A Little Heavier

He could freely choose between his creation and human forms with Mimicry Switch!

Lin Feng kept his expression neutral, but inside, he was overjoyed.

This was a god-tier skill.

It meant he was no longer confined to a Cat Cake body with short arms and legs, able only to roll around on the ground when danger appeared.

With this human body, his future actions would not only be ten thousand times more convenient, but he would also be less likely to tremble in fear of Herta's threats.

From now on, he!

Lin Feng!

Was a normal person with dignity and flesh and blood, unafraid of those in power!

Long live normal people!

Besides, even if he did run into a problem he couldn't solve, he could always switch back to a Cat Cake, play dead and act cute.

After all, who would pay attention to a soft, squishy Cat Cake?

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?" March 7th waved a hand in front of Lin Feng's eyes.

"We need to contact Ms. Herta right away. Nous's gaze falling on us is a big deal."

Stelle nodded beside her, then shook her head and said:

"March, do you think it's possible Nous only came over to take a look? Maybe there's something here he finds interesting."

"Like me, if I saw a rusty trash can and a brand-new trash can by the side of the road, I'd definitely make my move without hesitation—"

"I'd rummage through the rusty one, because it must have something special about it!"

The corners of Stelle's mouth curled up. She nodded with complete certainty while rubbing her hands together, apparently drooling over the scene she had imagined.

"I seriously can't with you. Can you stop thinking about your lousy trash cans all the time?" March shot Stelle a disdainful look, but brought up her communication terminal.

The smile on Lin Feng's face froze instantly.

Now it was Lin Feng's turn to be unhappy.

Contact Herta?

The nonsense he had just fed March 7th and Stelle about being an "interstellar traveler and researcher" might fool those two inexperienced members of the Astral Express Crew.

But in front of Herta, whose IQ was off the charts, not even a punctuation mark in his story would hold up.

Who was Herta?

The eighty-third member of the Genius Society and the true owner of the space station.

If she discovered that a living person of unknown origin had slipped into her Simulated Universe, her first reaction definitely wouldn't be to serve him tea. She would put him straight on a dissection table and cut everything from his body to his soul into ten thousand and eighty pieces for slice research.

Yes... right!

Slice research!

Ever since he became a Cat Cake, those words had practically been engraved in his DNA.

"Wait!" Lin Feng instinctively raised a hand to stop her.

"What is it?" March 7th looked at him in confusion.

"I..." Lin Feng's mind raced as he tried to come up with the perfect explanation.

Before he could make anything up, the terminal in March's hand had already connected.

"What is it this time?"

A crisp, distinctly impatient little-girl voice rang out in the room.

Immediately afterward, light and shadow intertwined, and a holographic projection of a Herta Puppet in a purple dress appeared before the three of them.

The holographic image flickered a little, clearly due to a poor signal.

The Herta Puppet had her head lowered, busy with something.

Soon, she looked up.

She glanced at March 7th and Stelle first, and after confirming that they were unharmed, her gaze immediately locked onto the additional person, Lin Feng.

A glimmer of data flashed through the projection's eyes.

"Who are you?" Herta's tone instantly turned cold, carrying a hint of scrutiny. "I've never entered data on anyone like you into my Simulated Universe."

Lin Feng's scalp tightened.

What an oppressive presence. As expected of a big shot from the Genius Society.

"Ms. Herta, he's..." March 7th started to explain on his behalf.

"Shut up. Let him speak for himself," Herta interrupted bluntly.

"I don't listen to secondhand stories. You have ten seconds to explain your existence, or else...

"I don't mind activating the underlying cleanup program and deleting you as redundant code."

Before Lin Feng could start making excuses... oh! He meant explaining, Herta's icy countdown began!

"Ten, nine, eight..."

The countdown ticked frantically in Lin Feng's mind.

Cold sweat poured down his forehead.

Come on, buddy! You're not even giving me time to think. Where am I supposed to find an excuse?

Was he really supposed to tell her:

"Hello, Ms. Herta. Nice to meet you. My name is Aha."

Then Herta would definitely tear him to shreds like fragmented data in front of everyone.

Lin Feng shook his head vigorously, immediately casting the absurd thought aside.

"Ms. Herta, this gentleman is a researcher from another planet. He accidentally entered the Simulated Universe because of a data stream..."

Just as Lin Feng was racking his brains over whether to say the words "I am Aha," March stepped forward and explained for him.

