Did the villainous professor survive today?

"Professor! Do you have any explanation?!"

Louis's voice rippled through the back of the hall.

Suddenly, the entire conference room became noisy. Some photos fluttered down to the front row, were picked up by the audience, and immediately sparked a flurry of discussion.

Sofia was stunned when she saw this, then immediately realized what was happening.

"Security! Maintain order at the scene!"

She yelled at the security guards who hadn't yet reacted, telling them to hurry up and get this uninvited guest off the stage.

Kroenke glanced at the photo on the ground out of the corner of his eye, a slight thought stirring within him.

It's true; the photos are indeed of the former private laboratory.

As for the mediocre "Krenk", he had no talent to conduct valuable experiments and could only rely on plagiarizing the research of others.

So, at first, the predecessor was willing to go to the laboratory to make a show of it and pretend to work hard.

Recently, thanks to the family's secret assistance, the position of chief professor has been basically secured, so the arrogant predecessor has even stopped pretending.

Some people noticed that for a long period of time, "Klenk" did not visit the laboratory even once.

However, they couldn't possibly keep an eye on their predecessor's every move, so they didn't say anything and quickly forgot about the question, then busied themselves with other things.

Now, Louis's words have brought this matter to light.

Kroenke turned his head again and noticed that the venue's security personnel had stepped forward, grabbed the reporter's arm, and were about to use brute force to remove him from the venue.

As Louis was being carried out, he continued to yell at Kroenke:

"Mr. Krenk! Can you give the public an explanation?! Why is your...uh...uh!"

Security personnel promptly reached out and covered the person's mouth, preventing them from continuing to speak and disrupting the order of the meeting.

"It's alright, let her go."

Kroenke's voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely penetrating.

Upon hearing the order, the security personnel were initially taken aback, but after seeing Kroenke's calm gaze, they chose to comply.

After being released, Louis quickly asked again:

"Mr. Krenk! Do you have any explanation for this?! Have you stopped your magical research in the laboratory?!"

Krenk didn't speak, but simply stared silently into the other person's eyes.

Louise was startled by Kroenke's gaze, and then a barely perceptible blush appeared on her face.

This was the first time she had observed Krenk up close.

She had only ever seen photos of this man, who was hailed as the most handsome man in St. Auster, in newspapers before. Because the camera's resolution wasn't very high, the Krenk in the photos gave her only a blurry, hazy beauty, but it wasn't particularly outstanding; it was more of a hype.

But in reality, Kroenke's sculpted facial features, his tall, fair, and sexy eyebrows, and his blue eyes that were somewhere between alluring and affectionate all stirred her heartstrings.

In her own words, the idea that distance makes the heart grow fonder is disproven in Krenk's case.

How could someone so handsome and dashing be a bad person?

She cleared her throat, abandoning her previous aggressive tone and adopting a gentle and refined manner:

"Professor Krenk, hello. I'm Louis Laro, a reporter from the St. Loren Evening News. Some time ago, I received an anonymous letter with photos attached that are related to your lab. I'd like to ask if there's any misunderstanding involved?"

Kroenke did not reply.

Louis Laro

[Death Threat: E]

It seemed to be just a gun being used by someone else, not the mastermind behind the photos, Krenk thought to himself.

Kroenke nodded slightly.

In that short time, he had sorted out his thoughts.

If the original entity were handling this matter, it would most likely have stated that this was not its own laboratory, that the other party was spreading rumors, or that it had moved to a new laboratory and this one had been abandoned.

But the truth will eventually come out.

Rather than...

Be bolder.

Use an explosive theory to completely divert people's attention.

He didn't answer the question, but turned around and came to the front of the stage again, looking at the crowd:

"Unfortunately, I am now being questioned: whether I have really not been to the lab for so long, and whether I have stopped conducting follow-up research on element affinity in the lab."

"My answer to this question is—" Krenk paused for a moment,

"What this lady said is correct. I haven't been to the lab for a long time, nor have I conducted any in-depth research there."

The venue fell silent for a moment after those words were spoken, then quickly became noisy and filled with discussion.

Sofia, sitting in the first row, was a little flustered. She looked at Sistine next to her, only to find that the latter was looking at her with the same bewildered expression.

Louise, who had raised the question, stood frozen in place. She had considered that Kroenke might deny that this was his laboratory, say that he had already moved to another laboratory, or even rudely kick her out of the venue.

But what she never expected was that Kroenke would readily admit to all of this, acknowledging that he had indeed not conducted any research.

In the brief moment of everyone's astonishment, Kroenke's gaze darted quickly through the crowd in the front row.

The person who provided the photos was very likely from within the college, and he deliberately admitted this fact in order to try to find the person who broke into his lab by observing everyone's reactions.

But after scanning the first few rows, Kroenke did not find a suitable suspect.

The person who provided the photo may not be part of the faculty team, but could be a student.

Krenk frowned slightly. If they were students, then the target group would be enormous.

He lightly scratched the crystal ball with his fingertips, and the sharp, piercing sound instantly pierced everyone's ears, causing them to cover their ears and fall silent.

"Now, you might be wondering why I stopped my research in the lab," Krenk said, his voice rising and falling with inflection.

Actually, the answer is quite simple.

Some people in the audience, seeing Kroenke's calm and collected demeanor, were slightly taken aback, as if they had guessed something. Their expressions became excited, and Kroenke's subsequent remarks confirmed their guesses.

"Because I have completed the experiments and data collection, and have entered the final stage of data analysis and theoretical summarization."

"Here, I can responsibly tell you that a brand new, epoch-making theory is about to be unveiled."

There was an initial pause, followed by a rapid surge of excitement. Reporters were the first to react, vying to ask questions, and the clicking of cameras filled the air.

"Professor Krenk! May I ask when you completed your research?"

"Professor Krenk! Is your latest research related to the theory of element affinity?!"

"Professor! Could you give us a sneak peek at the direction of your latest research?"

"Professor! When did you arrive...?"

"..."

You dispelled the world's doubts about you, saving you from the disgrace and death that would have resulted from your lies being exposed.

[Points +800!]

[Current points: 1800!]