What kind of wish could be so grand that Ruan Mei would be willing to offer up everything she had to achieve it?
The geniuses each had their own quirks. Even Herta, who was relatively familiar with Ruan Mei, couldn't guess what her wish was.
Faced with Su Mo's proposal, Ruan Mei hesitated for a long while before finally looking up.
"Su Mo, could you come with me somewhere... Regarding your proposal, I still have a question I'd like to confirm."
Ruan Mei's tone was slightly expectant. Despite her gentle and watery appearance, her personality was as cautious and innocent as a child's.
Though both were unsociable types, unlike Herta, who disdained socializing, Ruan Mei was a true shut-in who rarely interacted with others.
In her past research, she often wandered the cosmos alone, enlightening and cultivating numerous life forms.
From her previous taciturn behavior, it was clear that she was surprisingly clumsy with words. Outside of her professional field, she was essentially a mature woman with the heart of a young girl.
The moment she spoke, anyone could tell she was completely taken with Su Mo's proposal. If Su Mo were to add any further conditions at this point, she probably wouldn't hesitate to agree immediately.
"What? You're actually...?!"
Herta was somewhat surprised that Ruan Mei was seriously considering it.
Hearing her gasp, Ruan Mei seemed to remember something and immediately looked at Herta.
"Herta, I want to take Su Mo to see my lab over there. Just the two of us."
Like Su Mo, Herta had also given Ruan Mei ownership of a section of the space station to use as a laboratory. What Ruan Mei was referring to now was her lab within the station.
Hearing her emphasize this, Herta's lip twitched.
"Don't worry, I know it's your lab. I won't follow you!"
Even if Ruan Mei hadn't said it, Herta had no intention of prying into what she was doing in her lab. It was partly for privacy and partly because she wasn't interested in life science research.
However, Ruan Mei's defensive tone made her feel a little strange.
I was here first! Whether it was becoming friends with Ruan Mei or with Su Mo, she had played a key role in both.
How did these two suddenly have a little secret, excluding her?
After complaining to herself, Herta didn't dwell on it.
Shaking her head, she looked at her phone and said, "Screwllum will take a while to arrive. You two can go wherever you want!"
"But don't take too long. Didn't Su Mo say earlier that he had questions for us?"
Being the easy-going person she was, she didn't intend to probe into their secrets, just offering a gentle reminder.
It had to be said, although she appeared sharp-tongued on the surface, Herta was actually quite easy to get along with.
"No problem." Su Mo nodded and glanced at Ruan Mei.
He had already guessed what Ruan Mei wanted to show him and had a good idea of what she was thinking.
"We'll be back soon. See you later!"
"See you. Try not to make too big of a mess. Even if you do, wait until Asta is done with her current work."
Herta waved her hand, adding another instruction.
Even though Asta was very good at cleaning up, they had to consider sustainable development. They couldn't wear out this useful tool.
If Asta heard this, it was hard to say whether she would be touched by Herta's concern or heartbroken by her capitalistic behavior.
"Understood."
Su Mo waved, exchanged a look with Ruan Mei, and they stood up to leave together.
Seeing this, Holou wobbled and jumped down from her chair, wanting to follow Su Mo, but he had her stay behind.
It was only then that Herta remembered the other genius who hadn't spoken for a while and curiously struck up a conversation with Holou.
---||---
Meanwhile, Su Mo and Ruan Mei had already arrived at the Seclusion Zone, a sector only Ruan Mei had clearance to enter, under the reverent gazes of the crowd.
At the bottom level of the Seclusion Zone, in a vast plaza, a giant, ferocious insect floated in the sky. Its wings were covered with pairs of luminous human-like compound eyes. Its two pairs of savage mandibles were as sharp as giant guillotines, and its whole body radiated an unsettling energy.
Even to Su Mo, the insect before him was the most vibrant life form he had ever seen.
Ordinary divine beasts, even the Doomsday Beast he had seen earlier, couldn't compare to this monster in terms of sheer presence.
If Su Mo's senses were correct, this monster had even surpassed almost all the gods in the world of Campione!, reaching the fifth tier of power.
"An Emanator of Propagation, Skaracabaz, the Swarm King..." Su Mo uttered the giant beast's name.
As an Emanator of the fallen Aeon of Propagation, the being before him was one of the most terrifying nightmares of the myriad worlds during the Swarm Disaster that had swept the entire universe.
Needless to say, the title of "Emanator" alone was enough to indicate its power level.
In the world of Honkai: Star Rail, this was an existence second only to the Aeons themselves.
When the Aeons didn't intervene, the Emanators were the highest combat power.
"The one before you is a replica of the Swarm King," Ruan Mei added, hearing Su Mo recognize the being. "Through my research on Tayzzyronth, the Aeon of Propagation, and their Emanators, I have reproduced a portion of the Swarm King's power. Although it's not at its peak, it has about half of its full strength."
If these words were to get out, the entire universe would be shocked and stunned.
To cultivate a replica of an Emanator-level being by human hands.
If news of this got out, the Interastral Peace Corporation would surely be willing to pay any price to obtain this technology from Ruan Mei.
This was no exaggeration; Ruan Mei's experiment truly had that level of value.
The greatest benefit of scientific research was that once the principles were understood, mass production became possible.
Emanator-level combat power had always been the strongest pillar of top-tier factions. When the Aeons were not involved, the existence of an Emanator was like an ultimate weapon that could bring peace of mind to the masses.
If Ruan Mei's research could be used to mass-produce Emanators—even if these mass-produced units had less than half the power, even if they didn't obey commands, even if they had countless other flaws—it would still be enough for the Corporation to invest all its resources.
