[""Mother, it's good to see you, as if we are meeting in person.""]
["Spring sunlight filters through the plum branches, casting mottled sparse shadows on the letter paper."]
["She sits on a stone bench, a indigo qipao wrapping her porcelain-white figure, like a corner of celestial light cut from an ancient painting."]
["Her dark hair is tied into a low bun, a few petals of red plum quietly drift down, landing precisely in her hair. She doesn't brush them away, letting that touch of vivid color adorn it. When the brush tip turns, the silver-white bracelet on her wrist sways gently with the movement of the pen, like a pool of green water rippled by the spring breeze."]
[""These plum blossoms bloom and wither again. Occasionally, I catch a whiff of loneliness from their fragrance. I recall the research we did together in [No Man's Land] during my childhood.""]
—
Chainsaw Man.
"Th-this...!"
The apple in Denji's mouth "plops" and falls to the ground.
That feeling... is just like his heart being pierced by the tentacles of the Leech Devil, an icy cool sensation sweeping over his entire body in an instant. He freezes in place, unable to move. His pupils contract violently, his mouth unconsciously opens slightly, and even his breathing stops for a few seconds.
His eyes have already fallen, his brain completely occupied by this graceful figure—the action of the woman in the plain qipao writing a letter, every second looping in his mind: the slightly lowered eyes when holding the brush, the two long legs white as if glowing under the stone table, and that expressionless face... Denji suddenly feels parched, unconsciously swallowing saliva.
"Denji, can you move your eyes away from other people's legs?" Power's voice comes from beside him.
After staring for so long, Denji slightly turns his neck, only then noticing that Power is watching even more intently than him, just short of pulling out binoculars.
"Tch, you're not enjoying it yourself..."
Power snorts disdainfully upon hearing this: "I'm different from you. This woman looks like she has a lot of culture. I want to know if she's won a Nobel Prize."
Aki Hayakawa walks out of the kitchen holding two plates of hollow pasta, his tone calm: "Not hard to guess. This should be Ruan Mei, the one Ms. Herta often mentions."
"Ruan Mei? The member of the Genius Society with that robot?" Power lets out an "Ooh~", "Then she must have won a Nobel Prize, right?"
"Even if she has, they probably wouldn't bother to receive it. Having been glanced at by [Nous], compared to reaching the peak in a specific field, in the world of these geniuses, such achievements are utterly insignificant."
Like Power and Denji, Aki Hayakawa's gaze is also drawn to Ruan Mei. But what surprises him is not her refined beauty, but a feeling completely different from that of geniuses of the same caliber like Herta and Screwllum.
Her voice carries an extremely indifferent tone, as if after experiencing a thousand sails, she has forever locked away some fervent aspect of human nature in the laboratory.
"Is it an illusion..."
Aki Hayakawa hopes he misheard.
—
[""The warm cabin, infinitely exuberant species and lives—those days are unforgettable to me. I too early understood the vastness of the universe...""]
["..."]
["The scene shifts. In the frigid land of ice and snow, the scientific expedition team's searchlights cut pale beams through the blizzard, like several trembling sharp swords piercing into the depths of the snowfield."]
["A faint white mist forms inside the oxygen mask, but the girl is oblivious. She stands behind her mother, on tiptoes, her pupils reflecting the bizarre scene in the distance."]
["The snow mountain is writhing."]
["It's not an avalanche—it's some colossal entity composed of countless eyeballs awakening. Each eyeball is embedded between rotten fleshy tumors, utterly horrifying. Its body is deeply buried in the snow mountain, with something resembling human skeletal black branch-like structures faintly visible, slowly opening and closing with the rhythm of its breathing, emitting roars like cracking ice."]
["Amid the piercing screams of countless people, the girl's eyes sparkle like she's standing in front of a candy shop window, as if that indescribable creature isn't the monster that took countless team members' lives, but a candy waiting for her to peel off its wrapper."]
[""Birth, growth, withering... Marveling at the process of life is the origin of my thoughts. I began to realize that I yearn for something [pure].""]
—
Teyvat, Sumeru.
"Pure..."
In the rainforest outside Gandharva Ville, Collei is repeatedly savoring Ruan Mei's earlier words. Suddenly, she seems to think of something and looks up at Tighnari beside her. "Master, do you think Ms. Ruan Mei wants to research the [Aeons]? Honestly, I can't think of anything in the universe purer than the [Aeons]."
After experiencing the entire Swarm Disaster, Collei has a whole new understanding of the Aeons. She originally thought Aeons were all supreme beings who could do whatever they wanted, but now it seems some Aeons might not even have human freedom.
[Yaoshi] has been practicing the Path from beginning to end without ever stopping, bringing countless disasters to the universe, but indeed, she can't imagine anyone more representative of "purity" than Them.
"I think it's possible, but researching [Aeons] wouldn't be too insane?" Tighnari ponders, cheek in hand.
Though the Genius Society members are no ordinary people, this Ms. Ruan Mei appears to be mere mortal flesh, completely different from Screwllum. The power displayed by Aeons is truly extraordinary; a slight misstep could affect countless star systems in the universe.
"I saw that when Ms. Ruan Mei was staring at that monster, there wasn't a hint of fear in her eyes. Probably, the current Aeons are the same to her as that monster was when she was a child?"
A puzzled expression appears on Collei's face: "But why does she want to research [Aeons]? Could it be she wants to become an [Emanator] of [Nous]? To have transcendent power like Ms. Herta?"
—
[""Attachment... concerns the insular cortex for controlling anxiety and pain, and the nucleus accumbens for generating desire.""]
[""The patterns of emotions can be easily dissected. Children who receive random rewards become more... obedient.""]
["Ruan Mei stands in the observation cabin, infinite space unfolding before her, stars scattered like crushed diamonds on a black curtain. Her gaze calmly watches a distant planet as colorful as a fairy tale, as if the planet extends a tiny hand, waving hello to her."]
[""When I discovered that even nurturing a planet is so simple, I began to feel... empty.""]