Both of them went into the console room. Miranda didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point. “Dr. Young, I think there’s an issue with your research approach.”

She didn’t wait for Christine to respond and handed her a document before continuing, “Over the weekend, the three of us reviewed the current progress for this research project. Besides that, we also went over the research background, experimental methods, specific data, and the conclusions from the previous two phases. In the end, we realized…”

Miranda looked up and met Christine’s gaze. “The third phase of the experiment might not be due to issues with the phase itself, but rather… the whole project may have been off track from the beginning.”

The three of them had discovered the problem together, but Madison and Sebastian were too hesitant to speak up. So, Miranda had to be the one to deliver the bad news. Although Christine had fallen silent, she had no intention to stop there.

Miranda pressed on, “I understand your tenacious and persistent personality. If you choose not to do something, you won’t. But once you do, you’re determined to see it through to the end. Even if it’s ultimately proven to be wrong, you’ll only give up after gathering enough data to back that conclusion. As a scholar, striving for perfection is admirable. However, have you considered that human life and energy are limited? If a mistake can be corrected so that we cut our losses early on, why should we spend so much time to prove that it’s wrong? What’s the point?”

Like the analogy of a car crash—if the driver had realized they were going too fast, they could just hit the brakes and prevent a disaster from happening. Why should they allow the crash to happen just to prove that someone could get killed?

Christine sighed deeply. “I had wondered how long it would take for you all to notice the issue. A semester? A year or two? But I didn’t expect you three to catch it this quickly.”

There was a mix of emotion and surprise in her eyes, but mostly it was pride in her students. Not only had they discovered the problem, but they had also backed it up with evidence.

She patted the document Miranda handed to her, but she didn’t open it. Christine already knew that the data and conclusions inside were facts. They were indisputable.

Miranda was taken aback. “Dr. Young, you…”

“Did you really think I didn’t know the research approach was off?” Christine sighed.

She might not have noticed at first, but the problems became more apparent as the research progressed. With her professional expertise, how could she have missed it?

“Then why didn’t you…?” Miranda hesitated.

“Are you going to ask why I didn’t stop it in time?”

Miranda nodded as Christine’s gaze dimmed. “I’m not a good supervisor.”

They had prepared for this research project four years ago. At that time, her health was already deteriorating. In addition, the blow of Miranda giving up her combined Master’s and Doctorate program further crushed her spirit.

Christine had fallen ill and was bedridden for eight months before she started to recover. Even then, she still couldn’t fully immerse herself in her academic work.

Nonetheless, the research project couldn’t be put on hold. “This directly affects whether the students graduate on time and receive their master’s degrees.”

Postgraduate students were expected to do research with the mindset of a scientific researcher. And by what metric was research measured?

The most important metric was the publication of theses. Secondly, the number and quality of research projects they participated in with their supervisor, which was closely tied to their thesis.

When Christine fell ill, the research project couldn’t be halted, so the earlier stages were handed over to the postgraduate students of that cohort to explore on their own.

By the time she fully recovered and returned to the lab, the first two phases of the research were already completed. Those two phases had successfully allowed two batches of students to graduate.

If everything went smoothly, the third phase of experiments, which was now in progress, would allow the postgraduates this year to graduate as well.

Christine sighed and said, “Do you think I didn’t want to halt the project and turn back? But it is already too late. We have already invested too much in this boat. I have no choice but to keep pouring my heart and soul into it even though I know that it’s doomed to sink in the end.”