Chapter 67

No no no no no!

Upon hearing this, the staff members immediately panicked, like young girls who had lost their composure, and tried to hide behind each other to escape Bai Jun's gaze.

Being able to spar with such a strong person would undoubtedly be an excellent opportunity to accumulate experience and improve strength. However, the staff members present were already terrified and refused to take a step forward no matter what. After all, they had already experienced how terrifying Bai Jun was many times before.

It's certainly a good thing to keep climbing towards the peak, but the problem is that Bai Jun doesn't seem to be the peak, but rather the lightning on the mountaintop. This is something that ordinary people like them can't touch at all. If they're not careful, they'll end up in a miserable state of being crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

"Let's do it!"

Despite knowing the fear and pain involved, two people still bravely stepped forward, even though their legs were trembling like leaves.

"Very good, what are your names?"

The two men had similar faces, and Bai Jun recognized them somewhat. He remembered that they had volunteered to spar yesterday, and he genuinely admired their courage.

My name is Allen Walker!

"I am his brother Eludick!"

The twins roared in similar tones, as if trying to vent their fear. They knew it would be a brutal crushing, but they were determined to hold out for five seconds—the longest they had ever held out against Bai Jun.

"I admire your courage and sincerely hope you can maintain it forever. Come, as a sign of my utmost respect for you..."

The two brothers, who thought they had already faced hell, gaped in disbelief as they witnessed an even more hellish scene— Bai Jun walked slowly to the weapons display case near the wall with a serious expression and took out a wooden training sword.

Even Brother Arlan never enjoyed such an honor.

Two seconds later, the two drifted off to sleep with peaceful expressions on their faces.

"Does anyone else want to spar with me? I'll try to be as gentle as possible..."

Seeing the deathly silence in the training room where no one dared to utter a sound, Bai Jun could only sigh, considering it the end of the day's sparring. After a brief farewell to Arlan lying on the ground, he left the training room amidst the fearful gazes of the others.

Leaving the deck filled with staff, turning onto a staircase with a noticeable drop, turning left at the third garbage recycling unit and walking straight past a row of control center machines, Bai Jun easily found Herta's office.

Unlike before, today Herta was neither immersed in the study of various Curio nor busy repairing the Simulated Universe. Instead, he was communicating with a humanoid figure dressed in an elegant tuxedo, made entirely of mechanical metal, with a lens hanging on his profile.

"I can't see through his physique at all. Even the information from the Rating Gun is only 'unable to measure.' You should be able to understand what that means, right, Screwllum?"

"I understand what you mean, but these circumstances alone don't seem sufficient to draw a conclusion..."

Screwllum stopped speaking and, along with Herta, turned to look at Bai Jun, who had appeared at the door.

"Ah, you're here. Come here quickly so I can see you. That person didn't do anything inappropriate to you, did he?"

Upon seeing Bai Jun, Herta immediately strode over to his side, lifted his clothes, and touched him to check if he was alright.

"You mean that Ruan Mei, right? The one who did something outrageous... She gave me a truth serum."

"It's no big deal, I'll give you the antidote in a bit."

Bai Jun silently put down his clothes and told Herta everything that had happened last night. Hei Ta nodded, not because she cared about the truth serum, but because she was a little unhappy that Bai Jun had become her assistant.

Bai Jun declined her offer, "No need, I've already untied it."

"It's good, not bad."

Herta looked up at him with slight surprise, but didn't ask any further questions. She simply said with a hint of regret:

"I have some bad news for you. The damage to the Simulated Universe is beyond our expectations. It seems we'll need to spend more time repairing it. As for your body, there's not much I can do. After all, biology isn't my forte, so your treatment during this period will have to rely on Ruan Mei."

This is also one of the reasons why Herta agreed to Ruan Mei's conditions yesterday. Although Ruan Mei's personality and way of doing things are a bit eccentric, no one can question her professional level. At the same time, she is also one of the few people Herta believes can solve Bai Jun's situation.

"Is that so... Can I refuse?"

Bai Jun sighed. Although her tears that morning had struck him as extremely strange, he ultimately didn't want to have any further contact with that person.

