---o---
Hearing Fu Zhu's declaration that "this is my world," Herta felt a pang of displeasure. She pouted her lips with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"What do you mean, your world? This is clearly the Simulated Universe I created. The way you say it makes it sound like I'm the one who stole your thunder."
Seeing that Herta seemed a little unhappy, Fu Zhu quickly changed the subject.
"Let's not worry about those details. My respected and beautiful Miss Herta, what do you want to do with Phantylia?"
Herta glanced at Fu Zhu, slightly surprised. "I get to decide? Isn't Phantylia your mortal enemy?"
"She is my mortal enemy, of course."
Fu Zhu shrugged and raised his right hand. A block, no bigger than his palm and etched with a 3x3 grid, materialized in his hand. After using a command to summon this unique block, he turned his gaze to the frozen Phantylia.
"No matter what, I will never allow her to leave this world. With that as a given, I'll help with whatever you decide to do with her. I did promise you, didn't I?"
After hearing his words, Herta should have been contemplating how to handle Phantylia to maximize her research gains. But for some reason, her gaze was unconsciously drawn to the block in Fu Zhu's hand.
She wasn't the only one. Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Silver Wolf all found themselves instinctively looking at the block in Fu Zhu's hand. It seemed to possess a strange attraction that compelled anyone to look at it.
"What is that block in your hand? Why is there no record of it even in the JEI item management mod?"
Herta had opened the JEI mod almost immediately, but after a thorough search, she not only failed to find any information about the block, but its absence made it seem even more mysterious in everyone's eyes.
"This?"
Fu Zhu glanced at the command block in his hand. He walked over to Phantylia's side and placed it on the ground, inputting a command as he explained to the others.
"Its name is a Command Block. It can only be obtained through commands. Its function is quite simple: it can automatically execute pre-set commands for me. Like this..."
After inputting the command into the Command Block, Fu Zhu placed a Redstone Block and a Lever next to it, then deactivated the time-pause effect on Phantylia.
The moment she could move again, Phantylia immediately raised her hands to conjure a crimson lotus, showing no sign of realizing her time had been frozen just moments before. But the instant she began to form the lotus, her entire body seemed to rewind—her posture and actions reverted to how they were a few seconds prior, caught in an infinite loop.
Phantylia looked at Fu Zhu in horror. "What have you done to me—"
Before she could finish, she was reset to her state from a few seconds ago. She once again turned her head to Fu Zhu, repeating the half-finished sentence she had just spoken, and was reset again.
After a few repetitions, Fu Zhu once again paused Phantylia's time and deactivated the Command Block before turning to a fascinated Herta.
"Understand now?"
Herta snorted lightly and crossed her arms, displeased with Fu Zhu's condescending attitude. "Who do you think I am? After a demonstration like that, how could I not understand?"
However, after understanding the function and principle of the Command Block, she couldn't resist walking over and squatting down in front of it to observe it up close.
"Hmm, its appearance is nothing special, but the energy signature is quite interesting, like Emanatory Power... Its operating principle is similar to the systems on electronic devices. Can it execute any command?"
"Of course. Any command I can use, it can use."
After answering Herta's question, a very interesting idea suddenly popped into Fu Zhu's head. He looked at Herta with a playful grin, wiggling his eyebrows. "Herta, want to experience the effect of a command firsthand?"
"Oh?"
Herta's interest was piqued. Just watching Fu Zhu use commands was astonishing enough.
After all, this world was a simulation, not the real world, yet Phantylia was a real, living being from the real world.
Logically, the commands within the Simulated Universe shouldn't have any effect on her. But for some unknown reason, Fu Zhu's commands were able to influence her.
This was what intrigued Herta the most. Now that Fu Zhu was offering her a chance to experience the effects of a command herself, it was an offer she found very hard to refuse.
"Alright, let this young lady experience your commands firsthand. But I'll have you know, I'm not defenseless like Phantylia. I will resist your command with all my strength, so you'd better not disappoint me."
Herta moved a short distance away from the group, then began to conjure all sorts of protective barriers around herself, even activating several curios she carried with her.
Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Silver Wolf looked on with anticipation.
They wanted to see just how absolute Fu Zhu's commands were. Could they only affect an unprepared Emanator, or could they simply ignore all defenses and be enforced unconditionally?
"Then I won't be holding back."
Seeing Herta agree, the smile on Fu Zhu's face grew wider. He turned back to the Command Block and began to edit the command.
---o---
A minute later, he finished setting the new command in the Command Block. It had been a while since he last played as a command-user, so he was a little rusty, but thankfully he remembered most of the commands.
"Are you ready? The supremely intelligent Miss Herta?"
"Of course."
Herta replied, focusing her full attention on the hand Fu Zhu had placed on the lever. The moment she saw him pull it, she channeled all of her power, preparing to resist the incoming command.
And yet... nothing happened.
Just as Herta was feeling puzzled, Fu Zhu suddenly asked, "Miss Herta, is there anything you'd like to say to me right now?"
Say something? Why would I say anything out of the blue?
Herta was about to reply as such, but when she opened her mouth, entirely different words came out.
"Mr. Fu Zhu is brilliant beyond compare, his handsomeness is peerless!"
Herta: ???
Screwllum: ???
Ruan Mei: ?
Silver Wolf: ?!
[Command: execute @a[name=The-Person-You-Want-to-Talk-to] ~ ~ ~ say The-Words-You-Want-Them-to-Say]
Fu Zhu couldn't help but laugh. He waved his hand humbly. "Miss Herta, you're just spouting plain truths. We have company, you can save the rest of your praise for when we're alone."
Herta shot him a glare. Seeing Screwllum and the others looking at her with suspicion, she hurriedly tried to explain. "I'm not, I didn't! What I actually wanted to say was... Mr. Fu Zhu is brilliant beyond compare, his handsomeness is peerless!"
Herta: !!!