America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 153 Underground Activities Scheduled for Halloween
After quickly finalizing the dinner arrangements for the evening, Li Xiaoen said goodbye to a few girls after class and then walked alone to the school cafeteria.

The girls all had classes, but he had finished his classes for the day, and his mood immediately lightened.

I was planning to have a few bites as usual, then go back to my dorm for a nap, when my phone unusually rang with a call from Daniel.

"Sean, are you done with get out of class? Are you in the school cafeteria?"

The call connected, and Daniel's voice came from the other end, along with the faint sound of the television playing.

"Is there anything you need me to bring?"

Instead of answering, Li Xiaoen asked, "Did you go back to your dorm?"

“Yeah, help me pack some fried chicken and burgers, and buy some drinks at the convenience store. Let’s eat together when we get back, it’s on me!” Daniel’s voice was very happy.

"Okay, wait a moment."

Nodding in agreement, Li Xiaoen hung up the phone and moved towards the explosives section...

Is there some good news?

Returning with two large bags of food in her hands, Li Xiaoen saw Daniel waiting at the dormitory entrance and handed one of the bags to him.

"hey-hey……"

Daniel smiled smugly, familiarly put his hand on Sean Lee's shoulder, and walked into the living room with him. "Sean, why don't you take a guess?"

"Um……"

Li Xiaoen pondered for a moment, "Is it the girl from that party before who agreed to be your girlfriend?"

Upon hearing this, Daniel's smile froze instantly, and Michael's thunderous laughter echoed from the sofa.

"Hahaha... Daniel, I knew Sean could guess it."

"Although the possibility is not high, it is still better than finding a million dollars on the street."

Li Xiaoen looked at Daniel with a mischievous grin, put the bag on the low table in front of the sofa, took a bottle of soda water from the refrigerator, and then sat down on the sofa to drink it.

Michael and Malcolm didn't stand on ceremony and started eating the packaged fried chicken and cola from their bags, while Daniel also came over and took out his wallet.

"No need, I was thinking of treating you to a meal sometime after you lent me the money."

Sean Lee waved his hand, and although he had asked around and only Malcolm had some spare money, it didn't stop him from thanking everyone.

Seeing even the usually quiet Malcolm wolfing down his food, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. "Have you guys not eaten for days?"

"Michael was so poor he couldn't afford food, and Malcolm was out with his fraternity, doing community work for two days and only got back this morning."

Daniel didn't insist, and just joked casually, but then he saw Michael reach for the bag of food he had brought, so he quickly pulled it away, saying, "Your hands are covered in sauces, don't contaminate these uneaten items, wipe your hands clean first."

"Does it matter?"

Michael didn't seem to care. "Anyway, you'll still be dipping it in sauce when you eat it, won't you?"

"Are they the same? Can something someone else got on their hands be the same as something you got on your own?"

"Uu——"

Michael let out a long sigh and looked at Sean Lee and Malcolm, teasingly saying, "Daniel was just like this before, but he got a new girlfriend and started complaining about her."

Daniel's face darkened: "This is something I've wanted to change for a long time."

"Yes, you are right."

Michael rolled his eyes with amusement, then nonchalantly grabbed a Coke and took a sip with his hand covered in yellow sauce. "Not long ago, this guy was feeling down because he didn't join the fraternity..."

"is it?"

Seeing that things were not going well, Lee Shawn took a fried chicken box from Daniel's bag and placed it in front of himself. Then he looked at the group and asked, "So, of the three of you, only Malcolm has joined the fraternity?"

No wonder, Daniel seemed really off before, but he's suddenly doing so well today. It turns out he's found a way out of his predicament.

"Sean, you have no idea."

Michael couldn't suppress his smile as he spoke, pointing chuckled as he pointed to Daniel's increasingly dark face. "He said he wasn't interested in the fraternity at first, but then he found out he was rejected, and Malcolm got in, so he started acting up, hahaha..."

"That's understandable."

Seeing the liver-colored blush on Daniel's face, Sean Lee suppressed a smile and offered a comforting word.

That's the truth. Think about it, after all, they got into Princeton. Even if they're carefree in their daily lives, they still have some pride in them. Seeing themselves rejected while their friends got accepted, the sudden sense of loss is still quite unpleasant.

Looking at the smiling faces of Lee Shawn and Daniel, and then at Daniel sitting down on the sofa and silently munching on fried chicken, Malcolm felt a little embarrassed and forced a smile.

"Perhaps the fraternity needs to increase the number of Black faces so that I can successfully join."

He glanced at Daniel inquiringly, "Actually, my answers in the interview that day were pretty much the same as Daniel's, weren't they?"

