"Which way?
Lead on..."
Abandoning her earlier train of thought, Rita sent Gwen an emoji saying she had something to deal with, then set down her terminal, stood up, and got busy again.
Back at Destiny Headquarters, Gwen looked at the chibi You Lan Dai Er waving emoji Rita had sent and smiled as he put down his terminal.
With their relaxing chat at an end, Gwen did not idle around. Instead, he began silently reciting the Heart Resonance Fu Hua had taught him—the Divine Melody.
Though Gwen, who had grown accustomed to predicting the future from the worst possible scenarios, had not originally believed he could learn something like Heart Resonance, which demanded such an elevated state of mind, now that he had learned it, he would not refuse this unexpected delight.
Even if he ultimately failed to cultivate a Sword Heart or become a Sword God, simply improving his body's receptiveness to Honkai Energy would still be worthwhile.
As for why Gwen always put himself in an unfavorable position when thinking things through?
He had suddenly arrived in a strange and dangerous world where the only things he could rely on—or rather, the only things he was able to rely on—were two systems of unknown origin and unknown capability. Only by thinking from that perspective and preparing himself for the worst could he ensure that he would not panic when trouble came, or even make the wrong decision because of it.
Besides, while thinking that way easily brought excessive pressure, it was not without its benefits—
At the very least, it meant life held many unexpected delights. For example, successfully cultivating Heart Resonance today and gaining the hope of becoming a Sword God was a pleasant surprise to Gwen.
His previous concern that the Invitation Letters might be delivered before an Aeon like Aha, revealing the system's existence, had likewise been the worst-case outcome he reached through this kind of thinking—
If that really happened, Gwen's heart might still skip a beat, but he would not be so flustered that he lost composure.
And once he had considered the worst possibility, anything short of that in reality was a pleasant surprise.
Just as Gwen silently recited the Divine Melody and his relatively relaxed mind gradually entered a state as still as water, an inexplicable ripple swept through him, instantly stirring waves across the tranquil lake of his heart.
"This is..."
Breaking free from his Heart Resonance cultivation state at once, Gwen opened the system with uncertain suspicion—
Over the past few days, Gwen had chatted several times with that Netizen who was suspected to be a Preservation believer from the Star Rail world, gradually becoming familiar with the sensation of receiving messages through the system.
But this feeling was one he had experienced only when he first connected with that unfamiliar Netizen.
So... had another Invitation Letter he sent out been triggered?
With that question in mind, Gwen looked at the system.
Sure enough, another red exclamation mark had appeared over the private chat icon.
Gwen opened it and found that beneath the unknown Preservation believer, another contact had appeared, with a blank avatar and an unknown nickname.
Opening it, Gwen saw the first message from this new "Netizen"—
"What kind of technology is this?"
"..."
Looking at that question, Gwen blinked, realizing that just as before, the Invitation Letter had likely transformed into a phone or some other communication device familiar to whoever touched it.
However, since he did not know how the Invitation Letters worked, nor did he even know what form the letter had taken in the other person's hands, Gwen could only play mysterious—
"A technology that violates mass-energy conservation, with an unknown principle."
"..."
On the other side of the stars, within a biological research institute built upon a barren, uninhabited planet, a classical beauty in a dark green qipao, like someone who had stepped out of an ancient Jiangnan water town, lightly furrowed her elegant brows at this answer that was practically no answer at all.
A year ago, Ruan Mei had discovered this Invitation Letter of unknown origin while conducting her experiments on this planet.
Out of basic self-protection, she had not touched the unknown Invitation Letter at the time—
Though Ruan Mei was renowned throughout the universe and admired by many scholars, she was also watched by many with ill intent. Thus, she had always taken care to conceal her tracks.
Naturally, Ruan Mei would not rashly touch an Invitation Letter that had so obviously been sent specifically to her—
Every member of the Genius Club received a club pass, allowing those geniuses to enter a relatively safe banquet dimension.
Ruan Mei could not determine whether this Invitation Letter was a trap with a similar function—a trap meant to capture her.
