93: Chapter 93: A lone man and woman alone in a room, really just conducting scientific research?

"Physical... cooling?"

Jiang Chen repeated those four words, his voice as dry as a salted fish left to bake in the desert for three days.

He looked at Academician Chen Shuyin, who was inches away.

At this moment, the youngest female academician in the Dragon Kingdom had long since lost her usual cold, aloof demeanor. She tilted her head back slightly, her cheeks flushed, and her darting eyes carried a breathtaking allure.

It was not the effect of alcohol.

It was the inevitable result of hormones fermenting in the confined space late at night.

It was too close.

Their breaths intertwined, and Jiang Chen could even smell that unique scent on her—not the vulgar smell of perfume, but a mixture of peppermint shampoo, the scent of books, and a faint trace of her own natural fragrance.

This scent was more lethal than any aphrodisiac.

"Gulp."

Jiang Chen's Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably once again.

He was a normal man, and a hot-blooded one in his early twenties at that. Facing such a top-tier beauty who was practically throwing herself at him, if he didn't react, he wouldn't be a saint—he'd be a vegetable.

"Um... Old Chen."

Jiang Chen's fingers curled slightly, not knowing where to put them.

Put them on her shoulders? That seemed a bit offensive.

Put them on her waist? That seemed... even more offensive, but it would probably feel nice.

"Your glasses... have fogged up."

He held it in for a long time, only to blurt out such a lame line.

Academician Chen Shuyin paused, then chuckled. The laughter was low and husky, teasing Jiang Chen's eardrums like a feather.

"Fogged up?"

She didn't wipe her glasses; instead, she leaned in another inch.

Those two warm, red lips were now only a sheet of paper's thickness away from Jiang Chen's.

"Then why don't you take them off for me?"

Her voice was bewitching. "Or... you can just leave them. After all, for some things, not seeing clearly actually feels better."

Boom—!

The string in Jiang Chen's brain snapped completely.

To hell with being a saint!

To hell with scientific research!

If he endured this any longer, would he even be human?

Jiang Chen's breathing instantly became heavy, and the flames in his eyes flared up. He reached out abruptly, wanting to wrap his arms around her slender waist and respond to this sudden madness.

However.

Just as his hand was about to touch Academician Chen Shuyin's waist.

His peripheral vision, unfortunately, swept over the holographic data board still glowing between them.

On the screen, a line of bold, bright red warning text was flashing frantically, as if silently mocking him.

[Warning: The skin material of this biological entity is extremely unstable!]

[Fatal Weakness: High concentration of saltwater (including seawater, sweat, tears)!]

[Contact Consequence: Causes core circuit short-circuit, triggering irreversible system collapse or even explosion!]

This line of text was like a bucket of liquid nitrogen at minus 200 degrees, instantly poured over the desire that had just ignited in Jiang Chen.

It was a chilling, sobering shock.

His hand froze in mid-air.

The romantic scene in his mind shattered instantly, replaced by a terrifying image:

Those one hundred gray-skinned monsters digging madly underground suddenly short-circuiting collectively because of excessive sweating, then triggering a chain reaction of massive explosions in the underground works...

An engineering project worth hundreds of billions, destroyed in an instant!

"Holy crap!"

Jiang Chen's eyes widened, and he let out a terrified shriek.

This was a major engineering safety hazard!

"Wait! Don't move!"

As if electrocuted, he recoiled violently, his movement so abrupt that it pushed an unsuspecting Academician Chen Shuyin to the other side of the sofa.

"Ah!"

Academician Chen Shuyin let out a cry of surprise, falling onto the sofa armrest, her hair disheveled and her glasses crooked.

The ambiguous, romantic atmosphere that was on the verge of igniting instantly shattered like broken glass.

"Jiang Chen! Are you crazy?!"

Academician Chen Shuyin scrambled up furiously, straightened her glasses, and glared at him with mortified rage. "Why did you push me?!"

She had already taken the initiative to this extent!

This bastard actually pushed her away?!

This was the greatest insult to a woman's charm!

"No! Old Chen, listen to me! Something big has happened!"

