Chapter 81: This Is Aomo's Struggle to Avoid Drinking Tea!

A classroom.

Or rather, it should have been a classroom, but the desks and chairs were replaced by a lab bench and a pile of miscellaneous items.

The lab bench, various experimental equipment, and the experimental specimens themselves were piled on one side near the podium, while another pile of miscellaneous items occupied the open space on the other side; the two groups were clearly distinct, together constituting this classroom.

Is this the laboratory of Ailisuzhi that the trainers and horse girls mentioned in the interview?

Aomo's gaze swept over the formal instruments around the lab bench; although he wasn't entirely clear about the other party's main research field, that pile of things gave Aomo the first impression of being 'very well-equipped'.

By contrast, the pile of miscellaneous items opposite seemed to have only a coffee grinder cleared out, which rather made the vague image of another roommate implied by the room quite distinct.

Fond of coffee, and not particularly attentive to this place.

"You don't look very surprised."

Ailisuzhi, who somehow produced a paper cup from somewhere, was brewing red tea.

It's hard to believe that the impatient impression she gave at first meeting would like red tea, a drink associated with calm and elegance, but her movements were indeed smooth and natural, and the hand holding the tea utensils was extremely steady.

Everyone has many facets, and horse girls are no exception; one can imagine that since she can be seen as a formal researcher, she would not lack the patience and composure.

Before the word 'steady' could even finish, Aomo watched her pick up a test tube from the nearby rack and pour the reagent inside, which amounted to about five milliliters, directly into the cup.

"Drink now, or later?" the horse girl holding the cup asked with a smile, as if nothing had just happened.

"Isn't there a third option to refuse? Unidentified additives could be reported to the Consumers' Association."

Removing the data mask from his cheeks, taking off the earpiece, and also taking off the fisherman's hat on his head, Aomo's expression was somewhat helpless.

This action merely indicated an equal conversation, not a complete lowering of guard.

Ailisuzhi clearly perceived this implication; although she put down the tea cup, the smile on her face did not diminish in the slightest:

"So you still have some legal awareness; then could you tell me how you came to know me?"

"Is this the reason you sought me out?" Aomo asked calmly.

"Of course, but don't tell me you just heard that perfunctory answer from somewhere, Guinea Pig-kun."

Upon first meeting, he actually called him a guinea pig outright!

Since her appearance, Ailisuzhi's aura has never weakened; she seems accustomed to such overbearing arrogance, and after direct contact, Aomo can also be fully convinced that there should be few who can restrain her in this institute.

Or perhaps she is far more clever than imagined, knowing how to spread her wings like a great roc at the edge of provoking others without inviting disaster.

Neither possibility is good; although Aomo somewhat hopes that the other owner implied by the various details of this classroom will come to constrain things, considering his own actions also does not give him a moral advantage......

He felt that perhaps it might be adding insult to injury.

There's no way around it; while openly gathering and organizing information is nominally not illegal, anyone involved would not be happy, and it's foreseeable that exposure would deal a devastating blow to Aomo's reputation; so for now...

Skipping the honest apology that would hardly yield a good result, Aomo chose......

"Actually, I merely collected a lot of data that is legally obtainable."

He answered thus, observing Ailisuzhi's reaction.

They say the eyes are the window of the soul; at this moment, the dark red door panel tied by the blinds slightly furrowed, then burst into laughter as if suddenly enlightened: "Ah, ah, I get it, I get it, it's those competition interviews, right!"

"And there's also the publicity column requiring the students of Teresen to cooperate! Even those like Eijin Sparkle who put their schedules on Umastagram, as if begging others to attack them, providing you with information—who would have thought? Even I didn't consider this possibility at first!"

In fact, there's even more: research analysis posts for certain races, even fan club exchanges for certain individual horse girls, and secret forums where certain trainers lurk... Aomo naturally wouldn't elaborate.

And just as fulfilling and refreshing as solving a mystery that had troubled one for days—no, the word 'like' can be dropped entirely—Ailisuzhi is clearly in such an exalted emotional state.

She, who does as she pleases, never suppresses her emotions, letting out a striking, often somewhat uneasy, high-pitched laugh.

Placed in a special-effects production, she would easily be given a villain role, whether low-budget or high-end.

After all... that laugh really doesn't sound like that of a good person.

Thinking this way, pretending to be a victim is not impossible, but that would merely confirm her own villainous identity.

Aomo considers himself lacking in justice, but having once said he wanted to turn monsters into heroes, he wouldn't do such a despicable thing; so he patiently waited until she had mostly recovered from that state before speaking:

"Then, after understanding, what would you think?"

"My thoughts..." Reassessing the guy before her who unexpectedly remained patient and didn't directly interrupt her, Ailisuzhi raised her hand, lightly touching her chin with a curved index finger, pondered briefly, then picked up the tea cup on the table again, saying, "Regardless, how about taking a sip first?"

