After receiving the energy cubes, Zhou Zhiwen chatted briefly with Wen Qi before leaving. However, instead of returning to his team, he headed straight for the research institute.
This time, entering the institute was much more convenient. Before leaving last time, Dr. Chu Feng had given Zhou Zhiwen a pass, which allowed him free access to the institute—a rare privilege typically reserved only for the institute's researchers.
With this pass, Zhou Zhiwen quickly entered the institute, no longer needing to go through the tedious registration process like last time. It was far more convenient.
Ever since Zhou Zhiwen left that day, Dr. Chu Feng's mood had been unsettled.
Over the past few days, though he continued his research work, his brow was perpetually furrowed, his gaze occasionally drifting to the instruments nearby while his thoughts wandered far away.
His mind was consumed by the energy cubes Zhou Zhiwen had brought, which contained life energy. To him, these cubes were crucial—the key to his beloved Dragonite reaching champion level might lie in them.
"Life energy is truly too rare," Dr. Chu Feng couldn't help but sigh softly.
Nowadays, the secret realms capable of producing life energy were mostly those inhabited by Grass-type legendary Pokémon.
Thinking of those secret realms, Dr. Chu Feng couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.
Though Grass-type legendaries might be gentler than those of other types, they were still legendary Pokémon realms!
Entering those realms and obtaining anything from them was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Acquiring life essence from the Alliance was even harder.
Even as a high-ranking first-level researcher with treatment similar to a regional champion, he only received one attribute essence per year.
Life essence, on the other hand, was only accessible to champions or special-grade researchers who had made significant contributions to the Alliance.
Dr. Chu Feng knew well how far he was from champion-level strength; obtaining life essence through his own power was nearly impossible.
He could only pin his hopes on research, striving to elevate his researcher rank through continuous exploration and experimentation.
Yet the path of research was fraught with hardship and uncertainty, with every attempt potentially ending in failure. But he never gave up, persistently working hard.
In short, Dr. Chu Feng had been distracted these past few days.
Today, he was still out of sorts, and it didn't take long for other researchers to notice.
"Hey, what's up with Dr. Chu Feng? He used to be so focused on his research, but lately, he's been spacing out all the time," Researcher A whispered to Researcher B beside him.
Researcher B frowned and shook his head. "I don't know either. He's been frowning a lot these days, and I can't figure out what he's thinking about."
"Could he be stuck on a research problem?" Researcher C chimed in with a guess.
"Doesn't seem like it. Hitting a bottleneck is common in our line of work, but Dr. Chu Feng has never been this absent-minded before," Researcher A refuted, shaking his head.
"Maybe something's going on at home?" Researcher D offered a new idea.
"Probably not. I haven't heard of any issues at his place," Researcher B replied.
They tossed ideas back and forth but couldn't reach a conclusion.
Meanwhile, Xiao Wu, who had been silently sitting in the corner, knew exactly what was going on.
He understood why Dr. Chu Feng was like this, but he dared not speak up.
He had only recently joined the institute and held little sway; he'd gotten in thanks to Dr. Chu Feng's help. If he blabbed and spilled the beans, there would be no good outcome.
Xiao Wu listened quietly to the discussion, thinking to himself, "You'd never guess it's because of those energy cubes with life energy. That's Dr. Chu Feng's prized treasure, tied to whether his Dragonite can become a champion-level Pokémon and whether he can become a special-grade researcher. Of course he's anxious!"
But Xiao Wu kept these thoughts to himself, maintaining a silent expression.
Just then, Researcher A noticed Xiao Wu, who hadn't spoken, and asked, "Xiao Wu, you were recently brought in by the doctor. Have you noticed anything?"
Xiao Wu's heart tightened, and he quickly waved his hands. "Seniors, I really don't know anything. I just assist the doctor with basic tasks and don't understand much."
Researcher B said, "Xiao Wu, don't be so nervous. We're just chatting casually. Maybe you can think of some detail we've missed."
Xiao Wu forced a bitter smile. "I honestly don't know. The doctor's thoughts are beyond my guessing."
Seeing Xiao Wu like this, the others didn't press further and continued discussing the reason for Dr. Chu Feng's distraction.
Xiao Wu, meanwhile, breathed a silent sigh of relief, thinking, "I must not let this slip."
At that moment, Researcher A exclaimed, "Look! The doctor seems to have received some message. After reading it, his expression changed from worried to excited and happy. What good news could he have gotten?"
Everyone turned to look at the doctor, who walked over with a smile and said, "I have something to attend to. I'll step out for a bit. You all keep working."
With that, Chu Feng hurried off.
The research room fell into a state of curiosity, but no one dared to follow up, leaving them to gossip and speculate endlessly.
Only Xiao Wu knew the truth but dared not speak, feeling a bit troubled. Sometimes, knowing too much wasn't such a good thing.
In reality, as soon as Zhou Zhiwen swiped his card, Dr. Chu Feng received a notification, which was why he rushed over so urgently.
Shortly after Zhou Zhiwen entered, he ran into Dr. Chu Feng. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they headed straight to the previous office for a detailed discussion.
Once again, only Dr. Chu Feng and Zhou Zhiwen were in the office, staring at each other, unsure how to begin.
Finally, Dr. Chu Feng couldn't hold back, given how anxious he was about this matter.
So he spoke up, "Captain Zhou, I assume you're here with good news this time."
Zhou Zhiwen wasn't surprised that Dr. Chu Feng knew his identity, as he had registered it during the previous inspection.
"Dr. Chu, I'm not sure if this counts as good news, but I do have something for you."
With that, Zhou Zhiwen took a jar of energy cubes from his backpack.
As soon as the jar was produced, Chu Feng's eyes locked onto it.
Zhou Zhiwen placed it on the table and slid it directly to Dr. Chu Feng, and silence fell once more.