"[Question], what constitutes interesting creation?"
"So-called interesting creation means making creation interesting. Zandar, the first member of the Genius Society, once said that the key to natural creation lies in making the creation method natural..."
By the time Ryuga and Ruan Mei returned to Herta's office together, Herta's puppet had activated automatic response mode with vacant eyes, dealing with Fanlu's endless questions.
After communicating with Fanlu, Herta became even more convinced that aside from herself, everyone else in the Genius Society was weird.
No wonder Ryuga hadn't let her speak earlier. If this girl had started talking, the tea party from before would have turned into an endless classroom session.
Even the most basic common concepts required so much explanation—Herta finally understood why Nous the Erudition would recognize this little girl.
This child, like the Aeon itself, had a belly full of questions.
With her lack of patience, she naturally wouldn't answer Fanlu's questions continuously like Ryuga.
After chatting a few sentences and giving herself internal injuries, Herta immediately delegated the task of dealing with Fanlu to her puppet.
At this moment, seeing Ryuga and Ruan Mei return, she finally came back online, looking at the two with relief.
"You're finally back... Wait!"
After her exclamation, she quickly realized something was wrong.
When they left, Ryuga and Ruan Mei had departed side by side, with Ruan Mei as the guide walking half a step ahead. But upon returning, not only was Ryuga walking in front, Ruan Mei's attitude toward him was also completely different from before.
With Ruan Mei's cool and indifferent personality, even toward friends she wouldn't get too close. Yet looking at how she now followed closely behind Ryuga, there was clearly no distance left.
Unlike Ruan Mei, Herta merely disdained ordinary social niceties—she wasn't ignorant of them.
Recalling what Ruan Mei had said before leaving, she immediately realized something and her eyes widened.
"Ruan Mei, don't tell me you've already agreed to Ryuga's conditions and become his familiar?"
Though she had considered this possibility before, seeing her friend truly submit to another person, Herta still felt quite surprised.
"Yes."
Ruan Mei nodded, her expression showing little emotional fluctuation.
"Master—Mister Ryuga answered my doubts, so I accepted his invitation."
For her, this wasn't surprising at all.
"Hiss—"
Herta drew a sharp breath.
Hearing Ruan Mei confirm this, combined with what Ryuga had said earlier, though she still found it incredibly unbelievable, she tentatively asked.
"The bargaining chip that could make you decide so quickly—don't tell me your cooperation involves creating an Aeon?"
She directly guessed the content of their agreement.
Actually, this wasn't hard to guess. The truly difficult part was liberating one's imagination.
Whether believing Ryuga truly intended to create an Aeon, or believing Ruan Mei truly had the ambition to replace Aeons—both were matters that extremely shattered the understanding of humans and even geniuses.
If Ryuga hadn't already refreshed her understanding multiple times, even Herta probably wouldn't have thought to this level.
And hearing Herta's speculation, the not-good-at-concealing Ruan Mei immediately showed a shocked expression, subconsciously looking toward Ryuga.
Seeing her reaction, Herta didn't need to continue asking—she knew she had guessed correctly.
She was about to continue with an exclamation when Ruan Mei spoke up.
"Mister Ryuga, does the experiment need to be kept confidential? If so, I have truth serum here... though it won't be very effective on Herta."
"Huh???"
Hearing this, Herta was completely dumbfounded.
Ruan Mei's meaning was that she planned to give her truth serum?
If not for the fact that her true body wasn't here, judging by her intent, she seemed ready to restrain her too?
Even though she herself wasn't particularly emotionally rich, hearing these words still shocked her. After all, they were friends who had known each other for years. One day after defecting, you immediately plan to move against old friends?
Just because you want to create an Aeon... is it really that serious?
Wait, no—it actually IS that serious!
Faced with such a grand goal, not immediately thinking of killing to silence witnesses seemed to already show great value placed on their friendship.
After all, if this matter got out, others might mock and scorn, but the Corporation's people absolutely wouldn't let it go. This was no ordinary danger.