"Is there another reason?"

Upon hearing a Black man mention this, Sean Lee's expression became somewhat strange.

This situation is all too common in the United States today, dominated by the politically correct left-wing Democratic Party. Various organizations and even key government positions strive for diversity, adding many redundant personnel who are not qualified for their roles.

"Let's not talk about that."

Daniel waved his hand, changed the subject, and handed out Cokes to the group, "Now, it's time to celebrate that I have a girlfriend, it has nothing to do with those things."

"cheers……"

It was just casual banter and teasing, and the group quickly clinked glasses in a cheerful manner.

"By the way, Daniel."

Michael finished half a glass of cola in one gulp, his lips gleaming with grease, and grinned mischievously as he leaned close to Daniel. "How far have things progressed between you and Olivia?"

"correct."

Speaking of this, Li Xiaoen suddenly remembered, "Daniel didn't go back to the dorm last night."

"Actually, it hasn't developed that fast."

Faced with the curious gazes of the group, Daniel smiled and waved his hand, replying casually, "It was just a hug and a kiss."

"You didn't come home all night, and that's all?"

Michael looked shocked. "Daniel, you've disappointed me greatly."

“Olivia doesn’t seem like a conservative girl at all.”

"We've only been dating for one day."

Daniel rolled his eyes and explained, "It's only our first day dating, this is already pretty good, okay?"

"No, it's not good enough."

As Sean Lee and Malcolm nodded knowingly, Michael shook his head in denial, "Daniel, do you know Olivia's ex-boyfriend?"

"What do you mean?" Daniel frowned.

"I told you, this is also for your reference."

After a moment's hesitation, seeing that he had already started, Michael simply waved his hand, picked up a box of fried chicken, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and started eating while speaking.

“Olivia, according to the information I exchanged with other classmates, she has had three boyfriends since the start of the semester.”

It's only been about two months since school started, and she already has three boyfriends?
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen's eyes widened, while Daniel nodded calmly, "And then?"

"Um……"

Michael glanced at Daniel. "From what I understand, Olivia is quite open-minded in that area..."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Daniel's face darkened.

"It's okay, once you succeed next time, you'll also reach the passing grade."

Michael waved his hand dismissively. "Let's discuss something else."

Having said all that, the three people present understood. Sean Lee's thoughts were in a complicated state when he heard even more explosive news from Michael.

"I know a place that has a striptease show for Halloween at the end of the month. Do you guys want to go together?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, even Daniel, who was deep in thought, couldn't help but look up and stare blankly at Michael.

Looking around at the reactions of the others, Michael chuckled and leisurely put his legs on the low table in front of the sofa.

Luckily, I got my share in advance.

Li Xiaoen looked away from the low table, frowned, and asked, "Aren't we old enough?"

Some regulations in the United States are truly baffling. For example, many states have strict controls on cigarettes but are relatively lenient on marijuana. He had never heard of the age limit for attending strip shows in New Jersey.

Who in their right mind would pay attention to these regulations?

"Of course not, the legal age in New Jersey is twenty-one."

Michael smiled and raised his chin. "The one I'm talking about is an underground club."

“What the f**k…”

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, and quickly shook his head.

"No, Sean, aren't you curious?"

Daniel, on the other side, quickly urged, a barely suppressed excited smile on his face, "Aren't you curious and want to go take a look?"

“Hey, Daniel.”

Seeing this, Michael couldn't help but chime in with a mischievous smile, "Don't you have a girlfriend? Why are you so excited? I didn't invite you."

"So what if I have a girlfriend? This is art, I'm here to appreciate art!"

Daniel quickly retorted, and the two started arguing again.

Seeing the "battlefield" shifting towards him, Malcolm quickly stood up and moved to the side of the sofa closest to Sean Lee.

"Malcolm, aren't you interested?"

Seeing the highly educated Black man quietly watching the show and silently eating his fried chicken, Sean Lee couldn't help but ask. He had his reasons, and there were also state laws in place. The consequences for international students who violated these laws were far too great. In comparison, it was much easier for native-born Americans. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many students under the age of 21 using identity information to buy alcohol, or going to underground places like Michael.

"No, it's better not to break these rules."

Malcolm quickly shook his head. "If my father finds out, he'll beat me to death."

"Understandable."

Li Xiaoen nodded, and only spoke to Daniel and the other man after they had finished their commotion.

"This performance is so good, even Daniel begged to go, and you guys don't want to go?"

Hearing their rejections, Michael was a little disappointed. He glanced at Malcolm without making it obvious, then turned to look directly at Sean Lee. "Sean, are you really not interested, even if it's just to keep us company?"

