Douluo Continent: We agreed on a simulation, but they've come to life?

After briefly recounting yesterday's events to Xuan Ziwen, the latter's expression softened considerably. He patted Lu Cheng on the shoulder and said, "That's good. A prince mentioned your name today, and his tone seemed somewhat displeased. But don't worry, since Hall Master Jing has taken notice of you, you can focus on your research. Even if it's a prince, he can't possibly take people from our academy."

After comforting Lu Cheng for a couple of minutes, Xuan Ziwen breathed a sigh of relief and began to review Lu Cheng's experimental progress. The two had been taking turns working on the project, and with the millions of gold soul coins invested and Lu Cheng's imaginative ideas, the long-dormant project had slowly begun to operate again.

At least a glimmer of hope has appeared, even if it remains faint.

"Go and rest, get a good night's sleep." Xuan Ziwen adjusted his glasses, then remembered something: "Oh right, don't forget the fully automated soul-guided detector either. That thing is also part of our lab's research project... The key is to get more funding. We're responsible for its speed and stability..."

Lu Cheng didn't even turn his head, just waved his hand to indicate that he understood.

In Xuan Ziwen's eyes, the laboratory is currently living off this project, which he managed to secure with great difficulty. Otherwise, with his family's savings just depleted, he feared that without some money, the laboratory would not be able to continue operating.

If we achieve some results, we can ask for some funding from higher authorities.

……

"Ha~"

The sun is shining brightly outside, and I've stayed up all night again.

Lu Cheng planned to have breakfast first, then go to his dormitory for a nap. The research project was just too exhausting. The mental operating system required his full attention and consumed a lot of mental energy. If he didn't get enough food, even a Soul Douluo wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Along the way, many Royal Academy disciples greeted him, their eyes filled with admiration and respect. Everywhere, the strong are respected, especially since he had saved the day from collapse.

His effortless and confident demeanor in defeating his opponents has captured the hearts of many girls.

"I've been waiting for you!"

At the end of the tree-lined path, a beautiful figure emerged, her lovely eyes fixed on Lu Cheng with a hint of resentment.

"Junior Sister Meng?" Lu Cheng was taken aback. Looking at the girl's dark circles, he wondered if she had stayed up all night.

"Hmph! Don't forget that Grandpa is looking for you," Meng Hongchen said expressionlessly.

"..." Lu Cheng's eyes twitched. He had really forgotten about this, but he remained calm and smiled: "Hahaha, I was just about to go find Master Hongchen."

"Hmph, you better be." Meng Hongchen kicked the big tree next to her, taking her anger out on it.

She really stayed up all night last night, just to wait for this guy and "extort" him a bit. After all, it was late at night and no one else would know about it, but this guy really has been staying in the lab until now...

We can only take him to see his grandfather for now.

but……

Meng Hongchen gave a soft hum and leaned closer, a fragrant breeze wafting over her. Then, she heard a girl's sweet, orchid-like voice whispering in her ear, "Lu Cheng, this secret of yours is something I'll live off for the rest of my life. Don't even think about running away, after we meet Grandpa..."

"..."

Lu Cheng remained calm.

She actually found out.

But Lu Cheng couldn't get excited at all. This girl was just too pure and extremely love-struck. It was impossible for her to expose him. In fact, she would most likely help him hide his identity.

However, I still feel somewhat emotional.

Girl, are your eyes like an eagle's?

How could you tell that?

Mingdetang Laboratory.

Doorway.

Lu Cheng smiled, rubbing a crimson diamond ring on his finger. Jing Hongchen was indeed generous, allocating nearly three million gold soul coins worth of rare metals, including sunken silver and meteorite iron. You should know that Xuan Ziwen had scrimped and saved for half his life and only had four million gold soul coins. This reward was indeed extravagant, given that he had just won a match.

Of course, Jing Hongchen originally intended to give him a level nine defensive soul tool, which was worth far more than the reward that should have been his. It also had the implication of investment and wooing him, but Lu Cheng refused.

Compared to a level nine defensive soul tool, which is hard to sell and he already had one, he might as well get some more practical metal.

"So what's next?"

Lu Cheng glanced at the slender young woman stretching lazily to the side, her graceful curves exposed to the sunlight, and realized that empty promises wouldn't work if he wanted to settle things peacefully and appease this guy who knew about his "spy" identity.

She didn't want anything else, only her body.

That being the case...

"Where?"

Lu Cheng asked.

“Anything, anything is fine…” Meng Hongchen turned her head away, pretending to be nonchalant, but her fair and rosy earlobes and her slender fingers twisted together revealed her not-so-calm heart.

He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's money is bound to him.

Lu Cheng sighed helplessly.

When did Lu Cheng, a dignified seven-foot-tall man, fall so low as to sell himself into servitude?

……

Inside the detached dormitory with pinkish walls.

Lu Cheng let out a long breath.

With a beauty in his arms, her slender, white fingers drew circles on his chest, squeezing the ball into a semi-circle that pressed against his chest, revealing a stunning curve. "Little Master... cough cough, Senior Lu Cheng, what brings you to the Sun Moon Empire?"

Meng Hongchen's beautiful face was flushed with desire. Having tasted the sweetness, she was even more obsessed with this after the woman had just lost her virginity. However, she still managed to restrain herself and blinked her beautiful eyes as she asked.

"I joined the Body Sect." Lu Cheng didn't hide anything: "They are in dire need of talent, especially in the Soul Guidance Department."

He didn't believe that Meng Hongchen would betray him.