Therefore, after this Invitation Letter appeared out of nowhere, Ruan Mei quickly left the planet, which no longer seemed safe.
Not until today, based on the safeguards she had left behind, did it appear that no one had visited this planet after her departure.
Moreover, according to her investigations during this period, no similar technology or creation had appeared elsewhere in the galaxy, which slightly eased some of her doubts.
Before returning, she had also asked a collaborator to purchase some specialized inspection instruments to make one final confirmation that the Invitation Letter was not a trap.
Only after repeatedly confirming that no one had visited her laboratory after she left and that the Invitation Letter was not some sort of trap did she touch the letter that had suddenly appeared on her desk in the surveillance footage.
The instant her fingertip touched the Invitation Letter, the letter—which seemed unremarkable save for remaining spotless for over a year—suddenly bloomed with light, making her heart sink.
Yet the anticipated trap did not activate. The Invitation Letter merely transformed into a communication device that looked somewhat familiar to her.
After repeatedly examining it and detecting no energy fluctuations whatsoever, Ruan Mei found that it seemed to be nothing more than an exceptionally well-made communication device. There was nothing else worth noting, and she could not even sense the slightest fluctuation of Imaginary Energy, which left her rather surprised—
The Invitation Letter had transformed into a larger, heavier communication device without absorbing any energy, even releasing energy as light in the process.
Though her specialty lay in biology and her interests were not as broad as those of her collaborators, this still piqued her curiosity.
After all, what she was currently preparing to do also involved this field.
And compared with her earlier suspicion that it was a trap, Ruan Mei now leaned more toward the possibility that a member of the Genius Club was playing a joke on her... or rather, greeting her.
Ruan Mei's Speculation and Probe
Based on Ruan Mei's understanding of her "kind," this was absolutely the sort of thing they would do as a greeting. It could even be said that this was already quite a gentle way of saying hello.
And since it was a joke from one of her "kind," Ruan Mei chose a relatively straightforward response—
Based on existing experience, the methods summarized from feedback on human emotional expression did not work well on her "kind."
Though asking more directly likewise did not yield any useful response, Ruan Mei felt no emotional fluctuation. Her furrowed brows smoothed out as she replied:
"It is indeed a very interesting technology...
So, what did you seek me out for?
If it is cooperation, then please allow me to decline. I already have a suitable collaborator and currently have no plans to take on additional projects.
Of course, if you intend to use me to prove something, please feel free."
Ruan Mei herself had no desire to compete with others or prove that she was superior.
But neither would she assume that everyone else felt the same way just because she did.
On the other side of the universe, Gwen, who had already brewed himself a pot of tea, raised an eyebrow as he read Ruan Mei's message.
"Judging from the reply, this second 'Netizen' seemed much more forceful than the first.
And she seemed to be a scientist... or perhaps someone in possession of specialized technology. Did she take the Invitation Letter as an invitation to collaborate... or a probe from someone with ill intentions trying to pry into her technology?
Judging from her tone, she seemed to have endured many similar probes before and was in a highly guarded state..."
As he sketched an image of the other party in his mind based on the information at hand, Gwen carefully composed his reply:
"It seems the method by which the Invitation Letter was delivered has caused you displeasure. I sincerely apologize for that.
However, please believe that I bear you no ill intent—
In fact, even I myself cannot control where the Invitation Letters are sent...
In a sense, you may regard this as a technology still in its testing stage. Its purpose is to attempt to cross the barriers and boundaries between worlds, allowing people from different worlds to communicate across them—
If you are unwilling to believe this, you may try replying to me in the writing or language of different planets, continents, nations, regions, or eras.
Based on existing experience, those words and languages should be converted into words and languages familiar to me, and translated relatively accurately."
"..."
Seated in a chair beside the table, Ruan Mei raised her brows slightly as she read Gwen's reply, unable to help doubting her earlier speculation—
From what Ruan Mei knew, among the members of the Genius Club, aside from Screwllum, who genuinely seemed rather human, few would speak to others in such... humble terms.
