Chapter 304: First Meeting

Ma Ma Zhaodi had quite a few customers today.

It wasn't just the couple, Denton and Elizabeth; many people on the road were also interested in the four types of pastries on the small cart—although the scent couldn't drift out through the display window, the appearance of the Dingsheng Cake and the Peach Crisp looked quite novel and very pretty.

However, among the customers attracted to buy pastries, quite a few also liked the Ox-Tongue Cake and the Ham Mooncake; basically, after one person tasted them once, these two types of pastries, which didn't look particularly magnificent, would gain another devotee.

Watching the money bag gradually become bulging, even Ma Ma Zhaodi's face couldn't help but show a smile.

And at this moment in the Star Laboratory, Francisco Ramon had, as usual, walked into the main hall, preparing to continue his work.

"Sisco, good morning."

"Ah, good morning, Caitlin."

Sisco casually responded to his colleague's greeting and smiled at her.

But his feignedly relaxed greeting could hardly conceal the laboratory's cold and desolate predicament.

"So... today it's only the two of us?"

"Yes."

Caitlin replied expressionlessly and quietly: "At this time, no one else would come to the Star Laboratory."

This wasn't due to reasons like funding issues; in fact, Dr. Wells, relying on past scientific patents and horizontal project collaborations, was still quite wealthy. Even after paying the compensation and fines for this accident, he could still afford the wages for the entire laboratory—the main reason so many researchers left was that the laboratory's reputation was completely ruined.

Ever since the particle accelerator exploded, accountability from the central city government and citizens followed one after another; the Star Laboratory was classified as a Level Four Hazardous Site and operations were halted. Considering their own futures, no researchers would be willing to stay in a laboratory that was shut down and heavily criticized by citizens.

As one of the world's top scientists of the contemporary era, Harrison Wells was actually similar to an idol on a pedestal; most of the researchers in the Star Laboratory were his devotees, with many coming for the halo around Wells. They believed that following this scientist would inevitably give them a bright future.

But Wells failed in the laboratory accident that night; he was no longer an omnipotent idol, no longer a god in the scientific community. Instead, he became the object of everyone's condemnation, becoming the person most responsible for this scientific accident.

After he fell from the pedestal, his followers naturally wouldn't continue to stay here.

Life must go on; the Star Laboratory had no future. Even if Harrison remained a top scholar of the age, his notorious reputation made it almost impossible for him to make a comeback, so everyone very realistically went their separate ways.

Wells seemed to take no notice of this; in his world, he was always indifferent to those without talent—of course, this might be exactly why only Francisco and Caitlin remained in the laboratory. Because Wells had never paid any attention to the others in the laboratory, but treated these two geniuses differently, offering them considerable guidance and encouragement in the academic field.

Sisco was a triple genius in physics, mechanics, and computer science, and also an inventor. Regardless of whether liking superheroes and games is a stereotype for science and engineering male students, he definitely liked them very much. Classic movies, superhero comics, games—except for not being a shut-in, Sisco basically possessed all the hobbies of a tech geek, and even his personality carried a bit of a comedic air.

Caitlin was the bioengineering expert in the laboratory; she naturally possessed medical knowledge. Compared to Sisco, her original personality and hobbies fit the image of a genius scientist in people's eyes better—but since her fiancé, Ronald Raymond, died in that explosion accident three weeks ago, she had never smiled again, becoming quiet and cold, like a block of ice.

After the laboratory was sealed, Sisco and Caitlin still firmly remained in the Star Laboratory; at this moment, the two of them and Professor Wells were the only three researchers in the Star Laboratory.

"Uh, actually, it's not just the three of us left..." Sisco tried hard to break the dull and stiff atmosphere in the laboratory: "After all, the Doctor sent someone over yesterday; counting like this, we actually have one more person."

Caitlin turned her head to look at him, still expressionless: "Yes, if we don't consider that he might die in the Star Laboratory at any moment, then we do count as having one more person." Sisco awkwardly closed his mouth.

"Barry Allen did not die on the night the explosion occurred, nor will he die inside the Star Laboratory."

Dr. Wells' voice suddenly sounded at the door; he sat in a wheelchair, calmly responding to Caitlin's question.

"Doctor..."

"Caitlin, Sisco." Wells paid no attention to the two's slight guilt at that moment and asked directly: "How are Barry Allen's examination results?"

"I can't be particularly sure." Caitlin replied: "But his body is indeed quite different from a normal person's—I mean, he was struck directly by lightning back then; when he was brought over last night, he had rib fractures caused by CPR compressions; but now, his examination results show no difference from a normal person's; those fractures have vanished without a trace."

"What about his heartbeat?"

"When detected last night, it was over a thousand; but when measured again this morning, it was one hundred and twenty."

The Doctor nodded, then looked at Sisco.

"Uh, the situation is as you expected." Sisco quickly replied: "I investigated the power situation at that hospital on the night; every intermittent power outage coincided with when Barry's heart stopped beating—the electrocardiogram couldn't record his heartbeat; he was indeed beating too fast, not stopped."

"In that case." The Doctor nodded: "We probably don't need to worry about Mr. Allen dying suddenly in the laboratory; we just need to stabilize his condition and try to wake him up."

He paused, then said: "As I said, something quite strange is happening inside his body; this change goes against our common sense; we need to further understand his condition—Caitlin?"

"Hmm?"

"Run a test on his cells; let's figure out exactly what happened to him."

"No problem."

"Sisco?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't intend to control your eating habits—but is your breakfast a bit too simple?"

"Oh, this?" Sisco looked at the Ox-Tongue Cake in his hand: "This isn't breakfast; it's a dessert I bought on the road. Want a piece?"

Wells shook his head: "Forget it, I have matters to attend to; I'm leaving first—remember to keep an eye on Mr. Allen."

"No problem."

(End of this chapter)