21st Century Necromancer

Chapter 954: Chapter 947: Inside the Engine Room

“Brother Yu, you’re going to the Maldives to inspect the laboratory. Why do you want me to come with you?” Inomata Naoki looked at Chen Yu with confusion, asking as soon as he heard about the proposal: “Besides, I’ve got several experiments on hand. Maybe you should ask someone else to go with you instead.”

“This laboratory is my personal property, and I plan to move to the Maldives permanently in the future. The inspection obviously needs to be thorough. If you’re coming along, I’ll feel much more at ease!” Chen Yu was already prepared for Naoki’s refusal and tried to persuade him with a smile: “Besides, who else could I trust as much as you, Naoki? On top of that, I’ve noticed you’ve been in a bad mood lately, so I’m giving you a chance to relax and take a break. If you’re really unwilling, then I guess I’ll ask Kaori to go instead.”

Hearing Chen Yu’s explanation, Naoki hesitated slightly but quickly asked, “Brother Yu, didn’t you ask Kaori to come along?”

“Kaori’s been quite busy lately. She’s aiming for a promotion to assistant professor this year and has to prepare a thesis. If it’s not urgent, I wouldn’t want to trouble her,” Chen Yu replied with an entirely reasonable explanation, though in truth, an assistant professor position would be easy to secure with a nod from him.

Naoki didn’t find anything unusual about Chen Yu’s reasoning and, after thinking for a moment, said to him, “Alright then. But the lab experiments here—I’ve been overseeing them all this time. If I go to the Maldives, what’s going to happen with those experiments?”

“What kind of experiments are they? Do they really require your constant supervision?” Chen Yu perked up at the mention of experiments, seriously asking him, “If you don’t need to keep an eye on them, let the lab researchers take over.”

As the laboratory belonged entirely to Chen Yu, even Naoki was merely working for him, so Chen Yu naturally had absolute authority over all its matters.

Yet, he didn’t want to handle things too forcefully when it came to his brother.

Naoki gave Chen Yu an exasperated look but eventually nodded and said, “It’s a few sets of comparative experiments. They don’t require my constant attention. Letting the researchers handle them would be fine.”

“If the researchers can manage, then just hand over the tasks and prepare to join me in the Maldives. We might be staying there for about one or two weeks, so get ready, Naoki.” Chen Yu smiled contentedly as Naoki finally agreed.

Since Naoki had already agreed, he quickly adjusted his mindset.

For him, a work trip to a place like the Maldives was something to look forward to. Even though it was for official business, who could resist a trip to such a destination?

“I’ll go take care of things then, Brother Yu.” Seeing there was nothing else to discuss, Naoki gave Chen Yu a quick wave and left his office.

Chen Yu watched Naoki leave and touched his chin thoughtfully, muttering to himself, “Naoki’s settled. Now it depends on whether Hiromi can bring Minami along.”

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After agreeing to the trip, Naoki quickly completed preparations for the business travel.

However, what caught him completely off guard was that instead of flying out from the airport like regular passengers, Chen Yu took him directly to a US military base in Japan.

“Brother Yu, what’s going on? We’re just inspecting a lab—what does this have to do with the US military?” Naoki asked Chen Yu with great confusion as they rode in a jeep provided by the base, heading toward the airfield with their luggage.

Chen Yu, however, simply chuckled and offered a brief explanation, “The lab’s sponsor has good relations with the US military, so they arranged to borrow the military’s runway, that’s all.”

“Borrowing the military’s runway?” Naoki was rendered speechless by how casually Chen Yu said this. To be able to “borrow” an airport from the US military—just how good must that relationship be?

Initially, Naoki thought using a US military base for their flight was shocking enough. But when they reached the airfield and boarded the private jet prepared for them, he was even more startled to see Chen Yu’s parents and Jounouchi Hiromi holding a sleeping Little Yixi waiting inside the cabin.

“It’s rare to visit the Maldives, so I decided to bring my parents along. Hiromi’s mother was supposed to come too, but she had a last-minute conflict, so it’s just us,” Chen Yu explained, pulling Naoki into a seat and soothing his astonished state.

“I see…” Naoki finally collected himself and hurriedly greeted Chen Yu’s parents.

Having been Chen Yu’s close friend for years, Naoki knew enough basic Chinese to extend simple greetings.

After exchanging pleasantries, Naoki glanced at Little Yixi, peacefully asleep in Hiromi’s arms, and couldn’t help but ask with some confusion, “Brother Yu, taking your parents and your wife, I can understand that. Your wife’s expertise could indeed be helpful for the lab inspection, but why bring your child? Little Yixi is only one month old, right? Is it okay for such a young baby to travel around like this?”

“It’s not like babies can’t fly. Plus, this is a private luxury jet with all the guarantees in place, so it’s perfectly fine. Besides, with both Hiromi and I traveling, who would care for Yixi if we left her behind?” Chen Yu smiled and replied, effortlessly shutting down any further objections.

After some thought, Naoki realized it made sense and had no choice but to calm himself and accept the situation.

Once he regained his composure, Naoki looked at Hiromi holding Little Yixi and couldn’t help but say to Chen Yu, with a hint of envy, “Brother Yu, you’re so lucky—a lovely daughter and such a gentle, capable wife. If all men had a life like yours, they wouldn’t need to wish for anything more.”

“You sound like your own life is miserable! What’s wrong with Doctor Tokairin? She’s no worse than Hiromi. You just need to marry her and have a daughter, and you’ll have it all,” Chen Yu retorted with a roll of his eyes, clearly dissatisfied with Naoki’s sentiments.

Naoki, left speechless by Chen Yu’s counter, sheepishly lowered his head, pretending to adjust his seatbelt to escape the awkward situation.

But Chen Yu wasn’t finished with him yet and leaned in to whisper mischievously, “Even if you don’t want to marry Doctor Tokairin, there’s always Minami as an option.”

Perhaps fate decided to tease Naoki, because just as Chen Yu mentioned Minami, she appeared in the cabin, carrying her luggage.