America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Chapter 99 Eating Fried Chicken in the Lab (Please Subscribe!)

With a crisp "sizzle," the air in the laboratory was filled with the aroma of chicken.

As Pete, the student council secretary, just mentioned, Arthur used to hide in this lab and fry chicken nuggets.

Therefore, the laboratory is fully equipped with cooking equipment such as deep vats and fryers, and there is even fresh chicken in the refrigerator.

However, the chicken used in this cooking was made with Chen Yuan's newly improved "high-temperature curing enzyme".

Arthur stared intently at the chicken pieces bubbling in the oil, his expression grave. Though he didn't say anything, it was clear he remained skeptical.

After all, he had spent several months trying to solve the problem of denaturation and curing of the high-temperature curing enzyme in the oil-control coating, so how could Chen Yuan, who had only been there for a few hours, possibly handle it?

Chen Yuan noticed Arthur's doubts and patiently explained, "Your original idea was to let the enzyme complete the blocking reaction at high temperature and fix the oil-blocking film on the surface before it is completely deactivated."

Chen Yuan gently stirred the chicken pieces in the oil with tongs and continued, "The problem is that you started the reaction too early. Once the oil temperature rises, the enzyme activity decays faster than expected, causing the oil-blocking film to fail to fully stabilize. Therefore, not only is the oil control effect poor, but it also affects the taste of the chicken."

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Arthur's expression changed upon hearing this, because what Chen Yuan said was exactly the dead end that he had been unable to overcome for the past few months.

In other words, even if the next experiment fails, Chen Yuan's terrifying scientific research foundation remains unfathomable.

He could pinpoint the key issue behind the experiment's failure at a glance, based solely on Arthur's report.

Kevin and Mina Hoshino, who were standing to the side, were completely confused, but they still took notes diligently and prepared various experimental equipment as Chen Yuan requested.

After all, as long as they participate in this project, their contributions will be taken into account when it begins to be commercialized in the future.

As Chen Yuan watched the chicken pieces in the oil gradually turn golden brown, he continued to explain, "Just now, in the new oil-controlling coating, I adjusted the concentration of the high-temperature curing enzyme and the cross-linking ratio, and then lowered the pretreatment temperature by two degrees to delay the start of the reaction."

"Simply put, it means preventing enzymes from participating in the reaction too early, and allowing them to live longer."

With a soft click of the timer, the oil in the pan stopped heating.

Before Chen Yuan could give any instructions, Arthur took matters into his own hands and eagerly took the four pieces of fried chicken out of the oil pan.

As a rigorous scientific control group, two of the pieces were traditional fried chicken coated in regular batter.

The other two pieces are "deep-fried chicken" made using Chen Yuan's improved batter.

At first glance, the two servings of fried chicken seem to have no obvious difference.

In terms of color and aroma, they are almost identical.

However, once all the oil on the four pieces of fried chicken had been drained, the difference became quite obvious.

Regular fried chicken has a duller color, which is obviously due to its higher oil content.

"Controlled-oil fried chicken" has a nice golden-yellow appearance and a significantly lower oil content.

Chen Yuan was an expert in the fried chicken industry, so he could tell that there was no problem with the experiment just by observing some details on the surface of the "controlled fried chicken"!

Whether it's successful or not depends on the final taste.

Just as Arthur was swallowing hard, wanting to try this "fried chicken with controlled heat," the laboratory door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Immediately afterwards, several students walked in.

These people included both men and women, and the leader was none other than Pete, the student council officer who had come to cause trouble for Arthur that morning.

Surrounded by several people in the center was none other than Adrian, who had been making headlines these past few days.

When Adrian saw the people in the laboratory, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Because he had only heard that the laboratory containing important data had been occupied by Arthur.

Unexpectedly, Chen Yuan was also there.

After all, Chen Yuan's overall ranking is still higher than Adrian's, so it is perfectly reasonable for him to use this laboratory.

However, since he was already here, Adrian had no reason to back down.

