Chapter 141 How many more surprises does Lu Jingming have in store for us to discover?

"It's finished."

Shen Qingqiu's voice had just fallen.

The white mist from the air cooler was hitting the floor-to-ceiling explosion-proof glass, condensing into a thin layer of moisture.

Lu Jingming casually stuffed the green plastic lighter back into his worn-out jeans pocket.

On Chu Xuan's forehead, which he had just wiped dry with a tattered tissue, a layer of dense, cold sweat instantly broke out again.

"What's finished? Are we brewing traditional Chinese medicine?"

Chu Xuan swallowed dryly, his Adam's apple aching.

His legs were shaking uncontrollably, and he looked at the top-secret document with terrified eyes.

"Boss Lu, our mobile internet market share has only just stabilized, please don't come up with any more terrifying stunts."

Lu Jingming ignored him.

His distinct, bony fingers pinched the kraft paper bag stamped with a top-secret red seal.

With a "rip" sound, the seal was brutally torn off.

He quickly scanned the dense test data on the paper.

A fierce light like a hungry wolf seeing blood instantly surged in his eyes.

"Let's go."

Lu Jingming crumpled the stack of papers into a ball and stuffed it casually into his pants pocket.

He turned and strode out the door.

His ten-yuan plastic flip-flops made dull thuds on the wool carpet.

Chu Xuan didn't dare say anything, only gritted his teeth and followed.

The elevator went straight down to the third basement level.

This was the core shielded laboratory of Xinghai Technology.

The temperature was a full five degrees lower than upstairs, and the cold air drilled straight into his bones through his pant legs.

"Beep—"

After verifying his pupils and fingerprints, the heavy airlock door slowly slid open.

Old Li was hunched over a stainless steel workbench.

His thick, bottle-bottom myopia glasses were almost pressed against the bulletproof glass cover.

Hearing footsteps, Old Li abruptly straightened his back.

"Boss Lu!"

Old Li's thick glasses reflected a cold light, and his voice was trembling violently.

"It's a success! The purification quality is so perfect you can't pick a single flaw!"

In the center of the glass cover, a transparent, water-drop-shaped crystal was floating silently via a magnetic levitation base.

The crystal was only the size of a thumb.

Inside, a silvery shimmer like mercury flowed faintly.

This thing didn't look like an industrial product from Earth at all.

It looked more like an alien relic dug out of a sci-fi movie.

Chu Xuan leaned in to take a look.

His mouth was wide open, and his dentures almost fell onto the stainless steel countertop.

"Old Li, what kind of treasure is this glass lump?" Chu Xuan wiped the cold sweat off his face.

"This is not glass."

A dragging sound of footsteps came from the corner.

Xia Weiliang walked over barefoot, dragging that yellowed, dirty lab coat.

She was biting on a grape-flavored lollipop, the plastic stick bobbing as she chewed.

"This is the core medium material for holographic neuron projection."

Xia Weiliang rolled her eyes, the area under her eyes dark and bruised from staying up late.

"For this damn stone, I stayed up for three straight nights rewriting the underlying scheduling algorithm."

She walked barefoot to the workbench, not caring about any sense of ceremony at all.

She directly picked up a black data cable covered in metal probes from the table.

"Boss Lu, I've already hardcoded the test code into the Pandora Protocol."

Xia Weiliang shoved the probes of the data cable roughly into the base interface under the crystal.

With a "click," it locked into place.

She pushed off with the soles of her feet, and her swivel chair slid to the console nearby.

Ten fingers stained with machine oil clattered against the mechanical keyboard.

"Warning for strong light, close your eyes!"

Xia Weiliang shouted, her fingertips slamming down on the Enter key.

"Snap!"

The incandescent lights in the entire underground laboratory instantly went out.

The surroundings plunged into deathly darkness.

Before Chu Xuan could react to what was happening, the water-drop crystal suddenly erupted with a strong energy fluctuation.

"Hum—"

A low humming sound cut through the silence.

