Bai Luan gave the planet a large sum of money to be used for future construction of the game areas he brought to this world.
Hyperion was unwilling to accept the free gift, so he decided to erect a statue of Bai Luan somewhere in Logos.
Bai Luan asked if he could make his statue capable of doing a backflip.
Hyperion seemed a bit confused but said he would try his best.
The chat with Hyperion was always pleasant until he started urging for updates.
Just kidding, even the update nagging was pleasant.
Logos, what a great planet.
These past few days, Bai Luan truly had a blast.
Although he initially came only for the computer, it now seemed that Logos was worth a separate trip.
If he had any free time in the future, he would come back to play.
Bai Luan took out his phone and sent a message to Silver Wolf.
Bai Luan: I'm leaving first, what are your plans?
Silver Wolf: I haven't had enough fun yet, no, I haven't even started playing!
Bai Luan: Alright, I won't book your return ticket this time.
Bai Luan casually transferred a sum of money to Silver Wolf, considering it reimbursement for her travel expenses.
Silver Wolf: ?
Silver Wolf: Why so much?
Bai Luan: Is it a lot?
Bai Luan: I just typed in a random number when I transferred it.
Bai Luan: The extra is for a tip.
Silver Wolf: No matter who you are, don't get off Bai Luan yet.
Bai Luan: ...Why do you rather believe I'm possessed than believe I'm a good person?
Silver Wolf: ?
Silver Wolf: Go tell that to my deleted game account data and my deceased partner, Vanguard-class Titan BT-7274!
Seriously, you're like this after just one heartbreaking experience.
After Cyberpunk 2077 is fully released, it seems I must find a way to make Edgerunners for you.
Just thinking about Silver Wolf's expression after watching Edgerunners filled Bai Luan with motivation!
However, this was not the most pressing matter at hand.
Bai Luan took out the Anywhere Door and returned to Herta Space Station.
He took out the miniature supercomputer.
The most urgent task now was to quickly create the miniature simulated universe while Herta was away.
Otherwise, when Herta returned and saw that he was making a miniature simulated universe, she would probably misunderstand that he was very interested in the simulated universe and hadn't had enough fun yet.
If she kept dragging him to make simulated universe DLCs, that would be the end of him.
This miniature simulated universe also had a compelling reason to be made; the so-called Genius Society was merely Nous's hit list.
Kakamond could run over and elbow him at any time, so it was better to master some countermeasures as insurance early on.
Having made up his mind, Bai Luan burrowed into the Space Station's laboratory and began tinkering with the miniature simulated universe.
The one he was making was only for calculating how to deal with Nous, so the resources consumed were not that exaggerated.
The programs he needed to write were already existing, so Bai Luan didn't need to rewrite them; he only needed to consider how to simplify them.
During the development process, Bai Luan could solve many problems using Curios.
Speaking of which, this was his first time using pure Curios to build something, and he wondered what kind of contraption would pop out once it was finished.
Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, fifteen days had passed.
Now Bai Luan had two pieces of good news and one piece of bad news.
First, the first good news:
The miniature simulated universe was almost complete.
Then, the second good news:
Herta was coming back.
And finally, the bad news:
Herta was coming back.
After Herta returned, he would no longer be able to use the Space Station's laboratory to make the miniature simulated universe so brazenly.
He was very afraid that Herta would see it and immediately drag him to make simulated universe DLCs.
But the progress was stuck at ninety-nine percent, and he couldn't finish it, which was as anxious as having something scratching at his heart.
It was very uncomfortable.
What should he do?
The risk of being dragged to make simulated universe DLCs versus the temptation of completing the miniature simulated universe... these two together made it so hard to choose... Just as Bai Luan was agonizing over how to choose, Herta returned and asked Bai Luan a question that caught him by surprise.
"What reward do you want?"
"Yes, a reward. You've been doing well lately, finding many interesting things for me."
Hmm... but it seemed he didn't really want anything... Wait, no, it wasn't that he didn't want anything at all.
He still needed a little more time to complete the miniature simulated universe.
Just a little more time would be enough.
Having made up his mind, Bai Luan tentatively began:
"Ms. Herta... would you grant me one day to refuse you?"
"What a strange request?"
"As the saying goes: true freedom is not doing whatever you want, but not doing whatever you don't want."
"So, this is your twisted sense of humor?"
Although this would damage his image, it was for the miniature simulated universe.
Bai Luan nodded, acknowledging that he possessed a certain "twisted sense of humor."
"Alright then."
Herta agreed indifferently.
It wasn't a big deal anyway.
It was just one day of ignoring Bai Luan; how much impact could that have on her?
Half a day passed.
Herta felt a severe sense of discomfort.
Ever since she returned to Herta Space Station, everything she did felt strongly amiss.
Herta naturally quickly found the source of the unease: her assistant was not there.
She always felt that when she was doing something, someone should be standing beside her.
She didn't feel this way at all when Bai Luan was completely absent.
But when Bai Luan was within her sight, yet she couldn't call him, this discomfort was particularly strong.
Herta suppressed this discomfort; she truly didn't believe she couldn't live without an assistant.
While Herta was struggling with herself.
Bai Luan was in a tense and exciting race against time to develop the miniature simulated universe.
Why did developing the miniature simulated universe feel tense and exciting?
Because Bai Luan always felt Herta's gaze seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally looking his way.
Especially when he passed by several times.
Had she already discovered that he was secretly making the miniature simulated universe alone?
During the half-day he had secured, Bai Luan constantly faced this fear.
He always felt that in the next second, Herta would run out and say to him:
"Aha, you! You've been secretly developing a simulated universe behind my back. You love the simulated universe so much, then come make Swarm Disaster, Gold and Gears, and the Unknown Regions..."
And then he would enter the endless simulated universe hell, not knowing how long it would take to develop.
Although he was very afraid of this coming true, once this matter started, there was no turning back.
This was like walking a tightrope; once you step on it, there's no turning back!
Bai Luan felt like he was playing an extremely novel and heart-pounding extreme sport.
Work faster, for crying out loud!
He hadn't raced against time like this even during his college entrance exams.
After more than half a day of high-intensity production, the main body of the miniature simulated universe was finally completed.
The main body of Bai Luan's miniature simulated universe looked like a necklace.
Now, he just needed to input the program into the carrier, and it would be complete... Just then, the laboratory door suddenly opened, startling Bai Luan, who almost dropped the necklace.
He fumbled to catch it, quickly hid it behind his back, and his heart pounded uncontrollably.
He forced himself to be calm, with unconcealable guilt, and looked towards the doorway.
It was Herta.
"Ms. Herta?"
Bai Luan's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.
"Is... is something the matter?"
"Change your reward."
Bai Luan was stunned, somewhat confused.
"What?"
"This genius says,"
Herta repeated, her tone slightly raised, carrying an indescribable irritation and... perhaps something else.
"I want you to change your reward."
Herta had lost in her contest against herself.