"For an entity capable of creating and resurrecting life, as well as creating inhabited planets and intelligent species, a moral system based on the continuation of life and the development of civilization is naturally meaningless to her. The best way to interact with her is not to judge her by your own values and morals; this will make your interactions with her much easier."

Herta simply comforted him and, incidentally, told him some other good news.

"Oh, by the way, the Astral Express will be arriving at the space station to resupply soon. Their navigator is quite an interesting person; perhaps she's heard about your situation during the long Trailblaze journey. You can go ask her then, although I don't think she'll actually know..."

"Astral Express?"

When Bai Jun heard this term, he subconsciously felt it was familiar. After thinking for a moment, he recalled that it was something that the staff of the Security Department often talked about.

"That's right, they are Nameless who inherited the will of the fallen 'Trailblaze' Aeon Akivili. They travel on the train built by Akivili, running between planets connected by galactic rails, establishing links in the galaxy. They can truly be called a great group of people."

The silent Screwllum smiled and explained to Bai Jun.

"I've chatted with these friendly and talkative Nameless around the campfire. They are often among the kindest and most interesting people you can meet in the galaxy. It may sound strange that there are such kind and loving people in a galaxy full of deception and danger, but it is indeed true."

The Nameless would be willing to appear in the most dangerous places in the galaxy, who would respect the safety of everyone and work tirelessly to build communication channels between planets, is probably this kind of person.

"That's right, that's pretty much the idea. You'll understand when you see it. That's all for now, you go ahead and do your work. Screwllum and I need to prepare for the repair of the Simulated Universe."

Herta agreed with Screwllum's words and then kicked Bai Jun out of the office.

"So you still care about Bai Jun, huh?"

Screwllum pushed up the lens with one hand, as if he had already seen through the Herta's thoughts.

"Hmph, who would care about him? It's just simple admiration..."

After leaving only Herta and Screwllum in the huge office, she let out a long sigh.

Herta never despises mediocre people. On the contrary, she will give a certain degree of recognition to those who know their own weakness but still try their best to become talented. She only despises those stupid and ignorant people from the bottom of her heart.

Being stupid is merely a matter of low intelligence, while being foolish is a matter of low morality, a state of living aimlessly and using ignorance as a shield, and is even unworthy of being a pathetic slave to glory and dignity.

Because the Herta were originally Short-lived species, they couldn't stand seeing other races with similarly short lifespans living so carelessly.

The arrogant and conceited Long-lived species are not worth mentioning. They have lived foolishly for thousands of years, their minds are empty, and all their years have been spent on the roe deer. She always believes that it is precisely because of her incompetence that she should understand how to burn her life and strive for progress.

At the same time, she affirmed the talent.

From this perspective, Bai Jun passed the test.

As the name suggests, it's not just his personality and strength that matter, but more importantly, the qualities he possesses that even she cannot fathom. To survive against two Aeon is already a miracle that ordinary people cannot overcome.

If one day in the future he disappears from everyone's sight, only the Herta will remember him and affirm his life.

Just like how he was forced to accept all sorts of unreasonable demands while following him around, he still didn't turn away. Regardless of his motives, he was willing to try to break free from the predetermined fate. Even the Herta had to acknowledge this fact.

Although Herta believed there was absolutely no possibility of developing feelings for Bai Jun, she still held onto hope for him.

"Could you be so special that Ruan Mei would separate you from other lives and treat you differently...?"

P. S.: (Note: The apology statement I posted yesterday was flagged by the backend for containing overly aggressive comments. If I don't delete it, it might get taken down by the review committee. I hope everyone can have a harmonious discussion. The recent crackdown is really a bit excessive...)

Chapter 93 Online Friends Meetup (2/20)

The gathering of three members from the Genius Society was indeed a rare and unusual event, causing quite a stir on the space station.

However, as time went by, three days later, the space station returned to its usual tranquility. People no longer focused their attention on these three geniuses, but instead returned to their normal lives.

If this is true for ordinary people, it goes without saying that geniuses are even more so. They are completely absorbed in their research and ignore the stares from those around them.

