Chapter 55
Inside the conference room, Balzac, Hemingway, and Zhou Shuren sat at a large table, while only the three members of Zhonghua and Kasimov remained as observers.
Several ASA members currently in charge of guarding Vladimir and Defoe did not attend the meeting.
Beside Balzac, a man whose style was clearly different from ASA was sitting in a chair, smoking a pipe.
Balzac had been covering his face ever since the man next to him took out his pipe, but now he couldn't stand the choking anymore and reached out to snatch the pipe from the man's hand.
"Holmes! Let's get down to business!"
The man known as Holmes lazily turned his head to glance at Balzac, then pulled a new pipe out of his pocket.
Several "well" marks were visibly appearing on Balzac's forehead—not an exaggerated, anime-style depiction, but rather Balzac's head was starting to swell, with the indentations resembling the character "井" (well).
Seeing that Balzac was clearly not in a good mood, Holmes, who had been being cheeky, immediately put his pipe back in his pocket: "I just think tobacco helps with thinking."
Pressing his forehead, Balzac gritted his teeth: "This is a serious occasion! Take it seriously!"
"This operation was specifically requested by you. As the initiator, can't you put in a little more effort?"
Holmes stood up from his chair with a completely natural expression. It was as if he hadn't just been criticized; he leisurely picked up the documents on the table.
"It's not time to solve the problems yet. We're still just looking through the exam papers. There's nothing to be serious about, is there?"
Balzac's response to Holmes's explanation (or sophistry) was once again a series of "wells" popping into his head.
Holmes immediately picked up a document from the table and began to read it aloud with great expression.
"Jules Verne, a figure known in the geological community for his supernatural abilities before joining the Joint Research Institute, was even called the 'Archimedes of Geology' by some. He studied engineering and supernatural ability research on his own, and later joined the Joint Research Institute as a volunteer, where he achieved great success..."
"His most significant achievement was solidifying and enhancing his supernatural abilities through mechanical devices, creating the 'Resonance Chamber,' a special device that could assist and strengthen supernatural abilities."
The onlookers: ...Has this person given himself a cheat code in life?
If I'm not mistaken, this person's primary profession seems to be geology, and they're self-taught in engineering and supernatural abilities? Judging from this information, they seem to have achieved quite a bit?
Sherlock Holmes, Balzac, and Zhou Shuren all accepted this.
It's just cheating; everyone knows how to cheat.
"His original ability was 'Journey to the Center of the Earth,' which allowed him to manipulate solids with low hardness. However, according to reports at the time, this resonance chamber reduced the power and greatly expanded the range of his ability. Ultimately, it was re-registered as 'Underwater Wandering,' which allows him to control liquids over a wide area."
Hemingway, who had been leaning against the table and dozing off, suddenly looked up and asked, "So, he managed to change his superpower?" He hadn't looked at the documents before leaving the house.
Holmes gave the past a look that said, "Were you not listening in class?": "In a broad sense, that is true, but strictly speaking, his supernatural ability has not changed. This Mr. Verne has just figured out a new way to use it."
Seemingly remembering something, Hemingway rubbed his chin irritably: "Fine, these days talented people all love this whole mystery stuff..."
Kasimov, who was standing meticulously behind Hemingway, glanced at Hemingway upon hearing this and said, "Captain, judging from your ability to express yourself, it's not something to be too disappointed about that you failed to persuade Mr. Melville back then. In fact, I think that the fact that you and Mr. Melville did not break off relations is already an affirmation of your negotiation skills."
Hemingway: ...
Hemingway: "Kasimov, if you keep doing this, I'll divide you into fifty equal parts, believe it or not?"
Kasimov stared straight ahead without looking away: "Report, if the expected error is over 15%, I can selectively trust your patience and dexterity."
Although it was a bit unkind, some people in the meeting room couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Among the seats in the Zhonghua restaurant, the stylishly dressed guy was one of the people who couldn't help but laugh earlier.
At this moment, he tilted his head slightly closer to the sickly young man beside him: "I feel like I can hear Shi Qiu speaking."
The boy, who was some distance away from him, heard someone call his name and turned to look over.
The person who spoke first waved to Shi Qiu to indicate that he was alright, then nudged the sickly-looking person in the middle with his elbow: "Jia Bao, don't you think so?"
The man in the middle had unfocused eyes, clearly his soul was no longer on Earth, and almost subconsciously uttered a sentence: "Call me Xiao Shi..."
Since his soul may have already reached Yinghuo (Mars), the volume of his voice was slightly loud, at least not at the level of a whisper.
Zhou Shuren, who was sitting in front holding a small book, glanced back at the group of people, and finally looked at the fashionable young man who was forcibly whistling.
“槱森 means quiet.”
The young man who was called shrugged, indicating that he understood.
On the other side, Hemingway, who had been contradicted by his subordinate, turned his head with a sullen face and gestured to Holmes to indicate that he was alright.
Holmes picked up the document again, which contained a detailed research report by Jules Verne.
"The 'large multi-functional exploration submarine' built around this resonance chamber is now the 'Nautilus,' capable of fuel-free operation through its supernatural abilities, and its top speed can even reach Mach 10."
Hemingway propped his head up as he watched Holmes enthusiastically flipping through documents and reciting a string of technical terms.
"So, can we just state the conclusion directly?"
His more purely militant approach made it difficult for him to understand what Holmes was saying.
"In conclusion," Holmes looked up out the window, "it seems Mr. Verne's ambitions extend beyond 'land and sea.'"
A huge shadow was cast into the sky outside the window.
From here, it looks like a huge submarine.
A submarine sailing in the sky.
Holding the document and looking at the strong, bold handwriting in the application section, Holmes couldn't help but smile.
"This time, are we not content with merely conquering the 'ocean'?"
On the paper, the words "I have conquered the land" stand proudly.
This ship, sailing through "fluids," carried Verne to conquer the sky and the sea.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