Jiang Chen didn't even notice Academician Chen Shuyin's murderous gaze. He grabbed the data board and shoved it right in her face, his finger excitedly poking at the red warning:

"Look! Look at this!"

"It says so in the manual! This thing is afraid of saltwater! Afraid of sweat!"

"Our underground works aren't ventilated! Those monsters will definitely sweat while working! If they sweat too much and short-circuit and explode, what then?!"

"This is a project worth hundreds of billions! If it collapses, we couldn't afford to pay for it even if we sold ourselves!"

Academician Chen Shuyin stared blankly at the data board.

Then she looked at Jiang Chen, who had an anxious face and nothing on his mind but "engineering accidents."

She felt like her lungs were about to explode from anger.

Her chest heaved violently. The shame of having a bucket of cold water poured over her head made her wish she could pull out a scalpel right now, slice open this straight man's head, and see if it was filled with brains or cement!

"Jiang Chen..."

Academician Chen Shuyin gritted her teeth, each word squeezed out from between them:

"Are you saying..."

"In that atmosphere just now, at the very moment I was about to kiss you..."

"What you were thinking about was whether those ugly monsters would short-circuit because of sweating?!"

"Yeah!"

Jiang Chen nodded as if it were only natural. "This is a safety hazard! It must be solved immediately! Old Chen, we need to quickly design a sweat-wicking system, or put sweat-absorbent suits on them..."

"Screw your sweat-wicking!"

Academician Chen Shuyin finally couldn't take it anymore.

She grabbed the data board and slammed it hard onto the sofa.

"Jiang Chen! Are you even a man?!"

She pointed at Jiang Chen's nose, trembling with rage, her eyes red:

"I was like that... and you actually talked to me about a sweat-wicking system?"

"Are you not capable?!"

"If it's a physiological problem, I can help you treat it! If it's a psychological problem, I can find you a doctor!"

"But you used this excuse to humiliate me... You are simply a bastard! A bastard destined to be alone forever!"

This series of roars left Jiang Chen completely stunned.

Not capable?

What man could stand hearing those two words?

This was a matter of dignity! A matter of principle!

"Who said I'm not capable?!"

Jiang Chen also got agitated. He stiffened his neck, stood up, and prepared to prove himself. "I didn't want to take advantage of you! I was doing it for work! If you insist on saying that, then let's do it now..."

As he spoke, he started to unbutton his shirt, striking a pose of "I'll show you today."

Academician Chen Shuyin was also provoked. She sneered and crossed her arms.

"Fine! Go ahead! Let's see if you're actually capable!"

The two of them were like two fighting cocks, staring each other down in the dimly lit office. The atmosphere became tense again, carrying a strange, out-of-control scent of gunpowder.

Just as Jiang Chen's hand reached his belt buckle, preparing to defend his male dignity with action.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

A round of knocking, so urgent it was almost violent, suddenly rang out.

The commotion sounded like they were trying to tear the door down.

Immediately after.

Zhao Gang's rough, anxious, and even slightly terrified loud voice came through the door:

"Boss! Stop sleeping!"

"Something happened! Something big happened!"

"Come out and take a look! The sky is falling!"

Jiang Chen's hand froze on his belt.

Academician Chen Shuyin's sneer also froze on her face.

The two looked at each other, both seeing a trace of panic and embarrassment in the other's eyes.

This scene...

Why does it feel so much like being caught in bed?

"Ahem..."

Jiang Chen hurriedly buttoned up his clothes, straightened his disheveled attire, took a deep breath, and shouted toward the door:

"What are you yelling about! Are you calling for spirits?!"

"Even if the sky is falling, you have to wait for me to put on my pants... ahem, put on my clothes first!"

He turned his head and looked at Academician Chen Shuyin, who still looked indignant, and sighed helplessly:

"Old Chen, let's settle this tonight... later."

"Let's see what's going on outside first."

"Judging by the noise Zhao Gang is making, it probably isn't a small matter."

Academician Chen Shuyin glared at him fiercely, picked up the data board from the floor, pushed up her glasses, and resumed her cold, scientific demeanor, though her ears were still burning red.

"Let's go."

"If this matter isn't big enough, I'll take that Zhao Gang who's knocking... and slice him up too!"