"By the way, your mission is different from Stelle's. I adjusted your data, so all you need to do is speak without restraint. In theory, this should increase the probability of triggering your abilities in the Simulated Universe."
As Ms. Herta's voice faded, Kiana's consciousness entered the Simulated Universe.
"Oh? Then I want Bishoujo Flavor instant noodles."
The moment Kiana spoke, a bucket of cooked instant noodles appeared in front of her.
However, Kiana discovered that they were just ordinary instant noodles. The only unusual thing was that the brand was called Bishoujo Flavor.
"What if I say I want to obtain control over the Simulated Universe?"
As Kiana's voice fell, countless devices in Ms. Herta's office began behaving as though they had been hacked. They went out of control, but after Ms. Herta operated them, everything returned to normal.
However, an operation interface appeared in front of Kiana inside the Simulated Universe.
Aha, Turn Yourself into a Girl!
"Eh? It really works?"
Kiana swiped through the operation interface in front of her and discovered that she could freely obtain Blessings and Curios, as well as alter the settings nearby.
After Kiana made a series of adjustments, a fully optimized account appeared, complete with every Blessing, every Path, and every Curio.
Unfortunately, Kiana still had not seen a single Aeon.
This also left Ms. Herta puzzled. In her view, Stelle and Kiana possessed some similar characteristic. Stelle had already met two Aeons, and this was only the beginning. So why had Kiana still not encountered any of the other Aeons?
"Could it be the Stellaron?"
Ms. Herta made this guess and thought the experiment on Kiana's side could end. Then, after Kiana lit up all of the Blessings of Joy, a sudden change occurred.
There had originally been nothing in front of Kiana, but a mass of shadow suddenly appeared. It was impossible to see what lay within the shadow, but the mass was surrounded by countless masks.
"Hahaha, what an interesting little one. You..."
Before Aha could finish speaking, Kiana felt that Aha's voice was annoying and directly made a comment.
"Turn yourself into a girl!"
Not only Aha inside the Simulated Universe, but even Ms. Herta, who was watching the data and the images from the Simulated Universe, froze.
She had already greatly overestimated Kiana's power, but it seemed that she had still underestimated Kiana.
Kiana's ability could actually be used on an Aeon—even if this was only an Aeon inside the Simulated Universe.
The black mist wrapped in masks gradually solidified. As a ray of sunlight fell, the first thing to appear was a delicate, jade-white hand.
Then came a red cheongsam, a pair of long, shapely legs, and finally a pair of red high heels.
"Pfft!"
Ms. Herta was utterly dumbfounded. She was now extremely curious. Was this face the true appearance of the Aeon of Joy, or had it been caused by Kiana's power?
The cheongsam-clad beauty before Kiana still wore a mask over her face, and various masks continued floating around her. Kiana wanted to keep speaking and make the other party remove the mask.
Unfortunately, her ability failed this time.
"Aha has lost face. But it seems that Aha is still one step ahead. Mm-hmm!"
Through the mask, Aha looked at Kiana as though trying to see exactly who she was.
However, Aha did not continue investigating.
"What a pity. This isn't the real world. Otherwise, Aha would definitely make such an interesting existence into Aha's Emanator. No, your ability is the true Joy."
After saying this, Aha raised her head and looked toward the empty air.
Accompanied by a burst of laughter, Aha left.
Only Ms. Herta felt pleasantly surprised.
Because Aha's gaze just now had been directed at the surveillance equipment—or perhaps, through the surveillance equipment, at her.
"Interesting. It seems the Simulated Universe has gained quite a few new variables."
However, the experiment ended there, because Stelle had finished her battle on the other side and returned to reality. Seeing that she had collected enough data, Ms. Herta chose to terminate the experiment.
If she really attracted the Aeon of Joy, things would become troublesome.
"It worked! I have to tell Stephan this news right away."
"If you two want to keep playing, just go in and take a look. If you encounter any other Aeons, remember to tell me."
"I think you should show me a little more respect."
Perhaps because Stelle had just spoken with several Aeons and had been filled with all sorts of strange knowledge, she felt annoyed that Ms. Herta was not comforting this newly born baby and instead wanted her to continue working.
Stelle immediately became angry. Her cheeks puffed up as she stood in front of Ms. Herta with her hands on her hips, looking down at her.
Kiana also found this amusing. She imitated Stelle's pose and stood beside Ms. Herta.
"Oh, you're right. I got carried away. I'm sorry, Stelle. You did very well! If it's convenient, please go back in and test it again."
"What about me? What about me?"
In the end, Ms. Herta merely rolled her eyes at Kiana before taking out her phone and tapping it several times.
Kiana felt her phone vibrate twice. When she opened it and saw what Ms. Herta had sent, a smile appeared on her face.
"Ms. Herta, you're the best!"
Kiana hugged the little Ms. Herta and was about to rub her cheek against Ms. Herta's small face.
Ms. Herta did not stop her, however. Instead, she continued speaking with Stelle in a perfectly serious manner.
Stelle looked at the situation in front of her and genuinely found it somewhat strange. She merely agreed to return and test it later, then turned and left.
After Stelle left, Ms. Herta finally pushed away the white-haired girl beside her.
"One hug is enough. That's quite enough. I'm logging off first. Don't bother me if there's nothing important."
Seeing that Ms. Herta had logged off, Kiana stopped fooling around and picked up her phone to play.
Kiana was very satisfied with the reward Ms. Herta had given her. It was a game. If someone familiar with it came over, they would recognize that Kiana was playing Guns Girl Z.
Kiana had mentioned it to Ms. Herta long ago. Since she could even create the Simulated Universe, making a game from Kiana's memories should be easy, even if Ms. Herta had not done it all by herself.
