Chapter Sixty-Three: I Don't Like Being Deceived. / Chapter Sixty-Four: Extreme Testing.

63

Chapter Sixty-Three: I don't like the feeling of being deceived.

The projection of the Herta disappeared.

Since she hadn't achieved her goal, there was no point in staying any longer. She might as well go back and arrange to come here directly to find Ruan Mei's spaceship.

Let's talk in person after we meet.

After the projection disappeared, Kiana looked at Ruan Mei curiously, driven by her curiosity, and wanted to ask Ruan Mei if what the Herta had just said was about Simulated Universe.

I have a feeling that this is most likely it.

"Please have a seat, it's tea time now."

Ruan Mei took the initiative to tell her not to stand there like a wooden statue at the door. She took a sip of tea and said, "The projection just now was of Ms. Herta. Like me, she is a member of the Genius Club."

"Then she..."

"What do you want with me?"

"Uh-huh."

Kiana looked at Ruan Mei with great curiosity, wanting to hear what she had to say about why she refused Herta's invitation.

That's Simulated Universe, you know.

"She has a project and wants me to join it."

There's nothing wrong with talking about it. Ruan Mei held her teacup, looking at the steam rising from it, and said, "It's a good project, and I'm somewhat interested."

Herta's repeated invitations were effective; each of her words genuinely piqued Ruan Mei's curiosity.

But she simply didn't have that much time.

Especially now.

If the Herta's invitation last time made her waver and consider postponing her current research to finish the Simulated Universe project at the Herta first...

After Kiana returned, she completely abandoned that idea, because she wasn't sure when Kiana would leave.

She spent over a year on Kiana, expending a great deal of energy on her.

If we stop now...

"Then why not say yes?"

The naive Kiana had no idea what Ruan Mei was thinking. She was still wondering why Ruan Mei, who seemed somewhat interested, didn't accept the Herta's invitation.

In the game, she did agree.

Why not agree?

"You have something you want to tell me, don't you?"

Ruan Mei did not answer her question immediately, but instead steered the conversation back to Kiana, looking at Kiana sitting opposite her.

"... Yes, um, I wanted to go to the Herta Space Station..."

Having just met the owner of the Herta Space Station, Kiana's announcement that she's going there feels somewhat ambiguous.

"Why?"

Ruan Mei neither agreed nor refused, but for the first time used a questioning tone to ask her why.

"That's right. As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to find Mei, so I posted a bounty at the company. I just took out my phone and logged into the bounty system, only to find that the company had already found relevant information."

Ruan Mei paused in her tea-drinking motion, then calmly put down her teacup, her gaze becoming more serious.

So fast?

So what?

Will Kiana still willingly stay here and become her experimental subject?

"I wasn't entirely sure at first, but Ms. Herta said she knows Sirin. So the information from the company must be true!"

Kiana, unable to contain her joy, said happily, "Sirin was also a friend of mine in Izumo, but she didn't die. Instead, she led a group of Izumo people Izumo before the Great Honkai erupted."

"Mei left with her too, so as long as we find them who Izumo, we'll definitely find Mei!"

"You just got back."

Ruan Mei looked at her. "Are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"She's my friend!"

Upon hearing Ruan Mei's words, Kiana sat up straight and said, "Even if she has nothing to do with Mei's whereabouts, I still have to go see her!"

Why waste time just to meet him?

Ruan Mei felt that this behavior was meaningless.

So you're planning to leave, right?

Looking at Kiana, Ruan Mei stopped hiding her question and asked it directly to Kiana.

Kiana wanted to nod, but looking at Ruan Mei's indifferent face, she instinctively realized that Ruan Mei's question didn't seem to be about her going to the space station.

"I want to go to the space station."

She didn't understand what Ruan Mei meant, and after thinking for a moment, she said cautiously, "I want to know what happened after that."

"Then terminate our transaction?"

Ruan Mei didn't play the riddle-maker; she watched as Kiana spoke very frankly.

"No!"

I wasn't wrong after all; the 'leaving' that Ruan Mei asked about really meant leaving!

Kiana, getting a little restless, said, "ARuan, don't misunderstand, I didn't mean that!"

