Chapter 111 A Brand New Way to Drink Coffee!

Chapter 114 A Brand New Way to Drink Coffee!

Surong stuffed Ashton's notebook back into the inside pocket of his jacket, glanced at the mess on the floor, looked at the row of shattered glass jars in the center of the lab, and joked, "Professor Stella, I remember not long ago I clearly warned you that these three glass jars would cause problems sooner or later. Now it seems my prediction was very accurate."

Stella smoothed her slightly disheveled blonde hair, which was damp with sweat, and smiled gently. "I remember someone once declared that he wouldn't get involved in these troublesome things, but he ended up showing up here anyway."

"Didn't you say you were just a cremator and that you were extremely afraid of dying?"

Su Long shrugged and chuckled, "After all, if I were to get seriously injured and sent to the hospital next time due to some accident, and wake up to find that there isn't a beautiful professor by my side, I would be very disappointed."

"In that case, next time you get injured, I'd better not come to take care of you. Otherwise, what if you keep getting seriously injured?"

Su Long shrugged: "There's nothing I can do, Professor. I just have a knack for attracting weird things. I'm either fighting weird things or on my way to fight weird things all day long."

Upon hearing this, Stella remained silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before raising her eyes to look the young man up and down.

His features were handsome and well-defined, his jacket was tattered and stained with blood, his silver chainmail was visible beneath the shrapnel, and the muscles on his arms were clearly visible.

Clearly, he had experienced an even more brutal battle before this rescue.

Stella leaned closer, seemingly to examine the details of his appearance: "By the way—when did you become so amazing?"

"Given the overwhelming power you just displayed, calling you a B-rank exorcist wouldn't be an exaggeration."

Su Long made up a story off the top of his head: "This is probably thanks to the amount of time I've been spending at the gym lately. After all, hard work and sweat always bring some positive feedback."

As he spoke, he deliberately flexed the muscles in his arms, causing his close-fitting clothes to tighten instantly, outlining a powerful silhouette.

After saying that, Su Long glanced at the ravaged laboratory and then said, "Professor, in consideration of my hard work this time, could you make me a cup of normal-tasting coffee? I feel like I desperately need some caffeine to keep me going."

Stella chuckled and said, "You're still holding a grudge about that coffee from last time? I thought you'd forgotten all about it."

"That taste is hard to forget. The extreme sourness and bitterness lingered on my taste buds for a long time. It took me a lot of effort to swallow it." Su Long took a few steps back and leaned against the dusty edge of the table, his tone slightly teasing.

Stella turned around and walked towards the rest area on the other side.

The battle took place in the experimental area, which was densely packed with equipment, while the facilities in the rest area were relatively well preserved.

Stella went to the coffee table, took out the coffee beans, and turned on the grinder, but the machine only made a dull click before falling silent.

Stella checked the socket, then turned to Suron with regret: "It seems your wish won't be fulfilled for now. The battle just now disrupted the power supply to this area."

Su Long sighed with disappointment, "I haven't slept for twenty hours now. I was hoping to catch up on it, but it looks like I can only rely on willpower to keep going."

Stella looked down at the glass jar of coffee beans, picked up three roasted beans, and showed them to Surong, her tone subtly teasing: "Even though the power's off, there's another way to consume coffee beans, like chewing them directly."

Surong looked at Stella, who seemed perfectly normal, and paused for a moment: "Can these dry granules really be easily crushed? I don't want to have to go to the dentist after dealing with this weird incident."

Stella didn't answer. Instead, she put a coffee bean in her mouth, and with a crisp crunch, her deep sapphire-blue eyes fixed on Su Long. She said in a muffled voice, "You don't need to chew it yourself."

Before Suron could react, Stella had already reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning forward to pull his head toward her.

Immediately afterwards, her lips touched Su Long's lips.

Su Long felt a warm liquid flow between their lips, carrying the unique sourness, roasted aroma and bitterness of coffee beans.

A moment later, Stella released her grip, took a half step back, and lightly brushed her fingertips across the corner of her lips.

Su Long's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the rich coffee in his mouth. The aroma of cedar on Stella mingled with the roasted scent of coffee, the sour and bitter notes exploding on his taste buds at the same time, yet leaving a refreshing sweetness in the aftertaste.

"Compared to the last one, this one should better meet your requirements, right?" Stella tilted her head slightly, with a hint of scrutiny in her eyes.

Su Long touched his mouth, savoring the taste, and after a while uttered a single word: "Not bad, but the quantity was a bit small. It would be better if there were more."

Stella shrugged and rolled her eyes at Su Long: "This is a special reward, how many more do you want?"

Just then, the sound of elevator doors opening came from the end of the corridor outside the laboratory.

Heavy footsteps rang out in a jumble, and Elena rushed in, longsword in hand, followed closely by Hannah, who was clutching a Bible. Both of them had anxious expressions on their faces.

