The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

The capital of the Eastern Spirit Kingdom, Donghua City, Eastern Spirit Research Institute.

As dusk fell at the Dongling Research Institute, the lights in the connecting passageways between the buildings were already on, casting warm white light that stretched and shortened the shadows of people walking on the ground.

The lights were still on in most of the windows, especially in the laboratory building on the west side, where there were shadowy figures moving behind almost every window.

In a laboratory in a certain building, a researcher in a white lab coat with dark circles under his eyes was staring intently at lines of complex data on the screen, muttering something to himself.

After an unknown amount of time, his long period of concentration made him feel somewhat tired. He yawned, his gaze shifting slightly from the screen to the view outside the window.

The sky outside the window had transitioned from the brightness of daytime to a warm orange-red hue. The clouds on the horizon were being tinged with a gradient of warm colors by the last rays of light, gradually transitioning from a deep orange near the horizon to a light blue overhead. Only a third of the setting sun remained visible.

He stared at the sinking warm light for several seconds, then let out a long sigh, muttering unconsciously, "How come it's lunchtime again so soon?"

After speaking softly, he stretched slightly and then turned his attention back to the dense data on the screen in front of him.

Just then, click—

The sound of a door lock turning came from the door. Tang Ao, a level 3 researcher (who appeared in Chapter 203), assumed that his lunch buddy Chi Yuan (who also appeared in Chapter 203) had come to call him for dinner. So, his eyes were still fixed on the complex data. Without even looking up, he said, "Old Chi, wait for me a little longer. I'll finish processing this set of data before I go to eat."

"Or, could you send me a copy?"

After saying that, he continued analyzing the data, muttering to himself, "Node three, node fifteen, node sixteen, it seems there's a chance of node failure when a large flow of energy passes through. Today it caused the ritual to collapse, it needs to be fixed, it needs to be fixed..."

"The arrangement of these three nodes could perhaps be changed to a Dielta type III pathway..."

. . .

After a while, Tang Ao, who hadn't heard a reply, finally realized that something seemed wrong.

He frowned and looked up: "Old Chi, what's wrong with you—"

Halfway through his sentence, he glanced up out of the corner of his eye and seemed to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure standing quietly beside him, looking at the data on the screen in front of them.

Unfortunately, this familiarity wasn't the kind of familiarity he was looking for.

Upon seeing the face of the person standing next to him, he shuddered and jumped to his feet, exclaiming, "Ah! Uncle!"

"Why are you here!"

Wang Run, the research institute director wearing a white lab coat over a black trench coat, shook his head as he looked at the screen in front of Tang Ao. He frowned, grabbed Tang Ao's ear without a word, and pointed to several sets of data on the screen with his other finger, saying, "Nodes three, fifteen, and sixteen, you just said you wanted to apply the Dielta type III pathway to these three nodes?"

"Hey, Uncle, be gentle, be gentle."

"Take a look at these other sets of data?" Wang Run, wearing glasses, pointed to several other sets of data on the screen.

Tang Ao, with his uncle, the dean, pulling his ear, didn't dare to complain. He looked closely at the spot where Wang Run was pointing and realized something was wrong. He coughed guiltily.

"Ahem, while modifying the Dielta Type III pathway solves the problems of these three nodes, it will decrease the stability of more nodes around these three nodes, creating more risks of collapse. Therefore, the Dielta Type III pathway cannot be applied..."

Tang Ao's voice grew softer and softer until it was barely more than a mosquito's buzz.

Wang Run raised his eyebrows slightly and immediately followed up, "So, how exactly should these three points be changed?"

Tang Ao stared at the screen for a long time, and as time passed, his forehead was covered with tiny beads of sweat.

My family members don't understand! I'm under so much pressure! And I can't even resist!

Finally, under immense pressure from his uncle, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he blurted out, "We can't just change the pathways at these three nodes!"

"We can treat all the nodes surrounding these three nodes as a whole, and then apply the large-scale Beta-I pathway model to them! This will distribute the pressure of the high-flow energy evenly across every node in the Beta-I pathway!"

"This way, we can stabilize these nodes and minimize the risk of this part of the pathway collapsing!"

Hearing Tang Ao's answer, Wang Run nodded and released his grip on Tang Ao's ear: "That's more like it!"

"If you can't even answer this, I think it's time to revoke your Level 3 Researcher Certificate."

Upon hearing this, Tang Ao instinctively clutched the Level 3 Researcher badge pinned to his chest: So close! So close! His Level 3 Researcher certificate was about to slip away!

Although his uncle's words were terrifying, he understood that he had passed his uncle's temporary test.

He also knew that his uncle was always amiable to outsiders, but he was exceptionally strict with his family and even with him.

He had gone through the same thing before, but he understood his uncle.

After all, being in a high position means that there are certain fundamental mistakes that not only cannot be made by oneself, but also by one's family and friends.

Later, after his uncle became the director of the research institute, he became increasingly busy, with his daily schedule becoming more and more packed, so he hadn't been tortured for a long time.

Tang Ao was somewhat unaccustomed to this sudden turn of events.

I'm still out of practice.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his uncle: "Uncle, what brings you here today? I mean, to see me?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Run naturally caught the unfinished part of his nephew's words and looked at him with a half-smile: "It seems that I haven't been supervising him enough lately."

Tang Ao's expression immediately changed drastically, and he waved his hand, "No, no! Uncle, you know I've always been a well-behaved and responsible child!"

"Alright, I have something to ask you today, it's about the new weapon development project you applied for last time."

"I saw it mentioned a little gadget called a 'talisman sword'?"

Seeing his nephew's expression, Wang Run shook his head helplessly and revealed his true purpose.

Upon hearing the words "talisman sword," Tang Ao's eyes immediately lit up: "That's right, Uncle, even you noticed it?"

"Let me tell you, that weapon called a talisman sword, despite its small size, possesses power that reaches—"

Wang Run waved his hand to interrupt him: "You have all this information in your project application. I just wanted to ask you about it."

"Where did you get that thing from?"