They left Pearl Palace in a brand-new white car. Lin Longwei drove, while Xu Mei tried in vain to sleep. She was too excited to see with her own eyes the technologies Lin Longwei described to her.

She opened her eyes and asked: «when will we be there?»

«Soon.»

«Ok.»

The silence filled the vehicle for a whole minute.

«I'll see the road to the secret lab this way. Will you kill me later?»

«No, I won't.»

«Is it far from here?»

«You're quite troublesome as a travelling companion, you know?»

«Do you prefer quiet girls?»

«Are you asking me about my type?»

«No.»

«Do you want to know?»

«Not at all.»

«I don't have a type of girl I particularly like.»

«Are you gay?»

He braked suddenly.

Xu Mei looked at the road trying to identify the source of danger but didn't see anything.

«You're quite brave.»

She turned immediately and realised why he stopped the car for no reason.

«I... It's not...»

«I should show you whether or not I am gay,» he stated and got dangerously close.

«You just said that you wouldn't harass me anymore!»

«You are right,» Lin Longwei answered simply and resumed the drive.

Xu Mei was surprised but said nothing.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the lab. The car entered the large base secured by soldiers.

«Good morning, Mr Lin,» the guard at the gate greeted. «Is the miss your guest?»

«Yes, she is.»

«Then please wait a minute.»

The guard typed on his keyboard for a while, and then he nodded to the two. The car proceeded to the parking, and Lin Longwei showed the way to the lift. He pressed a button, and the doors opened.

Once inside, he pressed the floor number and then inserted a code using a small screen. The elevator started to move downwards.

Xu Mei followed the man's actions closely. When she realised that she was peeking on a security procedure, she turned her eyes away and pretended to not have seen anything.

After a quarter of an hour, they finally arrived at the destination. The doors opened with a ding, and the couple could walk in a spacious hall with modern furniture.

They approached the reception desk, where a woman was sitting.

«Good morning, CEO Lin. It's a pleasure to have you here. Good morning, miss.»

Xu Mei observed the woman attentively but couldn't figure out her face. She could recognise one detail of her features at a time, but never the complete picture. She saw light eyes, then thin lips and even a little scar, but couldn't see the whole countenance.

She bent over the desk to look closer, but it didn't help. It was the first time in her life that something like that happened. She even wondered whether she was going mad.

She turned to Lin Longwei and could see him clearly.

«It's for security. You cannot see the faces of people while in the base area. It's one of the security measures taken in here,» Lin Longwei explained. «So that the people working here are recognised only when necessary.»

«And voices?»

«Voices are also hard to recognise.»

«That must be why you aren't afraid that your higher-ups will punish you for bringing me in.»

«Wrong, I'm not afraid because I am the higher-ups,» he explained with a grin. «I'm the only shareholder and investor.»

«Shareholder? Isn't this a national lab?»

«No, it's my private.»

«Why can I see you perfectly?»

«That's because you love me so much that you can remember my face at all times.»

She raised her eyebrows. «Is it true?»

«No, I'm an exception. Some of the guards and I need to see and be seen.»

«So you can see me too, but she cannot?»

«Right,» he said gently.

The woman observed the two interact and smiled politely at her boss. «Do you want me to show the miss around?»

«No need, I'll do it.»

«There are some people from the Government visiting right now, I thought you were here to meet with them,» she explained.

«Good to know,» he waved his hand before leaving. Each time they met people along the way, Xu Mei felt their gazes on her.

«Are we really going to use bullet transport?»

«Only if it is available. Behind this door, there is the teleport experiment station. Nowadays they are working on fruits only.»

«Is it fine to tell me so many things? Really?»

«I told you already: I am the boss here.»

«If you say so... You said they teleport fruits.»

«Yes. If you want, I can introduce you to the head scientist. He will be able to explain everything in detail.»

Xu Mei's eyes lightened, and she nodded with conviction. Lin Longwei laughed at her enthusiastic expression and returned to walk towards the end of the hallway.

«Do you have a time machine?»

«It's forbidden to research time. Since messing with time may cause the end of the world, the Government forbid private researches on time travel.»

«It's the same with teleportation. You can create black holes with teleportation machines.»

«I have the necessary concessions, don't worry.»

«And the bullet transport? Is it under concession?»

«No, but we are cooperating with the Military because it needs a special infrastructure to work and they don't have enough funds for it.»

«Makes sense.»

«Wait here for a while, will you?»

Xu Mei nodded and sat on a chair in a rest area nearby.

Lin Longwei came back soon.

«The bullets are under test, and we can't use them today, but I can show you around.»

«Ok,» Xu Mei shrugged. She was already happy to see with her eyes such an advanced laboratory.