"Query: What constitutes an 'interesting' creation?"
"The so-called 'interesting' creation is to make the act of creating interesting. Zandar, the first member of the Genius Society, once said that the key to natural creation is for the method of creation to be natural..."
By the time Su Mo and Ruan Mei returned to Herta's office, the Herta puppet had entered its auto-reply mode, dealing with Holou's endless stream of questions.
After communicating with Holou, Herta was more certain than ever that, besides herself, everyone in the Genius Society was a weirdo.
No wonder Su Mo had stopped her from speaking earlier. If this girl had opened her mouth, the tea party would have turned into a never-ending lecture.
Requiring so many explanations for even the most basic concepts, Herta now understood why Nous had recognized this little girl.
This child, just like an Aeon, was full of questions.
With her level of impatience, she naturally wouldn't answer Holou's questions indefinitely like Su Mo.
After exchanging a few words and giving herself a headache, Herta immediately handed off the task of dealing with Holou to the puppet.
Now, seeing Su Mo and Ruan Mei return, she finally came back online, looking at them with a sense of relief.
"You're finally back... wait a minute!"
After a sigh, she quickly realized something was wrong.
When they left, Su Mo and Ruan Mei had been walking side-by-side, with Ruan Mei half a step ahead as the guide. But on their return, not only was Su Mo walking in front, but Ruan Mei's attitude toward him was completely different.
With Ruan Mei's cold and detached personality, she wouldn't get too close even to friends. But now, seeing her following closely behind Su Mo, it was clear that any distance between them was gone.
Unlike Ruan Mei, Herta merely disdained common social niceties; she wasn't ignorant of them.
Recalling Ruan Mei's words before they left, she immediately realized something and her eyes widened.
"Ruan Mei, don't tell me you've already accepted Su Mo's condition and become his retainer?"
Although she had considered this possibility before, seeing her friend actually submit to someone else still came as a great surprise.
"Mm." Ruan Mei nodded, her expression showing little change. "Master... Mr. Su answered my question, and I accepted his invitation."
To her, there was nothing surprising about this.
"Hiss—"
Herta sucked in a breath of cold air.
Hearing Ruan Mei's confirmation and recalling what Su Mo had said earlier, though she still found it incredibly unbelievable, she asked tentatively, "The price that made you decide so quickly... don't tell me the content of your collaboration is creating an Aeon?"
She had guessed the content of their agreement directly.
Actually, it wasn't hard to guess. The real difficulty was freeing one's imagination.
Whether it was believing that Su Mo truly intended to create an Aeon, or believing that Ruan Mei truly had the ambition to supplant an Aeon, both were things that broke through the cognitive limits of humans, even geniuses.
If Su Mo hadn't already shattered her perception several times, Herta probably wouldn't have thought on this level.
And after hearing Herta's speculation, the un-adept at hiding her feelings Ruan Mei immediately showed a look of astonishment and subconsciously glanced at Su Mo.
Seeing her reaction, Herta knew she must have guessed correctly without needing to ask further.
She was about to sigh in amazement again when Ruan Mei spoke up.
"Mr. Su, does the experiment need to be kept secret? If so, I have some anti-truth serum here... though it won't be very effective against Herta."
"Huh???"
Hearing this, Herta was completely stunned.
Was Ruan Mei suggesting she was going to force-feed her anti-truth serum?
If her real body were here, from the looks of it, she might even be planning to restrain her?
Even though she herself wasn't the emotional type, she was still shocked to hear this. They had been friends for years, and the moment you defected, you were planning to turn on your old friend?
It's just about creating an Aeon... is it really necessary to be so dramatic?
Ugh, wait, no, it definitely is!
Faced with such a grand goal, not immediately thinking of killing her to silence her already seemed to show great respect for their friendship.
After all, if word of this got out, others might scoff and scorn them, but the people at the Corporation would never let it go. This was no ordinary danger.
Realizing the perilous nature of this topic, Herta's expression stiffened. She looked at Su Mo nervously, afraid that he would decide to silence her with a single word.
Although she was currently using a puppet's body, being targeted by two geniuses would be a huge problem for her.
More importantly, if that happened, the Simulated Universe project couldn't be updated anymore!
"Um... Su Mo, I promise I won't leak it. Can't we do that?"
Realizing her slip of the tongue, she immediately adopted a posture of surrender.
She wasn't concerned about her own safety, only that her project couldn't be halted.
It was rare to meet a partner who knew so much about the Aeons, and she had just gotten such an incredible hypothesis from Su Mo. She didn't want it all to go to waste.
Of course, if the other party insisted on making a move, she would have no choice but to oblige.
Seeing Herta's seemingly tense but actually tense appearance, Su Mo nodded calmly.
"No need to be nervous. I trust Miss Herta's credibility. Besides, this matter isn't exactly a secret. Even if other factions find out, they won't have time to react."
"What do you mean?"
Hearing Su Mo say this, Herta relaxed a lot, and then her curiosity immediately took over.
"Are you trying to say that the time it takes to create an Aeon is even shorter than the reaction time for the Corporation to seriously mobilize?"
If so, she could understand Su Mo's fearless attitude.
No matter how many difficulties and obstacles there were, once an Aeon was successfully created, they would be unstoppable.
There was a gap in power between an Aeon and anything below it. No faction could defeat an Aeon, not even the weakest one.
"As long as the conditions are met, time is never an issue. The one thing transmutation doesn't need is time," Su Mo explained casually. "Besides, even if she hasn't become an Aeon yet, she's not someone an ordinary Emanator can deal with."
