Evolving infinitely from ground zero

Lin Zichen laughed, "I'd advise you not to expect too much. The inside is pretty run-down, especially the corridor we're going to go through, it looks almost like a junkyard."

"Really?"

"You'll see once you go in."

"..."

The two of them talked as they walked into the institute.

Along the way, Shen Qinghan curiously looked around at the surrounding environment.

She found it to be exactly as Lin Zichen had described.

The corridor was cluttered with miscellaneous items, looking like a junkyard.

"Why is it so messy here?"

"Doesn't anyone clean up?"

"Xiao Chen, how about I come over and help you clean up when I'm free?"

Shen Qinghan offered with a wife-like demeanor.

Lin Zichen, "Don't bother. This kind of mess is a characteristic of the Pure Human Research Institute. It's meant to be chaotic; the more disordered, the more it inspires the research spirit, giving one the feel of being in ancient ruins."

"Is that really okay?"

Shen Qinghan didn't understand, but it was an eye-opener.

Soon,

The two navigated through the dim corridor and arrived at the brightly lit recreational area in the middle.

Song Yuyan was doing yoga inside.

When she saw them coming in, she immediately got up from the yoga mat with her long, sexy legs and greeted them with a smile:

"Hey, handsome boy and pretty girl, you're here."

"..."

Lin Zichen introduced Song Yuyan to Shen Qinghan, "This beautiful lady is Sister Yan whom I mentioned to you before. Just call her Sister Yan."

"Hello, Sister Yan."

Shen Qinghan called out politely, her voice crisp and sweet. Her delicate face had a shy smile that made her look extremely adorable.

Song Yuyan felt her heart melt upon hearing this.

She stepped forward and, with a familiar gesture, took Shen Qinghan's hand, praising her endlessly:

"I've seen your picture on Zi Chen's phone before, and I was amazed by your beauty even then."

"I didn't expect that in person, you're even more beautiful than your photo."

"What's most important is that your voice is so pleasant to hear; it's like my ears are about to get pregnant."

"..."

"Thank you."

Shen Qinghan was somewhat at a loss for how to respond to the compliments and, after some thought, could only say thank you to Song Yuyan.

So reserved, so polite, so cute!

Song Yuyan really liked this pretty little sister in front of her.

She enthusiastically took her hand,

And led her to the fridge.

To get her a drink.

Telling her to make herself at home in the institute,

To be more casual and not so restrained.

Cooped up in the institute doing research every day, besides Liu Chuanwu and Lin Zichen, there weren't any girls around. Now that there finally was one, Song Yuyan felt exceptionally happy.

"Come on, Han Han, let's add each other on WeChat."

Song Yuyan took out her mobile phone, opened the QR code in WeChat, and invited Shen Qinghan to scan and add her as a friend.

Shen Qinghan obediently took out her phone to scan the code and added Song Yuyan as a friend on WeChat.

After adding each other, Song Yuyan immediately went to check Shen Qinghan's Moments and teased after looking through them:

"Wow, your profile picture is Zi Chen, your Moments cover photo is Zi Chen, and almost every single post is related to Zi Chen. You really like him a lot."

"Such a deeply affectionate girl is rare nowadays."

"If Zi Chen ever dares to let you down, Sister Yan promises to be the first to criticize him on your behalf!"

"..."

Hearing these words, Shen Qinghan felt very uncomfortable and didn't know how to respond.

Song Yuyan was too familiar for her comfort, making the interaction a bit difficult for her.

On the other side,

Lin Zichen sat down on the sofa and contacted Liu Chuanwu through WeChat.

He inquired for more details about the ancient artifact.

For instance—

What did the artifact look like?

In which storage room was it specifically placed?

The institute was a mess, with miscellaneous items scattered everywhere, and any corner could be described as a storage room.

Without clearer instructions, it would be difficult to search for it later.

Less than half a minute after the message was sent, Liu Chuanwu replied.

[Director: The ancient artifact is a bracelet made of pearls and shells. I forgot which storage room I put it in, so you'll have to search for it.]

Seeing the content of the message, Lin Zichen felt a bit overwhelmed.

The bracelet was small, and there were many storage rooms in the institute. It would probably be difficult to find it even if he searched all afternoon.

After all, a bracelet was an inanimate object, with no vitality or aura to detect through spiritual power.

Unless his spiritual power was as strong as Yuan Dongzhi's, enabling him to fly and scan the human body, it might be possible to sense the existence of an inanimate object like the bracelet.

"By the way, Zi Chen, didn't you say you were going to join a month-long special training at the military district? How come you're back after only half a month?"

Song Yuyan tossed a can of drink to Lin Zichen and asked with some confusion.

Lin Zichen explained, "The training was attacked by the Divine Plant Cult, so it ended prematurely, and I came back early."

"Ah? Did I hear that right? An attack by a Heretical Sect in the military district?"

Song Yuyan was shocked and then asked with both doubt and curiosity, "What in the world happened? Tell me about it."

"It went like this..."

Lin Zichen briefly recounted the incident to Song Yuyan.

After hearing the story, Song Yuyan was dumbfounded.

After a moment to recover, she said in disbelief, "My goodness, they even dare to attack the headquarters of the Nanjiang Province military district?! The Divine Plant Cult must be crazy!"

"They are a bit crazy,"

Lin Zichen agreed.