The time Herta has been back has been peaceful, except for one extra task in my daily routine: solving Herta's food and drink.
As everyone knows, because of his role as a Curio Forger, the edible items Bai Luan makes all have Curio effects.
This leads to two scenarios when Bai Luan cooks:
If he messes up, it can be poisonous enough to kill someone.
If he does it well, it's conceptually god-tier delicious.
However, after Bai Luan realized how incredibly troublesome it was to deal with negative Curios created from his messed-up dishes, he went to the Little Black Room to study cooking.
And he even mastered a unique skill.
He can make a meal look, smell, and taste perfect, but the flavor is off, so you only realize something is wrong the moment you eat it, and then, upon closer inspection…
It instantly explodes.
How about that? Pretty mischievous, right?
In a way, it's quite suitable for assassination.
However, Bai Luan cherishes ingredients, so he wouldn't deliberately waste them. He mastered this unique skill but never used it.
He doesn't have any enemies; he can't possibly try to poison Aha, can he?
What if he really did poison Aha?
Having discussed the dark side, let's talk about the bright side.
Delicious meals, no matter how much you eat, you'll never get tired of them.
Someone might exclaim, upon hearing this:
Holy crap! Ice!
But it's not like that.
This stuff has no addiction or resistance to speak of, which in a way makes it even more terrifying than ice.
Maintain a perfect nutritional balance, eat three regular meals a day, and you'll even become healthier.
But you might get carried away, so it's recommended to control the dosage, otherwise, your stomach will control your brain, and you'll become a stomach demon.
Even if you suddenly can't eat it, there won't be any withdrawal symptoms, but it will make you miss it dearly.
To quote a famous saying to express it—Why did you let me eat such delicious char siu rice? What will I do if I can't eat it again in the future?
Due to the existence of a certain smart refrigerator, Bai Luan's cooking skills were exposed.
And now, Herta's three meals a day are Bai Luan's responsibility.
Actually, this was easily solved. Even when practicing cooking in the Little Black Room, Bai Luan had already learned Herta's preferred dishes and tastes through the Herta in the Little Black Room.
Coupled with a refrigerator with super strong preservation capabilities, Bai Luan only needed to make a large batch of Herta's favorite dishes and then put them in the refrigerator.
Bai Luan didn't even need to deliver them personally; the Herta Puppets would deliver the meals.
So, these days have been peaceful. Herta has been busy doing things that interest her, while Bai Luan has been seizing the opportunity to enjoy his leisurely days, knowing each one is one less.
He no longer expects to live three years of happy life consecutively as before. Bai Luan's current mindset is closer to living one day and gaining one day.
Bai Luan is also actively looking for that 'degree' of genius.
Facts prove it's a bit difficult.
Sometimes Bai Luan envies some of the researchers at Herta Space Station; they don't need to act, they can just naturally hit the 'degree' Bai Luan wants.
Although if they knew Bai Luan thought that, they'd probably yell 'Kill the Emperor of Versailles!' while rushing over to tear Bai Luan apart.
Indeed, those who score low are poor students, those who score high are top students, but those who can control their scores are the true masters.
His phone suddenly vibrated twice.
Bai Luan also twitched twice with his phone, then a look of relief appeared in his eyes.
It seems Herta is coming to find him again.
Did this problem last for over a month?
That's already pretty good.
Bai Luan, with a resigned attitude, opened his phone, ready to see what new task awaited him.
As it turned out, there was no new task, just a spam ad message.
Phew, you scared me.
Bai Luan tapped on the message and typed two mysterious letters in response to the spam ad:
TD.
After doing all this, Bai Luan showed a serene, peaceful smile.
Another idle, pleasant day.
Herta: [Location]
Herta: Come.
Bai Luan's mouth twitched.
I remember combo attacks were from Honkai and Zenless Zone Zero, right?
How can Herta and a malicious spam message also pull off a combo attack?
Damn it!
I got happy for nothing!
Despite his complaints, Bai Luan quickly arrived at the location Herta sent.
Following the coordinates, Bai Luan quickly reached the designated spot and arrived at a very spacious area.
Then he saw a huge number of Herta Puppets, including but not limited to Herta Puppets with different hairstyles, different art styles, different personalities, and different uniforms.
There was even a Lego version of Herta and a Minecraft version of Herta.
Hey, that's definitely copyright infringement!
