Dr. Owens was being bandaged by the medical staff of The Lab, feeling quite helpless. His original intention was just to kindly wake up Troy, who had suddenly spaced out, but he ended up getting his head bashed by the brat.
Getting beaten up so unexpectedly, what a mess.
However, because Troy was overly startled and his own head was bleeding, the mental dialogue session had to stop there. He couldn't further question what Troy had seen during that moment of daze; he would have to wait until the next "talk therapy" session for an answer.
After treating the wound, Dr. Owens went to the real-time monitoring room in the basement's lockdown zone. Looking at the Gate to the Upside Down outside the tempered glass, which was filled with floating spores and darkness, his expression was very grave.
The Gate to the Upside Down was still expanding, now stretching from the walls to the floor. The place the gate led to had become a tunnel environment of The Upside Down, filled with entrenched vines. If one wasn't careful, they would be hit in the face by toxic gas released by the flowers on the vines, or be directly bound and entangled by the vines, eventually becoming their food.
These vines grew incredibly fast. Even if scorched with intense fire, they would grow back in no time. Moreover, if the attack was too fierce, the vines would become violent and take the initiative to counterattack.
Even if Dr. Owens didn't consider the lives of The Lab members, he had to consider the risk of The Lab's manpower being a one-way trip. He knew that people from all walks of life were watching The Lab. Such obvious abnormalities were no different from telling others that their Lab was conducting some unspeakable and dangerous experiments. The already widespread rumors of "human experimentation" might even be directly confirmed because of this.
Dr. Owens was also in a difficult position now. The faction of the Federal Government he belonged to was now divided into two groups: one was urging him to quickly find a way to clean up Dr. Brennan's mess, and the other was telling him to delay as much as possible to gather more research data on The Upside Down.
Dr. Owens had a conscience. Ever since explorers entered The Upside Down and never returned, he knew the dangers within. He didn't dare let explorers easily go deep into The Upside Down anymore, only taking responsibility for trying his best to stall the erosion of the Gate to the Upside Down and searching day and night with other researchers for a way to close it.
It's just... there had been no results... "Is it finally wrapped?" Jonathan muttered as he looked at several videotapes containing over four hours of footage. He felt a bit skeptical about life. No matter how shabby and crude the props used during filming were, at least it was truly finished.
From now on... he was also someone with experience in filming a movie.
Moreover, Richard and Steve both said that the movie would be shown directly in the town's theaters. If the response in the town's theaters was good, they would promote it directly to cinemas nationwide.
Then... then he... he would be... "Director Jonathan, let's go. We still have to edit the footage after we get back. Try to keep the duration within two hours." Richard patted Jonathan's shoulder and said with a chuckle, "There's still a wrap party dinner tonight."
"Yeah... yeah." Jonathan slowly snapped out of his dream-like state, his eyes unable to hide his excitement. "I really did it, Chade."
"Congratulations, Director Jonathan." Robin, Nancy, and the others all gave the grinning boy that title, which made him feel wonderful. Jonathan felt like he was walking on air for a moment, as if he were in heaven and didn't want to come down for a long time.
That night, Richard showed everyone his ultimate Culinary Arts. The sight of a table full of dishes made everyone dazed. When the lids were lifted, revealing their true forms, a fleeting golden light made everyone even more confused.
What kind of god-tier skill is this? Can food really glow!?
"I made Vegetarian Braised Pig's Head Meat, Gold Medal Pagoda Meat, Green Wave Shrimp and Tofu, Lobster Three-Way Battle, Resurrection Spring Rolls, Comet Fried Rice..." Richard didn't even stop for a breath as he introduced all the dishes on the dinner table, leaving everyone even more stunned.
After a while, the aroma of the food left them with no choice. Their rebellious stomachs growled loudly, and they swallowed their saliva in hunger. They could only collectively comment, "awesome," and hurriedly sat around the dining table, scrambling for the food.
"Damn it! What am I going to do if I can't eat food like this in the future!?" This was what everyone thought after the meal. They felt immense regret; why did they eat the food Richard made today and get "poisoned" by him? And it was the addictive kind.
After finishing the meal, Richard sat calmly on the sofa sipping tea. He did the cooking, but washing the dishes and kitchen utensils was entirely up to them.
Having made so many grand dishes today, the kitchen sink was now filled with various utensils for them to wash.
Sure enough, after the dishes were washed and the cleaning was done, everyone except Richard was exhausted, sprawled across Steve's living room with looks of despair.
After resting for a while, Robin got up from the sofa and walked over to Richard, who was leisurely lying by the fireplace reading a book. After nearly a week, she finally mustered the courage to approach him again.
"Do you have time to talk?" When Robin asked, everyone looked at each other. Immediately, those who were leaving left, those going to the bathroom went, and those staying over went to their rooms to sleep, all leaving the living room.
Hearing this, Richard closed his book, his deep gaze moving from her toes all the way up to her slightly bitten lip. "Mhm."
Richard wasn't in a hurry, looking at her calmly.
Robin knew this man was always so patient and calm, which was both what she liked most and what troubled her most about him.
She was actually quite timid and easily flustered. Once she started talking, she would easily lose her tone and drift off-topic, not knowing where she was going. She always seemed to have endless things to say, but Richard was patient enough to listen to her finish almost every time and understand her emotions, which made her feel understood and valued.
Looking into Richard's deep black eyes, Robin bit her lip, suppressing her restless heart, and finally spoke slowly: "Can we stay friends forever?"
"Don't you want to?" Richard suddenly chuckled and asked back.
"No... I mean..." Robin was a bit speechless. Looking at Richard's gentle smile, she felt for a moment like she was being self-indulgent and felt a bit ashamed and annoyed. But thinking that she had to reach an understanding today, she spoke her thoughts from the past few days: "Yes, Chade, I like you, in a way that's a bit beyond friendship. I even thought about doing the things the male and female leads do in 'Eira Campus Baby', but... physiologically, it's actually hard for me to accept..."
"Can... can you understand me?" Robin smiled bitterly, not daring to look into Richard's eyes.
Richard patiently listened to her complex feelings, nodded, and said, "I can understand. But unfortunately, people can't completely empathize with each other. It's a pity I can't feel exactly what you feel, friend."
"Hey, don't tell me you've never liked me." Robin's eyes widened, her cheeks flushing.
"To be honest, I've never been in a relationship, nor have I ever had a crush. I don't know what love feels like." Richard smiled gently. "But being with you is very pleasant, and sometimes it's hard not to have improper thoughts about you. After all, even if you keep saying you're a lesbian, with your good looks and the feminine side you occasionally show, how could I not, in some moment, see you as something more than just a friend?"
"Aaaaah! Why are you always like this?" Robin's face burned, her whole body fidgeting, her teeth clenched. She was dying of embarrassment, but the guy opposite her remained unfazed.
Unfair! It's really too unfair. Can these things... really be said so frankly?
"So..." Richard smiled, "I think these are thoughts that are hard to avoid between friends of the opposite sex. In my country, there's a saying: 'A gentleman is judged by his actions, not his thoughts.' One should evaluate a person not by what they think, but by what they do... I won't cross that line. I'll treat you as a friend."
"...You never thought about taking our relationship a step further?" Robin lowered her head and stammered.
Richard smiled brightly: "Don't even dream about it, silly child."
How could I fall in love with a sheep?
Besides, falling in love with a character in a show is very strange.