After Bai Luan left Herta's office, he received an invitation from the Genius Society.
As he stepped out, it unscientifically appeared out of thin air and hovered before him.
Knowing how much fun his future life developing the simulated universe would be, Bai Luan wasn't overly excited about this new identity.
Still, Bai Luan opened the envelope, knowing it would keep coming if he didn't.
Bai Luan glanced at it.
"Congratulations..."
OK, noted.
Bai Luan casually crumpled the letter into a ball, then fixed his gaze on a trash can on the Herta Space Station.
His eyes immediately sharpened; he calculated, estimated, confirmed the trajectory, and then executed a fadeaway jump shot.
And just like that, an invitation letter, one of only 85 sent out since Nous ascended to an Aeon countless Amber Eras ago, became a paper ball, tracing a perfect parabola, and landing precisely in the trash can.
"Oh—yeah!"
Bro, I'm deadly cool, seriously.
『What kind of idiot are you... Hahahaha』 the system's strained voice came.
『"You... you just made Aha laugh』
Aha: Hahahaha, I'll give you full marks for that throw, kid, you've really got flair.
Why is The Aeon of Elation always spying on him for no reason?
Given that Aha and Nous had just pulled off a combo move to thoroughly prank him, Bai Luan's impression of both Aeons wasn't great right now.
Especially Aha, while pranking Nous might have a promising future, where he could perhaps install a virus plugin or a strange artifact to make Nous real.
But Aha is a pure, unadulterated Elation; he finds fun in everything he does.
To speak presumptuously, even if he genuinely hurt Aha, The Aeon of Elation would only laugh heartily and say, 'Well done, kid.'
Facing such an Aeon, he truly felt at a loss for how to proceed.
No! I can't just let it go!
I must find a way to make Aha suffer a setback...
But how...
Bai Luan began to brainstorm.
Aha!
Aha, The Aeon of Elation, loves watching him seek out fun, so doesn't that mean his death would be the least fun for him?
Which means, even if he were to act recklessly, The Aeon of Elation might jump out to back him up?
No, I'm not sick, why would I act recklessly?
It should be during a moment of immense, unforeseen crisis, for instance...
Black Swan made a move.
Damn, I can't spray this, I really have to defend against this.
Thinking about it this way, although Aha pranked him, he seems to have inadvertently become a super strong insurance for him.
After all, a member of the Genius Society creating a spectacle for you...
It doesn't seem so hard to accept anymore.
Aha, if you still want to watch my fun, then truly be my trump card for life.
Bai Luan calmly accepted this point.
At least he convinced himself.
The simulated universe had just been completed, and the eyes of all the geniuses were focused on it.
Bai Luan, citing his excitement and need for calm, temporarily excused himself.
Perhaps for Herta, Screwllum, and Ruan Mei, the simulated universe was still captivating, but for Bai Luan, he was almost at the point of feeling sick of it.
Bai Luan wished he could get as far away from that device as possible.
Although he wasn't the smartest in the project team, he was definitely the one who understood the simulated universe most thoroughly.
After all, when making the simulated universe, Bai Luan was like a universal part, moved wherever needed.
The three geniuses each had their own divisions and modules they were responsible for, and Bai Luan assisted them.
Through this back and forth, he became familiar with every module, and he often disassembled them in the Little Black Room to examine them.
Now, given the same resources, Bai Luan could probably tinker and create a simulated universe himself.
But this wasn't because Bai Luan was a genius; after all, he merely replicated, rather than created, the simulated universe.
Perhaps one day when he's idle, he'll create a mini simulated universe.
Then he'll put a clone of Nous in it, training data parasites on him every day, and when the parasites are ready, he'll ask Aha to help him ambush Nous and infect him.
Hmm...
It actually seems quite feasible...
It just requires a supercomputer, and he also needs to consider the possibility of being blocked by Kakamond.
Can't I just throw the parasite to Aha and let Aha infect him?
Poisoning the Nous, that would surely be fun, wouldn't it?
As Bai Luan was lost in thought, he heard a gasp:
"Wow—Woobo is so cute!"
Hm?
Why does that sound a little familiar?
Driven by curiosity, Bai Luan walked towards the source of the sound, only to see a young girl dressed as a reporter looking at Woobo with sparkling eyes.
Next to the girl, a hovering camera was suspended, pointing its lens at Woobo.
The girl clearly looked like she wanted to reach out and pet it.
A staff member was smiling and introducing Woobo to her. Bai Luan remembered this staff member; he seemed to be called Rong Cangzhong.
He had a deep impression of this staff member who died at the hands of the Antimatter Legion.
However, now, due to Bai Luan's presence, providing a large number of strange artifacts, all the staff members had no shortage of research subjects.
And Bai Luan had already improved the atmosphere of the Space Station more than nine hundred years ago, so Rong Cangzhong's mental state now was much better than in the original plot.
The Woobo beside him was proof; originally, it should have been contained, but now it was allowed out for walks, though the conditions and procedures were somewhat troublesome.
