death of hope

Chapter 966 "Psionic Storm" (42) Young Talents

Once things settle down, time flies by.
Two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye.
Many things happened during that time: Zero went berserk again, equipment broke down, and so on...

Thanks to the blessing of Lady Luck, everyone survived the ordeal safely without injury or death. As of this morning, there have been no accidents for three consecutive days.

New assistant Leon Vilnius is getting used to working and living in the B14 area, and his hard work is evident.

Proficient in using computer systems to assist in office work, operating various anti-psychic devices, managing the daily life of 'Zero Talented Individual', ensuring that Zero is always in a relatively healthy and stable state, and ensuring that the project team's progress is not delayed.

Not only is she competent in her job, but she also takes advantage of her spare time to learn relevant knowledge and occasionally helps with tedious tasks such as operating centrifuges, drawing blood samples, and making chemical analysis chromatograms, relieving the pressure on researchers and winning the favor of her colleagues.

Relying on his powerful anti-psychic talent, self-discipline, hard work, and most importantly, his fearless and relentless fighting spirit,

In less than a month, Li Ang proved that he could replace his senior Diego and be competent in this high-risk and high-pressure job.

Even Dr. Ryan Elson, the project leader with the most demanding requirements, had to admit that this kid was capable and a rare talent.

·
It didn't go so smoothly at first. Joseph's students, these well-known psionicists and tech experts in the industry, all had no confidence in this newcomer and thought that he might end up collecting his corpse in two or three days.

However, since the arrival of this newcomer, things in area B14 have gradually become more organized, and the doubts have disappeared. Li Ang has gained trust and become familiar with everyone.

As Li Ang moved in and out of the top-secret area every day, over time, everyone else knew that he had entered the core circle of the research institute.
Following the director meant unlimited potential, so people treated him with even greater respect and courtesy, and gifts and flattery poured in.

His rise in status was immediately apparent; the security personnel at the research institute, including gatekeepers, guards, and corporate agents, no longer made things difficult for him.

He greets people cheerfully every morning and evening, swipes his card to pass through the turnstile to go to and from get off work, and even the big dog in the guardhouse stops barking at him. Everything is getting better.

The only thing that made Li Ang uneasy was the elevator operator, Higashiyama Ruriko, with whom he had to be in close proximity every day when taking the elevator up and down to the B14 floor.

The flirtatious glances from Higashiyama Ruriko made him uneasy. Her large, amber eyes blinked provocatively, as if inviting him on a date after get off work. Any other male colleague would have been overjoyed.

However, Li Ang knew in his heart that it was by no means a confession of love, but rather contained a certain threat, as if saying, "You little brat, watch out, I'm watching you!"

This woman's true identity is that of a spy sent by the head office.
She appears innocent, youthful, and beautiful, but in reality, she is a former Federal Intelligence Service agent dedicated to eliminating traitors within the Terra Federation.

After retiring, she was offered a high-paying job to continue her extremely ruthless career as a hitman, doing shady business for large corporations.

On the surface, Ruriko is just an elevator operator, an elevator hostess, a beautiful but empty shell.

Her actual authority was much higher; she could freely access surveillance footage and view document records, making her practically an invisible Kipchak minister.

Ruriko Higashiyama was monitoring Joseph's every move, the director of the research institute. Sakura Corporation had invested a huge sum of money in this project and was full of expectations for the return; nothing could go wrong.
As a result, the director's trusted underlings naturally ended up on the list of people under close surveillance. Every time they met in the elevator, Higashiyama Ruriko's gaze was like a thorn in Li Ang's back, chilling him to the bone.

He didn't want to get involved in the company's power struggles, but he was already powerless to resist. He had pledged his allegiance, binding his fate to the director and sharing in the fate of this mad psionicist.

All Li Ang can do now, besides trying his best to make a name for himself, is to secretly pray that the old man won't do anything reckless and offend the company's higher-ups, otherwise the two of them will be in deep trouble...

·
I had lunch in the cafeteria that day, and I was in a great mood listening to everyone bragging and telling jokes. On my way back to area B14 in the elevator, my good mood was almost completely extinguished by Ruriko's cold gaze:

"Wow, you're quite popular, Mr. Li Ang! Everyone loves talking to you, and they all want to sit at the same table as you during meals!"

"I'm flattered. If we're talking about popularity, it has to be Miss Dongshan. You're the goddess of our research institute."

"Ahahaha~"

Higashiyama Ruriko giggled, clutching her lower abdomen: "What goddess? Just a poor elevator operator!"

In the gleaming mirror of the elevator, Li Ang saw the other person straighten up after laughing and smooth their long, straight black hair:
"Um, I have something to ask you."

"You said~"

"It seems like the director has a problem with me. Every time we ride the elevator, he looks like he has an upset stomach and ignores me. I don't know what I did to offend him."

"Don't mind him, Mr. Joseph is temperamental and unpredictable, we're used to it."

