Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

“That’s right.” Kaster nodded. “If it’s not important, then there’s no need to care. If it is important, then that’s something you should investigate! Otherwise, what’s the point of me keeping you around?”

"Now, get to work right now!"

Volume 1: Chapter 331 Experiment Report from the Stars

"Welcome to Tremont Morning News, this is your old friend Andrea."

The radio, tuned to a timer, plays the host's cheerful voice. At this time of day, Christine should have already finished washing up, sat at the dining table, and begun enjoying a fast-food breakfast that would be criticized as "junk" by dietitians, before starting her workday.

The headquarters' offices will never be RheinLife's offices; this is common knowledge in the minds of all RheinLife employees.

But today, Christine was not at the dinner table; only the radio was playing, radiating the host's seemingly inexhaustible energy.

This puzzled Saria, who had come to visit.

"boom!"

A soft explosion suddenly came from inside the room. Saria frowned, immediately becoming alert. She slowed her pace and walked step by step towards Christen's bedroom. As she approached, she noticed Christen's slumped figure behind the half-open door.

"Kristen?"

Saria immediately pushed open the door, glanced around the room, and only after confirming that there were no outsiders did she feel relieved enough to squat down and check on Christen's condition.

But just as her hand touched Christen's ear, the Lady of the House suddenly raised her head, and her head unexpectedly bumped hard into Saria's chin.

That's a diamond chin!

Christen let out a scream of pain: "Ah!"

Saria suddenly fell backward, looking at her friend in surprise as she pretended to faint.

She soon realized that Christensen didn't seem to be faking it; she had probably really fainted.

Ms. Pelosi had prominent dark circles under her eyes and bloodshot eyes. Long hours of staying up late had made her skin look dry and oily, and her lips were dry and bluish, giving her a sickly appearance as if she had been poisoned.

But in contrast, she was perfectly conscious; the hands clutching her head were truly tight, and her clenched teeth and contorted face showed that she was in real pain.

Saria clearly realized that the accident just now might have been a bit serious. She reached out and touched the top of Christen's head with the X-shaped ultra-thin portable spellcasting unit invented by Christen.

A simple healing spell, the most basic of basic spells that anyone with Originium Adaptability can learn. Its only drawback is that because it is too simple, it cannot handle very serious injuries.

But it's more than enough to relieve the pain from the impact.

Christen finally caught her breath, reached out, and stood up with Saria's help.

"Thank you, Saria." She brushed the dust off her clothes and thanked her, then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned around and quickly walked to the laboratory table in the bedroom to observe the changes in the small stone on the table.

"What brings you here?"

She asked the question while quickly taking notes in her already densely filled notebook.

Saria, also surprised, stepped forward, examined the mysterious stone, and replied:

"It's nothing, it's just that the military has sent another request for cooperation. You haven't been to Rhine for almost half a month, and some orders need your signature, so I came to find you."

"Tsk." Christen clicked his tongue in disdain, his gaze never leaving the stone illuminated by the bright light. He simply said, "I can authorize you to make these decisions. Alternatively, you can temporarily assume the role of head of Rhine Labs."

Hearing this, even with Saria's temper, she couldn't hold back any longer: "Kristen! Don't joke like that!"

To everyone's surprise, Christen didn't even look up and replied directly, "I'm not kidding. I have very important research going on, and I can't leave at all."

"What exactly are you researching!" Saria couldn't help but get angry. "Lately, you, Ferdinand, and Dorothy have all been incredibly busy. In just half a month, the Energy Department, the Originium Arts Application Department, and your General Components Department have all nearly come to a standstill. This is not normal!"

"If it's an experiment, why don't you tell me? If it involves classified information, why can't even I know? If you just want to abuse your body and exhaust yourself to the point of fainting, then please do it where I can't find you. Otherwise, you'll only make me more worried. Christensen, Rhine Lab was founded by us all, and we are all responsible for it. You can't treat it as something dispensable, like a tool that can be discarded at will!"

Saria rarely spoke so harshly. Christen finally put down her pen, turned her head, and looked at the furious Saria beside her. She pursed her lips and suddenly said:

"Saria, can your calcification be released now?"

Saria didn't understand why Christen would bring up Origin Stone Arts now, but she nodded nonetheless:

"Yes, but it lacks a dedicated staff, so it's not very powerful if you only use the portable unit to activate it."

Christen pointed to the stone on the table:

"Then why don't you try using calcification on this stone?"

Saria remained silent for a moment, gave Christen a deep look, and finally raised her hand, hovering above the stone.

The calcification spell was activated, and just as Saria remembered, the tabletop began to tremble and was covered by a faint stone-gray substance. But soon, she noticed something was wrong.

The spell had indeed begun to take effect, but there was no trace of it on the stone. No matter how much she increased the output power, until she reached the limit of the portable casting unit, the surface of the stone did not change at all.

"Anti-spell?"

