Chapter 69

Asta herself funds the daily operation and maintenance of the space station, so let alone this small matter, even if the space station were to collapse, as long as there are no casualties, it would be insignificant in her eyes and not worth getting angry about at all.

"Yes, yes, Ms. Herta, don't be angry. Bai Jun really didn't do it on purpose. Everyone in our training room witnessed it. Besides, judging from Bai Jun's expression, he definitely shows remorse!"

Arlan, whose arms were wrapped in bandages and whose face had some burns, nodded in agreement, his smile showing no concern whatsoever for the matter.

The scene was still vivid in Arlan's mind. He could tell that Bai Jun's actions were not of his own volition, and that he had reminded them in time, otherwise the injuries they suffered would have been much more severe.

As for the rest... just send it, buddy, who cares?

Herta raised an eyebrow slightly. She hadn't expected that Asta and Arlan would plead for Bai Jun. Had their relationship with Bai Jun developed so well in such a short time?

"Hmph, I'm not angry at all. How could a genius like me get angry over such a trivial matter?"

Herta glanced down at Bai Jun again and found him sitting obediently in the chair, his azure eyes blinking with shame as he stared intently at her, his delicate and flawless face looking as innocent as a little rabbit.

This sight gradually extinguished the anger in Herta's heart, and at the same time, he truly understood why the man's relationships with those around him had improved so quickly—this man was indeed handsome!

After all, humans are visual creatures, so it's understandable that they feel very satisfied seeing his handsome face.

But Herta still wanted to question Bai Jun about what exactly he had used to make the noise, but before he could speak, Screwllum suddenly spoke up to remind him:

"Herta, while I may not be qualified to comment on the space station, before that, take a look at his arm under his left sleeve."

Hearing Screwllum's reminder, Herta then noticed something was off about Bai Jun.

"Wait... let me see!"

Herta immediately grabbed his left arm as he tried to dodge backward. After lifting the sleeve, he saw that the skin of his arm, which had been used to wield the Sacred Judgment of Heavenly Fire, was scorched black by the flames, with crimson lines flowing between the charred skin like lava.

Such horrific injuries caused Asta to cover her mouth in horror, and even Arlan's eyes widened in shock.

"This injury is nothing, it'll heal in a few days..."

Thanks to the blessing that the Power of Abundance had once bestowed upon him, Bai Jun seemed completely unconcerned about it.

His physique was basically the same as that of most Xianzhou native, and his recovery ability far exceeded that of other species. It was thanks to this that he was seen as a fellow countryman by the Xianzhou native, thus saving them a lot of trouble.

"Tch, are you an idiot? Didn't anyone teach you that you need to take off your clothes as soon as you get burned? Besides, you're my most precious experimental subject. You're not allowed to get hurt without my permission! Come on, let's go to my office so I can apply the medicine!"

Herta frowned slightly, gently tearing open the entire sleeve near his left arm, then taking his uninjured right wrist and leading him toward the office without giving him a chance to refuse.

"Really, you don't need to..."

"Don't argue with me! Just listen to me!"

The two figures gradually disappeared into the Master Control Zone.

Seeing this, Arlan quickly followed. Asta stood there, troubled and at a loss, while Screwllum nodded in satisfaction.

Chapter 95 In the end, she lived like a mother.

"Sit still here and don't move."

Herta's office wasn't furnished with any sofas or chairs, so she had to press Bai Jun down onto the pile of manuscripts stacked on the floor and use it as a makeshift sofa.

After settling Bai Jun, Herta walked to the bookshelf, stood on tiptoe, and retrieved a bottle of unlabeled green liquid from the toolbox.

"It might hurt a little, just bear with it."

As he spoke, Herta generously poured the entire bottle of green liquid onto Bai Jun's left arm.

Sizzle sizzle...

As the red liquid came into contact with the injured skin, a chilling, nauseating sound rang out, as if a chemical reaction was occurring. At the same time, a jaw-dropping scene immediately appeared on the left arm.

--Fresh blood seeped from the dark skin of his left arm, but in an instant it boiled and evaporated like steam.

The body temperature at the wound site rose rapidly, and the flesh began to grow and repair itself. In an instant, the arm, which had been burned beyond recognition by the flames, was completely healed, and even the skin returned to its original smoothness, without leaving a single trace.

"What a powerful potion..."

Bai Jun stared in astonishment at his perfectly intact left arm. He tried to clench his fist, and the burning pain and numbness in his muscles and bones had completely disappeared. In fact, his flesh and blood were filled with a continuous surge of vitality, which made him sigh with emotion.

"This is a 120-fold diluted slurry of the Abundance Giant Tree, usually used as an experimental sample. It's so-so, only someone with your physique could use it. If you gave it to Arlan, I reckon his body would be covered in tree branches in less than three minutes."

