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Creating an Aeon is something Baiming (as 'Ruan Mei') didn't dare to fully contemplate.
But dreams, well, there's no harm in dreaming big.
Herta packaged the data and information on Nexus and sent it to the original Ruan Mei, who was currently unreachable. Whether the original Ruan Mei would see it was hard to say.
Herta then dragged 'Ruan Mei' along to dive into the study of Imaginary Energy.
'Ruan Mei' briefly contemplated the situation, trying to organize the documented genesis of the Aeons:
"According to some, not entirely accurate, records, Aeons are born from some extreme emotion, or a sudden realization, such as the Aeons of Propagation, Destruction, or The Hunt..."
"But there are also beings who ascend without any emotional basis, such as Nous (The Erudition)."
"So, what are you trying to say?" Herta asked back, while trying to research how to artificially change the nature of Imaginary Energy.
'Ruan Mei' hesitated, considering whether she should create a lifeform that was born with an extreme emotion.
"Paths and Aeons are like opening a blind box. No one knows if there are any Paths yet to be established. If I create a naturally born saint, could that person achieve ascension through extreme emotion?"
"Hmm, whether it can work, I don't know, but I do know that such a being would definitely be a massive headache," Herta retorted without mercy.
'Ruan Mei' nodded, as she was reminded of Zaki, a Giant of Light who started as a blank slate but was forcibly burdened with responsibility. If he went astray, he would become yet another madman (or 'dianlao').
"Ugh, yes, we need to be cautious." 'Ruan Mei' sighed. Afterward, a small cluster of light-based life that had developed self-awareness was born in her hands.
Although it was preemptively instilled with various qualities suitable for a Giant of Light, 'Ruan Mei' did not forcibly predetermine its stance.
Instead, she borrowed some of Ms. Herta's technology to construct a Memory Bubble for its preschool education, immersing the tiny consciousness within it.
The contents of the Memory Bubble encompassed most aspects of human nature, both good and bad. She did not know what choice this consciousness would make.
"What will you do if it fails?" Herta watched the experiment with curiosity. Creating life was something Herta rarely did, but it seemed to be a routine activity for Ruan Mei.
"As long as it's not extremely awful, I won't destroy it. I'll just keep it here on the Herta Space Station as a little sprite. It's too monotonous here with just various versions of Herta."
"Hey! You're quite presumptuous."
'Ruan Mei' drew a line for the lifeforms born by her hand. As long as they didn't cross that bottom line of awfulness, she would keep them.
Fortunately, the capabilities derived from Ruan Mei were incredibly reliable. After being exposed to that confusing and chaotic content, the consciousness not only avoided degradation but clearly leaned towards the path of the Interastral Peace Corporation's Rangers (or 'The Hunt'/'Stray Hunting').
Although it didn't achieve some kind of extreme goodness, it essentially hovered between The Hunt and Preservation, subscribing to the philosophy of 'upholding justice and giving an eye for an eye'.
"As a first attempt, this is a decent result." 'Ruan Mei' smiled.
And so, the first independently conscious Giant of Light born from her hands was created. It had a silver-white body adorned with subtle red stripes, no color timer on its chest, and a figure very similar to Star-Wailer, though its demeanor was notably gentler.
Having learned most general knowledge and moral values within the Memory Bubble during its gestation, it was introduced to the world. After greeting 'Ruan Mei' and Herta, it was taken away by a Herta puppet for rest and further study.
Herta claimed she had prepared appropriate basic educational materials for it. However, the term 'basic' in Herta's vocabulary likely wasn't very basic at all. 'Ruan Mei' wondered if the new Giant could adapt.
One qualified Giant of Light was successfully born from 'Ruan Mei's' efforts. Then came the second, the third...
But she didn't create too many. After the sixth Giant of Light received its early education and materialized, 'Ruan Mei' stopped.
The data collected from these few Giants of Light gave her some inspiration for the design of the Light Seed.
However, in terms of achieving the original goal of creating a Path, she was still quite far off. The personalities of the Giants of Light tended towards the divine, but without 'Ruan Mei's' deliberate guidance, their emotions were difficult to push into the extreme. Moreover, they were more likely to favor a specific Path rather than encompassing all of them.
As for extreme divinity... honestly, 'Ruan Mei' herself couldn't imagine what that would entail. Nous certainly possessed divinity, but if you asked 'Ruan Mei' to summarize a detailed character profile for him, she couldn't.
Herta, too, had temporarily hit a wall. How Imaginary Energy transforms into the power of a specific Path remained a process like a black box, extremely difficult to uncover.
So, she called over 'Ruan Mei', who was also deep in thought, attempting to get 'Ruan Mei' to create a Pathstrider whom she could then observe during the process. She hoped to use this method to find the truth.
As for what kind of Pathstrider... naturally, it would be a Fictitious Historian. As part of the backup plan, choosing it was only logical.
And just at that moment, a message—one that shouldn't have interrupted the laboratory—came through.
Herta heard the alert tone, paused, and then abruptly stood up.
"Oh ho! The original is coming, I see."
She smiled gloatingly at 'Ruan Mei'.
She immediately tapped the communication device and quickly replied.
'Ruan Mei' didn't try to eavesdrop on what Herta and the original Ruan Mei were discussing. Instead, she checked her status screen:
Character Roleplay System Name: Baiming (Ruan Mei) Lifespan: 100 Years (Paused) + 27 Days (Roleplay) Transformable Characters: Big Herta (Charge: 84.6%), Acheron (Charge: 51.8%), Star-Wailer (Charge: 10.3%), Ruan Mei (Roleplaying) Pull Attempts Remaining: 0 (52.2%)
The data had spiked significantly.
Well, there was no need to ask. It must be that the original Ruan Mei saw the Giant of Light she created, or Herta had said something to her, which led to such a big emotional change.
"You're in luck. Ruan Mei just happened to finish her experiment today and glanced at the invitation." Herta leaned back against the lab bench, tilting her head to look at 'Ruan Mei'.
"You'd better work hard, huh?"
"...What do you mean I have to work hard? What did you tell her?" 'Ruan Mei' stared directly into Herta's eyes, a premonition of disaster sweeping over her.
"What else would I tell her? Of course, I told her the truth," Herta said, looking completely unconcerned, even entertained. She spread her hands in a 'don't blame me' gesture.
"Besides, shouldn't you be quite looking forward to this? You even proactively ran over to provoke me initially. What, chickening out now?"
"...That's comparing apples and oranges." 'Ruan Mei' pouted.
That was true, she was indeed looking forward to meeting the original Ruan Mei.
But that was a completely different matter! This feeling of being packaged and sold by Herta while still having to count the money for her was entirely wrong!
"Hm-hm~" Herta smirked, letting out a little hum right in front of 'Ruan Mei'.
She was clearly doing it on purpose.
This woman! She must have deliberately used herself as bait to fish for Ruan Mei just for revenge. Who knows what kind of embellished nonsense Herta had added to the story.
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