Today, Lin Lin suddenly sought out Bai Luan. Bai Luan thought his old classmate was once again coming to ask about Pokémon habits, but that wasn't the case.
This time, she came with a company assignment: Topaz asked her to deliver a message to him.
"Miss Topaz wants me to ask you if you can cooperate with the company to establish a Pokémon branch or something similar within the company."
Hmm... Bai Luan wasn't surprised that Topaz wanted to introduce Pokémon to the company.
But giving Pokémon to the company doesn't feel like a good thing for the Pokémon.
It feels like Pokémon would turn into Palworld creatures, and an organization called Team Rocket would appear within the company.
Then, every time the company arrives at a planet and discovers non-humanoid creatures, they'd pull out poké balls to catch them, then insist the natives are Pokémon...
All in all, it's better not to send Pokémon to the company.
"After all, Pokémon have only just been born into this world, and there are many uncertainties. Until I can ensure their absolute safety, I won't rashly let them leave the Space Station."
"I understand."
Hearing Bai Luan say this, Lin Lin nodded knowingly, then asked again:
"Miss Topaz said if you refuse, she asked me to ask if she could come to the Space Station to see these Pokémon."
"Hmm..."
Bai Luan pondered for a moment, then said:
"Actually, there's no problem with petting them directly."
Lin Lin sent Bai Luan's reply to Topaz, along with the additional permission: "Come quickly, you can pet them."
In the following days, Topaz indeed did not send any new inquiries through Lin Lin.
In Bai Luan's opinion, the matter was probably temporarily shelved.
He even felt a little regretful—given Topaz's doting on Numby, he had expected her to make time to visit, no matter what, just to see more fluffy creatures with her own eyes.
Later, during a casual chat with Lin Lin, he inadvertently brought up, "Did Director Topaz not mention visiting again?" Only then did he learn the amusing truth from Lin Lin.
"Oh? Miss Topaz? She came, you know."
Lin Lin blinked.
"She came the very afternoon I sent her the message. She said she had urgently coordinated a 'mini-vacation'—though at the time she seemed to be busy with some debt restructuring project, and her schedule was super packed, I was almost scared to tears."
"She came? How did I not know at all?"
Bai Luan was surprised.
"Because she really just 'came for a bit,' and you were busy at the time, so I didn't disturb you."
Lin Lin gestured, her expression a mix of admiration and amusement.
"She applied for temporary visitor access, and then, ensuring no interference with normal research, I accompanied her for about... less than half a system hour?
She petted the Growlithe that came up to her, let Numby play with a few Magnemite who also liked shiny things, and even tried to lure a seemingly aloof Eevee with high-grade energy biscuits... In short, she was quick, targeted, and petted efficiently and devotedly."
"And then?"
"Then?"
Lin Lin shrugged.
"After petting them and taking a few 'commemorative photos' that didn't involve sensitive areas or data, she left in a hurry, saying she had a meeting to attend and was about to be late. When I saw her off, she even mumbled, 'Next time I should apply for compensatory leave.'"
Is this the special forces-style visit of a top company employee and pet lover?
Truly coming and going like the wind, with clear goals and concentrated joy.
Hmm... once again, he was glad he didn't have to work for the company.
Topaz wasn't the only one who visited the Space Station for the Pokémon; Silver Wolf also came to the Space Station as a holographic projection for these little guys.
However, compared to Topaz's lightning-fast visit, she was much more leisurely and open about her arrival, making no secret of it.
"Look what I found? A ghost!"
Bai Luan's voice, laced with teasing, sounded behind the "ghost."
"A ghost floating in the Space Station..."
After Silver Wolf learned of Bai Luan's thoughts, she couldn't help but retort:
"You're the quantum ghost. Don't tell me you don't recognize a holographic projection."
"Yo! Isn't this Silver, who had her account deleted, then blocked, Wolf? What blew you to the Space Station?"
