After drinking the "Liar 800," Ryuga told a lie.
Effect: After he leaves Amphoreus, he will be treated as if he "still exists."
...
"Is that 'Screwllum' or whatever here?"
Vill-V's large, round eyes scanned the room back and forth. The room was tidy to a nearly rigorous degree.
In the corner, a holographic projector rotated slowly, casting the lingering shadows of a star chart. In another corner of the room stood a "robot" in the shape of a girl, standing quietly.
"What's this?"
Vill-V tilted her head and even reached out to poke the robot's cheek.
"The touch is warm and moist, no different from a real person."
"By the way, she won't suddenly open her eyes, will she?"
As she spoke, she pinched the robot's shoulder and turned back to ask Ryuga curiously.
"You're in trouble."
Ryuga blinked a few times, placed his hand on his forehead, and sighed.
"What trouble?"
Vill-V was curious.
But just as the words left her mouth, she felt an ominous wind rise behind her, and a bone-chilling cold suddenly surged from her spine to the top of her head.
She whipped her head around.
She saw a massive amethyst hammer, carrying a frigid ice storm, whistling toward her head.
"Waahhh!"
Vill-V screamed, ducked her head, and bolted like a startled rabbit, her large hat nearly flying off.
"..."
Ryuga's figure flashed, blocking the way in front of Vill-V.
He raised his hand and stopped the giant hammer.
Boom!
Ice shards flew everywhere, and cold air rushed over them.
Is this my fault?
It seemed Herta had set a "self-defense program" for her robot, and the trigger condition was likely "touching the puppet without authorization."
After all, in the Herta Space Station, the only one who had the chance to lay a hand on the "Herta puppet" was him.
Unfortunately, Vill-V was quick to pinch it, triggering the passive effect.
"Herta is online."
Ryuga teased.
In fact, after the Herta puppet activated its self-defense mechanism, Herta had come online.
"Well now~, Ryuga, are you bringing a 'little hat with a gear stuck on top' to my bedroom to have a party?"
The Herta puppet crossed its arms and sneered.
(So! Big!)
"..."
Vill-V stole a glance at the Herta puppet, her small face still a bit pale from the fright.
She was somewhat curious about this genius's naming style.
"Little hat with a gear stuck on top"?
Me?
"What is it?"
Herta didn't bother with Vill-V and looked up at Ryuga.
"You knew it was me?"
Ryuga raised an eyebrow, speaking with a hint of playfulness.
"Heh~, in my space station, the only fellow who can break into my bedroom undetected and dare to touch my puppet is you."
Herta crossed her arms and chuckled.
"So, the 'self-defense mechanism' was prepared for me?"
Ryuga shrugged.
"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt you anyway. Speak quickly, I'm busy."
Herta urged.
"Give me the coordinates for Planet Screwllum. I left too quickly last time and forgot to ask for them."
Ryuga dropped his joking expression and said.
In those six years, he had only been to Herta's space station and Ruan Mei's laboratory; he really hadn't gone to Planet Screwllum to play.
"Screwllum? Oh~. So this is that 'Vill-V' who can create weapons on a deserted island in a month and teach monkeys how to fight?"
Herta reacted instantly, staring and sizing her up.
"Me? Monkeys?"
"Uh, I actually could do that."
Vill-V pointed at her own nose, a bit dazed.
Although she thought about it and realized the difficulty wasn't that great, she hadn't done it yet; how did Ryuga know?
After scrutinizing Vill-V for a while, Herta lost interest.
She now found that Mei had more potential.
She planned to observe for a few more years and then hand over the position of Space Station Lead to her.
This girl was very capable.
Only two months after joining the research group, she had already replaced the original group leader.
Her management skills could be called Max.
"He is developing a new project branch for my Simulated Universe, the 'Divergent Universe'."
"It's in the early stages now, and he's soaking in the Logic Corridor every day to reconstruct algorithms, so he probably didn't see your message."
Herta thought for a moment, summoned a virtual screen, and swiped casually.
"Here, the coordinates have been sent to your phone."
"Also, I'll give Screwllum a call for you."
Ryuga looked down at his phone, nodded, and then took out the "Anywhere Door."
He gripped the handle and entered the coordinates for Ruan Mei's laboratory.
A ripple-like glow appeared in the door's crack, and space began to warp.
Then, he looked at the Herta puppet again.
"Thanks. By the way, aren't you going offline?"
"Offline? Heh! I'm afraid that after I go offline, you'll do some strange things to my puppet."
Herta let out a cold laugh, her gaze suddenly sharp.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Can we have a little trust between people?"
Ryuga stared, spreading his hands with an innocent look.
"If I really wanted to do something strange, I'd be looking for you in person, wouldn't I?"
"Besides, that puppet of yours, except for the face which is bionic skin, the rest of the parts are all mechanical structures."
"The joints are gears, the torso is alloy, and as for down there, there's simply no..."
As Ryuga spoke, he felt a terrifyingly cold killing intent sweep over him.
Oops!
He let his tongue slip.
