Asta didn't come to be the Station Master of the Space Station, so there was still some time before the Space Station was attacked.
Coupled with the fact that Bai Luan had pretty much done everything he could, life returned to its peaceful routine.
After developing for so long, Herta Space Station had already matured. Even if Bai Luan did nothing, it wouldn't cease functioning.
Because when Herta assigned the Station Master position to a Herta Puppet, the Herta Puppet also largely didn't interfere.
The Station Master's work was mostly divided among several departments.
But Bai Luan being completely idle was quite boring, so he occasionally took some time to teach the people of the Space Station.
Although the knowledge Bai Luan possessed was meager compared to true geniuses, it was more than enough to teach these people.
Due to what Bai Luan did nine hundred years ago, the people of Herta Space Station had long since recognized their own positions.
Some talent, which is why they are called geniuses by those without talent, but when encountering true geniuses, their own talent is not worth mentioning.
Compared to the atmosphere of Herta Space Station in Bai Luan's previous life's game, the atmosphere of Herta Space Station after his training was much better.
At least in terms of self-awareness, everyone was doing quite well.
As for infighting within departments, that's inevitable; people just like to compare themselves.
Bai Luan was already pondering how to guide them towards positive competition.
Before he could sort out his thoughts, Herta sent a message, asking him to come over.
Currently, Bai Luan was semi-permanently stationed at Herta Space Station.
Herta wouldn't call him back, and as soon as Herta spoke, he would immediately… slack off for a while.
Then, when the time was right, he would find a corner to open a Random Door and return.
The tasks Herta asked Bai Luan to do were getting more and more difficult each time.
Herta's Assistant, which was initially just a casual title Herta gave Bai Luan, was now becoming increasingly fitting.
The tasks Herta gave him were usually at the very limit of Bai Luan's current abilities, the kind where even a tiny bit more would make them impossible.
At first, Bai Luan thought it was a test, and that his success was just good luck.
But after many times, Bai Luan even suspected that Herta had seen through his true capabilities long ago and was training him.
After much thought, Bai Luan ultimately couldn't figure out Herta's true intentions.
So Bai Luan went to ask the Herta in the Little Black Room, after all, the only one who truly knew Herta's mind was herself.
The reply he received was:
Herta still hadn't seen through him; she was just constantly throwing troublesome tasks at Bai Luan, and incidentally observing Bai Luan's upper limit.
It wasn't that Herta discovered Bai Luan's limits every time.
Rather, the things Herta did were always at the limit for Bai Luan.
But each time, Bai Luan was able to elevate himself with the Little Black Room to a level where he could complete them.
Bai Luan himself didn't realize that he had broken through his past limits; instead, he thought:
"Oh, so this is my limit."
When the Herta in the Little Black Room said this, Bai Luan's first reaction was disbelief.
But upon closer thought, Herta had always been straightforward and wouldn't try to fool him about this.
Could it be that because he had been doing this kind of thing all the time, he had become accustomed to learning and progress?
It seemed he had indeed overthought it.
Hmm…
Never mind, it's a good thing anyway.
His talent wasn't high, and he was just a mortal; the chasm between him and a genius could only be filled with countless hours.
The hardships and efforts along the way were all in the Little Black Room; what outsiders could see was only himself with the appearance of a genius.
Fortunately, this effort and sweat were not known only to him; a special Herta and the system were also watching.
Perhaps this was also why he could endure the loneliness.
If one day he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Herta, wouldn't that be pretty cool?
Just keep going slowly like this; I, Bai Luan, am not short on time.
Anyway, a year or half a year of effort in the Little Black Room is but an instant in the eyes of the outside world.
In Herta's eyes, the work she assigned to Bai Luan was quickly completed and yielded results.
It was slower than if she did it herself, but not by much.
This was quite astonishing; it would be hard to find a second person like him even if one scoured the entire universe.
It wasn't that people more capable than Bai Luan couldn't be found, but rather that no one with Bai Luan's level of ability would be willing to humble himself to be an assistant.
It was also interesting to note that after she started paying more attention to Bai Luan, she discovered something quite amusing.
No matter what task was thrown at Bai Luan, when he heard it, he always looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.
His face clearly read:
"Oh my god, this is so hard!"
"Oh my god, how am I supposed to do this!?"
"Oh my god, isn't this just pure torment!?"
He looked like someone being unfairly treated by a bad boss.
But when he actually went to do it, it was no longer like that.
He often completed tasks with an efficiency that others couldn't match, with almost no mistakes, always at a perfect level.
It was clearly done with effortless skill, and the time taken was usually in the realm of speedruns.
Doesn't this indicate that the task was a piece of cake for him?
Most importantly, after completing such a piece-of-cake task, he still looked very tired.
It was very contradictory.
When he heard about the task, he looked like the sky was falling.
When doing the task, he speedran through it as if entering an uninhabited land.
After completing the task so smoothly, he then looked very tired.
One task, three different expressions, and none of them seemed faked.
Regarding this, Herta expressed…
It was very interesting.
