A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 276 Change of plan
"I just wanna do the dash, put my pedal to the gas,"

"Skrr skrr, going so fast hope I don't crash&..."

Michael was driving his Dodge Challenger, belting out his latest rap, in a great mood.

He had been preparing for this Christmas party for two weeks and had already invited everyone except Chen Hui. He was going to host a grand party of his own in Princeton.

It's exciting just thinking about it.

Michael had already bought all the ingredients, so he parked his car in front of Princeton Floral, where he needed to buy some flowers and party decorations.

After parking the car, he strung the keys on his fingers, swung them triumphantly, and skipped and rapped as he walked toward Princeton Floral.

Two burly men walked towards him. Michael stopped singing and sensed something was wrong. Although he was new to Princeton, his childhood experiences made him very familiar with this kind of thing. Without hesitation, he turned around and ran in another direction.

Unfortunately, he underestimated the determination of his opponents. When he turned around, he found that, apart from the two burly men walking towards him, more than a dozen people from all directions had surrounded him.

Michael inwardly groaned. He had been living a good life for too long and had lost his vigilance, only realizing something was wrong so late.

But this is not his fault. Princeton has always been a safe town, and he never expected to encounter something like this on the day before Christmas.

"We're from S.H.I.E.L.D., don't run away."

A dozen burly men surrounded Michael. The leader, with a stiff smile, stepped forward, approached Michael, and showed his identification.

"I haven't done anything illegal or disorderly. You've probably got the wrong person."

Michael raised his hands to indicate that he posed no threat before daring to ask. He understood the style of these S.H.I.E.L.D. guys; given his skin color, if he dared to put his hands on his waist, he would probably be facing an empty magazine the next moment.

"Professor Chen's student, Michael, right?"

The leader still had a smile on his face, "You're the one we've been looking for."

"Don't worry, we're not here to arrest you, we just need your help with something."

The leader patted Michael on the shoulder, then put his arm around him like a longtime friend, while waving for the others to disperse.

"What favor? If I can do it, I certainly won't refuse!"

Michael thumped his chest loudly, looking every bit the righteous hero.

"Professor Chen has been researching meteorological models recently, and we would like you to share his latest progress with us."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. guy said with a smile, "This concerns the rise and fall of the nation, I hope you can consider the bigger picture."

Although they were monitoring Chen Hui from all angles, these people were not academics, and the bureau was short-staffed in terms of scientific advisors, so they had no choice but to resort to this tactic.

"Is that so?"

Michael frowned in thought, looking like he was in a difficult situation. "Professor Chen is my dearest teacher."

"You have to pay more!"

"?"

The S.H.I.E.L.D. man was slightly taken aback, then chuckled, "No problem, as long as you do a good job, you'll get the reward you deserve."

This is why they approached Michael; they knew that among Chen Hui's three students, Michael had the most weaknesses.

Of course, the most important reason is that only Michael would frequently leave the Princeton campus.

Even they wouldn't dare to do such a thing openly on the Princeton campus, otherwise Princeton's alumni and shareholders wouldn't take it lying down.

What constitutes a deserved reward?

"I don't understand."

Michael shook his head. "One hundred thousand dollars, not a penny less."

"no problem."

The man agreed without hesitation; $100,000 was nothing to them.

Then he saw Michael's hand outstretched in front of him.

"What do you mean?"

"A deposit is required first!"

The man waved to the others around him, and soon a stack of US dollars was handed over to Michael. "Do a good job, and you'll get your share of the rewards."

"understand!"

Michael was overjoyed. "Don't worry about me. Just prepare the money and you're all set."

After saying that, he took the money, swaggered into Princeton Floral, bought the flowers and decorations he had prepared in advance, drove his Dodge Challenger, and arrived downstairs at the teaching and research building.

Michael couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Do you really think Michael is someone who would betray his own teacher?

Just give those guys random random information and you'll get tons of gold coins. Why not?

Of course, he still decided to remind the teacher. He usually followed the news and knew why the teacher had come to Princeton. He was worried that those people might harm the teacher.

In the research lab, Elena is still processing massive amounts of data. With the supercomputing cluster, her efficiency has increased significantly, and she has already achieved some preliminary results that await verification.

