Professor Morning's Marvelous Inventions

"Senior... um... I'm sorry..."

As Sigrika ate, she stole glances at the handprint on Xiao Ling's face and apologized somewhat sheepishly.

"No, it's fine, Sigrika. You didn't do anything wrong."

Xiao Ling felt quite holy now, as though he could attain the Dao and ascend on the spot.

"That mighty slap just now made me understand that even if I had met an untimely end then, the loving Lord would still have saved me from suffering. His merciful soul would cleanse the filth from my heart and guide me to the heavenly path."

"May Jesus Christ be with us, amen."

Seeing that the idiot had gone crazy, Sigrika felt even guiltier.

"Yaya... what do we do...?! Senior seems to be..."

"Oh, if that's what's going on, it's actually easy to fix."

Dania put down her chopsticks and gave Xiao Ling another hard slap on the back of his head.

"Damn it, Yaya, what are you doing? Trying to murder the cook?!" Pain shot through the back of Xiao Ling's head, and the blow nearly sent his face into the table.

"There, all better." Dania's plan had worked. She picked up her chopsticks and resumed wolfing down her food.

After a few disgruntled grumbles, Xiao Ling also started shoveling down food to vent his irritation.

Aemeath watched the bickering pair flirt and suddenly felt that the sweet-and-sour pork in her mouth tasted even more sour.

She knew that, given A-Yu's personality, he would only gain more female confidantes in the future, not fewer. She had long since accepted that she would live under the same roof with them someday, and even share a man with them.

But no matter what, she had to be the first to pluck the peach. That was her bottom line!

(So you're going to force yourself on Lao Ling, Hajiai?)

Still, if things really came to that, there was no helping it. After all, Hajiling might constantly make dirty jokes, but he was very conservative by nature. As far as he was concerned, that sort of thing had to happen naturally. Until then, no matter how eagerly the girls threw themselves at him, he would force himself to be a gentleman.

But just because you won't accept them doesn't mean the others won't make a move themselves, does it?

That was enough of that topic for now. Just as Xiao Ling and the girls had cleared their used bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Lynae said. She bounded to the entrance in a few steps and opened the villa door with a click. "Oh, good evening, Professor Morning."

"Good evening, Lynae. Is Senior inside?" Morning nodded gently in response to Lynae's greeting before asking.

"He is. We just finished eating and were about to wash the dishes."

"Then it seems I came at just the right time." Morning smiled. "I brought a homemade dishwasher. This is a good chance to test it and see whether it meets Senior's needs."

Hearing that she had come to deliver something, Lynae hurriedly stepped aside to let Morning through.

Professor Morning strode gracefully inside and, sure enough, saw Xiao Ling and the others sitting on the sofa, resting after their meal.

"Senior, I brought the dishwasher you wanted."

"So soon? As expected of a professor." Hearing that the dishwasher had arrived, Xiao Ling sprang to his feet. "Can I see the finished product?"

"Mm... this way, please." Morning glanced toward the kitchen, where the freshly cleared dirty bowls and chopsticks sat.

Professor Morning led the transport robot all the way to the kitchen-but hang on, how did you manage to casually make a transport robot while developing a dishwasher?!

When it came to technology changing lives, Professor Morning really was the authority.

Back to the matter at hand: after making the final adjustments to the dishwasher, Morning instructed Xiao Ling to put the bowls and chopsticks that needed washing inside.

"Actually, after doing some research, I found that the dishwashers currently on the market had no room left for functional improvement, so I focused on efficiency and safety. By my estimates, this dishwasher's complete washing cycle should take 50-75 percent less time than those on the market, and it should be a little safer as well. But to prevent accidents, I've installed a self-check program that runs once every two weeks. If there's a problem, it will automatically trigger an alarm, and I'll receive a notification too."

Morning knew Xiao Ling wouldn't understand her lengthy discourse, which was like an academic report, so she simply presented the results.

"That's amazing..." Sigrika was rather shocked. After all, that morning it had taken their whole group nearly half an hour to clean up the bowls and chopsticks after breakfast, and this dishwasher could save them at least half that time.

"Thanks for your hard work, Professor Morning," Xiao Ling said with a nod to her.

"If you truly appreciate my hard work, Senior, you can simply call me Morning from now on. Adding the title of professor makes us sound rather overly formal with each other."

