In the kitchen of Herta Space Station, March 7th looked at the various cooking utensils.
"It really is exactly like the kitchen in the video... I remember this pot; Yi Mu used it when he cooked. His fried rice made my mouth water."
Dan Heng picked up his phone, opened Yi Mu's video, and started playing it.
The voice of Inspiration Shroom came from the video, starting to read the script written by Bai Luan.
To be honest, it took him a lot of effort to edit out Inspiration Shroom's 'shroom' verbal tic. Luckily, Xiu helped him.
In an atmosphere of detective work, Bai Luan, the mastermind, spoke:
"He never showed his face in the video. The camera angles mostly focused on the ingredients, and his hands appeared the most."
"Now that you mention it, that's true. But Yi Mu's hands are very beautiful; you can't tell if they belong to a man or a woman."
At this moment, Bai Luan said, with a serious expression:
"From the voice, this Yi Mu must be a very skilled woman. Her voice is ethereal and pleasant to listen to. I think she's a young girl."
Dan Heng, standing nearby, quipped:
"A young girl who's over nine hundred years old?"
March 7th, on the other hand, agreed:
"He's not wrong! A beautiful girl is always a beautiful girl; it has nothing to do with time!"
Excellent, the first step of the misunderstanding has been completed.
In a place unseen by Dan Heng and March 7th, Bai Luan revealed a knowing smile.
At this point, Dan Heng offered a hypothesis:
"Assuming Yi Mu's true self is a young girl, if her voice hasn't changed in over nine hundred years, could she be from the Xianzhou?"
"Her dessert series certainly has a very Xianzhou feel to it, and her long lifespan would also fit."
March 7th said, looking at Bai Luan, and asked:
"Are there any Xianzhou researchers on the Space Station?"
"Not that I know of."
Dan Heng, settling for a secondary option, asked:
"Then are there any researchers who have worked on the Space Station for several hundred years?"
This isn't good. If they investigate further along this line, it could lead back to him.
Bai Luan smiled subtly and said:
"There are no researchers who have worked 'continuously' for several hundred years on Herta Space Station."
Dan Heng fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
"Did you two notice? In Yi Mu's early videos, the filming location wasn't on the Space Station."
"I know, I know! Yi Mu's early videos were about daily life in the Botanical Garden! The content was all sorts of strange plants!"
Bai Luan nodded, satisfied with March 7th's addition, and thus he reasonably deduced:
"There's no such place on the Space Station, so I speculate that Yi Mu is a new researcher who only recently arrived at the Space Station!
The nine-hundred-year gap in between was her traveling through the galaxy, learning culinary skills. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why she makes so many dishes, and so skillfully!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh! That makes sense!"
March 7th looked at Bai Luan and asked:
"I didn't expect you to know so much about Yi Mu? Are you a fan of his too?"
"No, I am not a fan of Yi Mu."
I am him.
But Bai Luan obviously wouldn't say that.
"The reason I know so much about Yi Mu is actually because there are people on the Space Station, like March 7th, who want to find out Yi Mu's true identity. These people have now formed a group and share information within it every day."
"There's even an organization? Can you add me to the group? Let's all find her!"
Facing March 7th's request, Bai Luan shook his head and said:
"There are requirements to join the group chat. At the very least, you need to be a researcher."
"Ah? That's too bad."
"However, I'm in the group, so I'll tell you directly if there's any information."
"Yay!"
Dan Heng then spoke:
"In that case, is there any useful information in the group?"
"That's all for now. I'll notify you if there's any new developments."
A hint of regret flashed in March 7th's eyes:
"It seems we'll have to rely on ourselves from now on."
Dan Heng looked up at the corner of the kitchen and asked:
"Are there any surveillance cameras in the kitchen?"
"Everyone has checked the surveillance footage, and no useful clues were found."
Indeed, someone had thought of checking the surveillance.
The surveillance did indeed capture Bai Luan cooking here.
However, due to Bai Luan's misdirection, his gender was determined to be female, so no one paid him much attention.
In addition, when Bai Luan cooked, he always chose a spot far from the cameras, and they watched at high speed, making it even harder to see what kind of dishes Bai Luan was making.
Furthermore, there was a time difference between when the Yi Mu account updated and when Bai Luan cooked, which further reduced the effective information that could be obtained from checking the surveillance.
"Now we can only search for people on the Space Station based on voice and gender."
"I have to say, Yi Mu is quite good at hiding. Everyone in the group is also using this clumsy method to find him."
