Although the situation was tricky, this wasn't the first time Bai Luan had tricked Herta! (?)
Just a mere eighty-something geniuses since Nous ascended to godhood, watch me trick you again!
"Ms. Herta."
Bai Luan's tone was unhurried.
"Three years ago, I told you that even if one can see fate, one should not interfere with it too much."
"Are you trying to fool this genius with that butterfly effect rhetoric?"
"No, Ms. Herta, my reluctance to speak is not to fob you off, but to avoid interfering with you too much."
Bai Luan spread his hands and said:
"It is you who wants to build the Space Station, not because I foresaw that you would build the Space Station, and therefore you should build a Space Station, isn't that right? The important thing is Herta, not the prophecy. If I spoke too much, wouldn't I, to some extent, distort your original thoughts?"
Herta pondered for a moment, then crossed her arms and retorted:
"Then in the fate you observed originally, you didn't speak, and I still built the Space Station. What difference would it make if you told me or not?"
"A miss by a hair is a miss by a mile.
Ms. Herta, the impact of prophecy is negligible in the short term, but incredibly significant in the long term.
The current you wants to do something because the current you wants to do something, but if you rely too much on prophecy, the motivation for you to do something will become 'the future me did this, she must have her reasons.'"
Bai Luan looked directly into Herta's eyes and said neither subserviently nor arrogantly:
"Doesn't Ms. Herta think that such a self would be more like a puppet of fate than Ms. Herta herself?"
Herta remained silent, their gazes intertwining for a long time, until Herta finally revealed a smile and spoke first:
"You've grown quite a bit taller than you were at the beginning."
...
Is that the point!?
Bai Luan smiled helplessly.
"Ms. Herta, on the other hand, hasn't changed at all. She's still as vibrant, young, and beautiful as a maiden."
"In simple terms, if you tell me too much, it will cause me to become a puppet of fate, so you don't want to say too much?"
Bai Luan nodded, indicating agreement.
"I see..."
She seemed to be listening.
Phew...
Bai Luan breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed he had managed to fool her again this time.
But Herta's next sentence made Bai Luan's heart race again.
"Then you should also participate in the construction of Herta Space Station. That way, you won't have to tell me anything about Herta Space Station, and you can still help me."
Bai Luan was stunned, he opened his mouth but couldn't find a reason to refute.
Is this how a genius solves problems?
"But, Ms. Herta, for such a big project, is it really okay for a half-baked person like me to get involved?"
Bai Luan began his final struggle.
"Aren't you very smart? I've seen the puppet's report on you. It says that no matter what task is given to you, you can master it in as little as one day, or as long as seven days.
The Space Station is indeed a bit more difficult than those, so I'll give you a month."
"I... this..."
"Can't you do it?"
?"
Who are you looking down on?
I'll build it for you to see!
"No problem at all!"
"That's good, take out your phone."
[Herta has requested to add you as a friend]
[You have added Herta as a friend]
"If there's any progress, contact me directly."
Herta left, satisfied.
The heavy burden of building Herta Space Station was suddenly placed on him.
Just thinking about it made his head ache...
He had been so confident when he agreed, but now that it was time to execute, he felt listless.
He was still saving money to buy a spaceship...
After this ordeal, he might even be able to build a spaceship himself, right?
Forget it!
Bai Luan patted his cheeks, cheering himself up.
It had come to this, complaining and regretting were useless!
It's just a Space Station!
Watch me grind it out for you!
Little Black Room!
Activate!!!
For the next month, Bai Luan lived in hell mode, fully immersing himself in the design of the Space Station.
First, he begged the system to find the map of Herta Space Station from his previous life's game, and then used the in-game modeling as a reference for design.
Once he started, he realized that miHoYo's map from his previous life was a super simplified map, only providing a reference.
At the same time, he lacked a large amount of professional knowledge: rocket dynamics and carrier power, modular design, closed-loop ecological systems, material engineering...
Fortunately, there was a Herta in the Little Black Room to be his teacher.
It was as if he had to make up for the lack of study intensity from his leisurely three years; the study intensity during this period once made Bai Luan completely collapse.
