Finally, Bronya refused to sign the contract, rejecting the company's proposal.
She ultimately chose to rely on her own strength to lead Jarilo-VI towards a brighter future.
She believed that one day, Jarilo would return to its state before the Stellaron's arrival.
As for Bai Luan, guided by Stelle, he began to tour the museum she operated.
Although it had only recently opened, Stelle had already managed it quite well.
Looking at it this way, Stelle seemed to be an all-rounder superhero. Could he perhaps trick her into working for him later?
Hmm... he'd see if he could craft something she was interested in to get her to do things for him.
Would a transforming trash can robot be good enough?
The museum displayed many historical artifacts that encapsulated Belobog's development.
For example, ice sculpture models of Voidrangers, portraits of past Supreme Guardians—one Supreme Guardian even had the nickname 'the Fool'.
In addition, there were some more modern historical items, such as perfect replicas of Stelle's Flamewoven Lance and baseball bat, also displayed in the museum.
There was also some remarkably new paper.
One was a list of materials.
The other was a contract.
Hmm... both were related to him.
It seemed he was truly going to be written into Belobog's history books.
Stelle, acting as a guide, didn't hesitate for a second. The first things she showed Bai Luan were these two pieces of paper.
Seriously, leading the creator of historical artifacts to see his own historical artifacts in her museum was super interesting!
Bai Luan looked at the contract, solemnly sealed and displayed in a glass case.
So this is what it feels like to have things related to you sent to a museum?
Hmm... visiting at different times in the future should evoke different feelings.
After viewing the contract, Stelle led Bai Luan towards the material list.
Before Bai Luan arrived, someone was already staring intently at the material list.
It was none other than Topaz, who had just been rejected by Bronya.
Numby stood on her shoulder, yawning boredly.
Topaz frowned, seriously examining the material list.
She had looked at it many times and confirmed it many times.
The materials on this list... no matter how she looked at it, they didn't seem sufficient to repair the engine of creation, did they?
"Topaz! Numby! You've come to visit the museum too!"
Stelle greeted Topaz from afar.
"What a coincidence, Stelle. We've run into each other quite a few times today."
Then Topaz saw Bai Luan.
"Mr. Bai Luan, I wanted to ask you, this list..."
Before Topaz could finish, she saw Bai Luan, standing behind Stelle, put his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.
He meant: don't expose it if you've figured it out.
Topaz guessed Bai Luan's thoughts and showed a smile.
This genius was truly interesting.
"Topaz, what were you just going to ask? Why did you stop halfway? What's wrong with this list?"
"Nothing."
Topaz smiled and said:
"I just find this list very interesting."
"Huh? Interesting?"
Stelle looked at the list upon hearing this, staring for a long time but unable to find anything interesting about it.
Seeing Stelle's puzzled expression, both Bai Luan and Topaz's lips curved into a joyful arc.
This was the joy of being a riddle-teller.
"I have other places I want to visit. I'll be going ahead."
Topaz waved goodbye to them and went to another exhibition area.
Stelle scratched her head, completely bewildered. She looked at Bai Luan and asked:
"Uncle, do you also find this list very interesting?"
"Yes."
Bai Luan suppressed a laugh and said earnestly:
"I find it very interesting."
Stelle's face was almost contorted into the same expression as the 'black man asking why' meme.
No, is this my problem?
Stelle even started to doubt herself a little.
During the remaining tour time, Stelle was somewhat distracted, trying to figure out what could possibly be interesting about a list.
Stelle still hadn't figured it out even after Bai Luan had toured the entire museum.
Finally, Bai Luan, seeing her pitiful state, told her what was interesting about it.
Hey! You really can't say it's not!
The list instantly became interesting!
Then she asked March 7th the same question, and happily watched March 7th go through the same mental process she did.
Aha!
Stop staring at me all the time, you precious one!
See, there's a good prospect here!
Soon, the Anywhere Door's cooldown was complete.
Stelle finished all the museum-related handover tasks and gloriously became a hands-off manager.
Subsequently, Bai Luan took March 7th and Stelle back to the Space Station using the Anywhere Door.
As soon as March 7th exited the Anywhere Door, she immediately headed towards the coordinates of the Inspiration Shroom.
She hadn't seen the little mushroom in a long time and missed it quite a bit.
As for Stelle, she went to Herta's office to test the simulated universe DLC.
Stelle got the hang of it.
Stelle began to familiarize herself with the new mechanisms of the simulated universe Swarm Disaster.
Stelle cleared Difficulty I.
Very easy.
Stelle cleared Difficulty II.
Giggling.
Stelle cleared Difficulty III.
Overjoyed.
Stelle cleared Difficulty IV.
Slightly frowning.
Difficulty V.
Silent.
It was believed that Swarm Disaster Difficulty V, which had tormented him in his previous life, would now severely torment Stelle for a period of time.
Although in later version updates, after numerical inflation, Swarm Disaster Difficulty V became like a roadside mob that players could easily kick to death.
But when it first came out, it was very tormenting, and what's more, here it wasn't just a game, was it?
Bai Luan localized a bunch of memes from his previous life and made them into events to be put into the simulated universe.
Bai Luan fabricated a Purebred Knight who loved to dance, rising with the rooster every day to dance.
Before rigorous training, he would first take off his armor to offer a unique dance to the Aeon of Beauty, even if the Aeon of Beauty was missing.
This was the part about 'the peak witnesses false allegiance, the twilight witnesses devout believers'.
And this event required carrying the Basketball Curio to trigger its appearance.
Ah, a clever little touch.
He couldn't imagine what he would have become if there weren't these things to relax with when designing the simulated universe.
After finishing the simulated universe DLC, Herta watched Stelle test the simulated universe, and she could finally get a period of pure rest.
This gave Bai Luan a feeling of happiness.
The happiness of three small holidays connected together.
Bai Luan was planning to find a comfortable spot to just lie down for a while.
But for some reason, everywhere he went, he felt like people were watching him.
It seemed like everywhere he went, people were talking about him.
Strange.
He hadn't done anything recently, had he?
Had anything happened on the Space Station recently?
Bai Luan opened the group chat that used to be a detective group and was now a gossip group.
As soon as he entered, he was hit with an opening shock.
Slacking Data Analyst: I know Yi Mu's true identity!
Slacking Data Analyst: The Station Master is Yi Mu!
Bai Luan recognized this ID; it was one of the few Staff members who were still persistent in investigating Yi Mu's true identity.
Gossip Collector Expert: Huh? Station Master Asta? Didn't we rule her out a long time ago?
Slacking Data Analyst: No, no, it's the old Station Master!
Caffeine Addict: That's not right, didn't we confirm that Yi Mu is female?
Slacking Data Analyst: Haven't you seen the new certification added to Yi Mu's account? Genius Society #85!
Drama Series Specialist: Really? I'll go check.
Drama Series Specialist: It's true!
Collector: What does Yi Mu being Genius Society #85 have to do with the Station Master?
Slacking Data Analyst: Buddy, how did you get into the Space Station?
Collector: @Slacking Data Analyst, because I don't know, so I'm asking.
Slacking Data Analyst: ...Use your brain and think, besides the old Station Master, who else on our Space Station could become a new member of the Genius Society?
Frontline Gossip Eater: [Image] And that's not all! The accounts Yi Mu, Qie Qu Ren (Music Stealer), and Bl are actually the same person! Their accounts all have the Genius Society #85 certification added!
Frontline Gossip Eater: It's trending!
Code Stitcher: You mean, the songs I listen to, the games I play, my cyber-pickles, are all made by one person?
Code Stitcher: Why do I feel a sense of powerlessness, like discovering all famous works were written by one person?
Zen Researcher: Why does it feel both absurd and reasonable?
Slacker Artist: That's right, that's how geniuses are.
Slacking Data Analyst: It really, really took a big detour, huh...
Slacking Data Analyst: I finally found Yi Mu's true identity.
Bai Luan watched as information kept pouring out in the gossip group.
No!
I just went to slack off for a bit, and you guys finished 'boxing' me?
Author/Note: People often ask me why Bai Luan's identity as Genius Society #85 wasn't known throughout the universe when he was glimpsed. Here's an explanation.
In the plot text 'Herta's Manuscript - Author's Preface' and the 'Genius Society' chapter (which is the manuscript where the company paid Herta to write a book, Herta lost interest halfway and threw the manuscript around the Space Station, and when the company asked, she said 'I wrote it, but I can't find all of it'), it is clearly written:
"We of the Genius Society have our own rules, rarely sharing what we obtain with the outside world."
"The most mysterious, transcendent, and inexplicable organization in the entire universe is none other than the 'Genius Society' to which the author belongs."
"The people in this broken club don't communicate at all, what can I write?"
From this, it can be seen that the outside world knows very little about the Genius Society. If Herta hadn't written the book, they might not even know how many seats there are in the Genius Society.
And even the geniuses within the club don't know much about other geniuses.
Even the internal geniuses aren't very familiar with each other, let alone the outside world?
So, if a genius doesn't actively share with the outside world, it's very difficult for others to know if a new genius has been added.
Today's Honkai-ologist segment ends here.