Chapter 1886: Work-Life Balance

However, this time, Xia Duo did not discuss experiment-related issues with Saijisi as usual, but instead reminded Saijisi very earnestly:

"You are holding yourself too tightly. Relaxing appropriately might bring unexpected gains."

In truth, Xia Duo had realized that Saijisi's state had declined quite severely over the past few days; he was not as active during discussions as he had been at the beginning, and instead, there was a sense of mental rigidity.

Conversely, because Xia Duo strictly followed his plan of leaving work on time, even though he spent nearly half as much time on the Mythallar project as Saijisi, as the discussions went on, Saijisi was increasingly led by him.

If Saijisi were in his normal state, Xia Duo would be happy with this, as it would be convenient for him to smuggle in his own ideas, but with Saijisi's state now clearly declining, if he were allowed to continue like this, it would inevitably affect the progress of the Mythallar project.

It was what is known as "half the work for twice the result"!

This was something Xia Duo could not tolerate, so he could no longer pretend not to see it this time.

"Asuosi, last night I—hmm?"

Just as he was preparing to tell Asuosi about his discovery from last night, halfway through his sentence, Saijisi finally reacted, realizing that Asuosi had not been asking about the experiment just now, but was reminding him to rest and relax.

So he immediately retorted: "I have already rested. Listen to me, last night—"

But before Saijisi could finish, Xia Duo interrupted him directly: "I know you rested, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to persist until now, but has your mind rested? Haven't you felt that the experimental progress has slowed down these past few days compared to before?"

"Does the mind need to rest too?" Saijisi seemed to realize something, but he still remained stubborn: "The recent slowdown in experimental progress is entirely because the project gets harder the further we go!"

"Haha!"

Xia Duo laughed suddenly: "Saijisi, you look just like the excuses I made when I was a child and didn't want to eat because I wanted to play; even though my stomach was growling with hunger, I was still that stubborn."

If it were an exploratory project into the unknown, it would indeed be as Saijisi said—the further one goes, the more unknowns there are, and progress would become more difficult; but for this Mythallar project, there were essentially not many unknowns.

Not to mention that after research, the understanding of the new Mythallar rules based on the adaptive framework had become increasingly thorough, and the project was advancing faster; even by conservative estimates, it would not be slower than at the beginning.

In reality, a constant speed was already considered slow, let alone being slower than at the start; that was definitely problematic.

"Asuosi, I—"

A flash of shame and annoyance crossed Saijisi's face, but because the person speaking was Asuosi, whom he viewed as a companion and friend, he could not help but feel a bit discouraged.

That he had become like this was certainly due to the current unstable situation in the Northland and the threat of the Demon Descendants, but to a certain extent, it was also because he harbored the thought of competing with Asuosi.

Why was it that he poured all his energy into the project, yet in terms of advancing the project, he was still not as good as Asuosi!

The more Saijisi wanted to surpass him, the more trapped he became; if Asuosi hadn't pointed it out today, he would have almost delayed the real work!

"Alright, you and I haven't known each other for just one day; there's no need for extra words. Leave things here to me today, you go back and rest first."

After speaking, Xia Duo seemed to think of something and added: "I heard Saian is organizing a banquet tonight; I think you could go and relax, and we will work together again tomorrow."

Of course, true work-life balance cannot be replaced by one day of rest and one night of revelry, but this was just a start.

Later, Xia Duo would continue to monitor Saijisi's state, ensuring he would not affect the project's progress.

Even though Xia Duo said this, Saijisi was still a bit hesitant and worried, but under Xia Duo's insistence, Saijisi still agreed.

After briefly explaining the results of the last experiment yesterday and his discoveries from the evening, Saijisi quickly left Yeman Valley.

What followed was Xia Duo's personal time; until evening, after providing the next experimental adjustment plan, he left work directly.

At night, the two project teams would work overtime once more to conduct an additional experiment.

In reality, under normal circumstances, one experiment per day for a group was sufficient; the analysis and adjustments after the experiment were what consumed the most time.

But to catch up on progress, they had no choice but to spare no cost.

The adjustment plan Xia Duo made now, if placed under normal circumstances, might not even qualify as a complete adjustment plan.

Using small amounts frequently to replace one large amount. The advantage of the former is that the cost of turning back if the experimental design goes astray is small, but the cost of the experiment itself is not small at all.

Instead, because the progress each time is relatively small, the cost surges, and it also places huge KPI pressure on the actual researchers.

For Xia Duo, who had long been accustomed to the 996 schedule, this bit of pressure was nothing, but for the habitually "lazy" Elves, it might be an unbearable weight.

After leaving Yeman Valley, Xia Duo did not think about Mythallar-related issues at all. When he returned to the manor, Shali had already prepared the experimental rabbits.

Right next to the Laboratory, a row of simple rabbit hutches had been built. When Xia Duo arrived, a male Wood Elf Druid was casting spells to soothe the restless rabbits.

At this time, Shali, who had accompanied Xia Duo, took the opportunity to introduce:

"My Lord, there are 150 rabbits here in total, including 50 domesticated rabbits and 100 wild rabbits caught in the wild. Additionally, in order not to affect normal reproduction, according to the Druid's suggestion, 20 of them are male and 130 are female."

"There are actually domesticated rabbits? Are there Elves in Evereska raising rabbits?" Xia Duo asked curiously.

When he went out during the day, he had asked Shali to buy healthy rabbits; his original intention was to find hunters to catch wild rabbits in the nearby mountains and forests, and the reason he wanted to recruit a Druid was also out of concern that wild rabbits would be hard to raise.

"My Lord, these domesticated rabbits are pets kept by Commoners, and they are also an important source of meat."

"So, there are many domesticated rabbits in the city of Evereska?" Xia Duo asked again.

He knew that rabbits had strong reproductive capabilities; if there were 50 to start with, after a year there might be more than ten times that. He wanted to know why Shali didn't buy all domesticated rabbits.

"My Lord, there are indeed many domesticated rabbits in the city, but the quantity is relatively stable. Besides the limited land in the city, it is also largely due to the intentional control by the Druids."

"So that's how it is!" Xia Duo was silent.

Although Elf society has various shortcomings, compared to humans, the Elf race can indeed be called "having few desires," even planning production consciously when eating a rabbit.

"By the way, I need male rabbits for the experiment. There are only 20 male rabbits now, which is too few. Supplement them until there are one hundred."

If it were only for reproduction, there wouldn't be a need for so many; the key lies in the number of females.

But for experimental use, it would be male-dominated at the beginning, and later they might study the heredity of Arcane Infusion, which is when female rabbits would be used.