It made him have to go to the Botanical Garden to relax.
For a long time, Bai Luan even developed a fear of the Little Black Room; going in felt like being in prison, but if he didn't study, the one-month deadline was getting closer and closer...
Human potential is limitless when pushed by a deadline; after a month of life-or-death struggle, Bai Luan painstakingly created the design blueprint for Herta Space Station.
When he completed this design blueprint, Bai Luan was so moved he cried tears of old age, wailing in the Little Black Room.
Who understands! My people! Who understands!
Although only a month had passed outside, inside this Little Black Room, I was almost worked to death!
Damn space aerospace!
If I * * * again, I'll * * *!
I'm exhausted...
It's decided!
As soon as the news of the Astral Express resuming its journey comes out, I'll immediately go join them. If I keep working like this, I'll die of exhaustion sooner or later...
Bai Luan sent the design blueprint to Herta, then collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
This was a fatigue that originated from the soul, something that physical rest simply couldn't recover.
When Bai Luan opened his eyes again, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
Bai Luan groggily opened his eyes, checked his phone, and it vibrated several times, with a few messages.
Bai Luan's heart sank a few times, and an ominous feeling immediately arose.
He opened his phone and, as expected, it was a message from Herta.
[Herta has received your file.]
Herta: ?
Herta: You made this in a month?
Herta: You leisurely strolled in the Botanical Garden for a month and casually made this?
Herta: Why aren't you replying?
Herta: You wait.
[Photo]
Herta: Reply when you wake up.
The photo Herta sent was of him sound asleep in bed.
Oh my god, Herta was here?
Bai Luan immediately sobered up and sat up in bed.
Looking at the string of messages, he scratched his head, then finally gritted his teeth.
Bai Luan: I pulled an all-nighter, overworked, and overslept.
Herta: I truly underestimated you. To complete a design blueprint of this caliber in such a short time, it seems a month was still too long.
Bai Luan: ???
Bai Luan: Ms. Herta, are you serious?
I almost studied myself to death this month.
And you still think I had too much time?
Is that a human thing to say?
Herta: I originally thought I'd give you a month to get familiar with the new field.
Herta: I didn't expect you to directly produce a finished product, and a quite mature one at that, like something that had been built for a long time.
Herta: I retrieved your activity monitoring records.
Herta: The records show that for over eighty percent of your observable time this month, you appeared in the Botanical Garden, the kitchen, or other non-work areas.
Herta: You were either chatting with mushrooms, researching new recipes, or simply spacing out.
Herta: Slacking off dominated your time.
Herta: And yet, you completed the design using only a little bit of "fragmented time"?
Herta: And you say you weren't slacking off?
Bai Luan: ...
It was only when Herta said this that Bai Luan realized that for most of his time in "reality" this month, he had indeed been complaining to Inspiration Shrooms in the Botanical Garden, staring blankly at the refrigerator in the kitchen, or finding a corner to clear his mind, all to alleviate the mental trauma caused by the high-intensity study in the Little Black Room!
In the eyes of any uninformed bystander, this was 100% blatant and unrestrained slacking off!
The most terrifying thing was—he couldn't explain it at all!
Was he supposed to take Herta's hand and say:
"Dear Ms. Herta, actually I have a Little Black Room given by the system, and I was studying like hell in there. The time I appeared to be spacing out outside was actually me undergoing mental recuperation."
Who would believe that?
What's more, Herta now completely believed that his origin was from Aha, not from the system.
Oh no, in that case, wouldn't he become an extremely efficient genius in Herta's eyes?
Which meant...
Which meant that if there were similar tasks in the future, Herta wouldn't think of anyone else, but only him?!
Bai Luan seemed to see his leisurely daily life waving goodbye as it drifted away!
No—!
Come back!
I need you!
A hint of despair gradually appeared on Bai Luan's face.
Ms. Herta...
Is it still too late to confess to you now?
Actually, I'm not a genius at all!!!
『This story tells us that lying harms both oneself and others.』
Bai Luan glanced speechlessly at the system's dialogue box.
Indeed, the joys and sorrows of humans... oh, no, the joys and sorrows of humans and systems are not the same.