"Careful!"
Lucius, who had been intently examining the object in his hand, jumped in fright. His hand trembled, and the crystalline block fell.
"FUCK!"
Jude swiftly drew his gun and fired a freezing ray. Luckily, it hit the crystal block and froze it in place.
The chunk of ice bounced across the floor a few times, making a series of cracking impacts. Only then did Jude let out a sigh of relief.
"You gave me quite a scare, Mr. Herbert. I'm already over fifty—I can't handle things like this," Lucius said, patting his chest.
Jude shot him an irritated look. "You're the one who scared me, Lucius. You're over fifty, for God's sake. Didn't your mother teach you not to touch other people's belongings without permission? Especially things you know nothing about."
Lucius's old face reddened, though his skin tone provided natural cover. No one could tell anyway.
Knowing he was in the wrong, the old Black man explained, "Sorry. I heard Stephanie had brought people from the biotech department to see you, so I came over to witness it. I didn't expect the place to be empty when I arrived."
"There were quite a few new things in the lab, so I only took a casual look. I had no intention of snooping around. Don't worry."
Jude picked up the frozen lump and placed it on the lab bench. He had only made a Freeze Gun, not a thawing gun. There was no helping it; he would have to wait two hours for it to melt on its own.
"Lucius, it's not that I won't let you look. You wouldn't understand it anyway. It's just that you don't know what you were holding. That little thing is incredibly dangerous. If it explodes, it'll be enough to flatten all of