[Check Out My P4treon For +50 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/roaverse]
===
Herta had assumed her version of memetic contamination—merely shifting one's willpower—was already profound. After all, she figured anyone granted such power couldn't be truly evil to begin with; a small personality correction would suffice.
But this person was thinking about directly reclaiming the power. One moment ascending to heaven, the next plummeting to the earth. That sense of disparity... Tsk tsk.
Those who didn't break would naturally step onto the Path and become true Giants of Light. But what about those who did break? Wouldn't they fall into true despair?
"You're leaning a bit too far into the extreme."
"Both of you, settle down..."
Ruan Mei, listening to their suggestions, finally couldn't help but intervene. Watching her two colleagues come up with these "rotten ideas"—each more ruthless than the last—made her feel a bit subtle.
Even though she was fond of scattering her creations across the cosmos, she had never bestowed a gift only to snatch it back. At worst, if she was dissatisfied, she simply tossed them aside and ignored them. Few people could calmly accept such a massive fall from grace.
Seeing Herta and her other self look over, Ruan Mei said with a smile:
"A proper species should not be so extreme. We should weaken the memetic contamination to a 'guiding' effect, and the reclamation of power shouldn't be so harsh; it should be replaced with a tiered reduction."
Or rather... life shouldn't be so binary. Moreover, since these were artificially created lives, making them too extreme or trying to constrain all possibilities would only lead to strange consequences. This was something Ruan Mei, as a biologist, had understood a long time ago.
Herta and 'Ruan Mei' exchanged a glance. It was quite a surprise; it was rare for Ruan Mei to speak up like this. During their time together, Herta had realized that while their abilities were nearly equal, the real Ruan Mei had a colder, more detached temperament compared to Baiming. She usually preferred to stand silently to the side, watching Herta and her other self brainstorm.
Herta and 'Ruan Mei' agreed to her proposal. With the pressure of the initial propagation requirements gone, the creation of the Light Seeds became significantly easier.
Now, their dilemma was how much information to encode into the Light Seeds. The "guiding" memes, the essence of power, and basic combat capabilities. Beyond that, should every newly born Giant of Light immediately know they weren't alone? Or should they wait until they passed a certain trial before being told that a whole race of Light Lifeforms existed?
And then there was the matter of their habitat. As the number of Giants of Light grew in the future, where would they choose to settle?
Herta was clearly unwilling to let Herta City become their territory, nor did she want the Land of Light established in the nebula where Herta City was located. It was obvious that the Land of Light would be a highly conspicuous place in the future. She, Herta, had no intention of being too close to it.
"Herta, are there any uninhabited nebulae named M78 or M87?"
Faced with 'Ruan Mei's' sudden, peculiar question, Herta found the request meaningless. "Why? Is there something special about those two places?"
"Nothing special, really. It's just that in my hometown, those two names are the birthplaces of the Giants of Light."
"Oho, nostalgia. I get it," Herta chuckled. Although she never experienced such emotions herself, she tentatively understood that others cared about them. "But what does the name matter? Once the Land of Light is actually built, they can just change the name themselves, can't they?"
"Fair point. We'll leave the site selection to Zero-I and the others to decide for themselves." 'Ruan Mei' felt Herta made sense.
"Stop chatting. Leave those things for the parties involved to decide. Come give me a hand." Ruan Mei beckoned with her finger toward her other self, urging her to come over and finish the Light Seeds.
There was no need for them to be meticulous about every detail. Zero-I and her kin weren't stupid. While a Giant of Light's brain might not match a genius's, it was far superior to that of an average human.
"Oh," 'Ruan Mei' responded, handing over a piece of equipment before throwing herself back into the work.
Exchanges like this never stopped in the lab. Proposing ideas, analyzing them, agreeing or disagreeing, and then a few lines of small talk. This was the daily routine 'Ruan Mei' had experienced over these past few days.
Under this casual atmosphere, the Light Seeds gradually took shape. They were tiny specks of light, but despite their size, the information they carried was immense. Not just knowledge—these specks also contained the function to allow a chosen human to become a Light Lifeform.
Of course, it was impossible to let the target evolve directly from the start. That would be neither realistic nor responsible. Essentially, the Light Seed acted as a link, aggregating a body of light to merge with the chosen individual. As for truly becoming a Giant of Light, that would take time.
Just as 'Ruan Mei' and the others were looking at the "Light Seeds" floating before them, wondering how to use the Path to spread them, the Aeon-larva resting nearby proactively absorbed them.
Though its control was lacking, it could still manage to add a little "flavoring" to its own Path. Moreover, this was a way to expand the species of Light Lifeforms. He himself was quite looking forward to it.
So far, not counting the weak sprites, there were only eight true Giants of Light—including Himself and the mindless shell 'Ruan Mei' had prepared for herself. This was far too few. He couldn't go anywhere now, so His only hobby was watching first-person livestreams of the Giants of Light and splashing little waves of power on them when He was happy. He was impatient to increase their numbers.
'Ruan Mei' hadn't expected the final hurdle to be solved so effortlessly.
"It seems He is even more impatient than we are."
With the long project finally over, 'Ruan Mei' breathed a sigh of relief. She raised her hands high and stretched.
"Mmm~"
Honestly, such high-intensity work would have been impossible for her to handle alone without the company of Herta and the real Ruan Mei.
She took a moment to check her panel:
[Character Impersonation System]
[Name: Baiming (Ruan Mei)]
[Lifespan: 300 Years (Paused) + 7 Days (Character Impersonation)]
[Available Transformation Characters: Great Herta (Recharge: 100%), Acheron (Recharge: 83.1%), Star-shatterer (Recharge: 41.9%), Ruan Mei (Impersonating)]
[Available Draw Count: 1 (39.2%)]
The progress bars had leaped forward; the Great Herta character card was fully recharged. She had earned a new draw, and she still had seven days left on her Ruan Mei impersonation. Calling it high risk and high reward would be an understatement.
Moreover, as the influence of the Giants of Light grew in the universe, she truly had a long-term, stable source of Emotional Value. She just wondered how the system would judge the distribution of those points. After all, this time 'Ruan Mei' was hidden behind the scenes of the Giants of Light, unlike before where everyone's emotions were directed straight at her persona. But regardless, she should get a cut.
===
Note: This story is currently available up to chapter 75 on my Patreon, go check it out.
exclusive 18+ character images, and early chapters, please visit my Patreon. Thanks for your support!
https://p4treon.com/roaverse
if you want more updates == supports with power stones
Every 20 Power Stones==Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter
Please support my friend's fanfic, it's just as good as, or even better than, this one. It's called Starting as a Herrscher: Unrivaled Hack and Slash