The Most Dangerous Colleagues

In the conference room, Miao Xin remained silent for a full minute. Everyone held their breath and waited, with only the hum of the ventilation equipment echoing in the room.

"Okay," she finally said, "But on conditions."

Jisu was overjoyed and quickly took out her notebook and pen. "Miss Qiu, please speak!"

"First, all experimental plans must be submitted at least one week in advance. Only after I have thoroughly reviewed and approved them, and confirmed that they will not cause me any form of harm, can they be implemented."

Jisu quickly jotted down notes, the pen scratching across the paper. "This one's fine."

"Second, if I feel any discomfort, experience any abnormal mental state, or witness any fluctuations in the energy of the Nether Sea during the experiment, it must be terminated immediately and unconditionally."

Jisu couldn't think of a reason to object, so she said, "This is also acceptable."

"Finally, in order to protect my core understanding of 'humanity' and maintain my control over the Nether Sea," Miao Xin said, "Each experiment will not exceed two hours, with a seven-day interval between experiments."

This put Jisu in a dilemma. "We hope to increase the frequency and duration of the experiments."

"No way," Miao Xin refused decisively.

****

"Completely refusing their requests will only force them to find another way," Miao Mu said to Su Ming by the river. "We can restrict them, but we can't completely block them off."

Research targeting Little Spiky Head doesn't mean that these people will stop doing it just because it's not permitted.

"I've had a serious discussion with Miao Xin," Su Ming said. "We should cooperate with the research on that Little Spiky Head."

The people who followed them throughout the factory were collecting data in various ways. Su Ming and Miao Xin chose to acquiesce at the time.

Miao Mu was very worried, "Miao Xin, are you alright?"

"Actually, it's alright," Su Ming replied. "She often takes the Little Spiky Head off and washes the bones with detergent."

This was actually necessary. Before, they would climb trucks and crawl through waterways all the time, and the skeleton would get dirty. No matter how perfectly the costume was made, it would be impossible to hide the smell when walking into a crowd.

"But she resisted becoming a guinea pig, so she couldn't accept too frequent testing."

Miao Mu remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "You must remember to maintain the initiative. If you concede too easily, people will think you still have room to maneuver. You might as well use some simple techniques, such as Miao Xin playing the bad cop and you playing the good cop, to understand each other's bottom lines while maintaining a balance, and at the same time leaving room for compromise."

Are these common negotiation tactics?

"What if I don't want to waste my time and energy on this?" Su Ming frowned.

A breeze blew, creating shimmering ripples on the river's surface.

"That makes it even simpler..."

****

In the meeting room, Jisu strongly urged Miao Xin to increase the frequency to once every two days, or even better, once a day.

Su Ming gestured for Jisu to slow down before taking over the conversation.

"At first, Miss Qiu was completely opposed to this," Su Ming said. "I also work in the mechanical industry, so I understand your concerns. However, Miss Qiu and that Little Spiky Head are deeply intertwined. I had to communicate with her for a long time before I finally got her to agree to try this out."

Jisu didn't say much; everyone knew about "Miss Qiu's " situation. And when he heard Su Ming trying to smooth things over, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Miao Xin asked for seven days, and I tried to increase my offer. If we compromise, we should be able to negotiate once every three or four days.

"So since neither side is satisfied, let's cancel the experiment." Su Ming suddenly changed the subject. "Alright, next one."

Jisu stared dumbfounded at the Little Spiky Head controlled by Su Ming. They were talking so well, how could it suddenly disappear?

Ling Wen, standing behind her, wanted to laugh, but she held it in.

"Just now—" Jisu began, trying to salvage the situation.

Su Ming interrupted him without hesitation, "Sorry, I already said, next."

Protecting Miao Xin doesn't necessarily require a stern partner; someone even fairer-skinned than her can do it!

He and Miao Xin are irreplaceable. They can decide the pace and method of negotiation themselves, and others will naturally accommodate them.

Jin Rongjia remained calm and gestured for Jisu to remain patient. He then looked up at Su Ming and announced that they would move on to the next topic.

[Miao Xin, they will definitely try to persuade you through Ling Wen after the meeting.] Su Ming said, [Just do what you think is best; there's no need to make concessions you don't want to make.]

"Yes!" Miao Xin replied, "I know."

Jisu calmed down. He could judge the situation; the matter wasn't truly rejected, seven days was the final condition, and he just needed to back down a bit.

He needs to apologize for his earlier harassment.

Su Ming was using him as a "killing the chicken to scare the monkey," setting rules for similar situations that might occur in the future.

He should thank them!

****

After Jisu, another woman spoke.

"I'm the head of the Sangzi Group," she said, her face kind, as if the unpleasant scene from just a few days ago had never happened. "We've already conducted a preliminary analysis of the data records from the transmission process a few days ago."

