Inside a Liu Clan safe house.

Liu Xuan and Liu Li stood before Liu Xinglu, waiting for him to speak.

After a long moment, Liu Xinglu shook his head in resignation. A sound emerged from the sonic wave generator on his neck.

"There’s no sign that the Si Clan was actively involved in this attack, at least not online. All traces lead back to the Round Table Conference in the European Administrative Region. The Si Clan has covered its tracks perfectly."

Liu Xuan fell silent.

They had paid such a heavy price, yet still failed to gather the evidence they needed.

’Is there really any hope left for Liu’s Heavy Industries?’

The voice from Liu Xinglu’s sonic wave generator held a note of helplessness. "Abandon the plan. Trust in Xing Yuan; he’ll find a way to break this stalemate. The Si Clan is extremely cautious. Unless every member of the Round Table Conference in Greenfield City ends up dead, it’ll be nearly impossible for us to find any proof."

"However, it seems there are one or more mysterious Extraordinary Professionals in Greenfield City helping our Liu Clan. The attack inside the company took some unexpected turns."

As he spoke, Liu Xinglu uploaded scenes from within the company to Liu Xuan.

Ever since her call with Lin Qi, Liu Xuan hadn’t been paying attention to the situation at the company.

But the purple light emanating from her eyes indicated that she was, in fact, worried about the worst-case scenario.

...

Liu’s Heavy Industry Branch, thirteenth floor, Pharmaceutical Department.

Lin Qi arrived at Liu Weicai’s office. Both of them looked a little disheveled.

Lin Qi was only pretending, but Liu Weicai’s state was genuine.

As a member of the Liu Clan and a department head at the Liu’s Heavy Industry Branch, Liu Weicai had never worried about his safety.

But an attack on the company had occurred when he least expected it.

Lin Qi pretended to be frightened, his voice trembling as he asked, "Director, do we still have to work today?"

The company had just suffered an armed assault; in theory, no one should be expected to continue working.

After all, following an incident like this, the company’s operational bottleneck certainly wasn’t the R&D department.

The ones who needed to work overtime now should be the company’s operations department.

Liu Weicai’s expression was conflicted, which made Lin Qi’s eyes widen.

After a moment of thought, Liu Weicai said, "The attackers have left, so the company should be safe now. It won’t affect our normal work..."

’Is he for real?’

’Almost every A-Class and above employee in the company was nearly wiped out, and we still have to work?’

Lin Qi actually had no complaints about working. For him, coming to the Pharmaceutical Department wasn’t just a job; it was a way to use the company’s resources to benefit himself.

After days of study, Lin Qi had gained a clear understanding of L-Class Potions.

At their core, they were still about the adhesion effect of Spiritual Particles caused by combining different materials.

But this involved Extraordinary Materials, which were produced by various companies.

To replicate L-Class Potions in the Doomsday World, what Lin Qi truly needed to figure out was the issue of Extraordinary Materials.

Merely researching and designing an L-Class Potion was not difficult for Lin Qi.

His Spiritual Vision was like a cheat code, allowing him to clearly see the reaction state of all Extraordinary Materials.

Combining different material ratios created new substances. What effects did these new substances have? This would normally require rigorous experimentation, but for Lin Qi, it only took a single glance.

Any ratio that could induce more efficient Spiritual Particle adhesion was a good ratio.

What truly determined a Potion’s Level was the materials themselves.

The ratio only affected the Potion’s efficacy and quality within the L-Class; it couldn’t elevate an L-Class Potion to the level of an A-Class Potion.

However, it seemed that L-Class knowledge didn’t cover the creation of Extraordinary Materials.

Lin Qi had originally planned to complete the design for an L-Class Potion today, then apply to Liu Weicai for literature on A-Class Pharmacy.

"I’ll head to the lab then."

Although Lin Qi found Liu Weicai’s decision utterly baffling, he still walked steadily toward the laboratory.

Lin Qi figured he was probably the only A-level Researcher who would still be working today.

...

Inside Lin Qi’s laboratory, two L-level Pharmaceutical Researchers were chatting.

"I heard the conference hall upstairs was attacked. A lot of the A-level Researchers died."

"I hope that guy named Lin died up there. This is torture. Working for a nepotism hire is pure torture. I’m being wrung dry."

"Relax. Even if he didn’t die, he won’t be coming to work anytime soon. My cousin told me the A-level Researchers are taking a collective leave and might not come back until the higher-ups make a decision."

"Doesn’t that mean we get a paid vacation for a few days? We’re still assigned to that guy Lin’s A-Class lab. No, wait, it’s not just a vacation. With him gone, we can secretly use the A-Class lab equipment for our own research. We might even be able to complete one or two L-Class projects..."

As the two researchers were fantasizing about the wonderful days ahead, the laboratory door suddenly swung open.

Lin Qi entered the lab and said, "What are you two chatting about? Why haven’t you calibrated the instruments yet?"

Turning their heads stiffly, the two L-level Researchers looked as if they had been turned to stone.

’Why is that Lin guy at work?’

’No, seriously, is there something wrong with him?’

’He just got attacked upstairs and he’s already back down here to work?’

’I could cry. Why does he love his job so much?!’

Fortunately, the laboratory was extremely well soundproofed, so they didn’t have to worry about Lin Qi hearing their complaints.

"Boss, are we still going to study the L-Class literature today?"

One of the L-level Researchers asked weakly.

Studying literature with Lin Qi was torture.

Lin Qi was like a walking encyclopedia of questions. He had so many, and each one cut right to the core of the issue. Anyone without an exceptionally strong grasp of the fundamentals couldn’t possibly answer him.

’The company’s level assessment only tests research ability, not academic fundamentals!’

"No. We’re starting an L-Class project today. I plan to complete two L-Class research achievements today."

Lin Qi smiled at the two L-level Researchers.

Even though they were complaining about him, Lin Qi considered himself a man of character.

He had made them work their brains to the limit for so long; it was only right to offer some appropriate compensation.

Two L-Class research achievements would be a worthy reward for all their efforts.

The two L-level Researchers were completely bewildered.

’What the hell?’

’Two L-Class research achievements?’

’Is that something you can just churn out whenever you feel like it?’

’This nepotism hire surnamed Lin can’t possibly think he’s a real A-level Researcher, can he?’

’A connected hire is just a connected hire. He has zero self-awareness.’

...

「Five hours later, inside the laboratory.」

"HOLY SHIT! IT WORKED! BOSS, YOU’RE INCREDIBLE!"

"HOLY SHIT, my set of experimental samples worked too! The instrument feedback shows a spectral reaction at L-Class standards! Let me go get the test strips to check... HOLY SHIT, L-Class, 89 points! This is a flagship L-Class achievement!"

The two L-level Researchers were acting like madmen, as if their entire understanding of the world had been turned upside down.