Chapter 8: Is This Equipment Really Okay?

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Central Union University.

"Gongsun Ce~ Over here!"

Gongsun Ce hurried through the campus as a girl with pink twin-tails waved at him from in front of the experimental building.

"Kira, you're here too?"

The idol girl put her hands behind her back, skipping along as she walked into the building with him.

"I didn't get the authorization to leave the Firmament Capital, but I'll provide remote information support via the app!"

Well, no wonder Cecil had been busy working on the practical application of information abilities lately; it seemed she had received word long ago.

"So that crazy woman is just waiting for this opportunity to gather data, huh?"

"It can also help Gongsun Ce out, probably," Kira said, sounding rather unconvincing.

The elevator reached the fourth floor, and Gongsun Ce strode toward the iron door plastered with exaggerated warning signs. Beyond this door was the territory of Dr. Cecil and her "little pets"—the infamous Cecil Laboratory, notorious throughout the city and the world.

Back at the end of February, he and Dust Explosion, a member of the lab, had fought to the death. Now, as April arrived, he was actually going to accept help provided by those in white coats. This wasn't a strange thing; after all, their previous conflicts were for interests and objectives, not out of some deep, irreconcilable hatred. In the past, he wanted to stop her experimental plans, so Cecil sent people to oppose her against him; now that he was working for the official authorities, the lab would provide him with comprehensive assistance, while conveniently taking the opportunity to collect a batch of experimental data.

All sorts of messy things happened in this city every day; if everyone held grudges like Skulls, life would be impossible.

The heavy iron door swung inward. The Esper didn't step inside, merely calling out, "Long time no see, researchers. I'm Gongsun Ce. Do I have any equipment ready?"

The Fiend's voice intruded into the lab, causing the white coats buried in work at the experimental tables to look up simultaneously. Realizing it had nothing to do with them, they immediately plunged back into their scientific research careers. Only a grey-blue-haired female researcher put down her work and walked toward him—Gongsun Ce's old acquaintance, the Esper known as "Doctor."

Doctor held out her hand to him: "Give me your phone."

Gongsun Ce handed over his smartphone, and Doctor tossed it without looking back to one of the many researchers: "Five minutes for reinforcement processing. Ensure normal operation under routine hazardous conditions."

Gongsun Ce asked out of habit: "May I ask how hazardous it needs to be before it fails?"

"Higher than a nuclear explosion level."

Thank you so much. I can barely survive a nuclear explosion myself.

Doctor reached backward, and the white coats handed her a silver-white briefcase and a piece of transparent, flowing cloth. She first handed the water-like fabric to Gongsun Ce.

"Nano-memory material camouflage coat. Input information parameters for automatic deformation and coloring. Use with Kira's app assistance."

Kira cooperatively placed her hand on the cloth, turning it into a grey long trench coat.

"The price of malleability is the sacrifice of structural strength; its defense effect is very low."

Gongsun Ce took the trench coat, put it on, and asked, "What's the upper limit of this thing?"

Doctor answered mechanically, "Unable to fully defend against military sniper rifle bullets."

That really is terribly low, by your standards. But by ordinary Esper standards, this thing qualifies as a straw to clutch at.

The white coats inside the lab whispered among themselves, making comments like, "I just felt this wouldn't work...", "No matter what, we have to guarantee nuclear-war-level safety...", "Total variability sacrifices too much, the Doctor should rethink this...", "I hope he takes a few more hits so he can provide us with more data...", which made veins bulge on Gongsun Ce's forehead.

Kira protested indignantly, "Hey! Stop that, will you!"

The men and women in white coats instantly looked up with bright, beaming smiles: "No problem, Miss Kira!"

It seemed Kira's popularity in the Cecil Laboratory was currently quite high.

Gongsun Ce withdrew his gaze from the lab and looked at Doctor's briefcase. The cold-looking woman opened the case, displaying its contents layer by layer.

The first layer of equipment consisted of ten large green blobs of jelly and a familiar silver-white mask.

"Disposable biochemical disguise masks, ten in total. Maximum continuous duration of 48 hours. Can fool routine testing and low-level ability effects. Please read the manual before use."

Gongsun Ce realized that this thing, combined with the camouflage coat, would allow him to turn into a different person anytime, anywhere. He pushed up his glasses and confirmed, "Kira should be able to use her app abilities to help me with the disguise."

"Provided that your mission location has a stable signal coverage at all times, and the app can perfectly replicate her abilities." Doctor glanced at Kira. "We consider this impossible."

The idol girl tapped her head, sticking out her tongue apologetically, "Controlling it over long distances is really troublesome."

This girl was getting better and better at acting cute.

"I figured as much... This mask looks somewhat familiar?"

He was quite certain this was the equipment Yan Qi and Qin Qianbai used when they played the masked duo.

Doctor picked up the mask and introduced it: "Trial-type Mind Phase Armament, White Face Modification 3.5. Fixed with the concept of 'mediocrity,' it can reduce your threat level in the perception of enemies. Further improved compared to the 2.0 model you saw on February 13th, it is now compatible with the biochemical disguise masks."

