The hum of the spaceship's engine gradually faded, finally falling silent, and Bai Luan stepped out of the cabin, carrying his light luggage.
He spread his arms and took a deep breath.
The long-missed air filled his lungs again, bringing an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
"I'm~ back~!"
Bai Luan, being intimately familiar with the place, naturally didn't need anyone to guide him and walked back to his room with a light step.
Opening the door to his home, his room was exactly as he had left it.
Bai Luan tossed his luggage aside, threw himself onto his bed, and happily rolled around a few times.
He messed up the neatly folded sheets that he had arranged before leaving.
Then he comfortably lay on the bed, not thinking about tidying up the bed and luggage for a while.
There was no urgency here; he could do it slowly later, no need to rush.
"Ah, bliss~"
After a short period of blissful laziness on the bed, Bai Luan sat up, humming a cheerful tune, and began to unpack his luggage.
Bai Luan hadn't brought back many things from the Space Station, only a few photos; the rest were everyday necessities, so he finished quickly.
After tidying up his room, Bai Luan planned to greet his old friends.
Having been away for so long, it was time to get reacquainted soon.
The first place he had to go, of course, was…
At the Material Distribution Station, the distribution robot was processing the materials needed for Ms. Herta's home, diligently completing its daily allocation tasks.
However, for over a year, there had been a daily task in its to-do list that remained incomplete.
Greet the Self-Disciplined Guy (Incomplete).
After Bai Luan's year-long insistence on "self-discipline"—running over every morning without fail just to shout "Morning!"—the robot had added this to its list of daily tasks.
For the next two years, things had remained peaceful.
Until over a year ago, Bai Luan came to say goodbye, saying that although he wouldn't be coming for a while, he would continue his self-discipline elsewhere.
It was just a material distribution robot, so it calmly accepted Bai Luan's farewell.
For over a year afterward, every morning, the familiar figure never ran from that direction again.
It was just a material distribution robot; it wouldn't feel "sad."
But occasionally, it would still gaze in the direction Bai Luan used to run from.
Even its behavioral logic module couldn't tell it why it was performing actions outside its programming.
The task log had been written for over a year; a year's worth of time condensed into text could fill a long strip.
Every day's log, the last sentence, would record that a daily item remained incomplete.
A daily item that couldn't be completed for a long time should be deleted, but after more than a year, it still hadn't made any changes.
The behavioral logic module ran for a long time, unable to explain its own actions.
It was just a material distribution robot; intelligent as it was, it wasn't intelligent enough to understand what a sapient machine was.
After completing the tasks at hand, it once again gazed meaninglessly in the direction Bai Luan used to run from.
Bai Luan's figure ran from there, waving as he ran, just as he had for the past three years:
"Hey—! Long time no see!"
In the daily to-do list, the task that had been incomplete for over a year now changed from red (incomplete) to blue (complete).
It was just a material distribution robot; completing tasks was enough.
It raised its mechanical arm:
"Long time no see. ヽ[^_^]."
…
The Botanical Garden, even without Bai Luan, would receive its due care.
The plants were still very healthy.
The Herta Puppet that replaced Bai Luan would only perform routine duties and wouldn't consider providing emotional value to the plants.
The most direct evidence of this was that the Inspiration Shroom's strange movements hadn't been updated for a long time.
The Inspiration Shroom's original routine was just to bask in the sun and grow quietly.
But after meeting Bai Luan, its days began to become more varied.
Communicating with various plants was much more interesting than a mushroom just sitting in one spot.
It was a pity, though, that now no one made the mushroom act as an interpreter.
However, when bored, the Inspiration Shroom would sometimes suddenly, without warning, utter a strange sound, adding a touch of abstract noise to the quiet Botanical Garden.
The plants that had lost Bai Luan, though vibrant under the Herta Puppet's care, lacked a certain vitality.
Chizuru flitted among the plants, passing through the rose bushes, flying over the Jack-o'-lanterns, and finally, with a slight flap of its wings, landed on the cap of the Inspiration Shroom.
"You're here again, mushroom."
Chizuru nodded, a response of sorts, then comfortably settled on the Inspiration Shroom, enjoying the leisurely sunlight with it.
A human figure, after disinfection, entered the Botanical Garden and walked directly to the Inspiration Shroom.
The human body blocked the sunlight, casting both Chizuru and the Inspiration Shroom into shadow.