Deng Leyan, standing nearby, was also scribbling on a draft paper, using data to theoretically verify their model.

Michael shook his head. Tomorrow is Christmas, and these guys are still studying. That's not how you learn math!

The teacher was also scribbling on a piece of scrap paper behind his desk; Michael guessed he was probably working on proving the Riemann Hypothesis.

Swinging her keys, she skipped and hopped over to Chen Hui's desk.

"Teacher, I ran into people from S.H.I.E.L.D. when I went out today..."

boom!
With a muffled thud, a burst of crimson light exploded before Chen Hui's eyes, like a firework exploding.

Chen Hui's mind went blank, his head buzzed, and waves of dizziness seemed to pull him into another world.

Elena and Deng Leyan, who were discussing nearby, were also drawn by the commotion. When they saw the burst of red and Michael's powerless body, their eyes were filled with horror.

Although they had heard a lot about Free America, this was the first time they had seen her in person.

A red figure darted into the teaching and research office like lightning, pulled Chen Hui off his seat, and hid him under the solid wood desk.

Lin Xiaotang appeared out of nowhere and managed to be next to Chen Hui within three seconds of the gunshot.

However, no second shot was fired, clearly indicating that those people were only targeting Michael.

The tranquility of Princeton was shattered by the gunshot; after a brief commotion, it fell into a deathly silence.

A few minutes later, Fefferman strode to the door of Chen Hui's teaching and research office. Inside, only three people remained, stunned, along with Michael lying in a pool of blood. Anger erupted from his eyes like a volcanic eruption.

"Zack, send someone to Professor Chen's office to handle the situation. Don't let this get out."

Fefferman took a photo of the scene and sent it out, then made a phone call, but before he could finish speaking, he changed his mind: "No, hold a press conference. I want to strongly condemn this behavior."

This matter obviously cannot be kept secret. If it is covered up, it will only cause greater public outcry when it is exposed. It is better to openly expose it and express condemnation of the KB elements.

He could certainly guess who did it, but he absolutely could not reveal it.

"Professor Chen."

"Professor Chen."

Fefferman's hand slowly waved in front of Chen Hui, leaving afterimages in Chen Hui's eyes.

Chen Hui finally recovered from his nightmare-like state.

Ugh. The moment he regained consciousness, the strong smell of blood made Chen Hui gag.

I touched my cheek; there was still something sticky on it.

Wow……

Finally, Chen Hui vomited up all the milk and bread he had eaten at the club that morning.

"Professor Chen, let's go outside and rest for a bit."

Fefferman helped Chen Hui stand up from the chair.

Chen Hui broke free from Fefferman's support and staggered to Michael's side, slowly regaining his senses.

Michael just said he met with people from S.H.I.E.L.D., so obviously he has something to tell him.

Before he could finish speaking, someone interrupted him. Clearly, someone didn't want him to know what Michael was about to tell him. So, it was obvious who fired the shot; it could only be someone from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Inhale...exhale...

Chen Hui closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with a chilling light.

"Elena, Deng Leyan, let's go out first."

"Professor Fefferman, please arrange for someone to clean the room and properly prepare Michael's body. Also, please help me contact Michael's family."

Chen Hui's voice was like the cold wind of early winter, giving Fefferman goosebumps.

"I'll arrange a new teaching and research office for you."

Chen Hui shook his head, "No need, this teaching and research office is fine. After cleaning it up, we'll work here."

Fefferman opened his mouth, but in the end didn't say anything more. "Okay, don't worry about the rest, I'll handle it."

Chen Hui and the other two left the research office and returned to Chen Hui's villa without saying a word.

Lin Xiaotang did not come out with them. She had already left before Fefferman arrived, and Chen Hui did not know where she went.

……

In a small conference room on the roof of the Princeton Library building, Eleanor blew on the still-smoking muzzle of a gun, disassembled it into a pile of parts in a few dozen seconds, put them into a portable violin case, pushed open the conference room door, swaggered downstairs, and walked out of the library.

He had done this many times before, and he always succeeded in one strike. This was thanks to his countless hours of practice, and he was very proud of his skills.