Gongsun Ce scratched his head and repeated, "Did I just hear you say 'Mind Phase Armament'?"

"Yes. For specific usage instructions, please consult your teammate," Doctor said with an expressionless face.

She opened the second layer of the briefcase and took out... an even larger green blob of jelly.

This blob of jelly was about the size of two human heads combined. It jiggled in Doctor's hand, two thin, black lines appearing on its smooth surface, looking like eyes directed toward Gongsun Ce.

The large blob bounced once and made a strange sound: "Bobo~"

The Esper swallowed hard. "Are you sure you want me to take a biochemical slime out? Once this thing goes out of control and multiplies infinitely, it could theoretically destroy a country!"

Doctor tapped the surface of the slime lightly, and the large green jelly wobbled happily, creating layers of ripple-like effects on its surface.

"This specially modified slime has had its division module removed, retaining only basic transformation and ingestion functions. It can be used to destroy evidence, corpses, and dispose of low-hazard hostile units. Be careful not to leave it in an environment rich in organic matter for extended periods, or suffer the consequences at your own risk."

Kira secretly waved at the biochemical slime, and the latter formed a small green colloidal hand to wave back.

The white coats started whispering among themselves again. "I still think we should have added a self-destruct function." "How can Dr. Cecil do this? Can you even call it a slime without a division function?" "It's practically a biochemical monster of all trades." "Such a pity. It would have been great to take a division-specialized type. If it accidentally destroyed the country, our lab would have brought great honor to our ancestors."

He deeply suspected these madmen had confused the usages of bringing honor to one's ancestors and leaving a bad name for eternity.

"This thing eats anything. How am I supposed to know what counts as a geomantically auspicious place for it?"

"You can interpret it as anywhere outside your pockets." Doctor thought for a moment and added, "Remember to feed it regularly; a single high-energy biscuit is enough to sustain its activities for a day, but do not use your own flesh."

Gongsun Ce chuckled dryly and reached out toward the creature.

"Nice to meet you, little guy. Come on, turn into a handkerchief."

The large green jelly shrunk and flattened, following which its color shifted, turning into a white handkerchief.

"Bobo~"

"Good boy. No talking when you're a handkerchief."

The slime handkerchief shuddered silently in response. He carefully took the handkerchief, stuffed it into his trench coat pocket, and set up three layers of defense using psychokinesis.

"I guess that's about it?"

The armaments produced by the lab were not as useful to him as his own superpowers. The single-combat positional defense device was far inferior to his current psychokinesis shield, and the hand cannon series made even more noise than Big Brother's old equipment. As for the mind-control device, it would be a joke if that thing actually worked on any decent enemy. Data analysis, intelligence gathering, and hacking work could all be handled by Kira's app, and he could use white matter for emergency healing if he got injured. All things considered, he really wasn't lacking anything right now.

Doctor opened the final layer of the case, at the bottom of which lay two rows of colorful hypodermic needles.

"Biochemical enhancement needles. They cannot be repeatedly effective within a month, so only one set is prepared. Blue is physical enhancement within ten minutes, red enhances self-healing effects within ten minutes, black is a potent tranquilizer, and the rainbow colors provide emergency energy replenishment..." Doctor introduced them one by one. "Hand the black needle to your partner as a precaution against superpower rampages; use the rest yourself."

"Any usage advice?"

"Use all the agents except the black one when fighting to the death."

Doctor radiated an aura that said "hurry up and ask me about the side effects." Gongsun Ce asked without much hope, "The side effects are?"

"Almost zero, aside from leaving you in a brief state of weakness."

The Esper said sincerely, "Truly grateful!"

Doctor closed the briefcase, handed it back to him, and pulled a spray can out of her coat pocket.

"The final piece of equipment: inhibitor spray. Just one spray at a time."

"Sounds much more convenient than oral administration. That stuff last time made me want to vomit." The Esper took the spray and tentatively asked, "By the way, I remember this thing is... Morton's proprietary technology?"

"Yes, a spirit-phase magic product of the Morton Royal Magicians Association."

Gongsun Ce once again realized the deep ties between these white coats and the upper echelons of various countries; they clearly knew a great deal about the secrets of dragons, impermanent laws, and superpowers. Yet a bunch of people like this spent every day busy doing biochemical research...

He recalled the green liquid in the belly of the Firmament Dragon and the iconic turquoise patterns on the biochemical animals, guessing that the establishment of this research direction probably had an inseparable connection with the foundations of this city.

Doctor said the spray was the final piece of equipment, which meant the assistance of the white coats ended here. Just as Gongsun Ce was about to bid farewell, a thought struck him, and he asked, "I remember you're from Zero Island, Doctor?"

Doctor nodded slightly to confirm.

"Any personal advice for a regular customer?"

"Respect local traditional customs."

The smartphone's reinforcement processing was completed at this moment. Doctor handed the phone back to Gongsun Ce and walked into the lab without looking back.

