21st Century Necromancer

In the laboratory, only Yu Chen, Mikoto Misumi, and the Nakado Department were left. Because it was personal work, after the researchers had finished their tasks, Yu Chen let them leave and did not insist they stay to work overtime because of his presence.

"It's no use! The water is full of garbage, making it impossible to identify the sea urchin larvae!" Mikoto Misumi stretched, easing the fatigue from maintaining the same position for a long time and couldn't help but voice her complaint.

"Damn it, it's all trash!" The member from the Nakado Department also complained, but even though he was cursing, Yu Chen didn't think he was swearing at anyone—it seemed to be just a habit.

Seeing how they were struggling, Yu Chen too felt concern. He asked Mikoto Misumi, "Dr. Misumi, are you having trouble with the analysis? If you need any help, just ask. We have a pretty complete set of equipment here, so feel free to use whatever you need."

"Thank you, Dr. Chen! But no need, you lending us the lab has already been a huge help!" Upon hearing what Yu Chen said, Mikoto Misumi hurriedly thanked him and explained, "What we want to do now is to test for sea urchin larvae in the samples, but since they are mainly composed of proteins, we cannot use the usual homogenization or enzyme digestion methods.

We have to try treating the samples with a weak acid, but this makes it very difficult to clean out the garbage, so…"

"So what you're seeing is all garbage, not the sea urchin larvae you're looking for." Yu Chen walked over to Mikoto Misumi and leaned in to look through the microscope in front of her, and immediately understood the problem. The field of view was full of black garbage, making it nearly impossible to recognize the sea urchin larvae they needed to detect.

Because Mikoto Misumi didn't move her chair, their posture looked as though she was leaning back and Yu Chen was leaning against her, as if he were in her arms.

"What are you doing?" Just as Yu Chen was about to cede the position back to Mikoto Misumi, there was a knock at the laboratory door followed by Hiromi Jounouchi's voice.

Yu Chen straightened up and looked back to see Hiromi Jounouchi standing at the laboratory door, watching them with her arms crossed. Although she appeared to be smiling, there was something a bit dangerous about her gaze.

"Hiromi, what brings you here?" Yu Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise, not understanding why his girlfriend had suddenly come to the laboratory. Despite his confusion, he explained to her, "Dr. Misumi said there was a sample that needed analysis, but there was a bit of an accident at UDI, so she asked to borrow the lab. Haven't you gotten off work yet, Hiromi?"

"I was just at your office waiting to leave work with you when your secretary, Shirai-san, told me you had come to the lab. When I called you, you had left your phone in the office, so I had to come see what you were up to here!" Hiromi Jounouchi leaned against the laboratory door, her tone casual, but her eyes suggested to Yu Chen that she was annoyed.

Seeing his girlfriend's expression, Yu Chen hurried over to her, apologizing profusely, "I'm sorry, Hiromi, I forgot to notify you! I thought we could finish up here quickly, but I lost track of time, I'm really sorry!"

"It seems that's not all you've forgotten!" Hiromi Jounouchi continued smiling at Yu Chen as she pulled his phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Next time, will you forget you have a girlfriend too?"

Feeling the jealousy in his girlfriend's words, Yu Chen suddenly felt a headache coming on.

As Yu Chen was preparing to explain to Hiromi Jounouchi, Misumi Mikoto also came over, bowed towards Hiromi Jounouchi, and explained, "Dr. Jounouchi, I'm sorry, it's because of me that Doctor Chen was delayed in finishing work today. I'm truly very sorry!"
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"It's because there was a case that required sample analysis, but since this body wasn't legally sent to our UDI, the investigation of this case was prohibited by the director. Dr. Nakado and I really had no other choice but to seek Doctor Chen's help. If this caused any misunderstanding for you, Dr. Jounouchi, I'm sincerely sorry!"

"Not at all, not at all, how could I possibly misunderstand you, Dr. Misumi!" Hiromi Jounouchi's smile became even brighter. There truly seemed to be no hint of anger in her tone, "I was just upset because he promised to accompany me to the supermarket after work today, but it looks like he completely forgot about it."

"Eh? Dr. Jounouchi, you and Doctor Chen... you two…?" Misumi Mikoto looked at Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi in surprise. Although she knew they were a couple, she heard a different implication in Hiromi Jounouchi's words.

"Ah, has Mr. Chen Yu not told you?" Hiromi Jounouchi's face showed a look of surprise and she put an arm around Yu Chen's arm, displaying a close gesture, "We've moved in together now, we're living together!"

Misumi Mikoto's face immediately showed a mix of embarrassment and surprise, and for a moment she really didn't know what to say.

Just then, behind them, the busy Nakado Department suddenly complained loudly, "Damn it! It's all trash, can't see a thing! It would take days to search for it with the naked eye, one by one! Damn it!"

Misumi Mikoto had never found the "damn it" of the Nakado Department so pleasant to her ears before. She quickly apologized to Hiromi Jounouchi and Yu Chen and then returned to the experiment table. Seeing Dr. Nakado's frustration, she couldn't help but suggest to him, "Dr. Nakado, maybe we should seek external help! It's not working going on like this."

As she spoke, Misumi Mikoto took out her phone and prepared to call for reinforcements.

Hiromi Jounouchi, who was standing on the side and saw that Misumi Mikoto and Dr. Nakado were indeed working, then asked Yu Chen, "What are Dr. Misumi and his team doing?"

"They want to test the plankton in the samples, but there's so much trash in the water, nothing is clear, and they are really troubled." Yu Chen explained to Hiromi Jounouchi. He couldn't be of much help with such things, as he was a surgeon and not a forensic expert.

"So how much longer will it take? If they are doing tests, it must take a long time, right? Does it mean that you, Mr. Chen Yu, are going to just wait here the whole time?" Hiromi Jounouchi asked Yu Chen. Although she was not angry, she still felt somewhat dissatisfied with the prospect of waiting indefinitely.

Seeing the situation before him, Yu Chen understood his girlfriend's feelings and couldn't help but regret why he hadn't left a researcher to watch things here, so he could slip away. That way, he wouldn't be stuck now and wouldn't have made his girlfriend angry.

Yu Chen frowned and thought for a moment, then said to Hiromi Jounouchi, "Why don't you go home first, Hiromi? I feel like they will need a lot more time. You go ahead, and I'll follow after they finish with their work."