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Ah Xian didn't dawdle. After accepting the prerequisite quest and finishing her conversation with Herta, she headed to the next quest marker to find Ruan Mei.
The moment Stelle stepped onto the platform, she saw an elegant figure standing at the very front, gazing out at the stars.
The outfit matched Herta's description. It had to be her.
Stelle walked over. Before she could even greet her, Ruan Mei turned around and gently traced two fingers along her chin and neck.
"…Miss Ruan Mei?" Stelle hesitated.
Why was she touching her right at their first meeting?
A faint smile appeared on Ruan Mei's face.
"Sorry. I hope I didn't startle you. This is just a work habit of mine."
"By touching to open perception, the details of life flow into my mind. It helps me understand your biological structure. This is the foundation for structuring and reshaping."
"Uh? Does that mean there's something wrong with my body?" Stelle tilted her head.
"Don't be nervous. You're very healthy—a perfect experimental sample. I like perfect experimental samples."
Ruan Mei's tone was gentle, like a spring breeze, yet Stelle felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
A healthy self… a perfect experimental sample?
…Well, when you put it that way, it wasn't entirely wrong.
Herta was the same. The way she looked at her was no different from looking at a lab specimen.
Now she understood why Leon had spoken up for Herta back then. Many geniuses simply had personalities that were hard to put into words.
Stelle didn't want to dwell on it. She pointed at the corner of Ruan Mei's mouth.
"You've got some pastry crumbs at the corner of your mouth."
"Ah? Really?"
Ruan Mei paused, then wiped the crumbs away with her fingers.
"I was admiring the scenery and got a little lost in thought. Since I don't usually walk around the space station, I only just realized today how open and calming the view is here."
"It pairs wonderfully with the faint fragrance of lotus leaves, plum blossoms, glutinous rice, and powdered sugar."
Ruan Mei took Stelle's wrist and gently pulled her forward.
"Come here. Look—the azure planet is right beneath our feet. It's so full of vitality."
"This dessert is delicious too. I'll share half with you."
She held out the plate in her hands. Half a piece of pastry sat on it, releasing a unique aroma. It looked extremely appetizing.
It was just… geniuses' thought processes could jump quite far.
One second she was talking about the scenery of the azure planet; the next, the topic had already shifted to pastries.
"No need. The senior from the Astral Express said that when meeting someone for the first time, you should maintain a sense of boundaries. I can't take what you like."
Stelle shook her head slightly and politely declined.
"A senior from the Astral Express? Which one?"
①: "Himeko."
②: "Leon."
③: "Welt."
④: "Dan Heng."
Seeing the four options pop up, Ah Xian couldn't help but laugh.
"The writing team is bullying my little March, huh? Even though she's clumsy and doesn't seem very reliable, she's so cute—how can she not count as a senior?"
"Don't you know what 'cuteness is justice' means?"
[She says March is her wife with her mouth, but when it comes to choosing, she picks Leon without hesitation. Heh, women.]
Stelle: "His name is Leon. You probably don't know him yet."
Ruan Mei's eyes flickered ever so slightly.
Clearly, she was not entirely unfamiliar with Leon.
Ruan Mei: "I've put a lot of effort into this plate of pastries. You're Herta's guest, which makes you my guest as well. There's no need to worry about boundaries."
Since the other party had already said it like that, Stelle didn't stand on ceremony.
"It tastes good (nom nom nom)…"
"Sweet pastries always remind one of flowers blooming. Eating them bite by bite, the fragrance lingers on the lips and teeth. I hope you like it too."
"Thank you for the treat, Lady Ruan Mei."
Stelle looked at Ruan Mei with newfound respect. She hadn't expected that someone as lofty as a Genius could make pastries this delicious.
In terms of cooking skills, compared to a certain Lady Herta, the difference was immediately obvious.
Ruan Mei: "It's a pity there are still too many people on the space station. The noise doesn't quite match the pastries."
"Well then… Next, I have a request. If you complete it well, I'll give you a reward."
Stelle froze. "What request?"
Ruan Mei: "A few days ago, I hinted to Herta that I was interested in you."
"I want you to become my assistant. No one is more suitable than you—after the few contacts we had in the Simulated Universe, I'm certain of this."
"As compensation for being my assistant, I can fulfill anything you want."
"The words are a bit bold, but Ruan Mei is quite surprising. I don't see any personality flaws in her."
Ah Xian stared at the gentle, smiling face on the screen.
Just as she was about to say something else, a prominent danmaku comment made her freeze.
[If the senior you chose wasn't Leon, you'd know exactly where Ruan Mei's personality flaw lies…]
"What does that mean?"
[I was streaming and pushing the plot. If you don't choose Leon, Ruan Mei's habit of acting first and explaining later is hard to put into words.]
[The "choice you won't regret" gold content is still rising!]
"Emmm… Could you roughly explain?"
Through the danmaku chat, Ah Xian finally understood the issue.
If the senior's name she reported wasn't Leon, then Ruan Mei would tamper with the pastries and make the protagonist ingest a drug called the "Anti-Truth Serum."
It wasn't harmful to the body, but it would prevent one from voicing their true thoughts when answering questions related to Ruan Mei.
Ruan Mei treated it as a layer of protection—protecting both her research and the protagonist's personal safety—and promised to provide the antidote once the trouble was resolved.
At first it didn't sound like a big problem, but upon closer inspection, Ruan Mei had never given the player the right to choose.
One could even call it a forced transaction.
Drugging someone at the very first meeting without any discussion—what if it had been poison?
Some players didn't think it was a big deal.
But there were also those who strongly disliked this approach and regretted not choosing Leon's name earlier.
They finally understood that neither Herta nor Leon had lied.
"Leon's deterrence is really something. Even Ruan Mei is wary of him… By the way, has anyone tested Ruan Mei with the Rating Pistol?"
[Tested. She has a score. Most likely not an Emanator.]
Currently, players followed an unwritten rule—
Characters who receive a score on the Rating Pistol test cannot be definitively ruled out as Emanators. However, the two confirmed Emanators in their true forms definitely cannot be measured.
One is Jing Yuan. The other is Leon.
Herta, because she is in a puppet body rather than her true form, is a special exception.
Besides them, the characters without scores are March 7th, Sampo, and Luocha. Whether these three are Emanators remains uncertain for now.
Stelle: "What do you want me to help with?"
Ruan Mei: "When I arrived at the space station, I borrowed Herta's creation from #29 Siskar—the 'Phase Spirit Fire'—hoping to gain some inspiration from other members' research results."
"As I had hoped, I drew inspiration from it and attempted to cultivate life on the space station. Unfortunately, something went wrong…"