Opportunity

Everything unfolded just as Ba Di had predicted. The underground research base had fallen into a research deadlock.

There was no other reason—the spacecraft was far too advanced for its time. With the primitive technology of 1980, they simply had no idea where to begin in studying a spacecraft that had crossed the stars.

The world's first personal computer, the IBM 5150, would not appear until 1981.

The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, the world's first mobile phone—the bulky kind known as a "brick"—would not appear until 1984.

The Windows System would not appear until 1985.

This alone showed that even a research base more technologically advanced than the civilian world had no way of studying an alien spacecraft.

That was why General Vick had so readily given up on the spacecraft and let old Dean Bo Li study alien biological genes instead.

In Area 51, countless talented people were already researching technology, and technological advancement was not so easily achieved. Besides, the spacecraft was damaged so severely that they had nowhere to start.

Biological genes, however, could make General Vick "stronger."

Even so, he had no intention of abandoning the potential gains from the alien spacecraft. Pursuing both avenues at once might bring unexpected rewards.

Of course, if someone who had lived amid advanced technology could explain things to them—even merely some future applications—it would allow them to advance at lightning speed.

And Ba Di happened to be alive. If they did not make contact with him and make use of him, they would be wasting a living alien.

Having seen through all of this, Ba Di officially began his true performance.

Only through contact could a real opportunity arise.

And now, that opportunity had appeared before him.

One day during the fourth month of Ba Di's imprisonment, the underground research base selected a middle-aged woman with a teaching certificate to teach Ba Di English.

They needed Ba Di to learn English so they could communicate with him and obtain more knowledge from him.

Yet Ba Di remained completely unmoved before the English teacher they had selected. He always kept his head lowered, his eyes dim and lifeless. He had no interest even in communicating with them, let alone learning English, and it worried old Dean Bo Li sick.

In truth, they had chosen the wrong person to teach him.

This middle-aged woman before him wore black stockings, had thick calves, and had put on weight. She had a stable career, children, a husband, and a family. She was not his target, nor would she have any value to exploit.

Ba Di saw all of this with perfect clarity.

What he needed was a woman who would sympathize with a prince fallen on hard times under the language he spun, become enchanted with him through contact, and perhaps even fall in love with him.

Ba Di was no prince, but that did not matter. He could make it up. He could lie. He was well practiced in such things.

That kind of woman could not possibly be someone like a middle-aged woman with children and a stable family. Such people had too many considerations, too many worries, and were not impulsive enough.

What he needed was a young, emotional heart. If this middle-aged woman had been twenty years younger, Ba Di might have used her feelings to escape alive.

But not as she was now.

For his target, Ba Di had even constructed a perfect blueprint in his mind. He thought up countless lines and scenarios that women would likely find irresistible, all to deal with—or rather, seduce—a person of her extraordinary intelligence and draw her deeply toward him.

A female biology PhD around twenty-five was the target he intended to win over.

After facing the middle-aged teacher without any reaction for a month, the person Ba Di had been longing for finally appeared.

On the second day of the fifth month, Ba Di was still silently calculating the time he had spent imprisoned.

Doctor Jenny had replaced the researcher who was originally supposed to give him a Muscle Relaxant Injection.

"Wen Di, Dean Bo Li wants you to teach him some scientific terminology first."

Doctor Jenny pulled the steel needle from Ba Di's arm, leaving a tiny red dot on his skin. It had taken some effort to pierce the needle into his powerful muscles. She then placed the syringe on the tray, her face cool and beautiful as she looked toward the middle-aged woman, Wen Di, who was one-sidedly cramming English vocabulary into Ba Di.

Wen Di frowned and slipped her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat with slight impatience. "That old man Bo Li! I'm already troubled enough as it is. The last time I taught students was twenty years ago, and now I have to teach an alien. I just want to hide in the laboratory instead of facing a block of wood. This alien isn't a good student. He's never paid any attention to me..."

As she spoke, her mouth fell open in surprise. Her dissatisfied muttering stopped as she stared at the alien before her in disbelief.

After waiting so long, Ba Di had finally found the best opportunity to enter Doctor Jenny's sight and begin the plan he wanted.

The instant he heard Doctor Jenny's voice, he raised his heavy head. His dark eyes revealed surprise, shock, grief, desolation, and tenderness. With every movement of his gaze, he filled those story-laden pupils with emotion, as though seeing her here and hearing her voice had stirred within him a tangled mix of shock, sorrow, and joy.

Even Oscar could not match his devotion.

Meeting those dark eyes, Doctor Jenny felt as though words had been conveyed directly into her heart. Her heart skipped a beat, and she stood stunned for more than ten seconds before Wen Di's joking words brought her back to herself.

"Jenny, did the alien fall in love with you at first sight?"

Wen Di remarked in amazement. She had taught the alien for over a month and had never seen him show the slightest reaction. Now Jenny had appeared and merely spoken a few words, yet she had drawn the alien's gaze.

A middle-aged woman truly could not compare to a young maiden's allure. Look, even an alien had fallen for her.

Doctor Jenny clearly had a good relationship with the middle-aged Wen Di. After exchanging a few playful remarks amid Jenny's slightly strange confusion, she left beneath the gaze that made Jenny feel uncomfortable all over.

Once Ba Di's gaze followed Doctor Jenny's departing figure away, he put on another display of grief-stricken remembrance before Wen Di, then heavily lowered his sorrowful head.

Even the white room seemed to take on a hint of sorrow from Ba Di's performance.

The middle-aged Wen Di looked at Ba Di strangely and continued her self-directed teaching. After teaching for a while, Ba Di's response truly made her angry.

That was unfair. Before a young girl, he gazed lovingly and silently. Before a middle-aged woman, he lowered his head and ignored her. When she was young, she had been quite a rose herself.

"How about this, Mr. Alien? You learn English from me, and I'll help you court Jenny. What do you say?"

The middle-aged Wen Di tempted him, then went on about how good Jenny's figure was. She was a D cup, a D cup! Her legs were so long, her waist so slim—when she moved, she was simply like a seductress, the finest of the finest.

Ba Di almost wanted to slap someone after hearing that. In his current situation, even if she looked like crap, he would still have to pursue her and find an opportunity to leave this place. Who cared whether she was a D or an E, whether it was her legs or her waist?

Right now, Ba Di only hoped Jenny's emotional intelligence was below zero and that she would be drawn to him.

Only at the end did Wen Di suddenly smack her forehead, remembering that this alien did not understand English and could not communicate with her. That made her mutter a few more curses about old Bo Li being a bastard for giving her such a troublesome task.