She was too lazy to delve into why Bai Luan behaved so strangely, whether it was an act or genuine emotion.
She only knew that by assigning tasks to Bai Luan, she not only got the pleasure of watching Bai Luan break down but also the efficiency of Bai Luan completing the tasks.
Why not?
Aside from that, Bai Luan was really useful, and the food he made was also delicious.
She had spent several hundred years retrieving him from that chaotic time-stream, so she might as well get her money's worth, right?
Ultimately, Bai Luan and Herta formed a unique mode of interaction, one that couldn't be found anywhere else in the entire universe.
Both found comfortable positions in this relationship, each taking what they needed.
Herta gained a super-useful assistant, excelling in emotional value, food and drink, and practical abilities.
Bai Luan gained one of the strongest backgrounds in the entire universe, living a very comfortable life in all aspects.
After completing Herta's task, Bai Luan wasn't in a hurry to report back.
After all, the Random Door's cooldown wasn't over yet, so he could slack off a bit longer.
Bai Luan usually used this time to lie lazily in his room, stroll through the Botanical Garden, or cook some delicious food in the kitchen to treat himself, and finally chat with the Refrigerator AI, telling it about the current situation of Xiu and the Inspiration Shroom.
This Refrigerator AI was very proud; if you actively talked to it about these things, it would call you nagging, but if you didn't mention them, it would get upset with you.
Bai Luan sometimes deliberately wouldn't say anything, just to tease it, and he always found it incredibly amusing.
Bai Luan told it that when Xiu achieved something in his studies, he would return to see it, and perhaps even cook a meal for it.
"Heh… as long as it doesn't stuff me with a bunch of random things again."
The Refrigerator AI said that, but Bai Luan was 100% sure that it would definitely look forward to that day.
And those three accounts—gaming, music, and daily life—were also updated occasionally.
When the accounts suddenly became active again, it caused quite a stir on the cosmic internet, especially after the official platform personally verified that the accounts' owner had returned, which further intensified the discussion.
Well, now everyone knew that the owner of these accounts was no ordinary person.
He had lived for over nine hundred years.
The gaming account didn't get much obvious feedback, as it was troublesome to create content and also required localization considerations.
But the music and daily life accounts received very obvious feedback.
Every time Bai Luan updated, the screen was filled with comments like:
"Once in a lifetime."
"Witness history!"
"Great-great-great… great-great-grandfather, he finally updated! I burned the video for you, did you see it?"
"Zombie King unearthed!"
"Shocking! The Pigeon King has fallen!"
A bunch of meme-filled comments almost became a characteristic of the accounts.
Bai Luan scrolled through the comments and replies, finding it quite amusing.
The music account maintained a high-quality path, only producing the finest content.
The daily life account, however, seemed to be running out of ideas. Bai Luan planned to make a real-person appearance when he boarded the train, and then create abstract content with the Stellar Jade Sprite.
Hehe… just thinking about it made him happy.
Perhaps he could even collaborate with Guinaifen when he went to Xianzhou.
Soon, the cooldown for the Random Door passed, and Bai Luan went to Herta to report back.
Herta received Bai Luan's report and, as usual, briefly checked it.
No problems.
She nodded.
"Then I'll return to Herta Space Station."
"Wait a moment, there's something else I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"A little one will be reporting to the Space Station soon. You can arrange it. Her name is Asta."
"Asta?"
A hint of understanding flashed in Bai Luan's eyes.
"Then you can spare yourself from listening to those long and boring family reports from the Company in the future."
"Oh?"
Herta's gaze swept over Bai Luan's face like a probe.
"Is this the 'interesting thing' you mentioned before?"
"That's right."
Bai Luan's lips curved slightly, with a hint of certainty.
"Give me some time, and you will see her true value."
"It's rare for you to make such a pledge to me."
Herta seemed to have a flicker of interest.
"Perfect, I'll be going to the Space Station in a while anyway, so I'll drop by to see your results then."
"You're coming to the Space Station?"
Bai Luan was slightly surprised.
"New project?"
"Remember the last time I went to see that machine head?"
"Still fresh in my memory."
"I wasn't satisfied with that meeting. At that time, I had already conceived a plan in my mind, and I'm preparing to bring it to fruition recently."
"simulated universe?"
"Yes, the simulated universe. Currently, there aren't many people in the project team. You should join in."
This is really putting me in a difficult position.
The other members are all from the Genius Society. Wouldn't it be bad if I isolated all of you?
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"What? Am I not capable of inviting you anymore?"
Bai Luan waved his hand and said:
"No, no, I just feel like I'm not qualified enough."
"Not qualified enough?"
Herta glanced at Bai Luan, pondering for a moment.
"We'll talk about this later…"
"Then I'll be going."
Herta watched Bai Luan's departing back.
A thought suddenly popped into her mind.
The name "simulated universe"… Bai Luan had blurted it out when they first met.
How far into the future had he… glimpsed?
A prophet who had peered into the threads of fate?
Heh…
It's getting more and more interesting.
Whether you are qualified or not, let the other members of the Simulated Universe Project team decide.
Presumably, the result will not disappoint.