The Shelved Spear

"Sigh, I told my mom I wanted to go to Peng City for junior high, but she cruelly rejected me." Xiao Mei, her stomach full, slumped in the sofa booth and said helplessly to her two friends, "Our 'Egg Pie Protection Association' won't be able to truly reunite until high school."

Da Lu laughed, "It'll be even harder for you to take the high school entrance exam in another province, right? And the high school Little Bell wants to attend will definitely be the hardest to get into."

Xiao Mei's expression turned bitter. "What should we do then...?"

Liu Shiling laughed and said, "It's okay. Even if we're not in the same city, we can still chat online, video chat, play games, and hang out together on weekends. My sister told me that they're building super high-speed maglev trains everywhere, and the line from Star City to Peng City should be open soon. When that happens, you can come to see me, or I can come to see you, and we'll be there in a flash, just like taking a bus."

Xiao Mei rested her chin on her hand and murmured, "But I want to play with Little Bell every day. Do I have to wait until I take the college entrance exam?"

Da Lu laughed and said, "Then you'd better start studying hard now, or you definitely won't get into the university Little Bell wants to go to."

"Hmph, Da Lu, don't look down on me. When I work hard, I'll definitely surprise you! Even if I don't get into the same major, I can still get into the same school. Even if I don't get into the same school, I can still get into the same city!" Xiao Mei said with a determined expression.

Da Lu laughed, "Are you determined to be Little Bell Duang's little shadow? You're sticking to her so tightly, be careful Little Bell Duang gets annoyed with you later."

Liu Shiling smiled and put her arm around Xiao Mei's shoulder, "No, I won't be annoyed. You can come and stay with me during the summer vacation. I'll supervise your studies so you can get into the same school in the future."

Xiao Mei, who had been beaming with pride, shuddered upon hearing this and said with a bitter face, "We don't need to start studying so early. We're still young. We don't have to take exams in junior high. We can wait until senior year of high school, which is a long time!"

Liu Shiling and Da Lu both laughed. As good friends who had known each other for many years, they knew Xiao Mei's personality all too well. Playfulness, love of beauty, and fear of studying were her three main characteristics.

"Sigh, I don't think I'll amount to much in the future. Little Bell, you have to study hard and become a big boss. Then you can hire me to be your secretary. I'll drive you, prepare documents, make coffee, and so on." Xiao Mei said, hugging Liu Shiling's arm and chuckling.

Da Lu laughed and reached out to pinch her cheek, "Who would say they're useless?"

Xiao Mei opened her mouth as if to bite her hand, then said, "Da Lu, let's do it together! You can be the bodyguard, Little Donkey can be the driver, and I can be the secretary. Let's team up and cling to Little Bell's thighs! Hehe!" Da Lu was two years older than the two of them and Zhang Xiaoman, and she was also larger in stature, with darker skin and short hair, looking like a capable athletic girl.

Liu Shiling was both amused and exasperated. "It's not like I'm destined to become a big boss. What if I end up in a miserable situation and have to beg for food?"

"Then let's beg for food together, the four great heroines of the Beggars' Sect!" Xiao Mei said.

"What if I go to a construction site and carry bricks?"

"Then we'll be the four beauties of the construction site!"

"Then I'll go back to Chongyun Village and raise pigs?"

"We are the four major pig farmers of Chongyun Village!"

"Hahaha, you said it yourself! You'll come with me to Chongyun Village this summer vacation, and I'll take you to the breeding farm, hehe!"

"Let's go see where they raise rabbits..."

"You think places where rabbits are kept don't smell?"

While Liu Shiling and Xiao Mei were laughing and joking, Da Lu suddenly said, "I've decided to take the military academy entrance exam and join the army."

Although Da Lu was a bit older than the other two, she was only in junior high school. It would be another five or six years until she graduated from high school before she could take the military academy entrance exam. So Liu Shiling and Xiao Mei were both a little surprised by her sudden serious statement.

"Why did you suddenly decide to join the army?" Liu Shiling asked curiously.

"I can't really explain why. Maybe it's because my uncle showed me photos of my grandfather when he joined the army and his medals, or maybe it's related to the activities the military did at our school last semester. Anyway, I just feel that I must join the army in the future. Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a long time," Da Lu said.

"You're thinking about this too early..." Xiao Mei said, then suddenly realized that what she had just said was all about graduation and work, even further ahead than what Da Lu had mentioned. So she smiled and said, "But it's good, you can train in the army for a few years, hone your skills, and come back as a bodyguard, which would be more suitable for you."