At this, Su Mo glanced at Ruan Mei.
As long as she mastered the use of the Catalog of Life, with Ruan Mei's accumulated knowledge, she could easily exert Emanator-level power.
Even a top-tier faction like the Interastral Peace Corporation wouldn't dare to rashly go to war with an Emanator-level existence.
"What?!"
Hearing this, Herta's eyes widened again.
She understood what Su Mo meant and wasn't surprised that Ruan Mei could exert Emanator-level combat power.
Any member of the Genius Society could achieve a status similar to or even surpassing that of an Emanator within their own field of research. Achieving this was quite normal.
What truly shocked her was another piece of news.
This was something she absolutely couldn't have imagined.
After all…
"With such a good opportunity, why not keep it for yourself? Aren't you the One True God?" Herta asked, unable to understand.
Even for someone like her, who had a casual interest in power, the temptation of becoming an Aeon might be hard to resist.
She had originally thought that Su Mo and Ruan Mei's collaboration was about creating a new life, a new Aeon. Who would have thought they wanted to elevate an existing individual to Aeonhood, and that individual wasn't even Su Mo himself?
This was very strange.
Hearing this, Ruan Mei also looked at Su Mo with some curiosity.
She wasn't worried that Su Mo was deceiving her. The contract they established was fair and just, and it was indeed to make her an Aeon.
She just didn't know why Su Mo had no intention of becoming an Aeon himself.
Faced with their questions, Su Mo shrugged.
"First, let me correct you. Although I do have the identity of the One True God, my spiritual essence is more akin to that of a poet than a deity."
The one who creates, sings, and adapts myths, and even creates life, is the poet.
"Secondly, my reason for not wanting to become an Aeon is also very simple. I don't want to be bound by a Path."
It was certain that an Aeon was bound by their Path, though this restriction wasn't particularly strict.
As an embodiment of a philosophical concept, the characteristic of a Path was that no matter what an Aeon did, as long as they themselves didn't feel they were violating the Path, they wouldn't be. It was all based on their own conscience.
But even so, Su Mo had no desire to become an Aeon.
After all, for a true practitioner of mysticism, while "freedom of conscience" might seem flexible and liberating, it wasn't that simple in practice.
An existence that has already achieved enlightenment cannot deceive its own heart.
"Just for that reason?"
Hearing Su Mo's explanation, Herta was a bit dumbfounded.
That was like saying you didn't want to be a rich heir because you didn't want the pressure of inheriting the family business.
While it might seem reasonable on the surface, it was actually a humblebrag. If this opportunity were offered up, the number of willing takers could fill the entire galaxy.
"I see..."
Ruan Mei, however, quickly believed Su Mo's words.
She herself didn't mind the constraints of a Path; it was a price she had anticipated.
But speaking of which, a question suddenly occurred to her.
"By the way, if I become an Aeon, how can I continue to serve as your retainer? If I have trouble controlling myself then, will you still be able to restrain me? Should we make preparations in advance?"
Ruan Mei brought up something that was clearly detrimental to herself without any hesitation.
If Su Mo was truly concerned about this, he might refuse the experiment because of it.
After all, no one wanted to cultivate an uncontrollable Aeon.
"I'm starting to think what people say is right... you geniuses all have something wrong with your heads."
Hearing this, Herta's lip twitched.
While keeping one's promise is a virtue, is this really something you should be worrying about?!
Do you want to be controlled by Su Mo that badly?
"If an Aeon is still a member of the gods, then there won't be a problem."
Su Mo nodded, not worried about this point.
If the experiment succeeded, it would prove his theory was right. As long as his theory was right, the contract could not fail.
The day Ruan Mei ascended to Aeonhood, he would synchronize and obtain the exact same power.
"Sigh, forget it. You two play however you want!"
Seeing the two of them so in tune, Herta sighed, looking defeated.
A "normal person" like her would have a hard time fitting into the worldview of these two madmen.
Just then, a knock came from outside the office door.
Soon, Asta led the way again, bringing a mechanical individual dressed like a gentleman into the office.
"It's rare to see you looking so troubled, Herta. What a sight. It seems the two new geniuses have given you quite a shock."
An elegant and gentlemanly voice sounded as Screwllum, member #76 of the Genius Society, looked at Su Mo and Holou and bowed slightly.
"Mr. Su and Miss Holou, I presume. A pleasure to meet you!"
Unlike both Herta and Ruan Mei, Screwllum was possibly the most normal person in the Genius Society. He was very polite and made people feel at ease.
Of course, this also meant that conversations with him involved a bit more boring pleasantries.
Fortunately, Herta was here, so there was no need to worry about that.
"Introductions are over, no need for more nonsense. If you knew about the new theory Su Mo brought, you'd be just as troubled as I am. But let's not talk about that for now. Can you explain why you're so late?" Herta questioned bluntly.
"Strictly speaking, I am not late. There is still half a system-hour until the appointed time. It is just that Ruan Mei arrived too early," Screwllum explained, then added, "Of course, it is undeniable that I was delayed for a short time, mainly to select gifts for Mr. Su and Miss Holou."
"Gifts?"
Hearing this, Herta became a little curious.
Screwllum was a mechanical duke of the Screwllumites. A gift that he would spend time personally preparing was bound to be extraordinary.
"Mm. Your letter mentioned that the two esteemed guests have forces under their command that are Intellitrons, and not of a common model in interstellar society. I thought you might be interested in this."
With that, Screwllum took out two copies of a list and handed them to Su Mo and Holou respectively.
"As a fellow Intellitron, this is a small token of my sincerity. I hope it will be of use to you both."