Perhaps it was because he hadn't eaten in a long time, but Su Xun found the spicy hot pot to be unexpectedly delicious—aromatic, savory, and utterly satisfying.
After devouring several mouthfuls, he slowed down, savoring each bite with relish.
Just as he was enjoying his meal, a voice rang out beside him.
"Mind if I sit here?"
Without waiting for a response, Yan Yan set her tray down across from him. She had ordered a bowl of Yunnan rice noodles, and as she took her seat, she began adding small portions of condiments to the steaming bowl.
Fang Min soon arrived with her own meal. Sitting beside Yan Yan, she gave her a mildly annoyed look.
"Yan Yan, no fooling around. If you stir up trouble again, I'll tell Sister Lin and let her deal with you!"
"Oh come on, Aunt Fang! How am I stirring up trouble? I'm just sitting down to eat. Since when does the cafeteria assign seating rules for what's mischievous and what's not?"
Fang Min couldn't help but chuckle at her mischievous expression.
"You little rascal—I can never win an argument with you."
"Hmph!" Yan Yan gave a playful snort, then picked up her chopsticks, twirled the noodles, and took a big bite.
Fang Min, seeing she was finally eating, said no more and began her own meal.
However, Yan Yan deliberately slurped her noodles loudly, drawing annoyed glances from nearby diners. But once they caught sight of the infamous "Little Witch," they quickly averted their gazes, shoveled a few more bites into their mouths, and scurried off.
"Yan Yan, mind your manners," Fang Min warned gently.
Tilting her head, Yan Yan glanced at Su Xun—who remained utterly focused on his food, unfazed by the commotion.
"This is the proper way to eat noodles! Isn't that right?"
Still, Su Xun didn't respond.
Yan Yan pouted. "Aunt Fang, is he made of wood?"
Fang Min smiled and shook her head. "He just doesn't want to bother with you."
"Why not?" Yan Yan feigned indignation. "I'm adorable!"
Fang Min ignored her and continued eating.
Unfazed, Yan Yan leaned forward and pressed on.
"Hey, what's your name?"
No response.
"What are you researching?"
Silence.
"I'm Yan Yan. I'm eighteen, a graduate student, and I specialize in robotics."
Still, Su Xun just kept eating.
"Aunt Fang, he's totally possessed by the Spirit of Dry Rice—how can a gorgeous girl flirt with him and still get no reaction?"
Fang Min said nothing, but silently agreed—Su Xun's focus on food seemed... supernatural.
At last, Su Xun finished eating. He looked up at Yan Yan and said coolly,
"Don't you get tired of talking so much?"
"I—"
Before Yan Yan could reply, Su Xun turned to Fang Min.
"Fang Jie, I'm heading back to tidy up."
"Alright."
With that, Su Xun picked up his tray and walked off toward the dish return area.
"Aunt Fang! I—I'm furious!"
Yan Yan glared at his retreating back, cheeks puffed with anger.
"Alright, don't stoop to his level," Fang Min comforted. "Just finish your meal."
But the more Yan Yan thought about it, the angrier she became.
"Hmph! He'd better pray he never ends up in my hands!"
With a snap, the quail egg between her chopsticks was crushed in two.
Watching her, Fang Min couldn't help but feel a twinge of concern for Su Xun.
Meanwhile, Su Xun had left the cafeteria and headed straight out of the research facility.
Now that he had a security pass, entering and exiting was simple. Before long, he was back at the residential quarters.
He drove to a nearby supermarket, picked up some basic supplies, then returned to Unit 1 of Building No. 1. With his bags in hand, he climbed the stairs to his apartment.
Room 602.
Once inside, Su Xun began tidying up. He gave the entire place a thorough cleaning and carefully arranged the daily necessities he had bought.
After everything was in order, he flopped down on the bed and began browsing the news on his phone.
Unsurprisingly, the headlines were still dominated by yesterday's Zerg invasion and the sudden appearance of Iron Man.
People were fascinated by the hero's armor and weaponry, and even more eager to discover his true identity. They begged reporters to uncover more.
Just as Su Xun was about to put down his phone out of boredom, one particular headline caught his eye:
"Alien Civilization Discovered "Beneath the Great Abyss!
He tapped to read more, but the screen was suddenly overridden by a red exclamation mark and a warning message:
The content you are trying to access does not exist.
"Hm?"
He sat up in bed. "Where did it go?"
Without hesitation, Su Xun entered the keywords into the search bar once more. A familiar message popped up: "Invalid search terms. Please revise and try again."
After a brief pause, Su Xun spoke aloud.
"Nikola."
"Yes, sir?"
"Search the entire web for information regarding the Great Abyss."
"Search complete. What specific content would you like to retrieve?"
"Anything beneath the Abyss."
"All data concerning the depths of the Abyss has been encrypted and erased."
Encrypted and erased?
Su Xun frowned. That could only mean one thing—something was being deliberately concealed.
"Could it really be an alien civilization?"
The thought lingered. He felt a strong urge to investigate, but his Iron Man suit had only been upgraded with a smarter AI and anti-icing capabilities. The energy issue remained unresolved—he couldn't be certain the reactor could power a round trip.
"I'll upgrade the arc reactor first," he muttered.
After nightfall, Su Xun headed downstairs to his sports car. He popped the hood, retrieved a metal case hidden within, and carried it back upstairs.
Inside the case lay the dismantled components of his Iron Man suit.
Once in the apartment, Su Xun dragged the pieces into a vacant room. He set up the support stand he had purchased earlier that day and began carefully reassembling the armor, piece by piece.
After completing the reassembly, he removed the arc reactor and walked over to his desk with the compact energy core in hand.
"A miniature nuclear reactor on its own can't generate enough energy. On top of that, palladium's limitations make it impossible to synthesize a more powerful element, like in Iron Man. If that's the case, I need to find a way to enhance its nuclear reaction efficiency."
He turned the reactor over in his palm—it was no bigger than his hand.
"Nikola, bring up the blueprints for the arc reactor."
"Yes, sir."
As the schematics appeared before him, Su Xun studied the structure intently.
"The major issue lies in the excessive energy loss during the compression of deuterium nuclei into the palladium core."
He closed his eyes and began to process every detail of the design. Within moments, his mind entered a state of heightened clarity.
Countless data strings flashed before him, forming a vast lattice of figures, equations, and simulations. These abstract frameworks merged into a dynamic, ever-shifting network, reorganizing themselves at dizzying speed.
"There it is."
A sudden epiphany struck. He had located the core of the problem. Grabbing a screwdriver from his toolkit, Su Xun began disassembling the reactor with deft precision.
"If I install a recoil system to store the excess energy in a compressed spring, I could then harness that stored elastic potential in the next cycle—to help compress the deuterium nuclei."
Without pause, he plunged into the redesign. His hands moved swiftly, assembling components at lightning speed. Before long, the recoil system was complete and securely embedded into the arc reactor.
"It's done. Nikola, run a diagnostics check on current energy loss."
"Right away, sir."
Minutes passed.
Nikola's voice echoed in the room:
"Current energy loss has been reduced to 10% of the original level."