Well, even Professor Morning had learned to joke.

The dishwasher still needed some time to finish, so Morning took the opportunity to introduce the other two things she had brought.

"This is a robot that both sweeps and mops. I've made it lighter without changing its original functions, so it's a little smaller than the cleaning robots on the market. I'll install a charging station on each of the first and second floors in a moment. When their batteries run low, they'll go to their designated charging stations on their own."

"When I last visited your home, Senior, I noticed that this villa was very spacious and would be quite inconvenient to clean by hand. So I made these, and I hope they can be of help to you."

"I really hadn't considered that until you mentioned it. That was thoughtful of you, Morning." Xiao Ling smiled and thanked her.

"Oh, right, that transport robot is also a gift I prepared for you, Senior. Don't worry, I've already made several identical ones and kept them at my place. As for how to use it... you just need to walk in front of it and lead the way."

Xiao Ling had been planning to test it out, but Lynae and Aemeath were already playing with the transport robot.

"Looks like there's no problem." Xiao Ling nodded in confirmation.

"Mm-hmm. Oh, right, Sigrika, Dania, I have something for you."

The two best friends who had been called over immediately gathered in front of Morning like well-behaved children, wanting to see what she had for them.

Right before their eyes, Morning took out... a few rings?

"Rings?" Sigrika curiously accepted the ring-shaped items, unable to keep from wondering.

Dania thought they probably weren't ordinary rings and was exploring how to use them.

"I'd advise you not to fiddle with them. They contain a very strong electrical charge, and improper use could injure you," Professor Morning warned.

Dania's restless little hands immediately became still.

"Look, like this. Press this button with your hand, and the charge inside will be released instantly." Morning showed Sigrika and Dania how to use the ring-shaped self-defense devices. "Although they're single-use, they're well disguised and can be used to counterattack effectively when you're restrained."

"Next, these." Professor Morning handed each of them a black, stick-like object. "Be careful, these are electric too. Remember to charge them fully every day and carry them with you. If you ever need to defend yourselves at close range, they'll be very useful."

"Actually, couldn't you lower the requirements a little?" Xiao Ling voiced his concern at that point. "Electricity is dangerous. Used improperly, it could hurt both the user and someone else, and it could also create an unnecessary situation where they have to prove they acted in self-defense."

"That won't happen, Senior. At most, these electric self-defense devices will cause anyone trying to hurt them a little superficial pain. They won't seriously injure anyone." Morning smiled and soothed Xiao Ling's concerns. "Rather, wouldn't it be a failure on my part as a professor if these devices couldn't help them when it mattered?"

Morning set very high standards for herself, which was one of the important reasons she had been able to lead the Solaris Ritual and the Artificial Core project. As a professor, she was not only exceptionally talented and beautiful, but also personally took part in carrying out every major project. She was by no means a scholar who only knew theory.

Even for self-defense devices and a dishwasher that took her little effort, she still demanded the best of herself.

"Wait, Morning, how many days has it been since you slept? You've got dark circles under your eyes." Only after confirming that the self-defense devices were safe did Xiao Ling notice the faint dark circles beneath Morning's eyes, and he spoke with considerable concern.

"Mm... from when I started until now... three days, I think?"

...???!!!

Professor Morning, you're pushing yourself way too hard!

"It's all right, Senior. Sometimes Deep Sky Collective projects require us to work around the clock to finish sooner. This isn't my first time working at such intensity." Afraid Xiao Ling would worry about her health, Morning took care to reassure him.

Xiao Ling couldn't be bothered to say more and gave her an irritated rap on the head.

"Ah, ow...!" Morning was stunned.jpg. "Senior, what was that for...?"

"Come on, Sister Mo, isn't that just reckless? Staying up late is terrible for your health, and you even pulled several all-nighters in a row," Xiao Ling chided her flippantly, giving her smooth little cheek a pinch. "Besides, if you stay up too long, your skin will get worse. You wouldn't want that, would you..."

The women around them all nodded vigorously in agreement with Xiao Ling.

"Mm..." Morning's cheeks flushed slightly. She knew perfectly well that Senior was concerned about her.

"Then I promise you, Senior, this will be the last time!" she promised Xiao Ling earnestly.

"Good. If you stay up all night working like this again, I'll get Roccia to watch you and make sure you rest." Xiao Ling grinned.