With the collaboration of Herta and Screwllum, the maintenance of the Simulated Universe is progressing rapidly, but for some reason, it always falls short of being fully repaired, which leaves Herta and Screwllum somewhat puzzled.

Even though the damaged core components of the Simulated Universe had already been replaced and the source code of the data center had been repaired, the Simulated Universe still couldn't be started no matter what. Helpless, the two could only attribute the problem to the overwhelming power of the Aeon, and silently pulled out the code to carefully check where the error was.

Ruan Mei's attention was entirely focused on Bai Jun. In just a few days, she had written a research manuscript that could almost form a small mountain. Unfortunately, her research project had also fallen into a similar predicament to that of Herta Screwllum.

Even after trying more than a dozen methods to prolong his life, Bai Jun's condition remained unchanged, like a pebble thrown into a lake that instantly disappeared.

Not only that, she was also at a loss in her investigation of Bai Jun's physique, to the point that she hadn't stepped out of Bai Jun's room for the past three days, burying herself in her research.

Bai Jun, as her assistant, didn't feel any pressure. He just occasionally helped her organize her manuscripts and reminded her to drink water and eat, among other miscellaneous tasks.

Herta was right. Ruan Mei was indeed a very strange person. Her personality was aloof and hard to fathom. She seemed cold and unapproachable, yet her actions and behavior occasionally revealed a hint of warmth. Perhaps this was just Bai Jun's misperception, but she had never done anything out of line.

If I had to point out a problem, it would be that she took over Bai Jun's room as her studio, forcing Bai Jun to share a room with Arlan these past few days.

Actually, all of these are insignificant. The biggest sense of unease that Bai Jun currently perceives is actually the "Favor of the Sun."

These past few days, as I basked in the sunlight again, the exaggerated rate of power amplification gradually slowed down, as if this power was gradually adapting to the body's "instrument" and actively reducing its speed according to its upper limit.

To put it more accurately and vividly, it's like a traveler in the desert who has been thirsty for a long time and finally receives rain. At first, he drinks water the fastest, but as the feeling of dryness in his body gradually disappears, the drinking speed will also slow down. And when he has drunk his fill and feels his limit, forcing himself to drink water will become a burden.

Even though there is still a lot of room for growth before reaching the so-called limit, Bai Jun still clearly felt this trend—it was not a narrow concept, but the upper limit that humans can reach, which is probably Emanator limit of this level.

If one wants to climb higher, perhaps the only solution is to ascend directly to godhood, just like Lan did a thousand years ago.

The question is, who knows how Arashi did it?

With his current Emanator level, how could he possibly defeat an Aeon?

Bai Jun's consciousness wandered in a sea of thoughts, his expression somewhat gloomy, staring blankly at the potato cream soup in the bowl.

When Arlan and the other staff members saw Bai Jun's worried state, they exchanged glances and consciously took their trays to find another place to create a quiet environment for him to be alone.

After Arlan left, worried about disturbing Bai Jun, a figure took the opportunity to sneak over.

Hey, Bai Jun, what's wrong?

Suddenly, an elegant voice that seemed to have a healing quality reached his ears. The person walked towards him with small steps. Bai Jun knew who it was just by hearing the voice, without even looking up.

"You look unhappy. Did someone upset you? Tell me who it was, and I'll go teach them a lesson!"

"Oh, no, I was just thinking about some things. But you seem to be in great spirits today."

Bai Jun's gaze drifted to her, and he was immediately struck by her beauty.

She took off her usual monotonous and dull black uniform jacket, and put on a thin and light white off-shoulder shirt underneath. Her fair and delicate shoulders exuded a pure and lovely charm, which complemented her gentle smile and azure eyes.

Perhaps it's because I'm used to her usual space station uniform, but suddenly seeing her unadorned purity and innocence... how to describe it... it's probably dazzling!

While Bai Jun was amazed by her appearance, he couldn't help but think, "Logically speaking, a girl with such a cute appearance and gentle personality should be very popular, right?"

But the truth is that no one on the space station seems to remember her.

"My uniform got wet by accident yesterday, so I'll have to wear my everyday clothes as a temporary substitute. Hmm... does it look good?"