"…"
Facing the provocative Bai Luan, Silver Wolf let out a long sigh.
If it were the Bai Luan she first encountered, she might have had a chance to counter, but now she had no way to deal with him.
"Ha, ha, ha."
Silver Wolf let out two dry, emotionless laughs, then looked at Bai Luan:
"Satisfied, you rascal?"
"No more teasing. Why are you at the Space Station?"
"What else? The entire StarNet is discussing Pokémon, so I came to take a look."
"How do you feel?"
"A bunch of cute little guys."
"Is that all?"
"What? Do you want me to steal one back for you to be satisfied?"
"Then I'll just block your recently unblocked account again, and give you a deadline to return the stolen Pokémon. For every ten minutes you're overdue, I'll delete one of your accounts."
"You're so cruel!"
Although Silver Wolf appeared angry and helpless against Bai Luan, her Heart was actually very stable.
This was merely Bai Luan's verbal triumph; when it was her turn, she would be the one laughing.
In fact, her visit here was part of her plan.
After all, the more smug the opponent, the less likely they are to notice anything unusual.
You'll cry eventually.
Turn-based game, give and take.
You laugh now, but when it's my turn... it'll be my turn to laugh.
With a hint of secret smugness, Silver Wolf's projection waved her hand:
"Seeing you annoys me, I'm leaving."
Then she turned off the projection.
After sending Silver Wolf away, Ruan Mei found Bai Luan, but this time not for help, but to ask for advice.
"What advice do I have for your project?"
"That's right, I want to gather more suggestions before the experiment begins. I also plan to ask the other two geniuses the same question."
"If I absolutely had to give you advice, it would be four words: 'Brute force, heavy dosage.'"
Ruan Mei fell silent for a moment after hearing Bai Luan's advice, then nodded.
She ultimately adopted Bai Luan's suggestion, deciding to take the opportunity to add some "heavy dosage" when The Swarm evolved.
For example... the power of other Paths.
However, considering that Bai Luan's experiment success rate wasn't particularly reliable, she decided to conduct a similar experiment first to gauge the difficulty.
Coincidentally, she had a suitable candidate on hand.
The Foxian she had unexpectedly found earlier; when saving her, she could also observe what kind of effect "brute force, heavy dosage" would produce.
For this, Ruan Mei found Herta and entrusted her to ask the Astral Express to bring her an ancient beast's body for this experiment.
Herta also became interested upon hearing this, and thus acted as an intermediary, connecting Ruan Mei with Himeko.
Both parties quickly finalized the cooperation.
Meanwhile, Stelle walked into the laboratory and found Bai Luan:
"Uncle!"
Bai Luan looked up from a pile of curios and at Stelle:
"What do you want?"
"Pom-Pom said there's an urgent announcement, and told me to go back to the Astral Express. Will you see me off?"
Hmm... this must be the Astral Express heading to the Xianzhou for the Martial Arts Ceremony.
Alright, let me hitch a ride.
Bai Luan casually tossed aside the half-made curio in his hand.
"No problem."
But Bai Luan didn't immediately take out the Anywhere Door; instead, he took out his phone and started messaging Pom-Pom.
Bai Luan: Conductor, I request permission to use the Anywhere Door on the Astral Express.
Stelle curiously leaned over and saw the message Bai Luan sent to Pom-Pom.
"Why does Uncle need to tell Pom-Pom in advance to use the Anywhere Door?"
"To avoid Pom-Pom's broom."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because suddenly opening the Anywhere Door might scare our majestic Conductor."
"Hmm... now that you mention it..."
Stelle first stroked her chin, her thoughts wandering for a bit, then chuckled lightly and shared her idea with Bai Luan:
"Is Pom-Pom worried about bumping into a suddenly appearing Anywhere Door and falling?"
"That sounds like something March would do."
"Hmm..."
Stelle pondered for a moment, stroking her chin, then nodded in agreement.
"You're right, Uncle."