Warning, Chaos

After an entire comprehensive academic presentation had ended, Tang Yuyang finally rose to his feet. Even though his mind had wandered a little in the middle and he had not listened too closely, he had indeed gained a great deal.

Carrying that scalp-numbing "Research Proposal," he followed the diverse crowd of scientific talents from the base—young and old, black-haired, white-haired, and even bald—as they filed out in an orderly fashion through various exits.

After winding through corridor after corridor, with crisscrossing laboratory domes and landscaped courtyards below his feet, he passed through several suspended glass walkways. He tapped his assistant-level electronic authorization card and scanned his fingerprint, passing the transfer checkpoint's verification.

With a soft electronic chime, the smart lock marking the boundary between the two zones automatically opened.

—For outsiders like them, who had in fact only arrived recently, the areas they usually came into contact with were only this normal living zone where most of the base personnel resided, and the relatively less important primary work zone he had just stepped out of. That was all.

Not long after returning to the living area, while he was still considering whether to visit his parents in the family housing district later, someone stopped him near his personal dormitory.

"Yuyang, wait a moment, wait a moment."

The bald middle-aged man standing by the road, still slightly out of breath, was also an old acquaintance of Tang Yuyang's.

Everyone usually called him "Director Lao." He seemed to have come from a research background as well, but later switched to administration, specifically handling liaison and coordination with the relevant user groups. He was always amiable, and everyone generally got along well with him.

Now that they had run into each other, Tang Yuyang noticed that Director Lao was not wearing his usual