MWC – Chapter 59 First Encounter

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

Alice Royal Institute of Technology, named after the greatest queen of the empire, is located in Donghai, a city once a free city-state under the protection of Queen Alice.

It is the oldest and most prestigious technical university in the empire, having produced nearly half of the empire’s most famous physicists, chemists, and mathematicians.

In contrast to its great reputation, the university is very modest, with no grandiose teaching buildings or elaborate libraries. All the buildings are no taller than six stories, surrounded by lush green grass and rows of weeping willows, creating a serene environment.

A black Xuelong 950 slowly drove into the campus, stopping in front of an unremarkable teaching building.

In the passenger seat next to the driver, Pu Xiuna, sat Sun Lutian. He was wearing a brand new white shirt and black pants, looking refreshed and energetic, a stark contrast to his weary state from the previous day.

After making many phone calls and contacting an unexpected person, Lu Ming had just come downstairs and gotten into Pu Xiuna’s car when Sun Lutian appeared by the car. Without saying much, Lu Ming gestured for him to get in.

The person Lu Ming wanted to meet was named Wen Zaixu, a distinguished professor at Alice Royal Institute of Technology.

Professor Wen could be considered a giant in the empire’s chemical science field, an authority in polymer science with extensive knowledge. Over thirty years ago, he discovered the radioactive element radium and proposed the famous “Wen Theory,” which is essentially the knowledge of valence bonds and hybrid orbitals from Lu Ming’s world.

He is also a Royal Academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, the highest honor in the scientific community. There are only a handful of Royal Academicians in the entire empire.

Originally, Lu Ming didn’t aim to contact someone of his stature, considering him too high-ranking and out of reach. Moreover, his current question didn’t require the expertise of such a top-tier scientist.

Lu Ming had reached out through a distant relative of Wang Da’an, who had a student studying at Alice Institute. This student helped arrange a meeting with a teacher.

By coincidence, when Lu Ming called, Professor Wen happened to be in that chemistry teacher’s office. The old professor was scolding the teacher for a minor mistake in new theoretical research. When Lu Ming called, the professor, known for his eccentricity, answered and scolded Lu Ming for calling during working hours.

Lu Ming didn’t understand the situation but, needing help, patiently explained some of his ideas. The professor became interested and introduced himself, asking Lu Ming to visit him directly.

Looking at the unremarkable building, Lu Ming smiled wryly. This was a true giant in the scientific community, seemingly approachable and willing to help with such a small matter?

Lu Ming, who had registered a tech company focusing on patents, often read scientific journals and had some understanding of the scientific community in this world.

Notably, Wen Zaixu was the only Royal Academician of Chinese descent, a rare honor with fewer than ten Royal Academicians in the entire empire. Despite the fact that Chinese people were often excluded from the upper echelons of various fields, they still made up more than half of the empire’s famous scientists. Given equal environments and starting points, Chinese people in the scientific community would definitely not lose to any other ethnic group.

Lost in thought, Lu Ming entered the teaching building.

He took the elevator to the top floor, the sixth floor, where a slightly chubby Western girl in a white lab coat and glasses ran up to him, “Are you Mr. Lu Qianxing?”

Lu Ming had an appointment with Professor Wen at three in the afternoon. It was now two fifty.

Lu Ming nodded, “Yes, Professor Wen Zaixu asked me to come.”

“I know. Please follow me!” The chubby girl had some freckles on her face, which made her look rather cute.

Lu Ming followed her into a laboratory filled with experimental tables, beakers, and chemical instruments, with no decent sofas or chairs.

The girl pointed to a small round stool, “Mr. Lu, please sit here and wait patiently.”

Lu Ming nodded and sat down.

The girl returned to an experimental table full of test tubes and glass jars, apparently resuming her unfinished chemical experiment.

Bored, Lu Ming noticed a stack of documents on a small table nearby and picked them up to read.

Fortunately, the documents were in both Western and Chinese languages, so he could understand them. They seemed to be research papers on chemical substances, some of which were new chemical reagents being studied for their industrial production value.

Lu Ming chuckled to himself. This was the territory of Professor Wen, where such valuable research papers were treated like trash.

As he read, he suddenly came to his senses and checked his watch. It was almost four o’clock, but Professor Wen hadn’t shown up yet.

However, considering how busy the professor must be, Lu Ming felt it was an honor to have this meeting and didn’t mind waiting a bit longer.

Picking up the bottom set of documents, Lu Ming’s eyes suddenly sharpened as he read line by line.

A substance extracted from a plant called Han Zhou taro could effectively regulate women’s health, particularly menstrual irregularities.

The description closely resembled a substance.

Could this be the hormone known as norethindrone in his previous life?

The main component of the first-generation birth control pill?

Thinking about the timeline, it was about the same stage of technological development in his previous life when the first-generation birth control pill appeared.

Lost in thought, Lu Ming quickly flipped through the pages.

His heart sank as he read further.

The latter part of the document detailed the use of this extract in a drug for contraception.

It turned out they had already thought of it. As expected.

