"Hello? Screwllum, what method did you use? You actually made me transfer 50 credits to you. Is this some new invention of yours? Lend it to me for study. But shouldn't you be talking to the new Genius Society member right now?"
This message came from Herta.
"Mr. Screwllum, we have detected a large number of remittances from unknown sources in your account. The amounts are small, but the quantity is massive. Do you have any idea what this is about?"
This message came from the Interastral Peace Corporation's bank.
...
Screwllum's messages kept pinging non-stop. Even though he had already turned off the bank notification for the 50-credit receipts, the noise hadn't ceased.
Fortunately, most of these people were merely curious about how Screwllum achieved this feat rather than angry. After all, 50 credits wasn't a large sum; it wouldn't even cover the cost of a fried chicken burger.
"I have deleted the previously posted message and published a new one: 'Conducting new research, please do not panic, funds transferred to the bank account will be returned via the original route.'"
After sending a message to the Interastral Peace Corporation, Screwllum looked up at Chen Li.
This small matter was not enough to cause trouble for Screwllum.
The Interastral Peace Corporation would certainly be happy to smooth over the aftermath of this event, and even more eager to engage in deeper cooperation with Screwllum.
In a sense, the comment Screwllum just posted was determining the flow of wealth across the entire universe.
Even if that wealth was only 50 credits per share.
It was perfectly normal for the IPC, which controlled nearly half the market of the galaxy, to be curious about this matter.
"Question: How did you do it?" Although Chen Li couldn't see Screwllum's eyes, he could determine that the other party was very confused at this moment.
Compared to this minor disturbance, Screwllum was obviously more curious about the essence of the phenomenon.
Curiosity was a necessary quality and accomplishment for every Genius.
Chen Li also made his own contribution to this prank; for instance, he took out [100 Approbation of Sublime Morality] to help Screwllum resolve the matter more smoothly.
"I just performed a little miracle. It is an application of Source Text, and it is not without cost," Chen Li said, looking at the [Miracle Crystal] in his hand, which was now only half full.
"Source Text is a special kind of script; the text itself contains special power. If you find it hard to understand, you can imagine it as code in the real world," Chen Li continued.
"A very magical power. Was it during the realization of this power that you caused this planet to briefly lose its night, even causing the entire planet to suffer from insomnia, thereby attracting the gaze of Nous?" Screwllum was curious about this.
Chen Li's description of code reminded Screwllum of a little girl he once met, a hacker from Punklorde.
Punklorde's Aether Editing ability could indeed edit reality as if it were a game, but it couldn't achieve such a wide range of influence.
"Not exactly. If Source Text is a kind of code, then the reason I attracted Nous's attention might be because I used this string of code to build a program. Want to see it?"
"If permitted."
Snap!
Chen Li snapped his fingers, and a cat food bowl appeared in front of him.
Sorry, Cat Bro, I'm borrowing your rice bowl again!
I'll add 20 cat strips for you this time, and I'll throw in a cat teaser stick.
Apologizing to the cat in his heart, Chen Li turned the cat food bowl upside down.
Watching the cat food falling continuously into the trash can, yet simultaneously regenerating endlessly within the bowl, Screwllum seemed lost in thought.
"Logic: This is completely illogical. There is no power of a Path on this, nor the blessing of an Aeon, and simultaneously no energy support," Screwllum said, looking up.
"Curios are just like that," Chen Li agreed deeply.
"Curio... Is this the reason you call yourself a Curio Forger? The Curios you speak of seem different from the Curios in this universe. Your Curios violate the common sense of the world even more. Apologies, for a moment I actually cannot determine what you mean to this world," Screwllum said.
Screwllum still remembered the fact that Chen Li called himself an outworlder.
"You can ask me directly: did I come to this world to destroy it, or to bring more changes to it?"
"Affirmative, you are correct," Screwllum nodded.
Geniuses always possessed foresight.
When Screwllum saw the cat food bowl that could infinitely produce cat food, he was contemplating whether such a thing that violated basic principles would deal a devastating blow to the world.
If that infinite cat food bowl were picked up by some researcher from the Intelligentsia Guild, they might question their entire life within three seconds, and then choose to join the Sacred Fire Meow-Meow Sect.
"Me? If I said I came to this world just for fun, would you believe me?" Chen Li leaned back in a tactical retreat and suddenly asked.
"Negative. If you really came to this world for fun, the first one you met wouldn't have been Nous, but the Aeon of Elation," Screwllum shook his head.
"How do you know I'm not an undercover agent sent by the Aeon of Elation to the Genius Society?"
"This..."
