Chapter 78
Although it was Saturday, Shen Shiqian still had a bunch of work to finish, so he got up early and worked overtime in his study. When Feng Ran came out for breakfast, he was taking a break to go to the gym to work out. He was quite self-disciplined, except that his motives were hard to figure out.
The agreed-upon time to see Basil off was in the afternoon. According to the information provided by Xing Tong, Joshua originally wanted to organize a small farewell party for him, but Basil refused and righteously told them not to come.
After finishing breakfast, Feng Ran went into the lab. She still had to show the proper etiquette. Although she didn't want Luo Le to participate in this training camp before, this reluctance was probably just because of the attachment from her past life. Now that she had let go of it, it had faded a lot. But no matter what, she hoped that Luo Le would be alright.
There wasn't enough time for Feng Ran to prepare a better gift, so she could only give her a pair of mechanical gloves that Basil could use during the training camp. After finalizing the model and structure, she painstakingly welded the conductive wires together, constantly adjusting and optimizing the sensitivity. She had to do all of this herself, since it was a high-precision instrument, and the robotic arm had an upper limit to its operating range, unable to produce anything beyond its own precision.
She was very focused when she was doing these things, or rather, she was rushing to meet the deadline. She was so engrossed that she didn't notice the passage of time. She probably ignored the little robot's calls twice, so Shen Shiqian came to call her himself.
Seeing that Feng Ran had successfully installed the last piece of the outer shell, Chen Shiqian finally spoke up: "Ranran, are you done? Let's go eat first."
Feng Ran pushed his goggles up over his head, rubbed his slightly sore eyes, and belatedly realized he was hungry: "Um, what time is it?"
Shen Shiqian: "I've called you several times already, it's already 1:30."
"1:30?"
Unconvinced, Feng Ran opened the terminal and glanced at the time again: 13:36. She took a deep breath, knowing she had no time to relax. Luo Le's starship was leaving port at 3:00, and it would take at least 40 minutes to get to Hols Harbor from here! If she missed it, she would be doomed!
She got busy again: "I'm running out of time, I'll skip lunch, or I'll eat on the way back. Hurry up and set up the hovercar for me, I need to go to Port Hols now."
Shen Shiqian didn't ask her what she was going to Holsport for. After setting it up, he casually asked, "Can I go with you?"
Feng Ran had just found a bag and put the finished robotic arm in when he refused without turning around: "Have you finished your work? Don't cause me any trouble. It's none of your business."
Seeing him still standing sullenly at the lab door, Feng Ran grabbed his collar and pecked him on the lips: "Don't be jealous, don't be jealous, be more generous. I don't have time to coax you right now. Don't make me angry or you'll be dead when I get back."
After saying that, she walked around him and left. Before leaving, she put two vials of medicine into Xiaofen's item box and gave her a particularly ruthless instruction: "If the marshal has to go out, use these to give him two injections."
Little Pink's expression froze for a moment, then was quickly hacked and modified into starry eyes with the Star Pupil logo.
Shen Shiqian watched all this. After Feng Ran left in a flurry, he walked to the door and looked down at the pink robot, who seemed strangely excited: "What did she give you?"
The robot mimicked its master's knowing smile, its provocation escalating further: "Omega pheromones."
Actually, it's the leftover pheromone from Fengran's last time, a potent aphrodisiac. Anyway, two injections will keep Shen Shiqian limp and unable to go anywhere. Since it's made with Fran's pheromones, calling it Omega pheromones wouldn't be wrong, since the effects are the same.
Shen Shiqian was extremely displeased, his face even more sour than when Feng Ran went to see Luo Le: "Tsk."
/
When Feng Ran rushed to Hols Dock Port, it was already 2:30. As the largest interstellar navigation port in Qilia, there were basically no places to land hovercars near the plaza, so she had to go around to many places before she arrived late.
Basil stood out conspicuously alone next to the queue at the gate. His hair had grown a little longer and was tied in a small braid at the back of his head. His frameless glasses were perhaps the latest cloud-based smart interactive glasses, but they added a touch of style to his overall look, making him appear exceptionally elegant.
Upon seeing Feng Ran, he radiated an exceptionally dazzling light, and walked quickly toward her with delight, instantly shattering the quiet demeanor he had painstakingly cultivated.
Feng Ran: "Am I a little late? Sorry, I didn't notice the time."
Basil: "It's alright, there are still more than ten minutes until departure. I'm very happy that you came."
Feng Ran handed him the bag: "This is a farewell gift for you. You should have told me sooner. I didn't have time to prepare a decent gift."
Feng Ran was still wearing his lab coat and goggles, and it was clear he was in a real rush. Luo Le happily took the coat, opened it, and glanced at it: "It's just a training camp, it's not like I'm not coming back. You're all making a big fuss over nothing. Just think of it as me going on a trip to Chengming Star. Why did you even bring me a gift? Even Olivia wasn't being polite with me. I don't know who told her I was leaving today, but she messaged me this morning asking me to bring her something from Chengming Star."
Feng Ran: "So how did you reply?"
Basil said matter-of-factly, "I told her to find a proxy buyer herself. Please, Olivia's family is royalty, surely they can afford to run errands. Even when Joshua and Chris come to me for help, I have to think twice. I only didn't directly confront her because of you."