Faced with Bai Jun's praise, Herta simply tossed the empty bottle aside indifferently and walked straight to the control center of the Simulated Universe, pondering how to remove the incorrectly installed component.

"By the way, how's the maintenance of the Simulated Universe going?"

"It'll be soon, probably in the next day or two. But you really have the nerve to say that... If it weren't for the commotion caused by that brat, the repair process of the Simulated Universe could have been much faster."

Mentioning this, the anger that Herta had barely managed to quelled began to surge again.

"I can't be bothered arguing with you. By the way, Ruan Mei hasn't been involved in the maintenance of the Simulated Universe these past few days, nor has she come to my place. Screwllum and I haven't had time to specifically look for her either. Since you're here, why don't you give her that research notebook while you're at it? At least let her, as one of the founders, know about the recent progress of the Simulated Universe."

She tossed the notebook containing Simulated Universe data to Bai Jun with a huff, and impatiently began to shoo him away.

However, while pushing Bai Jun out, she suddenly thought of something.

"I forgot to tell you, don't try it again after this Simulated Universe is repaired, at least not until we figure out your physical condition. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll attract the attention of some Aeon himself again. Nanook's situation last time was just lucky; you won't be so lucky again. I don't care if the space station is blown up, but you'll suffer a huge loss."

A look of helplessness appeared on Herta's face, as if he regretted not being able to conduct various tests on such a good candidate as Bai Jun.

"What a pity. If my true form were still here, I could at least save you, but my puppet body is powerless to do anything, so I have no choice but to resort to this as a last resort."

"Your true form?"

Bai Jun felt somewhat curious. Although he had learned of Herta's existence through snippets of conversation among the staff at the space station, it was said that she hadn't visited the space station for many years.

Furthermore, there are no photos of Herta himself circulating on the space station, so people can only hear about him through rumors and at most, they can only imagine what he looks like by looking at the agents on the space station.

"Oh? Judging from your tone, do you perhaps wish to see my true form?"

Herta put her hands on her hips, and a captivating smile spread across her lips, clear and charming.

Just as Bai Jun was pondering how to answer, Herta walked up to him, stood on tiptoe, and found that even with his arms outstretched he couldn't touch Bai Jun's forehead. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and then lightly punched Bai Jun's shoulder.

"Don't even think about it. The only thing I can tell you is that my original self was definitely taller than I am now, tall enough to easily touch your forehead. As for the rest, I won't tell you, lest you lose sleep tonight."

After casually uttering those words, she remained silent and then ushered the bewildered Bai Jun out of the office.

Not long after leaving the office, Bai Jun noticed a tall, elegant mechanical figure standing in the corridor in front of the office door.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Bai Jun."

He gazed contentedly at the boundless starry sky outside the window, and upon hearing the noise at the door, he nodded slightly to Bai Jun.

"Hello, Mr. Screwllum."

After Bai Jun saw his face clearly, he nodded in return to greet him.

"Don't be so formal, just use yourself." "The Herta" is a place where knowledge converges. Here, we praise the equality of thought, bask together in the glory of knowledge, and pursue common answers to the common pursuit of knowledge. Perhaps our destinations are not the same, but countless paths will still intersect and meet, so there's no need to worry. Even if we are not friends, we can still address each other as comrades."

Only then did Bai Jun realize where the elegance of Screwllum truly came from.

It's not just about appearance and clothing, but also about language and actions; it's probably what we call temperament or something similar.

Both of them had their own things to do, so they only exchanged a few words before Screwllum prepared to go to Herta's office. Standing in front of the door, he unexpectedly apologized to Bai Jun.

"It was just my presumptuous decision to remind Ms. Herta. I apologize, and I hope it didn't cause you any trouble."

"No, not at all. Mr. Screwllum was just being kind; I should be thanking you."

Bai Jun shook his head and thanked Screwllum.

Thank you for your understanding.

Screwllum pushed open the office door, and Herta in the distance had already set its sights on him, its subtle gaze seeming to tell a story.

"You don't need to look at me like that, Ms. Herta."

Screwllum gently pushed up the monocle in his right eye and explained politely:

"The emotions of organic life are like the tides, rising and falling, their meaning completely different for different people. For organic life where emotions intertwine, it might be a fallen leaf in the changing seasons, or the lines etched by time on the other person's body—something you call emotion, a great thing. Wisdom is a gift from the world, and also an imposed blessing. I feel that these beautiful emotions should not be missed. Perhaps only in this way can we truly understand what the heart is, Ms. Herta?"

"What are you muttering to yourself? I don't know, I don't understand, and I don't want to hear it. Come over and lend a hand; all I know is that the Simulated Universe can't function without you."

Herta snorted softly, casually fiddling with his hair, before turning his back to look at Screwllum again.

In the pitch-black room, only a single desk lamp provided a faint light source.