Are there people who specialize in accompanying others to strip shows?

Li Xiaoen's expression turned strange, and he quickly shook his head, "If there really is a chance in the future, I'll go with you when I'm of legal age."

To reiterate, Michael reluctantly gave up. He had been lying on the sofa with little interest, but after a moment, he turned his attention back to Malcolm.

After chatting for a while, seeing that it was almost time, Li Xiaoen said goodbye to the others, picked up his backpack, and headed to the laboratory.

Tomorrow is the lab's bi-weekly discussion meeting. In order to prevent Professor Sedgewick from retracting his part-time endorsement, he should produce a model that is still in a very rough state and submit it.

After copying the refined results from the two-day prototype into the lab computer for machine learning, Li Xiaoen then wrote optimization logic and packaged the model.

"Haskel, take a look at my program logic architecture. Is there a problem?"

Lucas's voice could be faintly heard from the other side of the laboratory.

"The architecture looks reasonable, so the bug can only be due to a conflict in the specific code logic of your compilation implementation."

"Really? But I followed the instructions on GitHub for almost every step."

"Go back and think about these specific issues first. I need to ask the next very urgent question..."

Before Haskel could take a closer look, another classmate chimed in.

As tomorrow's discussion meeting drew closer, the students in charge of the project in the lab were noticeably more anxious than before. There were whispers coming from their hushed voices. While waiting for the model to run for trial, Li Xiaoen looked up and observed.

Try out the halo effect.

[Halo Effect in the Beginner Learning Field: Unlocked]

With a thought, Li Xiaoen activated his aura and bestowed its blessing upon Lucas and the others who had just asked him the question, subtly glancing over at them.

As for him, his current model optimization strategy was already smooth and clear, and he felt even more refreshed. Under his gaze, Lucas was holding the notebook in his hands, staring blankly, and suddenly fell into deep thought.

"I see!"

At one point, Lucas let out a startled cry, the abrupt loud noise attracting the attention of the other students in the lab. He raised his hand apologetically and quickly walked back to his seat.

For their current level, strengthening their thinking by 20% would solve some of the problems they are currently facing, which is welcome. However, from another perspective, it also reflects that their current research is not deep enough.

Li Xiaoen turned his gaze back and fell into deep thought.

In short, to learn multiplication from addition, a little more thinking ability is enough, but the difficulty increases. From single-variable calculus to functional analysis, and from Newtonian classical mechanics to quantum field theory, the required thinking ability undoubtedly increases significantly.

But none of that matters. He is confident in his future research and development. Moreover, he has the support of the system—although it simulates the results of his years of study rather than direct knowledge transfer, it is enough.

In a way, this academic halo is just what he needs to do to recruit talent, collaborate with others, and conduct joint research.

Perhaps I can create a studio sometime in the future.

Li Xiaoen thought to himself that the direction for realizing his grand vision had suddenly become much clearer.

With the aura of enlightenment surrounding him, exclamations of sudden realization echoed throughout the laboratory. Haskell suddenly snapped out of his daze, looked around, and realized that no classmates were coming to ask him questions anymore.

Have they unleashed their potential?
Haskell thought to himself that, in comparison, he was still troubled by a difficult problem.

His once-proud coding skills were under attack, and his heart sank. Looking at the error message on the computer screen that he couldn't solve, he felt extremely confused and it took him a long time to focus.

Without considering that his classmates were constantly "enlightening" and he was complacent, Li Xiaoen hung up the current model at 5:30 pm, picked up his schoolbag and left for the gym.

In the panel's three dimensions, although his value is slightly higher than that of a normal person, physical strength is still what he can currently call a weakness, and it is relatively easy to improve. With the training over this period of time, he has vaguely sensed a trend towards a breakthrough.

He exercised until 6:30, and just as he was getting hungry, he went to the vending machine to buy something to eat, and finally saw three girls.

"If you don't come soon, I'll be full."

Li Xiaoen put a piece of chicken sausage into his mouth and made a helpless complaint.

"Sean, I didn't expect you to have such a great figure."

The three girls in front of her were staring intently at her, and it was Serafina who spoke first, teasing them.

Looking down, Li Xiaoen saw his sweat-soaked shirt clinging tightly to his body. He lifted it up and stretched, saying, "Wait a moment, I'll go back and take a shower."

"what--"

Serafina frowned in disgust. "You smell like sweat. Could you please be more mindful?"

Victoria rolled her eyes at Serafina and shook her head with a smile.

"Sean, you go ahead. Serafina's uncle might be a little late."

"Would you like these chicken sausages?"