Kiana had not expected Ms. Herta to actually make it. She simply did not know whether Ms. Herta had made it personally or had assigned it to the researchers under her.
But seeing the familiar characters, the familiar interface, and the familiar plot inside, Kiana felt as though she had returned to her original world.
She sat directly in a nearby chair and began playing.
Ms. Herta: Asta, you spoil Kiana too much. You gave her that much money.
Asta: Um, Ms. Herta, you took precious time out of your schedule to personally make a game, and you're criticizing me?
Both of them: You really spoil her.
Only after Kiana had played for a long time did she realize that a great deal of time had passed. Thinking that the Express crew might still be waiting for her, Kiana hurriedly stood up and rushed toward the Platform.
When she arrived, she discovered that the Platform was completely empty. Only the train remained parked there.
"Oh dear, am I late?"
Like a student who had arrived late, Kiana quietly approached the train and poked her head inside.
"What are you looking at? Come in."
The moment Kiana poked her head out, she saw Himeko sitting on the sofa across from her.
Hearing Himeko, Kiana could only walk into the train sheepishly before sticking out her tongue.
"Sorry, Himeko. I'm late."
Kiana did not try to make an excuse. After all, honesty was the most important thing between people. She could choose not to say anything, but she could not make excuses over a minor mistake.
Himeko did not blame Kiana, however.
"All right, you're not really late. We still need to replenish our supplies at the Space Station. Because of the Antimatter Legion's invasion, many supplies are lacking, so we have to wait another week. Don't look so guilty."
"Huh?"
Hi, Wife
Kiana truly had not expected that the train would not depart for another week.
Only after Himeko finished speaking did Kiana slap her forehead. She had been completely confused by the situation in the game and had assumed that the train would depart as soon as everyone boarded.
"All right, since you're here, why don't you have dinner with us? Well, the food at the Space Station... Never mind. Come sit down. I'll make you a cup of coffee."
In the end, Himeko did not give her opinion on the Space Station's food. After all, there were things like dried earthworms, synthetic meat, and vegetable slices with a chance of causing permanent injury.
Even researchers of a certain rank—and even Station Director Asta—could only eat fried rice.
No matter how fanciful its name sounded, even if it was called Cosmic Fried Rice, it was still just an ordinary bowl of fried rice. It did not even contain an egg, only two grains of vegetables and some peas.
Kiana was technically a researcher at the Space Station, so she felt a little awkward hearing Himeko's words. The proposal to improve the meals had been raised long ago. Asta had even considered paying out of pocket to provide extra meals for the researchers, but it had never been implemented.
However, when Kiana heard that Himeko was going to make coffee, she immediately stood up and stopped her.
Himeko looked puzzled as Kiana grabbed her hand.
"Auntie Himeko, you should rest. I'll go help prepare dinner."
By the time Himeko came back to her senses, Kiana had already disappeared.
The veins on Himeko's forehead bulged uncontrollably.
"Why? I'm still young. Why does everyone keep calling me Auntie? March 7th does it, Stelle does it, and now Kiana does it too. Do I really look that old?"
At that moment, Ouyang had just returned with some things. Hearing Himeko's complaint, he hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should go in.
After thinking it over again and again, Ouyang decided that it was still early. He could walk around nearby a little longer before returning.
"Train Conductor! I'm here to help!"
When Kiana arrived in the train's kitchen, she saw Pom-Pom standing on a small stool and cutting vegetables on the counter.
Pom-Pom jumped when Kiana pushed the door open.
Pom-Pom turned around abruptly and nearly fell off the stool, but fortunately, that did not actually happen.
"Passenger Kiana, please go outside for now. The food will be ready soon, pom."
"Train Conductor, please let me help."
Pom-Pom was overjoyed at being called Train Conductor. There were countless passengers on the train, and everyone treated Pom-Pom like a mascot when they arrived. This was the first time someone had directly called Pom-Pom an honored person.
Still, Pom-Pom forced a calm expression and put on a solemn face.
"Then, Passenger Kiana, there are ingredients and cooking utensils over there. Make whatever you want, pom."
"Okay!"
About ten minutes later, Ouyang estimated that Himeko had probably calmed down. March 7th and the others had also returned with their supplies, so he went back to the train with them.
However, the moment he entered, he saw that only Himeko was sitting on the sofa.
"Where's Kiana?"
"She said she went to help Pom-Pom cook."
Clatter!
Everything in Ouyang's hands fell to the floor. Even his glasses, which had not wavered during battle, nearly fell off.
The others watched as Ouyang charged toward the kitchen like a madman, completely unable to understand what had happened.
Ouyang: This is bad. Kiana cooked. Every member of the Kaslana family is a champion when it comes to eating, but when it comes to cooking, they have six of the seven openings in their heads blocked, and the seventh one doesn't work either.
Unfortunately, by the time he wanted to stop her, it was already too late. Pom-Pom and Kiana had already returned with the prepared dinner.
"Dinner is ready, pom!"
Once all the dishes had been placed on the table and Pom-Pom had served everyone their rice, just as they were about to start eating, Ouyang interrupted them.
"Everyone, wait. Kiana, may I ask whether you made that dish?"
Kiana did not understand, but she still pointed at the tomato and egg stir-fry.
Seeing that the dish had a normal color, contained nothing strange, and had not turned into charred tomatoes, Ouyang finally relaxed.
Everyone found Ouyang's behavior strange, but they thought that perhaps he and Kiana had known each other before. Maybe this was simply how familiar people interacted.
It was not until they picked up their food and prepared to enjoy a hearty meal that...
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