Before he even arrived, he could hear the woman inside explaining in detail. However, like all beginners, even the experienced chef was a little confused by one particular word: "Appropriate amount? Madam, I don't quite understand what 'appropriate amount' means. Could you specify how many grams?"
After a long silence in the kitchen, a woman's rather helpless voice finally broke through.
"...I don't know either, but salt is a random thing. If you like it salty, add more; if you like it bland, add less. It depends on your feel."
Her explanation only confused the chef more: "I'm sorry, Madam General, I still don't quite understand. All recipes in the Allied Nations are strictly controlled for precision and mistakes are not allowed."
"Don't you find it boring? Nothing changes, not even the food..."
Lu Yuanren had already reached the vicinity of the door when her words made him pause in his tracks.
His presence was then detected by the people inside.
The head chef of the governor's mansion, who had been "forced" to become a kitchen helper, saw Lu Yuan and hurriedly bowed respectfully, "Governor!"
Xia Yixin followed the direction the chef was looking and met a pair of deep black eyes. After more than a week apart, he was in a worse state than she had imagined. Although he still looked clean and tidy, the faint bloodshot in his eyes betrayed him.
The atmosphere became strangely awkward for a moment.
Until Lu Yuan coughed lightly, "What's cooking in the pot?"
The chef quickly glanced at Xia Yixin.
Xia Yixin also received the man's "signal." In this situation, it wouldn't be appropriate to kick him out or eat it herself. She secretly thought to herself that the man's "appearance was perfectly timed," but she offered a toast: "That's braised noodles, would you like to try some?"
In response, Lu Yuan calmly nodded and instructed the chef to "make a few more dishes."
The chef naturally prepared his signature Western dishes, and Xia Yixin couldn't help but sigh softly as she checked the contents of the pot.
Actually, she wasn't stupid; she could see that Lu Yuan had been "deliberately distancing himself" for the past week or so.
At first, she didn't think much of it, assuming it was just a "political necessity."
With martial law declared nationwide and Qian Dahai potentially launching a counterattack at any moment, she was forbidden from leaving the heavily guarded Consul General's residence, which was tantamount to house arrest.
However, communication was not prohibited. During the day, she contacted Li Rui through official channels and chatted casually with her. At night, she used V to block the signal and learned surprising news from Li Rui: it turned out that there were many people in similar situations being imprisoned in the PO Executive Office.
V successfully hacked into the PO panel using the chip that Li Rui had attached to it.
After Xia Yixin took control of the information about the PO Executor Headquarters, she was surprised to find that, just as Li Rui had said, the Executor Headquarters had also taken in a number of people during this period. Coincidentally, they were all people who were now on Lu Yuan's side.
She didn't know whether these were "protection" or "threat." She glanced at the messages briefly because there were over a hundred people, but she didn't look at them carefully.
Most regrettably, there is no information about "safe houses" in this document.
She had tried to mention to Lu Yuan several times that she wanted to go to the research institute to continue her research on the experimental system, but to her surprise, he refused her every time with the reason that the system was "unstable in real time".
Lu Yuan was still wary of him.
Having confirmed this, she simply stopped dwelling on the matter. That night, during a secret phone call with Li Rui, she also brought up her "escape plan" that she had already thought of.
Her reason to Li Rui was that "it's hard for her to predict whether she will fall out with Lu Yuan or face other crises in the future."
Li Rui also accepted the idea. The advantage was that they had a certain degree of freedom in the designated area at the PO executor headquarters. Under Xia Yixin's plan, Li Rui and Chen Zhe obtained some self-defense items and an escape spaceship, ready to be deployed at any time.
Xia Yixin also seized the time to recover her body and gradually became proficient in the moves she remembered. Her speed and power increased far beyond the sum of all her previous data. She could even punch through an iron sandbag.
However, she also knew that this was only average in front of the A-level gene users of the Allied Nation, not to mention the mechs that could only be controlled by mental power.
Mental strength is an innate skill of A-level gene users and the only way to control mechs. It's somewhat like the exoskeletons she'd seen in science fiction movies. The stronger the mech, the higher the level of mental strength the pilot needs; otherwise, at best, they'll experience mental confusion, and at worst, they'll suffer brain death.
Of course, because these mechs are so powerful, to avoid chaos, the real mechs are sealed away. Ordinary A-level gene users train and compete through a "combat system," which is somewhat like a holographic experience system, but it has no entertainment value and is purely a place for a group of A-level gene users to vent their excess energy.
Every A-level gene user has the right to exchange points for their own mech, and can continuously upgrade it. Those with high points can buy several. The supplier will send "virtual mechs" for the operator to use and get used to in the virtual combat system.
Aside from the executors and the soldiers in the preparation zone, most A-level gene users who are in civilian positions may never be able to wear the physical item in their entire lives.
But for those with Grade B genes, this is an insurmountable gap.
Just like Xia Yixin, although the original owner's previous test results showed A+ level mental strength, she did not have the right to purchase a mecha because she was a B level gene user.
This is undoubtedly one of the reasons for the exacerbation of class division.
However, Xia Yixin was not going to give up so easily. Compared to the mechs in the virtual combat system, she preferred to get her hands on a real mech.
Judging from the few combat videos of Lu Yuan, he is very strong. In the last simple battle, he probably didn't even use 50% of his strength. In the video, he was wearing 3S-level black armor and fighting against hundreds of predators that were over ten meters tall and looked like giant cockroaches. These predators were covered in black iron armor, their claws could cut through iron like mud, and their bodies were covered in venom.
If the two of them were to "break up" in the future, having a suit of mecha would definitely be useful if she wanted to leave in peace.
Just as Xia Yixin and V were discussing how to get a mecha from the warehouse in the preparation area, V's sudden reminder broke the silence.
“Master, I have detected someone trying to monitor you. It’s coming from Lu Yuan’s room, and based on my measurements of his heartbeat, breathing, and pheromones in the air, he has developed a third kind of feeling for you.”
Lu Yuan? A third kind of affection?
"How could that be?" she instinctively retorted, but as soon as she said it, she immediately thought of his "deliberate distancing" during this period, and her heart sank.
She had encountered this situation before.
In this other dimension, Lu Yan had also deliberately distanced himself from her, either because he didn't want to admit he liked her or for some other reason. If Lu Yan came from Lu Yuan, then...
The explanation below V confirms her guess.
“Master, the data is accurate. The Lu Yan in the experimental system is designed based on 90% of Lu Yuan. He would naturally be attracted to you. Not long ago, he checked some of the visible experimental system information, so it's not surprising that he became interested in you. But this may not be true feelings.”
It's not real affection?
A thought flashed through Xia Yixin's mind, and she frowned. "You mean... transference?"
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