"I've just received word that Ms. Ruan Mei has already reached the Wash-N-Go Star in the Primordial Morning System, three hundred light-years away from the space station."
"She should arrive at the station in a few days, so I made some preliminary arrangements for the reception. I was just about to head back to rest and send you a message.
"I didn't expect to run into you here by coincidence."
Asta explained.
So the member of the "Genius Society" was about to arrive. Nolan nodded in understanding—the All-Devouring Narwhal he had captured could finally be handed over.
The Fontaine people's problem would soon be resolved as well. When the time came, he would most likely gain the affection of the Fontaine girls again.
Still, he needed to find a way to let them know that it was he who had helped resolve the Fontaine people's "Original Sin" issue.
If they didn't understand the situation—if they didn't even know that the "Original Sin" problem had been solved—they wouldn't just develop goodwill toward him for no reason.
Nolan was already planning to take the solution provided by Ms. Ruan Mei back to Fontaine and gather everyone to witness the eradication of the "Original Sin" together.
"I see. Then Miss Asta, you should head back and rest early. I'll make my preparations as well," Nolan said.
Ruan Mei was coming specifically for the "All-Devouring Narwhal," something Asta was well aware of.
"Mm." Asta nodded lightly and left first.
Nolan returned to his room on the space station, placed the laptop on the desk, unpacked the box, and took out the device itself.
After plugging in the power and booting it up in a few quick motions, he logged into the Interastral Peace Network and then into his own account.
Next, he downloaded the program sent by "Wage Slave," then inserted the thumb-sized 10TB data storage device into the computer's port.
He ran the crawler program, set the storage path to the external device, and began automatically downloading knowledge from the network.
To avoid wasting storage space on useless information—or on data that had been tampered with by "Fictionologists"—Nolan mainly downloaded materials from official corporate academic paper sites, which greatly reduced the likelihood of issues.
In the interstellar age, communication technology was highly advanced. Downloading 10TB of data from the network, even using an ordinary household connection, only took a few minutes.
Of course, that was assuming a place like the space station. On a backward planet, whether communication technology was developed enough would depend on the local situation.
A few minutes later, the computer notified him that the storage space was full.
Nolan unplugged the data storage device, then returned to the Wonderland Space and handed it to Nahida, letting her use the "Akasha" system to read the data inside.
Once it was finished reading, he could just bring it back and continue downloading more.
Back in Teyvat, it was still afternoon. With nothing else pressing to do, Nolan continued cultivating through close contact with the girls.
That evening, while soaking in the bath, Yae Miko leaned back against Nolan's chest, half-reclining as she straddled his lap. Gently twisting her waist, she said:
"Tomorrow is the Irodori Festival. Come stroll around with me?"
"Sure, that's no problem," Nolan replied, his hands lightly caressing the soft, snowy skin of Miko's inner thighs.
Over at the Herta Space Station, Ms. Ruan Mei would still need a few days to arrive. It was the perfect chance to spend a few days enjoying the Irodori Festival before heading back.
"Mm."
Yae Miko's face flushed as she pressed her lips together and nodded softly.
Through the surface of the water, her snow-white chest was faintly visible. A few translucent bubbles rose from beneath the water, and as her taut body gradually relaxed, she let out soft, shallow breaths.
"Lady Guuji still has to preside over the Irodori Festival tomorrow, right? Then let husband accompany me instead."
Already exhausted and only able to cling to the edge of the pool, Kamisato Ayaka moved closer again and wrapped her arms around Nolan's arm.
"Hehe, Miss Ayaka, the Yashiro Commission won't exactly be idle during the Irodori Festival either. In that case, it's better if I accompany husband."
On the other side, Kokomi—also somewhat tired but having recovered a little—wrapped her arms around Nolan as well.
Nolan saw that all the girls wanted him to accompany them, so he wrapped his arms around them, smiled, and said:
"Kokomi will also need to come over on behalf of Watatsumi Island, right? Since everyone's busy, how about I split my time—when each of you is free, I'll accompany you separately for a stroll?"
Sharing the love evenly was the best way to maintain household harmony.
"Mm."
Ayaka and Kokomi nestled close to Nolan, clearly having no objections to this arrangement.
Miko rested for a short while, then began swaying her waist once more.
Another night of diligent cultivation passed. The next day, Nolan appeared in Inazuma City together with the girls who wanted to stroll around the Irodori Festival.
Originally, he had planned to see if he could take the opportunity during the Irodori Festival to boost Kirara's affection.
However, after it became known that he had promised to go shopping and on dates with Miko and the others, the other girls who had free time also wanted to join.
As a result, his schedule over these few days was completely packed—if he wasn't out on dates and shopping with girls, he was on his way to go on dates and shopping with girls.
The matter of courting Kirara had to be put on hold for the time being.
Anyway, her affection toward him was already close to level seven. She already harbored feelings for him, so finding another opportunity to raise her affection later wouldn't be a problem.
There was no need to worry about delaying anything.
Very soon, several days of accompanying the girls on dates passed by. The Irodori Festival—lively and bustling with visitors from various nations gathering for cultural exchange—was still in full swing.
However, today was the day Ms. Ruan Mei was scheduled to arrive at the Herta Space Station, so Nolan naturally needed to go meet her.
Herta Space Station, 10 a.m.
The broadcast was playing announcements about Ms. Ruan Mei of the "Genius Society" being about to arrive. Nolan was already following Asta toward the platform, preparing to welcome this distinguished guest.
They took the space elevator from the main control module to the support module where the platform was located.
In Nolan's group, aside from Asta, there were also Arlan and several members of the security department.
Ms. Ruan Mei was a low-key scholar. Given her personality, she naturally didn't want any grand, formal welcoming ceremony.
Asta was well aware of this—after all, Ms. Ruan Mei had visited the space station many times before.
So bringing only Nolan, Arlan, and a few others to receive her was more than sufficient, and there was no concern of seeming disrespectful.
The space elevator was fast, and it didn't take long to reach the support module.
The group exited the elevator and walked a bit farther, arriving at the platform. At this time, there were quite a few people coming and going.
They were visitors from other parts of the galaxy—some scholars here for academic exchange, others merchants here for trade.
There were still over ten minutes before the starship Ms. Ruan Mei was riding would enter the platform, so Asta led Nolan and the others to wait briefly on the platform.
Soon after, a silver-white spacecraft flew in from the spaceport, entering the platform and docking smoothly.
When Nolan saw that the ship matched exactly the information Asta had given him, he knew this was the Star-Sea Vessel Ms. Ruan Mei had taken to the space station.
Thinking that he would soon meet Ms. Ruan Mei and trade for the solution to the Fontaine people's "Original Sin" problem, he couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.
(End of Chapter)
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