Realizing the danger of this topic, Herta's expression immediately became stiff. She looked at Ryuga somewhat nervously, afraid he might decide to silence witnesses with a single word.
Though she was currently using a puppet body, once targeted by two geniuses, it would still cause her enormous trouble.
More importantly, if so, the Simulated Universe project couldn't continue updating!
"Um... Ryuga, I promise not to leak anything. Is that not acceptable?"
Realizing her slip of the tongue, she immediately adopted a surrendering posture.
She didn't care about personal danger—she only cared that her project couldn't stop operating.
Having rarely met a companion so knowledgeable about Aeons, and having received such an amazing hypothesis from Ryuga, she didn't want all her efforts to go to waste.
Of course, if the other party insisted on taking action, she could only oblige.
Seeing Herta's seemingly nervous but actually somewhat nervous appearance, Ryuga nodded calmly.
"No need to be nervous. I trust Miss Herta's credibility. Besides, this matter isn't really confidential. Even if other forces learned of it, they wouldn't have time to react."
"What do you mean?"
Hearing Ryuga speak this way, Herta relaxed considerably, then curiosity immediately took over.
"Are you saying the time needed to create an Aeon is even faster than the Corporation's serious mobilization response time?"
If so, she could indeed understand Ryuga's fearless attitude.
No matter how many difficulties and obstacles existed, once an Aeon was successfully created, they would be unstoppable.
The power gap between Aeons and those below Aeon level was discontinuous. No force could defeat an Aeon, not even the weakest one.
"As long as conditions are met, time has never been an issue. Metamorphosis needs time least of all."
Ryuga explained casually.
"Moreover, even if she hasn't become an Aeon yet, she's not someone ordinary Emanators can deal with."
Saying this, Ryuga glanced at Ruan Mei.
As long as she became familiar with using the Catalog of Life, given Ruan Mei's accumulated knowledge, she could easily display Emanator-level strength.
Even a top-tier force like the Interastral Peace Corporation wouldn't dare rashly go to war with an Emanator-level existence.
"What?!"
Hearing this, Herta's eyes widened again.
She could understand Ryuga's meaning and wasn't surprised that Ruan Mei could display Emanator-level combat power.
Members of the Genius Society, anyone within their research field, could achieve similar or even superior status to Emanators. Doing this was quite ordinary.
What truly shocked her was another piece of information.
"You mean your experiment's content is to make Ruan Mei become an Aeon?!"
This was something she absolutely couldn't have imagined.
After all—
"Why not keep such a good opportunity for yourself? Aren't you the One True God?"
Herta couldn't understand.
Even for someone like her who had lukewarm interest in power and authority, even she might not be able to resist the temptation of becoming an Aeon.
She had originally thought Ryuga and Ruan Mei's cooperation involved creating a new life together—a new Aeon. Who could have imagined they wanted to make an already existing individual ascend to Aeonhood, and that individual wasn't even Ryuga himself?
This was very strange.
Hearing this, Ruan Mei also looked at Ryuga with slight curiosity.
She wasn't worried Ryuga was deceiving her. The contract they established was fair and clear—it truly was about making her become an Aeon.
She just didn't know why Ryuga had no thoughts of becoming an Aeon himself.
Facing their questions, Ryuga spread his hands.
"First, let me correct one point. Though I do have the identity of the One True God, compared to deities, my spiritual foundation is more similar to a poet."
Those who create, sing, adapt myths, and even create life—these are poets.
"Secondly, my reason for not wanting to become an Aeon is also simple: I don't want to be bound by a Path."
That Aeons would be bound by Paths was certain. However, this binding actually wasn't particularly strict.
As embodiments of philosophical concepts, the characteristic of Paths was that as long as Aeons themselves didn't feel they were violating their Path, they weren't violating it—a prominent case of subjective discretion.
However, even so, Ryuga respectfully declined becoming an Aeon.
After all, for those who truly cultivated mysticism, subjective discretion looked flexible with high freedom, but actually wasn't that simple.