Da Lu laughed, "So you're determined to lead everyone to latch onto Little Bell's coattails?"

"Yes! When we grow up, we'll always play together, work together, play games together, eat together, and stay together forever, just like Sister Zhen'er, Sister Nana, Sister Lao Xia, and Sister Apple! Yes, and Little Ran too, we'll protect her as she grows up!" Xiao Mei said with a hopeful expression. The "Little Ran" she mentioned was Xiang Xinran sister whom Liu Shiling played with.

The next afternoon, after Liu Shiling saw her two friends off at the airport, she was about to turn back to the car that had brought them there when someone suddenly grabbed her hand.

The touch of her hand was familiar, so Liu Shiling knew who was holding her hand before she even turned around.

"Alice?" Liu Shiling looked at the "Little Lao Xia -like Alice" who appeared beside her in confusion. When Alice first gained the ability to manifest, the two looked about the same age, but now the Little Chubby Girl from kindergarten has become a fifth-grade elementary school student, and there is a height difference between them. It really looks like an older sister leading her younger sister.

"What happened?" Liu Shiling asked, a little nervous and a little excited.

She knew that now that Alice had "Xiang Xinran" as her "physical body," she wouldn't want to materialize and play with everyone as often as before, especially in crowded places like airports with heavy surveillance. When she materialized, it would require blocking or real-time modification of all cameras recording her. While this was simple and easy for her, it was still "non-mission interference," which, according to the Research Base's regulations, should be avoided as much as possible. Furthermore, using materialization abilities always required Lao Xia's permission. Alice's sudden, unannounced materialization, instead of contacting her via phone or other electronic devices, likely indicated danger nearby, necessitating a combat-ready state!

Liu Shiling subconsciously reached up to grab her hood, only to find it empty. She realized it was summer and her T-shirt didn't have a hood.

"Hehe, Little Bell Sister, don't get excited! We're not going to fight, we'll just change cars, hehe." Alice said, pointing ahead to a large RV parked by the roadside, gesturing for Liu Shiling to go and get in that car.

Liu Shiling became even more curious. Although Alice told her not to get excited, judging from Alice's expression and tone of voice, she was clearly more excited.

"Then I'll tell the driver over there," Liu Shiling said, waving goodbye to the ride-hailing driver and letting him go first, before completing the order payment on her phone.

As Liu Shiling walked towards the RV, she couldn't help but ask Alice, "Are you sending me on a mission?" These past two days, Sister Lao Xian, Sister Piao Liang, and Sister Little Apple Guo had all been sent to Europe on missions. This was the first time all three of them had been deployed at the same time, especially Sister Lao Xian, who was getting her first opportunity to go on a mission. So she naturally assumed that Alice coming to see her meant she had some kind of mission to assign her.

She had always been looking for a mission that would allow her to unleash her "magic" and showcase her abilities. Over the years, she had worked hard to learn and practice various skills, not because she was much smarter than others, but because within the "Super-Sensing Item System," she possessed an energy recovery ability far exceeding that of ordinary people her age. Alice had customized a learning plan for her, calculating precisely what she needed to do at every step, and preparing everything she needed.

More importantly, regardless of the knowledge or skills, she always learns with the goal of using them to better master the "magic," which makes her very motivated and interested in learning.

Now, she certainly knows about the existence of the "Super-Sensing Item System" and the more fundamental expression of "magic." But because of this, she also understands that when "Uncle Baldy" told her to study math, physics, chemistry, and all kinds of knowledge so that she could better use "magic," he wasn't just "tricking a child," but it was genuinely useful.

She knew she was incredibly powerful now; she even knew that, purely in terms of the power of her abilities, she was probably the strongest among the "Super Sense Objects" aside from Little Screw.

Unfortunately, everyone still treats her as the youngest sister, a baby who needs protection, and doesn't give her the opportunity to show her "sharpest spear".

Now might be the opportunity. Pretty Sister, Fairy Sister, and Little Apple Sister are all on missions, Roast Chicken Wing Sister is in Chongyun Village. Is her "sharpest spear" finally about to make its appearance?

"Hehe, it's an important mission," Alice said, seemingly unable to contain herself any longer, adding, "I didn't get Lao Xia's permission to appear this time!"

