"..."
Blanca, who had been about to properly introduce Hen to Xu Ziling, who had never met him before, was rendered speechless by Hen's single sentence.
And Hen's intensely excited words continued—
"This pure, beautiful smile... It really is you! The chief UP with 20 million followers on Pink TV, the number-one streamer on Tigerfish with 28 million followers, and the top influencer on United Publications with 37 million followers! Miss Pink Elf, aaaah!!!"
"Oh my~ So Miss Elf is already such a popular person?"
Elysia smiled, then pointed at Blanca, whose face beside her had already darkened like the bottom of a pot, and said,
"But compared to me, hmm... I think this lady needs your comfort more, Mr. Hen?~"
"Uh, Blanca... Right, Blanca!"
Only then did Hen turn his gaze toward Blanca beside Elysia. In an excited tone, he said,
"Blanca! Hurry and get me an autograph! An autograph from a blogger with millions of followers, something countless people dream of but can never obtain—all it takes now is one word from you!"
Blanca, however, remained silent. Her expression grew darker and darker, and she was even trembling with anger. Her deep-blue short hair trembled along with her, while her bearing and gaze underwent a complete transformation in an instant. For a moment... she even seemed somewhat terrifying. It was hard to imagine that this person radiating blackness was the same frail senior who had been working overtime earlier.
"Uh... Blanca?"
Hen suddenly felt inexplicably uneasy. Then he asked tentatively,
"What's wrong with you...? Are you all right?"
"All right? Hahahahaha..."
Blanca suddenly laughed, in a way that made people feel a little afraid.
Her eyes fixed on Hen on the other end of the screen. In a tone that seemed capable of nailing someone in place, she said,
"Hen... I'm going to write my resignation letter to the doctor right now. You wait for me at home, and don't you dare go anywhere else... You, had, better, wait, for, me, to, come, back."
Hen suddenly felt as if a cold sword were hanging over his forehead, but before he could ask anything, Blanca had already ended the call viciously.
After saying that, Blanca no longer had time to worry about anything else. She threw herself straight into her work station, took out the resignation letter she had produced countless times before and crumpled nearly beyond recognition, and began filling it out furiously.
Seeing her furious expression, Elysia narrowed her eyes. After patting Little Xu Ziling on the shoulder, she indicated that they should leave Blanca alone for now and go outside with Xu Ziling.
"Shouldn't we try to persuade Senior Blanca right now?"
Xu Ziling asked in confusion.
"Oh my~ She should have left long ago."
Elysia smiled and waved her hand.
"Dr. Mobius also thinks the research institute shouldn't become Blanca's prison. After all, she has a life of her own to live!
"And Griseo also said she really wants to meet her mother... Oh, you don't know who Little Griseo is yet, do you? She's Blanca's daughter, and she's super adorable!~
"In any case, Blanca wanted to leave before, but she never had a suitable opportunity to tell Dr. Mobius. Since she has now made up her mind with help from the person at home, shouldn't we bless her? Come on, come on, let's give her some space to herself~"
As she spoke, Elysia took Xu Ziling's hand and led him toward the exit of the research institute.
The underground research institute had both an elevator and an emergency stairway connecting it to the outside world. Strangely, Elysia did not take Xu Ziling into the elevator, instead heading toward the stairs beside it.
Xu Ziling was just about to ask why when he noticed Elysia looking back at him from ahead... It was the gaze of a hunter who had locked onto its prey.
Xu Ziling's breathing abruptly stopped. After thinking for a moment, he slowly said,
"Although... Miss Elysia, I'm a man. That should be beyond doubt."
"Mmm~ hmm~"
Elysia tilted her head and walked up the stairs ahead with her hands behind her back.
"Boys can be cute too, you know? Speaking of which, Little Ziling... Would you like to livestream with Miss Elf? Big Sis will dress you up beautifully, all right?~"
Looking at Elysia's expectant face, Xu Ziling lowered his head and glanced at his body, which still exuded a beauty capable of bringing ruin to nations despite being covered by a white coat. After a moment of silence, he decisively turned around and headed back toward the research institute.
Elysia was wonderful.
But if this Elysia set her sights on you and wanted to see you in women's clothing...
Ah~ The outside world was truly terrifying. Dr. Mobius's research institute was still safer.
"Mmm-hmm?~"
Elysia, however, seemed to have anticipated this. Without hurry, she took a remote control from her pocket and "accidentally" pressed one of its buttons.
Clang!
In an instant, the door connecting the research institute to the exit slammed shut. Elysia put on an astonished expression and said,
"Oh my~ Why did the door close...? I just happened to pick up this remote by the roadside, and then I accidentally pressed it. What should we do? It won't open now~"
Xu Ziling: "..."
Never mind. For Elysia, what was the harm in wearing women's clothes?
Elysia couldn't possibly hurt him, right?
Thinking this, Xu Ziling relaxed. After giving Elysia a smile, he said,
"If I remember correctly, there should be an open-door button inside as well, so there's no need to worry about the doctor and the others being unable to get out. Didn't Miss Elf say you had already prepared the food? It's a little rude, but I can't wait any longer. Bring it out quickly. (Delighted)"
"Mmm-hmm~"
Elysia narrowed her eyes and stared at Xu Ziling for a while. Then she raised her eyebrows at him and said,
"You want to eat food made by Miss Elf...? Then catch Miss Elf first, and we'll talk. Hee hee, come on, come on~"
With that, Elysia turned around, lightly stepped onto the emergency stairway, and began quickly ascending.
His first meeting with Elysia... was actually turning out like this?
After teasing himself a little inwardly, Xu Ziling smiled and hurried after her.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had left the research institute since transmigrating. It was actually rather exciting.
With that thought, Xu Ziling chased after Elysia's retreating figure toward the Z-shaped emergency stairs.
Before transmigrating, when he had worked at a company, Xu Ziling had often opened his work computer at the last possible second so he could slack off for a few more minutes. After buying an egg-filled pancake downstairs and missing the elevator, he had more than once sprinted up the office building in one breath.
Xu Ziling followed Elysia's footsteps up the stairs. Saying it was effortless would be an exaggeration, but at least he was quite familiar with the route. He ran upward for over a hundred meters in one breath without even getting winded.
As for the building above ground outside the research institute...
To be honest, it surprised Xu Ziling.
The aboveground building connected to the underground research institute was neither some intimidating warehouse nor a place hidden beneath a garbage bin in some remote corner. It was simply an utterly ordinary three-story building.
If one had to say there was anything special about the three-story building, well... he could vaguely see the outline of a school across from it. This was also a school district residence.
"Hm... You actually made it up in one breath. How impressive! Let me praise you~"
Elysia turned around, preparing to make a lighthearted joke with the beautiful married woman she had lured over—no, with Xu Ziling, who had come up with her. But her entire body suddenly froze in place.
Because in her field of vision, the evening sunset over Shenzhou shone through the windows of the emergency passage connecting the research institute to the building aboveground, illuminating Xu Ziling's body.
In an instant, Xu Ziling's body began trembling uncontrollably. His jade-green eyes, which could remain relaxed even when facing five bosses and four cups of water, showed an emotion they had never held before. He exclaimed in surprise,
"My body... is afraid of sunlight?"
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