Universe Infinite Canteen

After Ma Lu clicked to purchase, a white table appeared in the middle of the school building, upon which a double-tiered iron rack was placed.

The iron rack was stacked with rows of various shapes of beakers.

——scientific experiment instrument

[Introduction: Whether you want to shoot news, films, or commercials, when you're trying to create a scientific research atmosphere, just set up a table like this one, and then find a pretty-looking idiot to pretend to mess around with the bottles and jars on top. Note: This prop has no other use except for the construction of a scientific research laboratory.]

Okay then.

So, this thing was just a decoration, but as mentioned in the intro, it was also meant to fool laymen.

Whenever someone asked what Ma Lu was doing here, he could just pick up one of the various small beakers on top and pretend to be doing scientific research.

After the laboratory was built, the first thing Ma Lu did was spend 40 education points to start researching "Practice is the best teacher," and he also added "Weight Training" to the research queue.

Although there was only one research slot in the laboratory, he could select the scientific research project to study in advance.

Then the system would automatically conduct the research according to the chosen order, and the whole process didn't require Ma Lu, who had no real scientific research ability, to be present; it could be completed offline, which was a point he had to praise.

With these two research projects, Ma Lu instantly used up 90 education points, plus the previous 18 spent on the scientific experiment instrument.

He had a total of 125 education points, and just like that, only 17 remained.

It wasn't enough to research "surrounded" anymore, but it wasn't a big problem. He could put that project aside for now and wait to earn more education points next week to start it.

Ma Lu considered it and then took out another 10 education points to upgrade the principal's office, adding 10 mood value for himself.

He wasn't doing it to make himself happier; in fact, after the upgrade was successful, he didn't feel any happier than before.

Ma Lu figured that the mood value might be just a parallel indicator, with an initial fixed value that only changed with the building level.

Anyway, after upgrading the principal's office, when he checked the research time for the scientific projects, it had indeed reduced by 10%; from the original 150 hours to 135 hours.

This way, the next time he returned, the two research endeavors would have been completed.

After Ma Lu went through all these actions, he had spent almost all of the education points he had recruited from new students, and the timing was about right.

He went to give Teacher Cao a heads up to help arrange the monthly exams, and also mentioned that he had to leave for a week and would return the following week.

Teacher Cao actually wanted to have a serious talk with Ma Lu.

About the sudden appearance of the seven new students, about Hero Group, and Hou De's future development plans, as well as how to get out of the financial dilemma—she wanted to hear the plans of Ma Lu, the new principal.

But she didn't expect Ma Lu to leave again before he even got settled.

She could only prioritize and asked, "I'll deal with the monthly exams, but regarding the instructors and curriculum, Principal Ma, do you have any arrangements?"

"Nothing special, just keep things as usual," Ma Lu said.

"Also, the school's finances can only hold out for half a month. If we postpone paying the instructors' wages and reduce the subsidies for higher-level students by half, we should be able to hold out for another half month.

"No need," Ma Lu said, "Keep those the same as well."

Seeing Teacher Cao's furrowed brow, he added, "Don't worry about the money. I will sort it out when I come back next week."

"Principal Ma, are you planning to seek a bank loan during this trip?"

"No," Ma Lu glanced at his Traveler's Bracelet, with five minutes left before he had to return, he said.

"I'm pressed for time. Anyway, while I'm gone, I'll trouble Teacher Cao to look after the school for me. Any issues can wait until I return. If there's something extremely urgent, then Teacher Cao can act on my behalf using the principal's authority."

Without waiting for Teacher Cao's response, Ma Lu hurried out of the room.

Although Hou De didn't have many people left, the campus still covered a large area.

Ma Lu jogged all the way and managed to leave the school before time ran out, finding a deserted spot to log off.

This time when he went out to collect ingredients, he hadn't managed to fill the Collection Bag, but considering it was a newly explored Plane and it was his first visit to get familiar with the environment and new "cheat," the harvest was not bad.

And he even got a Cardcaptor Sakura.

When Ma Lu pulled out the mysterious plant, the room instantly filled with dazzling colors, making it feel like there was no need to buy a Christmas tree for the festive season.

Old Wang, who had been watching "I Love My Home" on the hotel TV, was also drawn to the scene.

"This is... the exotic fruit, Cardcaptor Sakura."

"What's an exotic fruit?"

Old Wang explained, "Most plant-based ingredients prefer to stay in one place and rarely move around, especially far away. However, there are exceptions.

"Like exotic fruits, they enjoy moving throughout the Multiverse. But they don't actually have the ability to move on their own; they migrate from one universe to another by riding the Cosmic Ocean Currents within the Multiverse. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"The Multiverse has ocean currents?" Ma Lu asked curiously.

"Yes," Old Wang nodded. "There are quite a few, but aside from exotic fruits, nobody can figure out where those currents are going, so no life forms other than exotic fruits can use them.

"Even exotic fruits can't always predict the currents' paths accurately, and they're often carried by the currents to completely unfamiliar places. But that's not a problem for them; they're used to drifting around."

"Is it really okay for a fruit to wander around aimlessly like that? Aren't they afraid of being eaten?"

"The Cosmic Ocean Currents don't just transport exotic fruits around; they also provide protection. When in the currents, they are almost as if in a superposition of multiple universes, practically invulnerable."

"No wonder the people from that Plane said there was no way to deal with these exotic fruits," Ma Lu realized, "But the Chef's Knife is still effective against them."

"Because the Chef's Knife has the power of rules, and it's almost the highest level of rules within the Multiverse," said Old Wang. "So it can break through the protection of the Cosmic Ocean Currents."

"That's amazing. So, how do you eat this thing?" Ma Lu pointed to the Cardcaptor Sakura, "Since it's a fruit, can you eat it directly?"

"No, you can't. Exotic fruits are not ordinary fruits. They've soaked in the Cosmic Ocean Currents for too long and need to be processed before they're edible. Apart from that, they can also be used as ingredients for certain types of Magic."