"People say there's only a fine line between genius and madness, and it's really true, hahaha~" Higashiyama Ruriko covered her mouth and laughed, then suddenly changed the subject:
"I've noticed that the director has only been giving me the cold shoulder lately, while he's been much kinder to everyone else, unlike before when he would yell at anyone he could. It seems your B14 research has made progress?"

Li Ang tensed up, his back muscles taut: "Uh... it went relatively smoothly... at least there weren't any major accidents."

"That's good, that's good, my year-end bonus is guaranteed!"
Well, don't laugh at me, but I'm a rather ordinary and lazy person. I don't have any grand ambitions. I'm just thinking that while I'm still young, I should marry into a wealthy family and become a rich wife. I wouldn't mind even marrying an old man.

"No problem, everyone has the right to pursue happiness."

"The big shots in our institute are all in B14, and they're all arrogant and aloof, only you can get in touch with them. Could you do me a favor?"

(Ugh, what is this woman trying to do?) Li Ang looked at the numbers on the display screen, inwardly complaining about how slow the elevator was, but outwardly maintaining a smile and patience:

"You said, as long as it's within my ability to help."

"Your project leader, Academician of the Terra Academy, Ryan Elson, earns a million a year, is unmarried, and is just too perfect. I'd like to get to know him and maybe develop a 'relationship' with him~"

As she spoke, Higashiyama Ruriko handed over a fragrant pink envelope:
"Could you please give this to Dr. Ryan?"

“It’s no big deal, no problem.” Li Ang took it and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Thanks! You're such a kind person!"

With a "ding," the elevator arrived at floor B14, and the gate opened.
"Bye-bye, I'm going to work."

"Bye Bye Bye~ See you after get off work~" Higashiyama Ruriko blew a kiss over her shoulder.

Without looking back, Li Ang strode quickly through the elevator lobby as if fleeing, passed through security, and then traversed the entire office area to reach Joseph's office.

"Knock knock knock, sorry to bother you, Director."

He knocked on the door, went in, placed the letter on the table, and recounted everything that had just happened:
"I think I should bring it to you to take a look."

Joseph opened the envelope, read a few lines, and his nose practically twitched with rage:
"This...a viper! A little J!"
"They're trying to poach my talent! They're even trying to seduce my students to get information from me! No way!"

A few seconds later, the fragrant letter disappeared into the shredder. Joseph was very satisfied with Leon's loyalty and nodded repeatedly.

"Well done, kid. You've lived up to my expectations. From now on, report any suspicious activity by that little J guy to me immediately."

"No problem, Director, I'm one of your men."

"I'm tired, I'm going to lie down and rest for a while. You should go and rest too, you've worked hard this morning, Xiao Li."

"It's my duty, so I'll take my leave now."

·
Leaving the director's office, Li Ang arrived at the core of B14, the 'Zero Experiment Subject' research area, his workplace, his 'battlefield'.

The psionicists in white coats had just finished lunch. They were all exhausted from a busy morning; some were taking a nap at their tables, while others were sipping coffee and discussing the latest entertainment gossip.
Upon seeing Li Ang arrive, the two stood up, turned the key, unlocked the glass curtain wall, and let him in.

"Little Li, you're back early enough, lunch break isn't over yet."

"Zero's condition is not stable enough, so I came to check on him in advance to avoid delaying your research this afternoon."

Project leader Ryan laughed, "Goodness, voluntarily working overtime, you're a real workaholic! It's a good thing you didn't study psionics, otherwise we'd all be out of a job!"

"You're joking, team leader. We're just doing the dirty and tiring work, the kind of menial labor that's not really important."

"No, no, no, your job is very important. Even the best shooting guard in basketball needs a center to set screens, right? Anyway, thank you for your hard work, young man!"

Despite being over fifty, Dr. Lane was still energetic and had a ruddy complexion. Like everyone else in the company, he secretly admired the beautiful elevator operator.

Li Ang, of course, didn't mention the letter. After greeting his colleagues, he went to work in the curtain wall area.

After passing through a disinfection cubicle, skillfully donning gloves and sterile protective clothing, and carefully navigating through dense array of electronic devices and fiber optic cables, we arrived at Zero's living room.

·
Li Ang just lied.
He gave up his lunch break to come back early, not entirely for work, but to see Zero earlier and spend more time with her.

Ruriko Higashiyama's beauty is rare in the world, comparable to Victoria's Secret supermodels, driving all the men in the research institute crazy. However, compared to Zero, she seems ordinary.

From their first meeting, Li Ang was deeply shocked, and his desire for power and glory could no longer suppress the impulses of his hormones.
Unlike the pungent, industrially synthesized perfume worn by Ruriko, Zero exudes a natural and elegant fragrance.
Like the first fragrance of spring blossoms drifting on the breeze in the Garden of God at Valhalla, it is intoxicating and captivating.

As Joseph said, the faint aura was caused by powerful psychic energy, which was truly awe-inspiring.
She is as sacred and solemn as a Nordic goddess, without any makeup, and all vulgar women pale in comparison.

By reading the materials, Li Ang learned Zero's name:
"

Jinguji Yuna

Terran humans

Born in Shin-Sapporo…

'