He quickly grabbed Vill-V, pulled open the "Anywhere Door," and leaped through.
Almost at the same time, the Herta puppet raised its hand and gripped the air, and the giant hammer reappeared.
In an instant, an ice storm swept through the entire room like a tornado.
"Ryuga!"
"You really have done strange things to my puppet!"
"Go and repent!"
Herta's anger suddenly spiked, and she swung the giant hammer.
The moment the Anywhere Door closed, the ice hammer slammed down.
The floor collapsed, and cracks spread like a spiderweb.
Rumble.
The entire bedroom was frozen into a crystalline tomb.
As for the Anywhere Door, it had already closed and vanished without a trace.
"I'll have to change to a private bedroom."
Looking at the bedroom that was ruined beyond recognition, Herta's brow throbbed.
At this moment, Mei happened to pass by.
Clang!
The bedroom door collapsed. Looking at the interior filled with cold mist, ice crystals, shards, and icicles everywhere, Mei blinked.
"???"
Is Madam Herta demolishing the house?
...
Inside Ruan Mei's laboratory.
"What on earth did you do to her puppet? Could it be..."
The mischievous look in Vill-V's eyes grew stronger.
"What are you thinking?"
Ryuga raised an eyebrow and gave a helpless look back.
"Then, does Herta's puppet have anything down there..."
Thump—
Ryuga was speechless and raised his hand to knock on Vill-V's large hat: "Is this a topic we can discuss?"
Vill-V straightened her hat and curled her lip: "Tch, stop acting so serious."
"Alright, it's fine to tell you."
"I once did some 'technical debugging' on Herta's puppet, ahem, indeed... slightly... moved a tiny bit of hands and feet."
Vill-V's eyes brightened: "For example?"
"For example, I added a voice wake-up function to the Herta puppet: 'Good morning, Master'."
Vill-V instantly deflated: "That's it?"
Her spirit immediately sagged.
She was originally expecting some shocking secret, and her small brain had even automatically played some limited-edition VIP scenes.
And the result was just this?
Good morning?
Are you kidding me?
"What else did you think? There's none of that stuff you're thinking of."
Ryuga shook his head.
Ahem.
Of course, he had lifted the Herta puppet's skirt~
He didn't believe all you perverts hadn't had that thought.
Humph~
But these things couldn't be discussed with Vill-V.
...
"...?"
Looking at the two "Amphoreans" floating in the culture medium before her, Mobius furrowed her brow slightly, her fingertip lightly pinching her delicate chin.
Brainstorming in progress.
Faint blue Memoria swirled around the two like mist, outlining their forms.
"This is a bit difficult."
"They look more like materialized 'data' rather than flesh and blood."
The Snake (Mobius) murmured in a low voice.
She majored in biology and knew cell division and genetic coding like the back of her hand, but the existence before her exceeded her familiar scope.
It wasn't cloning.
Nor was it genetic recombination.
It was the fusion of pure data and Memoria, giving the "individual" a form nearly like life.
Making a puppet was too simple for her.
But to create a puppet that could carry data, be compatible with Memoria, and run stably in the virtual world constructed by a planetary computer was a bit taxing.
She had only just started learning "Memoriology."
"It's indeed not easy."
Ryuga shook his head.
In order to bring these two "Amphoreans" out of the Scepter's simulation range, he had used almost all his means.
He had sealed a death row prisoner into a space bag, but an instant later, the body turned to sand, becoming a mass of disordered Memoria.
Not even data could be preserved.
Once the data carrier of memory left the simulated world, it would instantly annihilate.
These two were ones he had used special Memoria circuits as anchors and reinforced with layers of reverse data chains to barely maintain their existence.
"You should go find Screwllum."
A cold and composed voice came from the doorway.
Ruan Mei slowly walked into the laboratory, her high heels clicking in a rhythmic pace.
Her attire was the same as usual: a qipao plus a white lab coat.
Her expression was calm, as if she had long forgotten the embarrassing scene of Ryuga spanking her.
Ruan Mei glanced at the culture medium.
"To be precise, what you want is not a puppet, but a piece of 'data'."
"A piece of 'living code' that can run autonomously in a virtual simulated planetary world without being identified as an intrusion by the system."
As she spoke, Ruan Mei paused, her inquisitive gaze sweeping over Vill-V and then landing on Ryuga's face.
"Then, you also have to bypass administrator permissions and plant this data into the simulation layer without triggering any alarms."
"This isn't something traditional biology can solve."
"This is the intersection of 'Memoria Engineering' and 'Virtual Data Ecology'."
As she spoke, Ruan Mei shook her head slightly and looked at Mobius.
"I'm afraid you'll have to redefine the boundaries of 'life'."
"..."
The Snake was depressed.
Before coming here, she believed that "human" was a broad term.
Even after absorbing Honkai Beast factors, humans were still "humans."
But now, there were too many things to learn.
Slap.
Ryuga slapped his forehead; he had been biased by his first impressions.
It was indeed as Ruan Mei said.