If he can't even handle a small laboratory, how can he maintain his image as a business genius and advance the LBX biolipid-blocking enzyme project?

Upon seeing the four servings of fried chicken on the lab table, Pete immediately broke into a mocking smile: "I told you so, they're using precious lab resources to make fried chicken! This blatant violation should be reported to the academic affairs office!"

After Pete left in the morning, he used his privileges as a student council member to carefully review the surveillance footage from the lab the previous night.

To their surprise, they discovered that the surveillance cameras had been turned off after they entered the lab, and nothing was recorded about what they did all night!

Although turning off the surveillance camera without authorization is a violation, it can be easily attributed to a camera malfunction, which is much less serious than drinking alcohol in the laboratory.

As long as he denies it to the death and there is no video evidence, who can convict him?

On the other hand, Chen Yuan and Arthur were openly making fried chicken in the laboratory during the day!

They were caught red-handed and couldn't deny it at all!

Seeing this, Adrian couldn't help but say, "Chen Yuan, were you fooled by Arthur? Although what he researched is indeed very helpful to the catering industry, the underlying enzyme catalysis technology is extremely difficult and cannot be mastered by a few students."

"If you're just looking to meet the college's targets, my team's doors are still open to you. Why waste everyone's time and valuable public resources here?"

Adrian's words were so eloquent and perfectly reasonable that there was not a single fault with them.

When Chen Yuan turned around, he saw that Arthur, who had been eager to try the deep-fried chicken, was now pale-faced and had clearly fallen into a state of social anxiety again.

He sighed softly, took off his oven mitts, tossed them onto the table, straightened up, and sneered, "What makes you think we're making ordinary fried chicken?"

Pete scoffed, pointing to the four servings of fried chicken on the lab table. "Isn't it obvious? What else could this be but fried chicken? Perfect for the four of you, one serving each. Do you think this sacred lab is a restaurant?"

Now that he's confirmed he left no evidence of drinking in the lab yesterday, Pete is full of confidence and is directly turning the tables on the other side.

However, Chen Yuan didn't seem to care at all. He glanced at the fried chicken in front of him and scoffed, "So, doing cutting-edge biological research isn't like working on a construction site carrying bricks. It's not about having more people; it's not about being smarter. If you can't even figure out this kind of basic molecular variable control experiment, you'd better not call yourselves USC students when you go abroad."

Students from the School of Life Sciences. They've really embarrassed the school.

Pete's face flushed red and then turned pale, as if he felt greatly insulted. He retorted angrily, "Making a few servings of fried chicken, what kind of experiment is that?"

However, Chen Yuan ignored him completely, picked up the plate of fried chicken, and handed it to Adrian, saying, "You should have heard of Arthur's high-temperature curing enzyme, right? After all, your biological lipid blocking enzyme uses the same technical principle."

Then, under Adrian's gaze, Chen Yuan pushed the plate of fried chicken forward and smiled, "Just now, Arthur, under my theoretical guidance, completed a perfect food-grade oil-control coating test."

"Fried chicken made with this new technology not only has a significantly lower fat content than ordinary products of the same type, but its outer scales also perfectly lock in moisture, resulting in a crispier and more tender texture than regular fried chicken."

"Would you like to try it yourself?"

After listening to Chen Yuan's words, Adrian looked at the four servings of fried chicken in front of him and his expression gradually became serious.

Arthur's deep-fried chicken control technique has actually reached this level?

Doesn't that mean that his high-temperature curing enzyme has a better chance of being commercialized sooner than his own biological lipid blocking enzyme?

In an instant, Adrian was completely unsettled. He knew that if Arthur beat him to it, his biological lipid blocking enzyme project would face even more difficulties in making grand promises on Wall Street.

Thinking of this, Adrian reached out with an uncertain expression, carefully picked up a piece of "fried chicken" from the plate, and took a small bite.

In an instant, a strange aroma of meat filled the entire laboratory.

Several students around him swallowed hard in unison.

"It smells so good!"