One system hour later, Screwllum arrived at Herta Space Station, four minutes and thirteen seconds ahead of the agreed time, for which he expressed his deepest apologies.
Not only was he the monarch of Planet Screwllum, but he was also #76 of the Genius Society. His manners were elegant and proper, and despite being an inorganic life-form, his gentlemanly bearing was second to none.
Even that was putting it modestly. On a grander scale, he was the leader of the Intellitrons, a combination of genius and monarch. It was hard to imagine that this robot was the most personable member of the Genius Society.
Ye Yan had not interacted with many members of the Society. It was mostly Herta and the few others who were interested in him. As for the rest:
Weirdos, lunatics, lone wolves, reclusive geniuses, people with social difficulties...
What a mess. These geniuses were terrifying. He was better off sticking to slacking off.
Asta brought Screwllum to Ye Yan's office, then carefully closed the door.
A conversation between geniuses-she was only the acting lead researcher. Better not to listen.
"Screwllum, long time no see." Ye Yan politely extended a hand.
"Have you been well lately, Mr. Ye Yan? I hope my arrival has not caused you any trouble," Screwllum replied.
"You two are exchanging pleasantries again."
Herta took out some earplugs. Every time they exchanged pleasantries, it went on for over five minutes, inflicting indelible noise pollution on the puppet's ears.
"Hypothesis: if thought always precedes language, then no words can define this joy. Whenever I see you, I do not know how to describe the delight in my heart."
"No need to be so formal. Treat me the way you treat Asta. Just address me casually. Don't you often say that the space station is a place where knowledge converges, and that here, we celebrate the equality of thought?"
"What does being an Aeon matter? I believe we could still become close friends without that identity."
As he spoke, Ye Yan took out a case of rich motor oil.
"Want a drink? Specially formulated motor oil from the Church of Eternity, made just for you."
"No, thank you."
"Speculation: what does it feel like to be friends with an Aeon? I sincerely thank you, Mr. Ye Yan, for allowing us to understand one another and advancing the academic research of Herta and myself."
Ye Yan had also contributed a great deal to the Simulated Universe. Otherwise, who had provided all those Aeon development logs? Aha?
"I'm only a tester. You lot are the ones doing the actual development."
Whenever Herta finished a new Aeon development log, she sent Ye Yan a document for him to check.
"For the experimental materials you have provided, Mr. Ye Yan, please allow me to offer you both thanks and an apology on Herta's behalf."
"With your involvement, our development of the Simulated Universe project has undoubtedly gone smoothly. It has brought us many pleasant surprises."
"Apology: the blood sample of the Aeon of Destruction that you brought us, Mr. Ye Yan... once today's interstellar news is released, it may bring you unnecessary trouble."
"Don't worry about it. News and public opinion are commonplace. Wherever a cosmic superstar goes, they trigger a string of news reports and repeatedly trend in searches. That's why I need to hide my identity."
Ye Yan drank the specially formulated motor oil in front of Screwllum and Herta. The stuff really tasted awful.
"Aeons drink motor oil, too?"
"I think you could drink it as well. After all, what's standing before us is only a puppet. That counts as an inorganic life-form, too."
"Fair point, but I'm not drinking it."
Some time later, Stelle arrived at Herta's office with Leonard, just in time to see Screwllum and Herta arguing.
Oh, and Ye Yan, who was scrolling through his phone beside them.
Seeing the two big shots in a dispute, Leonard immediately lost his nerve and squeezed into the doorway with Stelle to watch.
"Doesn't this feel like spying to you?" Stelle remarked, then took out her phone and started recording.
Leonard: ...
You're clearly more of a voyeur!
While Herta and Screwllum pretended to argue, Ye Yan put in his earplugs and read the messages Silver Wolf had sent him.
[Silver Wolf: LMAO, Herta and Screwllum are actually arguing. Aren't you going to break it up?] [System notification: Silver Wolf sent an image] [Silver Wolf: Look, a portrait of Herta sweating... I'm dying!] [Silver Wolf: Is this woman a narcissist? Her face is all over the space station-portraits, statues, and a whole bunch of projections.] [Silver Wolf: Ugh, I was going to spray a little mustache on her face, but it wouldn't go on... This is ridiculous! The entire space station is like wet tissue paper, but her photos are completely airtight!] [Silver Wolf: Hey, why did Kafka add you, anyway? Don't leave me on read.]
