Aha really didn't have the leisure to stare at Bai Ming every single day.
It's just that the mask THEY left behind also hid quite a few things.
You could basically understand it as, whenever Bai Ming stirred up some new trouble, this mask would send Aha a signal, letting Aha sneak a peek.
And this time, Aha discovered it was a critical moment where Bai Ming was about to reveal their true form.
Even though it wasn't yet the important moment for shaping the physical body and fusing with it.
But the face-shaping part? Couldn't miss that either.
So Aha followed the scent and peeked over.
Hehehe, a crucial time like face-shaping, how could Aha be absent?
Shape the face now, later shape the body—after passing through THEIR hands a few times, who would still dare to deny that Bai Ming wasn't one of Aha's people?
Besides, in Aha's view.
A big part of why Bai Ming had been in such an incomplete state all this time was actually because her connection to this world was a bit weak.
To this world, she was 'nonexistent.' The world wouldn't go so far as to reject her, but it didn't accept her either.
That's why Bai Ming kept calculating her own death countdown based on her self-dissipation.
And every time she played a different persona, the feedback she received from the lives of this world...
The most visually apparent change was her soul. In the beginning, Bai Ming couldn't even observe her surroundings, dissipating at a visible rate.
Now, she could clearly detect the environment around her, and the rate of dissipation was getting slower and slower.
Essentially, all of this was laying the groundwork for her 'existence.'
Although Aha couldn't quite figure out what kind of mechanism or ability was gathering these forces for her.
THEY could understand the reason for gathering them.
And also.
This process of being forced to constantly provoke all sorts of people, constantly act conspicuously, just for the sake of existence...
She eventually ended up starting to enjoy it.
The shift from being forced at the beginning to now willingly seeking out fun.
In Aha's eyes, that was also a pretty joyous thing.
So THEY didn't mind watching some fun, and then helping out a bit depending on THEIR mood.
Such a good person, can't let them die for such a boring reason, right?
--+--
Meanwhile, 'Little Herta' still didn't know Aha had set their sights on her again.
She was even still thinking, after the Halo started up.
How she would manipulate her own memories to sculpt herself a model with incredibly high style points.
However—
"Whether you're ready or not, I'm ready. Link, activate!"
Herta hummed softly, snapping her fingers.
The data link between the Halo and the Simulated Universe was activated.
The simulated virtual Halo system successfully connected with the Halo on 'Little Herta's' head within the Simulated Universe.
Then.
As the Halo spun, a self-image unique to 'Little Herta' began to be outlined within the Halo system.
Then it started copying and pasting itself tens of thousands of times.
It even thoughtfully extracted secondary, different impressions to simulate the subtle differences among the segments.
'Little Herta' began to manipulate her own memory power, meticulously carving her image in her mind.
For example, white hair, perfect body proportions, every joint, even the arrangement of hair, all meticulously crafted, and so on...
She even started fantasizing about whether Herta would be shocked when she saw it, and whether she would turn into a dominant one after getting a body.
But just as she was fantasizing about the future, a power that no one could detect, sneaked into the Halo system without a sound.
Aha, hiding in a place no one knew, held back laughter, and used this power to quietly interfere with the segment-shaping of the Halo system.
Gotta say, if this Halo System was still like Herta's puppets, made from a large number of entities for simulation, then messing with it would have been really hard for Aha, and THEY might have even left clues.
But now.
Madam Herta only made one physical Halo, and all other Halos were connected to this one.
All other segments were just copies and stacks of this one Halo.
That made it simple for Aha to pull tricks.
THEY didn't even need that Aha within the Simulated Universe to help.
Just needed to slightly change a tiny bit of data inside this Halo, and THEY could make the final output result, in some aspects, achieve a completely flipped effect.
And, Aha could guarantee, that body would definitely have white hair, perfect body proportions, every joint and even hair meticulously crafted...
THEY swore by the aesthetics of all the humans and non-humans THEY had ever seen!
Although THEY had tampered a bit, that appearance would definitely match the person's own aesthetic.
So, when the Halo started running, countless segments stacked up, and finally began to project that body.
Herta raised an eyebrow slightly, rubbed her chin and smacked her lips, her gaze constantly shifting between this image and 'Little Herta.'
"Whoa, that's a rarity. I thought your inner ideal would lean more towards that Masked Fool taste. Didn't expect it to be so... gentle?"
Ruan Mei, however, gazed at this image with an appreciative look, smiling slightly and nodding:
"It is indeed somewhat unexpected. I thought it would lean more towards the Xianzhou style."
"..."
As for 'Little Herta,' she had now fallen into self-doubt.
This... is this right??
The character now appearing before her—tall, with curves in all the right places, long legs, and a face so beautiful it was almost dreamlike—this was her ideal??
And this white gown, the hair accessories, the veil, and so on...
No, she couldn't completely deny it. Looking closely, this image did indeed fit her preferences in every way.
It was the type that both physiology and psychology would fall for at first sight.
Moreover, the requirements of 'white hair, perfect body proportions, every detail meticulously crafted' were indeed perfectly met...
But!
This wasn't right.
Preferences were preferences, how could this be judged as the ideal she wanted to become??
'Little Herta' thought the Halo system couldn't be wrong. The numerous puppet cases gave her enough confidence in her creation.
But, if the Halo wasn't the problem, then it couldn't be that her own brain was actually different from what she imagined, right?
Or could it be that deep down, she actually really wanted to be a beautiful girl??
Hiss...
'Little Herta' momentarily fell into deep self-doubt.
Could it be that this was truly her innermost desire??
Meanwhile, Herta, after carefully observing for a while, suddenly straightened up, put one hand on her hip, and glared at 'Little Herta' very unconvincedly:
"Then here's the question—why doesn't it look like me at all?? This face of mine, so magnificent, and you weren't tempted?? You've imitated me three times already, shouldn't you be head over heels for me?! Did this system bug out because of the remote transmission?"
Herta was very unconvinced.
This one obviously liked her a lot, right? Enough to even imitate her younger self as a prank.
She was prepared for the output result to bear some resemblance to her.
But the result!
Not at all!!
She admitted this current face was indeed also magnificent, but! Herta was very unhappy! It must be a system error!
Snapped out of it by Herta's shocking declaration, 'Little Herta's' face showed a very speechless expression.
"Listen to what you're even saying... You are very good-looking, but I'm not a Herta puppet, why would I want to turn into you..."
--+--
T/N: New Cover is how Bai Ming looks as provided by the author, if you're curious. It's GGZ kiana.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL