13. The Professor Is a Villain
13. The Professor Is a Villain
The prestigious university located in the heart of The City, specifically the high-end faculty lounge accessible only to the top 1 percent of scholars, was silent.
Crystal chandeliers cast a soft glow, and in one corner, a soft classical melody flowed from an expensive phonograph.
However, the air in the lounge, which should have been filled with noble academic debates or elegant small talk, was as sharp as a tightly drawn bowstring.
The five intellectuals sitting around a top-tier mahogany table were outwardly clinking wine glasses and coffee cups with ease, but their gazes were emitting fierce killing intent toward one another.
There was only one subject at the center of this vicious battle of nerves.
The matter of the whereabouts of Sophia Rodriguez, a third-year female student in the Department of Liberal Arts.
"You'd all better stop dreaming. Sophia is scheduled to join my lab exclusively starting next semester."
The first to break the heavy silence was Dr. Kraken, known as an unrivaled genius in the field of biology.
With intellectual light flashing behind his round glasses, he tapped the table nervously.
"The genetic sequence application method that child submitted as a final project in my class was truly art. It wasn't some shallow undergraduate knowledge; she was born with an intuition that instinctively pierces through the blind spots of biological evolution and cell regeneration! That great talent must be dedicated solely to the advancement of biology. There is no time to waste on other disciplines."
"Cut the bullshit, Kraken!"
The one who sharply cut off his words was Dr. Bolt, the number one in American mechanical engineering and a man who carries the nickname 'mad scientist'.
His very existence alone was enough to make MIT lose the title of the world's number one engineering university to The City University several times.
He jumped up from his seat as if excited, raising his voice.
The chair back, knocked away by his force, hit the wall and creaked.
"That child is a genius born to open a new paradigm for mechanical engineering! The critical energy efficiency error that hadn't been solved for a month in the mechanical design blueprint I drew up as a rough example in an undergraduate class—that kid saw the blackboard in passing after class and corrected it with chalk in just 3 minutes. She came up with an idea that far surpasses a professor, even though she's an undergraduate! Sophia deserves to be my chief researcher!"
"Both of you, stop getting so worked up. Isn't it unsightly for intellectuals?"
As soon as Dr. Bolt's words ended, Dr. Green, an authority on chemical engineering, interjected with a sneer.
With a nasty smile on his characteristically sickly pale face, he slowly shook his head.
"The field that child is truly interested in is chemistry. Do you know? Sophia came to find me right after my first class ended and asked very sharp questions. She read everything from the early toxicology papers I discarded 10 years ago to the most recently published chemical synthesis papers. Not only does she perfectly grasp the core of my research direction, but she even accurately predicted the fatal flaws of the next project I'm secretly working on and suggested alternatives. I couldn't help but be astonished by that child's insight. Sophia is a child who will become a god of chemistry by my side."
"Ha, that child read my papers too, and even asked me questions about future research! She's not interested in you, Green!"
It was when the three professors were spitting at each other like beasts without an inch of concession.
"You're all being so pathetic. It's obvious you're just trying to use her as a cheap slave in your labs."
Dr. Adrian, a genius of fluid dynamics who was elegantly swirling red wine while leaning against the lounge window, sneered coldly.
The female professor with a sharp and intelligent impression tapped the marble floor with her pointed heels and looked down.
"Sophia's fluid dynamic calculation ability and three-dimensional spatial perception are more overwhelming than any genius I have ever seen. I have no intention of treating that child as a consumable to be used and discarded like you all. I will bring her to my lab, pass on all my knowledge and essence, and eventually sit her in the position of a full professor at this prestigious university. As my perfect successor."
"Hahahaha! A full professor in a cramped university lab. Do you intend to let that dazzling talent rot in such an old-fashioned place forever?"
As if to instantly cover up Dr. Adrian's declaration, a hearty and arrogant laugh was heard from the lounge door.
It was Ozzie Norton, a world-class tycoon who visited today to donate an astronomical amount of money to the university and give a guest speech for undergraduates.
Although he was once a professor at this university, he left academia and grabbed overwhelming wealth and power, approaching with an arrogant gait while wearing a top-tier custom suit.
"Stop the armchair theories, nerds. I have already perfectly grasped the talent and potential of Sophia Rodriguez-yang through my secretarial staff. I intend to plug her into our Norton Industries' core R&D center as soon as she graduates, or even before she graduates. I will hand her a blank check for whatever amount she wants. Do you think the measly honor of your academia can beat the financial power of my company in a capitalist society?"
"Are you done, traitor Ozzie Norton?"
"Traitor? I just made a choice. Research can be done at a company too."
"Ha, you'd only do research that makes money!"
At Ozzie Norton's blatant provocation, the four professors all distorted their faces menacingly.
A fierce atmosphere swirled as if they would grab each other's collars and start a brawl right away.
But strangely, these five tycoons had no choice but to nod, forming a strange sense of camaraderie in the face of one regret regarding Sophia.
"......Of course, that's only if we can perfectly fix that damnably insincere attitude."
As Dr. Kraken clicked his tongue nervously and muttered, Dr. Bolt also chimed in as if he deeply agreed.
"Right. Even with such an overwhelming brain, she's always late and always dozing off with a tired face in class. I wonder what she does at night to manage her stamina like that."
"Is that all? A few days ago, she showed up to my class with one side of her face swollen and covered in bandages. I don't know what kind of rough things she's doing to treat that precious body so carelessly."
Dr. Green shook his head as if it were a pity.
In their eyes, Sophia just looked like a poor prodigal who wasted her immense talent meaninglessly by working cheap part-time jobs all night or hanging out with bad friends.
They didn't even dream that she was a Street Hero who protected this city by wearing a mask every night and blowing away the jaws of gangs.
"If I could control 100 percent of the physical time that child wastes on useless things."
"If I could make her pour all her power and brain capacity only into science and research......"
Turbid and dark obsession glistened in the eyes of the professors and the tycoon.
"I'm very curious about how far she can go and what she can achieve."
"I want to lock her in my lab by any means necessary and test that limit to the bottom. Keuhahaha."
"Hehehe, no way. That child is entirely mine."
The evil and sticky laughter of the intellectuals echoed unpleasantly like a snake inside the top-tier lounge.
If Kang Jin-woo had come to this university lounge and witnessed this terrible scene with his own eyes—he probably would have foamed at the mouth and fainted on the spot.
Because those five celebrities who are drooling and laughing evilly, saying they will take Sophia entirely for themselves in that lounge right now, are the insane supervillains who commit the worst crimes throughout the Imagine Comics universe.
Dr. Kraken, a biologist who turns into a giant mutant octopus monster and destroys the city.
The mad cyborg, Dr. Bolt.
Dr. Green, a deadly terrorist who massacres tens of thousands with poison gas and biochemical weapons.
Ozzie Norton, the mastermind who provides massive funds and illegal weapons to all these villains, plunging the world into chaos.
And Dr. Adrian, the incarnation of disaster who manipulates moisture to submerge an entire city.
Poor Sophia Rodriguez, who tried to calm her mind with a normal and diligent college life, exhausted from her hero life, had now become the joint target of the most dangerous prospective villains in the world without even knowing it.