【Frankly, I've been using Yeguoyuedu to read novels and keep up with updates lately—switching sources, multiple narration tones, available on both Android and iOS.】

Aomo, who did not raise his hand to take it, simply replied calmly:

"In other words, you want me to serve as a test subject, that is, the guinea pig you referred to?"

"Of course, one time isn't enough."

Ailisuzhi's gaze fell on the trainer's badge on Aomo's chest, evidently believing that as a trainer, Aomo had value as a long-term guinea pig.

"You should understand how great a mistake you've made; wanting me to keep the secret isn't that easy, and furthermore..."

Ailisuzhi simply leapt lightly onto the lab bench, and although the 'red tea' in her hand swayed slightly, not a drop spilled out.

Thus, although she was only about 1.6 meters tall, she now gained a height advantage, and, like bestowing alms, she slightly lowered the tea cup toward Aomo.

Their distance was already not far, and this tea cup could be handed directly to Aomo's eyes.

"... I'm still quite curious about your reasons for gathering that information, and even more curious about how far you've managed to go."

"Then... regarding this, I have a proposal." Aomo reached out, taking the red tea cup in the most blunt way—not considering a delicate hand-to-hand exchange of the handle, but directly grasping the hot cup with his palm.

His expression did not change.

"Perhaps it could satisfy all three of those demands at once."

"Oh?"

Surprised by such a 'reckless' response, and seemingly already guessing what he wanted to say, Ailisuzhi's smile turned icy; she braced both hands on the edges of the lab bench, her dangerously leaning forward posture seeming to want to scrutinize the madman before her with her eyes.

And the madman in her eyes cared nothing for that chill, even daring to step forward one step, bringing the distance between his nose and her face to barely a inch.

At this distance, neither retreated; the dark red beneath the blinds already saw the stirring crimson inside that brown door, and heard the other's words spoken word by word:

"Let me become your trainer."

"Ha! You're serious? The person who said in that interview that I have no drive—don't you even know why I lack drive?"

"Back then I didn't know, but now... I think I've figured it out: you are clearly recognized as a researcher yet still lodging in this institute, the reason for this small classroom."

His expression was utterly serious, his words neither hurried nor slow; a bundle of wheat for no reason, encountering particles racing at super‑light speed, yet he seemed confident he could stop it.

"Because you are indeed a horse girl, are you lingering on the track, or can you not let go of the speed and possibility that being a horse girl entails?"

Unlike the mad grin curling the lips of the horse girl named Lifa, the black‑haired, white‑moon youth spoke with steady calm, though the crimson in his eyes gradually expanded.

It was only then that Ailisuzhi truly caught a glimpse of the other's madness, which was no less than her own.

"So what?" Without any waver from being seen through, Ailisuzhi openly admitted, just as she would when facing a chemical reaction she herself had conducted.

The dark red suppressed by the light grid and the crimson restrained by calm stood opposed at this moment, neither yielding.

The dangerous researcher and the resolute demon were evenly matched in that madness—beyond doubt.

"You need not rely on others; I will send you onto that ultimate‑speed track."

When that crimson fully covered his face, his voice even ceased to sound purely human; Ailisuzhi stared somewhat blankly at the demon that once again looked down on her, listening to his promise to her:

"For this I can satisfy in advance one of the requests you mentioned earlier, reveal its answer—that is why I gathered that information——"

"The reason is simple: I want to confirm who will ultimately win."

"Every race, every duel," from that low, resonant tremble, the crimson twins flanked by black flames watched as the horse girl's mouth corners curled again, as if laughter might escape between her teeth, "I seek, I summarize, their path to victory—through speculation, through trial and error, I find the endpoint of success, then I give it to you."

"You pursue speed, while I give you victory."

His silver‑bright upper body merged with the daylight outside the window, while the dark dividing line blended with the shadow behind him; a black‑and‑white demon existed simultaneously, his tone utterly calm from start to finish, yet his gaze held an arrogance that even black flames could not contain.

Upon this, the horse girl finally let out a faint laugh from between her lips and teeth.

"Ha, hahaha, hahahahaha!"

She laughed wildly, clapped her hands, and after breaking through the light grid, those snake‑like red eyes were full of admiration.

"Good, good! To see such madness, to see such arrogance makes me very happy—extremely happy! Even if this is merely your performance talent, I will give it twelvefold praise; even the Bamboo‑Zheng Opera King could not deny this."

"Well..."

The demon extended a hand that was several times broader than a human's, covered with horny tissue, fine scales, and ferocious claws; naturally, he turned his palm upward, flat as a plate, and issued an invitation.

"Then let's try—can your deduction and my research produce the chemical reaction I want?"

The horse girl reached out, her hand far more delicate than the demon's huge palm, placing it at the center of his hand; the black patterns gathered in his palm like inner veins.

"Even if we don't say all that, your presence alone can bring me many possibilities, Trainer."