"I don't have that idea right now."

Ruan Mei nodded, so there was no need to worry about her leaving for the time being, because her friend at the Herta was not as important to her as that Miss Raiden Mei.

The deal should be terminated only after Raiden Mei, that Yomi, is found.

"After..."

Kiana wanted to say that she wouldn't in the future, but when Ruan Mei looked up at her seriously, her words caught in her throat.

Won't it happen again?

When she first woke up, she made a deal with Ruan Mei: she would cooperate with Ruan Mei in experiments, and Ruan Mei would temporarily become her 'family' and help her find her past.

Ruan Mei looked at her for a while.

I'm a little disappointed.

After all, she did invest some effort and trust in Kiana, not only in research and experiments.

"I won't leave until you still need me."

Kiana took a deep breath and made a serious promise to Ruan Mei.

Once she gets what she wants, Ruan Mei's interest in her will likely decrease significantly.

Recalling her Remembrance from her past life, she gained a God-like understanding of Ruan Mei, knowing that what Ruan Mei truly wanted to study was the Aeon, and that her interest in her was merely a passing curiosity.

I don't like feeling deceived.

Ruan Mei wasn't pleased; she still looked at her the same way. "Especially you."

Kiana paused, slightly depressed at the thought that Ruan Mei might lose interest in her in the future and distance herself from her, no longer acting as she did now.

Especially me?

... So I'm actually quite special?

Realizing this, Kiana's frustration vanished, and she decided not to use things from her past life to judge the world before her.

"Don't worry, I won't lie to you."

Kiana smiled broadly, "I mean what I say. As long as you need me, ARuan, I won't leave and will definitely cooperate with you to continue your research."

My heart is finally at peace.

She no longer needed to worry; the experiment wasn't finished, and Kiana suddenly abandoned the task and left.

Kiana dares to say it, and she dares to believe it.

"Have some snacks, we'll be staying in the lab for a long time later."

Ruan Mei pushed the plate slightly towards her.

"That Herta Space Station?"

Ruan Mei also ate a pastry, savoring its taste, and said something that surprised Kiana: "I'll go with you."

Are you going to agree to Herta's offer?

Ruan Mei's firm stance this time stemmed from her concern that Kiana might leave, thus depriving her of the opportunity to directly study Kiana.

Now that Kiana says she'll stay as long as she needs to, that concern has completely disappeared.

"Let's see."

She was still observing and hesitating, deciding that she would only make a final decision after seeing the Herta and visiting the project.

In addition...

Before entering the lab, Ruan Mei gave Kiana a deep look. "Don't betray my trust and disappoint me, Kiana."

64

Chapter Sixty-Four: The Ultimate Test

She didn't really understand why.

But she trusted Kiana.

Without realizing it.

In her heart, Kiana is different from everyone else.

"Next is the extreme test."

Most of the day had passed, and the information about Kiana in her hand had been updated again. She curled her right index finger to her lips and looked at the updated information on the screen in front of her.

"No problem."

Kiana was still full of energy and didn't feel tired at all after most of the day.

"Test in virtual space?"

Ruan Mei shook her head. "Real combat."

Upon hearing the word "real combat," Kiana's expression changed slightly. Thinking of some unpleasant possibilities, she said, "Using Honkai energy in real combat might bring some negative consequences."

"Like Kasli -VIII?"

"Um..."

Kiana feels like a source of pollution; she's fine when she doesn't use Honkai energy, but once she does, it inevitably affects the surrounding area.

Although it won't be like Izumo.

The entire world has been rewritten by the Honkai rules, and now it has become an inexhaustible source.

"It doesn't matter."

Ruan Mei didn't mind, and instead said, "This is also part of the reason why I wanted you to do the extreme test."

"But if I do that, this planet will be contaminated by the Honkai. If I stay here, the Honkai energy will never disappear."

"Isn't this better?"

Ruan Mei's words left Kiana speechless. Yes, Ruan Mei was currently researching Honkai. Honkai on other planets would be a catastrophe, but here with Ruan Mei...

It's really not a difficult problem.

If she really turned into someone like Izumo, Ruan Mei might actually be happy.

You have too many distracting thoughts.