Chapter 196 - 124: Skipping the Exam is Blasphemy

Chapter 196: Chapter 124: Skipping the Exam is Blasphemy

She handed the Potion to Chen Shang. "Since you’re sharing your experimental data with me, I won’t charge you!"

Chen Shang gripped the test tube, falling silent for a moment. "Master, there’s another problem. What should I do about the second quiz?"

Missing an exam gave someone who had undergone compulsory education a sense of blasphemous thrill, much like the very first time he had skipped evening self-study to sneak off to an internet cafe.

"Chen, we are conducting a profoundly great experiment. Why would you care about some insignificant little quiz?" Hathaway turned to look at him, spreading her hands. "Alright, since it involves the Truth Continent Exchange Conference, it isn’t entirely insignificant. But life is always about give and take, isn’t it?"

Chen Shang’s mouth twitched. He had no desire to listen to this philosophical reasoning, but he could only cross that bridge when he came to it.

Hathaway patted his shoulder. "Go back and prepare. We’ll start dismantling the Fire Spring the day after tomorrow. Remember, exactly one drop a day—no more, no less. One drop too many, and your Sea of Consciousness won’t be able to handle it. One drop too few, and it won’t dismantle cleanly."

She rolled up the blueprints, shoved them into Chen Shang’s hands, and began pushing him out. "Go, go, go. I need to practice Meditation. I’m exhausted, and it’s all from revising your blueprints."

Chen Shang was shoved out the door, which slammed shut behind him with a loud BANG.

Meanwhile, in Haimer’s laboratory—or rather, his office.

Olivia sat in the guest chair. Her teacup had already gone cold; she hadn’t taken a single sip.

Haimer stood by the window with his back to her, gently tapping his fingers against the sill. He remained silent for a full half-minute before finally turning around.

"No. Absolutely not," he said, his tone uncompromising. "You owe me five hundred years of garrison duty. That was the agreement you signed when you advanced to the Second Level.

"And now you want to transfer this debt to a Second Level Apprentice? A Second Level Apprentice who hasn’t even completed his Spiritual Power Specialization?"

Olivia held her cold tea, speaking at a leisurely pace. "Teacher, please hear me out first."

"Hear you out on how you plan to screw me over? This means I have to suffer for several more centuries!" Haimer walked back to his desk, sitting down with his hands clasped on the table as he stared at his student.

"You should hear my terms first. The debt I assigned him is eight hundred years." Olivia set down her teacup and held up a single finger. "Not five hundred years, but eight hundred."

Haimer narrowed his eyes. "You mean..."

"The debt you gave me is five hundred years. The one I gave him is eight hundred years. That three-hundred-year difference..." Olivia’s lips curled up slightly. "If he advances to the Third Level before your estimated timeframe, all that saved time is pure profit for you."

Haimer didn’t speak, his irritation giving way to contemplation. "How long do you estimate it will take him to advance to the Third Level?"

"It’s hard to say." Olivia leaned back in her chair. "But his talent is highly unusual. When I taught him the Repulsive and Attractive Dual Force, he grasped the basics of Power Level Control in half an Hourglass, and mastered the Repulsive and Attractive Transformation in three breaths."

Haimer’s fingers stopped tapping. "Are you sure? Is his learning ability really that strong?"

"Furthermore, his Sea of Consciousness is in a fractured state," Olivia added. "If he devoted himself entirely to his studies, I believe his speed could even double."

In reality, Olivia was wrong. Chen Shang’s Golden Finger was not affected by his Sea of Consciousness; it solely depended on his degree of understanding regarding the knowledge at hand.

Haimer remained silent for a long time. "This talent you speak of... what exactly is its nature?"

"It seems to boost his learning progress," Olivia said. "When I was teaching him, his progression curve wasn’t smooth. It was stepped—he would suddenly jump up a level. It was as if he instantly digested everything I taught him."

Haimer raised an eyebrow. "A learning-type talent? What a lucky kid. For a Wizard’s long research career, that is far superior to something like Element mastery."

"Highly likely."

"You didn’t verify it?"

"He refused to say, and I didn’t pry." Olivia picked up her teacup, realized the tea was completely cold, and set it down again. "Teacher, I am only responsible for teaching him the Repulsive and Attractive Dual Force. His secrets are none of my business."

Haimer stood up from his chair and walked over to the window, gazing out through the Void at the orbital lines of some distant world. He fell silent for a moment.

"Eight hundred years... You little scoundrel, you’re even more ruthless than I expected."

"Do you think it’s too little?"

"No." Haimer turned around, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You should have quoted a thousand years. I should be the one to negotiate this matter."

Olivia laughed out loud. "Teacher, are you trying to steal my debtor?"

"What do you mean, ’steal’? I am your teacher. Negotiating on your behalf is perfectly justified." Haimer walked back to his desk, picked up a Crystal Plate, and scribbled a few notes on it. "Let’s do this: I’ll talk to him later. One thousand years, and I’ll teach him the Star Force Field."

Haimer set the Crystal Plate down and looked at Olivia. "Besides, you said he has a high probability of advancing to the Third Level within three hundred years. Turning five hundred years into a thousand is quite a good deal."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Teacher, you don’t need to teach him the Star Force Field. It’s publicly available for free... Your plan will highly likely fall through."

"Who says? Maybe he wants to be the principal. Managing so many Planes and mobilizing so many resources—how prestigious!"

"Alright, but I think any Wizard with a functioning brain wouldn’t want to deal with such trivialities." Olivia waved her hand. "Teacher, how long has it been since you were able to complete a long-term, large-scale experiment?"

At the mention of this, Haimer suddenly grew somewhat irritable. "That’s only because you bastards refuse to take over! Logically speaking, I should have retired by now, but I have to find a successor! Don’t leave today; handle the academy’s affairs for me for the day!"

Hearing this, Olivia’s face immediately scrunched up in dismay. Great, she had shot herself in the foot!