Ruan i felt she understood Herta well enough.
Given Herta's personality, if she liked sothing even a little, she'd flaunt it tenfold; naturally, her possessiveness manifested with that sa ten-to-one intensity.
Ruan i didn't think her intuition was off—there was definitely so genuine affection there.
Yet, the fact that Herta hadn't displayed any overt possessiveness left Ruan i rather surprised.
Furthermore, based on Bai Ming's description, the girl was clearly the type to say one thing while feeling another.
She might protest with a "no" or "stop," but if sothing actually happened, she'd likely be enjoying herself deep down.
So...
Why hadn't those two just slept together yet?
Instead, Bai Ming had ended up running off to her place.
Surely a woman like Herta wouldn't have chickened out at the last second; that didn't sound like her at all. Ruan i found the whole thing quite puzzling.
As for herself...
At least for now, if Herta truly tried to keep Bai Ming all to herself, Ruan i would probably be a bit displeased. Was it out of consideration for that fact that Herta hadn't pushed further?
Ruan i couldn't help but wonder. Then again, this was Herta; it wasn't entirely impossible.
It might sound a bit like self-praise, but Ruan i felt the relationship between the Geniuses was actually quite solid.
After all, they had the long-term project of the Simulated Universe acting as their tether. Everyone seed keen on maintaining the harmony of their little circle.
From that perspective, the logic held up. Since she was off the clock, Ruan i allowed her mind to wander without restraint. Her thoughts even drifted toward Divine Herta for a mont.
Though they were separate individuals, Divine Herta inherited all the mories of Herta from another tiline.
Moreover, while she was still within the body of Hertatomb, her consciousness had been linked to Bai Ming's.
Bai Ming had even admitted that while it wasn't everything, Divine Herta had indeed seen many of her private thoughts and mories.
In other words, Divine Herta had deep ties to both parties involved in this situation.
If Herta and Bai Ming truly established an intimate relationship, one wondered what the Genius who also shared the na "Herta" would think.
Would she be curious? Incredulous? Or would she simply ignore it altogether?
As Ruan i pondered these things, she didn't forget to share them with Bai Ming, discussing it directly with the person in question.
However, hindered by her own impression of Herta, Bai Ming felt that if things really went that far, Divine Herta would probably be a little angry.
Hearing this, Ruan i felt a touch of helplessness.
She couldn't wrap her head around how those two had managed to cultivate such a skewed dynamic. Ultimately, she could only chalk it up to Bai Ming's habit of constantly provoking Herta.
Speaking of which, Ruan i voiced a question that had been bugging her for a while:
"Actually, I've always wondered... why is it that when you're impersonating others, you love acting so high-profile and actively seek out the original person?"
"Uh... well, how should I put this?"
Bai Ming had actually considered how she'd answer if soone ever asked.
The simplest way was to just admit she enjoyed the chaos. The best proof was her own Masked Fool's mask.
She believed most people wouldn't doubt her honesty once they saw that mask; that was the weight behind being a Masked Fool.
But the person asking was Ruan i.
To Bai Ming, Ruan i wasn't just soone she could trust—it was a unique kind of trust forged through countless sessions of researching and being researched.
Then again, the System was Bai Ming's greatest secret. After a mont of thought, she explained:
"My transformation ability stems from the emotional feedback of others. The more 'authentic' the feedback from the original person, the more pronounced the effect."
"I didn't understand why it was emotions before, but combined with your and Herta's recent theories, I think it might be related to how I'm integrating into this world."
"Does it involve 'Existence'? Perhaps that is a possibility," Ruan i mused.
She felt there might be a connection. From the soul she first observed in Bai Ming to the soul she saw now, the change in strength was staggering—the difference between heaven and earth wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Furthermore, there was a proven precedent.
Take the Order, for example: the collective will of the universe's sentient beings holds real power.
Even without a direct thod to link their wills, once they align, they can truly influence destiny or even an Aeon.
Adding in what they'd discovered about Bai Ming's situation, it was possible she was using the collective will of the universe to gradually solidify her own presence in this world. At least, logically, it made sense.
"And of course, part of it is just because I find it fun. Plus, if I do things using soone else's identity, the trouble never traces back to ," Bai Ming added after a pause, making Ruan i let out a soft laugh.
She couldn't deny that. When it ca to making trouble for Herta, Bai Ming never seed to tire.
From that perspective, it seed only fair for Herta to tease her back. If it were Ruan i, she probably wouldn't let Bai Ming off easy either.
"Speaking of which, have those songs and audio clips you sent out had any effect yet?" Ruan i asked about the massive social experint Bai Ming had launched a while back.
Though the dium was a bit abstract, the goal was dead serious. At the very least, The Family was genuinely scrambling to solve the issue.
"I haven't felt much personally, but according to Gopher Wood, the main branch of The Family is getting restless. I imagine it's had so effect."
Because of her new body, Bai Ming didn't dare make a definitive judgnt. But based on the news from Gopher Wood, The Family wasn't backing down; they were stirring.
That ant it had definitely struck a nerve; otherwise, why would they be so agitated?
Ruan i nodded. She was curious to see how far this would go—whether it could truly change the course of Paths itself.
Bai Ming popped a pastry into her mouth and continued, "The large-scale Harmony experint is a long-term thing; we won't see much in the short term. Instead of that, why don't we look into Permanence?"
"I took a mont to contact that General from the Fanghu. While she turned down my request to borrow so Draconic power, she did agree to let visit the Fanghu to conduct so research under her watchful eye."
Winking at Ruan i, Bai Ming asked, "Want to co with ? I'm sure the Xianzhou would love to get to know a Genius, as long as we don't go too overboard."
