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"Nina, let's make a deal. Help me out here. Go talk to Jacob and ask him to let me continue serving as his research assistant," Eleanor requested with a hopeful smile.
"Didn't you just spend all this time complaining about him?" Nina retorted with amusement. "Why do you want to be Jacob's assistant again?"
"Complaining is one thing, but important work still needs to be completed," Eleanor replied, still maintaining her smile. "Never mind, I suppose you probably can't really influence his decisions anyway. I'll just have my grandfather speak directly to Professor Scott about this matter."
"You have absolutely no idea how many qualified people are actively pursuing Jacob's two available assistant positions. Even if my grandfather personally intervenes on my behalf, it still might not be successful," Eleanor sighed with obvious concern.
"Really? It's that competitive?" Nina asked with genuine surprise.
Eleanor's grandfather was one of the Seven Champions, and also the most senior Champion among them. If even his personal influence couldn't guarantee success, were Jacob's two assistant positions really that highly sought after?
"It's absolutely true. I'm telling you, the news has already spread throughout the entire academic community. Many people are already submitting their detailed resumes directly to Professor Scott. Numerous big names and established figures in the scientific research community genuinely want to serve as Jacob's research assistant."
"None of Jacob's research projects are considered small or insignificant undertakings. As long as you manage to receive co-author or even third-author credit on any publication, that achievement alone would be sufficient to secure your place in scientific history."
Observing Eleanor speaking with such obvious excitement and enthusiasm, Nina subtly glanced toward Jacob, who was wearing his mask beside her. She hadn't previously realized that Jacob was so incredibly popular and in demand within academic circles.
"Why are you still wearing that mask?" It was at that moment that Eleanor noticed Jacob seemed to have kept his mask on since first entering the café. "Aren't you feeling uncomfortably hot? Or are you perhaps too shy to show your face? Don't be nervous about it - just relax. I'm Nina's sister from another mother, so to speak."
Eleanor jokingly teased Jacob in a friendly manner. She had a vague feeling that the man sitting in front of her looked somewhat familiar, but with Jacob wearing his mask, which covered most of his facial features and only revealed his eyes, she couldn't successfully recognize him.
After mentioning this observation briefly, Eleanor continued addressing Nina directly. "Oh, that reminds me, Nina, if you have some free time available, you really should ask Maximus to help me speak with Professor Scott, so I can continue serving as Jacob's research assistant. The second appointment is typically much easier to secure than the first one."
"Why don't you tell him about this yourself?" Nina suggested with a knowing smile, then subtly nudged Jacob with her foot under the table.
"We've only met once or twice and have barely exchanged more than two words during our interactions. He operates like some kind of heartless review robot, spending his days reviewing research papers, constantly finding faults and problems, and instructing me to revise various sections. Besides our professional work, we've never contacted each other about anything else," Eleanor couldn't help but continue her complaints. "We're not close at all, so how can I possibly bring myself to ask him about this personally? Someone with his level of responsibility and talent must be incredibly busy with important matters. If you ask me..."
As Eleanor was speaking, Jacob, responding to Nina's silent signal, quietly removed his mask from his face.
Eleanor's voice abruptly stopped mid-sentence. Looking directly at Jacob's now-revealed face, she froze completely in place. She immediately recognized the person responsible for making her work those exhausting overtime hours.
Then she remembered her recent complaints about Jacob, along with all the words of admiration and praise she had spoken about him to Nina.
Her face quickly turned bright red and felt burning hot, resembling a boiling kettle reaching its peak temperature.
"Hello there, Miss Eleanor," Jacob smiled warmly at Eleanor, unable to resist the opportunity to tease her gently. "It's nice to officially meet you face to face. Please allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Jacob, Nina's boyfriend, and I'm also that heartless review robot and exploitative taskmaster you were just describing."
Listening to Jacob's playful teasing, Eleanor's face turned an even deeper shade of red, completely covering her original complexion. She turned to look at Nina, then back at Jacob, feeling as if she were trapped in some kind of surreal dream. She couldn't help but cover her face with both hands in embarrassment.
Her gaze darted frantically between the two of them. Seeing the mischievous smile clearly displayed on Nina's face, she finally confirmed that she wasn't actually dreaming at all.
This was embarrassing - truly, utterly, completely embarrassing beyond words.
"You... you two?" Eleanor looked at them with obvious uncertainty. "Are you... really... actually dating each other?"
