American comic: From Beijing with Love, starting with a mutant.

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, all the metal instruments in the hall emitted a synchronized, resonant sound.

Polaris slightly raised his chin, his green hair moving without wind.

An invisible magnetic field penetrated the glass and enveloped the valve, which cost as much as eight million.

"Stop! Security! Where's the security!"

Chief Engineer Gao was so frightened his heart almost jumped out of his throat: "That's a precision titanium alloy component! If she breaks it, the entire project will be delayed by three months! I...I...Holy crap!"

Under the control of Polaris, a spectacle appeared on the monitoring screen that was enough to overturn the understanding of modern materials science.

The metal lattice inside the valve, which originally had microscopic flaws that had baffled dozens of veteran experts who had worked three sleepless nights, began to rearrange itself under her intervention.

They were peeled, crushed, and then perfectly pieced together, completing a seamless weld.

Polaris snapped his fingers, looked at Stephen Chow, and arrogantly raised his head: "Alright."

The hall remained completely silent. Stephen Chow leaned against the doorframe and clapped his hands: "Gentlemen, what are you all standing there for?"

"Run some data and see. Are you guys staring at her like that because you want to see the von Kármán vortex street in her face?"

(Von Kármán vortex street, a phenomenon in fluid dynamics)

The tester shuddered and shakily pressed the start button for the high-voltage simulation test.

The data on the big screen started fluctuating wildly, and the red warning line disappeared.

Ten seconds later, all the red lights on the screen turned into green, representing perfection!

The tester stared intently at the screen, his voice trembling, his entire body shaking: "Chief Engineer Gao... the valve response delay has dropped to absolute zero! Perfectly synchronized! No error!"

"How is this possible?!"

The elderly Mediterranean expert rushed to the screen, his face almost pressed against the glass.

"This is not scientifically sound!"

"This completely shatters existing common sense in aerospace materials science! Autonomous recombination of microscopic lattices? Zero-delay response?"

"That's theoretically impossible! What have I been doing with all that education I've had forty years of study?"

"No! It's not my problem, it's physics' problem! Physics owes me an explanation!"

No one cares about him.

Old Gao stared at the data on the screen in silence for a long time, then turned to look at Polaris, who was standing there with an indifferent expression.

He walked up to the North Star, his eyes red-rimmed.

Suddenly, the chief designer, who had dedicated his life to the country's aerospace industry, bent his knees and was so excited that he wanted to kneel down on the spot.

"Oh no! No, no, no!"

Just as Lao Gao's knees were about to touch the ground, Zhou Xingxing slid forward and used a Tai Chi cloud hand move to steadily support Lao Gao's arm.

While supporting the person, Stephen Chow turned back and shouted to Polaris, "Stay there and don't move!"

Polaris didn't move, but her expression clearly showed some panic.

She's not afraid of being chased or killed, nor is she afraid of being locked in a cage.

An old man in his sixties was about to kneel down to her?

She had never seen anything like this before!

"Chief Engineer Gao, we don't do that kind of thing!"

"Stay calm, stay calm!"

Stephen Chow straightened his tie, looking serious.

"As the saying goes, a man's knees are worth gold; how can you so easily give them away? The new era emphasizes equal employment relationships!"

"You're making it seem like we're forcing highly respected elderly scientists to do illegal manual labor!"

Old Gao gripped Zhou Xingxing's hand tightly, with astonishing strength: "A miracle! This is an industrial miracle! Comrade Zhou, this Polaris expert..."

"No, Master Polaris! I want to become her student! I want her to teach our entire materials science department! I want her to be the director!"

The group of white-haired aerospace experts all swarmed around him at once.

Their eyes were gleaming green.

"Expert, what's the formula for that lattice recombination? Could you give me a sneak peek?"

"Master, could you please take a look at this titanium alloy nozzle? Just one glance!"

"Master, do you take on apprentices? I'm sixty-five this year, the prime of my life! I have a pension, I don't care about the salary!"

"How about I become your apprentice and serve you tea? I can even brew tea! Longjing, Biluochun, Tieguanyin, I know how!"

