Lars checked the projection screen three times, finally confirming that he wasn't seeing things.
The video indeed featured Screwllum and Ruan Mei themselves, not some special effect or advanced modeling.
He stared at the trending video, silent for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh with relief.
Lars didn't believe anyone in the world could keep a straight face after seeing this.
Olivia's reaction was similar to Lars's, except she habitually drank water in small sips, fortunately avoiding the embarrassment of choking.
The two exchanged glances, seeing the same relief and amusement in each other's eyes.
Lars couldn't resist pulling out his phone and leaving his comment under the video.
Data Analyst: No way, Station Master, you're truly unbeatable, aren't you?
After leaving his comment, he got up to clean the water he had just sprayed.
Lars's comment quickly merged into the surging tide of comments.
The reactions of most netizens were similar to his:
"I want to laugh but don't dare to."
"We still can't figure out how he convinced them to shoot this video."
"C-can I really watch this for free?"
"Even geniuses are like this now? The future of our universe is truly..."
"Just when I think Yi Mu's is already peak, he always manages to pull off something so shocking it makes my eyes go dark. What exactly are you making the other geniuses do?!"
"I've seen everything (crossed out)—Holy cow, I really haven't seen this."
"Currently, the virus is spreading rapidly among the Genius Society members, starting from the 85th member and infecting the rest."
"What will our Genius Society (sobbing) become... what will it become?"
"Mr. Screwllum, if you've been kidnapped, just blink."
"Alright, alright, asking Mr. Screwllum, who has no eyelids, is that it?"
Bai Luan's gaze stopped at this last comment.
He had actually asked Ruan Mei and Screwllum why they were willing to accept 'leave slips' in exchange for filming such videos.
Ruan Mei's reason was pure and simple—she didn't care about anything outside of her research topics.
Her chain of logic was very clear:
Bai Luan can help her with her research topics → Leave slips will make her lose Bai Luan's help → Filming videos can consume a lot of leave slips → Therefore, this is the correct choice.
It was very simple and straightforward, easy to understand.
As for Screwllum, it was because he knew that all the machinery Bai Luan came into contact with was particularly prone to awakening into automatons.
Therefore, he had a research interest in all of Bai Luan's actions, wanting to see if this would increase the probability of mechanical awakening.
It now seemed that the geniuses' tolerance—or rather, their 'sense of humor'—was much higher than he had imagined.
"However, I just want to play."
Bai Luan whispered with a smile, clicked on the comment asking if Screwllum had been kidnapped, and replied:
"Yes, I forced Screwllum to do it."
Yes, Bai Luan chose the reply with the most engagement and started talking nonsense.
After he personally joined in, the already lively comment section became even more boisterous.
"???"
"Could this become the fuse for the third war between automatons and organic life?"
"At first, people only thought this was a simple prank video..."
"@Screwllum, I suddenly really want to see Mr. Screwllum's own opinion."
Then, to everyone's surprise, Screwllum actually appeared and replied:
"He's joking. This is quite a unique experience, and I personally consider it a pleasant collaboration."
Screwllum's personal reply made the comment section completely erupt, everyone shocked by his surprisingly open attitude towards the matter.
Although Screwllum personally stepping in to explain caught Bai Luan a bit off guard, he quickly found enjoyment in it.
"Hehehe."
He snickered at the screen.
"I just love seeing you all look so uncultured."
Just then, a new comment caught his attention:
"I really wonder what Nous would think if he saw this video?"
Nous... that's right! Nous!
Bai Luan's eyes suddenly lit up—doesn't Nous only have one head?
What a coincidence! There's a famous meme in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure that's related to both dancing and heads, and it has no viewing threshold whatsoever, practically tailor-made material!
The Gang-Star Dance!
All the conditions aligned!
"I'm truly a genius!"
Bai Luan excitedly slapped his thigh, immediately got up and ran to find Stelle, passionately pouring out his entire idea.
Stelle couldn't help but laugh just listening to it, and immediately nodded, indicating she absolutely had to participate.
"Hmm... we're still missing one genius," Bai Luan already had a suitable candidate in mind.
He found Screwllum and offered double the number of leave slips:
"Mr. Screwllum, please, you must join us to form the 'Three Titans' group. For this, I am willing to offer double the leave slips."
Screwllum refused.
However, what he refused was Bai Luan's request for double the leave slips; in the end, he only accepted the normal price.
Bai Luan took some effort to create a miniature projection of Nous.
He then placed the projection of Nous in front of him and began to perfectly replicate the legendary scene of the Gang-Star Dance.
During the recording, Bai Luan frequently broke character laughing, which slowed down the filming process, as everyone knew.
Ultimately, the finished product was perfect, and Bai Luan contentedly uploaded the Gang-Star Dance to the StarNet.
"This genius is truly unbeatable, alright, he keep getting bigger and bigger."
"The genius's brain, just try to learn it, you'll be speechless."
"Ah~~ I'm making it big~~"
"For those who don't know, this Gang-Star Dance comes from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind, but the original manga only had a few pages.
Yi Mu successfully turned those few pages into a minute-long torment for Nous, even creating a catchy background music specifically for this prank. [🎭]"
"I wonder if Nous, upon seeing this scene, will recall the day THEY cast it gaze upon Yi Mu—I imagine THEY must regret it immensely."
"I think the one who regrets it more should be The Aeon of Elation; He acted too late."
"Agreed."
However, the story did not end there.
Nous floated in the universe, when suddenly an Aha refreshed beside Him.
Nous ignored Him as usual.
Now, Aha would come over every so often to persuade Nous to kick Bai Luan out of the Genius Society; He had gotten used to it.
"Hehehe... we meet again, mechanical head."
Nous responded to Aha with silence, but Aha didn't care about Nous's cold shoulder, merely opening a light screen in front of Him.
"I've brought something good to share with you."
With the blessing of Elation's power, the Gang-Star Dance BGM echoed in the silent universe.
"Vocal percussion on a whole 'nother level coming from my mind."
Nous watched three small figures perform the Gang-Star Dance in front of Him; among these three, two were geniuses—that is, His neural thought units.
And one looked like Akivili.
Hmm... the universe might as well just end soon.
Nous averted His gaze, only to have Aha force it back.
Nous: ...
"Nous, your days of having Bai Luan as an Emanator are over, give him back to me!"
Nous: ...
"Otherwise, you'll just have to watch the Gang-Star Dance here forever! This is truly hilarious, hahahaha..."
Aha's voice carried a hint of exhilaration and triumph.
Finally, Nous spoke.
"No matter how eager you are, he is an Emanator of Erudition, not Elation."
"You *Elation's Witty Remark* mechanical head, does it matter if he's an Emanator of Erudition to your *Elation's Witty Remark*?"
"Wasn't it because I *Elation's Witty Remark* shifted your gaze, what *Elation's Witty Remark* does it have to do with you?!"
『I think Nous and Aha are also an ill-fated pair of lovers.』
Upon hearing this, Bai Luan's expression immediately turned into that of an old man on the subway, almost throwing sticky rice at the System.
What kind of System is this?
What kind of twisted CP is it shipping?
『...』
『No! You're slandering me!』