Among the members of the Genius Society who researched life sciences, there were quite a few,
but the only one Shirou Emiya had the chance to come into contact with was probably Ruan Mei.
Unlike Mei, Ruan Mei's sense of the weight of life was profoundly unbalanced. She pursued the meaning of creating life simply because it had been an interest she had immersed herself in since childhood.
As for what purpose she created life for?
Perhaps it was merely to obtain a set of data through simple observation,
or perhaps it was just a simple experiment.
She neither respected nor despised life. Though, purely in terms of facial features and appearance, she could be called the woman who best fit his tastes among all the women Shirou had seen, he had no intention of getting too deeply involved with a woman like her...
Because...
In her eyes, you might be nothing more than a wriggling lump of flesh.
Of course,
if you did not intend to treat her as a woman, and merely hoped that her genius brain could produce something valuable...
then she was someone worth cooperating with a little.
In fact, this was how one got along with most members of the Genius Society.
As long as you had materials they wanted, these people would show you basic courtesy.
If you did not, and your intelligence could not compare to theirs, their gazes would not fall on you for even a moment.
Geniuses strolled among the 980 stars filling the skies every moment, while ordinary people... needed to rack their brains and exhaust generations of effort just to record the traces they left behind.
Mei was very intelligent. She had great potential in biology and had turned it into genuine expertise, but compared to those freaks who disregarded the weight of life, she still retained a profound awareness as a human being.
Her starting point would always be humanity's evolution.
Ruan Mei, however, had never confined herself to the identity of being human. Rather, the fact that she still retained human physiological characteristics was already a miracle—a miracle left behind by her parents. Using both of their surnames as anchors, they had forcibly fixed the human individual named "Ruan Mei" in place. It was precisely this awareness that had kept her from completely becoming an emotionless monster.
If he gave her the Mangekyō Sharingan and used the biological samples in her possession, then if she could complete and supplement the Mangekyō Sharingan...
he could make this woman work for him for free.
"Through Moody Blues, I'll be able to perfectly replicate all of her actions then."
"Just how much change can a genius brain bring to the Sharingan?"
After Ruan Mei accepted the pair of Sharingan, the two of them headed together toward Herta's office. They had gathered this time to discuss the further evolution of the Simulated Universe, preparing to add the backgrounds of specific periods related to Aeons so that testers could truly travel to those eras and participate in the stories of the Aeons.
The geniuses discussed things with great enthusiasm, but Mr. Emiya was utterly uninterested. After all, he did not have the brains of a genius. Their heads were full of numbers, neutrons, quanta, particles, and atoms, while his head... only had points... and boobs.
Being a Miracle God who could enjoy fighting was enough for him. What was the point of researching so much biology, cosmic social science, and quantum mechanics? Was he supposed to cram all that information into his head and go take graduate entrance exams?
Besides, with the system around, perhaps one day he would roll rewards containing their knowledge. Wouldn't he be able to copy and paste it then?
So, figuring out the direction he should work toward was what mattered most...
Yeah, points really were the most important thing in the world.
After discussing for quite a while, the geniuses decided to launch the brand-new Simulated Universe S1 version, loading in the backstory of the Great Cosmic Calamity. But an update for an entirely new season naturally could not be completed in just a few days. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Shirou still forced himself through one round of the ordinary Simulated Universe.
Points +120.
With the points in hand, Mr. Emiya lost interest in the geniuses. What use were geniuses who would not open a new dungeon for him?
"Could the Great Cosmic Calamity count as a new mission?"
"I'll see later."
After leaving the meeting room where the geniuses were talking, he found Asta and Alan. At Asta's feet, Peipei was unusually acting like a lapdog, desperately rubbing against her. But unfortunately... Station Chief Asta now had a new favorite. Why would she care about little General Peipei?
The little Bangboo was being kneaded over and over in Asta's hands. Its soft, bouncy form was simply impossible to put down. On top of that, Bangboos clearly possessed highly anthropomorphic intelligence, and they had been given minds as pure and childlike as infants. All one could say was... very few people could refuse little things like Bangboos.
"Mm-hm, mm-hm. (It's Parent...)"
Seeing Shirou return, the little Bangboo broke free of Asta's hold. Its round little body ran over with surprising agility and approached Shirou's side, swaying constantly as it spoke again.
"Mm-hm, mm-hm. (Please assign me a duty, as well as a family identification name...)"
"An identification name..."
Looking at the little Bangboo's chubby body and short stature, along with the fact that its power source was electricity, that it could store and discharge electricity, and that it even had a little pom-pom-like tail...
Hmm...
"Chubby?"
"Mm-hm? (Confirmed?)"
The little Bangboo's voice became slightly dejected. Being called fat had probably hurt its feelings. Its anthropomorphic performance really was impressive. Seeing the little thing so downcast, Shirou rubbed its head.
"Let's call you Connor."
"Mm-hm! (Okay!)"
The little fatty jumped up happily. Asta, standing to the side, looked like she wanted nothing more than to snatch it up and bury her face in it. She could not help asking,
"Where did you get this little guy?"
"From a place called New Alledoo."
"Shirou! This is the request of my lifetime!"
"Are you proposing?"