"Yes, we are," Jacob nodded confidently, reaching out to take Nina's hand in his own. "Nothing fake about it. Just today, we officially confirmed our romantic relationship."
Eleanor listened to Jacob's straightforward words, then silently slumped back onto the comfortable sofa, her emotions representing a complex mixture of conflicting feelings.
Thinking about how her detailed complaints about Jacob had been heard by the person himself, word for word, she felt her face burning with intense shame. This was simply a major social catastrophe moment.
What made her feel even more uncomfortable was the realization that her good friend had been secretly dating someone without telling her!
What made her feel even more unsettled was discovering that her good friend's boyfriend was an incredibly handsome eighteen-year-old young man, who also happened to be the Frosthollow Province High School Cup Champion and the most talented researcher of his generation.
To put this situation in perspective, it was like suddenly discovering one day that your good friend had fallen in love, and their romantic partner turned out to be a young, beautiful, and wealthy person who then surprised your friend with an expensive sports car the very next day.
Eleanor now had only one dominant thought: This is absolutely devastating - it's more painful than someone actually killing me.
Eleanor's back molars were nearly grinding together in frustration. Why had she decided to chase after them earlier? It was simply asking for complete humiliation.
Jacob actually knew Eleanor quite well. When Professor Scott had arranged research assistants for him, he had specifically mentioned Eleanor's name and provided details about her background and qualifications.
In fact, his original intention for this upcoming project was also to have Eleanor serve as one of his assistants. Through their previous interactions and her dedicated work over the past several days, Jacob had found Eleanor to be genuinely easy and pleasant to work with.
She possessed strong professional abilities and extensive theoretical knowledge. She was significantly more qualified than Jacob, who was essentially a half-trained pseudo-researcher at best.
Jacob had seriously considered that the technological complexity of Z-Moves and Mega Evolution wasn't actually extraordinarily high. The core components of these two research areas were the Z-Crystals and the Evolution Keystone paired with Mega Stones. As long as researchers possessed these core items, both Mega Evolution and Z-Moves would eventually be discovered through systematic study.
However, the technological complexity and requirements of the remaining two phenomena - Dynamax and the Terastal Phenomenon - were considerably higher and more challenging.
Dynamax first required access to Eternatus's unique energy signature. The Wishing Stars needed to be carefully processed and manufactured into functional Dynamax Bands, and finally, specialized facilities had to be constructed in fixed locations with naturally abundant Dynamax energy concentrations.
Each of these requirements involved significant technological complexity and absolutely could not be accomplished by Jacob working alone.
Additionally, the core Tera Orb required for the Terastal Phenomenon was also artificially manufactured through complex processes. Manufacturing a functional Tera Orb was definitely not a simple undertaking. Even at this point, Jacob didn't possess the knowledge of how to create a Tera Orb from scratch.
However, Jacob did possess a single Tera Orb that had been rewarded by the system. If utilized strategically and reasonably, it might be possible to reverse-engineer and analyze the complete manufacturing process of the Tera Orb. But even this approach wouldn't be simple or straightforward. It would be absolutely impossible for Jacob to complete such complex work entirely by himself, so finding two qualified professional research assistants was an absolute necessity.
Since Eleanor was genuinely willing to continue serving as his research assistant, combined with her impressive background and family influence, she was undoubtedly one of the best possible candidates for the research assistant position.
"Miss Eleanor," Jacob said with a warm smile, "our previous collaboration was extremely pleasant and productive. Your professionalism and extensive theoretical knowledge provided tremendous help to my research efforts. I would very much like you to continue serving as my research assistant. However, this particular research project of mine probably won't begin in the immediate short term. It will only commence after I finish competing in the High School Cup. I wonder if you would be willing to wait for that timeline?"
Eleanor nodded enthusiastically without any hesitation whatsoever. She had genuinely thought Jacob would refuse her request, but she hadn't expected Jacob to actually invite her to continue as a research assistant.
When it seemed like all mountains and rivers were exhausted and there was no clear path forward, suddenly the shade of willows and a bright village appeared on the horizon.
"It's definitely a deal. Come on, let's go - I'll buy you both drinks to celebrate," Eleanor declared boldly upon hearing Jacob's agreement. A huge weight was immediately lifted from her heart, and she announced on the spot that she would treat Jacob and Nina to drinks as a gesture of gratitude and celebration.