She even had the illusion that the person chatting with her was a salesperson from the Interstellar Peace Company, or perhaps a scholar from the Intelligentsia Academia soliciting sponsorship.
However, the speculation over Gwen's identity passed through her mind only briefly. Ruan Mei glanced at his avatar, a white-haired, blue-eyed young man unlike her own blank avatar, and began testing his claim as he had suggested. She even used some lost scripts she had discovered while traveling through certain destroyed worlds—
She was not particularly busy at the moment, and since it was rare to come across something interesting, she did not mind spending a little time on it.
Furthermore, Ruan Mei mixed in some text she had been unable to understand or translate herself, which she had merely recorded, wanting to see whether the technology he described could translate it—
Although the Intelligentsia Academia had developed Synesthesia Beacon technology, making language no longer a barrier to communication among the stars,
the operating principle of Synesthesia Beacons merely skipped the process of converting thought into language, allowing living beings' thoughts to communicate directly through language.
Written text did not fall within the scope of Synesthesia Beacons.
Moreover, their exchange was taking place through communication devices, making Ruan Mei willing to try this method of verification.
Back on Earth, Gwen was likewise using this method to test the Chat System's capabilities—
"This is..."
Looking at the lengthy document-like text the other party had sent, along with the unfamiliar characters and symbols mixed into it, Gwen took a long screenshot while pondering to himself—
"Based on this large amount of documentary material, the Chat System really did translate the other party's text into a language familiar to the user.
But these squiggles...
Could this person have sent over things even she did not recognize, using me as translation software?"
Muttering inwardly, Gwen sent the other party the screenshot containing the document translated into simplified Chinese characters and the small number of unfamiliar symbols, attaching his guess:
"For now, it seems that most of your messages have been translated into words familiar to me.
As for these untranslated portions...
Could I trouble you to translate them for me?
We will try to upgrade this part in order to improve your user experience."
Since the other party was likely a scientific researcher, Gwen did not mind presenting himself as a technology developer in order to learn from her responses what the Chat System was like on her end.
After all, Gwen, who was currently exploring the Chat System's functions, truly counted as a technology developer in some sense.
As for whether that would make her look down on him, causing him to lose out on more tangible benefits?
Gwen took it in stride—
After all, this was not a group chat. He did not need to worry about exposing himself to one person and losing everyone's trust...
At that thought, Gwen suddenly froze, realizing he had taken something for granted. He quickly switched to his first Netizen's chat window and asked whether the other party could see a new friend.
Meanwhile, in the laboratory, Ruan Mei looked at Gwen's reply and the document that had indeed been translated into simplified pictographs, raising an eyebrow slightly—
Some of it had been written in lost scripts that she alone had excavated and translated, yet even those had been translated. Only the text whose meaning she herself did not understand had remained unchanged...
"Yes, those are characters whose meaning I do not understand either.
For now, it appears your technology can translate all text that I subjectively understand and send into words familiar to you."
Ruan Mei did not conceal her probe and stated it openly—
After all, Gwen himself had been the one to prompt her to test it in the first place.
Yet although she said this to Gwen, the way Ruan Mei looked at the communication device in her hand shifted slightly—
The Two of Them Putting on an Act, and Cocolia's Troubles
Though the vague persona Gwen had created for himself did seem to match the questions he had asked, in Ruan Mei's eyes, those questions made him seem less like a researcher testing his own technology and more like... a lucky person probing the functions of an unknown object.
Ruan Mei, who often concealed her tracks and traveled alone to uninhabited planets for exploration, frequently encountered situations like this.
She saw familiar traces in Gwen's questions.
However, Ruan Mei did not draw any conclusions merely from that faint, inexplicable sense of familiarity. She simply noted it down as a possibility.
On the other side, Gwen read Ruan Mei's answer and understood immediately. Then, as though he truly were a technology developer seeking volunteers for testing, he replied:
"My apologies. At present, our creation can only translate what you wish to say into a language understood by the person on the other end of the conversation. Unfamiliar text does not fall within the translation range.
In addition, thank you for the feedback and support you have provided during this test."
Before you continue