TSBSPAAM Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Laboratory Explosion

Shen Bumian sweated profusely after using his ability. Upon returning to the dorm, he tossed his terminal aside and went to shower, completely unaware of the heated discussion on the forum sparked by a photo.

In the photo, Shen Bumian’s skin was flushed, and he looked limp as he leaned against Lin An. Lin An had raised his hand to support him, and the two were very close. Perhaps due to the photographer’s angle, the picture looked a bit ambiguous.

…

Mu Yi ate first before delivering lunch to Qin Luzhi. He Jing also came along, bringing an unexpected person with him—Lin An.

“Hey, I’m really not—He Jing, let go of me!”

“Tsk tsk tsk, morals are declining day by day. No, I have to get them to judge this.”

Mu Yi looked up, and even Qin Luzhi stopped serving the food. The two stared at the floor entrance, wondering what on earth He Jing was doing here since he wasn’t delivering food.

They saw him walking over with his arm around Lin An’s neck. Seeing Mu Yi, his eyes lit up for a moment. “Hey, Boss, look! This guy, he… mmpf mmpf mmpf…”

Lin An swiftly covered He Jing’s mouth, afraid he would say something shocking. “Good afternoon, Boss. Eating?”

Lin An greeted them with a tight voice, looking unnatural and screaming “something is wrong” all over his face.

Qin Luzhi gave him a look and asked casually, “What’s wrong? Did the interrogation go smoothly?”

Lin An instinctively straightened his back. “Of course it went smoothly!”

He didn’t mention Shen Bumian the entire time, Qin Luzhi thought.

“Mmph! Boss, Lin An, this kid, is hitting on sister-in-law!” He Jing finally broke free from the clutches when Lin An wasn’t expecting it and shouted loudly at Qin Luzhi.

The entire top floor fell into a deathly silence.

Lin An rubbed his forehead speechlessly for a moment, then shouted into He Jing’s ear, “He Jing, would it kill you not to cause trouble?!”

“Damn, do you have to shout so loud? Boss, I’m not making this up. Check the forum if you don’t believe me!”

Seeing Mu Yi and Qin Luzhi silently opening their terminals, Lin An rushed forward, grabbing Qin Luzhi’s hand and explaining tearfully.

“Boss, believe me. That photo is just a bad angle. I was just supporting sister-in-law. He suddenly felt unwell when he came out of the prison, so I escorted him back to the dorm. I didn’t expect someone to take a picture.”

Qin Luzhi pulled his hand back. “Speak properly. Don’t pull and tug. It’s improper!”

Seeing that He Jing and Lin An were about to start another round of verbal sparring, Mu Yi got a headache. It was too noisy.

“I believe you, Lin An. Do you have anything else?”

He Jing finally let go of Lin An, pointing at Mu Yi as he walked over quickly. “Fine, you’re not siding with me.”

“Who says? When have I not sided with you? Isn’t it because Lin An has something to report right now?”

The floor finally quieted down. Qin Luzhi also checked the photo on the forum. It was indeed as they said, just an angle issue.

However, why were there people shipping Lin An and Shen Bumian as a couple, saying they looked good together, and some even shipping He Jing and Shen Bumian?

Qin Luzhi: Fist clenched.

He logged directly into the admin account he had requested last time and deleted those few comments. The reason: Contains sensitive words, refuse to spread rumors.

Lin An was still recounting Shen Bumian’s interrogation of Su Qingyu, inadvertently revealing admiration in his eyes.

“That’s about it. I kept a copy of the evidence. Boss, should I send it to you?”

“Mm.”

He Jing, having been on the mission last time, had seen how severe Shen Bumian’s injuries were. The thought that another omega had intentionally caused this was terrifying.

Mu Yi was noncommittal. When they all saw Su Qingyu back then, they felt something was off, especially after Su Qingyu woke up. That look in his eyes made Mu Yi frown subconsciously.

Seeing his gaze constantly following Qin Luzhi, Mu Yi also felt he was trouble. Rivals in love are jealous when they meet. Him falling in the same spot as Shen Bumian seemed suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

Sure enough, Mu Yi glanced at Qin Luzhi behind him. “How are we dealing with him?”

“According to imperial law: threatening others, intentional injury, attempted murder, and privately manufacturing weapons. He can be locked up for a few years and stripped of his noble status.”

The Su family was obviously not a family capable of manufacturing weapons of that specification, yet Su Qingyu regularly stored a batch in his spatial stone, exceeding the specifications allowed for ordinary citizens for self-defense. Ordinary citizens of the empire could customize self-defense tools, but not in large quantities, nor according to military specifications.

Su Qingyu would definitely go to jail, but with the Su family’s intervention and the fact that he was an omega, he might only be locked up for a year.

“Boom—”

Lin An’s pupils dilated as he looked in a distant direction.

“Holy crap, look! Something exploded!”

Several of them looked through the window. The noise just now was huge; they had heard it too. They didn’t expect the explosion site to be within the school.

Thick black smoke billowed into the sky. The reflection on the glass showed flames that hadn’t been extinguished. People in white coats ran out from inside. They must have escaped in time, suffering no other effects besides coughing.

“Where is that? Why does it look familiar?”

“The laboratory.”

Mu Yi had passed by there before and remembered that special building. He easily recognized the direction now.

He Jing and Lin An rarely paid attention. Hearing Mu Yi, they only gathered that the laboratory had exploded and knew nothing else.

Qin Luzhi panicked for a second. “Whose laboratory?”

