CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER 214: IT’S NO USE NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS

"I haven’t forgotten; I have an even more important task for you!"

Su Siming felt instantly cured, his spirits greatly boosted. "What task?"

His boosted spirits instantly deflated. "Why am I the one to stay at home and watch over these machines?"

"Anyone could do this kind of thing, right?"

"If Yanyan, you don’t trust others, then we can also remotely control these machines! Yanyan, I want to be your assistant too!"

An Yan said, "Su Siming, do you know what your strength is?"

"What?"

Su Siming was a bit curious, but not much.

An Yan continued, "You are clever, good at socializing, and have exceptional organizational skills. Our team must have someone who can navigate all kinds of interpersonal relationships. And you are that person—unique and irreplaceable!"

"Right now, I need someone reliable enough to stay in Luocheng to guard our home base, providing us with the necessary technical, data, and material support!"

An Yan’s voice was very serious. It was so serious that Su Siming unexpectedly felt a surge of responsibility, as though he had been entrusted with a great duty. "So, Yanyan values me?" he asked, shocked.

All his life, what he had heard the most was "Look at Liang Chen!"

Then, "Look at you!"

So much so that he often regarded Liang Chen as a benchmark for his own behavior.

He had never expected Yanyan to say that he was the most reliable person in her mind, that he had strengths even Liang Chen couldn’t compare to!

In that moment, Su Siming’s mindset changed.

Previously, he had only wanted to latch onto An Yan’s coattails, just as he did with Liang Chen, to befriend powerful people.

Now, in addition to wanting to latch on, he also felt a sense of belonging from being recognized.

In any case, I must follow Yanyan closely from now on and do whatever she asks!

An Yan was unaware of the change in Su Siming’s attitude.

The reason she decided to bring Liang Chen and Mu Enyu was all for the little deskmate.

The girl was too shy. Even though she had stood up last time to shield Liang Chen from trouble, now when she was around him, she still acted like a stranger.

How can this be?

And the divination showed that their journey would be thrilling yet safe.

By taking them along, perhaps their relationship will make a breakthrough after they experience danger together? Just do good deeds, and don’t ask about the outcome!

「**」

Regarding Li Tianyao’s blood sample, An Yan didn’t plan to mention it to anyone.

Because once she did, no one would care about how to help Li Tianyao with the antidote but would instead be interested in how to achieve Immortality like him!

Originally, there was also Li Qingqing to discuss it with.

But Li Qingqing had actually exploited Li Tianyao’s illness in an attempt to separate them. This made An Yan feel that for Li Qingqing, the antidote might not be the top priority either!

So be it. It’s better if I research it on my own.

In the past 24 hours, the few substances she had managed to analyze matched her predictions.

Besides a substance that could regenerate and repair, there was also one that suppressed cellular activity.

And his change in eye color had a lot to do with this suppressant.

But if she lowered the value of this suppressant, his nerve cells would rapidly metabolize and decay.

This would prevent the regenerative substances from keeping pace. If they couldn’t keep up, other parts of his body would begin to fail.

The results were simply unpredictable!

An Yan input these parameters into the computer and began running simulations. She then discovered that Li Tianyao’s body was like a precisely calibrated instrument.

No matter which parameter she adjusted, the final result was always the same: Chaos!

Once these substances fell into chaos, he would go mad, but his life would not end.

The substances would continue to react, eventually reaching a new equilibrium.

This meant Li Tianyao could only endure the pain of these mutations, over and over, forever!

He could do nothing but wait for his body to return to a state of equilibrium on its own; only then would this agony end!

She remembered what he had once said: "...Not dying doesn’t mean not getting sick! It also doesn’t mean not feeling pain!"

Perhaps it was because her heart had been moved; recalling these words now made it ache terribly. If the heavens had eyes, shouldn’t retribution fall upon Gu Shifang? If Li Tianyao was Gu Shifang’s retribution, then why did he have to suffer such illness and pain? Immortality... such a tempting concept. But what if the condition for Immortality was that you had to cultivate your temperament, never getting angry or agitated? What if any provocation would trigger an episode, one where you’d lose all recognition of kin and go on a killing spree? To avoid harming others, you would have to lock yourself away, enduring in a place devoid of daylight. Would I still desire Immortality then?

An Yan gathered her thoughts and focused, trying once more to activate the Clairvoyance Technique to see if she could discern anything from Li Tianyao’s blood, but to no avail.

How strange! Several hours have passed since I last used it! I feel my mental state is at its peak, so why can’t I activate it? Could it be that the cooldown for the Clairvoyance Technique isn’t determined by my physical state?

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was two minutes to midnight.

She leaned back in her chair and waited. When the clock ticked over to midnight two minutes later, she tried again to activate her clairvoyance.

This time, it worked!

Her gaze swiftly focused on the blood sample.

I can’t see anything wrong! The Clairvoyance Technique can detect foreign objects, but it can’t analyze the composition of what is seen!

An Yan gave a wry laugh and withdrew her attention.

The night passed without her noticing. It wasn’t until her stomach growled, signaling her hunger, that An Yan finally got up and left the lab.

The moment she reached the upper floor, Little Squirrel scampered over, its tiny paws clutching her pant leg. It wanted to climb up but seemed hesitant.

Only after confirming Li Tianyao wasn’t around did it dart up, nimbly leaping onto An Yan’s shoulder and reaching out a small paw to tug at a strand of her hair.

Hearing the commotion, the chef hurried over. "Miss," he said, "breakfast is ready. Would you like to eat now?"

"You all go ahead. I’m heading back to my place."

Breakfast at the An Family home was also ready. Seeing An Yan return, An Zhongbo excitedly instructed the kitchen to add another fried egg. "And steam two more baskets of shrimp dumplings," he added. "Yanyan loves those."

Then he noticed Little Squirrel on An Yan’s shoulder and, wheeling his chair over, grabbed a handful of pine nuts for it.

Watching An Zhongbo bustle about, An Yan suddenly remembered something, and her nose tingled with an impending rush of emotion. "Dad, stop busying yourself. Please sit down; I have something to tell you."

"Alright, go ahead."

An Yan came straight to the point. "Is An Shimeng asking you for money again?"

An Zhongbo’s expression changed instantly. He stammered, "You... who told you that?"

An Zhongbo decided to deny it to the bitter end.

He would never let the children know that secret, no matter what. An Yan was his daughter, his own flesh and blood. Nothing anyone said could change that!