Great! I'm surrounded by villains!-Chapter 361 - 280: Where Do We Come From, Where Do We Go?

The experts were enthusiastic, and their interest in Duan Mingyuan grew unabated.

They couldn’t comprehend Duan Mingyuan’s interpretation of different energies, but it was precisely these phenomena that defied common sense that fueled their research.

If conditions allowed, they wouldn’t even consider going to the cafeteria at noon. Instead, they planned to take Duan Mingyuan directly to the laboratory on the Eco-Ship for research.

They had discovered an unprecedented research subject, and they were eager to dissect this seemingly human species with the tools at their disposal in the Eco-Ship’s lab.

Unfortunately, reason held them back.

What a pity, a real pity.

Duan Mingyuan wasn’t a lab rat to be dissected at will, and if he were provoked, his malevolence could shred the entire flagship into fragments in an instant.

Duan Mingyuan noticed that everyone’s look at him had changed.

They were filled with inquiry and desire, emotions that surpassed the ordinary.

Some gazes were exactly like Jiuyue’s when she looked at him, which made Duan Mingyuan’s scalp tingle.

Fortunately, although the experts couldn’t control their gazes and the emotions that were about to overflow, they kept their distance from Duan Mingyuan voluntarily.

"This is normal,"

Fu Ling said, holding a tray with a hot coffee and her favorite lettuce and corn rolls, "That they haven’t touched you already shows great restraint, even I sometimes can’t help but want to touch you."

"Don’t let Jiuyue hear that."

Duan Mingyuan frowned.

Jiuyue would come over later, after a full day of meetings, and then they planned to visit Jiuyue’s parents together.

If Jiuyue had heard what Fu Ling just said, she probably would have bad luck following her for the next month.

"Please don’t misunderstand; this is an interest that goes beyond hormones, free from base amusement,"

Fu Ling explained.

Researchers were human too. Faced with unprecedented research material, they often found it hard to restrain their inner desires to touch the subjects and then deceive them onto the operating table.

They had no mundane desires, just a thirst for knowledge.

She was convinced that if Duan Mingyuan agreed to lie down on the operating table willingly, the life sciences of the entire universe would advance by more than thirty years.

"But rest assured, we won’t act on our inner thoughts. It’s like when you see an attractive woman while shopping, you wouldn’t presume to ask her to go to a hotel,"

"I wouldn’t ask anyone to go to a hotel,"

Duan Mingyuan understood that Fu Ling seemed to be trying to explain their thoughts with down-to-earth examples, but it was a bit too much.

This was a gathering of the universe’s top scholars, yet her explanation sounded more like a convention of ragtag hooligans.

"It’s just a metaphor; we must adhere to the ’Robert-Billtz Clause.’

"What’s that?"

"Regarding the attitude towards super life forms."

Fu Ling candidly admitted their group’s shortcomings, "Most of the scholars invited to this conference have dedicated their lives to research, spending the majority of their time in the laboratory, without the need for social interaction or complex interpersonal relationships. Given their status on their respective planets, their demands are often met as much as possible, and that, over time, has resulted in a phenomenon."

People used to say the same about her, and initially Fu Ling would get angry, but upon reflection, she knew those people weren’t wrong.

"What you’re facing is a group of extremely self-centered individuals with a lack of humanistic care."

Fu Ling was quite aware that the only reason Duan Mingyuan could still dine safely in the restaurant was because the scholars could not control his behavior as they might a lab rat.

The necessity of the "Robert-Biltz Clause" reflected this.

"Robert Biltz was one of the last century’s most distinguished scholars in the field of life sciences. Many of his theories continue to be the cornerstone of our theories today, but it was his research that led to the destruction of both himself and his hometown by a super lifeform."

After Robert’s death, the academic world proposed a clause named after him.

It was a clause specifically designed to regulate how humans and super lifeforms should coexist, serving as a warning to researchers not to follow in Robert’s footsteps.

Fu Ling was good at self-reflection.

Just as she always realized that her constant desire to slip her hand inside Duan Mingyuan’s clothes and touch him was inappropriate.

Duan Mingyuan’s body temperature, the feel of his skin, the rate of his heartbeat all aroused curiosity.

"If you don’t mind, we will collect the utensils you’ve used and conduct some research on them."

"...There’s no need to spell out such matters."

Fu Ling could have done all this discreetly, but her blunt admission made the atmosphere awkward once more.

"The essence of the ’Robert-Biltz Clause’ is to respect the wishes of both parties."

Fortunately, Duan Mingyuan was a gentle person.

He was even much gentler than most people Fu Ling knew, the kind you could invite for coffee during a work break and have such a pleasant conversation that you’d forget his status.

Therefore, she did not intend to hide anything and decided to lay all matters out openly.

As the host of the summit, she naturally knew the participants well and also the consequences of inviting Duan Mingyuan.

Human actions and speech could be disguised, yet desire was still apt to reveal itself.

But this was not entirely a bad thing.

"I actually think that if you want to understand your identity, this could be a good opportunity."

Fu Ling looked around the room with all seriousness.

The Eco-Ship’s cafeteria was bustling, as scholars who hadn’t seen each other for a while gathered with familiar friends at tables, discussing their recent research findings, and most of them couldn’t help glancing over at their table every now and then.

The scholars chose to keep their distance from Duan Mingyuan to avoid irresistible impulses.

"Although we might seem like perverts in your eyes right now, everyone here has genuine achievements in this domain. That is to say, all the people in the universe who might be able to answer this question are gathered on this Eco-Ship at this moment."

And here, they had access to all the equipment that might be needed for research.

Having said that, Fu Ling paused and added, "Of course, everything will be based on your thoughts."

"I understand," Duan Mingyuan responded, nodding solemnly.

Perhaps this was indeed the closest he had ever been to the truth.

He Ya believed that everything in his past was fabricated, and that everything happening around him was a response to his expectations of this world.

But He Ya couldn’t know about the earlier times.

The ultimate question of humanity was equally valid for Duan Mingyuan.

— Where did he come from, and where was he going?

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