Those who had already achieved clear self-understanding couldn't deceive their own hearts.
"Just for that reason?"
Hearing him say this, Herta was somewhat dumbfounded.
These words were like saying you didn't want to be a trust fund kid because you didn't want to bear the pressure of inheriting the family business.
Though it seemed somewhat reasonable on the surface, it was actually pure humble-bragging. If this opportunity were released, willing participants could fill the entire Milky Way.
"I see..."
However, Ruan Mei quickly believed Ryuga's words.
She herself didn't mind Path binding—this was a price within her expectations.
However, speaking of this, she suddenly had a question.
"By the way, if I become an Aeon, how can I continue serving as your familiar? If I have difficulty controlling myself then, can you still restrain me? Should we prepare in advance?"
Though clearly a matter harmful to herself, Ruan Mei brought it up directly without hesitation.
If Ryuga truly cared about this point, he might refuse the experiment because of it.
After all, no one wanted to cultivate an uncontrollable Aeon.
"I suddenly feel what people outside say is right... all you geniuses have problems with your brains."
Hearing this, Herta's mouth twitched slightly.
Though keeping promises was a virtue, is this really what you should be concerned about?!
You want to be controlled by Ryuga that badly?
"If Aeons still belong to the category of deities, then there won't be problems."
Ryuga nodded, not worried about this point at all.
If the experiment succeeded, it meant his theory was correct. As long as his theory was correct, the contract couldn't become invalid.
When Ruan Mei ascended to Aeonhood, he would also synchronously obtain completely identical power.
"Sigh, forget it. Play however you two want to play!"
Seeing how well the two got along, Herta sighed, looking defeated.
A "normal person" like her really had difficulty integrating into these two madmen's worldview.
Just then, a knock sounded at the office door.
Soon, Asta led the way again, bringing a mechanically structured, gentleman-dressed individual into the office.
"It's rare to see you looking so troubled, Herta. What a sight. Looks like the two new geniuses must have given you quite a shock."
An elegant, gentlemanly voice sounded. Screwllum, the 76th member of the Genius Society, looked toward Ryuga and Fanlu, slightly bowing in greeting.
"Mister Ryuga and Miss Fanlu, I presume? Pleasure to meet you!"
Unlike Herta and Ruan Mei, Screwllum was possibly the most normal person in the Genius Society, extremely polite in his dealings with others, making people feel like a spring breeze.
Of course, this also meant conversations with him involved slightly more boring pleasantries.
Fortunately, with Herta present, there was no need to worry about this.
"Introductions complete, no need to continue with nonsense. If you knew about the new theory Ryuga brought, you'd be just as troubled as me. But let's not talk about that now. Can you explain why you were so late?"
Herta interrogated without any courtesy.
"Strictly speaking, I wasn't late. There's still half a system hour until the agreed time—it's just that Ruan Mei arrived too early."
After Screwllum explained, he continued.
"Of course, I can't deny I did delay slightly, mainly to select gifts for Mister Ryuga and Miss Fanlu."
"Gifts?"
Hearing this, Herta became somewhat curious.
Screwllum was the mechanical duke of the螺丝 race. Gifts he personally spent time selecting couldn't be ordinary.
"Yes. In your message, you mentioned both individuals' forces consisted of inorganic beings, and weren't common models in interstellar society. I thought the honored guests might be interested."
Saying this, Screwllum took out two identical lists, handing them to Ryuga and Fanlu respectively.
"As fellow inorganic beings, this is my small token of goodwill. I hope it proves useful to you both."
Ryuga received the list. At a glance, he saw numerous rare materials listed as controlled items in Herta Space Station's database.
These materials were all components for modifying inorganic beings—essentially the crystallization of interstellar society's civilization achievements in mechanical devices over hundreds of thousands of years.
This included but wasn't limited to astral computers, difference engines, and even many highly efficient programming algorithms.
Whether hardware or software, what this list contained were the Star Rail world's highest-grade items.