According to the documents, not only had they thought of it, but they had already conducted two years of clinical trials. The side effects didn’t seem significant, unlike in his previous life when the first clinical trials had many side effects, resulting in the death of three women.

It looked like this first-generation birth control pill could hit the market as soon as it passed the drug regulatory review.

“Ah, hasn’t this been destroyed yet?” the chubby girl suddenly exclaimed, snatching the documents from Lu Ming’s hand.

Lu Ming was startled and then realized, “You haven’t applied for a patent yet? Don’t worry, I won’t leak the contents. You should apply for the patent quickly.” He offered to help with the patent, but considering they had their own pharmaceutical company, they probably wouldn’t need his help.

“No, we won’t be applying for a patent. I was supposed to destroy this. How could I forget and leave it here?!” The girl looked almost tearful with anxiety.

Lu Ming was puzzled. What did she mean?

At that moment, the laboratory door seemed to open automatically, and the girl’s face turned pale as she hid the documents behind her back.

Lu Ming looked over and was momentarily stunned.

Entering was a small figure dressed in a white hooded robe resembling those worn by priests in games. The hood covered her head, and from the side, Lu Ming couldn’t see her face, but she seemed to be a little girl.

“Ah, you’re here…” the girl stopped herself, glancing at Lu Ming before bowing deeply, “Miss!”

Lu Ming thought for a moment and slowly stood up.

“You’re quite impressive!” The girl’s childish voice was clear and pleasant but carried a sense of authority.

Lu Ming was taken aback as the girl turned to face him.

She looked about the same age as Bess, around eight or nine, but unlike Bess’s innocence, she exuded a serene purity. For a moment, it felt like seeing an angel descended from heaven.

The little girl had delicate features, seemingly crafted with divine precision, so perfect they defied description. Her deep blue eyes were as clear as the universe itself. Her platinum blonde hair, almost silver, added to her icy aura, complemented by her elaborate white priestly robe.

Despite her young age, she exuded a powerful presence, making one feel that looking at her for too long was almost a sin.

As Lu Ming stood dazed, the girl climbed onto the highest chair but had to hop a bit to reach it, almost falling off in the process.

The angelic image in Lu Ming’s mind shattered, and he struggled to hold back his laughter, lowering his head to avoid making a sound.

“Lu Qianxing, you’re quite impressive! I’m talking to you!” The girl’s Mandarin was flawless and melodious.

“Oh, I don’t understand what you mean…” Lu Ming replied, a bit confused.

“I also looked into that Eastern slave case. He was a very bad man, wasn’t he?”

Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the tone of her speech made it clear that she was still a child, with a simple view of people as either bad or good.

When she first appeared, it was like she brought her own background music, giving him a scare.

“Everything will be determined after the trial. For now, we can only say he is a suspect.”

“Ugh, lawyers are always hypocritical, and you’re no different. Boring!” the girl huffed, but soon her curiosity got the better of her as she examined Lu Ming. “Why are you so smart? Did you travel through time with a time machine?”

Lu Ming was taken aback. Though it was just a child’s innocent words, it was scary how close it came to uncovering his secret.

“How am I smart?” he retorted, in an almost childish debate, which would have been a disaster in court.

“You’re smarter than me. I used to think I was the smartest person in the world, but I couldn’t figure out the solution to the case with the Japanese slave, while you did. Isn’t that being smart?” She blinked her big eyes, looking at him seriously.

Lu Ming was speechless. This girl, who seemed like a pure angel at first, turned out to be a pretentious kid, and now she seemed like a narcissist. His worldview was collapsing.

“Oh no, there’s actually someone smarter than me in theory. I’ve been looking for him, but I can’t find him. He’s also from Zhongzhou. So, you must be the third smartest!” She rested her chin on her hand, looking very serious.

Looking at her, Lu Ming gradually realized that the girl wasn’t narcissistic but was simply expressing her honest thoughts. Her idea of “smart” might not align with the average person’s understanding.

“Ah, forget about him. I don’t even know if he exists. I’ve only seen him in my dreams, and he’s also my father’s nightmare!” The girl suddenly stared seriously at Lu Ming. “You look a lot like him from my dreams!”

Lu Ming suddenly felt all his hair stand on end.

“But, I don’t feel the same aura from you as from them!” She shook her head, leaned back in her chair, and her tiny, adorable white ceremonial shoes swung back and forth under her white ceremonial robe.

However, Lu Ming no longer found her adorable. He just felt a creeping fear in his heart.

“You, Ou Li, go destroy that thing behind your back now. I won’t blame you, just a little disappointed!” the girl commanded.

The chubby girl’s face turned pale. “Yes, miss. I was wrong and won’t do it again!” Tears streamed down her face.

“Why destroy these documents? They’ve gone through clinical trials and are clearly a good contraceptive, beneficial to women!” Lu Ming couldn’t help but ask.

The chubby girl jumped in fright, shaking her head frantically at Lu Ming.

“These are the byproducts of my alchemy experiments!” The girl explained, puzzled. “And the natural order is for all creatures to reproduce. Interfering with this is unnatural.”