These people are all professors, doctoral supervisors, and academician candidates, and they speak English better than Chinese.

Upon seeing the North Star, they recognized the foreigners and immediately switched to English, speaking rapidly and enthusiastically.

Polaris was startled by the group of enthusiastic old men and took a half step back, instinctively crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes looking somewhat bewildered.

The eyes of these national treasure-level elderly people looked at her without fear or disgust, only with a fervent yearning for technology and respect for her as a person.

They call themselves "experts," sigh!

He even calls himself a "master"!

Polaris's eyes stung a little, but she bit her lower lip to hold it in.

He raised his chin, gave a cold snort, and maintained his arrogant demeanor: "Don't call me master, I'm just an employee."

"Yes, yes, it's a part-time job! And it's still on probation!"

Stephen Chow spread his arms to block Polaris: "Experts, calm down! I must reiterate our Labor Law!"

"Chief Engineer Gao, I'm entrusting the man to you. But let's get this straight! Comrade Xiao Luo is still in the recovery period, suffering from severe anemia and post-traumatic sequelae."

"Working hours cannot exceed four hours per day! Even a minute longer, and I'll report you to the labor bureau for exploiting overseas Chinese!"

"No problem! No problem! I'll give her all my special convalescent meals! A free-range chicken stewed with ginseng every day!"

"What about vitamin supplements?"

"Yes! Imported!"

"What about Xinjiang dates and goji berries?"

Old Gao patted his chest: "All-inclusive! I'll personally approve the application!"

Old Gao nodded repeatedly, wishing he could rip his heart out.

"besides!"

Stephen Chow revealed a shrewd smile and rubbed two fingers together.

"That just solved your energy loss problem and significantly improved performance. Wouldn't you call that a major technological breakthrough?"

"Yes! This is a groundbreaking technological breakthrough!"

"So... there are bonuses for tackling technical challenges, overtime pay, compensation for mental distress, and what about high-temperature subsidies, radiation protection subsidies...?"

Stephen Chow got more and more excited as he calculated, and he couldn't count the numbers on his fingers.

"Oh, by the way, it's really windy and dusty here, shouldn't we also arrange subsidies for the women's skincare products?"

"And sunscreen, because the UV intensity in the Gobi Desert is more than twice that of coastal areas, so you can't skimp on this."

The Mediterranean expert muttered under his breath, "Are you a secret agent or a union president?"

"I am the person in charge of the overseas special talent introduction project."

Stephen Chow corrects:

"Protecting the legitimate rights and interests of employees is within my scope of responsibility."

Old Gao waved his hand, his heroic spirit soaring to the heavens:

"Approval! Approval of all of them! I'll personally submit the report to the higher-ups! The highest-level technological breakthrough award, whatever amount is due!"

"Furthermore, everything Comrade Polaris needs in the space city—food, clothing, and daily necessities—will be covered by my chief engineer's special fund! Even if she wants to drink Tianshan snow water, I'll send a special plane to transport it to her!"

The soft-serve ice cream vendor next to me raised her hand: "What about me? I want to eat seafood too."

"Your share will go through the logistics department."

Stephen Chow said without turning his head.

"Ah... what level of seafood am I?"

"Café-level".

"……oh."

"Chief Designer Gao is truly a man of great stature! He is indeed a pillar of the nation!"

Stephen Chow gave a thumbs up and winked at Polaris behind him.

"From now on, you're a national treasure here, you can walk around like royalty. If anyone dares to force you to work overtime without pay, call me, and I'll use a butcher's knife to protect your rights!"

Looking at Stephen Chow's snobbish yet protective demeanor, Polaris's lips unconsciously twitched.

She couldn't help but burst out laughing, her smile as radiant as a flower.

She turned her head to look at the metal valve she had casually pinched inside the glass case: "If someone dares to not pay me after I work overtime... I'll twist their rocket into a pretzel!"

Old Gao burst into laughter: "Squeeze! Squeeze whatever you want!"

"As long as you can improve the accuracy, even if you twist my launch tower into a pretzel, I'll personally applaud and set off firecrackers for you!"