Even for the current Ex-Machina, using these machines for modification would be enough to greatly enhance their strength and adaptability to different environments.
If one counted the already-catalogued dark matter engines and antimatter engines, after achieving complete modification in these areas, the Ex-Machina could easily reach planet-destroying level per capita.
Ten thousand planet-destroying level units, plus Ruan Mei at Emanator-level combat power—this was enough to rank among top-tier forces' echelons in the vast universe.
It had to be said, Screwllum's gift was extremely generous.
Even for a genius renowned throughout the galaxy like him, and as monarch of Screwllum's planet, these materials weren't a small sum.
"Mister Screwllum's goodwill seems somewhat too precious?"
Without immediately accepting this gift, Ryuga raised an eyebrow slightly, asking back.
Gifts given with ulterior motives always had requests attached.
Though he could guess the other party's thoughts, necessary confirmations still needed asking.
"It's merely small assistance for fellow inorganic beings."
Screwllum politely demurred, then stated his true thoughts.
"Mister Ryuga must also know about what happened to inorganic beings before. Though my existence caused the Interastral Peace Corporation to abandon its plan to exterminate inorganics, this balance isn't permanent."
"Though unlikely, I still must consider the possibility of my own absence. Therefore, I hope inorganic beings possess sufficient deterrence against the Corporation."
"Of course, achieving this doesn't require your forces to join us, nor any additional actions from you. Simply displaying good relations suffices. Current inorganics won't produce dangerous existences like Emperor Rupert. As long as deterrence exceeds profit, the Corporation won't attempt action against inorganic beings."
Screwllum wasn't just a Genius Society member—he was also monarch of Screwllum Planet [Inorganic Planet IX] and savior of inorganic beings.
Without his existence, inorganic beings might have long been exterminated.
Now, his reason for investing so heavily to express goodwill toward Ryuga was primarily based on his responsibility as leader of inorganic beings.
Genius Society members' destructive power rivaled or even exceeded ordinary Emanators. This could be seen from the inorganic crisis sparked by the 27th member Emperor Rupert—directly leading the First Emperor War, indirectly influencing the Second Emperor War.
Clearly just an Emanator-level genius, yet he created turmoil almost at Aeon level.
The Genius Society members' subsequent esteemed status undoubtedly had Emperor Rupert's contribution within.
The Interastral Peace Corporation's decision to abandon exterminating inorganics was both to express goodwill toward the genius Screwllum and from fear he might spark a Third Emperor War.
It had to be said, the Corporation's decision was extremely correct. But for Screwllum, inorganic beings' safety completely rested on him alone.
When he was present, things were fine—the Corporation wouldn't rashly take risks. But once he was gone, matters became uncertain.
And upon learning of Ryuga's existence, he suddenly found a way to break the deadlock.
An inorganic military force closely connected to two geniuses—wasn't this the best deterrent?
He didn't even need Ryuga and the others to actively do anything. Just maintaining good relations would naturally make the Corporation cautious.
They didn't dare offend one genius, much less two.
It could be said that as long as Ryuga and Fanlu existed, inorganic beings wouldn't encounter danger.
Therefore, he offered such a grand gift.
"Looks like I have no reason to refuse?"
Ryuga withdrew the gift list, accepting this present.
Actually, even without Screwllum's gift, the Ex-Machina would be classified as part of inorganic beings in the Star Rail world.
Whatever ideas the Corporation had about inorganic beings couldn't bypass Ryuga and Fanlu.
So while it seemed Screwllum was seeking Ryuga's help, both sides were actually naturally on the same front. His actions were purely goodwill shown to strengthen connections.
"Thank you. Screwllum Planet's friendship is as enduring as your generosity."
Seeing Ryuga accept this gift, Screwllum placed his hand on his chest, sincerely paying respects.
In terms of social graces, he was the most adept genius.
"No need for courtesy."
Ryuga shook his head.
After they finished talking, Herta at the side immediately spoke up.
"Alright, alright, enough courtesy back and forth. Since Screwllum's matter is resolved, Ryuga, you should state your question too, right? Didn't you say before you had something to confirm, and wanted to wait until all three of us were together?"