It wasn't as simple as making 500 "Amphoreans." The trial of the "Titan of Justice" required the sacrifice of 500 Chrysos Heirs, which meant those with golden blood.
It really did require Screwllum's help.
Buzz—
Speak of Screwllum, and Screwllum appears.
Ryuga quickly connected the communication signal.
A virtual screen opened, and a slender, elegant, and polite "robot" came into view.
At this moment, he was sitting on a wide terrace, on a metal rocking chair skillfully pieced together from gears, springs, and the like.
Vill-V's eyes widened; this "monarch" looked more like a secluded philosopher.
"Screwllum, I've brought you a student. You have to teach my person well; you can't hold anything back."
Ryuga spoke very familiarly.
"Naturally."
Screwllum nodded elegantly, raised his mechanical eyes, and looked at Vill-V gently.
"This must be Madam Vill-V, right? It is truly my honor that you could take the time to visit Planet Screwllum."
As he spoke, Screwllum elegantly swirled the "red wine" in his glass, took a light sip, and then placed the glass on a tabletop made of interlocking gears.
He stood up, bowed slightly, and performed the etiquette perfectly.
"..."
Vill-V's eyes instantly lit up.
This one really didn't look like a robot.
A gentleman.
Unlike Herta, who knocked her on the head as soon as they met, although that was a self-defense reaction caused by Ryuga's prank.
And Ruan Mei, whose talent was stunning but who was like deep water in a cold pool; she glanced once and then ignored her, not even saying a single word.
This Screwllum was much easier to talk to.
"Hello, I'm Vill-V. Can you robots... no, Intellitrons, also drink red wine?"
She was a bit curious.
"Hehe."
"There is an approximately 42.7% probability of error in that inference, Miss Vill-V."
Screwllum chuckled, then lightly tapped the rim of the glass with his fingertip, and ripples spread across the surface of the liquid.
"Conclusion: A pure machine oil beverage, blended with trace amounts of aromatic compounds and antioxidants. The taste simulates a fine 1982 Amber Era vintage from the Left Bank of Bordeaux, with an aftertaste lasting approximately 3.7 seconds."
"Ah?" Vill-V opened her mouth.
Machine oil with a Bordeaux taste?
Elegant.
Truly too elegant.
She actually read the word "elegant" on a robot.
She also finally understood the difference between the three geniuses.
Screwllum's language focused more on the art of rhetoric.
Herta had a sharp-tongued style.
Ruan Mei had a research-style way of talking, where every sentence was extremely precise and without any redundancy.
This monarch of Planet Screwllum seemed to emphasize the balance of positions between the two parties in a conversation.
...
Planet Screwllum was a massive "planetary difference engine" whose surface was wrapped in gear-like megastructures and lever systems.
It was beautifully named the "Iron Sun."
The main body of the entire planet was wrapped in 36,000 sets of circular orbits, and the surface was densely packed with "circumstellar belts" formed by rectangular pore arrays.
Vill-V's mouth hung open.
When had she ever seen such a megastructure mechanical planet?
At first glance, it looked very much like a cyber civilization.
...
Inside the Divergent Universe.
Vill-V rode on the back of a Chariot-class Honkai Beast, her fingers flying, and the data stream poured down like a galaxy, weaving into a control net before her eyes.
A mechanical Temple-class Honkai Beast roared forward under her will, its eyes burning with crimson rage, and the shoulder cannon arrays fired in unison.
Behind it, mechanical Archangel-classes followed like shadows, weaving through the wreckage at high speed.
Mechanical Knight-classes charged in formation, their metal lances thrusting.
Mechanical Ballista-classes held the rear firmly, launching stones.
Inside the Divergent Universe, a battle of offense and defense began.
Vill-V reverse-parsed, reconstructed, and overwrote the underlying code, injecting precise mechanical structures into the Honkai Beasts and reshaping their shells.
Cannon fire poured down like a rainstorm.
Beams of light intertwined into a net.
The fire of explosions rushed toward Screwllum, and the shockwaves swept in all directions.
Facing the shockwaves spreading like a spiderweb, Screwllum remained standing still as a mountain.
He did not move.
He did not attack.
He only defended.
An energy shield unfolded like a mirror, reflecting, absorbing, and neutralizing all attacks.
The traps Vill-V set, the preset collapse protocols, and the inducing path baits were like children's games before Screwllum.
Before they could even be triggered, they were identified, cleared, and rewritten.
"It seems we're going to have a long war of attrition."
Vill-V murmured in a low voice.
"Go to sleep early; organic life should cherish dreams."
As the words fell, the battlefield suddenly came to a standstill.
All cannon fire was extinguished, and the movements of all mechanical Honkai Beasts froze in mid-air, then crumbled like sand, turning into data dregs.
Then they were quickly swept away and incinerated.
Vill-V suddenly woke up: "I... lost."
...
There was still human activity on Planet Screwllum, so Ryuga didn't have to worry about Vill-V's basic needs.
After accepting Yixuan's invitation, he entered New Eridu.
To be continued…