Looking at the ruins of the room, Elena asked with a hint of worry, "Suron! Professor Stella! What happened here? We heard a violent tremor."

Surong turned around, blocking Stella's path, and briefly explained the "holy water contamination" and the "skin thieves."

Elena walked to the pile of ashes, checked for any remaining traces of life, and exclaimed, "Sulong, thank goodness you arrived in time."

"The level of revitalization is so bizarre that if it were ordinary security personnel, this place would have become a slaughterhouse by now."

Sulong nodded, then looked behind the two and asked, "Where's Dania? Isn't she with you?"

""

Elena explained, "We rushed over here after hearing the commotion."

"Danya went to the VIP ward area of ​​the inpatient department, where the soundproofing is excellent and it's quite far from here—she probably didn't notice the chaos here."

Surong nodded and looked at Stella: "Professor, what are your plans next?"

Stella let out a long sigh and calmed herself down: "Let's talk about the lab later. I'll report the strange cases and casualties to the Strange Cases Response Department first. As for the bodies—well, they're quite familiar with these kinds of murders without bodies. The scene can completely rule out homicide."

"After that, I need to rush to the BG Biological Anatomy Center in Seattle to attend an academic conference. After that, I will contact the insurance company to assess the damage and arrange for subsequent laboratory repairs and renovations."

Seeing this, Elena looked around to make sure there were no other hidden dangers before nodding and saying, "Now that the threat here has been eliminated, I'll leave first. The Support Bureau still has a lot of official business to attend to."

"I'm leaving too, I have two jobs booked today," Hannah hurriedly added.

Judging from her anxious tone, she was probably already a little late.

Seeing this, Su Long waved his hand and said, "Alright, I'll leave too."

Half an hour later, on the third floor of the inpatient department of Harbour View Hospital.

Su Long walked slowly down the corridor with its light blue PVC flooring, his gaze sweeping over the metal number plates on each room door before finally stopping in front of room number 7.

Pushing open the door, a strong smell of disinfectant and plaster hit me.

Inside the ward, Wells lay on the adjustable bed in an uncomfortable position, his right leg tightly wrapped in a thick white plaster cast.

A fierce baseball game was playing on the television in front of him, and the commentator's voice sounded incredibly noisy in the quiet hospital room.

Wells turned his head and saw Su Long, a somewhat haggard smile appearing on his face: "Hey, Su, I thought you'd be busy dealing with all those unburnt corpses, but I didn't expect you to have time to visit me."

"You told me your ward number in the text message, and I happen to be at the hospital today taking care of some trivial matters. As a former colleague, I have no reason not to come and see you."

Su Long walked to the bedside and looked at Wells's disheveled appearance, feeling a surge of emotion.

During that difficult period before the system was activated, Wells taught him a lot and helped him a great deal.

That's what allowed him to survive in this bizarre world. Now that he has the ability, there's no reason not to take care of this kind-hearted old friend.

Surong pulled a high-value Amazon gift card from his pocket and handed it to Wells: "This is a gift for visiting you in the hospital. I think you really need this right now."

Wells took the card with some surprise: "Oh, isn't this a bit too much?"

Upon hearing this, Su Long smiled slightly: "It doesn't matter. Didn't Watkinson tell you? I'm being kept by a female leader of the Bureau of Mysteries, and I'm not short of money at all now."

Upon hearing this, Wells' eyes flashed with delight, and he quickly stuffed the card into the pocket of his hospital gown: "Then I won't be polite, buddy."

"Do you know that my medical expenses have far exceeded the insurance company's reimbursement limit? Almost all of the lottery winnings I received before have gone into this hole."

"If it weren't for a kind professor who helped me review and revise some of the bill categories, I would probably have incurred an additional heavy debt."

As he spoke, he laughed again: "That professor is really beautiful and kind-hearted. I really want to thank her properly when I have the chance."

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the ward door, and a young woman in a light blue nurse's uniform pushed in a cart full of medicines, softly reminding him, "Mr. Wells, it's time to take your painkillers."

The nurse cut a small piece from a blister pack of pills wrapped in aluminum foil, skillfully tore open the packaging, and placed a clean white pill on the tray next to the water glass. She then instructed, "This strong painkiller must be taken on time to effectively relieve the nerve pain in your fractured area. If you experience any discomfort, remember to call us."

"Okay, no problem, I'll eat on time."

Wells nodded to the nurse, then turned to Su Long and complained, "Su, you know what? This medicine is cheap, but it works incredibly well. Every time I take it, I feel like I'm floating on clouds. I've even started to love this feeling. I look forward to taking it every day."

As Su Long listened to Wells's description, his brows furrowed slightly. Cheap and effective painkillers—was this really normal?

He calmly focused his mind, his eyes gleaming as he activated his spiritual vision.

The once pristine white pill in Wells' hand was now emitting wisps of extremely faint, yet persistent, dark gray mist.