death of hope

Chapter 1002 "Psionic Storm" (76) Academic Factions
"Senior, this is for you, with milk but no sugar."

"Thank you~"

Dr. Ryan Elsson, the leader of Project Zero, took the takeout bag from his colleague.
He took out a paper cup, inserted a straw, took a sip, and frowned.

"It smells like artificially flavored coffee, yet they claim it's brewed from natural coffee beans. Starbucks is getting worse and worse."

"Hey? What are you guys looking at?"

"Look over there, there's going to be a good show!"

Several colleagues peeked through the crack in the door into the hallway. One of them came back and nudged Ryan with his elbow:
"Hey senior, look! Someone's here looking for the old man! Get ready to hear them swearing!"

·
Dr. Lane placed the paper cup on the table and glanced at it casually to the side;
Through the half-open door, one could see the tall, handsome psionic security expert, Leon Vilnius, knocking on the door in the hallway.
After receiving permission, Li Ang straightened his collar and walked into the director's office. To everyone's surprise, the familiar sound of the old man cursing did not come from inside.
A short while later, Li Ang came out, exchanged a few pleasantries with the director's secretary, and then headed towards the elevator.

After Li Ang had walked away, Ryan complained:
"I didn't hear the teacher (Dr. Joseph) swearing. It seems like he's pleased the old man. That kid is going to get a promotion and a raise again."

“That’s right!” The researchers closed the door and started chatting amongst themselves.

"That's really something, he's even managed to calm the old man down."

"That kid is really hardworking. He goes out on dates with that little vixen during the day, and then works overtime in B14 at night. He didn't even go back to his dorm last night, and just slept in the break room. He's so busy, yet he still managed to find time to study two courses. He's a master of time management."

Another person said, "Little Li's acting skills are truly amazing. He pretended to be a student and dated the bottom, tricking her by saying he would help her cure her illness. He completely fooled that silly girl, allowing her to be injected with drugs and undergo surgery at will. No matter how painful or uncomfortable it was, she just endured it. All the troubles of the project team were resolved by that kid."

"She's got some nerve, dating that witch. Even nine lives wouldn't be enough. It's dangerous even if it's just acting. If her psychic powers suddenly go out of control, her brains might splatter out."

"Yeah, he deserves the promotion and raise. He's so hardworking and capable." "I wouldn't be surprised if the old man suddenly got a brain fart and promoted Li to deputy director..."

These words instantly turned the previously relaxed and pleasant atmosphere awkward.
The researcher who said this realized he had made a mistake, so he kept his head down and drank his coffee without looking up, while the others all looked at the senior student.

·
"Why are you looking at me like that? It's like I'm jealous or envious, how petty!"

Dr. Ryan Elson lounged lazily on the sofa, looking completely indifferent;

"You guys are too young and hot."
Although we are both his students, I am his eldest disciple. I know him better than his own son. I can guess what he's up to just by looking at him.

Li Ang is going to great lengths to curry favor with the old man, not just to climb to the top of the company and oust us all, but also because he wants to.
He wanted to use the old man's wealth and connections to escape his status as an exiled nobleman's illegitimate son so he could return to his hometown of Vilnius and resume his life as a nobleman's son. The old man was his only lifeline, so it would be strange if he didn't work like crazy.

Correspondingly, the old man promoted him for the sake of the project. How could he get the dog to work so diligently without feeding him a few ribs, right?
Don't assume that just because our director is an old-fashioned intellectual, he's necessarily honest and kind. Nobody survives in a big company without being a pushover. When it comes to power struggles, he's far more ruthless than most people.
Back in his early days, when the old man was still a professor in the Department of Psionics at URI (Rhode Island State University), he engaged in academic factionalism, hired assassins to kill psionics professors at other universities, abandoned his wife and children, and committed many other despicable acts—only I, his eldest disciple, knew about them.

Let the senior students tell you what will happen if Project Zero succeeds: the old man will win the Nobel Prize and receive a company bonus, and we students will get a share of the spoils.
Dr. Joseph H.D. Dane only trusted students he mentored as doctoral advisors, and those from his own academic faction.
The inhumane experiments conducted in Area B14 would absolutely not pass the IRB's (Note 1) review. If leaked, it would cause a huge scandal, and everyone from the old man to us would have to go in.

What the old man found even more intolerable than going to jail was the loss of the Nobel Prize he had already received. Therefore, he was determined to eliminate all potential threats without showing any leniency.

Besides us researchers, everyone working in area B14 of the research institute includes psionic security experts, engineers, security guards, electricians, cleaners, and so on.

They were all silenced.

(Chapter Note 1: IRB:)

The abbreviation for Institutional Review Board.
This organization serves as a crucial ethical line of defense for scientific research in the Terra Federation, aiming to ensure that all participants in human research on Terra receive the utmost humane respect and protection during the testing process.