Chapter 96: Central District

On the third day after Lin Jie revived his teaching career by guiding Student Mu'en, he finally discovered it wasn't because he taught well, but rather, this student was just exceptionally intelligent.

To what extent was her intelligence?

In these three days, Lin Jie watched as she went from knowing nothing to having a good grasp of frequently-used English and Chinese words. She hadn't just stopped at gaining knowledge from the encyclopedia and had even taken Lin Jie's various notes that he had made on Azir people and environment when he first arrived to use as study material.

Lin Jie also didn't know how she was able to gain so much knowledge when he had merely provided her with just one encyclopedia.

...Perhaps she's really a genius.

Besides that, the rate at which Mu'en picked up skills was rapid. She could be described as a literal 'sponge' when it came to the speed at which she absorbed knowledge.

On the second night after taking her in, she helped straighten out Lin Jie's newly assembled bed and changed it from a primitive-looking bed into a normal-looking bed frame.

The clothes Lin Jie prepared for her were also remodeled into blouses and other apparel fitting herself using a needle and thread.

She had also cleaned up the bookstore once. Even though the store itself was rundown and had a permanently gloomy outlook, it now looked much neater than before.

However... When Mu'en came across the bookstore's rose, she hesitated for a moment, then stared at it for quite some time before mentioning that she didn't know how to take care of plants.

s

This made Lin Jie heave a sigh of relief in secret.

Finally there's something that this child doesn't know....

At this time, he considered himself somewhat proficient at being a 'guardian' already.

Lin Jie walked over and rotated the flower to display its front, modestly flaunting this elegant and beautiful red rose.

Mu'en had a slightly blank expression on her face. But after glancing at Lin Jie, then the flower, she eventually nodded and said it was pretty.

Mm, that probably means admiration, thought Lin Jie to himself.

Mu'en had even self-learned nearly three hundred types of home-cooked dishes and took over the job from Lin Jie, giving him a sense of home which he hadn't experienced in a long time.

Just like this, Student Mu'en had become the 'pillar' of this home.

If Lin Jie hadn't ascertained that Mu'en hadn't been lying injured in the beginning, he would have suspected he was getting duped...

But it would also have been equally unimaginable if she had known all these from the start.

Her being a 'genius' was the only explanation Lin Jie could come up with. Fortunately, he had come across quite a number of geniuses in his life, so Mu'en's level was still considered acceptable.

After all, the talent of a genius wouldn't make sense at times.

As a 24-year-old... no, he was 21 before he transmigrated, Lin Jie had published five pieces of work and tens of related thesis and become an assistant professor while still studying his doctorate, so Lin Jie was also called a genius by others.

But from his perspective, he reckoned it was his above-average memory and comprehensive ability as well as an outstanding mentor that allowed him to accomplish all this.

When encountering thesereal geniuses that defied logic, Lin Jie felt that he really couldn't be considered outstanding.

Therefore, Lin Jie could still accept the matter of him randomly picking up an exceptional genius rather well.

After all, the world was huge and possibilities were limitless.

Picking up a seemingly all-purpose assistant was a good thing, wasn't it?

However, Lin Jie's good spirits couldn't continue after a few days.

On the third day after taking in Mu'en, Lin Jie suddenly discovered that a police cordon had been set up outside when he opened for business in the morning.

"Direct jurisdiction of the Central District’s Supreme Police Unit..." Lin Jie squinted and read the tiny words printed on the yellow strip.

This meant that the cordon was under the jurisdiction of the Central District's highest law enforcement headquarters. Under most circumstances, they were the personal guards of those in power and normally wouldn't be dispatched out easily.

Clearly, the reason they were here could only be because of that exceptional fire disaster a few days back.

During these couple of days, Lin Jie seemed to have heard all sorts of news related to the fire from the news reports of the television next door.

The fire wasn't very far away from here, but it wasn't as close as the previous gas explosion which happened just a few streets away.

The damage and destruction were definitely great and the cause was still being investigated. However, investigations had already determined two sources. One was a sewerage point many kilometers away, while another was a laboratory said to be in the Central District and was likely instigated by someone.

It was no wonder that the higher authorities were fuming over having something like this happen under their noses.

“What’s wrong?”

Mu'enstuck her head out, trying to get a look outside.

Lin Jie immediately pushed her back in and muttered, "Go back. The Central District’s Supreme Police Unit has sent people to investigate the fire, probably in a bid to track down the culprit— Have you read up on the highest law enforcement bit in my notes?"

Mu'en grunted an acknowledgment. Lin Jie turned around and half closed the door in the process.

Looking at the young girl before him, Lin Jie said, "Try not to say anything or be afraid if anyone comes over to ask questions later."

Reaching out to hold his assistant's hand, he continued in a gentle voice, "I'm here to deal with everything."

Mu'en nodded, pondering for a moment before she spoke, "Their main objective shouldn't be me."

“It means that there's still a small possibility that they might be looking for you. Looks like Student Mu'en is finally willing to voluntarily share some information with me now.”

Lin Jie smiled, "However, you are still considered an unregistered resident. You don't wish to be taken away, do you?"

Mu'en's injuries had already more or less healed up, except for the slightly deeper wounds on her nape and face that were still bandaged up.

On the surface, she looked like a mere ordinary but injured shop assistant, but she had recently learned how to conceal her own body's aetheric fluctuations.

She didn't know how the Truth Union would determine her escape, or even if they had discovered that it was an artificial human that had escaped.

But if the Truth Union really came to investigate, their main focus would probably be searching for the person who had taken the three precious artificial human specimens. Since it was these Central District police officers that had come now, Mu'en guessed that their objective would likely be to placate residents.

s

Lin Jie was right. Her greatest worry now wasn't because of her being a supernatural being, but instead because she was an unregistered resident...

Jingle!

The bell chimed, followed by the crisp clattering of boots as three uniformed police officers entered.

Their leader seemed to be a young lad in his twenties with a hooked nose, brown hair, and blue eyes. He first surveyed the interior of the bookstore before glancing towards the counter and Lin Jie.

"Police duty. Have you seen any suspicious characters recently?"