Xiao Lin sat by the coffee table in the office, sipping tea as he waited.
About twenty minutes later, Lan Shiyu and Lin Niannian finally logged off from the virtual world.
As soon as she returned, Lin Niannian sighed in amazement, "Oh my god, I never expected Mr. Xiao Lin to be... uh..."
Before she could finish, she caught Xiao Lin sitting by the table, teacup in hand, staring right at her. She immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Be what?" Xiao Lin asked, setting down his cup.
"Be a, uh... a hammerhead shark or something..." Lin Niannian started rambling nonsense.
Seeing the girl about to die of embarrassment, Lan Shiyu laughed. "I actually thought Mr. Xiao would leave after logging off."
"I had some questions about Espers that I wanted to ask, so I stayed," Xiao Lin said, turning to Lan Shiyu.
"Hmm, what questions? Go ahead, let's see if I can help." Lan Shiyu leaned against the desk, supporting himself with his hands behind him.
"I recall Captain Yan saying that superpowers are acquired through means?" Xiao Lin asked.
Lan Shiyu nodded. "That's right. Drugs, special experiences, or radiation mutations can all be sources of superpowers."
"Agents are a type of Esper, but an Agent's power comes from a Transcendent, making them stronger. I am Mr. Bai's Agent."
"So, can all mental-type Espers access the internet?" Xiao Lin pressed on.
By this point in the conversation, Lan Shiyu had already guessed Xiao Lin's objective.
He wasn't surprised; instead, it confirmed Mr. Bai's judgment.
"So, you want to become a mental-type Esper?" Lan Shiyu asked with a smile.
"Yes." Xiao Lin didn't hide it. For him now, the most important thing was understanding this world, and the internet was the best platform to double his results with half the effort.
"Ahem, ahem." Lin Niannian off to the side started clearing her throat exaggeratedly, then deliberately interjected:
"Mr. Xiao Lin, actually, all Transcendents have the ability to connect to the network. Aren't you a first-generation Transcendent? How could you not have it? That's really strange."
Xiao Lin looked at the sarcastic Lin Niannian with a confused face, having absolutely no idea what this girl was up to.
Though, it was fairly normal for an overly energetic small dog to go crazy for no reason.
"I don't know why either; maybe I haven't found the right method yet," Xiao Lin answered honestly.
"Mr. Xiao Lin, do you feel even a shred of embarrassment when talking to me?" Lin Niannian looked sinister.
He felt a vein throb on his forehead. "Maybe because you aren't tempting enough."
Lin Niannian: "Huh?"
Seeing the topic veer off course, Lan Shiyu stepped in to interrupt. "Mr. Xiao Lin, actually, you are very lucky."
Xiao Lin was stunned. "Why do you suddenly say that?"
Lan Shiyu looked at him. "Because I happen to have a dose of potion here for developing superpowers."
Yan Jie: "Huh? We do?"
Lin Niannian: "Huh? Since when?"
Seeing the two of them wearing expressions that screamed "Look, our boss is lying," Xiao Lin remained speechless.
Lan Shiyu answered without batting an eyelash or skipping a heartbeat: "Of course we do!"
He opened the drawer of his desk and took out a small glass bottle bound with wire, containing a pale blue liquid.
"Ah, isn't that the..." Lin Niannian started to say something, but was cut off by Lan Shiyu. "Safe-type Mental Development Potion, or SMED for short."
Did these three people not even coordinate their stories?
Xiao Lin held it in for a long while before speaking. "Uh, although I want to buy it, I don't have any money on hand, so let's forget it."
"You don't need to worry about that."
Lan Shiyu held up the potion bottle, his voice serious and loud: "Because it... is FREE!!"
Xiao Lin: "..."
Is this stuff some kind of poison? Does Lan Shiyu want to poison me to death? But is it necessary to go through so much trouble?
"However, there is an additional condition!" Lan Shiyu continued.
"Tell me the condition first?" Xiao Lin asked, steeling himself to play along.
Lan Shiyu said, "I know you don't plan to sell the Institute, but surely some of the things inside can be sold, right?"
"You can list the items available for sale. As long as you are willing to trade with us, this bottle of potion is yours for free!"
Xiao Lin suddenly felt a bit tempted. Of course, not by the weird potion, but by the proposal.
He had just been worrying about not having the currency of this era, and now Lan Shiyu was delivering it right to his door.
So... were these three scheming just to help him make money?
"I can sell you half of the water and food in the Institute," Xiao Lin said immediately. After all, there was the reset phenomenon in the Institute; consumed water and food would be replenished the next day.
Lan Shiyu was also secretly delighted. Their town certainly didn't lack food, but food was a basic survival resource. If Xiao Lin ran out of food, he would have to purchase it in town.
Once demand was created, they would have the opportunity to pry open other assets within the Institute.
Thinking of this, Lan Shiyu smiled happily and extended a friendly hand. "Then, happy cooperation."
Thinking of the Institute's reset phenomenon, Xiao Lin also smiled happily. "Happy cooperation."
Seeing the smiles on both their faces, each harboring their own secret agenda, Yan Jie felt even more confused.
What are they doing? Why are they smiling so happily?
And isn't that small bottle the "Soothing Potion"? When did it become a "Mental Development Potion"?
Lan Shiyu seemed completely unconcerned about being discovered and handed the small bottle to Xiao Lin generously.
"Mr. Xiao Lin, please wait downstairs for a moment. I'll arrange for Lin Niannian to go with you to inventory the goods later."
"This... how do I use it?" Xiao Lin looked at the bottle with slight suspicion.
"Ah, just drink it directly. There won't be any side effects, and it takes effect in a few hours," Lan Shiyu said casually.
Xiao Lin didn't plan to drink it now. He planned to take it back to the Institute to analyze the ingredients first.
If it was fake, so be it. If it was real, he could have Professor Yue and the others reverse-engineer the process.
After the sound of Xiao Lin's footsteps faded, Yan Jie remained silent for a long time. "Mr. Lan, Mental Development Potion? Are you serious?"
Lan Shiyu glanced at him. "Niannian, you explain it to him."
Lin Niannian immediately jumped out and explained solemnly, "You don't get it, do you?
This is called playing along with their game!"
Thinking that Lin Niannian was the one explaining it, Yan Jie felt a bit uncomfortable, but he still asked, "So what exactly did you guys do?"
"Actually, Xiao Lin isn't a Transcendent. He is inherently a mental-type Esper, but he lied to us for self-protection."
"Wait, if he's already a mental-type Esper, why does he need to buy a Mental Development Potion?" Yan Jie was even more confused.
"Because he needs to find a reasonable excuse for his identity as a mental-type Esper," Lin Niannian said with certainty. "So, Mr. Lan decided to play along and fan the flames, helping him make the act complete."
"In other words, regardless of whether the potion is real or not, it is now real! Xiao Lin thinks he tricked us, but actually, we tricked him. We have the upper hand in this wave."
"I... I think this is a bit too brain-burning." Yan Jie felt his brain was about to run out of memory.
Xiao Lin sat on the first floor, looking at the small glass bottle in his hand, feeling that the more he looked at it, the faker it seemed.
Shouldn't this kind of sci-fi level potion have some little bugs or eyeballs floating inside it or something?
He had most likely been scammed, but being scammed didn't matter. More importantly, he could use this scam to open his own sales channels to exchange for money.
They think they tricked me, but actually, I tricked them. I have the upper hand in this wave.