Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 228 The Most Dangerous Colleague

In the conference room, Miao Xin remained silent for a full minute. Everyone held their breath, waiting, with only the hum of the ventilation equipment echoing in the room.

"Okay," she finally said, "but I have conditions."

Ji Su was overjoyed and quickly took out her notebook and pen. "Miss Qiu, please speak!"

"First, all experimental plans must be submitted at least one week in advance and reviewed and approved by me in detail. Only after confirming that they will not cause me any form of harm can they be implemented."

Ji Su quickly took notes, the pen scratching across the paper. "This one is fine."

"Second, if I feel any discomfort during the experiment, or if my mental state becomes abnormal, or if there are fluctuations in the energy of the Nether Sea, I must immediately and unconditionally terminate the experiment."

Ji Su couldn't think of a reason to disagree, so she said, "This is also acceptable."

"Finally, in order to protect my core of 'human' cognition and maintain my control over the Nether Sea," Miao Xin said, "each experiment will not exceed two hours, and there will be a seven-day interval between two experiments."

This put Ji Su in a dilemma. "We hope to increase the frequency and duration of the experiments."

“No way,” Miao Xin refused decisively.

****
“Completely refusing their requests will only force them to find another way,” Miao Mu said to Su Ming by the river. “We can restrict them, but we can’t completely block them.”

Research targeting troublemakers is not something that will stop them just because it's not permitted.

“I’ve had a serious discussion with Miao Xin,” Su Ming said. “We should cooperate with the research on the little troublemaker.”

The people who had been following them throughout the factory were collecting data in various ways. Su Ming and Miao Xin chose to acquiesce at the time.

Miao Mu was very worried, "Miao Xin, are you alright?"

"Actually, it's alright," Su Ming replied. "She often takes the little prickly thing off and washes the bones with detergent."

This was actually necessary. Before, climbing on trucks and crawling through waterways would make the skeletons dirty. No matter how perfectly disguised, the stench would be impossible to hide in a crowd.

"But she resisted being a guinea pig, so she couldn't accept too frequent testing."

Miao Mu remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "You must remember to maintain the initiative. If you make concessions too easily, people will think that there is still room for maneuver. You might as well use some simple techniques, such as Miao Xin playing the bad cop and you playing the good cop, to understand each other's bottom line while maintaining a distance, and at the same time leaving room for compromise."

Is this a common negotiation tactic?

"What if I don't want to waste my time and energy on this?" Su Ming frowned.

The wind blew, creating shimmering waves on the river.

"That makes it even simpler..."

****
In the meeting room, Ji Su strongly urged Miao Xin to increase the frequency to once every two days, or even better, once a day.

Su Ming gestured for Ji Su to slow down before taking over the conversation.

“At first, Miss Qiu was completely opposed to this,” Su Ming said. “I also work in the mechanical industry, so I understand your concerns. However, Miss Qiu is deeply involved with that troublemaker. I had to talk to her for a long time before I finally got her to agree to try this out.”

Ji Su didn't say much; everyone knew about "Miss Qiu's" situation. And when he heard Su Ming trying to smooth things over, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Miao Xin asked for seven days, and I tried to increase my offer. If we compromise, we should be able to negotiate once every three or four days.

“So since neither side is satisfied, let’s cancel the experiment.” Su Ming’s tone suddenly changed. “Alright, next one.”

Ji Su stared dumbfounded at the little troublemaker that Su Ming was controlling. They were talking so well, how could it suddenly disappear?
Ling Wen, standing behind her, wanted to laugh, but she held it in.

“Just now—” Ji Su began to try to salvage the situation.

Su Ming interrupted him without hesitation, "Sorry, I already said, next one."

Protecting Miao Xin doesn't necessarily require a stern partner; someone even fairer-skinned than her can be!
He and Miao Xin are irreplaceable. They can decide the pace and method of negotiation, and others will naturally accommodate them.

Jin Rongjia remained calm and gestured for Ji Su to remain patient. He glanced at Su Ming again before announcing the move on to the next topic.

"Miao Xin, they'll definitely try to talk to you through Ling Wen after the meeting," Su Ming said. "Just do what you think is best; don't make concessions you don't want to make."

"Yes!" Miao Xin replied, "I know." Ji Su calmed down. He could judge the situation; the matter wasn't truly rejected. Seven days was the final condition; he just needed to back down a bit.

He needs to apologize for his earlier harassment.

Su Ming was using him as a "killing chicken to scare the monkey," setting rules for similar situations that might occur in the future.

He should thank them!
****
After millet, another woman spoke.

"I am the head of the Sangzi Group," she said, her face kind, as if the unpleasant scene just now had never happened. "We have already conducted a preliminary analysis of the data records from the transmission process a few days ago."

Sang Zi unfolded the laptop in front of her, and a video began playing on the large screen on the side of the conference room. "Mr. Su, these are the photos you requested," she said with a smile to Su Ming.