With so many different Herta Puppets gathered together, at a glance, it had the beauty of a multiverse invading this universe.
Even though there were so many Herta Puppets on site, Herta was still the most noticeable one. Bai Luan found her in the crowd of Herta Puppets at a glance.
This was, of course, not because Bai Luan possessed any extraordinary ability; it was mainly because Herta stood in the center, had a throne for herself, and a vacuum field formed around her.
It seems the experiment was very successful.
There really are all types.
Bai Luan walked towards Herta, his gaze sweeping over the various Herta Puppets.
The experiment seems to be quite successful.
Bai Luan mused to himself, his gaze scanning the strange sight:
The 'bratty' version was making a face at a 'cold' version, the 'athletic' version was stretching, the 'tomboy' version was casually sitting on an instrument…
Until a voice full of gunpowder exploded:
"What are you looking at? Come out and fight!"
Hmm, there's also a difficult Herta here.
Bai Luan repeatedly waved his hands, backing away to get out of the situation, and his gaze also retracted.
He felt that if he kept looking, a battle scene might be triggered.
Speaking of which, even with so many Herta Puppets, and with their varied personalities, none of them resembled the Herta in the Little Black Room.
The Herta in the Little Black Room is a perfect replica, copied from a real-life Herta Puppet.
But Bai Luan had also sought out the real-life original Herta Puppet.
Comparing the two, there was already a clear difference.
Hmm, the Herta in my Little Black Room is indeed unique.
Even if she was no different from other Herta Puppets at first, she is now an extremely special existence.
If he had to describe what kind of Herta Puppet she was…
Bai Luan looked up at Herta, who was sitting on the throne.
She should be the Herta Puppet most like Herta.
"You're here?"
"Yes."
"This project has bored this genius."
Herta rested her chin on one hand, her gaze on Bai Luan.
"You know why this genius called you here this time, don't you?"
"I don't know."
"Are you happy being so cheeky?"
Bai Luan smiled and said:
"Just kidding, trying to lighten the mood."
"Not funny."
Herta lowered her hand and leaned slightly forward.
"Tell me, what new ideas do you have?"
"Ms. Herta, to be honest, I've run out of ideas. As the saying goes, 'articles are naturally formed, a masterpiece by chance.'"
"Oh?"
Herta raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips, looking at Bai Luan.
"Are you saying you've got nothing left?"
"Precisely. Soon I'll be biting a lighter for you to see."
"Articles are naturally formed, a masterpiece by chance… How well said. Just based on that line, this genius doesn't believe you've run out of ideas."
"...You can't force it out of me."
"If you don't tell me, this genius will find a way to take it myself. If this genius knew all the futures you've seen, it would probably be quite troublesome, wouldn't it?"
Herta gave Bai Luan a determined smile.
"So, you choose: tell me yourself, or I'll take it? The former, I can still abide by your 'destiny cannot be spoiled' rule. The latter, I will take all your secrets, you know."
Facing Herta, who wouldn't let him off, Bai Luan sighed.
Bai Luan was certain that Herta couldn't take any memories from him because he had the system protecting him.
But precisely because of this, figuring out how to view his memories would become a challenging problem for Herta to tackle.
It's better to give a suggestion.
Researching other things is better than coming to research himself…
"Ms. Herta has been glanced at by Nous, right?"
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Doesn't Ms. Herta want to see Him again? Only this time, you take the initiative."
Herta pondered for a while upon hearing this, then revealed a satisfied smile.
"Another interesting problem. It really wasn't a mistake to take you in before."
"In that case, I'll take my leave."
"Go. Oh, right, you need to go to Herta Space Station."
"To the Space Station? What's wrong with the Space Station?"
"The researchers are divided into two factions and arguing. Go mediate."
"Shouldn't that be your job?"
"The leaders of the two sides are Stark and Conrad, and my approach would be to fire them all. Do you want me to do that?"
Bai Luan fell silent.
He understood what she meant.
These two guys, whom he had personally 'polished' and to whom he had, in a sense, entrusted a bit of his 'heart and soul'…
"...I didn't expect Herta to still show me some face."
"Of course, you are very important."
Herta had already begun to ponder how she would meet Nous.
The next period of time wouldn't be boring again.
"More important than the entire Space Station."
Bai Luan heard this and showed a helpless, bitter smile.
"I am honored."
Then he turned and left.