"Are you saying this heart-shaped pendant, which looks like it was carved from pink crystal, is a 1-star Curio on par with the Revival Games that can resurrect Aeons, the Gourmet Cells that can eat Aeons, or the Friends Circle that can trap Aeons?" The Great Herta stroked her chin, looking at the pink pendant in Chen Li's hand in disbelief.
It was pretty, sure, but she couldn't see anything heaven-defying about it.
Although, to be fair, neither the Friends Circle nor the Revival Games looked particularly special either…
"That's right," Chen Li nodded.
"And this little thing can be used to suppress the Mara-Struck state?"
"Correct. And not just the Mara-Struck," Chen Li affirmed.
[Mengyin Shen] (1-Star): Yīng yīng yīng, yīng yīng yīng, yīng yīng yīng yīng, yīng yīng!
"How do you use this thing? Who do you use it on? What are its effects? What are the side effects?" Her curiosity piqued, the Great Herta fired off a continuous stream of questions.
"Well… why don't we find a long-life species and test it on the spot?" Chen Li said, his gaze landing on the Great Herta.
"W-what are you planning? Let me tell you, I am not a long-life species. I can only reverse my age… although I can live forever now, I don't have any psychological problems or the Mara-Struck state." The Great Herta, feeling targeted, subconsciously took a step back.
The Great Herta loved studying Curios, but she clearly had no intention of being the first test subject.
"Then… Ruan Mei?" Chen Li suggested.
"What? How dare you speak such madness in my presence, suggesting we experiment on Ruan Mei. Do you not know that she is my brother-in-arms, my beloved family and friend, and my dearest partner?" The Great Herta's brow furrowed sharply.
"I can give the Curio to you and let you use it."
"Deal." The Great Herta immediately snapped her fingers.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. After all, we're doing this for Ruan Mei's own good… alright, never mind what I said. You can invite Ruan Mei now." Completely taken aback by how quickly the Great Herta had switched sides, Chen Li changed his tune.
"If you want me to invite her, I'll invite her." The Great Herta immediately picked up her Friends Circle terminal and began sending a message.
"I'll be waiting with bated breath."
Although Jingliu, who was already walking the edge of the Mara-Struck state, would have been a more suitable test subject, based on her schedule, she was likely with Baiheng right now, planning to find Jing Yuan and give him a "big surprise"…
Chen Li didn't want to spoil Baiheng's heartfelt surprise for Jing Yuan.
Though Chen Li had a feeling it would be more of a shock than a surprise.
Besides, this Curio had extraordinary effects on long-life species. It could cure the afflicted and serve as a preventative measure for the healthy.
You can't lose, and you can't be scammed!
Upon receiving the Great Herta's message, Ruan Mei quickly used her Friends Circle terminal to teleport nearby. Although Ruan Mei had already used her one teleport for the day, using up all her chat logs, the Great Herta had thoughtfully sponsored her a few Star Stones for the travel fee.
"I never expected that among my acquaintances, you would be the next to become an Emanator. And an Emanator of Equilibrium, of all things?" The moment Ruan Mei appeared, she cast a look of astonishment at Chen Li.
As the owner of the Friends Circle, Chen Li could clearly see the reason the Great Herta had given for inviting Ruan Mei to the space station: Chen Li, the destroyer of equilibrium, became an Emanator of Equilibrium precisely because he destroyed equilibrium. Let's study him together!
"The Aeon of Equilibrium maintains balance, and I destroy it. How is that not another form of equilibrium? Besides, the Aeon and I have similar goals: to maintain the operation of the universe. He doesn't want the universe to be destroyed, and I want that even less," Chen Li said with a shrug.
Chen Li had no desire to add another 'world destroyed' to his record for no reason.
"Then let the research begin," Ruan Mei said, nodding at the Great Herta.
Ruan Mei felt that Chen Li, the new Emanator of Equilibrium, was indeed of high research value. Witnessing a friend become an Emanator firsthand and collecting data related to the Aeon of Equilibrium would certainly be beneficial to the development of the Simulated Universe project.
"Then let the research begin," the Great Herta said, nodding at Chen Li.
"Then let the research begin." Chen Li nodded at Ruan Mei, then handed the pink, heart-shaped pendant to the Great Herta.
"How does this thing work again?" It was only after she had the Curio in her hand that the Great Herta remembered to ask.
"Shout these three words out loud… no, wait, these three words can neither be spoken nor written." Chen Li was suddenly troubled.
If he said the three words, the Curio would activate, and it wouldn't count as the Great Herta using it.
"What three words? What are you two talking about?" Ruan Mei looked at Chen Li and the Great Herta, sensing something fishy was afoot.
"Repeat the first character of 'Sakura' (樱 - Yīng) three times," Chen Li said to Herta, not explaining it to Ruan Mei.
"Yīng yīng yīng?" the Great Herta tilted her head.
The moment she uttered those three syllables, the heart-shaped pendant in her hand erupted in a brilliant light, as if a bright yet gentle sun was rising in her palm.