Mu Yi knew what he was asking. “Don’t worry, it’s not sister-in-law’s or Teacher Gu’s.”

Qin Luzhi hadn’t recognized the building either. The thought of that possibility nearly stopped his heart.

Mu Yi didn’t beat around the bush and said directly, “It’s Dr. Lu’s laboratory.”

Qin Luzhi had an impression of this name; Shen Bumian seemed to have asked him about it. “Lu Shuqiao?”

Mu Yi nodded. The others didn’t understand who they were talking about. “Who are you talking about?”

“Lu Shuqiao. The owner of the laboratory just now. He funded it himself. I heard he’s very strong, has a great personality, and is an SS-rank Alpha. Young and promising, I heard many omegas like him.”

“By the way, he’s also our school’s psychologist.”

It was Lin An’s first time hearing Lu Shuqiao’s name. He thought it was strange; how could someone so powerful and popular be rarely discussed?

He searched and found that Dr. Lu spent all year in the laboratory and was rarely seen, so few people in the military academy knew him.

Lu Shuqiao’s suitors were mostly mid-to-low-level ability users from all over the universe, not limited to the First Planet.

Seeing this, Lin An felt this person was indeed impressive and influential.

Especially since Lu Shuqiao had a very handsome face, giving off the feeling of a graceful gentleman, gentle as jade. Yet his eyes were inexplicably wild. The conflict between the two was very attractive.

“Lu Shuqiao? Why does he seem a bit strange?”

Lin An muttered to himself. The others didn’t hear him, and he himself forgot this feeling a moment later.

Attention was drawn back to the exploding laboratory building. The smoke automatically triggered the building’s alarm system, and people were rushing to put out the fire.

But before they arrived, they saw Lu Shuqiao standing in the center of the crowd, looking indifferently at the sky-high flames. His eyes held neither sadness nor joy, as if looking at a failed experiment.

Someone shivered at this thought. How could that be? Dr. Lu is such a gentle person; how could he be so cold?

Looking again, Lu Shuqiao still had a faint smile on his face. The slight curve of his lips seemed infectious, making people unconsciously smile along with him, feeling that no difficulty was a problem.

See? Dr. Lu isn’t that kind of person.

“Don’t worry.”

Lu Shuqiao’s voice was like a spring breeze brushing past tree branches, calming the anxious hearts of the researchers present.

Lu Shuqiao raised his palm slightly. A huge wave surged in the air, directly extinguishing the fire in the ruins of the building. Smoke faintly rose from corners, and the great fire was put out just like that.

It was a water ability!

Lin An, outside the isolation room, was shocked. Is this the strength of an ability user close to 3S rank? Unleashing the power of a flood with the strength of one person?

Water ability users were diverse. Water or other liquids played different roles in their hands, acting as different weapons.

Lu Shuqiao raised a huge wave so effortlessly, like the Dragon King of legend, summoning wind and rain with ease, all in an instant.

“This Lu Shuqiao guy is kinda strong.”

Mu Yi also straightened his expression, agreeing with him. “He is very strong. If it were anyone else, water of that scale wouldn’t appear in an instant.”

He Jing had to admit it too. “I’m a little excited. I want to see him fight the boss. Wonder who’s better?”

Speaking of this, a hint of madness appeared in He Jing’s eyes. Duel between the strong always triggered the wildness in people’s hearts. He wanted to fight Lu Shuqiao himself, even if he would lose.

Qin Luzhi pondered their words, finally shaking his head. “Hard to say. I might not win.”

Seemingly sensing something, Qin Luzhi saw Lu Shuqiao, standing on the ground, turn his head and glance in their direction, his gaze finally resting on him.

Qin Luzhi seemed to see Lu Shuqiao smile, say something, raise a finger, and then look away. Except for the few of them, no one else saw Lu Shuqiao’s movements.

This was also strange. Many people were watching Lu Shuqiao, but it was as if no one saw the movement just now.

He Jing lost his calm directly. “Holy crap, what did he say? ‘Looking forward to next time’??? Boss, do you know him?”

Qin Luzhi: “I don’t.”

Mu Yi: “He saw us and knew we were watching him. From such a distance, his perception is very strong.”

Lin An: “What did he mean by that last bit? Is it a provocation? It didn’t look like one.”

“And, ‘next time’? We’ll meet again? But why ‘looking forward to’?”

He Jing scratched his head, obviously confused as well. “I don’t know. He just gives me a weird feeling. Maybe he sees the mutual appreciation between strong people in us?”

Lin An scoffed. “Please don’t include yourself, thanks.” “Tsk tsk tsk, don’t know who lost to me in the last competition, suppressed by me with no power to fight back? I won’t go easy on you next time either.”

Lin An stomped away from He Jing. That sentence was ambiguous, okay? Afraid of catching He Jing’s stupidity, he gave him the middle finger directly. “Who needs you to go easy? Just watch how I deal with you next time!”

He Jing: “Mu Yi, did you hear this guy’s arrogant words? Help me teach this kid a lesson.”

Lin An: “One-on-one if you have the guts! What’s with getting outside help!”

“I will get help. You get outside help too if you can. Can’t find one, can you?”

Qin Luzhi closed the window directly, the meaning obvious: Goodbye, see you never.

Mu Yi also picked up the food container and left. The two were too childish; he didn’t want to walk with them.

“Hey, wait for me! Boss, see you next time!”

Qin Luzhi faced the wall with a dark expression. Don’t come next time!