A Natural-Born Bastard

Lunch break.

The base did not have a cafeteria, so everyone had to sort out their own lunch.

Ye Qing had gotten too caught up browsing the forum and forgotten to order takeout.

He could use a bathroom break as an excuse to check on the employees' work, while also asking what they wanted to eat.

Eating was a very complicated matter.

Ever since college, deciding what to eat had filled every idle mealtime.

Braised pork trotter rice? Spicy hot pot? Korean BBQ rice? Braised chicken rice?

Before eating, people often had to engage in an intense discussion with their friends, because the conversations were usually pointless and indecisive.

For example, pointless exchanges like, "What should we eat?" "Yeah, what should we eat?"

Or indecisive exchanges like, "Noodles?" "How about rice?" "Sure."

It usually took half an hour just to settle on a meal, but at least there had been people to offer ideas.

Now, Ye Qing had no one to deliberate with for half an hour. Rather than agonize over it, he might as well gather everyone's opinions and pick an employee's preferred lunch each day.

After leaving the restroom, Ye Qing returned to the Hypnosis Department's corridor and happened to run into the research maniac, who should not have been around at this hour.

"Director Zhao, taking a break from your research?" Ye Qing asked, raising a hand.

"Not taking a break. I haven't started yet." Zhao Xueshan had both hands tucked into her lab coat pockets as she answered flatly with a dead expression.

"I haven't thought of a research direction yet. It's a little troubling."

"You can't rush these things. Maybe lunch will give you an idea. By the way, what are you having for lunch?" Ye Qing steered the topic toward what he cared about most.

"I don't know." Zhao Xueshan replied immediately. Since she did not care, there was no need to waste time thinking about it.

"It doesn't matter what I eat. I had my assistant bring me a boxed lunch."

"Oh? Do you have any extra? Give me one." Ye Qing asked.

Opening a blind lunch box was not bad either.

"My assistant always buys a lot. You can come eat in my lab."

"I can hardly refuse such generosity."

Ye Qing really was hungry. Ordering takeout would take too long, so he might as well eat with her.

He got along quite well with three of the four department heads among Abyss Return's cadres. He only had a poor relationship with one of them.

Zhao Xueshan was one of the ones he got along with. When they ran into each other, they would greet one another and chat for a while.

That had been the case over the weekend a few days ago.

As a "salary thief" who could not do anything himself, if Ye Qing had a terrible relationship with the other department heads, he would be out of a job the moment someone targeted him.

So ever since he started working here, he had consciously or unconsciously tried to curry favor with the cadres and grow closer to them.

The Armed Machinery Department.

Zhao Xueshan's private laboratory.

The laboratory was filled with all sorts of exquisite high-tech equipment. It was the largest laboratory among all the cadre-level labs.

Aside from regular research, storing large mecha required more space.

Ye Qing's laboratory was only a third the size of Zhao Xueshan's.

"Find yourself a stool." Zhao Xueshan said casually as she began untying the plastic bag containing the lunch boxes.

This was not the first or second time they had eaten together.

The lab tables were all large square worktables. Unlike household dining tables, the distance between opposite sides was quite wide.

Sitting face-to-face would not work, so they sat at the corner of the worktable, unusually close together.

Sometimes, Zhao Xueshan could not be bothered moving the lunch boxes to the corner, so they would sit side by side to finish lunch.

They looked like they had an unusually close relationship, and Zhao Xueshan's assistant had even suspected something.

Unfortunately, both of them were too oblivious and careless about such things.

One had nothing but experiments on her mind. She knew little about social interaction and treated men and women the same.

The other had nothing but food on his mind. Delicious food had bewitched his eyes, and he did not care who sat beside him.

If you did not think about eating at mealtime, what were you supposed to think about?

"Today's spread is as lavish as ever," Ye Qing remarked.

"It's like this every day. Xiao Qian will deal with whatever we can't finish anyway," Zhao Xueshan replied.

"A slop bucket?" Ye Qing could not help mocking.

Xiao Qian was the lab assistant Zhao Xueshan had recruited.

Because Zhao Xueshan paid her so much, she had practically paid the girl into becoming considerate.

Besides helping Zhao Xueshan with experiments and offering ideas, she also arranged their daily meals and occasionally reminded Zhao Xueshan to sleep and rest.

"With me here today, she won't get any. What a shame." Ye Qing showed no mercy as he wolfed down the boxed lunch.

"She bought her own portion. The extra food is only a snack," Zhao Xueshan said as she ate at an unhurried pace.

"Have you been abusing her? Look how hungry you've made the poor girl, eating so much."

"Heh."

Zhao Xueshan answered Ye Qing's teasing with a cold laugh.

"Have you made any progress on the Prototype II Electromagnetic Trap Mecha?" Ye Qing slowed down his eating and made small talk.

"No." Zhao Xueshan sighed.

"The boss demands that the site cannot be damaged. But an electromagnetic trap mecha with reduced power cannot restrict the magical girls' flight.

"To force magical girls into the capture range, we need firepower to pressure them and restrict their flight. We need to capture them without using area attacks. I can't think of a solution."

They could not damage the environment or threaten the citizens, yet they wanted to capture highly mobile magical girls head-on.

It could not be done. It was simply impossible.

"Since you can't get close to the magical girls, make the magical girls come to you." Ye Qing swallowed his food and spoke casually.

"Make it a defensive mecha. Pretend to threaten civilians. Use that electric net from before as a feint, then install an electric cord in the center of the mecha to paralyze magical girls in a surprise attack."

He was not a technical specialist anyway, so it did not matter if he casually made things up.

He was talking big without considering the difficulty of making it.

As the saying went, those near vermilion became red, and those near ink became black... No, no.

The person involved was blind to it, while an outsider saw clearly.

Those simple words broke through Zhao Xueshan's limitations. Countless strange and novel mecha designs began forming in her mind.

"You really are a natural-born bastard!" Zhao Xueshan exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she completely lost interest in eating.

She set down her lunch box and rushed toward the depths of the laboratory without another thought, beginning to prepare the materials needed for the new mecha in her mind.

"Uh... was that a compliment?" Ye Qing's mouth twitched. He looked up at Zhao Xueshan in the distance and called out loudly.

"Are you still eating? Then I'm eating your portion too."

He received no response at all. Zhao Xueshan had already immersed herself in her own world.

Without hesitating for even a second, Ye Qing decisively shoveled the extra portion into his mouth as well.

I'm fucking eating!

For some reason, his appetite had become absurdly good.

He ate far more than before, yet barely felt full.

It seemed his recent increase in exercise had made him eat more.

That was what Ye Qing thought.