"Just kidding. I'm not familiar with Aha at all; I haven't even met Him. If I were an undercover agent sent by the Aeon of Elation to the Genius Society, I should be snapping my fingers right now to summon Aha, and ruthlessly mocking Nous's judgment of character. But look, did anything happen after I snapped my fingers? No, absolutely nothing."
Chen Li snapped his fingers, indicating that he had just made a slightly untimely joke.
"Aha! Erudition is a pile of scrap metal, Preservation is a dummy; The Hunt has no sense of humor, Destruction is a madman. Aeons are all one-track minds! Chen Li, you did a good job!"
A laugh filled with delight echoed through the reception room.
Even though no one else appeared in this space, both Chen Li and Screwllum seemed to see a great existence hidden behind many smiling masks.
"..."
"..."
Screwllum and Chen Li looked at each other in blank dismay.
"Um... I think I can explain a little," Chen Li said with a serious expression.
"..." by Screwllum.
Screwllum had absolutely no idea what expression he should use to respond to Chen Li right now.
"Inference: This may indeed be another prank by the Aeon of Elation. Perhaps the wide scope of the prank you just published using my account allowed the Aeon of Elation to detect the amusement, and then He projected His gaze here, coincidentally hearing our conversation, so He spoke up at the right moment," Screwllum analyzed calmly.
"Screwllum, you're right. Look, I don't have the mask that Masked Fools and Pathstriders of Elation all have." Chen Li nodded repeatedly, then spread his hands.
Chen Li really wasn't familiar with the Aeon of Elation.
But in the next moment, a red and white mask abruptly appeared in his hand. Screwllum's mechanical pupils contracted suddenly.
This seemed to be... a mask of the Masked Fools. The power of Elation was surging very obviously on it, appearing to be trying its best to prove something.
"A flaw, fleeting!" A sharp light flashed in Chen Li's eyes.
A circular, semi-transparent barrier suddenly enveloped both Chen Li and Screwllum. A forging table also appeared in front of Chen Li. While the mask in his hand was still warm, Chen Li threw it directly into the Miracle Fire.
That's right, Chen Li had said that sentence earlier on purpose.
Although Chen Li really didn't know when the Aeon of Elation had arrived—after all, Chen Li didn't have any anti-peeping Curios—Chen Li was wondering if the Aeon of Elation would actually give him a Masked Fool's mask just for the sake of a laugh.
Anyway, saying a few extra words wouldn't cost him anything.
And upon seeing the two words [Elation] with not-so-low entry brightness on the mask in his hand, Chen Li immediately summoned the Miracle Shield.
Once something is in my hands, it's mine!
Even if you are an Aeon, you can't snatch it back!
Friends, this was a gamble.
And now, I've won the bet!
"Speaking of which... I feel like this mask looks a bit familiar," Chen Li rubbed his chin, looking at the red and white mask whose entries were being extracted.
Chen Li seemed to remember that Sparkle's mask was of this style.
Emmm, could it be... all Elation masks are of this style? Wholesale?
Then Chen Li was curious about what Sampo would look like wearing his mask.
"You must be very curious about how exactly I forge Curios, or rather, how I assemble Source Text—these codes—into a program, right? This is the process," Chen Li said to Screwllum, who was also inside the barrier beside him.
Honestly, if Chen Li hadn't touched Screwllum and seen entries like [Genius] and [Mechanical] on him that fit Screwllum's identity, Chen Li would have suspected that this Screwllum was Aha in disguise.
"I am honored to observe this Curio forging," Screwllum nodded.
"I wonder if Aha will attack the Miracle Shield? Forget it, let's think about the Curio forging first." Chen Li worried for less than two seconds before choosing to stop thinking about it.
The Miracle Shield's defense had an upper limit, but the enemies Chen Li had encountered so far had never reached that threshold.
However, the Miracle Shield could be continuously renewed, so Chen Li only needed to worry about how many crystals he would spend, not his safety.
Because this Entry came too abruptly, Chen Li really hadn't thought about what Entry he had in his hand that would match [Elation].
Using the power of Elation for disguise was a good choice, but Chen Li's [Disguise Glasses] were already sufficient for his use.
Although the Disguise Glasses' effect wasn't outstanding, that was purely because the Entry brightness wasn't high enough, not because the Entry wasn't good.
"Ah, I got it." Chen Li quickly thought of a Relic he had treasured away.
Chen Li pulled a 20-sided die out of thin air from his backpack and threw it straight into the Miracle Fire.
[Random], [Luck], [Event], [Fate], [Choice], [Possibility]...
[Lucky 20-Sided Die]: After rolling, the user will randomly experience an event represented by one of the die faces, but negative events occupy 90% of the possibilities.
He chose this Relic because Chen Li had always felt that Elation and dice went very well together.