Saria muttered to herself in shock.

Such a small stone possesses anti-spell properties; this is an incredible discovery. If we can determine its material, the development and experimentation of high-risk Originium Arts can be carried out in a safer environment, and the balance of power between ordinary soldiers and caster units could be dramatically altered!

Seria instantly understood the stone's potential. But when she looked at Christen, she didn't detect a trace of joy on her face.

She simply shook her head slightly and said earnestly:

"more than."

"It's not just about repelling demonic energy. This stone is indivisible, impenetrable, extremely dense, yet completely defies the laws of physics with its extremely light mass. I've tried every possible means of observation, but they're all completely ineffective against it."

"If it weren't for its tangible presence in my eyes, I would even doubt that it was real at all."

"What do you mean?" Saria asked.

Christen took out her phone, opened the photo album, and handed it to Seria.

The photo album shows the desktop of this lab bench, where the stone holder is located. However, in the photo, the holder is empty.

Saria seemed to realize something and turned her head in disbelief, while Christen beside her simply nodded slowly and firmly.

"You can try it yourself."

She said.

Saria swallowed hard and pressed the shutter.

New photos soon appeared in the album.

Just like the hundreds of photos that filled the album before, the stone that should have been on the fixture has disappeared.

"Unobservable?"

Saria immediately rejected the answer, because the stone was indeed right in front of her, and she could even touch it.

“From the stars,” Christen suddenly said. “That’s the name given to this stone by the person who gave it to me. It’s quite fitting, isn’t it?”

"Things that can be seen but whose reality cannot be discerned are like the sky above us."

Volume 1: Chapter 332 Reality Anchor

Should a press conference be held for this discovery?

"We may have discovered a completely new substance, which may be related to the truth of the sky and even beyond."

"Christen, this is no longer something you can handle on your own. Even if you're unwilling to disclose the results to other companies in Tremont, at least make them public within Rhine Life!"

Seria's words of advice rang in Christen's ears. Just as she said, if Christen continued to stay at home and conduct research all by herself, even if she fainted ten times from exhaustion, she might not be able to reach a reliable conclusion. Instead, she might exhaust herself first.

If, considering the enormous benefits this new discovery could bring, we are not going to disclose it to the entire Trimont scientific community for the time being, then at least we should mobilize the scientists within Rhine Lab to work together.

For example, his energy conduction effects, which relate to high-energy physics, could be studied with Ferdinand's help. His aversion to Originium Arts could be a subject of Dorothy's research. Whether he has a special reaction or effect on natural life could also be areas of investigation for Palvis and Muirses.

It's unrealistic to keep things bottled up by yourself.

But Christen fell silent. After a moment, she put away the black stone and locked it in the safe in the room.

"It's not the right time yet."

She looked at Saria, who was completely puzzled, and shook her head.

"Of the people you mentioned, Ferdinand and Dorothy are already conducting related research, but we can't let them know about the others for the time being."

"Why?" Seria couldn't understand.

Christen pursed her lips.

This was a problem that even she found difficult to explain to Seria.

She could tell Saria that the black stone didn't belong to her, but to someone else who had temporarily entrusted it to her for research. However, this would undoubtedly raise more questions for Saria, such as who the person who entrusted the stone was, how much they knew about it, and most importantly, its origin.

The existence of the Preservator remains a secret to most people on Terra. Only a select few high-ranking officials from various nations are aware of Trevor Friston's existence. The reason these officials agreed to form a loose but existing international organization under Laterano's leadership was largely to work together to keep this information under wraps.

Some might wonder, what's the point of sealing off information about the Preservators and the previous civilization? Won't the Terrans find out sooner or later?

The Qing Dynasty knew that the Song Dynasty had earned huge amounts of commercial tax revenue from opening up the seas, so why did it still choose to close its doors to the world?

The answer is simple: for the sake of stability, to prevent the existing social order from being under too much pressure, which could lead to instability and damage to their interests.

Christen knew very well that the reason why she, Ferdinand, Dorothy, and the other two knew the secrets of the pre-civilization was not because they were anything special, but simply because they were the first to discover the ruins of the pre-civilization and to meet Roy and the Preservator.

Putting that reason aside, they are actually no different from other ordinary people in Terra.

Their good fortune doesn't mean that Saria and the others at Rhine Lab are so lucky. Now that an order to "remain silent about all matters concerning the previous civilization" has been hastily established, prematurely revealing the truth to Saria and the others might not bring a breakthrough, but rather disaster.

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." Ultimately, a scientist and a company couldn't defy a Colombian government that genuinely wanted to destroy them.

Seeing that Christen was unwilling to speak, a look of disappointment appeared on Saria's face.

She could tell that Christen might have some kind of difficulty, but as a pure researcher, it was still a very regrettable thing that he couldn't contribute to a discovery that could change the future.

"Then can you tell me what stage your research is at right now?"