Ruan i hadn't expected Bai Ming to actually have the nerve to bring that up to a General's face.
She'd heard of the Vidyadhara's situation; given their delicate state, Ruan i herself wouldn't have tried to negotiate with them directly even if she wanted to study Permanence.
"Aren't you afraid of offending General Xuanquan?"
"I did the Xianzhou a favor, after all. Even if she refused, I doubt we'd end up on bad terms. And look at the result—it's great! The Fanghu is an autonomous Vidyadhara region; it's crawling with them. We can't go too far, but even basic research is an opportunity."
Ruan i nodded in agreent. She couldn't deny the opportunity.
The Path of Permanence was difficult to study, mainly because the Scions of Long were hard to deal with. Since Bai Ming had actually secured a chance, Ruan i was naturally willing to make the trip.
"It is indeed an opportunity. And since we have the Saint Graph system, if we can create a Permanence Saint Graph and bridge that gap from zero to one, we won't have to worry about lacking materials in the future."
"My thoughts exactly. So, do you have any projects you need to finish? Shall we head out together in a while?"
Hearing Bai Ming's question, Ruan i toyed with a pastry and smiled.
"Rappa is out, and your body is finished. I don't have any pressing projects for the mont; everything else can wait. What about your research into Celenova's abilities? Are you putting that on hold?"
Bai Ming shook her head. "I'm stuck for now. I'll do sothing else first; maybe I'll find a breakthrough through so related field."
"Fair enough. But this ti, rember to tell Herta. Especially after everything that just happened."
Seeing the smile on Ruan i's face, Bai Ming couldn't help but feel that the Genius was enjoying this a little too much.
-- --
Ti passed slowly.
The two of them were solo acts and could leave at a mont's notice, but as a General, Xuanquan couldn't just clear her schedule instantly.
She had significant prep work to do before she could allow Bai Ming and Ruan i onto the Fanghu to conduct such sensitive research.
During the remaining days, since Bai Ming had nothing else planned, she stayed at Ruan i's place. It wasn't a waste of ti to study Celenova's cloning abilities in her leisure hours.
Moreover, Bai Ming felt that after discussing those relatively private matters with Ruan i, the distance between them had closed significantly.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagining things—Ruan i was always so reserved that it was hard to tell.
Luckily, neither the Geniuses nor Bai Ming were the type to obsess over interpersonal politics. Bai Ming agonized over it only slightly before deciding not to overthink it.
As for Ruan i, aside from a few chores, she continued to study Bai Ming's body.
However, when dealing with issues that touched upon the root of existence and the nature of the world, useful data was hard to co by.
Everything was just theory and speculation between her and Herta; nobody knew the actual truth. It wouldn't be easy to yield results.
Bai Ming hadn't decided on her next role yet.
She figured if she couldn't figure out Celenova, she'd just use that character card again after returning from the Fanghu.
As for why she wasn't using it imdiately... well, it had been a long ti since she'd acted as herself in her own body. She wanted to savor this rare "self-ti" a bit longer.
She also wanted to stockpile so Emotion Points until her next gacha progress bar was full.
Thanks to the long-term impact of the chaotic things she'd done in the past, her points grew daily even without a disguise—just at a lower volu and efficiency.
Spending ti with Ruan i also helped her emotions settle. She could now look back at the mories of Herta teasing her with a bit more composure, rather than imdiately spiraling into wild fantasies.
-- --
A period of ti passed until General Xuanquan sent word that she was ready.
Just as Bai Ming and Ruan i were prepared to leave at any ti, Bai Ming's gacha bar finally maxed out, granting her a new pull.
-- --
[Roleplay System]
[Na: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: 1200 years]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta (Available), Acheron (Available), Celenova (Available), Jingliu (Available), Ruan i (Available), Sparkle (Available), Hertatomb (Charge: 81.2%), Lord Ravager · Jingliu (Charge: 45.8%), Young Herta (Charge: 31.2%), Cyrene · Fuli (Charge: 4.9%), Robin (Charge: 13.9%), Artoria (Charge: 35.5%)]
[Available Pulls: 1 (0.1%)]
-- --
Even after walking around as herself for all these days, her lifespan hadn't budged.
The display didn't even bother with decimals; it seemingly only counted in full years. At least it was friendly to her OCD.
Bai Ming stared at the panel, lost in thought, before habitually hitting the draw button.
She watched the familiar animation—the hatch opening, the golden light flooding out. She felt remarkably calm.
Then, accompanied by the crisp sound of flipping gold coins, a cat-like phantom thief in a black bodysuit appeared, hanging upside down from the ceiling.
"Hey, another Chrysos Heir... but wait, will the Titan of Trickery's power even work?"
The power of the Amphoreus Titans ca from the Scepter System's calculations—essentially, base code written by a computer.
It worked inside Amphoreus, but once you left, it was hard to execute.
The current Chrysos Heirs could barely manage a fraction of their original power in the outside world by relying on the data volu of Digimon. The bulk of their strength still depended on Path power.
But the card Bai Ming just drew was even weirder. This wasn't even the current Digimon, Cipher. It was the original data-entity Cipher that existed inside the Scepter.
Wait... wouldn't this be the weakest character card she'd ever used?
Bai Ming scratched her head.
She wasn't even hoping for the Trickster's versatility or god-like speed anymore.
Her main concern was that since this card represented a string of data, would she even be able to show her face in reality if she used it?
Surely she wouldn't have to buff herself to the level of a Digimon just to walk around in the real world?
While it wouldn't be the first ti she'd strengthened a card, doing it just so she could physically exist was a bit absurd.
If that was the case, could this thing even be considered a "Gold" card? Or was there so other secret to it?
-- --
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL
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