At the same time, she remembered to turn and wink at Lin Feng, as if she were introducing a new friend to an old one and explaining who he was.

Having someone speak for him was obviously a good thing, but she definitely couldn't say that right now.

Lin Feng smiled and acted courteous on the surface, while ten thousand wild horses galloped through his mind and more and more sweat beaded on his forehead.

Could Herta really believe such a clumsy excuse?

But what happened next proved Lin Feng wrong. Herta really did believe it!

She patiently listened to March's explanation, then turned to look at Lin Feng.

A faint light flickered in the puppet's hollow eyes, showing that Ms. Herta had begun to think.

And so, what happened next was something even Lin Feng himself hadn't expected.

Herta nodded calmly on the holographic screen and quickly performed a series of operations.

"The exit is open. Come out first, and we'll talk."

That was it?

Lin Feng could hardly believe his ears and suspected he had misheard.

He even wondered if that really was Ms. Herta before him.

Then he saw the screen shut off and an entrance filled with white light appear before the three of them.

Only then did he pat his chest lightly. He looked at March and gave her a thumbs-up in his heart:

March, you're freaking awesome!

"Let's go. Don't get so worked up." March looked back at Lin Feng and asked in surprise, "Is Ms. Herta your idol? Did seeing her really make you... sweat that much?"

"But don't worry. We know Ms. Herta. When we see her, I'll ask her to help you find a way back."

March nodded firmly, took a step forward and was the first to enter.

Stelle followed close behind.

Lin Feng lifted his foot and followed—

The moment he stepped onto the edge of the interface, his stride paused slightly. No one noticed him.

[Mimicry Switch: Cat Cake.]

His form abruptly shrank, his tall silhouette curling inward without a sound as though someone had grasped it by a corner, until he became a small, fluffy creature.

0.3 seconds.

Silver light completely swallowed the scene.

Outside the exit, two figures landed one after another.

March 7th turned around and spread her arms, waiting for a full three seconds.

Only Stelle was beside her. Lin Feng was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh?" She looked toward the interface. The silver light was shrinking, its edges closing bit by bit, with nothing but empty air behind it.

Lin Feng hadn't come out.

Stelle realized it too. Her gaze rested on the gradually closing edge of the interface, and her brows furrowed slightly.

The Herta Puppet stood behind them. After a moment of silence, she shifted her gaze from the exit to March 7th and asked evenly:

"Where's that researcher you mentioned?"

"Don't tell me he vanished before your eyes again, like a magic trick?"

March 7th's lips moved, and just as she was about to speak, she caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye—

Something squeezed through the slit of light where the interface had yet to close completely.

A round, fluffy figure with blue-and-white markings emerged, its upright cake tail casually sweeping through the air. It stopped in front of them and tilted its head, its beady eyes slowly sweeping around.

"Cat Cake! When did it get into the Simulated Universe? And it even came out with us?"

March 7th's mouth fell open and stayed that way for a full three seconds.

Stelle also froze in place, her gaze fixed on the little creature as she forgot to blink.

The two exchanged a glance, neither able to speak.

The Herta Puppet's footsteps sounded softly as she went around the two of them, walked up to the Cat Cake and stopped.

She bent down, cupped it in both hands and gently picked up the little creature.

Her movements were steady and light, without an ounce of unnecessary force.

The Herta Puppet held the Cat Cake in her arms and looked down at it, studying it carefully for a moment. Her hard-to-read gaze lingered on its blue-and-white markings.

"It's actually gotten a little heavier." Her tone was calm, but carried an inscrutable meaning.

Her lowered eyes remained fixed on the Cat Cake.

"Little one, did you have quite an adventure in there too?" The Cat Cake in her arms didn't move a muscle.

Lin Feng didn't know what Herta was thinking at that moment, but at least his identity hadn't been exposed. At the very least, something was obviously wrong with the current Simulated Universe.

Herta couldn't possibly have noticed his transformation in that brief instant. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so eager to get March and Stelle out.

He knew all too well what the first thing he should do now was!

Distance himself from it as much as he could!

He was just a Cat Cake who didn't know anything!

Lin Feng met the Herta Puppet's eyes and nestled against her chest, looking as aggrieved as a child who knew nothing.

With his big, beady eyes wide open, he made a thoroughly innocent sound, as if none of it had anything to do with him.

"Meow~"