Looking at the long string of messages Silver Wolf had sent him, Ye Yan answered honestly.
[Ye Yan: To be a babysitter.] [Silver Wolf: Wait, you boarded the Express?!]
On a certain planet, the bubble gum in Silver Wolf's mouth suddenly popped, sticking all over her mouth.
Kafka asking Ye Yan to babysit could only mean looking after Stelle!
[Ye Yan: Every now and then, I feel like being a Nameless riding along on the Express, too.] [Silver Wolf: Fair enough... You have nothing to do every day anyway. On the Xianzhou, all you do is sleep or slack off. Sigh, I'm so jealous of you.] [Ye Yan: ???]
The corner of his mouth twitched. Had this girl just taken a few digs at him?
But Ye Yan had absolutely no grounds to argue. He wasn't giving up on trying; he was purely slacking off, doing nothing productive whatsoever.
If he had truly given up on trying, Ye Yan would never have gone to the Xianzhou to retire. He would have kept drifting aimlessly through the universe instead.
Then Nihility would have swallowed him long ago.
"Do you think you're so amazing? Right now, you're like someone from a... a... an Idiot Society."
The Herta Puppet suddenly ran out of words. Her genius mind had no vocabulary for insulting people at all. The only thing she could think of was that line Ye Yan often said to her.
"That was harsh, Ms. Herta..."
Leonard muttered outside the door. Hearing this, Stelle turned toward him with a scrunched-up face.
"Are you serious?"
Did that even count as an insult? To think that even a genius like Herta had shortcomings.
"It's scary precisely because I've never seen Ms. Herta insult anyone!" Leonard clutched his head. "We're doomed, doomed... The Simulated Universe is shutting down? That's Ms. Herta's flagship project! If it's gone, I don't even dare imagine how she'll blow up..."
"Wait, isn't this my fault? If I'd managed to stop the enemy intrusion back then, would Mr. Screwllum not be so pessimistic?"
Leonard suddenly began blaming himself, filled with regret.
Stelle put on a mature air. "Bro, I get you. That's why you should resign as soon as possible."
"Please don't take digs at me at a time like this..." Leonard was on the verge of tears.
"Mm." Stelle turned serious again. "Don't worry. This isn't your fault. Everyone bears some responsibility. Let's focus on what's in front of us."
Stelle started a second recording.
"Sigh, thanks for comforting me... It's so frustrating. I feel like there's nothing I can do."
Inside the office, Herta and Screwllum's argument was drawing to a close.
"Screwllum, we've known each other for so long. This is the first time I've ever..."
"Felt that you're nothing but a cold piece of iron."
With that, she turned and walked over to the Simulated Universe's access point, which happened to be beside Ye Yan.
Only after seeing that the two geniuses had finished arguing did Stelle and Leonard push open the door and enter.
Ye Yan looked down at Herta and removed his earplugs. "I didn't hear a thing."
"Good." Herta planted both hands on her hips, looking thoroughly unconvinced.
Still acting, even now. That's Herta for you!
"Look whose name is on the office sign. Why should I leave? Hmph, I'm staying right here."
Ding-dong, ding-dong!
Silver Wolf could not stop grinning as she bombarded Ye Yan with messages. The geniuses' argument was just too entertaining!
[Silver Wolf: Haha... Did you hear what Herta just said? She called Screwllum a cold piece of iron! I'm dying. Why didn't I record that?]
"My apologies, Miss Stelle. I'm sorry you had to witness that," Screwllum apologized.
Stelle really wanted to enjoy the drama now. "This is the first time I've seen Herta make that face."
"This matter arose because of me. I unilaterally expressed my wish to terminate our academic collaboration to Herta. Please do not misunderstand. I have no objections to her or this project. The Simulated Universe is a magnificent experiment, and Herta is a true genius."
"Then Ye Yan..." Stelle glanced at Ye Yan a short distance away.
"Ah, Mr. Ye Yan is merely here to watch the commotion. His presence will not change the dispute between my dear friend and me."
"I get it. Ye Yan doesn't matter."
"Hehe, an interesting answer."
Ye Yan: ???
Why was everyone taking digs at him?