Chapter 326 - 250: Another Day of Not Sleeping Well

Chapter 326: Chapter 250: Another Day of Not Sleeping Well

"The data testing is complete..." Ye Qingzhou said, examining the nozzle at the end of the spear where it lay on the ground. Without looking up, she asked, "Did you have to repair this?"

"Repair it? Nope."

Lin Fan stood at the head of the bridge, gazing at the dense cluster of red health bars on the opposite bank.

It seemed the continuous "thunder" from moments ago had agitated the horde of corpses even more. The sound of them falling into the water, SPLASH SPLASH, was now incessant.

[Durability: 96/100]

Not only was it not broken, it worked incredibly well.

"You didn’t repair it?"

After receiving confirmation, the surprise in Ye Qingzhou’s eyes deepened. The spear’s nozzle was still emitting heat, so she had to squat on the ground, taking out a steel ruler to measure it from different angles.

"The inner wall is still smooth, with basically no signs of thermal erosion. The throat structure shows no plastic deformation from the high temperature and pressure..."

"A normal high-strength alloy would have softened and deformed long ago after continuous ignition under these conditions, with no cooling measures whatsoever."

"What a terrifying material." She opened her small notebook again to jot down notes, muttering to herself, "In that case, the nozzle dimensions and throat design for the ’Power Axe’ can be even more extreme..."

"How did it feel?"

While Ye Qingzhou was lost in her "science," Su Qing curiously sidled up to Lin Fan.

She reached out to fix his wind-tousled hair, her eyes looking him up and down. "How was it different from when Zhaozhao carries you?"

"A huge difference..."

Lin Fan recalled the feeling of being dragged along by the "skyrocket" in his hands, that sensation of immense g-force. He shook his head.

"Her way is too slow."

It wasn’t that Lin Fan was fickle, abandoning the old for the new.

"Her ability is more convenient, but it only qualifies as ’flight’ when she’s by herself. When she’s carrying someone, the speed is ’levitation’ at best."

"I want to fly too..." Ye Qingniao, who had been standing quietly to the side, sidled up to Su Qing and said, her expression full of longing.

"Well, once you’re recovered, I’ll tie you to this pole and launch you like a firecracker..." Lin Fan gently ruffled her hair, messing it up completely. His words, however, were asking for a beating. "I guarantee you’ll get all the flying you want. It’s just that on landing, you might have to go face-first."

"Hmph!"

Ye Qingniao shot him an annoyed glare and slapped away the large hand that was making a mess of her hair. Then, she instinctively stuck out her foot and gave Lin Fan’s calf a light, token kick to show her displeasure.

However, the solid impact she expected never came. Instead, there was a CRACK—a faint, crisp sound, like a dry leaf being crushed underfoot.

The pant leg, long since made brittle by the high-temperature exhaust from the spear’s thruster, was shattered by the sudden kick. It disintegrated into black ash that rustled to the ground, revealing Lin Fan’s bare calf underneath, along with a few singed and curled leg hairs.

The scene instantly became very awkward.

"Whoa..." Ye Qingniao had finally found a new angle of attack. "I didn’t realize this spear could not only fly but also works as a laser hair removal device."

Even Su Qing, who had been fixing his hair, froze with her hand in mid-air. Her shoulders began to shake violently as she desperately tried to hold back her laughter.

...

"That was from when I wasn’t used to it and the exhaust hit my pant leg! This thing doesn’t have a rearview mirror, how was I supposed to see where the backblast was going? Besides, I avoided it the other times, didn’t I?"

On the way back, Lin Fan, who was driving, stubbornly tried to save face.

"It takes time to get the hang of it... And it was an accident, a total accident."

The atmosphere in the car was jovial.

This lasted until the vehicle came to a SCREECHING halt at the construction site entrance. The engine cut out, and the world fell silent once more.

Everyone pushed open their doors and got out.

A gust of night wind blew past, and Lin Fan felt a chill on his right calf. He looked down to see that half his pant leg was like a cookie; a few more crumbs flaked off as he moved. His smooth, bare calf looked particularly desolate and comical in the moonlight.

"Right, right, you’re just not used to it."

Ye Qingniao hopped out of the car, seemingly in an exceptionally good mood. With her hands in her pockets and her head held high, she swaggered toward the camp with long strides.

After a couple of steps, she suddenly stopped and turned back. Her gaze swept back and forth between Lin Fan’s legs, and a mischievous smile played on her lips.

"Once you get the hang of it, be sure to ’take care’ of the left leg, too. Otherwise, having one side hairy and the other bare... you might catch a cold."

Without waiting for Lin Fan’s rebuttal, she turned and, like a victorious little rooster, hummed a little tune as she skipped back into the camp.

"I’m heading back, too."

Ye Qingzhou, ever the mature and composed one, expressionlessly clutched the data-filled notebook to her chest and walked over to Lin Fan.

"The field test data for the ’Sky Ladder’ just now has overturned many of our initial assumptions. The material’s heat resistance and energy efficiency far exceeded expectations. This means the nozzle dimensions and combustion chamber structure for the ’Power Axe’ need to be recalculated... The previous design was too conservative."

As she spoke, a fanatical glint flashed in her eyes. Her exhaustion seemed to melt away, replaced by the excitement of building a new toy.

"If all goes well, I should be able to finish calculating the final design specs tonight."

"Okay." Lin Fan put aside his playful mood and nodded solemnly. His tone was sincere. "Thank you for your hard work, Colonel Ye."

After bidding farewell to the sisters, Qingzhou and Qingniao, the clamor of the day finally came to a close.

So much had happened today. They had been busy from morning till night, and even a man of iron would feel a hint of bone-deep exhaustion.

What’s more, Su Qing had also been "grinding mobs" today, and her HP had increased by nearly two hundred.

Normally, she should be feeling extremely drowsy from the side effects of leveling up, just like Chu Zhaozhao, and would have passed out long ago. But she had forced herself to stay up with Lin Fan until now.