This person truly had no redundant emotions whatsoever; no wonder she could get along with the white coats. The Esper inwardly muttered a few complaints before the lab door closed: "Thanks a lot, Doctor. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The white coats' mission was accomplished, but Kira was still tagging along with him. Gongsun Ce asked helplessly, "Kira, how much time do I have left? When are you going to tell me the specific plan? Where are my teammates?"

Kira's expression was even more dejected than his.

"They said trivial matters like battle plans can be sorted out on the way... So, Gongsun Ce, you have ten minutes to say goodbye to everyone, and then you have to go meet up with your teammates!"

Did they really have to be like this?! Usually, when things were done step-by-step, the moment something actually happened, they were in more of a rush than catching a train?! Mr. Gongsun had just finished entering a dream at noon, collected his equipment in the afternoon, and had to meet up with unknown teammates by evening! Calculating like this, wouldn't they arrive at Zero Island in the middle of the night? They really treated people like workhorses!

This time it was about the investigation into the Shigure Research Institute, and Shigure-kun definitely knew the situation. With the app, Kira was basically equivalent to coming along. Counting it all up, the people he needed to say goodbye to right now were...

Kira thoughtfully reminded him, "Qin Qianbai and Caldēsia just finished class three minutes ago, at the Second Teaching Building."

"I'm heading out first, Kira!" "Have a safe trip~"

The Fiend leaped out the window of the experimental building, gliding across the campus of Central Union University in a dashing posture, carrying a briefcase and wearing a long trench coat. The Esper college students discussed animatedly among themselves, wondering what kind of hardcore stunt this quartet was going to pull this time, or what inexplicable opponent Mr. Fiend was going to fight. Quite a few people also thought a new accident had happened at the Cecil Laboratory and perhaps now was the time for them to run for their lives.

Gongsun Ce turned a deaf ear to all of this. He made an emergency landing at the entrance of the No. 2 Teaching Building, where the Espers who had just finished class automatically cleared a large open space.

Caldēsia and Qin Qianbai had just walked down the stairs. The hat-wearing woman looked at her weirdly dressed friend, her eyebrows twitching: "What kind of strange new game are you playing lately?"

The grey-haired young man shook his finger.

"No, no, no, Miss Caldēsia, I've received a secret invitation to attend a super cool, super dazzling party. So you might not see me for a few days—" He spun around halfway on the spot and reached out, saying, "But don't worry, I'll bring you gifts!"

"Hey, such an interesting thing and you're going by yourself?!"

The hat-wearing woman's protest was ignored as he covered his ears. Gongsun Ce shifted his gaze to his good neighbor: "Young Miss?"

Qin Qianbai tilted her head slightly and said, "Be careful. Don't get tricked by bad women at the party again."

"Ahaha, how could that be? I've really learned my lesson, I promise." He tapped the girl's forehead lightly. "Bye."

With that, the grey-haired youth shot up into the sky, flying out beyond the campus. The hat-wearing woman sighed and said, "Like an idiot."

The young lady touched her forehead and whispered softly, "Rake."

·

Gongsun Ce landed at the main gate of Central Union University. A grey small van was parked in front of him, and the rear right door opened, issuing a silent invitation. This was a vehicle commonly used by official personnel—unassuming in appearance, large in interior capacity, and frequently appearing after all kinds of sudden incidents to handle the aftermath.

The Esper got into the car and, unsurprisingly, found that the driver was his old friend.

"Yo, Shigure-kun, as expected, the two of us are paired up this time."

Shigure Reiichi smiled and said, "Do you think it's a good fit, Gongsun?"

"Isn't it a great fit? You handle the underhanded stuff while I handle the straightforward stuff; you handle the occult knowledge explanations and looking cool while I handle asking 'why' and causing mischief in the background. When the time comes, the two of us will stand there in long trench coats, you holding two pistols while I release the biochemical slime, guaranteed to scare those people out of their wits and send them running for their lives."

The young man in the suit handed him a bottle of water.

"Sounds very interesting. However, due to some reasons that are inconvenient to explain, I will be joining you a bit later this time."

The Esper took a sip of water: "Don't scare me. You guys are really planning to airdrop me in all by myself?"

The young man in the suit smiled even more mysteriously.

"How could that be? One person can hardly be called an investigation team."

The door on the left side opened at this moment, and a blue-haired woman wearing the exact same long trench coat as Gongsun Ce got into the car. She slammed the door shut with a bang, her cold tone carrying a three-tenths sneer.

"As expected. My partner this time is you, Reiichi...?!'

Mid-sentence, she caught sight of the other person in the back seat.

Gongsun Ce and Shigure Rei glared at each other, their eyes holding identical looks of revulsion, awkwardness, and utter bafflement. They pointed at each other simultaneously and shouted, "Don't tell me..." "What are you guys thinking..."

Shigure Reiichi started the small van and drove toward the direction of Cangshou District. He smiled wickedly and said, "I wish you both a pleasant time together on this mission."

The two core members of the investigation team shouted in unison:

"Are you kidding me?!"