92: Chapter 92 Chen Shuyin's Late-Night Tutoring: Teaching Me How to Use Aliens

West Suburb Base, CEO's office.

The electronic clock on the wall ticked to 2:00 AM.

Outside the window, a dull rumbling sound was still faintly audible. It was the sound of those one hundred tireless gray-skinned "beasts of burden" digging frantically deep underground.

It had to be said, the efficiency of these alien creatures was truly terrifying.

At this rate, the underground hangar expansion project, originally expected to take half a year, would likely be hollowed out by this bunch in about three days.

"Whew..."

Jiang Chen slumped in his executive chair, rubbing his throbbing temples, feeling his eyelids growing heavy.

This day had been more exhausting than wrestling with mutant beasts in the Wasteland.

First, he had to deal with Zhao Gang's crumbling worldview, then appease the construction crew who were nearly scared out of their wits, and finally, arrange food and lodging for these alien masters—although they only ate expired compressed biscuits and slop, the sheer volume of food meant he had to specifically dispatch a truck to transport it.

"Finally, I can take a break."

Jiang Chen yawned, just about to prop his legs up on the desk for a nap.

"Bang!"

The office door was shoved open.

No knocking, no pleasantries.

Academician Chen Shuyin swept in like a whirlwind of cold air.

She hadn't even taken off her lab coat, which was still stained with a bit of dirt from the basement. Her long, wavy hair, usually meticulously styled, was now carelessly tied back, with a few stray strands falling by her cheeks, making her look a bit disheveled.

But her eyes were frighteningly bright.

It was a glow that mixed intellectual curiosity, excitement, and a kind of morbid agitation caused by staying up all night.

"Jiang Chen!"

Academician Chen Shuyin tossed the heavy toolbox in her hand onto the coffee table with a loud "clatter," scaring away Jiang Chen's sleepiness in an instant.

She rushed to the desk in a few strides, braced her hands on the surface, and leaned forward. Her exquisite face was almost pressed against Jiang Chen's, her tone as urgent as if she were dunning a debt:

"Stop sleeping! Wake up!"

"Tell me! Where exactly are the neural centers of those gray-skinned monsters?!"

"I just tried to use ultrasound to scan their spines, and the probe was fried by the rebounding bio-electricity! Their nerve conduction speed is thirty times that of humans! This isn't scientific!"

Jiang Chen leaned back helplessly, trying to put a safe distance between them.

"Big sister, it's 2:00 AM."

He pointed to the clock on the wall. "Even though you're a scientist, you should still respect your biological clock, right? You don't need sleep, but I'm still growing."

"Sleep? Forget sleep! The truth is right in front of us, and you can actually sleep?"

Academician Chen Shuyin glared at him, frustrated by his lack of ambition. "Do you know what this means? If we can crack their neural control protocol, we can develop true biological weapons! Or even enhance human neural reaction speeds!"

She walked around the desk, grabbed Jiang Chen's arm, and pulled him up from his chair.

"Quick! You must have an instruction manual, right?"

"Don't play dumb with me! You even have those high-end bionic maids, you definitely have a control manual for these low-level laborers!"

"Teach me! Teach me right now!"

Jiang Chen was dizzy from being shaken.

"Fine, fine, fine! You win!"

He sighed helplessly and pulled a semi-transparent data pad that looked like a tablet from his drawer—or rather, from the system space.

This was the "Engineering Creature Rearing and Operation Guide" that Jiang Wanqiu had casually tossed to him.

"This is the manual."

Jiang Chen handed the data pad over. "But it's in an alien language, you won't understand it. I'll translate it for you."

Academician Chen Shuyin took it as if it were a treasure and snatched the data pad.

But the next second, she frowned.

The text on it really looked like garbled code, and the operating logic of this data pad was very strange; the holographic interface was as complex as a maze.

"How do you use this?"

Academician Chen Shuyin fiddled with it for a moment, unable to figure it out, and could only look at Jiang Chen for help.

Jiang Chen sighed and pointed to the long sofa nearby.

"Sit over there, I'll teach you."

...

Ten minutes later.

