Bruce, for the sake of convenience in his research, had built his laboratory adjacent to his bedroom. The lab was constructed with special materials to prevent gas leakage and was secured with a triple-lock system—password, voice control, and facial/iris recognition—ensuring no one but him could enter.
The outer room, meant for rest, was far less meticulous.
Three walls were lined with bookshelves, and several books were piled up in the corners. The bed was messy, and on the table sat a cup of coffee that hadn’t been cleared for days.
This man clearly didn’t pay much attention to his own living conditions.
Ji Nian thought this as she tiptoed in, following closely behind Bruce as he unlocked the laboratory door.
Bruce, completely absorbed in his research, didn’t notice Ji Nian sneaking in.
As he was changing into his protective suit in the dressing room, his thoughts wandering, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm.
Bruce turned his head abruptly and was met with a pair of cold, piercing green eyes.
For a moment, he was stunned, almost thinking he was looking at Ji Tingzhou.
The first time Bruce had met Ji Tingzhou, the young man’s gaze had been just as icy and menacing.
“What… are you doing?”
He looked down at the source of the pain.
It was a syringe, held steadily by a small, delicate hand, its sharp needle embedded in his skin. Inside the syringe was a familiar blue liquid, glowing faintly.
Bruce’s pupils contracted sharply.
“Take me inside, or I’ll inject this poison right now.”
Just like Bruce, the system exclaimed: 【Are you crazy!!?】
【Aren’t you afraid Ji Tingzhou will find out?】
Ji Nian replied calmly: 【Don’t worry, after tonight, he won’t remember a thing.】
With Ji Tingzhou as his wealthy investor, Bruce’s lab surely had something worth looking forward to.
Creating a small dose of memory-erasing serum wouldn’t take much time.
The system’s electronic voice wavered.
It couldn’t help but ask: 【…Are you a wizard?】
Memory-erasing serum? Why not just cast a “Obliviate” spell? Weren’t you supposed to be a toxicology expert????
Ji Nian scoffed at the system’s lack of faith in science.
It was just a small trick to target declarative memory, numbing the hippocampus, and it only worked on memories that caused a significant impact within the last hour.
If the memory wasn’t particularly stimulating, the serum might only make someone forget something trivial, like the heart-shaped poop they had just taken.
This memory-erasing serum was a byproduct of her second research project (yes, it was about hemorrhoids and rabbit tails).
Her main goal was to make her test subjects forget about their hemorrhoids, so that when they eventually turned into rabbit tails, it wouldn’t seem out of place.
But then she had another thought.
She had heard that Shen Qingtang couldn’t remember who had given her the poison. Since that person had her creation, 003, they might also have the memory-erasing serum, 012.
Perhaps Shen Qingtang had been injected with the serum and that’s why she couldn’t remember.
Ji Nian made a mental note of this and refocused.
Bruce, faced with this situation, felt like punching himself to see if he was dreaming from working too hard in the lab.
Otherwise, how could a child barely taller than a foot, dressed in fluffy clothes with an adorable face, be threatening him with poison?
For a moment, Bruce even considered urinating on himself to wake up.
But he was a man of remarkable composure.
He actually fetched a small-sized protective suit for Ji Nian and led her, stumbling in the oversized suit, into the lab.
His expression throughout was as if he were in a dream.
Once inside, Ji Nian’s eyes lit up as she took in the lab.
The system was familiar with this look.
It was the same expression Ji Nian had when she saw attractive people.
Ji Nian was even more envious.
Why hadn’t she been reincarnated as Bruce?
Even if she failed later and was kicked out, she could at least sell scrap metal.
The system: 【What scrap metal?】
Ji Nian: Do you buy steel bars? I’ve got one in my pants.
The system: 【AAAAAAAAH GET OUT!!!】
It! Shouldn’t! Have! Asked!
Completely unaware that he had narrowly escaped disaster, Bruce was busy questioning his existence.
After questioning his existence, his world came crashing down.
What was he seeing?!
Ji Nian, struggling in the oversized protective suit, rolled up her sleeves, stood on a chair, and began flipping through Bruce’s lab notes.
As she read, she commented, “You’ve got some interesting ideas, using methyl thioacetate as a substitute. I’d advise against it—it conflicts with dcona, and TPES is too small.”
“This formula is wrong. It should be changed here…”
The more Ji Nian read, the more her brows furrowed. “What is this mess?”
Bruce, in his shock, felt as if he were seeing his old mentor and shuddered.
Now fully awake, Bruce was about to speak with trembling lips when Ji Nian went beyond just reviewing the data.
She started working directly.
“What are you standing there for? Come and take notes, and bring me a Griffin beaker.”
“And get all these things ready.”
Before he knew it, Bruce was holding a pen and paper, gathering everything Ji Nian had listed.
He watched in near despair as Ji Nian expertly picked up a round-bottom flask, even though it was larger than her face.
Her next moves were flawless, so precise that Bruce felt like he was watching a textbook demonstration. The only flaw was that her hands were too small, so she had to use both.
But that was still astonishing, wasn’t it?
She even tilted the funnel toward the suction port during filtration!!!
She’s only five years old!!!!
Five years old!!!!!!!!!
God, from now on, I’ll never give you a good look again.
Bruce’s emotions went from shock to amazement to horror to envy to deep envy.
Finally, when he saw the completely transparent, impurity-free liquid, he was filled with admiration, even looking like he wanted to bow to Ji Nian.
“Ji Nian… no, Master Ji!”
“I didn’t understand that last step. Could you show me again?!”
Bruce’s face under the gas mask was flushed with excitement. He breathed heavily, looking at Ji Nian as if she were a billion-dollar check.
“Sure.”
“If you still remember when you wake up.”
Bruce was puzzled.
He looked down and saw a syringe inserted into his exposed wrist.
He then glanced at the spot where Ji Nian had earlier threatened to inject him with poison.
Noticing his gaze, Ji Nian casually said, “Oh, that.”
“I was lying.”
“That wasn’t the poison from Wei Yang.”
“It was just the blue lemonade I drank this morning. Hehe.”
Bruce: “………”
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Although it’s just a memory-erasing serum I made while working on the antidote, it’s still pretty effective.”
Ji Nian placed the antidote in a prominent spot, ensuring it wouldn’t be broken, and then cleaned up the scene to make sure Bruce wouldn’t remember anything when he woke up the next day.
Before leaving, she even accessed the central system to erase the surveillance footage and checked Bruce’s computer to ensure there were no real-time backups.
After handling everything, she walked out, feeling satisfied.
【Maybe I’d make a good spy.】
“Hehe.”
“What are you ‘hehe’-ing about?”
Ji Nian, who had been radiating joy, froze at the sound of this voice. She turned her head so sharply it seemed her neck might snap.
A tall figure stood in the shadows of the corridor, his emerald-green eyes like those of a beast, silently locking onto Ji Nian.
