Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

After saying that, he dashed into the toilet.

The stubble-bearded uncle on the other end of the communication panel was so angry that his messy hair was shaking. When had he ever seen a client like this before!

The research lab at Destiny has an unspoken rule for taking on private projects: they charge a research fee equivalent to one-third of the cost of the research materials. This is an open secret in the industry, and there is absolutely no room for negotiation.

However, this client is simply out of their mind!

Although I did see that the other party was a new face, and from the Far East branch which had no reputation in the scientific research community (of course, it had no reputation, the Far East branch did not have a research department at all), and I had never heard of any precedent for this branch commissioning scientific research, I subconsciously felt that the other party might not know the rules of this industry, so I asked for three-quarters of the research consumables, hoping to rip off a fat sheep. But I did not expect that the other party was as cunning as a fox, not only reducing my asking price to one-third, but also trying to continue to lower it!

That's absolutely impossible!

Thinking of this, the bearded uncle trembled with anger. Just when he was sticking to his bottom line of one-third of the consumables and refusing to budge, look what that scoundrel who claimed to be the deputy head of the Far East branch said!

He claimed he would use three terabytes of his stockpile of movie torrents to offset one-sixth of his research supplies!

To be honest, the bearded man was even a little tempted for a moment, but one-sixth of the research materials was no small sum. He quickly adjusted his mindset, wiped away his drool, and righteously and firmly rejected the other party.

Then the other party seemed unwilling to give up, and kept offering things like rare inflatable dolls, limited edition figurines, private photos of girls from St. Freya Academy high school, and even his exclusive braised pork recipe in exchange. Finally, he mysteriously sent me a website address, which turned out to be a large gay dating website!

"Do you think this is a flea market?!" the stubble-faced man roared inwardly.

The stubble-faced uncle grew angrier the more he thought about it, feeling that the other party was just there to make fun of him. However, considering the situation in his research lab, he had no choice but to patiently deal with Keng Huo and try to squeeze some money out of him.

However, he was so driven to the brink of collapse by this mentally unstable person that he ended up arguing with the shrew just now.

Just as the bearded man was contemplating hanging up the communication, Keng Huo darted back to his seat with a whoosh and said with a serious expression, "I've been thinking about it and I feel that our communication isn't thorough enough, so I plan to go and exchange ideas with other research labs first. You can stay here and figure it out. Once you understand and realize that you're asking for too much, come back to me. It was a very pleasant exchange, and I look forward to our next collaboration."

The bearded man stared blankly at the blacked-out communication screen, unable to recover for a long time.

When he finally realized that the other party had disconnected, he suddenly flipped the table, overturning the camera and screen to the ground, smashed the teacup on the floor, and roared, "So, he really was just messing with me!"

Before the stubble-faced uncle could catch his breath, he immediately squatted down with a pained expression and tidied up all the items, checking each one for any damage and carefully blowing away the dust.

He slowly sat down in the chair and turned it to face the direction behind him.

The research room was completely empty, with all the equipment turned off, except for his room where the light was still on.

He stared blankly at the emptiness for a long time before closing his eyes and letting out a heavy sigh.

Keng Huo glanced at a sheet on the table, cursing under his breath, and entered the contact code for the next research lab into the search box to begin the next game.

Behind him were seven or eight unopened water dispenser buckets, clearly indicating that he was preparing for a protracted battle.

The communication screen lit up, and Keng Huo cleared his throat: "Hello, I'm the deputy head of the Far East branch of Tianming. I'd like to discuss something with your research lab..."

Before I knew it, another day had passed.

Keng Huo collapsed to the ground like a dead dog, his eyes rolled upwards, his mouth agape as he stared blankly at the ceiling like an old dog trying to cool off.

"These aren't a group of researchers...they're more like a bunch of vegetable vendors..." Keng Huo felt like he was about to have his soul leave his body. "How come they're all so fierce at swearing and haggling..."

It wasn't that the research labs were fierce, but rather that this guy, Keng Huo, was just incredibly unreasonable in his bargaining...

No matter what the research lab's strength or main research direction is, he'll try to cut the price by 70% the moment he opens his mouth, and then guarantee that the project will be completed on time, with payment made in full upfront and no further research funding required. Even a living Buddha would be furious with him.

Leaving aside the extra cost of consumables, every research lab has experience negotiating prices. But this guy immediately demands completion within a specified timeframe, with payment in full upfront and no further investment required. How are these research labs supposed to make money? Private research projects are dragged out as long as possible. Then, when they're almost finished, they claim there aren't enough research materials and they need additional investment, otherwise the research can't be completed. Then they try to extort extra money for research materials. This is something almost every studio does; it's practically become the standard procedure for taking on private projects, and no one has dared to challenge this ironclad rule for a long time.

