The three outside temporarily parted ways.
They didn't come looking for 'Cyrene', at least for now.
Though she was quite curious about what Herta had gone out to discuss, after a moment's thought, she held back—she'd ask about it later.
It absolutely wasn't because being with Ruan Mei was so pleasant that she was a bit reluctant to leave.
Ruan Mei, however, pondered for a moment before suddenly asking:
"In your eyes, what is Herta like?"
"Huh?"
Rather than answering, 'Cyrene's first reaction was surprise.
Was this really a question coming from Ruan Mei's mouth?
But she quickly realized Ruan Mei probably wanted to continue their earlier topic about 'Herta feeling guilty.'
"Oh, is this about the guilt thing you mentioned?"
"You could say that."
"Hmm… it's hard to say. After all, from my perspective, I've only known the two of you for a few months."
'Cyrene' scratched her cheek a little sheepishly.
Her impression of Herta and Ruan Mei was good, but that was actually inherited from her memories of the game.
In reality, their contact—starting from her first time playing 'Big Herta'—had only been a matter of months.
And she hadn't been with Herta and the others the entire time in between.
"Yes, that is true."
Ruan Mei seemed to have expected this.
Because for 'Cyrene', that really was all there was to it.
But for her and Herta…
They had met 'Bai Ming', this person, hundreds of years ago.
Though they had spent most of that time apart, the traces 'Bai Ming' left behind were too profound.
Every time they came into contact with a Giant of Light, they would remember 'Bai Ming'.
Thinking this, Ruan Mei lowered her gaze with a soft smile, looking at 'Cyrene'.
"But for Herta, you are already a friend she has known for centuries. And the same goes for me, of course."
"Centuries…"
Hearing this utterly intangible span of time left 'Cyrene' momentarily speechless.
Because hundreds of years ago, she hadn't formed any deep bonds with ordinary people at all.
She couldn't even recognize the faces of that earliest batch of people from the space station back then.
And those with whom she truly established relationships were, without exception, all still alive today.
This meant that even though she had missed centuries, she had no real sense of having lost those hundreds of years.
Herta was still Herta, Ruan Mei was still Ruan Mei.
Acheron remained as ever, guarding that entrance to the void.
Zero and the others were growing up strong and well.
Time left no trace on their faces.
The only one who had fallen into mara-struck, Jingliu, had indeed stirred some feelings, but 'Cyrene' had pulled her back with her own hand.
Even Baiheng had merely taken on a different form, and their reunion now held no lingering regret.
Only now, after Ruan Mei's deliberate reminder, did 'Cyrene' suddenly gain the slightest tangible sense of it.
For her, perhaps it was just one battle.
But for those outside, they had truly waited for her for centuries.
It was just that these two hadn't shown it much during this time, to the point that 'Cyrene' had completely forgotten.
"So when Herta keeps trying to pull you into new projects, I believe it's because she wants to see you."
"Is that so… I feel like she's just holding a grudge."
'Cyrene' felt a bit at a loss.
It wasn't that she thought Herta liked her or anything, but now, realizing the gap of centuries between her and them, she didn't know how to react to these misaligned feelings.
"Then, Ruan Mei, why did you suddenly bring this up with me?"
"Hmm, out of curiosity, I suppose. I'm curious about what other expressions Herta might show."
In Ruan Mei's understanding, Herta's reaction had been somewhat unexpected.
After all, she was arrogant, narcissistic, and willful.
But ultimately, she was still human.
Complex emotions were something even Ruan Mei couldn't avoid, and it just so happened she wanted to research how to artificially create geniuses.
So she was curious—what would someone like Herta do?
It was also rare data, in a way.
Hearing Ruan Mei's explanation, a subtle smile appeared on 'Cyrene's' face.
"If Herta heard that, I think she'd be angry."
Ruan Mei tilted her head slightly in thought, then revealed a faint smile.
"I actually don't think Herta would mind my observation. The one who can easily annoy her is probably just you."
If Herta really found out what she'd said, she'd probably just toss her hair and tell her to observe all she liked.
Then follow up with some narcissistic remark about how she just hadn't managed to catch the Aeon of Beauty's gaze in time or something.
Ruan Mei hadn't even used the word 'angry,' because Herta's truly angry appearance was how she acted when dealing with Zandar.
That attitude toward 'Cyrene' was less about anger and more about enjoying the process of interaction.
That was just the pattern of their relationship.
It was just that Bai Ming didn't seem to be aware of it.
Instead, she kept thinking it was because Herta was 'holding a grudge.'
Well… if you really thought about it, 'holding a grudge' wasn't exactly wrong either.
After all, leaving without a word, then disappearing for several centuries at once, and coming back all cheerful and carefree…
It made sense that Herta would quietly hold onto that grievance.
Ruan Mei gave a slight shake of her head.
But seeing 'Cyrene' in this befuddled state, Ruan Mei didn't press further.
She wasn't here to be a relationship coach. If anything, she herself was the type who tended to avoid intimate relationships.
Why would she waste so many words?
Better to talk about other serious matters.
It would help divert attention too.
And so…
Ruan Mei and 'Cyrene' began discussing her experimental project.
The inspiration for the experiment came from Dr. Primitive's data.
Of course, Ruan Mei's goal wasn't to create superhumans.
She wasn't that interested in that; her target was still the Aeons.
The reason for this experiment was more to verify the accuracy of Dr. Primitive's data, while also exploring whether this direction could be leveraged to achieve artificial geniuses, or even artificial Emanators.
The genes Dr. Primitive had filtered out were indeed excellent, chosen with remarkable precision.
If what Ruan Mei had been exploring all along was the broad concept of life, then Dr. Primitive had studied humanity to the point of sheer artistry.
This pinnacle of specialized research sparked many ideas in Ruan Mei's mind.
Listening to Ruan Mei's explanation, 'Cyrene' raised an eyebrow.
"This time… you actually, truly created a person?"
Though she had anticipated it, and had even heard about it before, even now, 'Cyrene' was still astonished.
This time, Ruan Mei had directly created an entity akin to a 'superhuman.'
And it looked perfectly human.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Ruan Mei looked down, meeting 'Cyrene's' eyes.
Though it wasn't the first time, Ruan Mei still felt like asking: in her eyes, did she come across as some kind of strange, mad scientist character?
Even though she had created an experimental subject, she hadn't subjected her creation to any of those bizarre programs.
'Cyrene', meanwhile, thought of Rappa—in the story, she was an individual born from that very experiment.
Could it be that what Dr. Primitive's people failed to create had been reproduced by Ruan Mei?
"Maybe I'll go take a look when I have time later?"
"Anytime. I'll be waiting for you."
--+--