The office lights had been dimmed by Jiang Chen to see the details of the holographic projection clearly.

The two sat side by side on the sofa.

Because they had to look at a screen only the size of a palm together, their distance was forced to be very close.

"Look, this symbol represents 'feeding,' this one represents 'digging,' and this red waveband is 'forced hibernation'..."

Jiang Chen held the data pad, demonstrating while making things up as he went—after all, the system hadn't given a detailed translation, so as long as the general meaning was correct, it would do.

Academician Chen Shuyin listened extremely attentively.

She was a pure scholar; once she entered a learning state, she would automatically block out all surrounding distractions, including the boundaries between men and women.

To see the tiny icon Jiang Chen's finger was clicking, she couldn't help but lean in closer.

A little bit.

A little bit more.

Unknowingly, her shoulder was already pressed tightly against Jiang Chen's arm.

The unique, cold scent of her perfume, mixed with a hint of laboratory disinfectant, was warmed by body heat and turned into an indescribable, ambiguous aura that drilled straight into Jiang Chen's nose.

"Wait, this parameter is wrong."

Academician Chen Shuyin suddenly reached out, her fingertips pointing at the screen, just happening to cover Jiang Chen's hand.

Her hand was very cold and very soft.

"The bio-voltage shown here is 3.5 volts; if directly connected to human nerves, it will fry the brain."

She turned her head, wanting to discuss this serious academic issue with Jiang Chen.

However.

With this turn, the problem became big.

Because they were too close, the stray lock of hair hanging by her ear brushed lightly against Jiang Chen's neck with the movement.

Itch.

That itchiness traveled along his skin like an electric current, instantly spreading through his whole body.

Jiang Chen's hand trembled, and his Adam's apple bobbed instinctively.

He turned his face.

Academician Chen Shuyin's face, unadorned by makeup yet still fair and radiant, was inches away.

In the dim light, her eyes, hidden behind her lenses, were as bright as stars, her long eyelashes fluttering, and he could even see his own somewhat flustered reflection in her pupils.

Their breathing was audible.

That warm breath, carrying a faint scent of mint, sprayed gently onto Jiang Chen's chin.

The air seemed to become thick in this instant.

Academician Chen Shuyin didn't seem to notice the change in atmosphere.

Her attention was still on that damn data, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes focused and persistent, her lips slightly parted, still muttering something about "voltage thresholds" and "neural synapses."

"Jiang Chen, look here..."

As she spoke, she subconsciously leaned in a little bit more.

At this moment.

The distance between their noses was less than 0.01 centimeters.

As long as either of them moved forward even a little bit, even if it was just breathing a little harder, this would turn into a highly accidental—

Kiss.

Jiang Chen froze.

He looked at the red lips inches away, and the string in his brain called "reason" was making a dangerous snapping sound.

This woman...

Does she really not understand, or is she playing hard to get with me?

In the middle of the night, a man and a woman alone, talking about aliens while pressed this close?

Is this script a bit off?

"Um... Old Chen."

Jiang Chen's voice was a bit hoarse, his body stiff as a rock. "Are you... aren't you a bit too close?"

"Close?"

Academician Chen Shuyin was stunned for a moment.

She finally came back to her senses from that pile of complex data and slowly lifted her eyelids.

Their gazes collided.

In those cold, clear eyes, a trace of confusion flashed first, and then, as if realizing something, her pupils suddenly contracted.

She saw the suppressed flame in Jiang Chen's eyes.

She also felt the extremely dangerous transfer of body heat between them, which had already exceeded a safe distance.

In that instant.

Time seemed to stand still.

Academician Chen Shuyin did not back away.

She just quietly looked at Jiang Chen; that brain, which usually only knew how to discuss formulas and data, had strangely crashed at this moment.

Driven by some mysterious impulse.

Her gaze involuntarily shifted down an inch, landing on Jiang Chen's lips.

There, it seemed, was a magnetic force more attractive than the truth.

"Jiang Chen..."

Her voice became a bit low, carrying a tremor and temptation she hadn't even realized herself:

"Your heartbeat... seems a bit fast."

"Do you need me to help you... with physical cooling?"