Of course, one of them popped up today.

Therefore, most lab directors would simply turn off their communicators and leave with a cold smile, completely ignoring Keng Huo. Only those with a stronger sense of humor would persist in bargaining with Keng Huo for a long time until Keng Huo figured out their bottom line.

After catching his breath on the ground for a while, Keng Huo finally got up slowly, rubbed his round belly from drinking water, and slowly walked into the bathroom.

After a burst of exhilarating sounds, Keng Huo walked out looking radiant, grabbed the list on the table, found the communication code for the research lab of the bearded uncle from before, and entered it into the communicator.

“Now that we’ve figured everything out, we can talk to the real target.” Keng Huo casually tossed aside the sheet filled with communication codes from the research labs under the Heavenly Mandate, rested his elbows on the table, crossed his hands in front of his mouth, and quietly waited for the communicator to connect.

The list slowly floated to the ground. There was no handwriting on it, only the photo of the bearded man, which was heavily circled in red pen and marked with three emphasis marks.

Keng Huo waited for a long time, but there was no response from the communicator. He began to feel uneasy: "Could it be that the drug I gave him was too strong and he will not want to answer my calls from now on?"

Keng Huo stared in disbelief: "Holy crap, please no! My promotion, raise, CEO appointment, marriage to a beautiful and wealthy woman, and reaching the pinnacle of my life all depend on this step!"

Perhaps Keng Huo's prayers were truly effective, for the next moment, the stubble-faced uncle's angry face reappeared on the screen.

He roared, "Are you fucking out of your mind?!"

Keng Huo retorted without backing down, "If you're sick, then treat it!"

"After I shave your head, you'll never have to worry about getting sick again!"

The two men stared at each other, panting heavily, for a long while before the stubble-bearded man suddenly sat down with a cold laugh: "What, here to make fun of your dad?"

"No, no, no, I'm still here to talk business." Keng Huo shook his finger and sat down in the same manner, adopting the pose usually reserved for behind-the-scenes manipulators. "After all, you're the research lab with the second lowest price I've asked about, so I've come to ask for your opinion."

"Second lowest? Impossible." The uncle on the other end of the screen simply didn't believe what Keng Huo said. "The entire freelance industry has unspoken rules. The price can't be lower than a certain amount. You can't find anyone who asks for a lower price than me."

"Huh? Is that so?" Keng Huo feigned surprise. "So that lousy Arctic Scally Island research lab was a scam? The person in charge said they'd only charge me a quarter of the extra research supplies! The remaining one-twelfth could be paid for with my stock of adult films..."

The bearded man's eyelids twitched.

If it's that Scally Island research lab in the Arctic Ocean...

Absolutely possible!

The stubble-faced man roared inwardly.

The entire Destiny Research community knows that among all the research institutions' affiliated studios, two are notoriously poor: one is the Antarctic Research Laboratory where he works, and the other is the Scully Island Research Laboratory!

Given their desperate financial situations, it's highly likely that the person in charge of Scarly Island will actually agree to the conditions of this idiot!

The bearded man instinctively reached for his teacup, only to find that he had broken it earlier. He could only sip his saliva and continue to look at Keng Huo with an expression of utter disbelief.

"So you really are a newbie, huh? Is the head of your branch that lazy? You even assigned such an important task to someone as inexperienced as you?"

Chapter 43 Big Brother, I Was Wrong

"Um..." Keng Huo stammered, "Is that really true?"

"Nonsense, apart from that lousy research lab, have you ever seen any other research lab offer you less than a third of the price for consumables?" The stubble-faced uncle said disdainfully. "I only reluctantly agreed to give you the lowest price of a third because you're a new face. If it were any other studio, how could they possibly not rip you off by double the price for research consumables?"

That's true, because the research institutions of the various branches of Destiny often need some taboo research that cannot be done in the open. Therefore, secretly handing over such research that violates the rules to the research labs of other research institutions will not cause trouble.

Because the research labs that accept commissions do not upload any related research data to the headquarters database, and even equipment startup records are not automatically recorded, each branch tacitly exchanges their forbidden research projects with each other, covering for each other and benefiting each other. It can be considered an unspoken rule among the branches.

In this context, it's not surprising that research labs often ask for exorbitant fees, because those with strong research capabilities usually have large-scale research projects to participate in throughout the year and simply don't have time to take on private projects; while research labs that do have time to take on private projects need a lot of research material to support their additional research, improve their research level, catch up with those top-ranked research labs, and gain favor from headquarters.

As a result, the price for these private jobs has been increasing.

Those studios that take on private jobs are not afraid; they have even formed a black market taxi alliance, discussing and agreeing on uniform pricing.

