Inside the main control room, Ye Fan calculated the time in his mind, muttering to himself: "Let me count the days, the Snow Dog Armor should be appearing soon."
Meanwhile, outside Happy Burger, Li Xinnan gently pushed the door open and stepped inside, closely followed by Dongshan and Beimiao.
After entering, Dongshan walked straight over to the service counter and said to the busy Meizhen, "Could you please whip us up something to eat?"
Meizhen stopped what she was doing, looked up at Li Xinnan, then turned to Dongshan and answered with a smile, "Sure."
Dongshan nodded, turned around, and walked over to a table, sitting down alongside Li Xinnan and Beimiao.
Li Xinnan gazed quietly out the window, tapping his fingers lightly against the tabletop as if deep in thought.
Beimiao sat quietly near the aisle, his eyes drifting aimlessly, seemingly still immersed in the intense battle that had just concluded.
Dongshan, meanwhile, cast his gaze toward Meizhen's busy back, the corners of his lips curling up into a faint smile.
"Lunch is served! Have a taste and tell me how it is!" Meizhen asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking at Li Xinnan, Dongshan, and Beimiao with an expectant expression.
Dongshan picked up a mouthful of food, savored it carefully, and broke into a satisfied smile. "Delicious! Your cooking just keeps getting better, Meizhen."
Beimiao and Li Xinnan both nodded in agreement. Though they remained silent, their expressions showed they were equally pleased with the meal.
Watching everyone dig in with such relish, Meizhen's heart filled with joy. She knew her hard work had been recognized. At that moment, she felt that everything she had poured into it was worth it—as long as she could see everyone smiling happily, she was content.
***
"Aah! Boss, those few failures against the Energy Beast had nothing to do with me!" Choujiang shrieked like a slaughtered pig as electric shocks coursed through him.
Shadow Boss remained unmoved, letting out a cold snort. "Hmph, nothing to do with you? You mean it has to do with me instead?" As he spoke, he cranked up the dial controlling the intensity of the shock.
Upon hearing this, Choujiang cursed his terrible luck inwardly, but hastily begged for mercy out loud, "It's my fault, it's all my fault."
At the same time, Choujiang cursed him in his heart: *You old bastard, just you wait! Once I bring Boss Ye over to deal with you, I'll make you taste what it feels like to be electrocuted too!*
Not long after, Choujiang was shocked unconscious. Shadow Boss looked down at the crumpled figure on the floor and spat dismissively, "Hmph, what a useless piece of trash."
He then turned back to his seat, reached into his tunic, and pulled out several cards.
Shadow Boss placed the four cards into the crystal ball in front of him, and arcs of electricity began to flash relentlessly within it.
Moments later, in a nearby cave, an Energy Beast suddenly materialized, sporting a wolf's head, a scorpion's tail, wolf claws, and tiger legs.
At the same time, another Energy Beast with a shrimp head and a body billowing in thick fog emerged, followed closely by a bull-headed Energy Beast and a cockroach Energy Beast.
All of these Energy Beasts radiated a formidable aura that struck terror into the heart.
Shadow Boss stared at them triumphantly, a flicker of greed and ambition flashing in his eyes.
He kicked Choujiang on the floor, jolting him awake, and said, "You will act according to my plan later."
Choujiang nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes."
***
Back at Happy Burger, Ye Fan emerged from the research lab looking exhausted, rubbing his temples.
"Captain Ye! Come eat!" the others called out enthusiastically as soon as they saw him step out.
Ye Fan flashed a slight smile and walked toward the dining table, saying, "Alright, let me see if Meizhen's culinary skills have improved."
Meizhen pouted and grumbled playfully, "Oh, just eat already! All three of them said my cooking has gotten better!"
Ye Fan chuckled without further comment, walked straight to his seat, and sat down to eat.
As he enjoyed the delicious meal, he spoke up, "I just reviewed the footage of your recent battles against the Energy Beasts, and I noticed a few shortcomings in how you fight. Later, let's all head down to the research lab to review the tape together, and I'll give you a detailed analysis of what needs improvement."
Hearing this, Beimiao immediately perked up and eagerly chimed in, "Great! Captain Ye, let's start with me!"
Ye Fan looked up at him and replied with a smile, "Alright. As soon as I finish eating, we'll head straight over. We'll look at your combat footage first."
Before long, Ye Fan finished his meal. He stood up and called for Beimiao to join him as they headed toward the research lab.
Seeing this, Li Xinnan, Dongshan, and Meizhen followed them inside.
Watching Beimiao's combat footage, Ye Fan said earnestly, "Look right here—if you had dodged to the left, you could have evaded the Energy Beast's attack. And right here..."
As night fell, Beimiao and the others walked out of the research lab.
Beimiao hailed a cab and left in silence. Dongshan glanced at Li Xinnan, looking as though he had something on the tip of his tongue.
Unable to hold back any longer, Dongshan walked over to Li Xinnan's side and murmured softly, "Xinnan, I've noticed lately in the lab that Meizhen keeps casting these expectant looks your way. Have you picked up on anything?"
Li Xinnan frowned slightly and replied, "Oh? Really? I haven't paid much attention to that. I've been entirely focused on my work and don't have the spare energy to worry about other things."
Dongshan raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Well, what do you think of her?" Gossip gleamed in his eyes as he tried to fish for an interesting answer.
Li Xinnan furrowed his brow a bit more, pondered for a moment, and answered, "She's an excellent colleague."
Taken aback by the response, Dongshan couldn't help pressing further, "Oh, is that so? I actually thought you had a thing for her." A hint of teasing and skepticism laced his voice as he tried to catch Li Xinnan off guard.
Instead, Li Xinnan smiled faintly and said, "You wouldn't happen to have a thing for Meizhen yourself, would you?"
Dongshan scratched the back of his head and said, "No such thing!" With that, he quickly sprinted over, hailed a cab, and left.
Li Xinnan chuckled as he watched Dongshan leave, then hailed a cab to head home as well.