Although he knew that the geniuses of the Genius Society were, to some extent, all troublesome children capable of pulling off earth-shattering stunts whenever they decided to make trouble—and Ruan Mei before him was even more so, even secretly creating an Emissary of Propagation, the Insect King, in the lower levels of Herta Space Station in the future—
Gwen, confident that he could suppress any chaos Ruan Mei caused, still hoped to maintain a basic friendly relationship with her—
At the very least, he did not want to make Alicia's life difficult.
"I understand. This place was once ravaged by Abundant Evil, so it is only natural that there would be some trouble."
Ruan Mei nodded gently and even helped Gwen come up with a reasonable excuse, appearing exceedingly understanding.
As he clasped Ruan Mei's slender hand, wrapped in a pale green silk glove, Gwen felt as though the silk brushing against his palm were a winter breeze, carrying a faint chill.
Accompanying that chill was an almost imperceptible fluctuation of energy.
The fluctuation was faint. It held no hostility and did nothing unnecessary; it could almost be regarded as the instinctive flow of Imaginary energy within the body of a powerful Destiny Walker—
It was probably like how ordinary people could sense calluses and other traits in someone's hand during a handshake, making a basic judgment about the other person.
Ruan Mei had done the same when they first met and shook hands.
If Gwen's guess was correct, this was likely the foundational application of the famous genius's method of testing the Trailblazer upon their first meeting in the game's story.
Gwen did not find it objectionable. This level of basic energy sensing was, for a Destiny Walker of Ruan Mei's caliber, equivalent to ordinary people looking with their