The three outside temporarily parted ways.
They didn't co looking for 'Cyrene', at least for now.
Though she was quite curious about what Herta had gone out to discuss, after a mont's thought, she held back—she'd ask about it later.
It absolutely wasn't because being with Ruan i was so pleasant that she was a bit reluctant to leave.
Ruan i, however, pondered for a mont before suddenly asking:
"In your eyes, what is Herta like?"
"Huh?"
Rather than answering, 'Cyrene's first reaction was surprise.
Was this really a question coming from Ruan i's mouth?
But she quickly realized Ruan i probably wanted to continue their earlier topic about 'Herta feeling guilty.'
"Oh, is this about the guilt thing you ntioned?"
"You could say that."
"Hmm… it's hard to say. After all, from my perspective, I've only known the two of you for a few months."
'Cyrene' scratched her cheek a little sheepishly.
Her impression of Herta and Ruan i was good, but that was actually inherited from her mories of the ga.
In reality, their contact—starting from her first ti playing 'Big Herta'—had only been a matter of months.
And she hadn't been with Herta and the others the entire ti in between.
"Yes, that is true."
Ruan i seed to have expected this.
Because for 'Cyrene', that really was all there was to it.
But for her and Herta…
They had t 'Bai Ming', this person, hundreds of years ago.
Though they had spent most of that ti apart, the traces 'Bai Ming' left behind were too profound.
Every ti they ca into contact with a Giant of Light, they would rember 'Bai Ming'.
Thinking this, Ruan i lowered her gaze with a soft smile, looking at 'Cyrene'.
"But for Herta, you are already a friend she has known for centuries. And the sa goes for , of course."
"Centuries…"
Hearing this utterly intangible span of ti left 'Cyrene' montarily speechless.
Because hundreds of years ago, she hadn't ford any deep bonds with ordinary people at all.
She couldn't even recognize the faces of that earliest batch of people from the space station back then.
And those with whom she truly established relationships were, without exception, all still alive today.
This ant that even though she had missed centuries, she had no real sense of having lost those hundreds of years.
Herta was still Herta, Ruan i was still Ruan i.
Acheron remained as ever, guarding that entrance to the void.
Zero and the others were growing up strong and well.
Ti left no trace on their faces.
The only one who had fallen into mara-struck, Jingliu, had indeed stirred so feelings, but 'Cyrene' had pulled her back with her own hand.
Even Baiheng had rely taken on a different form, and their reunion now held no lingering regret.
Only now, after Ruan i's deliberate reminder, did 'Cyrene' suddenly gain the slightest tangible sense of it.
For her, perhaps it was just one battle.
But for those outside, they had truly waited for her for centuries.
It was just that these two hadn't shown it much during this ti, to the point that 'Cyrene' had completely forgotten.
"So when Herta keeps trying to pull you into new projects, I believe it's because she wants to see you."
"Is that so… I feel like she's just holding a grudge."
'Cyrene' felt a bit at a loss.
It wasn't that she thought Herta liked her or anything, but now, realizing the gap of centuries between her and them, she didn't know how to react to these misaligned feelings.
"Then, Ruan i, why did you suddenly bring this up with ?"
"Hmm, out of curiosity, I suppose. I'm curious about what other expressions Herta might show."
In Ruan i's understanding, Herta's reaction had been sowhat unexpected.
After all, she was arrogant, narcissistic, and willful.
But ultimately, she was still human.
Complex emotions were sothing even Ruan i couldn't avoid, and it just so happened she wanted to research how to artificially create geniuses.
So she was curious—what would soone like Herta do?
It was also rare data, in a way.
Hearing Ruan i's explanation, a subtle smile appeared on 'Cyrene's' face.
"If Herta heard that, I think she'd be angry."
Ruan i tilted her head slightly in thought, then revealed a faint smile.
"I actually don't think Herta would mind my observation. The one who can easily annoy her is probably just you."
If Herta really found out what she'd said, she'd probably just toss her hair and tell her to observe all she liked.
Then follow up with so narcissistic remark about how she just hadn't managed to catch the Aeon of Beauty's gaze in ti or sothing.
Ruan i hadn't even used the word 'angry,' because Herta's truly angry appearance was how she acted when dealing with Zandar.
That attitude toward 'Cyrene' was less about anger and more about enjoying the process of interaction.
That was just the pattern of their relationship.
It was just that Bai Ming didn't seem to be aware of it.
Instead, she kept thinking it was because Herta was 'holding a grudge.'
Well… if you really thought about it, 'holding a grudge' wasn't exactly wrong either.
After all, leaving without a word, then disappearing for several centuries at once, and coming back all cheerful and carefree…
It made sense that Herta would quietly hold onto that grievance.
Ruan i gave a slight shake of her head.
But seeing 'Cyrene' in this befuddled state, Ruan i didn't press further.
She wasn't here to be a relationship coach. If anything, she herself was the type who tended to avoid intimate relationships.
Why would she waste so many words?
Better to talk about other serious matters.
It would help divert attention too.
And so…
Ruan i and 'Cyrene' began discussing her experintal project.
The inspiration for the experint ca from Dr. Primitive's data.
Of course, Ruan i's goal wasn't to create superhumans.
She wasn't that interested in that; her target was still the Aeons.
The reason for this experint was more to verify the accuracy of Dr. Primitive's data, while also exploring whether this direction could be leveraged to achieve artificial geniuses, or even artificial Emanators.
The genes Dr. Primitive had filtered out were indeed excellent, chosen with remarkable precision.
If what Ruan i had been exploring all along was the broad concept of life, then Dr. Primitive had studied humanity to the point of sheer artistry.
This pinnacle of specialized research sparked many ideas in Ruan i's mind.
Listening to Ruan i's explanation, 'Cyrene' raised an eyebrow.
"This ti… you actually, truly created a person?"
Though she had anticipated it, and had even heard about it before, even now, 'Cyrene' was still astonished.
This ti, Ruan i had directly created an entity akin to a 'superhuman.'
And it looked perfectly human.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Ruan i looked down, eting 'Cyrene's' eyes.
Though it wasn't the first ti, Ruan i still felt like asking: in her eyes, did she co across as so kind of strange, mad scientist character?
Even though she had created an experintal subject, she hadn't subjected her creation to any of those bizarre programs.
'Cyrene', anwhile, thought of Rappa—in the story, she was an individual born from that very experint.
Could it be that what Dr. Primitive's people failed to create had been reproduced by Ruan i?
"Maybe I'll go take a look when I have ti later?"
"Anyti. I'll be waiting for you."
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