune, He Sai still couldn't resist the urge and curiosity to read You Chen's academic papers.

It can only be said that the academic world is now filled with distorted and You Chen.

That is, they were unwilling to admit this to each other and never publicized it, which is why they did not come together to form any cult.

Everyone was engrossed in daydreaming. To avoid being discovered and made an example of by He Sai, the researchers took turns observing the director's route and field of vision.

This led to... many people immediately noticing a figure dressed in a black robe, whose face was completely covered by a faceless mask, brazenly walking towards their director.

If they were focused on their research and not distracted, they probably wouldn't have noticed this scene. But it was precisely because they were all slacking off that they discovered this person's figure.

However, by the time they discovered him, it was already too late.

By the time the researchers confirmed the masked man's presence in their field of vision, the man had already moved behind He Sai at incredible speed, grabbing He Sai's head with one hand as if it were an apple.

"Um?"

He Sai felt the pressure on his head, but only frowned and let out an uncomfortable groan.

Before he could even realize that the person who came was his beloved "idol," his head exploded like a rotten tomato.

If He Sai could know this from beyond the grave, he would surely be very excited.

The researchers screamed in terror, but when they looked for the masked man again, he had vanished without a trace.

Of course, not everyone who was hostile to or had conflicts with You Chen eventually became a twisted fan of You Chen.

You Chen's charm hasn't reached that level yet.

The next day, as You Chen passed by the back door of the research department, he saw Professor Placido, who had run out of work, giving a scathing critique of You Chen to the researchers below. He claimed that You Chen had made some kind of contribution, but in reality, he had turned back the clock and hindered academic progress.

This professor has clearly sided with Bibi Dong; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to directly use "banned books" for his lectures.

Just like his direct assassination yesterday, You Chen walked straight to the podium, twisted Placido's head off in front of all the researchers, and strode away.

For two consecutive days, a vicious murder occurred at the Research Institute in Spirit City.

The law enforcement teams within Spirit City naturally had to pay close attention to this.

In fact, they had already organized themselves and begun searching for the criminal's trail on the first day Professor He Sai was killed.

But before they could gather the crucial information, a second murder occurred.

Red Robe Bishop Salamanda has expressed strong dissatisfaction with their inefficiency and demanded that the murderer be found within three days.

The Enforcement Division was naturally in a state of chaos regarding this clearly unreasonable demand.

"Both of the killer's targets were professors from Research Institute. Could it be that hostile forces somehow learned that we have new research that could bring about dramatic changes, and therefore targeted us specifically?"

"No, Professor He Sai hasn't produced any new results in about twenty years, and he hasn't even applied for any real new projects. He's just coasting along at the Research Institute!"

"Tsk, what a traitor to my Spirit Hall. It's good that such a scoundrel is dead. So, Placido?"

"His words... are less like conducting research and more like a researcher specifically looking for loopholes in Master You Chen's past documents to figure out how to attack him..."

"Okay, let's leave this topic here."

The sensible law enforcement officer quickly ended the topic and asked instead, "Because he was wearing a mask, we can only deduce for now that he was an adult male who was about 1.9 meters tall. Let's put that aside for now. The key thing is... the traces of his crime!"