Bai Luan watched the Herta Puppet look around the Little Black Room, a long-unseen spark of interest lighting up its violet eyes, making them as captivating as jewels.
This was the first time Bai Luan had seen Ms. Herta like this since he arrived here.
Presumably, for a genius like Ms. Herta, it had been a long time since she encountered something she couldn't understand.
Bai Luan hesitated for a moment between telling the Herta Puppet the truth and continuing to mislead it, then decided to tell the Herta Puppet the truth.
This was Bai Luan's Little Black Room; everything in the Little Black Room was merely a replica of reality, and the lifelike Herta before him was no exception.
Even if it knew the truth, it wouldn't affect reality in any way; even if it caused a huge commotion here, it wouldn't have any impact on reality.
Moreover, it couldn't cause a huge commotion here.
However... what would the Herta Puppet's reaction be upon learning the truth?
As Bai Luan narrated, the Herta in the Little Black Room gradually understood the situation.
"You mean, I'm just a replica and don't exist in reality?"
"That's right. How does it feel to know this truth? Once I leave the Little Black Room, you might also disappear with me."
Bai Luan had imagined the Herta Puppet's reactions, mostly negative, as it was already a puppet, and now a replica of a puppet.
Born in this tiny, one-third-sized Little Black Room, it would soon die within this not-so-grand area.
Aside from Bai Luan, no one would know it had existed.
Such a fleeting and suffocating fate was too ephemeral, too despairing.
But facing such a fate, the replicated Herta Puppet merely placed one hand on its hip and smiled:
"So what?"
"..."
This was somewhat beyond Bai Luan's expectations.
"You don't care at all? If this happened to me, I might break down."
"I'm just a puppet. Ms. Herta has thousands upon thousands of me in her residence. What does it matter if one such puppet disappears, unremembered?"
"So, you've calmly accepted it?"
"Of course. Even if I'm just a puppet, I'm Herta. How could this genius be depressed by such a boring thing? I'd rather spend that time thinking about more interesting things."
Bai Luan looked at the emotionally stable Herta Puppet and said with genuine admiration:
"Truly a genius. Your thought process is indeed beyond the comprehension of us ordinary mortals."
"But your ability is truly special. You can activate it at any time, replicating everything in reality without distinction, and the time difference between the two worlds can be almost static... How is this achieved? If I were to do all of the above, I would need to..."
Just as Ms. Herta herself said, she was not bothered for a moment by the questions Bai Luan posed.
The Herta Puppet was also Herta, a free-spirited genius scientist.
You don't care.
I care.
Such a fact was as light as a feather to it, but to Bai Luan, it carried an indescribable weight and... pity.
"Ms. Herta."
He spoke, his voice not loud, but enough to interrupt its thoughts.
The Herta Puppet snapped back to attention, looking at him with slight confusion:
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I just wanted to tell you,"
Bai Luan met its gaze, his tone serious, almost solemn.
"In reality, you might be an unremarkable one among thousands of Herta Puppets. But here, in this small, timeless Little Black Room..."
He paused, then said, word for word:
"You are the only Herta."
Rather than comforting Ms. Herta, it was more like comforting himself.
After hearing this, the Herta Puppet stared at Bai Luan with its purple eyes for a long time.
What was it thinking at that moment?
If he could guess, it wouldn't be Herta, would it?
After a long while, a faint but genuine smile spread across its lips.
"You are indeed very interesting. I truly wish the real me could have discovered this sooner."
"Hmm... not a bad response. I thought you'd be quite disdainful of this kind of self-important concern."
"There is a little bit of that,"
It admitted frankly, then tilted its head slightly, a hint of girlish cunning in its posture.
"But... it's also been a long time since anyone 'cared' for me in this way. Once in a while, it doesn't feel... too bad."
"Do you want to keep it?"
Just then, the system's voice suddenly came.
"Can I?"
"I can keep it, if you wish."
Bai Luan thought for a moment, then looked at the Herta Puppet.
Indeed, it was best to let it decide for itself.
"Ms. Herta, do you want to live here?"
"You have a way to keep me in this Little Black Room?"
"That's right."
If it were me, I would have probably agreed by now.
But across from him was Herta.
"If you agree to give me the right to decide the termination of this existence, then I agree.
That way, when I get bored of this place, I can make myself disappear."
"You really don't care much about whether you live or not."
Bai Luan couldn't help but retort, then asked the system. After receiving a definite reply, he nodded.
"Okay, no problem."
"Then I'll stay here for now. I'm very interested in this place and want to try to deconstruct this space."
"Challenging the system? As you wish, I don't care."
Bai Luan turned to the Herta Puppet...
Never mind, from now on, he would just call it Herta.
Here, it was Herta.
Bai Luan extended his hand to Herta and said:
"Then it seems we'll be spending some time together. I hope we can get along well during this period."
Herta extended its hand and shook Bai Luan's.
"As long as you don't bore me."
"That's quite a challenge."
After settling things with Herta, Bai Luan's gaze returned to the carpet. This time, he had used the Little Black Room specifically to study this carpet.
Presumably, beneath its soft exterior lay countless intricate structures.
Bai Luan picked up the carpet, pondering how to begin.
Just smash it open to see the structure?
It felt like it would be very troublesome to take apart.
"You memorized the entire map in one night, and you did it by using this Little Black Room?"
"Yes. Although only one night passed for you, I don't even know how long I stayed here to memorize everything."
"Are you planning to study this carpet this time?"
Bai Luan nodded.
Eh... wait a minute.
Since there was a Herta here, why was he racking his brains? Couldn't he just ask it?
Herta crossed its arms, looking at Bai Luan, as if seeing through his thoughts, and spoke:
"You want me to teach you?"
"That's right, self-learning is simply too slow."
"That would indeed be inefficient. How much do you know about this carpet?"
Bai Luan immediately straightened his back and looked at Herta with his clear, golden eyes that could reflect a person's image, speaking with utmost sincerity:
"Nothing at all, Ms. Herta. To be honest, my understanding of it... is a complete, pure, utterly blank 'nothing at all'."
Herta: "..."
It was silent for two seconds, then unceremoniously retorted:
"With this level of knowledge, you still dare to call yourself a prophet who can glimpse the threads of fate?"
"No one said a prophet has to be knowledgeable. Speaking of which, Ms. Herta, are you interested in how long it takes to cultivate a genius from scratch?"
"Oh?"
"It's about trying to see how long it would take to teach someone to become a genius that even the real Ms. Herta would acknowledge. What do you think? Are you in the mood for this experiment?"
"Alright."
Herta agreed with unusual alacrity.
Bai Luan's heart rejoiced, but before he could even feel elated—
"When I'm in the mood,"
Herta slowly added, a mischievous smile playing on its lips:
"I'll teach you."
Bai Luan's face instantly fell.
"..."
Who knew when this ancestor would be in the mood!
Never mind, it was better than nothing.
How should he take apart this carpet?
Tear? Smash? Drop? Gnaw? Pull?
Just as Bai Luan was troubled by this, Herta's voice came.
"It has a dismantling mechanism."
Bai Luan looked up and saw Herta sitting opposite him.
It seemed...
Herta was in a good mood now.
"Where is it?"
"It's right..."
The not-so-large Little Black Room was filled with their conversation.
The surrounding void, because of these exchanges, gained a trace of vitality.