The moment he clearly saw the girl's face, Bai Luan smiled.
He recognized this girl, so he walked over.
Rong Cangzhong, who was introducing Woobo's habits to Lin Lin, saw Bai Luan and greeted him with a smile:
"Good day, Station Master."
"Good morning~"
"Station Master?"
Lin Lin was first surprised, then flustered, quickly tidying her appearance, then turned around.
And when she turned around, she saw Bai Luan, revealing a look of pleasant surprise.
"Bai Luan!? What are you doing here?"
Then she realized that Rong Cangzhong's greeting of "Station Master" was directed at Bai Luan.
"You, you are the Station Master of Herta Space Station? But shouldn't Miss Asta be the Station Master?"
Rong Cangzhong introduced at the side:
"Station Master Bai is also a Station Master of the Space Station, it's just that he's usually busy with affairs and doesn't often show his face."
"I see."
Lin Lin looked at Bai Luan again, but this time with a bit of cautiousness, as if meeting an important figure. She spoke:
"Do you... do you still remember me?"
Bai Luan pouted and said:
"You're being distant, old classmate?"
Rong Cangzhong also chimed in:
"You don't need to be so reserved when talking to the Station Master, he's very easygoing."
Hearing this, Lin Lin breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing considerably.
Bai Luan, meanwhile, looked at the hovering camera beside her:
"What is this?"
"Oh, this is a portable hovering camera I made myself. It's currently my partner; I call it 'Shutter'."
Shutter, huh?
At that name, Bai Luan's mouth curved into a difficult-to-maintain smile.
That's a very creative name.
"You said before that you wanted to photograph small animals, how's that going now?"
"Hmm, I'm a reporter for the company now. Although I'm at the bottom and my salary isn't much... I can point my camera at what I want to shoot."
"Oh... that's not bad then. Are you interested in posting videos of strange creatures on the Star Net?"
At this, Lin Lin suddenly showed a proud smile, saying with a hint of self-satisfaction:
"Actually, I've gained some traction on the Star Net! I'm considered a small blogger with 50,000 followers now~
Thanks to this job at the company, I, as a small reporter, get to run around and see all sorts of strange creatures~"
Lin Lin said, taking out her phone to show Bai Luan her account.
Bai Luan glanced at it; the videos were well-produced, the camera work was meticulous, and the captions were lively and interesting.
Most importantly, they were interspersed with her genuine emotions when she saw cute creatures.
The moments of "Wow," "So adorable," and "My heart is melting" were filled with pure, infectious joy, maximizing emotional value.
He should push her account using Yi Mu's account later. A top student from First University of Truth, she'll slowly build up her following; he should give her a hand.
Lin Lin's appearance here also meant it was time for the annual promotional video shoot for the Space Station, right?
However...
Lin Lin being so leisurely now clearly meant she hadn't been assigned any substantial work.
This year, the Space Station hadn't changed much from previous years, except for...
The Defense Department; he had just given them a bunch of brand new weapons.
Hmm... the Defense Department wasn't very popular on the Space Station before, so their changes probably haven't been discovered yet...
"Lin Lin, go check out the Defense Department. You should be able to get a lot of usable footage there."
"Really?"
Lin Lin's eyes lit up, like a cat smelling fish.
"Then I'll go check it out right away! Thank you, Bai Luan!"
Before her words finished, she had already shot out like a gust of wind.
However, after a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned back towards Bai Luan, and bowed deeply and earnestly, before once again energetically rushing towards the Defense Department.
Bai Luan watched her receding figure, which gradually overlapped with her figure when she left last time...
May you get better and better, old classmate.
"Rong Cangzhong."
Bai Luan's voice was calm and unwavering, yet carried an invisible pressure.
"Have you memorized all the basic information on the Antimatter Legion?"
"Like the back of my hand!"
Rong Cangzhong puffed out his chest, answering with great confidence.
"Very good."
Bai Luan nodded, his tone suddenly shifting.
"Then recite every item in the standard first-aid medical kit, and the self-rescue procedures for emergencies, for me."
"Uh... this..."
Rong Cangzhong's momentum immediately weakened, and his gaze began to wander.
"Hehe... this is... I'm a bit... I don't quite remember it all..."
"Go back and memorize it immediately."
Bai Luan's tone was unequivocal, even carrying a rare hint of sternness.
"I'll do a spot check next week. If you can't recite it, I'll deduct points from your quarterly evaluation."
"Ah? Why, Station Master?"
Rong Cangzhong was utterly bewildered, completely unable to understand why this usually easygoing Station Master was suddenly so serious about such a "small matter."
"Are you going or not?"
"Understood, Station Master!"
Rong Cangzhong left, feeling as if he had been set up by capital.
He couldn't possibly be so unlucky as to encounter a situation where the Space Station was attacked by the Legion and he needed to rely on a medical kit for self-rescue, could he?
The Space Station's defense system is so reliable, it couldn't suddenly fail, right?