"Huh? Is that okay? Actually, Shirou, your qualifications are quite good in every respect. As long as you're willing to take over our family's work in the Building Material Logistics Department..."
"What department did you just say?"
"The Building Material Logistics Department."
"Mm, actually, I don't really want to get married so early."
Damn it, the IPC's Building Material Logistics Department. Their direct superior was Taravan Gien, a currently known Preservation Emissary. This department's predecessor was the Amber King Rescue Team, the people directly responsible for delivering construction materials to Klippers's feet—the front-line personnel facing whatever disaster Klippers dealt with.
No wonder Asta had been so influential at Herta Space Station despite being so young. At least one of her parents came from a super-powerful department like that. If people from the Market Development Department or similar divisions came from the company, they really would not dare to throw their weight around before this girl. After all, her parents might genuinely belong to the group serving Klippers directly.
"What a shame."
Asta's little expression carried a trace of teasing and a hint of disappointment, but she quickly brought the topic back around.
"The next time you pass through New Alledoo, could you bring me some more little Bangboos?"
"Sure."
Meeting the girl's slightly disappointed gaze, Shirou narrowed his eyes faintly and spoke with a smile.
"Next time, I definitely will."
"Definitely what?"
"All of them."
The Simulated Universe in Herta's office was temporarily shut down.
The Great Cosmic Calamity version update began.
The geniuses each went about their work. Ordinary researchers could not even serve as their assistants, and Shirou was not even as capable as those researchers. Hilarious... he was just an amateur scholar plus a self-taught mage. How much specialized knowledge could he possibly have?
He ate when it was time to eat, drank when it was time to drink, went to have coffee with Asta whenever he had nothing to do, then returned to the ninja world to gather for meals with Himeko and the others.
"Let's bring the Trailblaze Journey here to a temporary close."
After staying in the ninja world for roughly a week, Himeko and Welt decided to temporarily stop their Trailblaze Journey through the ninja world. The fuel they had collected on this trip was already enough for several galactic-scale warps.
Secondly, the invitation from Penacony had been sent to the Express some time ago. At the time, neither Stelle nor Shirou had been aboard the train. If they could not reach Penacony before the Grand Gala began, Dreamville Hotel might not be able to reserve rooms for Stelle and Shirou.
"It's not too good to keep leaving Dan Heng and Pomeranian at the train, either."
March 7th seemed somewhat embarrassed as well. Recently, she had been jumping back and forth between multiple worlds and having a blast with Stelle. But when she thought of Dan Heng still guarding the train, she suddenly felt terribly guilty.
"Should we bring Dan Heng and Pomeranian some gifts?"
Little Pink Hair looked toward Little Grey Hair. Little Grey Hair fell into thought, then her eyes suddenly lit up as she spoke seriously.
"I've noticed Dan Heng often stays up late and always seems listless during the day. Should we bring him some premium coffee beans?"
"That sounds good."
"How rare. You two are actually thinking about Dan Heng."
Himeko heard their discussion and immediately revealed a gratified smile. Then she said very seriously,
"In that case, once we return to the train, I'll grind and brew them by hand."
The instant Himeko said that, a hint of pallor appeared on Stelle, March 7th, and Welt's faces.
Emotion Points from March 7th +13
Emotion Points from Stelle +11
Emotion Points from Welt +22
Was this the power of the Navigator?!
Shirou frowned slightly and quietly retreated behind everyone. Not just anyone was qualified to taste Himeko's coffee. As a newcomer, he clearly was not worthy. It was better to let Welt, the senior veteran, enjoy more of it.
"Cough, cough, cough."
Mr. Welt coughed heavily. Then, after exchanging glances with the other two little ones, he spoke as their representative.
"Let the children decide on the gifts themselves. As elders, we don't need to interfere too much."
"...All right."
Himeko swept a subtle glance over everyone present. She knew her coffee did not seem to be very popular, but surely it was not so bad that they would resist it to this extent.
She refused to believe no one liked her coffee.
Thinking this, the Navigator's beautiful eyes shifted, and she suddenly caught sight of the figure carefully hiding behind the other three. Then she abruptly spoke.
"Shirou, I'm planning to have coffee next. Would you like a cup too?"
Huh?
Mr. Emiya's expression instantly froze. He raised his head slightly, and his eyes met those of the two little ones for a moment. Then he conveyed a gaze so intense it was almost a tangible voice.
Save me!
After a brief pause of several seconds, the two little ones each gave him a simple look in response.
Can't save you.
Wait for death.
After leaving him with those looks, the two little ones fled quickly, leaving Shirou with no choice but to approach the remaining two old-timers with a broad smile. Welt stood behind Himeko and sighed softly before turning his head away with apparent reluctance.
But...
Why, why could the corners of your mouth not stop curling up?
Welt!
Was this how you treated your comrade?!
"Give me a cup."
Shirou walked forward with a smile, as though he had not noticed the danger posed by Himeko's coffee. If he wanted something, he had to pay something. If he truly wanted to win over this great beauty, he could not avoid dealing with her coffee in the future.
He truly admired the first person who had dared to drink Himeko's coffee voluntarily.
Maybe they had even fainted.
Stelle, March 7th, Welt,
when I can make coffee at this level with ease,
I'll definitely let you all have a good taste.
Before you continue