Li Xiaoen slung the backpack over his shoulder and handed over the sausage in his hand.

"Thank you."

The girl smiled and accepted it, but for Serafina, Li Xiaon slightly withdrew his hand to avoid her taking it. "One dollar, thank you."

"Is it really worth a dollar for just a sausage?"

Serafina looked over with a dark expression.

"Never mind, just put it on the tab."

Feeling sticky and uncomfortable all over, Li Xiaoen didn't dwell on it anymore. He tossed the remaining sausage to the other person and quickly walked towards the dormitory.

“I forgot that I should have charged him for taking him to the base on the weekend to teach him how to shoot.”

Serafina took a big bite of the chicken sausage, glared at the young man's retreating back, and attracted the attention of the other two girls.

Considering that Daniel and the others were in the dormitory, Li Xiaoen gave the car keys to Su Feier in advance, quickly washed up, and then went to the parking lot to drive to the Western restaurant called The Peacock Inn.

Since it was a thank-you dinner, Serafina had originally said that he would decide on the restaurant, but because Victoria and the other two girls requested to join, Lee Shawn handed over the decision to her.

Contrary to what was said before, as soon as the four entered the restaurant, the restaurant manager came up to them and said that Henry was already waiting in a private room. On their way there, they happened to run into him coming out of the private room.

“Seraphina, Sean…”

Henry greeted everyone, giving Victoria a special nod, and then gestured for them to sit down at a long oval table in the private room.

“Sean, and Sophie and Victoria, and actually Mary, you all helped a lot yesterday. I was originally planning to host a dinner for each of you one by one, but now we've all come together.”

After everyone had ordered their food and the waiter had left the room, Henry raised his glass of champagne and greeted them with a smile.

The group knew the truth perfectly well, but naturally no one was going to point it out. They smiled and clinked glasses across the room.

"It's a pity that Serafina told me that Mary went home and was too busy, otherwise we would have hosted a banquet for you all together."

Henry leaned on the table, looking around at the young people chatting away. "You guys seem to have a really good relationship."

"Sean, don't worry."

Henry smiled and nodded to Sean Lee, "I'll get your gun license in America sorted out for you right away."

“Thank you, Mr. Henry.” Sean Lee nodded.

"No need. Compared to your help to us, this little favor is really nothing."

Henry waved his hand dismissively and sighed, "Sean, can you tell me how you noticed the maid's unusual behavior?"

"You know, that maid has been working at the base for two years, and before that, she worked at other private shooting clubs for five years, but no one has ever noticed anything unusual about her."

"I just took a look out of curiosity. Although the maid was cleaning with her head down, no matter which direction she was facing or what she was doing, she could see in our direction out of the corner of her eye."

Recalling the maid's movements that he had seen before, Li Xiaoen had already prepared his words, "Or rather, she had been lying low for so long because she had a mission, and when she took action, she was exposed. It's normal that you didn't notice her because she was working and disguising herself step by step."

"Yes, that's possible."

Henry nodded seriously. "I'll go back and use your method to audit everyone at the base again."

“I heard from Serafina that you and Sophie both strongly suspect there’s an even bigger mole inside the base. Do you have any leads?” Henry asked again.

"Sorry, we don't know about that."

After exchanging a glance with Suffer, Li Xiaoen answered.

"Indeed, there are other moles who are very cautious and have hidden themselves very well."

Nodding, although he had expected it, Henry still felt a little regretful. He quickly composed himself, smiled, and nodded, "It's okay. You can call my private number if you have any ideas."

After saying that, he took out a business card from his inner pocket and handed it to Serafina, who then passed it on to Sean Lee. "Of course, if you encounter any trouble in America, you can also call me."

Henry gave a confident smile: "As long as it's not an intentional shooting of police officers or public officials, you don't need to worry."

"Thank you, Mr. Henry."

Although it was highly unlikely that he would need it, Li Xiaoen still accepted the business card and nodded with a smile.

Just as they were about to say something, a knock came at the door, forcing them to stop. The group finally began their dinner.

After a quick appetizer, perhaps at Henry's special request, the main course was served soon afterward.

Two large, thick-cut steaks were placed in front of him. Henry cut off a piece and put it in his mouth, eating in a rather rough manner. He looked at the young man not far away, who also had three steaks piled up in front of him. He was now wolfing them down, and the more he looked at him, the more satisfied he became.

Henry glanced discreetly at his niece, Serafina, watching her casually eat her steak, then looked at Sophie and Victoria on the other side, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"Sean..."

During the meal, Henry was noticeably more relaxed and casually asked, "You've practiced with guns, have you considered hand-to-hand combat?"

(End of this chapter)