Bai Luan kept his promise and filmed a heart-finger video for the Herta Puppet.
Compared to those demonic dances that required repeated rehearsals, simply making a heart sign was as easy as breathing.
After completing these several timeless masterpieces of art, the project finally came to a temporary halt.
Indeed, doing what you enjoy is the most relaxing activity.
However, relaxation is for facing official matters in a better mental state; it's time to get back on track.
What reminded Bai Luan to switch from 'Elation' mode to 'Serious' mode was a text message from Edward.
He said he had gotten sufficient rest in Penacony and was now ready to set off again.
At the same time, before leaving, Edward also informed Bai Luan about a friend who had helped him a lot in Penacony.
That friend, due to setbacks in reality, was overly immersed in dreams. Edward had tried to persuade him for a long time, but failed to change his mind.
Edward: If it were you, Mr. Bai Luan, things might take a turn.
Edward: So, if you have time, could you go and talk to him?
Edward: He's still very young...
Bai Luan: I understand. If there's an opportunity, I'll meet him.
Edward: Thank you. With that, I can continue my journey with peace of mind.
Someone overly immersed in dreams?
It seems not everyone can walk out of that beautiful dream.
Bai Luan made a mental note of this matter. If given the chance, he would meet this friend who had helped Edward so much.
Edward's text message made Bai Luan switch back to work mode.
Unfortunately, the development of offensive curios was still not going smoothly, but Bai Luan had a new idea.
He thought of a key figure—
The 79th member of the Genius Society, Chadwick.
Compared to developing from scratch, directly acquiring weapons that others have already researched and that are allowed to exist after being reviewed by the 'equilibrium' is clearly much more efficient.
Unless the 'equilibrium' can be so hypocritical as to allow others to create, but not you.
If it really comes to that, what else can he say?
If THEY is targeting him like this, then he'll just go along with THEM and continue with the two plans he envisioned.
To take a step back, even if he couldn't obtain the technology related to the 'Imaginary Collapse Pulse,' at least Herta should get it.
Having one more such item for self-defense is not a problem.
That being said, according to the trajectory of events in his memory... Stelle should have already contacted Screwllum and Herta to deal with this matter.
Now that the old man has been elbowed, Stelle has even initially resolved the troubles in Penacony and has time to test the simulated universe in the Space Station.
Yet, he has been staying at the Herta Space Station all this time and has never received any news from Stelle about Chadwick. This doesn't quite align with the plot development in his memory.
So... the timeline has changed?
What bothered him even more was that the timeline had changed, and Elio hadn't intervened to correct it?
Did he think it wasn't necessary?
Hmm... overthinking is meaningless.
It's better to just ask Stelle what happened.
If it really comes down to it, it wouldn't hurt for him to correct it himself.
Thinking of this, Bai Luan suddenly paused.
No wonder Elio didn't intervene.
Was it because he calculated that he would take the initiative to correct it, and so he washed his hands of the matter?
Can this Prophet still play without being nerfed?
The ability of the Path of Finality is truly miraculous.
However, Bai Luan didn't mind this too much; it just served as a reason to go to Penacony again.
He always had to go to Penacony one more time.
At the very least, he had to meet Black Swan once, offer his most sincere apologies to this respectable Memokeeper, and then exchange memories for Amphoreus's coordinates from her.
The Imperial Scepter used to calculate Amphoreus is destined to be destroyed.
Instead of rushing to salvage internal data after it breaks, it's better to try to put a protective shell around this precious data from the start.
This way, after the Irontomb coronation, it can save Herta and Screwllum the trouble of excavating data from the broken scepter, greatly accelerating the process of elevating Amphoreus into a true life form.
But what exactly happened to cause the timeline to change, preventing Stelle from encountering Chadwick until now?
With this curiosity, Bai Luan found Stelle and directly asked her if she had encountered a peculiar old man in Penacony.
Because Bai Luan's description of the peculiar old man was very specific, Stelle quickly found the corresponding person in her memory.
"Uncle, now that you mention it, I think I really did see an old man who perfectly matches your description."
"So? Why didn't you go up and talk to him?"
Bai Luan pressed.
According to the original development, this conversation should have triggered a side quest.
Then Stelle would summon Screwllum to confront the Family, subsequently learn about Chadwick's past through memories, and finally bring Chadwick's memory bubble back to the Space Station, giving this genius, who tormented himself his whole life because his good and bad were not pure enough, a dignified end.
Of course, Bai Luan wouldn't voice these predictions; he felt that merely speaking to this extent was already creepy enough.
Just look at Stelle's expression at this moment.
Her face clearly read, "How do you know that? That's so perverted, Uncle! You haven't been following and peeping at me, have you?"
Facing Stelle's suspicious gaze, Bai Luan merely shrugged:
"You know, I'd tell you it's a magic trick."
He paused, looking at Stelle, who looked like she wanted to speak but held back, and added:
"Give up, this is innate. I can't teach you, and you can't learn it."
Stelle was clearly a bit disappointed; she had actually wanted to be a Prophet—always mysterious, randomly selecting lucky audience members to activate her ability, running up to them to casually mention the good deeds they'd done recently, scaring them half to death.
What a pity, truly a pity.
The topic returned to the original question: why didn't Stelle go up and talk to that peculiar old man?
"I was going to chat with him for a bit."
Stelle recalled.
"But just as I was about to approach him, you sent me a message, Uncle."
"Uh..."
Are you saying,
The main problem was with me?
"Then I started replying to your message, and by the time I finished, that old man had already been taken away by people from the Hound Family."
"Alright, it seems this is my fault."
Bai Luan rubbed his nose helplessly.
Seeing Bai Luan's reaction, Stelle began stroking her chin in thought:
"Speaking of which, Uncle could foresee that I met a strange old man, and he knew that I didn't manage to talk to him, so why couldn't he foresee that he was the main cause of this?"
Her eyes lit up, and she came to an interesting conclusion:
"Could it be... Uncle can't foresee things related to himself?"
Bai Luan looked at Stelle in surprise.
Well done, that guess is quite close to the correct answer.
The essence of his 'Prophet' identity was actually knowing the game's plot development in advance.
And the fate trajectory of this world, under Elio's grand scheme, was almost identical to the game's plot, which is why he could successfully impersonate a Prophet.
But he was ultimately just an imposter, not a true Prophet.
In the original game's plot, he didn't exist at all, so he naturally couldn't predict the changes caused by his arrival.
Looking at Stelle, who had almost guessed the truth, Bai Luan suddenly became interested and asked:
"Stelle, have you ever thought that there might exist a parallel world exactly like this one, but without 'Uncle' in it?"
"Hmm..."
Stelle pondered seriously for a moment, then smiled brightly:
"Then I should be luckier than the Stelle in that world; she doesn't have an Uncle to play with, but I do."
Bai Luan was stunned, then let out a warm laugh that implied, "I didn't dote on you for nothing."
"Let's go."
"Where are we going, Uncle?"
"Tell Herta and Screwllum about this; they'll definitely be interested in this old man."
Stelle was a bit confused by this and said:
"Really? But he just seems like a peculiar old man, right?"
"Indeed."
Bai Luan smiled meaningfully.
"But he is also Chadwick, the 79th genius of the Genius Society."
"Eh?!"
Since when do members of the Genius Society randomly appear on the roadside in Penacony!?
Is Penacony really that overbearing!?