110 Professional Domain

Eighteen minutes later.
Eight-twenty-one.
Two blocks away from Egg Restaurant.
Los Angeles Institute of Microbiology, downtown branch office building.

Several barricades partitioned the building from the street; two armored vehicles had their firing ports aimed at the road, and a dozen armed soldiers were scattered around the perimeter.

After finishing his fifty-seven-dollar breakfast, a middle-aged man appeared at the building's entrance. Standing a full seven or eight meters from the first barricade, he stopped, his right hand clutching the identification he had already retrieved.

Beside the first barricade, two soldiers operated the equipment next to them. A green light appeared, scanning the middle-aged man up and down. After a "beep," the soldiers lowered their weapons, saluted, and cleared the way.

The routine procedure concluded.
"Good morning, Doctor."

Beside the soldiers, two young men in white lab coats, wearing name tags that read "Los Angeles Institute of Microbiology" and "Assistant," immediately stepped forward.

"Good morning, gentlemen." The middle-aged man put away his ID and strode toward the building. "Did you have a pleasant holiday?"

The young men hurried to keep up. Hearing the question, the assistant on the left offered a bitter smile: "Yes, very pleasant... if you can call it that. I only now realize what a wonderful luxury eight hours of sleep is."

"That is because you have only been at the research center for two years. Besides, you should be grateful. You must know that eight hours of rotating rest is already a privilege reserved for the research team. The other sequences are still waiting in line—an endless, hopeless queue. Now then..."

In the time it took to exchange these few words, the Doctor had entered the building and shifted into work mode. "How is the equipment?"

"All maintenance checks are complete, and it has entered pre-start status," the assistant on the left replied.

"And the personnel?"

"Mr. Grover and Mr. Woodrow have not arrived yet. The other professors are in position."

"Grover has already reached the parking lot. As for Woodrow, I have been notified..." The middle-aged man lifted his wrist to check his watch. "The gentleman fell asleep in his bathtub, soaked in cold water for five hours, and was just sent to the hospital three hours ago... Hmm, call the hospital."

"That is truly unfortunate." The assistant put away his shorthand notebook and took out his phone. "Shall I order flowers for him?"

"No, please have the hospital draft the fastest-acting treatment plan for Mr. Woodrow." The Doctor’s pace never faltered. "Try to ensure our 'mermaid' can return within five hours... at the very least, he must be able to complete some work at the hospital so he doesn't fall too far behind."

"Understood, Doctor." While answering, the assistant on the left stepped aside and dialed the hospital. "...Hello, this is the Los Angeles Institute of Microbiology. Three hours ago, one of our colleagues..."

Quickening his pace to move out of earshot of the phone call, the Doctor tilted his head slightly. "The briefing for today?"

"Yes, Doctor."

The assistant on the right took over, reading from the document he had already opened: "Sequence 1, Medieval World Hive Chain Reaction, Pacification Project for the Swarm Attacking Villagers: A1, Plot 27, Wu Qingchen/Ross family hive plot, 19 degrees southeast, owner Richard—Intelligence Group Briefing Model: Former neighbor of the Wu Qingchen/Ross family, future in-law of Idra. Relationship: Close."

"Hmm..." After a brief moment of reflection to confirm the relationship between the two families, the Doctor signaled for the assistant to continue. "And the current pre-implementation plan?"

Except for emergency wake-up calls, every time Wu Qingchen fell asleep and entered the medieval world, the time elapsed there before he opened his eyes and returned to Earth was generally around ten days.

Therefore, when the United Nations Temporary Committee on Celestial Phenomena determined training content, formulated execution details, and prepared contingency plans for Wu Qingchen, they used ten days as a sub-cycle. The pre-implementation plan consisted of content that had been scheduled for the current ten-day period in the medieval world but had not yet been executed.

As the Doctor pressed for details, the assistant flipped a page. "Pre-implementation plan: Based on the close relationship between the subject and the Wu Qingchen family, within the current ten-day cycle, we will influence the main labor force of the family through gifts, hints, and induction. While they are clearing wasteland or gathering firewood, we will guide them to move between areas with mint and other soothing plants, reducing the bees' stress response to a manageable range."

"Hmm..." The Doctor nodded. "And the opinion of our institute?"

"Dr. Wilfred believes that based on the current plan, the soothing effect of mint plants on the swarm will inevitably decrease over time. After fifteen to twenty-five days, it will drop below the safety threshold. Future pacification will require higher concentrations or the combination of other hormones to delay the accumulation of tolerance in the swarm."

"Good..." The Doctor pondered for a moment and made a decision. "List this as a priority project. Please have Dr. Wilfred arrange the experiments as soon as possible. Next item."

The assistant turned the page. "Pacification Sequence B2, Plot 35, Wu Qingchen/Ross family hive plot, 7 degrees northeast, owner Hansel—Intelligence Group Briefing Model: Owner of the treated draft ox. Relationship: Ordinary."

"Pre-implementation plan."

The assistant continued: "Pre-implementation plan: Within ten days, while continuing to treat the injured draft ox for the Hansel family, reduce the active ingredients in the herbs to keep the family's labor capacity just high enough for summer service and hay harvesting, thus reducing the probability of them appearing near the hive plot."

"Hmm, poor Hansel..." That's what you call catching a stray bullet.

Sighing for this unlucky soul in the medieval world, the Doctor asked: "What is the opinion of the advisory team?"

