Herta had always assumed that her cross-factor contamination would only tweak someone's willpower a little—after all, those worthy of recognition in the first place couldn't be all that rotten.
A slight personality adjustment ought to be enough.
But this one actually wanted to straight-up take the power back.
One step to the summit, then one step straight into the abyss.
That kind of whiplash, tsk tsk…
Those who wouldn't break under it would've already walked their Path, becoming true Giants of Light.
But those who would break—could they really avoid falling into despair?
You know, that's leaning a bit too extreme.
"Will both of you just settle down already…?"
Ruan Mei, listening to their suggestions, finally spoke up to stop them.
She watched her two colleagues tossing out what she could only call 'terrible ideas'—each one more ruthless than the last.
The whole scene left her feeling subtly uneasy.
Even though she had a habit of casually scattering her own creations around, she'd never gone so far as to grant power only to snatch it back.
At worst, she'd just leave unsatisfactory projects aside and forget them.
That kind of sudden loss—not many could take it in stride.
Noticing Herta and her other self looking over, Ruan Mei offered a faint smile and said, "A properly designed life form shouldn't be pushed to such extremes. Tone down the cross-factor contamination, make it more like 'guidance.' And if you must reclaim power, don't make it so abrupt—phase it out gradually."
If anything…
Life itself shouldn't be forced into such absolutes.
Especially not artificially created life. Making things too rigid, trying to control every possibility—that only invites strange consequences.
This was something Ruan Mei, as a biologist, had understood for a long time.
Herta and 'Ruan Mei' exchanged a look, both a little surprised to hear such words from Ruan Mei herself.
After spending this much time together, Herta had begun to realize something:
Even though their abilities were almost on par, the real Ruan Mei had a much cooler, more detached demeanor compared to Bai Ming.
She usually preferred to stand quietly to the side, observing while Herta and her other self brainstormed.
In the end, Herta and 'Ruan Mei' accepted her proposal.
With the huge pressure of propagation demands now gone, creating the Seeds of Light became noticeably easier.
Now their dilemma was how much information to encode into each Seed.
The cross-factor data for 'guidance,' the essence of their power, and basic combat skills.
Beyond that—should every newly born Giant of Light know right away that they weren't alone?
Or should they wait until certain trials were passed before revealing that the Giants belonged to a whole tribe?
Then came the question: Once more Giants of Light emerged in the future, where would they choose to settle permanently?
Herta clearly had no interest in offering her Herta City as a home for Giants of Light.
Nor did she want the Land of Light established anywhere in her home nebula.
It was obvious—sooner or later, the Land of Light would become a major focal point in the cosmos.
And Herta had no intention of getting too cozy with it.
"Herta, are there any nebulae named M78 or M87 that don't have civilizations in them?"
Faced with this seemingly random question from 'Ruan Mei,' Herta just looked baffled.
"Why? What's so special about those?"
"Nothing really. It's just… where I come from, those two names are known as the birthplace of the Giants of Light."
"Oh, nostalgia. Got it."
Herta chuckled.
Even though she'd never felt such sentiment herself, she knew some people cared about that sort of thing.
"But why fuss over the name? Once the Land of Light is actually built, they can always rename it themselves."
"Fair point. Let's leave the location issue for Zero and the others to decide."
'Ruan Mei' had to admit Herta was right.
"Enough chit-chat. Leave these matters to the people involved—come give me a hand."
Ruan Mei gestured for her other self to come over and help finish the Seeds of Light.
There was no need for them to micromanage everything.
It wasn't as if Zero and the others weren't intelligent. A Giant of Light's mind might not match a genius, but it was certainly sharper than the average human's.
"Okay."
'Ruan Mei' passed over a tool and threw herself into the work.
Conversations like this never really stopped in the lab.
Suggestions, analysis, agreement or disagreement, a little off-topic chatter—that had been 'Ruan Mei's' daily routine these past few days.
And in this casual, collaborative atmosphere, the Seeds of Light gradually took shape.
They were tiny points of light, small, yes, but carrying a wealth of information.
Not just knowledge—these specks also held the function that allowed chosen humans to become beings of light.
Of course, they wouldn't trigger a full transformation right away.
That would be neither realistic nor responsible.
In essence, the Seed would act as a bond, assembling a body of light and merging with the chosen individual.
As for truly becoming a Giant of Light—that would take time.
Just as 'Ruan Mei' and the others were observing the Seeds of Light floating before them, wondering how to use the Paths to distribute them, the infant Aeon placed nearby proactively drew the Seeds into itself.
Even with its limited control, it was still capable of sprinkling a little extra into its own Path.
And this was, after all, another way to expand the tribe of light.
It was looking forward to it, too.
So far, if you didn't count those weak little sprites, the true Giants of Light—including itself and the unconscious vessel 'Ruan Mei' had prepared for her own use—numbered only eight in total.
That was far too small a group.
Since it couldn't move around freely yet, its only hobby was watching live first-person perspectives from the Giants of Light, occasionally sprinkling them with a bit of 'water' when it felt happy.
So it was more than eager to increase their numbers.
'Ruan Mei' hadn't expected the final problem to resolve itself so neatly.
"Looks like it's even more impatient than we are."
Finally done with the long and demanding task, 'Ruan Mei' let out a sigh of relief.
She stretched her arms high above her head.
"Mmm…"
Truth be told, if not for Herta and the real Ruan Mei working alongside her, she could never have handled such a challenging project alone.
She took a moment to glance at her system panel:
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Ruan Mei)]
[Lifespan: 300 years (paused) + 7 days (role-playing)]
[Transformable Roles: Big Herta (Charge: 100%), Acheron (Charge: 83.1%), Celenova (Charge: 41.9%), Ruan Mei (Active)]
[Available Draws: 1 (39.2%)]
--+--
The progress bar had jumped significantly, Big Herta's role card was fully charged, a new draw was available, and she still had seven days left in her Ruan Mei role.
No doubt about it—high risk, high reward.
And in the future, as the Giants of Light grew more influential across the universe, she'd have a long-term, stable source of emotional value.
It all depended on how that broken system would assign the emotional points this time.
After all, this round, Ruan Mei was staying behind the scenes, unlike before when emotions were directed straight at the character she played.
But however it broke down, she ought to get at least a share.
--+--