Alchemy? Probably the traditional term for chemical experiments in old families.

Lu Ming coughed, “While that’s true in theory, human society has its own moral rules and social order. For instance, if a family is too poor to support a child, why shouldn’t they use contraceptives? Human sexual relations aren’t solely for reproduction, sometimes they’re for emotional pleasure, right?”

The girl shook her head, “You’re wrong. But you’re the first person to contradict me since my father, and the first to try to reason with me since I was five, so I’ll punish you lightly. You will handle this byproduct. The more money you make from it, the more wrong you will be!”

“Yue Ao Li, give him all those documents. Help him with the patents and everything. I want him to apologize to me in the future.”

Lu Ming was speechless. This little girl’s logic was completely different from that of normal people; she had her own set of rules.

This punishment? Lu Ming almost wanted to say thank you. However, he felt that he might not understand her way of thinking due to his current level.

The chubby girl, Yue Ao Li, had already handed over the documents and whispered, “There are more. I’ll sort them out and give them to you later. I’ll also handle the follow-up until the medicine is marketed.”

Lu Ming took the documents but felt no satisfaction from the potential wealth. Instead, he felt a heavy sense of guilt.

He glanced at the little girl. She had a powerful influence on people’s thinking.

Normally, he would have said something polite like sharing profits, but now he couldn’t. It seemed better to bear this sin alone.

Or maybe, like when Ma talked to Ba about not being interested in money, it seemed that for this girl, concepts like money didn’t even exist.

This girl must be from the royal family, and a very important member. For her, money was likely a non-issue.

The door of the laboratory suddenly opened, and an old man with long, disheveled gray hair in a white coat entered, looking like an evil scientist from a cartoon.

“Are you Lu Qianxing?” The old man’s eyes fixed on Lu Ming.

“Yes, are you Professor Wen?” Lu Ming felt a rush of excitement. Would his idea work?

But this professor’s appearance… words failed him.

“Yes, I’ve done the experiments. There’s no problem. You named this substance ‘luminol,’ right? It indeed detects treated bloodstains! Here, take it!” The old man handed over a four or five-liter round container filled with pale yellow powder. “This should be enough for you!”

Lu Ming was stunned, “Professor Wen, did you do the experiment yourself?”

“Yes, I hate it when people are buzzing around me during experiments!” The professor glared at Lu Ming. “Come back if you have any more interesting ideas!”

Lu Ming almost wanted to cry.

Ever since Pamela mentioned ultraviolet light, Lu Ming had thought of luminol, a chemical reagent commonly used in forensic science to detect bloodstains.

Because of his background in law and his thriving family, his cousin was a police officer, and Lu Ming had participated in some investigations during holidays to gain practical experience for court cases.

Thus, he was very familiar with luminol reagent.

When he called, he explained the main chemical formula of luminol, C8H7N3O2, translating it into the current era’s terminology.

Given the current technological timeline, luminol should have already been discovered, just not yet used in forensics.

As expected, Professor Wen quickly produced the chemical.

But he conducted the blood detection experiment himself. What was that?

Lu Ming was at a loss, “Professor Wen, I didn’t witness the experiment. How can I convince the prosecutor? In court, how can the prosecution explain it to the jury?”

The professor rolled his eyes, “It’s a simple principle you already know. The hemoglobin in blood contains iron, which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The oxygen oxidizes the luminol, making it glow. It’s basic science!”

“Alright, alright, if needed, I’ll testify as an expert witness!” The professor waved dismissively, “But I’m not repeating the experiment. It’s a waste of time!”

Lu Ming was stunned, then overjoyed. This was a Royal Academician agreeing to testify, which would validate the luminol effect in forensic history.

“Thank you, Professor Wen!” Lu Ming bowed slightly.

“Off you go! I have work to do!” The professor waved him away.

Lu Ming was more than willing to leave. Everyone here seemed crazier than him.

Left hand holding the contraceptive documents, right hand carrying the luminol reagent, Lu Ming headed out.

“Hey, my name is Alice, remember that! You didn’t even ask my name. Don’t you want to apologize to me in the future?!” the girl shouted from her high perch.

Professor Wen and Yue Ao Li looked shocked. Clearly, this was the first time the girl had told someone her name.

Lu Ming’s heart skipped a beat. Alice? Because of Queen Alice, that name was legally prohibited in the empire.

Even among the royal family, no one had used the name Alice for a thousand years.

Who exactly was this girl?

Lost in thought, Lu Ming hurried downstairs. The black car soon pulled up under the trees, and Lu Ming got in.

The Xuelong 950 slowly drove out of the campus, while Sun Lutian kept glancing at the laboratory building, his eyes full of fear and caution.

“Brother Sun, what’s wrong?” Lu Ming asked.

Sun Lutian let out a long breath, “I don’t know, but I felt like there were some terrifying things in that building, making my heart race.”

Lu Ming looked back. The green trees had already hidden the small laboratory building, but the dark clouds rolling in overhead hinted at something strange and inexplicable.