The Overlord Flower's Guide to Intercepting a Woman's Wife's Death and the Male Lead&

Zhou Bingheng pressed his ear close to Su Xingmian's, his breathing very low.

"How much of your demonic power have you recovered?"

Her fingers were cool as she hooked the buttons on his military uniform cuffs.

"Seventy percent."

"It has to be today?"

Su Xingmian shook her head, then nodded.

"It doesn't require much demonic power. The box is already out of the water, and even if seawater gets inside, the amount is limited. I'll just let the life force of the plants seep in along the crack, find the paper material, and extract the moisture."

She paused for a moment.

"It's the same principle as removing salt from vegetable seedlings."

Zhou Bingheng stared at her for five seconds.

Su Xingmian couldn't hold back and added another sentence.

"Once the merit is credited to my account, I can recover immediately. If I accumulate a large amount of merit, I might be able to adapt to the island environment even better."

Zhou Bingheng squeezed her palm.

"What do you want to do? I'll arrange it."

Su Xingmian's eyes lit up.

"Just let me touch the box. I don't need to open it. My demonic energy can seep in through the cracks."

"how long?"

"You can tell the situation inside just by touching it. If you really need to drain the water, it will take three to five minutes."

Zhou Bingheng released her hand.

He straightened up and buttoned his collar.

When he turned to walk towards Political Commissar Xu, his steps were the same as usual, neither too fast nor too slow, and his shoulders were straight.

"Political Commissar Xu."

Political Commissar Xu turned around.

"Don't open it yet."

Zhou Bingheng's voice wasn't loud, but it drowned out the buzzing discussions in the room.

"The box had just come out of the seawater, and the temperature difference between the surface and the inside was too great. When it was directly exposed to the air, the residual moisture inside the sealing strip would evaporate quickly."

He paused and glanced at the engineer.

"If the amount of water entering the paper is limited, the paper is currently only damp. However, the rapid evaporation caused by the temperature difference will cause the damp paper material to curl and stick together within minutes."

The engineer's expression changed.

He works on equipment sealing, not document preservation.

He hadn't expected this angle.

Political Commissar Xu turned to look at the engineer: "Is he right?"

The engineer swallowed hard.

"...In theory, paper materials do deteriorate more rapidly in environments with sudden changes in humidity. If the paper also contains salt, the situation is even worse."

Zhou Bingheng nodded.

"I suggest doing a pretreatment before opening it. Control the temperature and humidity around the cabinet to balance the inside and outside."

He then turned to look at Zhou Bingyuan.

"Brother, what do you think?"

Zhou Bingyuan paused for two seconds, then raised his hand.

"Listen to the second brother. What do you suggest?"

Zhou Bingheng glanced around the room.

"There are too many people. Their breathing and body temperature are affecting the humidity. We must clear the area!"

He paused, then looked at Su Xingmian in the corner.

"Only the engineer and my family will remain. She studied the preservation of traditional Chinese medicine herbs and knows more about temperature and humidity control than anyone here."

Political Commissar Xu's gaze lingered on his face for a moment.

Then he stood up and waved towards the door.

"Get out, everyone, and close the door."

With a whoosh, more than a dozen people immediately headed out.

Just as the door was about to close, a hand reached in from the outside and forcefully pushed the door open.

"etc!"

A man in a different uniform walked in; he was an entourage member from the Jiang family at the joint command headquarters.

He wore a fake smile, his gaze sweeping around the room before finally settling on the metal box.

"I heard the box was found? Our Director Jiang was worried, so he specifically sent me over to check."

"After all, these are national-level supplies. If the data is damaged, we can report it to our superiors in a timely manner and coordinate with experts."

These words were sarcastic; ostensibly showing concern, but secretly waiting to see someone make a fool of themselves.

The battalion commander was about to explode on the spot, but Political Commissar Xu forced him back with a sharp look.

Zhou Bingheng's expression didn't change at all; he just smiled gently.

"Thank you for your concern, Director Jiang. We were just preparing to do the pre-opening processing, and this comrade's arrival is timely; he can serve as a witness."

He stepped aside half a step and made a gesture of invitation, leaving no room for error.

The man snorted, crossed his arms, and stood to one side, clearly intending to supervise the work.

The door slammed shut.

The atmosphere in the room froze instantly, leaving only five people.

Zhou Bingheng gave Su Xingmian a wink.

Su Xingmian understood and walked to the box.

She crouched down and placed her hands on the metal casing.