Sangzi unfolded her laptop, and a video began playing on the large screen on the side of the conference room. "Mr. Su, these are the photos you requested," she said with a smile to Su Ming.

The scene shows the conveyor belt in the Precision Machinery Heavy Industries workshop. The Little Spiky Head stands in front of the components of the Doomsday Locomotive with a cool pose, confidently raising his bone claws with pink manicured nails, and then suddenly freezes in shock.

On the Youth Civilization, Su Ming couldn't help but cover his face. This scene will surely be studied repeatedly by many scientists, and may even be included in textbooks in the future.

He really wanted to post on a forum: Is there any hope for someone in the late stages of social anxiety? Waiting online, urgent!

On the screen, the Little Spiky Head recovered from his daze and once again stretched out his gleaming claws. The huge piece of equipment in front of him vanished into thin air, leaving behind a large amount of debris scattered all over the ground.

Sangzi paused the video and replayed it at ten thousand times slower speed. Against the backdrop of the grid, one could clearly see that at that moment, some kind of spatial distortion occurred, exhibiting a strange trajectory of movement, spreading, and disappearing.

Sangzi switched to another scene, this time showing thousands of invisible laser beams distributed across the area. At the moment the transmission occurred, the affected laser beams were distorted and deflected.

Then she continued switching, in turn, the magnetic field, the electric field, and the changes in gravity. She did it very quickly, and the amount of data was huge, but it didn't matter, since Su Ming wouldn't understand it anyway.

"Our preliminary analysis over the past few days has completely ruled out known interference factors such as air refraction." Sangzi's voice rose with excitement, "We have confirmed the occurrence of a spatial distortion phenomenon with a duration on the microsecond level and a scale on the centimeter level! Its manifestation is a completely new function graph, which has thoroughly expanded—"

"Submit a detailed written statement," Jin Rongjia interrupted her, "To save time."

"Understood!" Sangzi turned off the video, closed her notebook, and began the summary, "Our group needs to conduct further observations and research on the transmission process, which holds the promise of revolutionary progress in the spatial direction!"

****

On the riverbank, Miao Mu adjusted the position of the float and cast the line again. This time, the float was barely visible above the water.

He then stopped fiddling with the fishing rod, satisfied, and sat down on the folding stool.

"The Sangzi ' is actually the ' Entropion,'" Miao Mu told Su Ming. "Entropy and elementary particles."

"From the Institute of Physics?"

"Yes. Don't be fooled by their polite demeanor; they're actually the group we need to be most wary of!" Miao Mu warned solemnly. "These people haven't made any breakthroughs in the fundamental theories of physics since birth. They've been imprisoned for far too long. A glimmer of Dawn like yours appearing before them is enough to drive some of them mad!"

"What will they do?" Su Ming frowned.

"Space research isn't necessarily easy to break through. If we encounter obstacles, one thing I can think of is mixing radioactive material into the equipment as calibration and anchor points!" Miao Mu said. "That way we can obtain more detailed data—after all, 'a little' radiation won't kill you."

"... I need to have Miao Xin buy a high-energy particle counter," Su Ming said with a wry smile.

"The problem is, I'm not a professional." Miao Mu also gave a wry smile. "These highly intelligent people can definitely come up with more than three-digit tricks, far beyond what my little brain can comprehend."

Su Ming felt a chill run down his spine. "Didn't these people undergo rigorous political vetting?"

"This isn't a political vetting matter," Miao Mu shook his head. "Those who can reach the top in the solitary field of academia don't lack the fervor of 'If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening.'" He cautioned, "Many top geniuses just happen to look like normal people. Ordinary beings simply don't deserve to stand before you. Besides—" Miao Mu paused, "That's a space!"

The line between genius and madness is thin, especially when there's catnip right in front of you!

"How do we do it?" Su Ming asked Miao Mu, "Don't beat around the bush this time."

"... First, use barbarians to control barbarians! Second, establish rules to discipline them! Third, give them things to do!"

****

"Excuse me," Su Ming suddenly interrupted Sangzi, "Could you submit your upcoming experimental plan to me for review in advance?"

"Of course!" Sangzi smiled. "Mr. Su, that's only right!"

"Can we agree on some specific safety guidelines?" Su Ming continued, "Such as the composition of the observation equipment, energy levels, and radiation level limits?"

"Absolutely no problem!" Sangzi answered crisply, but Su Ming noticed that she subconsciously adjusted her posture.

"Then I request the establishment of a supervisory team to oversee all of Sangzi Group's experimental plans and the safety of on-site equipment," Su Ming suddenly said. "This team will be composed of another similar research group. If it is found that Sangzi Group has exceeded the experimental plan or violated safety regulations during the experiment, the supervisory team will take over."

Sangzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Mr. Su Ming, you are overthinking it. All our experimental plans undergo careful review and are subject to full supervision!"