March 7th Cries. / Stelle: Did I Come at a Bad Time?

Ruan Mei dislikes socializing.

Spending more time on experiments is more meaningful than socializing.

Her attitude towards Lin Shuang, including addressing him as "darling" and other such gestures.

It's just that Lin Shuang's unique circumstances warrant further study.

Under universal rules, Ruan Mei cannot simply arrest people for research.

Therefore, a friendly attitude, or at least a seemingly friendly one, makes it easier for Lin Shuang to accept the experiment.

Just like the social interactions of the four founders of the Simulated Universe, it's merely for the purpose of ensuring the smooth progress of the Simulated Universe.

Ruan Mei Cai therefore accepted the gathering.

But for others...

Although the ID of Asta is in the closed compartment, based on her understanding of her, Ruan Mei believes that Asta will not appear here in person.

The person who comes down should be a subordinate Staff Member or someone else.

Given this, Ruan Mei no longer felt that going to meet him was a good option.

Although Ruan Mei initially accompanied Lin Shuang in clearing the Swarm.

But it's also to understand the strength of these derived Swarm and what changes they might undergo.

The samples are now complete, and we've even obtained a Long bug and Abundance bug.

So, with the cleanup halfway done and the meeting with the stranger imminent, Ruan Mei decided to go back to the Laboratory first.

"There aren't many insects left, and we've collected enough samples. Lin Shuang, I'm going back to the Laboratory to start my research on the Long. You can do whatever you want after that."

Ruan Mei stood still and greeted Lin Shuang.

Her gaze passed over Lin Shuang and landed on the two little insects that were loyally protecting them.

Lin Shuang was taken aback for a moment, then realized that Ruan Mei probably just didn't want to waste time socializing.

So she took out an empty Poké Ball from her pocket, put the two little bugs inside, and handed it to Ruan Mei.

"Then I'll leave it to you. Also... don't torment them too much; they're intelligent enough now."

Those captured by Lin Shuang also experienced an enhancement of their mental state, as always.

This has led Lin Shuang, who initially had no particular opinion about the appearance of these insects, to gradually find her two little bugs rather cute.

"... Don't worry, this is your guard. I know what I'm doing."

Ruan Mei felt somewhat helpless after Lin Shuang's admonition, admitting that she lacked reverence for life.

But that doesn't mean she's some kind of mad scientist who enjoys torturing life.

Logically speaking, even if it's Failed Creations experiment, at most it would just be abandoned by Ruan Mei.

Even dangerous varieties are destroyed directly.

When did she ever abuse any of her test subjects?

Ruan Mei discovered that Lin Shuang might have a strange misunderstanding about her.

It's strange, Ruan Mei thought she and Lin Shuang were meeting for the first time.

Her behavior after meeting him never went too far, but Lin Shuang remained wary of him from the very first meeting.

It was fine when they first met, since Ruan Mei knew about Herta's terrible character.

It's not incomprehensible that someone would be wary of their own fellow genius.

But this wasn't the first time we'd met; we'd even seen those Failed Creations at Cat Cake.

How could someone possibly imagine themselves as some strange, eccentric scientist?

Ruan Mei doesn't think her reputation in the universe is too bad.

I really don't understand where Lin Shuang's strange impression came from.

But never mind, Ruan Mei isn't the type to explain things like that.

As long as Lin Shuang is still willing to cooperate with his research, nothing else matters.

If the impression is strange, then so be it. But if we're talking about extremely strange impressions of oneself, Lin Shuang's is nothing compared to that.

Ruan Mei took the Poké Ball, which clearly bore the marks of Xianzhou Technology, and turned to leave.

Lin Shuang naturally continued to explore further.

Although I was somewhat startled when I first saw these invisible insects.

But once you get used to it, you can still react and sense that something is wrong even without activating the [Mystic Seal of True Sight].

Lin Shuang glanced down at the location and noticed that the green punctuation mark had suddenly accelerated and split into two.

"Huh? Why are there two people? What's the tracking method used for this?"

I couldn't help but complain about the accuracy of this thing.

However, among the separated points of light, one was somehow heading straight towards Lin Shuang.

And behind them, the red punctuation marks, for some reason, moved closer to them.

"... What did you do to attract all the bugs in the neighborhood?"