No screen descended in the air, nor were there any physical light beams hitting dust or water mist as seen in movies.

But a mass of eerie blue light exploded right in front of Chu Xuan's line of sight without any warning.

Chu Xuan was so scared he shivered.

He subconsciously leaned back, his back slamming against the cold metal cabinet with a loud "clang."

He stared fixedly at mid-air.

The mass of eerie blue light quickly converged and took shape.

In less than half a second, it turned directly into a palm-sized blue fluorescent butterfly.

The butterfly was just two inches in front of his nose, slowly flapping its lifelike wings.

Even the blue glowing trails of phosphorus falling from the edges of its wings were disturbingly clear.

But this was too bizarre!

Because there was absolutely no ambient light in the laboratory!

Any light projection must have a reflective medium to be captured by the eyes.

Chu Xuan's eyes were bloodshot, his breathing heavy like a broken bellows.

He slammed his eyes shut.

"Oh my god!"

Chu Xuan waved his hands blindly with his eyes shut, his voice cracking completely.

"I... I must be seeing a ghost! How can I still see this glowing giant moth even with my eyes closed!"

Because that blue butterfly was still fluttering vividly in his dark, closed field of vision!

"Moth your head. This is a Morpho butterfly model."

In the darkness, Xia Weiliang chuckled while biting her candy.

Lu Jingming stood not far away with one hand in his pocket.

"This is holographic neuron projection."

His voice was casual, exuding an arrogance that dragged common physics knowledge through the dirt.

"It doesn't need to refract light through the air to enter your eyeballs."

Lu Jingming tapped the glass cover with his knuckles, making a crisp "knock-knock" sound.

"The photon beams emitted by this crystal bypass your retina directly."

He paused, his tone filled with absolute arrogance.

"It is communicating directly with your optic nerve reflex area. You are 'seeing' this butterfly with your brain."

Accompanied by the "click-clack" of high heels, Shen Qingqiu also walked into the laboratory.

"Over seventy percent of the world's LCD panels and OLED screens are monopolized by South Korea's Samsung and LG Group."

Shen Qingqiu pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, her voice cold and devoid of emotion.

"Every year, the cost of purchasing physical screens alone accounts for one-third of our Xinghai hardware costs."

Chu Xuan opened his eyes abruptly.

His head was buzzing, and his scalp was tingling.

He reached out his right hand, trembling, trying to grab the blue butterfly hovering in mid-air.

His palm closed, but there was nothing.

No cold touch of physical glass, no obstruction of a screen.

His fingers passed straight through the realistic blue light.

"Gulp."

Chu Xuan swallowed dryly, his molars aching.

This meant that in the future, when humans look at any information, they would no longer need to hold a glass plate with heavy bezels.

TVs? Phone screens? Computer monitors?

In front of this untouchable butterfly, they all became primitive junk from the last century.

"Snap."

The laboratory lights turned back on.

The light/shadow connection in the optic nerve was forcibly cut, and the butterfly instantly dissipated into the air.

The tattered tissue in Chu Xuan's hand fell to the floor, and he didn't even bother to pick it up.

"Bo-Boss Lu."

Chu Xuan's legs were shaking, his tongue tied in knots.

He pointed at the crystal lying quietly in the glass cover.

"This thing... doesn't even need a screen?"

Lu Jingming didn't answer.

He fished out the plastic lighter with the chipped green paint from his pocket with his right hand.

His thumb pressed against the metal grinding wheel, and he rubbed it down heavily.

"Click."

A crisp mechanical sound echoed in the closed laboratory.

The eerie blue flame suddenly shot up.

The firelight reflected on the bulletproof glass cover, illuminating half of Lu Jingming's sharp, white canine tooth and the fierce, predatory glint in his eyes.

"Glass factories should go out of business."

Lu Jingming stared at the flame, the corners of his mouth curling wider and wider.

"I'm going to make Samsung and LG's panel businesses go bankrupt and liquidate next month."