Chapter 864 - The Murderer Is Here!!
Chapter 864 The Murderer Is Here!!
Nora: “…”
When she saw Oscar really opening up her Internet browser and keying in the search term, she asked in surprise, “Haven’t you seen one before?”
There were indeed news reports about her in the States, but she and Justin had deleted them from the Internet after each incidentafter all, she didn’t want to reveal her face. If one checked the news in time, they might still be able to catch a photo of her, but now…
“Why aren’t there any pictures?”
Oscar was surprised. “I heard that she trended on social media and was even in a tormented relationship with the richest man in America! I also heard that Anti has two children but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
Nora: “…”
While they were chatting, Epson had completely forgotten the crisis that would come that night. Dejected and dispirited, he waved off the students around him and said, “Let’s all just go back for now!”
The time…
Nora checked the time it was exactly one o’clock in the morning.
She stopped everyone and said, “We are in a time of crisis right now. If we split up at this time, we’ll be in even more danger. I think it’s better that we stay in the lab. This way, if something happens, at least we can work together…”
Barbarian might be powerful but surely even he couldn’t attack all thirty-odd students in the lab, right?!
SOnn
But as soon as she said that, Epson took his anger out on her. He snapped, “Murderer? What murderer?! The SWAT team is just trying to scare us! I told you, there is no murderer at all! You just want to stay here to laugh at me, right?”
Nora: “?”
His reaction frightened Oscar and she hid by the side. The rest of the students looked at Nora.
Nora lowered her eyes. “Professor Epson, have you heard of a medical condition known as persecutory delusion? You seem to be suffering from it. Do you need me to contact a doctor for you?”
Epson: “!”
That woman didn’t even need to use swear words when she insulted someone!
He pointed at Nora furiously and continued ranting. “Do you think I’ve lost to Anti just because my experiment was unsuccessful? If nothing else, she didn’t even try! When you look at it that way, I’m still better than her!”
Nora: “…”
She ignored the lunatic and looked at the students instead. She said, “It’s very cold outside right now and the police have already closed entry to the dorms a long time ago. Even if you leave, there’s nowhere for you to go. On the contrary, it’s safer here and the police have also stepped up security measures around the laboratory building. In my opinion, everyone should stay here until daybreak! But of course, all of you have the freedom to choose what you want to do.” Nora’s voice was filled with sarcasm when she mentioned “freedom”.
Everyone looked at one another. In the end, Oscar took the lead and walked over to Nora. She said, “I… I’m staying.”
The rest were divided into two factions at once. Some approved of staying there for the time being but gave very grandiose reasons for their decision, of course.
“Professor, our dorm has already closed, so we can’t go in now anyway. I don’t want to disturb the dorm supervisor, so I’ll just stay! I’ll just go back at five o’clock.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I live relatively far away, Professor, so I won’t be going back, either.”
There were also some who wanted to leave.
“Hah, you are all cowards who allowed that woman to scare you! Professor Epson, I’ll go. I’m going back to the dorm now. Isn’t it more comfortable to go back and sleep on a comfy bed instead?”
IIII
Everyone quickly split into two factions. However, only two male students left with Professor Epson in the end.
Epson looked at his favorite students and then at the rest. He snorted and said, “What a bunch of cowards! How are people like you going to create miracles for the pharmaceutical industry? You don’t even have the courage to go back to your rooms! You’re not suitable for carrying out research with me at all!”
After scolding them, Epson sneered. “Let’s
go!”
“Okay.”
The two students followed Epson. One even said, “Professor, we’ll walk you back to the staff dormitory before we go back!”
“Good going!” After the three men’s voices gradually faded into the distance, Nora and the rest of the students each found a comfortable spot in the laboratory, planning to leave once dawn broke.
—
Epson and the two students entered the elevator.
Because of the failed experiment, Epson was pulling a long face and had a very serious expression. He stared straight ahead of him, his eyes behind his glasses full of anger and embarrassment.
The two students standing behind him echoed his opinion and comforted him. They said, “Professor Epson, you don’t have to care about them! They are all cowards!”
“Professor Epson, you don’t have to worry about the experiment’s failure… This method may not have worked, but at least we ruled out the possibility, which is also a kind of proof of the theory. We have still made a contribution to the pharmaceutical industry!”
“Professor Epson, although Anti had already proposed a year ago that this direction doesn’t really work, she did not carry out the experiment. Instead, we reached the final step and proved that this direction indeed doesn’t work. Academics should have the spirit of getting to the bottom of things. From this point alone, you are much better than Professor Anti! At the very least, when she discovered obstacles, she did not overcome them but chose to give up instead. She is too lacking in the spirit of scientific research!”