The light passed through their bodies, through the deck plates, through matter itself, yet it left no trace and caused no harm.
This phenomenon spread far and wide, instantly engulfing the entire Herta Space Station.
Strangely, however, as the pink light spread across the space station and was about to reach the nearby azure planet, it stopped abruptly after extending a certain distance, making the entire space station look as if it were encased in a giant pink sphere of light.
Clatter! The crisp sound of an object hitting the floor rang out.
After the light faded, Chen Li calmly picked up the pink heart-shaped pendant from the floor, then looked up at his two "friends."
"Yīng yīng yīng?"
"Yīng yīng yīng?"
Appearing before Chen Li now were two adorable lolis, just over a meter tall. Their art style was completely different, yet they were a delightful sight to behold. One could tell at a glance that they were Ruan Mei and the Great Herta, and their clothes had changed to match their smaller bodies.
But what was most striking was that both of these little cuties were holding a basket. From Chen Li's angle, he could see they were filled with snacks that perfectly matched their respective personalities.
Little Herta's basket was filled with candy, while Little Ruan Mei's basket contained neatly packaged small pastries.
In the next moment, Little Herta and Little Ruan Mei performed the same action: they reached into their baskets, took out their snacks, and offered them to Chen Li.
"Thank you." Chen Li took the snacks and patted Little Herta's head, then patted Little Ruan Mei's head.
The Great Herta did not resist Chen Li's touch. Ruan Mei, though she had the urge to resist, did not feel it strongly, and in the end, Chen Li succeeded in patting her head.
This was perfectly in line with the Curio's effects that Chen Li had reviewed: although they had been turned into cute whimperers, the concept of their "relationships" had been preserved.
"Yīng yīng yīng!"
"Yīng yīng yīng!"
After Chen Li accepted their snacks, the two little moeblobs were visibly happy. They then began to exchange snacks with each other. But after receiving each other's treats, they didn't put them in their baskets, but into different pockets instead.
"Yīng yīng yīng!" After sharing their snacks, the two little moeblobs cheered again and began to run towards other areas of the space station.
Chen Li followed behind them, observing.
When the two little ones skillfully navigated through elevators and automatic doors to the other half of the space station, Chen Li could see that many of the researchers there had also been turned into little moeblobs. These little ones were also distributing snacks from their baskets.
The surrounding researchers who had not been transformed didn't cast any strange looks at them. Instead, they accepted the snacks quite normally and continued with their work.
The whole scene was chaotic, yet orderly.
Mixed in with the crowd, Little Herta and Little Ruan Mei still stood out. However, they didn't give their snacks to any of the researchers, and the researchers didn't approach them either, ignoring them completely. It seemed the little cuties had their own criteria for who to give snacks to.
Later, their snacks were gradually distributed… Little Ruan Mei would give some to Herta's puppets when she passed by them, but ignored the researchers. Little Herta, on the other hand, gave her candy to… a passing Peppy, also ignoring the researchers.
Finally, the two arrived at Asta's location. The Great Herta gave her last piece of candy to Asta. Ruan Mei, after giving Asta a few snacks, still had several packaged pastries left in her basket.
Asta wanted to pat Little Herta's head, but Herta didn't accept, shaking her hand instead. When she tried to pat Little Ruan Mei's head, Ruan Mei flatly refused. A layer of light shielded her, preventing anyone from getting close.
Ruan Mei seemed a little dejected to find she still had snacks left. She looked left and right, then saw Chen Li again. She ran up to him and once more offered him the snacks in her hand.
"What happened, ying?" After emptying the snacks from her basket, the Great Herta changed back into her original beautiful adult form.
Snap! Chen Li snapped his fingers. A flash of pink light crossed the Great Herta's eyes, and she looked with surprise at the little Ruan Mei standing before Chen Li, offering him snacks. It seemed she had been completely unaware of Little Ruan Mei's existence before.
"Wow, such a cute Ruan Mei. Let me give you a hug…" Seeing this, the Great Herta immediately ran over.
Ruan Mei did not reject the Great Herta's hug, but simply continued to stuff the snacks she hadn't given away into Chen Li's outstretched hand.
Once Ruan Mei's basket was empty, a spherical shield gently pushed the Great Herta away. Amidst a faint glow, Ruan Mei also returned to her original form.
Seeing the restored Ruan Mei, the Great Herta wore an awkward yet polite smile.
"Mhm. So… I was your research subject, is that right?" Ruan Mei, having understood the situation, looked at Chen Li and the Great Herta with a "smile."
Ruan Mei had a beautiful smile, but this one… seemed to hide a dagger.
"This is proof that the desire to 'knife' someone can't be hidden in their eyes. Great Herta, you've gone too far! This time, I'm siding with my dear friend against my other dear friend!" Chen Li silently moved to stand by Ruan Mei's side, pointing an accusatory finger at the Great Herta.
"Huh?" How dare you defect to the other side, Chen Li? That's a Curio you forged! And you stole the very lines I was thinking of!