The girl noticed Bai Jun's direct and unadorned gaze, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she lowered her head and asked softly.

"It looks great, it makes me look so much younger."

"Ugh, Bai Jun, you idiot! I've always been young! Besides, is that how you compliment someone?"

The girl pouted angrily, sat down next to Bai Jun, gently pinched his shoulder, and made a face that said, "I'm very angry."

"Indeed, cough cough... This lady is beautiful, with fair and delicate skin. Not to mention that such a beauty is rare in the north, she is extremely rare even in the south. She is only wearing a pure white brocade shirt, the color of which is very pure, but under the radiance of her face, even the most brilliant brocade appears dull and colorless."

"Ugh, stop it! Stop it! It's so cheesy!"

Bai Jun pondered for a moment, then took out a sentence he had memorized from his last study session with Teacher Hanya. The girl blushed and turned red after hearing only a few sentences, and hurriedly covered his mouth with her small hand.

After teasing the girl, Bai Jun felt much better. So, as usual, he told the girl sitting next to him about the various interesting stories he had experienced in Xianzhou over the years during the meal.

The girl was always very interested in the various stories Bai Jun told. Her heartfelt joy and curiosity about all sorts of things were genuine, so telling and listening to stories became a daily habit for the two of them.

Bai Jun narrated slowly, and the girl listened attentively, just like the Buye Hou and audience on the stage of the storyteller.

"Can you imagine that the arrogant and domineering General Yaoqing is actually someone who gets drunk after one beer, dizzy after two, goes crazy after three, and passes out after four? She has a terrible alcohol tolerance and a huge addiction, constantly pestering me to drink. But after only a few drinks, her terrible drinking behavior becomes apparent. Every time she gets drunk, she clings to me, making it impossible for me to handle her. And that's not all... uh, let's leave this topic at that, let's change the subject."

However, occasionally, while chatting, he would feel a strange sense of pressure from the girl. Although she always maintained a cute smile, Bai Jun could only silently change the subject at these times.

"Hmm, let's talk about the Ten Lords Bureau of the Xianzhou today. It's an organization that's not under the jurisdiction of the Xianzhou General, but directly under the Marshal. Even Xianzhou rarely hear about it. Luckily, I know quite a few friends who work in the Ten Lords Bureau, and they... Okay, let me change to another one."

This time, before Bai Jun could even speak, the girl beside him cast a terrifying gaze that seemed to ignite his soul, startling him so much that he had to stop immediately.

Honestly, no one could withstand a normally gentle and lovely girl occasionally revealing dark, empty eyes and staring at them with a completely emotionless smile, right?

"Oh right, let's talk about that hacker I met online. We initially met while playing games. I thought 'Silver Hacker' was just a screen name, but it turns out she's a real hacker. She's really ruined my life. Not only does she force me to play games with her every day, but if I refuse, she'll threaten others with her 'opening loot boxes' reputation..."

"Silver, the Silver Hacker!?"

The girl froze for a moment, then instinctively screamed. Luckily, the spot they had chosen was relatively secluded, so it wouldn't attract the attention of other people in the cafeteria.

"Yes, have you heard of the Silver Hacker, or perhaps you've been victimized by her?"

Bai Jun found her reaction strange, but he would never believe that she was the Silver Hacker herself. First, the possibility was too coincidental, and second, her usual silly appearance made it impossible to associate her with a profession like hacker.

"Yes, yes... I have indeed heard of the Silver Hacker."

The girl nervously gave a subtle smile, her trembling hand gently gathering her loose hair. If she remembered correctly, Silver Wolf's friend list only had one person, Nan Liujing, and she had just finished playing with Nan Liujing using Silver Wolf's device for several days.

She never dreamed that Bai Jun was actually Nan Liujing from the internet. Was it a coincidence of fate?

Elio is truly terrifying. No wonder she was said to encounter her destined variable here; so this is what destiny is all about...

"So you've heard of Silver Hacker too. Looks like she's a repeat offender; she probably threatens a lot of people."

"Aha... Yeah, that kind of person sounds like a really petty girl. She probably always bullies her roommates and makes them get her Cokes."