Given this girl's personality, she would never betray him, even if it meant death. Even if he turned around now and asked her to elope with him from the Sun Moon Empire, she would not hesitate for a second.

“I knew it…” Meng Hongchen’s tone was slightly resentful.

Which woman doesn't hope that her ideal husband will overcome numerous difficulties to find her?

"Crack~"

Lu Cheng glanced at the beauty in his arms, gently patted her bottom, and the slightly fleshy bottom instantly stirred up ripples. "In the competition, I already gave first place to the Sun Moon Empire. It's not too much to poach some talent, is it?"

"Hmm..." The beauty rolled her eyes at Lu Cheng, but seemed to like this kind of thing. She snuggled closer to Lu Cheng and her long, beautiful legs clamped tightly around his thighs. Their skin was touching, but neither of them thought about that kind of thing. They had been fighting hard all night and their skin was red and swollen.

In the end, Meng Hongchen was only at the Soul King level. How could he withstand the beatings of Lu Cheng, a peak Soul Emperor who had honed his physical body several times?

"So your target is...Teacher Xuan?"

Meng Hongchen suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke with a slight surprise.

"good."

"Why choose him? It's not that he's weak, but compared to other Mingdetang researchers, he's a relatively marginal figure, not even reaching the core circle."

"If you're willing, I can persuade Grandpa to let you join another lab, or even make you his assistant!" Meng Hongchen's face lit up with joy.

"No need."

Lu Cheng pondered for a moment, kneading the soft flesh of her buttocks, and shook his head: "Teacher Xuan and I get along well, and being too close to the core circle of Mingde Hall will inevitably attract strict identity verification, and I'm afraid I'll be exposed."

It wasn't that I was deliberately hiding it from Meng Hongchen; some things don't need explaining.

"Then you must be careful."

Meng Hongchen wrapped her arms around Lu Cheng's neck and gave him a passionate kiss. She had originally planned to linger in bed with her beloved a little longer, savoring the afterglow of last night, but Lu Cheng pried her fingers off, meeting her puzzled gaze: "Your brother is here..."

"..."

After a brief silence, Meng Hongchen's face turned bright red, and she seemed flustered. Ignoring her discomfort, she began cleaning the room.

Brother-in-law?

Feeling the spiritual energy covering Xiao Hongchen, who was still about a kilometer away, Lu Cheng smiled and thought, "Let's talk about it next time we meet." If this kid weren't the grandson of Jing Hongchen, he would definitely try to win him over, but today... he could only slip away like a little blondie.

……

"Where did Senior Brother go? He looks so refreshed all night."

Keke said with great interest, then added with a mischievous smile, "Could it be that he went to spend the night with some beauty from the academy? The other day, quite a few girls from our academy asked me for information about our senior brother."

Orange pretended to be looking through documents, but in reality, she was also secretly listening.

"So a few big meals and you've completely sold me out?" Lu Cheng said with a smile.

"How...how could this be..." Keke said guiltily.

Shaking his head, Lu Cheng solemnly said, "Come here, everyone, and report on the recent project progress, including the progress of your respective management of the all-terrain detection soul guide devices."

"Yes!"

The entire laboratory fell silent instantly, the lively atmosphere vanishing in an instant.

The all-terrain detection soul tool is still very promising, because with a little modification, it can become an all-terrain self-propelled artillery turret. In the original work, after Huo Gua improved it, he equipped it with a soul-guided heavy cannon and amplified its firepower, making it a powerful weapon. After he infiltrated the heartland of the Sun Moon Empire, it took on the main role of artillery.

This thing is actually quite a good fit for him.

His spiritual power is extremely vast. If he were to simultaneously control these all-terrain self-propelled soul-guided artillery turrets, it would be no different from a massive soul-guided legion. Even if they were thousands of meters away, they could launch attacks and advance and retreat freely.

That's a bit scary.

Similar to drones from my previous life, this thing is not afraid of being consumed. Once the technology matures, the production capacity will be quite high. If it is combined with advanced heavy artillery, its power will be...

Therefore, he attached great importance to this, at least to figure out the core technologies involved.

"The core soul-guided array for the all-terrain soul-guided probe's speed is here. At the bottom of the self-propelled probe, we've adopted barbed 'claws' to cope with uneven terrain. We've also incorporated some earth-attribute soul-guided arrays to enhance its adhesion to the soil, thereby increasing its movement speed..."

Orange's report was the most accurate and concise.

Keke stammered, unable to articulate her thoughts, and just kept nodding behind Ju Zi. I did the same, Zi Mu being quite conventional.

Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng glanced at everyone, his gaze calm.

I can see that now, it truly lives up to its name as the "Slacking Off Lab".

The experiment was entirely driven by Xuan Ziwen, which was understandable, as none of them were really interested in scientific research; they were just there to "gild their resumes." One was determined to join the army to avenge his parents, another wanted to be a chef, and the third was clueless and did odd jobs. When the project was finally completed, they would just add their names to the end.

The expressions on everyone's faces varied, but they were all somewhat nervous.

Although Lu Cheng arrived the latest, he held the highest position. Xuan Ziwen had publicly stated that Lu Cheng was equivalent to him, and that he would listen to Lu Cheng in everything when he was not around.

Not to mention that he himself is quite capable, with enough strength to convince everyone.

"Great, it just so happens that Teacher Xuan said he wanted to take a test..."

Lu Cheng pondered for a moment.

"Then let's go to the nearby forest tomorrow. Does anyone have time?"