Lin Shuang twitched the corner of her mouth, wondering what the two people over there had done.

But since the goal is to clear out the Swarm, I'll still go and check it out first.

At the same time.

"Whoaaaaah!!! What did that box do to you? Why did you smash it?!"

March 7th, who was running ahead carrying a bow and arrows, was almost in tears!

Originally, with one as a forward and the other as a defender, they could have put up a fight even against those bugs.

But who knew that when they passed by a cabin...

Xing aimed a baseball bat at the box inside.

Then, the dismantled box leaked.

Something inside, some unknown substance, transformed into a strange-smelling mist and swallowed the two of them.

Then...

The nearby insects swarmed towards the two of them as if they had gone mad.

"Because the box is right there!"

As Xing ran, she carried her Flaming Lance, occasionally turning back to fire a shot to block the approaching insects.

March 7th continuously shielded the two of them and used the Six-Phased Ice to freeze the bugs in front of them and clear a path.

"Still spouting nonsense at a time like this?!"

On March 7th, I really wanted to pry open Xing's skull to see what was inside.

Is now the time to act silly?

March 7th, who was behind her, hurriedly offered words of comfort.

"On the bright side, at least the commotion is so loud, maybe Lin Shuang can hear it."

"... I'd rather not have this benefit!"

March 7th is so exhausting I can't even complain anymore.

"Why are we still being chased even though we've already cleared this map?! This isn't how it's portrayed in the stories!"

Just then, suddenly—

"This huge Diamond —it's for you!!"

Herta's coquettish voice rang out from the other end of the corridor.

Next came the purple crystals, radiating an extremely strong presence.

Like a cannonball being launched, it created a huge gust of air, sweeping over the head of March 7th.

Boom--!!!

The crystal landed in the center of the Swarm, causing a violent explosion.

The flames and hurricane even blew the stars and March 7th into the air.

"Wow--!!"

Xing Fanshou used his Smoke Gun to brace himself against the wall, while March 7th, who didn't have such a weapon, crashed headfirst into a warm embrace.

"Why are there just the two of you?"

The sense of security brought by the familiar voice almost made March 7th burst into tears.

God knows how she got through that journey; she was almost traumatized by those horrible insects!!

"Waaaah-- Lin Shuang, you're finally here!! I've missed you so much!"

358

Chapter 358 Star: Did I arrive at the wrong time?

March 7th's little face seemed to melt as she nestled into Lin Shuang's arms, looking like she was about to cry.

This place is pitch black and deserted, and the insects like to hide, so you get startled every now and then.

These bugs are disgusting to begin with, and I absolutely loathe them on March 7th.

And they keep bumping into each other at close range.

I was almost scared to tears by March 7th.

In addition, they had just been chased by Swarm.

Now that they've finally met the reliable 'parents,' March 7th was so excited she almost kissed them.

"I've finally found you! You have no idea what kind of monsters and demons I've encountered on my journey..."

March 7th, with a long face, complained.

I just wanted to find something to do, why am I being hunted down like this?

Furthermore, communication here has been cut off, and it's impossible to send messages.

It was like a horror movie; it really scared March 7th.

"What do you want with me? Didn't I tell you I had something to discuss?"

March 7th looked exactly like that crying emoji from the "March 7th" meme. It made Lin Shuang laugh.

Although it was very unkind, Lin Shuang couldn't help but laugh in front of March 7th.

"Waaaah--You're still laughing at us!! I'm really going to cry!"

It's actually quite cute that it's so angry it's about to bite someone on March 7th.

Meanwhile, the Herta Doll, enhanced by Lin Shuang, had already charged forward, wielding the Big Hammer.

Although Herta herself said that her little figures were not high-strength units.

But with Lin Shuang's enhancements and that sturdy Doll Body, smashing these bugs really wasn't a problem.

In addition, Lin Shuang also inserted Silver Wolf's AI into it.

So it's basically equivalent to automatic.

Xing, who was standing nearby, saw that the crisis had passed.

She heard Lin Shuang's voice and was about to greet her.

As soon as I turned my head, I saw the scene of March 7th throwing herself into Lin Shuang's arms.

For some reason, Xing felt that perhaps she had arrived at the wrong time.