Each of the two was more eloquent than the other and their coaxing gradually made the awful look on Epson’s face turn for the better.
However, they completely didn’t realize the fallacy in their words.
If one already knew that the path led to a dead-end, then why waste time researching
it?
However, they weren’t going to bring that up at this time.
Instead, they began to ridicule the others.
“The Americans are so timid, they don’t have the courage or spirit to forge new ground at all. It’s just like how Lisa believed the SWAT’S claims. Besides, even if a murderer really comes, will the three of us men be unable to beat him in a fight when he’s all alone? Hah, but they simply insist on getting through those four hours in the lab instead. They are so stupid!”
Epson even scoffed sarcastically and said, “What murderer? I think he’s probably just a burglar or a robber. Professor Mayer was probably just killed because he was too thin and weak. Not only do I exercise every day, but the two of you are also so strong and well-built. If we run into a murderer, let’s just catch them and throw them in the SWAT’s face! This way, we can even put an awful look on their faces!”
The two students nodded in agreement again.
By then, the trio had reached the ground floor.
They walked out of the elevator with big smiles, ready to exit the laboratory building. None of them noticed the man in black standing in a corner in the dark.
He had nearly blended with the night.
Only a pair of eyes glowed red in the dark.
–
Upstairs.
After Epson and the two students left, everyone found a corner suitable for themselves and got ready to rest.
At this time, someone suddenly asked, “Will Professor Epson hold a grudge against us and refuse to give us credits for this subject because we chose to stay?”
“Surely not…?”
“Actually, when you think about it, it doesn’t really seem that scary. The murderer they were talking about did not appear at all. Maybe all this really is a joke like what Epson said!”
“People will only mock us and call us cowards if we stay here. That exchange student is too timid. The moment there’s any sign of trouble, she immediately tells us to stay and not go out… Just how much does she cherish her life?!”
“I also think that we have been misled by Lisa. I suddenly regret staying, I should have left with Professor Epson just now…”
Of course, apart from these people with 20/20 hindsight, there were also those who defended Nora.
“Why didn’t you say that back then? What does this have to do with Lisa? You made your own choice, so don’t blame it on others!”
“Exactly. Besides, the police have been making a ruckus in school. That officer was so absolute when she said that she would leave if nothing happens by tomorrow, which means that something is definitely wrong! What’s the big deal about us staying here? It’s just four hours, is it so hard to get through that? I didn’t see you guys complaining this much when we were doing experiments overnight!” When the person who blamed the situation on Nora heard the people defending her, he got up and retorted, “What’s wrong with me griping a little? Why are you being so protective of her? Is it because she’s pretty? Is that why you developed protective feelings for her? Heh, if you have the time to have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex, then why don’t you think about how to appease Professor Epson’s anger instead?!”
The few who defended Nora happened to be male. It wasn’t that they had developed tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex, rather, there were only a pitifully small number of girls in the laboratory. Including Oscar and Nora, there were only four.
The other two had kept quiet, that’s all.
Seeing that they were going overboard with their words, Oscar immediately said, “That’s enough, you guys! Lisa is an exchange student, you know. Are you planning to have her tell everyone after she returns to the US that this is how we treat exchange students at Staav University? Where is your mettle as a student of Staav University? Have you forgotten the school motto?”
Oscar’s words calmed both parties down.
The boy who had blamed Nora said, “Fine, I was wrong, but I really shouldn’t have offended Professor Epson. He is famous for being petty. It’s clear that we stayed behind because we were afraid that something would go wrong, but actually, with so many of us here, even if a murderer does show up, what’s there to be afraid of?”
As soon as he said this, the rest nodded. “Yeah, what’s there to be afraid of? Come on, let’s go. If we hurry and catch up with Professor Epson, we may still be able to salvage a bit of our image. We can go back to our respective dorms later…”
Two-thirds of the remaining students got up in an instant. “Yeah, sounds good. Let’s go back to the dorms. This place gets really cold in the middle of the night, even with the heater on! The laboratory building is old after all, it was freezing the last two days.”
“Yeah, let’s go together. Even if we run into the murderer, I reckon our numbers will scare him sh*tless. We’re no wimps… Besides, the murderer may not even exist!”
Everyone headed to the exit as they spoke.
However, it was at this moment that someone opened the door from the outside!
Immediately after, one of the students who had left with Professor Epson just now appeared at the entrance.
The student who had criticized Nora just now immediately said, “Why are you back? We were just planning to go after you guys…”
But before he could finish, the student slumped right onto the floor!