Once outside the library, he quickly blended into the crowd; his attire was unremarkable on the Princeton campus.

The students were somewhat flustered by the loud noise, but they didn't know what had happened and assumed that the stern-looking middle-aged man carrying a briefcase was a professor.

I strolled out of Princeton's gates with a leisurely air, got into my Chevrolet Camaro, the track-spec engine roared, and the car sped through the town of Princeton like lightning, heading onto the highway to Washington.

Suddenly, Eledan frowned and looked in the rearview mirror. Just now, he had noticed a red shadow.

But when he looked closely, he found nothing.

"I must be seeing things," Eliedan said, looking away, but his right hand swiftly grabbed the pistol from under his seat.

He's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best sniper, how could he be seeing things?

However, as his hand touched the cold grip of the gun, a gun barrel was already pressed against his temple, and a girl in a red dress was sitting in the back seat behind the driver's seat.

"you……"

boom!
There was a crisp sound.

Another snowflake exploded.

The Camaro, traveling at over 100 miles per hour, suddenly lost control, crashed into the roadside guardrail, then flew high into the air before landing like a missile, causing a violent fire and explosion.

A second before the Camaro went out of control, a red figure emerged from the back seat, landed on the ground, rolled several times, and quickly disappeared into the roadside jungle.

……

When Chen Hui returned to the villa, the red figure was walking towards him from a distance.

At this moment, her long dress was tattered and torn, with holes everywhere from being snagged by tree branches, and her body was covered in dust and fallen leaves. Anyone who didn't know her would think she had just returned from fleeing a disaster.

"Where have you been?"

Chen Hui had a rough idea of ​​what she was going to do.

Lin Xiaotang didn't answer. She reached out and grabbed Chen Hui's collar, then reached into his coat and tore a listening device out of the lining. After that, she couldn't stop.

She went to the sofa, under the dining table, inside the fireplace, and on the carpet...

In just thirty seconds, she found more than a dozen listening devices, then opened the fireplace and threw them all in.

After doing all that, she pulled Chen Hui to the study, saying, "I've avenged Michael."

We must leave here immediately.

Chen Hui shook his head, "We can't leave now."

"You only get one chance, but now is not the time."

"If we don't leave now, your life may be in danger. Even if we only have a 60% chance of success, we have to take the gamble."

Lin Xiaotang's eyebrows furrowed, as if she was preparing to forcibly take Chen Hui away.

If it weren't for the fact that Chen Hui's lack of cooperation would have made their chances of escaping even lower, she probably would have already taken action.

"Is the seventh-generation fighter jet ready?"

Chen Hui looked at Lin Xiaotang, his tone as calm as a robot's.

Lin Xiaotang remained silent. Their original rescue plan was to wait until the seventh-generation fighter jet was put into service and then launch a surprise attack. Without the seventh-generation fighter jet, the success rate was indeed not high. She did not expect that Chen Hui had already guessed it.

"But the situation has changed now, and we have no choice but to take a gamble."

"Since it's a gamble anyway, why not stay?"

Lin Xiaotang swiftly moved forward, turning into a blur. She was too lazy to waste any more words or time.

Next second,
Lin Xiaotang stood where Chen Hui had been, but Chen Hui had already moved two meters away.

Lin Xiaotang was stunned, not expecting that Chen Hui could evade her capture.

"Can you listen to me now?"

"You say it."

Lin Xiaotang did not take any further action. Since she could not stop Chen Hui, she could only listen to him continue talking.

"My plan is as follows..."

A few minutes later, Lin Xiaotang had been persuaded by Chen Hui.

"Go and take a shower."

Chen Hui looked at the disheveled Lin Xiaotang and said, "That's not enough. I hope we can give them another surprise. Michael loves big events, and I hope he will like it."

After saying that, Chen Hui sat down on the sofa in the living room. He knew that the next few hours would determine the fate of their group.

Elena and Deng Leyan sat with Chen Hui and his companion in the living room, waiting. They didn't know what Chen Hui and his companion had said in the study, but they were equally uneasy.

Time seemed to stand still in this atmosphere, and each second felt incredibly unbearable.

(End of this chapter)