Unaware of the malicious intentions she was about to face, Sarah arrived punctually at the Mental Energy Control Research Institute. The institute's appearance didn't surprise her at all. —After all, it was a place that owed 37 billion star coins.
Fortunately, after Sarah pushed open the door, she found that at least the front hall was clean and bright.
"Is Director Sun here?" Sarah called out. Soon, a woman wearing simple yet sophisticated clothes, looking elegant and noble, with a pair of delicate gold-rimmed glasses, walked out from the institute. She seemed to have "I'm an elite" written all over her.
Sarah hesitated, looking somewhat bewildered at this woman who bore a three-point resemblance to Inspector Vega, feeling a bit confused.
The outfit looked good, but for experimental research and such, it seemed very impractical. Sarah, with her ample research experience, quickly made this judgment.
Which good researcher would wear this kind of outfit? (Just kidding)
But after Sarah's surprise, upon careful consideration, she felt that the other party's attire wasn't really problematic.
Now that the Mental Energy Control Research Institute was operating at a loss, and research was said to be almost at a standstill, as the only person in charge here, of course the director had to dress beautifully to facilitate going out to scam... ahem, secure funding.
Isn't this world always about respecting the outfit first, then the person?
Very correct, Director Sun had really put in a lot of effort for this research institute!
Sun Zhen, intending to give Sarah an unforgettable setback, naturally thought it best to give this person a strong enough intimidation right from her first appearance. She had put on an outfit she had only worn for banquets long ago, absolutely dazzling.
When she first came out, Sun Zhen was quite satisfied, clearly feeling Sarah freeze, staring at her blankly for several seconds, and then... her gaze turned into one of sympathy.
...Turned into sympathy. ...Sympathy.
Sun Zhen fell silent, almost unable to maintain her facial expression. She really wanted to know what on earth this genius, introduced by her own mother, was thinking in her head.
This outfit of hers had received high praise at the banquet back then!
But in the end, Sun Zhen remembered that she needed to maintain her aura. She endured and didn't ask, looking at Sarah with a cold expression: "Professor Mo told me about you earlier. Follow me, and don't wander around randomly." Sun Zhen's gaze deepened, seeming to carry a warning, "Otherwise, if you encounter any danger, we won't be responsible."
Sarah responded with an indifferent "Oh" and immediately followed behind Sun Zhen with light steps.
Having experienced all sorts of dangerous situations, Sarah didn't feel much even when facing Inspector Vega, let alone Sun Zhen. She just thought it was quite nice of Professor Sun to specially remind her to be careful.
Sun Zhen was choked up once again, vaguely sensing that Sarah's personality was probably the type she couldn't handle.
But thinking carefully, Sun Zhen realized there probably wasn't any personality type she could handle. Recalling those who had left the research institute one after another over the past two years, Sun Zhen's heart settled down again.
Anyway, her intimidation of Sarah wasn't the main event.
Leading Sarah through that long corridor, Sun Zhen pushed open the innermost door: "This is where you'll be studying from now on."
Sarah looked inside at the sound and saw a row of dazzling golden cards covering an entire wall in front of her, layer upon layer standing behind what seemed to be glass. Under the institute's lights, they shimmered, looking as if they were floating in the air.
Sarah's steps immediately halted. This time, she was truly awed by the sight before her.
Yellow cards at their ultimate form became gold cards.
Before this, Sarah had never even seen a single yellow card in person, let alone the gold cards representing the highest tier of this era.
And now, here was an entire wall! An entire wall!
Sarah's brain instinctively calculated - there were exactly 1,250 gold cards.
She had come to the right place. Sarah immediately confirmed this fact.
She didn't think that if she had chosen to go elsewhere, she could have so easily, with a status not even qualifying as an apprentice assistant, effortlessly seen these things.
Sarah suddenly realized something.
This research institute now only had herself and Sun Zhen, and according to what the previous professor had said, Sun Zhen still had to occasionally teach at the school, and judging by her attire, she also needed to find ways to repay the 37 billion debt owed, requiring frequent social engagements.
Wouldn't that mean... she'd be in charge of this research institute? Thinking of this, Sarah's eyes, gazing at this wall, grew even brighter.
Sun Zhen hadn't noticed Sarah's 'ulterior motives'. She also stopped in her tracks, looking up at the magnificent wall before them. No longer pretending to be profound, her tone became genuine and heavy: "This is the history of our research institute, passed down by our predecessors. We can't let it end in our hands, do you understand?"
The Mental Energy Control Research Institute had been established for over 400 years, with Sun Zhen as its eleventh director.
Sarah, knowing the principle of not fighting unprepared battles, had of course researched what kind of place this institute was after learning she would be coming here. She couldn't find very detailed information, but basic information was available.
For example, although the institute's name "Mental Control" sounded like it might be doing something terrifying, like hypnotic control or something, it actually wasn't.
Mental control, to be precise, was mental energy control, pursuing research on instruments that could assist card makers in training their mental energy control.
Devices to assist humans in body control already existed, so theoretically, devices to assist card makers in controlling mental energy should also be possible to develop.
Besides this, Sarah's card repair ability was also something this Mental Control Research Institute had studied before, which was why Inspector Vega could speak so knowledgeably about it to Sarah earlier. Although they hadn't developed a method for all card makers to repair cards, the related research had led to numerous derivative products.
Then there was the machine that mass-produced white cards now, which this research institute also had a part in, though it was a joint development at the time.
This research institute's history could be said to be quite glorious.
When Inspector Vega took over this research institute, her proposal for mental energy control device research had also received a lot of support.
The most difficult part of becoming a card maker was actually mental energy control. The level of precision required was on a completely different scale compared to the control needed by ordinary people with mental energy when using cards.
And it wasn't just about precision, but also about consistently controlling the variations in different circuits, persistently drawing on the card. This was the main reason why many card makers were stuck at one-star, two-star, or even unranked levels.
—When she came across this basic knowledge during her research, Sarah's face was completely expressionless.
She saw in the introduction that due to mental control issues, typically one-star and two-star card makers had a success rate fluctuating around 60%, while three-star and above card makers had much higher rates, with the best reaching 80%.
Sarah, who had only ever failed at card making due to card issues since entering the field, upon seeing that the best only reached 80%, thought: "..."
What's wrong with these card makers? She wondered critically.