"The advisory team believes that after this 'sniper' action, the physical condition and food reserves of the Hansel family members will drop significantly. The advisory team suggests that in the next phase, we should consider compensating for the family's losses."

"What has our institute done?"

"Supervisor Louise suggests that during the next phase of treatment and subsequent care of the village cattle, we can use various methods to stimulate the family's cow into estrus and take measures to increase the chances of pregnancy."

"This..." The Doctor hesitated slightly. "A good approach. However, precisely because it is a good approach, there are probably a thousand research teams lined up for it. With our institute's strength in reproductive studies, I fear it will be difficult to design a plan that can compete with the others... Hmm, given Mr. Wu Qingchen's tight schedule, I doubt this will even pass the first round of screening."

"Uh..." The assistant began to stammer.

"Please, go on."

"Supervisor Louise's note: 'Who cares how many rounds it passes! To hell with Wu Qingchen! That damned bastard made the man I've been on three dates with stop answering my calls!'"

"Three dates?" The Doctor looked incredulous. "Are car salesmen really that brave, challenging a female doctor?"

"Cough..." The assistant coughed.

"Fine. Since Ms. Louise is so fond of reproduction... ahem, I mean, so fond of small animals, please have her coordinate with the veterinary team. Draft a plan as soon as possible, and once the experiment is successful, report it directly..." The Doctor spread his hands. "In any case, none of the plans from our Los Angeles Institute—no, the entire East Coast Institute—have passed the fifth round of screening so far."

"That is not your fault. In the entire United States, no, the whole world, the total number of plans that have passed all screenings and entered the execution stage is less than one-tenth of China's," the assistant replied, calmly exercising the art of comfort.

"That is called genetics; who can blame them for having the closest relationship? Next item."

"Pacification Project S5, Plot 7, Wu Qingchen/Ross family hive plot, 34 degrees southwest, owner Sanchez. —Intelligence Group Briefing Model: Younger brother of the former cowherd Brown/Rodriguez. Relationship: Dangerous."

"Oh? The younger brother of the former cowherd?"

Hearing this, the Doctor’s footsteps stopped abruptly. "Someone like that exists next to the hive plot? Why was this location chosen?"

"The advisory team's note is that, all things considered, this was the best location available."

"What is the pre-implementation plan?"

The assistant turned the page and read: "Pre-implementation plan: 1. Through Andre, warn him of the church's ownership of the hive to prevent malicious incidents. 2. Also gift mint plants to reduce the degree to which he is harassed by the swarm. 3. Provide some compensation. 4. If warnings are ineffective, when the Sanchez family's draft ox is due for summer service, use the cowherd's helpers to assign the ox to a separate group, and have the plowman arrange a heavy plow to exhaust the ox's energy, similarly reducing the probability of his appearance."

"Hoo... these measures..." The Doctor pondered for a long time. "Some might provoke a counter-reaction, and some might actually suggest ways to sabotage us... even if everything goes smoothly, it doesn't seem to solve all the problems."

"Yes," the assistant agreed with the Doctor.

"Let's hear our institute's opinion."

"Dr. Frederick's opinion is very similar to yours; he also believes the pre-implementation plan is likely to create future hazards. Dr. Frederick suggests extracting toxic components from certain herbs and introducing them into the Sanchez family's water source. In fifteen to thirty days, it could achieve the desired goal."

"Poisoning... how can we resort to poisoning?" The Doctor shook his head, rejecting such a horrific act. "What else?"

"Professor Castra believes that if Sanchez is determined to be an enemy of Earth, another stimulation mode for the swarm should achieve good results."

"Using bees to kill?" The Doctor shook his head vigorously, becoming increasingly dissatisfied. "Anything else?"

"Supervisor Allen feels that during summer service, making some arrangements for the Sanchez family's draft ox, or the draft oxen in their work area, would be very easy... To achieve this goal, it only requires..."

"Startling the ox to trample him to death." The Doctor summarized directly, his expression quite displeased.

"Uh... yes," the assistant quickly scanned the document and answered.

"Poison... swarms... startling oxen... heh... heheheh..."

As he spoke, the Doctor suddenly began to laugh. As he laughed, his voice suddenly rose eight octaves:

"How could you think this way? How could you all think this way?"

"We are the Los Angeles Institute of Microbiology!"

"Not a traditional Chinese medicine research center! Not an insect research institute! And certainly not a veterinary clinic!"

"We are the Institute of Micro! Biology!"

"Poison, bees, draft oxen—does our Institute of Microbiology have any chance of winning against those specialized institutes?"

"Has eight hours of rest turned you all into fools?"

"Even if we are studying how to kill, we must start from our professional field, from the field of microbiology!"

"Notify all supervisors and departments to adjust their direction entirely. Focus everything on the field of microbiology in the medieval world. We must find the best, fastest, most discreet, and side-effect-free way to get rid of this damned Sanchez!"

"Tell them that once this idiot brother of the idiot cowherd does anything detrimental to Wu Qingchen—no, anything even slightly detrimental to the 'Mill Strategy'—this high-priority target will immediately be added to the death countdown list!"

"And only such matters, only such opportunities, are the rare chances where China won't be nitpicking about national standing! This is a grand opportunity for our Los Angeles Institute to truly compete fairly with the rest of the world, and a rare chance for us to finally have a say!"