Without a doubt, this was a technology that could change the power structure at the very top of the universe.
Of course, for now, this technology was not yet fully operational.
The bottleneck wasn't in mass production but in another problem.
"Fifty-six seconds."
After glancing at the Swarm King, which was frozen as if in hibernation, Ruan Mei turned to look at Su Mo.
"According to my calculations, once awakened, this replica can only maintain its power for fifty-six seconds before it collapses, unable to withstand the Emanator-level energy within its body."
"I want to ask you, Su Mo, do you know why?"
Finally, her eyes were filled with pure curiosity, as if she wanted Su Mo to help her answer this question.
"This is the question you wanted to confirm?"
"Mm." Ruan Mei nodded, her attitude almost docile.
"I have tried many times. I wanted to first create an Emanator, then use the Emanator's power to reverse-engineer the power of an Aeon, and finally achieve the goal of creating, or rather, becoming an Aeon."
Faced with Su Mo, who had already spoken of creating an Aeon, Ruan Mei had nothing to hide, nor did she intend to use any truth serum on him.
With Su Mo's strength, he would never give her the chance.
"But for some reason, I've been stuck at the stage of creating an Emanator."
Ruan Mei revealed the biggest problem that had been plaguing her.
"I've already thoroughly studied the physical structure of the Swarm King itself, but the individuals I cultivate are still unable to bear the power of the Propagation Path. A one-to-one replica can't even last for three seconds..."
"After that, I tried to rewrite the Swarm King's life factors, strengthening them considerably to obtain the current replica. But even with its biological structure enhanced to the maximum, it still can't withstand Emanator-level power."
"I want to know what went wrong."
By the end, Ruan Mei's expression was filled with a thirst for knowledge.
She possessed not only the ambition to become an Aeon but also a terrifying talent.
Unlike Herta, who had constructive achievements in many fields she was interested in, Ruan Mei had always focused on the field of life. Having no desire for wealth or fame, she had no intention of making her achievements public.
Even within the Genius Society, she was a rather reclusive and mysterious type.
She was naturally very tempted by Su Mo's invitation.
To hand over her own ownership in exchange for the chance to become an Aeon.
If this were made public, the number of people willing to accept would probably circle the galaxy.
Many might care about the loss of their freedom, but for Ruan Mei, such things were irrelevant.
For someone as emotionally detached as her, let alone a retainer, even if Su Mo had bluntly asked her to be his bed-warming maid, she likely wouldn't have had much resistance.
Compared to such trivial worldly desires, the mysterious experience of ascending from human to Aeon was far more worthy of her attention.
However, despite her childlike detachment from emotions and her lack of resistance to Su Mo's conditions, she still hadn't immediately accepted his invitation.
It wasn't because she wanted to haggle but because she was genuinely hesitant.
She had her own plan for how to become an Aeon.
To delve deep into the field of life, to master the various life factors in the universe.
Step one: Create a planet-level life form. Step two: Create an Emanator. Step three: Create, or even ascend to, an Aeon herself.
What a simple and clear set of steps, what a simple and feasible plan.
The reason she hadn't immediately accepted Su Mo's invitation was precisely this.
Although she had been stuck at the second step for a long time, being stuck didn't mean the path was truly impassable.
If she couldn't confirm that this path was a dead end, then no matter how tempting Su Mo's offer was, as a researcher, she would inevitably feel unwilling to give up.
It wasn't that she cared about the price of submitting to Su Mo; she simply didn't want to give up.
If I just persevere a little longer, could I break through this bottleneck and become an Aeon without relying on someone else's plan?
Faced with this question of utmost simplicity...
Su Mo asked in return, "If I can answer your question, you'll be willing to sign the contract?"
"Mm!" Ruan Mei nodded immediately. "Regardless of the method of becoming an Aeon, as long as you can answer this question, I am willing to become your property."
She really wasn't here to get a free answer.
If Su Mo could truly provide an answer, even if it proved that her own plan was feasible and she could become an Aeon on her own, Ruan Mei would still honor the contract and become Su Mo's retainer.
As a researcher, Ruan Mei understood very well that if even Su Mo couldn't provide an answer, she would likely be stuck at this bottleneck for the rest of her life.
"Your attitude is very sincere." Su Mo nodded in satisfaction.
Researchers were so much easier to deal with. They didn't understand the ways of the world, which made them all the more direct and straightforward.
"Are you saying... you've already found the answer?"
Seeing Su Mo's expression, Ruan Mei was suddenly astonished.
She hadn't even had a chance to show Su Mo her experimental data yet!
How could he have found the problem just by glancing at the Swarm King?
It seemed impossible, but considering Su Mo's previous performance, Ruan Mei didn't think he was bluffing.
So, had his mind already reached such a level?
Faced with the girl's astonished gaze, Su Mo had no intention of keeping her in suspense and gave her the answer directly.
"There's a problem with your plan. It's almost impossible to succeed."
Hearing this answer, Ruan Mei wasn't particularly surprised. Being stuck at this step already indicated that there was likely a flaw in her experimental design.
She just didn't understand where the problem was.
"Where is the flaw in the process?"
"It's been flawed from the very beginning!" Su Mo replied with absolute certainty. "From the start, your direction has been completely wrong."
"It's not 'first create an Emanator, then you can create an Aeon.' It's 'first create an Aeon, then you can create an Emanator.'"
"As I said before, Emanators and Aeons are not in a progressive relationship. You've gotten the most crucial order wrong from the very beginning. That's why your plan keeps failing."