At this moment, Dan Heng spoke again:
"Perhaps the voice in the video is not Yi Mu's real voice."
Bai Luan glanced at Dan Heng.
How do you always find the blind spots?
"I also agree with that point."
Bai Luan cast his vote of approval, and then, the next second, he spoke again:
"She might have used voice impersonation techniques to change her original vocal range, but she should inherently be a female.
The voice in the video is too natural. If it were a male impersonating, it would be impossible to be so perfect in every episode."
After hearing Bai Luan's speculation, Dan Heng also nodded in agreement.
"It seems we won't get any useful information here. Let's go. The train won't be stopped for too long this time, so we need to hurry."
"If we search one by one, we might end up with nothing."
"What if? Dan Heng, what if?"
Dan Heng looked at March 7th, whose enthusiasm hadn't waned, and sighed.
Never mind, he hadn't really intended to find him anyway; it was just to pass the time.
He might as well just wander around.
March 7th thought she could try her luck, while Dan Heng had already half-given up on finding Yi Mu.
Bai Luan looked at March 7th and Dan Heng and nodded with satisfaction.
Excellent.
They'll never find me in this lifetime.
Misdirection tactic: a great success.
The three of them walked out of the kitchen together.
"Shroom~ Shroom~ Shroom~"
The floating UFO, Inspiration Shroom, hummed its unique flying sound as it flew over their heads.
"Dan Heng, don't you think the sound made by that little thing that just flew past..."
Dan Heng nodded and said:
"It's exactly the same as in the video."
Bai Luan then explained:
"That's our Space Station's mascot, Inspiration Shroom. You don't need to chase it; it'll come back if you call it."
After Bai Luan finished speaking, before he even opened his mouth to call Inspiration Shroom, Inspiration Shroom flew back on its own, going "Shroom~ Shroom~ Shroom~."
It looked at March 7th and Dan Heng curiously:
"Shroom hasn't seen you two shrooms before, shroom?"
"Wow! Dan Heng, look, look! A mushroom! A mushroom is talking!"
"I know, I'm looking."
Bai Luan then greeted Inspiration Shroom:
"Good morning, Inspiration Shroom. These two are guests of the Space Station."
"No wonder shroom hasn't seen them. Shroom basically knows everyone on this Space Station, shroom."
March 7th's attention had completely shifted from Yi Mu to Inspiration Shroom. She pulled out her camera, her eyes gleaming, and said excitedly:
"Can I take a picture with you!? Is it okay? Is it okay?"
"No problem, shroom."
Click, click, click.
While March 7th was taking pictures with Inspiration Shroom, Dan Heng was thinking nearby.
"Did it say it knows all the researchers on the Space Station?"
"Yes, it basically knows them all. After all, it doesn't have much to do, just floats around the Space Station and chats with everyone.
Presumably, that's why Inspiration Shroom's voice was chosen by Yi Mu as the object of his impersonation."
Dan Heng looked at Bai Luan and asked:
"Since you knew that the voice in the video might be Yi Mu impersonating Inspiration Shroom's voice, why didn't you tell us?"
"If I told you directly that it was a mushroom's voice, would you believe me?"
"Hmm... you're right."
After March 7th finished taking pictures with Inspiration Shroom, Dan Heng asked Inspiration Shroom:
"Inspiration Shroom, which researcher on the Space Station do you think is Yi Mu?"
...
Inspiration Shroom was silent for a moment, then spun in place.
Those who didn't know might have thought it was a meaningless floating motion, but Bai Luan knew that Inspiration Shroom had just looked at him.
"Shroom can't say. Yi Mu is shroom's friend, and shroom promised him not to say, shroom."
March 7th heard Inspiration Shroom say this and said indifferently:
"Then never mind. I'm already very satisfied to have seen a talking, floating UFO mushroom."
Bai Luan looked at Inspiration Shroom and asked:
"Where's Chizuru? Isn't it usually with you?"
"Chizuru, it's with Xiu, shroom."
March 7th asked curiously:
"Who is Chizuru?"
"Oh, Chizuru is a paper crane folded from paper, but it's alive."
"Eh?"
March 7th was stunned.
The next second, her eyes widened suddenly, and her pink pupils burst with a curiosity ten times stronger than when she was looking for 'Yi Mu,' her voice rising with excitement:
"Eh—?!
I want to go see it!"
T/N: if you like this, please drop the review, just write, Madam Herta is peerless gem. Madam Herta is an unrivalled genius. Madam herta is an inimitable beauty.