Liu Shiling blinked, then asked in a daze, "Little Screw, you can already independently control the Manifestation ability?" This doesn't seem... surprising at all. After all, Little Screw's consciousness can exist under the "Super-Sensing Item System." The various "abilities" they are developing can all be optimized by Little Screw, and processed in a functional and modular way. They can also obtain the abilities of other people through the "Super-Sensing Item System."

"Hehe, no," Alice said, her expression still cheerful.

No?

Liu Shiling realized something, her eyebrows slowly rose, and she pulled Alice along as they ran quickly to the back of the RV, eagerly opening the door with great anticipation.

Liu Shiling almost blurted out the word "light," but was shocked to find the car completely empty, with no one in sight.

The girl's excited expression immediately vanished, and her mood plummeted like a rollercoaster. After all, for her, the return of "Uncle Bald" was the happiest thing; her expectations were so high that nothing else could replace it.

In a huge conference room in Chongyun Village, Xia Libing had just finished explaining, via holographic projection, the current theoretical research directions based on the characteristics of "Mutated Creature," as well as the progress of technological application research based on some theoretical discoveries.

Those sitting in the conference room listening to Xia Libing's presentation were all top experts in their respective fields, most of whom held academician titles. However, they were all completely focused on the entire presentation. Some of them, whose own research fields were related to the groundbreaking discoveries Xia Libing introducing, were even more excited, eager to start their research immediately.

After introducing the basic information and situation, Xia Libing allowed everyone to ask questions freely. Facing these big names from various fields, she handled them with great ease, answering almost everything fluently.

This group of bigwigs is the thirteenth batch to come to the base. Chongyun Village is constantly expanding, and a large area around it is now occupied by research branches of various research institutes. However, the direct management authority is in the hands of Xia Libing and the "Non-Research Center," who coordinate and allocate resources.

Many research findings derived from the characteristics of "Mutated Creature" have already been put into practical technological application several years ago. Especially after the construction of the controlled nuclear fusion power plant began in 2022, although the research was still conducted in secret and not completely disclosed to the public, the breakthrough in the research of "Mutated Creature" was almost an open secret internationally. After 2023, foreign experts also began to appear at the base to participate in various research projects.

At the end of 2023, an international conference was held in Citong City, where more than 30 participating countries, under the leadership of China, signed a cooperation agreement on research into "Mutated Creature".

The "Quanzhou Agreement" has become the now recognized standard and norm for the research of "Mutated Creature". The most important point is that no matter which country or organization wants to study "Mutated Creature" or obtain research samples of "Mutated Creature", they need to apply to the "Non-Normal Biology Research Center - Mutated Creature Administration Bureau" located in "Chongyun Village".

In most cases, even if the application is approved, researchers from other countries will come to Chongyun Village to conduct sample studies on the "Mutated Creature". Obtaining live samples of the "Mutated Creature" for distribution is almost impossible.

Of course, some people might think that "Mutated Creature" exist all over the world, so why should they be allowed to monopolize them? Why don't they just go and catch them themselves?

But those who thought this way ultimately got nothing and could only obediently submit their applications to "Chongyun Village".

Chongyun Village, a small mountain village in northwestern Haixi that is not well known to the public, has become a holy land in the field of international research on "Mutated Creature". He Haomin, the director of the "Non-Research Center" who presided over the signing of the "Quanzhou Agreement", is also jokingly called the "Great Lord" of the field of mutation research - because in the field of mutation research, basically everything requires the authorization, permission and assistance of the "Non-Research Center".

However, anyone who has actually been to "Chongyun Village" and has been involved in core research knows that in the field of "Mutated Creature" research, the real boss, the one who has the final say, is "Dr. Xia," who has striking features, a tall figure, a ponytail, and always seems to have a calm expression.

After the meeting, answering the questions from the senior staff, deciding on the research direction for the next stage, and allocating the right to use the "Mutated Creature" for research at the base, Xia Libing drove out of Chongyun Village alone.

While driving, Xia Libing's stomach suddenly growled. She let out a soft "ah," and as if remembering something, glanced at the car's time display: 12:45.

I was so focused on talking to those tech gurus that I lost track of time and forgot to have lunch at the cafeteria before coming out...

Arrive in Tongshi Town and have lunch at Youlong Restaurant? It will take at least 35 minutes from arrival to ordering to serving.

So Xia Libing parked the car on the side of the road, opened her old-looking backpack, and started rummaging through it. Inside were Snickers bars, vacuum-packed bread, potato chips, nuts, biscuits, and even a can of cat food, a strip of cat nutritional paste, and a box of Little Apple brand birdseed.