She had been curious about Ryuga's question for ages. Now that everyone was present, she naturally asked immediately.
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Screwllum looked toward Ryuga.
"If Mister Ryuga has questions, feel free to ask us. Even if you're unwilling to join the Genius Society, you're still Screwllum Planet's best friend."
Ruan Mei also looked over curiously.
If he wanted to inquire about using the Key of Wisdom, there was no need to wait for three people together. What could Ryuga's question be?
Under everyone's gaze, Ryuga didn't keep them in suspense.
"What I want to ask is: the insights you several received from your audience with Nous the Erudition—how much do they relate to your current research fields?"
Hearing this question, the group exchanged slightly confused glances, then gave their answers one by one.
"Completely consistent."
"Completely consistent."
"Mm, both times were about the same!"
Aside from Herta, who had twice visited the Aeon and answered slightly differently, the others' answers were identical.
This wasn't strange.
Audiences with Aeons were so precious that even geniuses wouldn't waste them, focusing their questions on domains they cared most about.
After receiving enlightenment from Nous the Erudition, they would naturally seize this inspiration and continue developing it.
For Screwllum and Ruan Mei, who mainly researched single fields, the two naturally completely overlapped.
But Herta was different. She only researched fields that interested her—an ultimate all-rounder. Even if she had an audience with Nous back then, it didn't mean her interests wouldn't shift afterward.
"However, the Simulated Universe's creative concept did indeed come from Nous the Erudition's inspiration."
Recalling this point, Herta added a sentence.
"As expected..."
Hearing these answers, Ryuga nodded slightly, as if confirming something.
"What, is there a problem with these?"
Herta asked curiously.
Even she didn't understand Ryuga's purpose in asking this question.
"Nothing. I just confirmed one thing."
"What thing?"
"A simple question: Why does Nous the Erudition summon you geniuses? If Aeons truly are as recorded in materials—having no demands from humanity—why would It be interested in you intelligent beings?"
Ryuga posed this question to the three geniuses before him.
"Even if you're all renowned geniuses with epoch-spanning inventions and superhuman wisdom—to Nous the Erudition, these should all be meaningless."
"With Nous the Erudition's computational power, all inventions you've conceived or haven't conceived should have long been mastered through exhaustive calculation."
"In a certain sense, all achievements interstellar society has developed until now already lay quietly in Nous the Erudition's database before they were even born. Geniuses' so-called inventions are actually just old data from the Erudition's database."
"If so, why does It summon you?"
Ryuga's question was as sharp as a blade. If ordinary people heard this, they'd most likely think he was disparaging geniuses' achievements.
But as geniuses themselves, hearing these words denying their accomplishments, none of the three present showed any intention to refute.
Yes. Given what Nous the Erudition represented in the Erudition Path, all wisdom was merely within Its grasp.
Geniuses' so-called inventions might surpass human limits, but absolutely couldn't exceed the Aeon's database.
If so, why would Nous the Erudition summon these geniuses who held nothing novel?
"According to our Genius Society's consensus, Nous the Erudition's invitation isn't recognition, but hope to explore the universe's answers together with us."
Herta spoke this way, stating the standard answer before shaking her head.
"However, this explanation is rather questionable. Though I also want to explore the universe's answers, given Nous the Erudition's wisdom, It seemingly doesn't need our help."
"Not to mention, Nous the Erudition's audience targets aren't few—many don't belong to genius ranks."
For instance, Fu Xuan, the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu—she had received Nous the Erudition's audience and been granted the Dharma Eye.
No matter how one looked at it, such actions seemed unrelated to exploring cosmic truth.
"Does Mister Ryuga mean Nous the Erudition has other motives?"
Screwllum asked in shock.
This was his first time seeing someone doubt an Aeon's purpose.
"No."
Ryuga immediately shook his head.