Chizuru looked up, its slender neck turning, and then its wings flapped with surprise, flying up and circling the newcomer.
"You're blocking the mushroom's sun, mushroom; if you block it for too long, the mushroom might die, mushroom."
Hearing this, Bai Luan slightly moved aside, then squatted down, smiling at the Inspiration Shroom, and asked:
"Can you perform that again? You know, that one."
"…Of course, mushroom."
The Inspiration Shroom cleared its throat twice, and then a sound that Bai Luan had been thinking about for over a year was sung by it.
"Inspiration Guli Guli Wacha Inspiration Shroom~"
"Mmm, that's it! I'm back! Everything's back!"
"Where did you go, mushroom?"
"To work. Although I don't know when I'll leave again, I'm temporarily back now. As for my affairs… let's talk about them later."
Bai Luan smiled and greeted the roses nearby.
The Inspiration Shroom was near the rose bushes, and many roses had already seen Bai Luan's figure.
These roses were like brothers strolling down the street who see a celebrity, then raise their hands and smack you to tell you to look over there.
However, roses don't have hands; they used their roots to tap each other, looking more like dancing seaweed, hmm…
Perhaps I could shoot a video later; those three accounts haven't been updated in a while either.
Our gardener is back!
The entire rose bush then turned yellow, representing shock, and then gradually turned blue, symbolizing friendliness.
The flower buds that had been a bit wilted now bloomed perfectly due to Bai Luan's return.
Truly, their hearts were overflowing with joy.
"They also have a lot to say to me, so you can just keep me company while I chat with them."
"Of course, mushroom."
Bai Luan took out a shovel, still scooping up both soil and mushroom, then picked up the Inspiration Shroom and walked towards the blooming rose bushes.
Inside the Botanical Garden, all the plants re-emerged with a burst of vitality.
As if saying to Bai Luan:
It's a big world, welcome home.
…
After a busy but relaxing day, Bai Luan returned to his small room, feeling content.
Compared to the Space Station, he still preferred it here.
Both were working for Herta, but this place was more about life, while the Space Station was more about business.
He had earned enough money from his business trip, and if he could avoid going in the future, that would be great.
However, given the abilities he had displayed this time, it seemed unlikely.
Unless Herta forgot about him again.
Hmm… it wasn't impossible.
Praying for his boss to forget him…
In the Little Black Room, Bai Luan, for the first time in a long while, added a few to-do items to his Botanical Garden notebook.
Herta glanced at the surroundings.
"It seems you're home."
"Yes, Ms. Herta is finally done and has returned to take over Herta Space Station. I hope her interest in it lasts a bit longer."
"If you ask me, that's unlikely."
Herta crossed her arms and said distractedly:
"I've also been observing this Space Station from the side for a long time. It's barely adequate as a temporary toy, but it won't last long.
Before long, I'll probably discard it as an infinitely capacious containment box."
"Heh heh~"
Bai Luan looked at Herta with a confident smile, stating with certainty:
"Not necessarily. I left a project there that you'll definitely be interested in."
"Oh?"
Herta showed a hint of a smile.
The smile was full of the meaning, "You really dare to say that."
"What did you leave?"
"To seal 'anomalies' within the starry sky—that was the original intention of establishing Herta Space Station. Ms. Herta, do you think the Stellaron falls within the category of anomalies?"
"Containing Stellarons, huh… Well, this genius is indeed interested in such things."
Bai Luan had a hint of smugness.
"See?~"
"How long do you think this will keep me busy?"
"Hmm… Considering there's no real Stellaron as an experimental subject for a Stellaron containment facility, it's like a blind man feeling an elephant…"
Bai Luan stroked his chin, making a rather aggressive guess:
"At least half a month, right?"
"Seven days at most, then 'I' will come looking for you."
Seven days?
It seems I was still conservative.
Eh, wait a minute…
Looking for me?
"Why? Haven't I only been resting for a few days?"
"This genius loves solving problems. If someone can repeatedly propose problems I'm interested in, then this genius will naturally come knocking."
"What about Herta Space Station? Can't Herta Space Station hold your attention for a bit longer?"
"No one said I can only focus on one thing in seven days."
"Eh… no… how could you…"
Bai Luan was starting to lose his composure, feeling an ineffable sense of despair.
The despair of having just finished over a year of overtime, only to find that his vacation was only seven days long.
Damn it! Ms. Herta is still after me!