The scene depicts the conveyor belt system in the Jingji Heavy Industry workshop. The little troublemaker stands confidently in front of the components of the doomsday motorcycle, raising his pink-manicured bone claws with a cool pose, before suddenly freezing in shock.

On the Youth Civilization Post, Su Ming couldn't help but cover his face. This scene will surely be studied repeatedly by many scientists, and may even make it into textbooks in the future.

He really wanted to post on a forum: Is there any hope for someone in the late stages of social anxiety? Waiting online, urgent!
On the screen, the little troublemaker snapped out of his daze and stretched out his gleaming claws once more. The enormous piece of equipment in front of him vanished into thin air, leaving behind a trail of debris.

Sangzi paused the video and replayed it at ten thousand times slower speed. Against the backdrop of the grid, one could clearly see a kind of spatial distortion that occurred at that moment, exhibiting a strange trajectory of movement, spreading, and disappearing.

Sangzi switched to another scene, this time showing thousands of invisible laser beams distributed on the scene. At the moment the transmission occurred, the affected laser beams were distorted and deflected.

Then she continued switching, showing the magnetic field, electric field, and gravitational changes in turn. She did it very quickly, generating a large amount of data, but that didn't matter, since Su Ming wouldn't understand it anyway.

"Our preliminary analysis over the past few days has completely ruled out known interfering factors such as air refraction," Sang Zi's voice rose with excitement. "We've confirmed a spatial distortion phenomenon with a duration on the microsecond level and a scale on the centimeter level! Its manifestation is a completely new function graph, which has thoroughly expanded—"

"Submit the details in writing," Jin Rongjia interrupted her, "to save time."

"Understood!" Sang Zi turned off the video, closed her notebook, and began the summary section. "Our group needs to conduct further observations and research on the transmission process, which holds the promise of revolutionary progress in the field of space!"

****
On the riverbank, Miao Mu adjusted the position of the float and cast the line again. This time, the float barely made a sliver of light above the water.

He then stopped fiddling with the fishing rod, satisfied, and sat down on the folding stool.

“‘Sangzi’ is actually ‘entropy particle’,” Miao Mu told Su Ming. “Entropy and elementary particles.”

"From the Institute of Physics?"

"Yes. Don't be fooled by their polite demeanor; they are actually the group we need to be most wary of!" Miao Mu warned solemnly. "These people have never made any breakthroughs in the fundamental theories of physics since birth. They have been imprisoned for far too long, and the appearance of a ray of hope like yours is enough to drive some of them mad!"

"What will they do?" Su Ming frowned.

“Space research may not be so easy to break through. If we encounter obstacles, one thing I can think of is, for example, mixing radioactive material into the equipment as calibration and anchor points!” Miao Mu said. “This way we can obtain more detailed data—after all, ‘a little bit’ of radiation won’t kill you.”

"...I need to have Miao Xin buy a high-energy particle counter," Su Ming said with a wry smile.

“The problem is, I’m not a professional.” Miao Mu also gave a wry smile. “These highly intelligent guys can definitely come up with more than three-digit tricks, which are absolutely beyond the comprehension of someone with my small brain.”

Su Ming felt a chill run down his spine. "Didn't these people undergo rigorous political vetting?"

“This isn’t a political vetting process,” Miao Mu shook his head. “Those who can reach the top in the solitary field of academia don’t lack the fervor of ‘If I hear the truth in the morning, I can die content in the evening.’” He cautioned, “Many top geniuses just happen to look like normal people. Ordinary people simply don’t deserve to stand before you. Besides—” Miao Mu paused, “that’s a space!”

There's only a fine line between genius and madness, especially when there's catnip right in front of you!
"How do we do it?" Su Ming asked Miao Mu. "Don't beat around the bush this time."

"...First, use barbarians to control barbarians! Second, establish rules to discipline them! Third, give them things to do!"

****
"Excuse me," Su Ming suddenly interrupted Sang Zi, "Could you submit your upcoming experimental plan to me for review in advance?"

“Of course!” Sang Zi smiled. “Mr. Su, it’s only right!”

"Can we agree on some specific safety guidelines?" Su Ming continued, "such as the composition of the observation equipment, energy levels, and radiation level limits?"

“Absolutely no problem!” Sang Zi answered crisply, but Su Ming noticed that she subconsciously adjusted her posture.

“Then I request the establishment of a supervisory group to verify all of Sangzi Group’s experimental plans and the safety of on-site equipment,” Su Ming suddenly said. “This group will be composed of another similar research group. If it is found that Sangzi Group has exceeded the experimental plan or violated safety regulations during the experiment, the supervisory group will take over.

Sang Zi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Mr. Su Ming, you are overthinking it. All our experimental plans undergo careful review and are subject to full supervision!"

(End of this chapter)