However, the Antarctic Research Laboratory and the Arctic Ocean Research Laboratory are completely different.

Both of these research labs have only one person.

That's right, there's only one person in the entire research lab.

Because large research institutions often require a large amount of Honkai Beast body materials to support their research, they often affiliate themselves with the nearest Destiny branch, using the branch's financial resources to conduct research and then giving back to the branch with research results and technical support.

But Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean... what kind of Destiny branch is that?!

The bearded man recalled how he had arrived at Tianming with great pride and confidence, riding high on his success. As a young scientific research talent who had earned dual doctoral degrees in polymer materials science and metallurgy, and had graduated with honors from Tianming's large research institute, he could have been directly assigned to a large research institution's studio as a researcher.

But I made a stupid mistake! When filling out the application for the research institution, I inexplicably saw the information of the Tianming Antarctic Polymer Materials Research Center, which stated in black and white: "Urgently recruiting a talent in the field of materials science to serve as the director of the A-4 research laboratory under the research center."

At that moment, the bearded man's heart was filled with excitement. He thought about how he would have to start as a researcher here, while the Antarctic Research Center might start directly as the head of a research lab. After weighing the options, he decisively filled out an application for the Antarctic Research Center as well.

Before long, the application results came in. The applications he submitted to several research institutions were all approved, including the notification from the Antarctic Materials Research Center.

At that moment, the bearded man felt a surge of excitement and chose the Antarctic Materials Research Center without hesitation.

Little did I know... this was just the beginning of a nightmare...

The bearded man, recalling the past, was immediately moved to tears.

When I arrived at this research institution full of confidence, I was warmly received by the person in charge of the base. I was even a little flattered. I felt their sincerity and secretly resolved to do my best.

The former base manager was very enthusiastic and first took him to the dormitory, helped him fill out the registration form, and then very hospitably took him to the restaurant for a meal. Although there were only two people in the restaurant, the other person made it seem like a holiday. However, since it was late at night, the bearded man didn't think much of it and just assumed that everyone had gone to sleep.

Then, rather than saying the former base manager was very quick, it would be more accurate to say he rushed to introduce the various rooms, facilities, and equipment in the research labs to the bearded man.

Then, leaving behind a copy of "Life Handbook of the Tianming Antarctic Materials Science Research Center," he ran without looking back, as if he had seen a relative, onto the supply ship that had brought him there.

By the time the stubble-faced man realized what was happening, it was too late. The former base commander was on the deck, laughing and crying at the same time. He looked at the stubble-faced man with grateful eyes, his hands waving frantically at him with tears in his eyes: "Comrade! Hang in there! I will definitely write to you often!"

There is no Destiny Branch in Antarctica.

Therefore, the Antarctic Materials Research Center also lacks sources of research materials.

Therefore, no one would apply for this research center.

Therefore, the only living person in this research center right now is the bearded man; the only other moving things are autonomous machines.

The bearded man felt that something must have gone wrong in his life. If the first half of his life was an inspirational drama, how did the second half suddenly turn into a psychological thriller?

At the beginning, he would apply to headquarters every day to be transferred away from the Antarctic branch, but headquarters refused for a very good reason: every large scientific research institution must have at least one person in charge of the daily operation of the base. Unless a successor takes over the work or the person applies for promotion or transfer after three years of service, the person in charge may not leave the post or apply for transfer without authorization.

He is now the only person in the entire research base, and due to the resignation and transfer of the former head, he has now automatically become the head of the entire base.

In other words, unless a second idiot does the same thing as him, he will have to stay here all alone for three years.

After his initial hysteria, his daily routine now consists of brewing a cup of tea, sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and looking out at the Antarctic continent until nightfall, before finally going to sleep.

It's as regular as a retired senior official.

In his spare time, he studied programming on his own and wrote a fighting game called "Honkai Impact 3rd" that became popular within Destiny. After receiving a good response, he seemed to have some interest and wrote another game called "Honkai Alliance".

However, it is only meant to be circulated within the Destiny Palace, because it involves too many things that are secrets to the secular world.

But he didn't care; he just wanted to find something to do, otherwise he would definitely be driven crazy by the torment.

Occasionally, he would take on freelance work between research labs, but since he was the only person in his entire studio, his efficiency was relatively low. In fact, many clients would immediately turn off their communicators as soon as they saw the words "Antarctic Research Center".

But he wasn't annoyed; he was just used to it.

The dream of saving humanity through knowledge, which I once had in my youthful arrogance, has gradually cooled.

"Then..." Keng Huo's expression showed some struggle, "Uncle, will you still take my job?"

"You old man my ass!" the stubble-faced man roared. "I'm only twenty-seven! Twenty-seven! How the hell do I look like an old man?!"