A kissing experiment with The Herta

The Herta had witnessed the whole thing. Her brows furrowed slightly, then she relaxed and smiled:

"Amazing! You can actually use a technique like that without ever having come into contact with the power of a Path!"

Ten seconds later, Lin Hai reappeared.

The Herta smiled and walked up to Lin Hai, looking him up and down as though she meant to analyze everything about him, from his physiology to his thought patterns.

The genius's thirst for knowledge had been thoroughly ignited. She had never encountered anything so far beyond her understanding.

"I'm very curious." She stepped closer. "How did you acquire this special ability? Perhaps... we need to conduct some in-depth experiments on you."

Lin Hai immediately waved his hands and said with a wry smile:

"Let's skip the experiments. My ability isn't something I was born with. It all comes from this Lucky Star."

"But I touched it too." The Herta tilted her head slightly, her hair shifting with the movement. "Why didn't anything change for me?"

Her gaze was sharp, letting no logical flaw escape her notice.

"Because I'm the only one who can resonate with it," Lin Hai explained. "I'm the vessel it chose. If the two of us kiss, I'll gain a new ability from you."

"The chosen one?" The Herta repeated the phrase.

She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How exactly does gaining an ability through a kiss work?"

"By kissing, mouth to mouth," Lin Hai said frankly.

The more The Herta thought about it, the more incredible it seemed, but her intense curiosity ultimately overrode everything else.

Her pursuit of answers made her willing to try this unconventional method of verification.

"An interesting proposition," she said at last. "I'm willing to try."

She gave a gentle wave of her hand, and all the puppets in the laboratory stopped working at once. They turned in unison and filed out of the laboratory.

The sealed door closed soundlessly. Only the two of them remained in the vast space, accompanied by the faint hum of operating equipment.

The Herta walked toward Lin Hai at an unhurried pace.

She rose slightly on her toes and calmly, with restraint, planted a light kiss on his lips.

It was less an expression of emotion than a rigorous experimental procedure.

Their lips parted as soon as they touched.

"Now." Her voice remained calm as she took a step back. "Please demonstrate."

Lin Hai took a deep breath. "Please give me the Lucky Star."

The Herta handed the Lucky Star to him.

The moment their fingertips touched, Lin Hai gripped it tightly.

The space station laboratory receded like the tide, and the next moment, he was standing in his familiar living room at home.

Outside the window was the familiar cityscape at night, as though everything that had just happened had been a dream.

The panel that appeared in his mind confirmed that it had all really happened.

[Contract Lucky Star]

[Contracted party] The Herta

[Current affection] 85

[Hidden task completed: kiss. Task reward obtained]

[Ability] Interpretation

Lin Hai carefully examined what the ability did.

[Interpretation] Can reveal enemies' weaknesses and the properties of objects, allowing greater damage to be dealt to enemies and objects.

It differed somewhat from The Herta's talent for Interpretation, but it was still an extraordinary ability!

Lin Hai went into the kitchen, found a rolling pin, and placed his hand on it.

He used the [Interpretation] ability.

In an instant, he seemed to sense the grain of the rolling pin's wood and found its weakest area.

Lin Hai suddenly exerted force with his arms and actually snapped the rolling pin in his hands.

He set the rolling pin aside and glanced at his hands.

"Haha... this is a... very special ability!"

Find the vulnerable spot, find the weak point, and use less force to do as much damage as possible.

Lin Hai closed his fingers, gripping the Lucky Star tightly in his palm.

A familiar energy fluctuation surged forth again, and the next moment, The Herta's figure quietly appeared at his side.

As soon as she appeared, her gaze locked precisely onto Lin Hai, her tone carrying the eagerness and inquisitiveness unique to a researcher:

"Did it work?"

"It worked." Lin Hai nodded.

"Show me." The Herta's request was direct and clear.

Her eyes shone with anticipation.

With a thought, Lin Hai quietly activated his [Interpretation] ability.

His vision seemed to refresh in an instant. Countless fine streams of energy and mechanical parameters appeared around The Herta, intertwining and flowing before converging into a clear focal point of information.

Lin Hai stepped forward and pointed precisely at the left side of The Herta's waist.

"Here," he said, his voice calm but certain, "is the weakest link in your dynamic balance system at this moment. If a disturbance is applied here at a specific angle and with a specific amount of force, the stability of your current posture will be easiest to disrupt."

The Herta's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and a flash of genuine surprise crossed her face.

She knew better than anyone that Lin Hai was absolutely correct.

It was an exceedingly subtle mechanical flaw in her body in its current posture.

An ability to interpret things at such a deep level was uncommon even in the Star Rail world she came from.

All the more so when Lin Hai didn't have a trace of Path energy in him.

"This... really is incredible." The Herta took a step back. "You have no power of a Path bolstering you. How exactly did you perceive and analyze information on this level?"

"Perhaps the connection this Lucky Star brings is far deeper than we imagined," Lin Hai replied.

He met her probing gaze, his tone slightly tentative. "I was thinking, this might only be the beginning. If... if our connection went a step further, could we unlock more unknown abilities?"

"A step further?" The Herta froze slightly, then grasped what Lin Hai was implying.

A deeper connection beyond kissing.

The proposal went beyond the scope of all conventional experiments.

What step came after kissing?

A hug?

Just a hug wouldn't count as particularly intimate.

Could it mean sharing a bed, taking that step, and consummating a marriage?!

The Herta shook her head.

Yet an almost instinctive curiosity gave rise to a bold, even somewhat crazy idea.

Perhaps it's worth a try!

"What are your thoughts?" she asked.

Lin Hai said, "That's mainly up to you. As for me, I'm willing to try."

The Herta said, "Then... shall we give it a try?"

"Sure. Where should we try it, and when?"

"Hmm... how about we try it here? And as for when, how about right now?" The Herta reached up and removed her hat.

Lin Hai's breathing involuntarily quickened.

He was very excited.

The Herta was simply too beautiful. She was full of mature charm, yet also had the playfulness of a young girl.

That contradictory temperament made her even more attractive.

The Herta reached to undo her belt, but she seemed to think of something. Her hand hovered in midair, and she went no further.