The Great Worm Lich

“Of course you can look at the two beetles, please come with me.” Myron’s reasoning was made clear and his request was reasonable. For this reason, Zhang Lisheng nodded and proceeded to lead the ‘Science’ magazine’s editor upstairs before opening the door to his room. “Please come in, Mr. Myron. The two color-changing soft beetles are right here.”

“Thank you.” Myron entered the young man’s room and saw that the room was decorated with an optical microscope, infrared monitors, and large insect feeding utensils equipped with temperature and humidity modifiers. “Mr. Zhang, no wonder you can write such a detailed research post online. This is basically a small professional biological laboratory. Ah, so this is the bug you found. Oh wow! They can really change color and become invisible. The pictures you posted online are all real! Hey, it looks like it’s worthwhile for me to postpone my vacation to look for you!”

“I’m very happy you think so, Mr. Myron.” Zhang Lisheng stood next to Myron and looked at the beetles flying up and down the transparent feeder with a smile.

“Well, Mr. Zhang, now we can talk about the matter of requesting a paper. I personally recommend Dr. Andina George from the University of California at the Berkeley branch as your co-publisher. It would be…” Myron reluctantly tore his eyes away from the fascinating color-changing beetles in the feeder after a moment of observation and said with a natural expression.

At this time, Zhang Lisheng suddenly cut in, “Thank you for your recommendation, Mr. Myron, but I already have a good biologist as a collaborator.”

Now that a sudden change suddenly arose, Myron was stunned for a moment before furrowing his brows together and forced a smile out. “Young man, the collaborator you need is not merely a good biologist, but he must also…”

“I know very well what kind of collaborators I need, Mr. Myron. Please wait for a moment.” Zhang Lisheng smiled apologetically at Myron and went to the side. Then, he took out his phone to give a call to the Biology teacher Steven who had the highest opinion in him in Lowbige Junior High. Not only that, but he was also the only teacher who was willing to give him an A+ in the final exam after the two months he was absent from school.

The phone connected and a serious, old-fashioned voice resonated from the receiver. “Lisheng, if you’re wasting my time just to wish me Merry Christmas in advance, your Biology result next year is bound to be B only…”

“Of course I won’t disturb you over such trivial matters, Mr. Steven. The thing is, when I was traveling in the Amazon jungle during winter vacation last year, I caught two strange beetles with soft bodies and color-changing exoskeletons. After returning to the country, I bought some instruments and observed them when I was free. I did some research and published it on a website of biology enthusiasts. As a result, an editor for the ‘Science’ magazine visited my house today and said that the two beetles are an important newfound species that can make up for the missing link of entomology…”

“Are you pranking me with the risk of having a lack of credit and your graduation postponed, child?”

“Of course not, Mr. Steven! The editor is called Myron Gernas and is at my house now. After he has seen the two beetles, he decided to invite me to submit a paper and even recommended Professor Andina George from the University of California at Berkeley branch as my co-publisher. However, I feel if I need an expert to deepen this paper, nobody else will be more suitable than you. This is the reason why I made this call.”

The other end of the phone was silent for a moment before replying, “Lisheng, where is your house?”

“Number 167th in the Lowbige community in Brooklyn.”

“Give me five minutes,” Steven said before hanging up the phone directly.

Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment before putting his phone away and walked back to Myron who had a slightly grave expression. “Mr. Myron, my collaborator is on his way now.”

“Young man, I must warn you very seriously that even though the two beetles you found are very important, the paper will never appear in a top academic journal such as the ‘Science’ magazine if it’s not deep enough.”

“Mr. Myron, what you said is very different from what you told me just now,” Zhang Lisheng said with a smile.

Myron hmphed with annoyance for a while before falling into a moment of silence. Then, he began to talk again in a soft voice, “Mr. Zhang, what I said just now is all good for you. With your age and background, how could you possibly know any outstanding biologist? We should not take a narrow view of things…”

“Myron Gernas, I think, it should not be a narrow view by getting me, Steven Pigros, to become a joint publisher, right?” Suddenly, a low voice that resonated outside interrupted Myron’s words, followed by an expressionless Steven wearing a ragged old jacket who walked into Zhang Lisheng’s room.

“D-Dr. Steven Pigros! Oh! Oh my lord! W-Why are you here? Aren’t you already lost in Java’s pristine forest?”