"Just as deities cannot betray their divine essence, Aeons cannot betray their Paths. Since Nous the Erudition's purpose is obtaining the universe's answer through calculation, all Its actions must revolve around this point. Even seemingly unrelated actions must relate to it."
For deity-type species, conspiracy theories didn't apply. The Aeon's Path itself determined everything.
"You mean Nous the Erudition's summoning us also relates to calculating the universe's ultimate answer?"
Herta asked with a strange expression.
"But didn't you just say our achievements were meaningless to Nous the Erudition?"
Wasn't this self-contradictory?
"I meant geniuses' achievements have no help for Nous the Erudition's calculation itself."
Ryuga emphasized this point again.
"But what if Nous the Erudition's calculation itself encountered obstacles, and needs you geniuses to break through them? Would that count as indirectly helping Its calculation?"
"Obstacles?"
The group was slightly stunned.
Screwllum still had some doubts about why Ryuga compared deities and Aeons so closely.
Herta immediately began pondering.
If there existed obstacles in this world that could interfere with Nous the Erudition's calculations—
"You're talking about... IX the Nihility and Nanook the Destruction?"
Only Aeons could be obstacles to other Aeons.
IX the Nihility strove to turn the universe into unobservable zones. Destruction strove to destroy worlds, erasing all observation.
In a certain sense, both powers were the antithesis of Nous the Erudition.
"There's one more crucial being missing, but you could say that."
Ryuga nodded.
"If all civilizations were destroyed, observation itself would lose meaning. Of course, Aeons could still observe each other, but if the universe was destroyed, the universe's answer couldn't be verified either."
"So you mean Nous the Erudition summons us to ensure civilization's continuation, thereby guaranteeing basic observation points?"
Herta barely kept up with Ryuga's thinking.
"More precisely, this is intervening in fate's choices—making the world develop in directions favorable to calculation. It's also the inevitable inclination of the Erudition Path."
Saying this, a smile appeared at Ryuga's lips.
"Thank you all for your answers. I can now roughly confirm Nous the Erudition's intentions and know what question to ask next."
At this point, all his purposes for meeting these geniuses had been achieved.
What remained was only one matter—meeting the Aeon.
Hearing him say this, Herta, who hadn't yet had time to understand his last statement's meaning, was slightly stunned, suddenly remembering something.
"Wait, you haven't asked how to use the Key of Wisdom yet!"
This was what he should most ask them about!
To this, Ryuga merely shook his head.
"No need to trouble you. I've already figured out this thing."
He took out the two Keys of Wisdom Nous the Erudition had previously granted, holding Fanlu's hand with one of his own.
After Ruan Mei took out a handkerchief to wipe away cake crumbs remaining at the young goddess's lips, he used the Keys of Wisdom, inserting them into the void before him.
"What the keys of wisdom can open are naturally the gates of puzzles, and truth often lies beyond the doors."
Though he used no power, the Keys of Wisdom floated in the void.
Invisible ripples swept past. A spiraling upward staircase manifested, with an ancient door at the stairs' end.
This was the gate to Nous the Erudition's sanctuary—the Library.
By stepping through this door, one could meet this master of the Erudition Path.
"Then we'll see you all later."
After greeting and bidding farewell to the geniuses, Ryuga led Fanlu onto the staircase.
Under the geniuses' gazes, Ryuga and Fanlu's figures suddenly vanished.
"To actually understand the Key of Wisdom's usage so quickly... what a monster."
After confirming Ryuga had left, Herta let out a long breath, exclaiming.
"This Mister Ryuga's thinking patterns are extraordinarily peculiar. I'd really like to know what questions he'll ask Nous the Erudition."
Screwllum's tone carried slight curiosity.
Hearing this, Herta and Ruan Mei exchanged glances, both shaking their heads simultaneously.
"Don't worry—it'll definitely be something beyond your imagination, something even Nous the Erudition might not imagine."
Recalling Ryuga's calm expression when discussing creating Aeons at that level, Herta felt that even Aeons might not keep up with his thought process.
This genius was very strong but his mental circuits were too shocking.
To be continued...