The pale yellow light and shadow intertwined to create a beautiful, gentle yet haggard face, while in the dim light, heavy books piled up one after another.

"No, you're going the wrong way."

The manuscript paper was crumpled into a ball, tracing a messy path through the air before rolling to the ground.

Ruan Mei stared intently at the sample in the petri dish, lost in deep thought.

Even after three days, the power in Bai Jun's blood showed no signs of weakening, continuing to radiate endless vitality like an inextinguishable flame.

She had long heard that Bai Jun's physique could withstand high concentrations of Abundance energy. She had assumed it was a specialized adaptation to Abundance, but no matter what kind of Path power was put into the petri dish, the final result was always the same—it was assimilated by Bai Jun's blood and then absorbed.

Unprecedented, unheard of...

The laws governing things are always complex and fascinating on the surface, but simple and unadorned on the inside. All things have a cause, and a single formula can resolve the confusion of all beings—that is life.

From a young age, she has enjoyed observing the life traces of microscopic organisms, such as the rate at which slime molds devour objects; she has also taken in the macroscopic world, studying the development of the universe to date.

These are all very simple. What she wants to understand is the "essence of life," something that every individual possesses but is unaware of—whether it be the materiality of existence or the unknowable things beyond matter.

To avoid blindly following science, she cautiously raised a question: Can a person's body withstand the forces brought by multiple Path?

This question has already been tested, and the answer is naturally far-fetched, because the essence of life has already indicated the nature of Path.

Even when Path that overlap in concept collide, the ultimate result is that the broader Path will swallow up the narrow one...

Path merges?

As this idea surfaced in my mind...

A vast amount of information and intelligence up to today flashed through my mind at breakneck speed.

To withstand high concentrations of Abundance energy within a human body, to destroy the power that suppresses Stellaron through Fragmentum, to possess the qualifications to attract the gaze and opposition of Aeon, and to have the qualities in one's blood that encompass other Path—

Like a coordinate axis, Ruan Mei peels away the external disturbances to explore the most fundamental and beautiful form of life. There may only be one answer, and she can only think of one "life form" that is enough to make her admit its elusiveness—that is the Aeon.

Ruan Mei's right hand, which was tightly gripping the brush, trembled slightly. She looked at the ink in the inkstone as if she were gazing at the shimmering surface of water. Whenever ripples appeared on the surface, the answer reflected in her eyes would change.

Everything makes sense now. If this inference is equivalent to the truth, it can explain Bai Jun's characteristics.

Could it be...? Could it be...?

Ruan Mei ultimately arrived at a completely absurd, fantastical miracle that no one had ever witnessed before, yet which truly existed in history.

The entity called "Sun" becomes the final piece of the puzzle, Ruan Mei finally realizes the "truth."

As the flashing Remembrance and information merged, she slowly opened her mouth. "Could it be that it's a completely new..."

Click--

"Oh, you're still busy? Take a break."

The distressed sound coming from the doorway interrupted her thoughts. Ruan Mei turned her head, and the bright light from the corridor made her subconsciously squint her sore eyes. Bai Jun walked into the room and saw the messy floor, and couldn't help but feel a little helpless.

She completely treated Bai Jun's room as her own home, with her research notes scattered everywhere, precious manuscripts carelessly tossed on the floor, and a high pile of books stacked next to her desk, making it so messy that there was nowhere to step.

"You're back... Hugs, I want to take a shower."

Ruan Mei gazed at him quietly for a long time, then gently rubbed her sore eyes, lazily yawned, and naturally stretched out her hands towards Bai Jun, like a spoiled little girl.

"Where did you come from, a three-year-old...?"

Bai Jun glanced at Ruan Mei with disdain, ignoring her, and simply bent down to pick up the manuscripts and notes scattered on the ground.

"Hmm, this will allow me to observe your life characteristics and forms up close."

That was her explanation, just as she had given when she secretly slipped into Bai Jun's bed last time.

Bai Jun rolled his eyes at her and handed her the notebook he had been carrying. "By the way, this is the research notebook that Herta asked me to give you. It records the data from the Simulated Universe over this period of time."

"Oh, thank you so much. You've been a great help to me."

Ruan Mei smiled gently, her bare, fair feet touching the floor.

She bent down and picked up the coat Bai Jun had left behind, casually draped it over her back, and gently tossed her waist-length black hair outside the coat.

The oversized coat didn't fit her figure at all; draped over her, it looked like a nightgown two or three sizes too big, completely covering her pert buttocks and hanging almost to the middle of her thighs, enveloping her alluring body.

I still have a lot of pastries left over from yesterday, you can have them.

Ignoring the notes and manuscripts on the ground, her smooth, alluring feet, like ice cream, slowly walked to the side. She opened the lid of the insulated box and placed the portion she had specially reserved for Bai Jun on the table.

I'll eat later.