"I would never do such a thing!" Fu Xuan screamed inwardly, clutching her head in her mind.
"Turn into a catgirl." Herta frowned slightly as she uttered the four words, then added with a troubled tone, "That does sound a bit tricky."
Changing one's species—most people would absolutely refuse something like that, wouldn't they?
"Exactly! Who could possibly accept something like this so easily?"
Seeing that Herta's thoughts aligned with her own, Fu Xuan immediately echoed her sentiment. A sense of mutual understanding suddenly bloomed in her heart for this usually unfeeling woman.
As expected of a genius—her thoughts were indeed insightful. What she said earlier about Herta lacking emotional intelligence must have been her own rash judgment.
Thinking that, Fu Xuan felt a twinge of guilt.
Yet, under Fu Xuan's approving gaze, Herta continued, "And then? What are the side effects?"
Though many would care deeply about their species, Herta knew herself well enough—this sort of thing wouldn't cause her even the slightest psychological burden. If necessary, she could even accept a mechanical body.
After all, wasn't her consciousness currently residing in a puppet?
Upon hearing that, Fu Xuan's small lips parted slightly, and her pale golden eyes widened as she stared at Herta in shock.
Whatever guilt or kinship she'd felt for Herta vanished instantly.
Isn't it obvious? Becoming a catgirl is the side effect!
Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Sylvester smiled faintly. "Yes, the side effect is becoming a catgirl. You'll just inherit a few feline traits—like curling up to sleep, licking your arms to wash your face, or maybe ending your sentences with a cute nya."
Crossing one leg over the other, his gaze drifted between Fu Xuan and Herta.
Compared to Herta, who was still processing the situation, the completely flustered Fu Xuan somehow looked far more like a catgirl. How did that even make sense? The two women were about the same height and equally beautiful, yet somehow Fu Xuan seemed... naturally suited for the role.
Could that be a kind of talent?
"Oh, so that's the side effect," Herta muttered, genuine surprise flashing in her eyes—it was clear the thought had only just occurred to her.
Then she lowered her head, her expression clouded with regret.
"What a pity. Seems I can't use this potion to study the essence of Nihility after all."
Just the thought of setting aside yet another interesting line of research made her feel uneasy. If she weren't already buried under other experiments, she would've brooded about it for a while longer.
Watching Herta's subtle melancholy, Fu Xuan truly couldn't understand how geniuses' minds worked.
Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
So, if it could help study the nature of Nihility, you'd drink it without hesitation?
Then, the very genius she had just been silently questioning turned her head slowly, met Fu Xuan's gaze, and asked in return:
"Then what about you? Would you take it? To become a catgirl—with triple your reaction speed, vision, and agility?"
The question was simple, but piercingly direct.
Sylvester unconsciously straightened in his seat, secretly impressed. A newfound respect welled up within him for Herta once again.
Herta, you've hit the nail on the head. Perfect question!
But for Fu Xuan, those same words made her heart skip a beat.
Her mind flooded again with the embarrassing images she'd been trying so hard to push away—
Wearing a maid outfit, mimicking a cat's movements, meowing while posing…
No! Absolutely not—too humiliating!
"I—I won't!" Fu Xuan flailed her pale arms in protest, every inch of her radiating refusal.
Herta couldn't fathom why she reacted this way.
In her view, the potion's price was negligible. The Xianzhou already had the Foxian race—so what difference would one more cat-person make?
Even that mechanical hunk Screwllum would probably gulp it down if it were useful!
Well, that was her guess anyway. Herta was confident she knew that iron block well enough for it to be a reasonable assumption.
"Why?"
She stepped toward Fu Xuan, curiosity blooming. Was there some incompatibility between Xianzhou natives and cats? Some hidden cultural taboo?
The thought drove her to keep pressing Fu Xuan for an answer.
How could she know that Fu Xuan's mind had been completely derailed by the videos she'd watched during her downtime? All she could think of now were those girls on camera making cute catlike gestures.
As the Master Diviner, how could she possibly accept the thought of unconsciously acting like that in front of her subordinates?
But the more Herta pressed, the more tangled Fu Xuan's thoughts became—her golden eyes nearly spinning in dizzy spirals. In her panic, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, something she vaguely remembered from biology lessons:
"B-Because… there would be reproductive isolation!"
"???"
"???"
Sylvester, who had been smiling, nearly choked on his tea. He barely managed to swallow instead of spraying it everywhere, then stared wide-eyed at Fu Xuan.
Good grief… she really thought that far ahead?
Even Herta was stunned into silence.
Of all the explanations, she hadn't seen that one coming.
The moment Fu Xuan realized what she'd just said, her face drained of color. "N-no! It's not what you think!"
"I just said it without thinking!"
"No need to explain." Herta raised her hand, signaling she understood completely.
She looked at Sylvester's lunchbox, then at the two of them, her gaze darting between them before nodding slowly—as if reaching some sort of conclusion.
Returning to her seat with a faint sigh, she murmured, "So that's the reason, huh?"
After a moment of silence, she glanced back at Fu Xuan and added, "Well, it's perfectly understandable. Human nature."
Though Herta never concerned herself with such matters, she didn't think they were a waste of time either.
Some people saw these things as a necessity—nothing wrong with that.
You've got it completely wrong!
Fu Xuan wasn't stupid; she could tell Herta didn't believe her.
She wanted to explain further, but from the look on Herta's face, no amount of talking would help.
Especially since this was a member of the Genius Society—those people were all confident to the point of arrogance.
Trying to argue would only dig her deeper.
"Ahem. I believe she just misspoke," Sylvester interjected diplomatically, hoping to defuse the situation.
If Fu Xuan stormed off in embarrassment and never came back, that would be a disaster.
"You… really believe that?" Fu Xuan asked uncertainly.
To be honest, what she feared most was Sylvester misunderstanding her words. After all, he was the only man here—and barely in his twenties. Among the Xianzhou people, that was practically a child.
From the little "research" she did during her breaks—er, work-life balance sessions—Fu Xuan knew that young, single men living alone tended to let their imaginations run wild on topics like this.