“Java’s pristine forest, Pacific Ocean’s desolated islands, under the snowy peaks of the Alps… There are countless rumors of me having been buried in numerous places, but unfortunately, those are merely rumors, Myron. I’ve never left the US, nor the academe, for these few years. This young man in front of you is my student. I’m teaching in New York.”

“I-Isn’t he a high school student?”

“I’m teaching in Lowbige Junior High now. A serious accident happened in the lab so staying in a high school is the only method for me to remain in academia now.” Steven chuckled without a trace of a smile in his eyes.

“Oh, I see. Oh, then your luck is really good! You can easily get a chance to start fresh again.” Myron froze for a moment before calming down and accepting fate. “Please remember that you owe me a favor, Dr. Steven.” Then, he left right away.

“He left without even saying goodbye? This is the editor of the world’s top academic magazine?” Seeing how Myron suddenly left without even acknowledging himself, Zhang Lisheng asked in astonishment.

“He’s a wire puller for those mediocre people who are desperate in getting a lifetime teaching job so just how magnanimous could he be?” Steven said with a smile, “Lisheng, let me see your beetles and research materials.”

“They are all here. Please feel free to look, Mr. Steven,” Zhang Lisheng said as he turned the laptop on, pulling up the 89 scientific research posts about the color-changing beetle posted on the Internet for a year.

After Steven stared at the feeder in front without blinking for more than twenty minutes, he grabbed the two color-changing beetles and placed them under the optical microscope while using the insect-capturing net before observing them for a while. Then, his expression turned excited.

“Lisheng, even though that Myron just now is a despicable bloodsucker in the academic world, being able to work in this line means he has good judgment. The two beetles you found are indeed of great scientific value, both in biological lineage studies and in bionics research. This is arguably a material destined to be included in the first volume of the world’s top academic journals.” Steven read the young man’s research material ten lines at each glance and hesitated for a moment before adding with a sullen voice, “Your preliminary research on them is very comprehensive and the instruments used in the observations are also widely recognized in the academic world…”

“Mr. Steven, what I need is your help.” Zhang Lisheng smiled.

Steven froze for a moment before pondering about it. Directly, he said, “After I help you this time, if I can once again hold the research materials in my hands, I’m sure I can return to my alma mater, Stanford, to resume my tenured professorship and preside over a laboratory. In that case, I can become your supervisor next year and recruit you into Stanford. After three years at most, the continuous study of the beetle will give you a Ph.D. ”

“I’ll only be entering the 12th grade next year so can this be done like that?”

“Of course, since your name would have already appeared on the first volume of the ‘Science’ magazine and become my joint researcher on top of that, I can enroll you in my graduate school already!”

“But wouldn’t this be unfair to the other students?”

“Geniuses are always different from ordinary students. What is unfair about this?” Steven asked in confusion.

“Oh, I was the one at wrong, Mr. Steven.” Zhang Lisheng shrugged. “In that case, I’ll look for a worker to send the beetle along with the feeding utensils to your home. That’s right, and these research materials as well. I have a manuscript so I’ll make a copy of them for you so you don’t have to waste your time organizing them from the internet.”

“Very good, Lisheng. Just wait for my good news then.” An unconcealable expression of excitement and restlessness appeared on Steven’s face. “One month! One month at most and our names will appear on the first volume of Science magazine. By that time, nobody can stop me from my pace of returning anymore…”

The young man was a little astounded when he saw Steven’s nervous disposition as he gritted his teeth. However, he did not say anything but show an agreeing expression while nodding his head. At the same time, he took out his phone and contacted a moving company that was still in service to move the huge feeding utensils out of his house to be sent to Steven’s house instead.

The moving company’s truck followed Steven’s old double door mini-car and slowly drove out of the intersection.

Zhang Lisheng went home and took the initiative to explain to Lili, who had already been accustomed to not intervening in her son’s private affairs, who had been staying on the first floor to prepare dinner. “Mr. Steven promised to collaborate with me to publish a paper in Science magazine, so I took the beetles to his house. Oh yeah, mom! He said that after the paper is published, he will be likely to get a chance to become a professor at Stanford University and he hopes I’ll become his graduate student next year!”

“Going to Stanford directly to become a graduate student? This is too sudden! But to think about it, since you can publish a paper in Science magazine and have a very good personal relationship with Mr. Steven, becoming his graduate student would only be a matter of course. Whoa! You would save a whole five years by jumping from 12th grade directly to graduate school! This is really amazing…”

Upon seeing his mother’s excitement, Zhang Lisheng took the opportunity and said, “Mom, I plan to go back to Western Sichuan for a visit. Can I go?”