Today, there's some very bad news.
Herta is leaving the Space Station for a while.
"The R&D department at the Company wants to discuss a collaboration with me, so I'll be away. While I'm gone, you're in charge of the Space Station."
This is very, very bad news.
This means my excuse of 'doing things for Ms. Herta' has been banned.
Now Bai Luan has no reason to avoid conversations with the geniuses.
It seems he'll be entering the Little Black Room many times in the near future.
Is there really no escaping it in the end?
ε = ( ´ ο ｀ * ) ) ) Sigh.
Life is not easy, Bai Luan sighed.
"Understood."
"Oh, and one more thing. The Space Station recently lost a Curio, the Spiritflame Seed. Help me find it."
Bai Luan nodded and asked:
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Then, come back soon."
Herta stared at Bai Luan for a moment, then showed a faint smile.
She stepped forward and gently pinched Bai Luan's face, didn't answer, and then left.
After Herta left, Bai Luan began to search for the Curio.
His method for finding Curios was also very simple: he first made a transforming trash can robot.
The cylindrical robot usually maintains the appearance of a trash can, but as long as its holder gives a command, all of its mechanical structures will begin to operate. After a series of structural transformations comparable to Transformers, it turns into a robot.
Is that all?
No, it's not over yet!
When you need to fight, it can also attach to your fist, transforming into an exoskeleton gauntlet to enhance your combat abilities.
Although its enhancement ability for Stelle isn't significant,
it's very cool.
Coolness is a lifelong thing.
Bai Luan briefly demonstrated the robot to Stelle, then offered the robot as a reward for finding the Curio, entrusting the task of finding the Curio to Stelle.
The effect was remarkable; Stelle could be seen bustling about for this matter for the past few days.
It was clear she really wanted that robot.
But he saw her running around, searching for several days, yet she still hadn't found it.
It's alright, no rush. Logically, this Curio should be found by Ratio.
According to his memory, the Annihilation Gang would soon attack the Herta Space Station.
That would be Duke Inferno, whom Acheron casually cut down.
The reason these people worship destruction is quite bizarre.
The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, destroyed their planet.
Then the Annihilation Gang declared:
Can a man be so beautiful?
And so they began to worship Destruction.
The funniest part is that Nanook ignored them.
Although Duke Inferno's choice to stay and die for his beliefs when facing Acheron was indeed quite moving.
He was a qualified Path-worshipping fanatic.
A bunch of lunatics is Bai Luan's assessment of them.
However, the Annihilation Gang's attack on the Space Station did not cause any substantial damage, mainly because this attack was turned by Ratio into a reprimand for the Space Station Staff and a challenge to the geniuses.
Stelle was also involved, and he also intentionally kept most variables unchanged, believing that this attack by the Annihilation Gang would be similar to his previous life, passing without major incident.
After all, Elio showed no signs of yawning, so what he did shouldn't significantly affect the plot.
Of course, if anything unexpected happened, he was here watching, so there wouldn't be any problems.
After losing the best reason to escape conversations, the difficulty of Bai Luan's every day increased linearly.
The gold and gears DLC hasn't even been released yet, and the work intensity has already reached this level. When it's actually time to do it, won't it be even harder than now?
First day Herta is gone, he misses her.
Feeling a bleak future, Bai Luan decided to take a walk to clear his mind.
He specifically chose a relatively secluded section of the Space Station and walked slowly.
Such places usually have few people, perfect for calming one's mind.
Every conversation with Screwllum now makes him feel one step closer to gold and gears.
Since making this DLC is already a foregone conclusion, why not just reveal it to Screwllum directly and speed up the gold and gears process?
The sooner it's done, the sooner he can be free.
Eh! He could secretly start working on a part of gold and gears in advance!
If he started production now, then when Screwllum and the others truly decided to start making gold and gears, he wouldn't have such immense pressure.
No choice, everyone around him is a true genius, if he wants to keep up with them, he can only use this method of 'the slow bird flies early'.
After figuring out what to do, Bai Luan felt a sudden enlightenment.
At this moment, he understood.
The way to conquer fear is to face it.
Making the simulated universe DLC by himself and making it with the geniuses are two completely different experiences.
If he did it himself, he could research slowly, without such great pressure.
But making it with the geniuses was like trying to keep up with a high-speed train on two legs.
Although there was the Little Black Room, which allowed him to keep up with the high-speed train on two legs, it was really tiring.
If he secretly developed it, he could walk slowly, just like taking a walk now.
That's absolutely right!
Why didn't he think of it sooner?
So much time wasted, so much time wasted... (Squidward's voice)
Hmm, starting today, he'll set aside some time each day to work on the simulated universe DLC.
It's perfect that Herta isn't here; it won't be as easy to be discovered if he's secretly doing something.
Just like that, Bai Luan's originally somewhat heavy footsteps became light, and he began to hum a cheerful tune.
Just then, a blurry figure suddenly flickered behind Bai Luan.
Bai Luan frowned, a bolter appearing in his hand, pointing directly at the illusory figure.
The illusory figure flickered a few times, gradually becoming clearer.
In this process, Bai Luan also saw the essence of the figure.
It was just a holographic projection, without any threat.
As the figure's outline gradually became clear, Bai Luan also recognized the newcomer.
"Kafka? What are you doing at the Space Station?"
"Came to chat with you."
Kafka showed a faint smile, glancing at the barrel of the bolter.
"You know pointing a gun at a holographic image is useless, right?"
"..."
Bai Luan put away the bolter and asked:
"What do you want to chat about?"
"To invite you to join the Stellaron Hunters."
"..."
Bai Luan couldn't help but lose his composure for a moment.
"Elio hasn't given up on this yet?"
Kafka didn't answer, just looked at Bai Luan, smiling silently, waiting for Bai Luan's reply.
It seems she doesn't want him to pry information out of her.
"I'm not going. Why would I be an intergalactic fugitive when I can be a good assistant? I'd have to be bored out of my mind."
"Don't refuse so quickly. Think about it carefully, aren't the things you do and the things we do essentially the same?"
"And where did that come from?"
"The things you did in Belobog and on the Xianzhou Luofu, they all made their lives better, didn't they?
And we are also committed to leading the future of the universe to a beautiful ending. At least in terms of purpose, we are consistent."
"I have no intention of dictating the destinies of others. I just can't stand to see someone put in effort and sweat, only to receive no deserved reward.
Perseverance is already difficult, and so is hard work. If someone achieves both but receives no reward, and I happen to encounter them, I will ensure they receive their due reward."
"Then, why do you do it?"
"I have the ability to do so, and I want to do so. It's that simple."
"Heh... indeed a unique genius. I hope the script Elio specifically wrote for you this time will satisfy you."
"?"
As he spoke, a faint blue spiritflame suddenly shot up from beneath Bai Luan's feet.
The spiritflame seemed to not have expected anyone to be there and instinctively activated its ability.
A faint blue fire ignited on Bai Luan's body.
Well, he finally understood why Kafka was discussing ideals in a secluded section of the Space Station.
It was just to stall for time, to make him stand in this very spot.
Kafka looked at Bai Luan, who was about to be teleported away by the spiritflame, and smiled, saying:
"Stelle seems to be having a lot of fun with you."
"After all, I'm her uncle. When I take her out to play, would I still be wary of her?"
Bai Luan looked at Kafka and said:
"Oh, and please tell Elio for me, he's a bad cat."
As his voice fell,
Bai Luan's figure disappeared.
Kafka looked at the empty section of the Space Station:
"I will."
...
6AAAC 1/4 off first month