"Didn't get the chance." Morsey looked as thick-headed and honest as ever, scratching his head. "I was too busy rushing it over to you, boss. Haven't had time to look yet."
Adam's voice was as chilling as a cold wind: "Did anyone else see it?"
"Nope, Miss Sophia just waved her hand and I popped up right at the door. Didn't run into anyone." Morsey mimicked the hand wave, looking envious. "Whoosh, just like that! So cool."
Adam's eyes flickered, hinting at something: "Jealous?"
"Heck yeah!"
"Me too. By the way, you've been working for quite a while, right? I'll give you some time off." Adam lowered his head, flipping through the documents. His words sounded caring, but his tone was cold enough to give you chills: "Go take a break."
"Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!" The big lug turned around, grateful as can be, and left.
And then, nobody ever saw that big lug again.
When Sophia saw Adam again, it was three days later.
For three days, Adam Zade had been recuperating—not in the medical wing, not even in hyperspace, but at his own private residence on Earth. He called it recovery, but really, he was isolating himself completely. Saw no one, handled nothing, and nobody knew what he was thinking about during those three days.
But after those three days, Adam was back to being the golden boy he always was.
Only now, besides the sunshine and confidence, there was something else about him—something hard to put into words. It was as if, in just three days, something deep and profound had changed inside him.
Adam wore a genuine smile, his face lit up by the pull of his muscles: "Sophia, if you hadn’t reacted so fast, I probably would’ve dropped dead from a heart attack. You saved my life again."
"Oh." Sophia’s expression was cool. "I thought you didn’t care whether you lived or died."
"I was just too worked up, that’s all." Adam looked regretful. "Not finding any life in hyperspace, no way to reach beings beyond humanity, no chance to chat with higher-dimensional intelligence—it's a huge letdown. Got a bit carried away in my disappointment."
Pfft! Never seen anyone so shameless! The bystanders grumbled inwardly, but history marched on regardless.
Sophia, though, felt like Adam might actually be onto something—he’d nailed the root of her disappointment. Her gloom lifted, and her mood brightened: "Looks like you’re fine now, but you sure look sleep-deprived."
"Sleep-deprived?" Adam rubbed his massive dark circles, then flashed a sunny grin. "It’s nothing, really. I just had a few ideas pop into my head, and I couldn’t wait to share them with you."
Ideas? He wants to share ideas with me? That’s a first.
Sophia was curious now: "What ideas?"
"Ideas for further developing hyperspace potential, and ideas for understanding higher-dimensional life." Adam seriously handed Sophia a stack of documents, explaining as he did: "According to your conclusion, others besides you can also gain access to hyperspace, right?"
"Yeah. We can’t observe any concrete phenomena at our current level, but I’ve calculated that there’s some kind of hard-to-understand ‘factor’ in hyperspace that constantly pours into any life form living there." Sophia skimmed through the papers, speaking offhand: "Once that ‘factor’ builds up past a certain threshold, you get access to hyperspace."
"I’d rather call that ‘factor’ divinity—it’s the light of paradise that shines from the gods. If you have divinity, you enter heaven. The more divinity, the more access, and the greater the powers granted by the gods." Adam posed a question: "So what affects how fast each person accumulates divinity? If two people live in hyperspace for the same amount of time, do they accumulate the same amount?"
"Nope." Sophia shook her head. "There are two variables here. First, it’s a matter of individual constitution. I don’t know what part of the human body affects that ‘factor’—okay, divinity—but from what I’ve seen, different people do absorb divinity at different rates."
Adam’s eyes flashed: "Can you measure it?"
"Not yet, we can only observe for now."
"Has anyone accumulated enough divinity yet?"
"Not a single one."
"Oh." Adam let out a soft breath, then declared, "No project is more important than this one. We should start researching how different constitutions affect divinity absorption efficiency right away."
"I'm in!" Sophia, always excited about her favorite research topics, perked up: "I'll set up a project team as soon as I get a chance."
"About this project team... I think it should just be the two of us." Adam wore a look of thoughtful conviction. "You know, some things need pioneers to take a few extra steps before the rest can catch up. Given how special this project is, I think we should make it top secret."
"Oh, fine by me." Sophia didn’t care about that—she was more interested in the academic discussion. "And the second variable is—"
"Depth," Adam cut in. "I’ve summed up your theory: the deeper you go into hyperspace, the higher the divinity concentration, and the faster you accumulate it. Even someone who absorbs slowly, or can’t absorb any in shallow space, could theoretically pick up divinity if they go deep enough."
"Exactly. Individual differences, exposure time, and spatial depth—those are the three variables I’ve found. Anything deeper, I can’t see yet." Sophia flipped through Adam’s project proposal. "So what you’re saying is…"
"Isn’t it obvious?" Adam grinned, flashing a strange smile. "We’re gonna build stuff!"
To hell with the budget!
To hell with the risks!
To hell with getting torn to pieces!
Anyone who stands in the way of my construction is Adam Zade’s mortal enemy!
Adam was roaring in his heart, while Sophia was just amused.
Adam wants to build something? Now that’s rare. Sophia quickly flipped through Adam’s plans, and when she saw his blueprint, she was genuinely surprised: "This is a really creative plan." She looked up, astonished, as if seeing Adam in a new light: "That’s quite the move."
It was always Sophia’s big ideas that left him stunned, but today, Adam finally felt like he could hold his head high.
"These past three days, I kept thinking about how I could really help you. And this is what I came up with." Smack—Adam slapped his blueprint on the table for the first time, his eyes shining and voice full of excitement: "We’re going to build the third level of the Tiberius Laboratory—Infinity Dock!"