A cool sensation came from my palm, mixed with the astringent taste of seawater.

The Jiang family members narrowed their eyes, about to voice their doubts, but Zhou Bingheng blocked their way.

"My partner is sensing the temperature of the box; this is the first step in preserving the medicinal herbs. Please do not disturb."

Su Xingmian closed her eyes.

The demonic power slid from his fingertips and seeped into those crevices that were almost invisible to the naked eye.

The vitality of plants transforms into fine threads, which then penetrate the box.

Drawings, negatives, and manuals are all readily available.

Seven sheets of damp blueprints, the paper fibers swollen, salt crystals stuck in the gaps.

The demonic power transformed into a dense net, enveloping the blueprints.

Water molecules were forcibly pulled out along the veins of life.

Salt crystals are peeled off and pushed outwards along pre-designed channels.

"despair."

A soft sound.

A few drops of murky water seeped from the edge of the crack, then more and more appeared, eventually forming a thin stream.

The engineer stared at the thin stream, his throat dry.

"Is this... internal moisture being squeezed out?"

The Jiang family member's eyes widened in disbelief.

Zhou Bingheng remained calm and composed.

"This is a normal phenomenon of temperature balance. Water vapor in a confined space will re-condense and seep out along the cracks when it encounters a cooler metal wall."

The engineer wiped away the water droplets and smelled them.

"That makes sense. The salt content is quite high."

He stopped questioning and instead held his breath.

Su Xingmian's palm remained pressed against the surface of the box.

Four minutes and thirty seconds.

The fibers in the seven drawings shrank back, and the salt crystals disappeared.

The wrinkles on the two manuals were smoothed out by the vitality of the plants.

The demonic power within the meridians only trembled slightly, easily.

She withdrew her hand, stood up, and said softly, "I feel the documents inside should be fine."

Zhou Bingheng glanced at her and turned away.

"You can open it now."

The engineer stepped forward and, following the operating procedures, unfastened the four sealing clips one by one.

The last latch popped open.

The lid was lifted, and a cold, dry smell wafted out.

Political Commissar Xu, Zhou Bingyuan, and the engineer all leaned over.

The Jiang family also wanted to join in, but the political commissar bumped into them with his shoulder, preventing them from squeezing in.

Inside the box, thirty-seven blueprints were stacked in layers, with a waterproof tarpaulin at the bottom.

The engineer put on white gloves and pulled out the top card.

Unfold.

The pencil lines are clear.

The hydrological data were labeled perfectly.

The isobaths, current directions, and reef distribution are all present.

He then drew a second and a third card.

I drew seven cards in a row. Every single one was intact.

The paper is dry, flat, without curling, sticking, or any signs of being soaked in water.

The engineer flipped to the back of the last drawing and held it up to the light.

"impossible."

He repeated it to himself.

"Impossible! The crack is right here, and I wiped the water stains myself. How could it... how could it be dry inside?"

Political Commissar Xu snatched the blueprints and leaned close to the window to examine them closely.

Those hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Zhou Bingyuan leaned on the edge of the table, staring at the data and drawings.

The breath that had been hanging in the balance for half a month finally dissipated.

He swayed forward, only managing to stay upright thanks to the table.

Political Commissar Xu put down the blueprints, turned around, and his voice was hoarse.

"They're all here. Not a single one is destroyed."

Zhou Bingyuan nodded slightly in Su Xingmian's direction.

"Sister-in-law, I will remember your kindness."

Su Xingmian peeked out from behind Zhou Bingheng, pretending not to understand anything, and blinked her clear eyes innocently.

Deep within the meridians, a belated warmth finally surged in.

Warmth surged like a tide.

The merit has been credited to my account.

The warm current spread along the meridians, rushed past the base of the flower bud where the seventh layer of petals had already stabilized, and continued to push upwards.

On the edge of the eighth petal, there was a very fine vein that had been moistened by the warmth.

It was just a slight brush.

It's not even close.

But the direction was right.

Su Xingmian lowered her head and pursed her upturned lips.

Zhou Bingheng held her hand and rubbed it between his palms; the temperature returned to a normal 36 degrees Celsius.

"That's impossible!"

A scream shattered the deathly silence in the room.

The Jiang family member rushed forward and gripped the edge of the box tightly with his hand.

His eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at the blueprints, his fingertips even trembling.

"It's you."

He turned to Su Xingmian, "The box was pulled from the sea, and the cracks are still there. What did you do to the box just now?"