Feng Ran explained with a smile, "Afu considers you a friend too. She thinks that this kind of friendship can enhance mutual understanding, and she occasionally asks me to do this or that."
Basil became more talkative: "I appreciate your kindness, but I can just call a delivery person for her. I'll be very busy at Chengming Star, and if I have to participate in the competition, I might have to stay for another half month. If I'm going to bring anything, it will only be for you, Ranran. Although I promised Joshua and the others that I would bring back some local specialties, it would be a good idea to buy all the local specialties and bring them back for them to choose from. But Ranran, the gloves you gave me look really cool. I will definitely cherish them and use them carefully. I'll bring you back first place in the competition!"
Feng Ran: "If you can get first place on your first try, that's really impressive."
Basil: "This is nothing. I've seen their award-winning works from previous years, and I think if you, Ranran, went there, you'd be more than qualified to be a mentor. But the problem is that this competition requires a team. I don't know if I can find good teammates there. After all, talented people definitely have their own ideas about design, and it's hard to unify and work together, right? Ranran, what design direction do you think I should focus on? Actually, I wanted to take the patch connectors I made before with me and study them again, but the samples I made before are still with Chris. I'm also thinking of making some new things. I'm even afraid that if I make a name for myself in medical device research, my dad might come back and make me work for the group."
Feng Ran: "It's okay. Teammates are a matter of fate. Besides, if someone is just aiming for the award, then it should be easy to work together. You can research whatever you want, so there's no need to worry too much."
Basil: "Seriously, can't you come with me? It seems like Chengming Star's population is three times that of Qiliya. If we hide there, forging identities and concealing our appearances, it'll be hard for others to find us, right? Besides, we both definitely prefer the academic atmosphere there." He tentatively asked, "Ranran, do you still stand by what you said before?"
Looking at Luo Le's expression, Feng Ran felt she had gone too far. She had wronged Luo Le, but if asked if she was willing to go back to their previous relationship, she secretly wouldn't. She found it hard to judge how much of her feelings for Luo Le were affection and how much were guilt, but because of that guilt, she could only restrain herself and try to fulfill his wishes in everything she did, otherwise she would feel anxious and uneasy.
Basil noticed her pause and understandingly picked up the thread, saying, "But actually you're much happier now than before. You have new friends, people who support you, and you have great energy, so there's no need for those words to come true anymore. You're free now, you can have the best of everything, and I should be happy for you."
He opened the bag again, reached out and touched the gloves, then switched his smart glasses to sunglasses mode: "It seems like it's about time, so I'll be going now. Thank you for seeing me off today."
Basil.
Feng Ran called out to him.
She wanted to say that she had been ambiguous with him all along and that he didn't deserve her kindness, and that she had found someone she liked and that her life was slowly getting better. But looking at his stubborn back, refusing to turn around, she could only manage to say one thing in the end:
"Have a safe trip. We'll throw you a celebration party when you come back with the award."
Basil queued up and entered the gate, waving goodbye with his back to her: "Then I'll have to work really hard."
The starship left the bustling port, its silvery hull merging into the sky without even a contrail. After leaving the planet, the concept of day and night became blurred. Basil looked at the vast and tranquil universe, his slightly red eyes reflected in the porthole.
Feng Ran is actually very good at lying, but he's the only person he won't lie to.
Every time he realized this, Basil felt that she was too cunning, but since Basil had provoked her first, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to blame her.
He already had the answer in his heart, but he didn't want to give up yet.
Seeing Luo Le's sadness, Feng Ran felt a little sad too. She felt that if he stayed in Chengming Star for a month and a half in such a depressed state, it would only make her seem more cruel and heartless. She began to worry about whether he would be unhappy there, whether he could not find a teammate, whether his research would not go smoothly, and whether the competition organizers would make things difficult for him.
When anxiety reaches a certain point, the Khan begins his grand military review on the way home.
Fran, who was organizing his research direction, received a message that popped up automatically on his terminal.
[Feng Ran: Go to Chengming Star to participate in an electronic design training competition. I'll help you prepare a substitute identity. Pack your things and leave tonight. That's all, just please take care of Basil for me.]
[Fran: What about my research?]
[Fengran: It's not too late to do it when you get back.]
[Fran: But all I know is how to make medicine.]
[Fengran: That's not important.]
Fran: ...
Fran stood frozen in anger, while Xing Tong gloated on the personal terminal: "Oh ho, serves you right for stirring up trouble at the banquet. Now look what happened, you've been recruited."
He was still trying to resist.
[Fran: Have you ever considered that he's an Alpha and I'm an Omega? Even if you don't care about my life or death, you should at least care about his reputation.]
[Feng Ran: As long as you control your pheromones, he won't do anything to you. I'll extract some pheromones to make suppressants and send them to you later.]
Xing Tong: "New research material obtained."
The accumulation of special samples can bring about a qualitative change in their research progress, and it is only natural for Xing Tong to exploit some of Fran's inhibitor supply.
Fran hissed, "You even have to scheme about this..."
The master and servant are both complete lunatics.
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