?Chapter 186:


    “It’s convenient,” Ste replied with a shrug. Ste saw nothing wrong with that.


    But Sharon didn’t look convinced. She reached over and touched her arm gently. “Sweetie… let me buy you a ce. You don’t need to squeeze into a tiny dorm.”


    Ste stopped her right there. “Sharon, I get to sleep thirty extra minutes living here. That’s priceless.”


    She unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out with a grin.


    Tonight, she didn’t need to cook for William, so she treated herself to a quiet evening. A book, an early night, and a little peace.


    The next morning, the sun was bright overhead.


    Inside the researchb, Ste adjusted her protective gear, fully focused—until Sandra ran over, waving a hand in front of her face. “Sylvia! I need your help. Come quick!”


    Ste trailed after Sandra and leaned in to inspect the cultivation samples, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the numbers had dipped by a full ten percent since theirst check.


    “Sylvia, something’s off with this batch,” Sandra blurted, a tremor of worry threading through her voice. “What should we do now?” Anxious energy radiated from Sandra—these samples were valuable, and any slip-up would throw the entire team off schedule.


    Taking in the tension, Ste drew a steadying breath, her brow creasing with concern. “Let me see the data.”


    She stepped up to the incubator, scanning the readouts in silence. “What temperature is this set to right now?” she asked, her tone calm but insistent.


    Sandra hesitated, flustered. “Um… I think it’s somewhere between fifty and seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit.”


    Fifty to seventy-seven. That exined everything.


    Ste straightened, her expression sharpening. “That’s the problem. This strain loves heat—in the wild, it flourishes at around eighty-two degrees. Anything lower, and it just starts shutting down.”


    Sandra’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Sylvia. I should’ve caught that. But what now? This incubator maxes out at seventy-seven. We’d need a second-tierb to crank it any higher.”


    Explore fresh updates g?lnσν???s


    Ste gathered the documents and headed directly to Elbert. Once she’d exined the situation, the two quickly agreed to submit a request for ess to the second-tierb on the upper floor.


    Elbert brought Ste along to the director’s office. Usually, the approval process was fairly straightforward—provided theb wasn’t already in use.


    But as Paul scrolled through theb bookings, he remarked with a frown, “Uh-oh. That second-tierb’s already reserved for today.”


    Reserved?


    “Who put in the request?” Ste pressed, her brow knitting.


    Her team didn’t actually need to upy the space—they just needed a ce to leave the samples to incubate.


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