"…" Ruan Mei smiled as she gazed at Chen Li and the Great Herta.
"…" Chen Li and the Great Herta looked at each other.
"He's the one who forged the Curio," the Great Herta said, suddenly pointing at Chen Li.
"She's the one who activated it," Chen Li said, pointing at the Great Herta.
"And we did it all for your own good," they both said in unison, turning to face Ruan Mei in the next moment.
Ruan Mei remained silent, merely toying with the pink heart in her hands.
If Chen Li and the Great Herta hadn't personally told her that this was the new 1-star Curio that had managed to affect both an Emanator of Erudition and herself, Ruan Mei would have had a hard time sensing anything unusual about it. She would have simply thought it was a cute little pendant.
"Explain the effects of this Curio," Ruan Mei said with a sigh.
For some reason, even though she knew this Curio had turned her into a little loli with a completely different art style, Ruan Mei felt remarkably relaxed right now and couldn't bring herself to be angry.
"No idea. Chen Li said this thing could suppress the Mara-Struck state and works on all long-life species, so I called you over," the Great Herta said, shaking her head.
If you were to ask why the Great Herta dared to activate a Curio without even knowing its effects?
Don't ask. The answer is friendship and bonds!
What kind of bad person would freely send a link to the Revival Games to their group chat friends?
Even if participating in the Revival Games didn't guarantee a win against the myriad demons and monsters from all the different worlds, it at least gave life something to look forward to.
Besides, the Great Herta's favorite thing to do was study interesting Curios. Although using this Curio had backfired on her this time, which was an undeniable stain on her record, she found herself strangely unable to get angry right now.
"The effects of this Curio are simple…" Chen Li recalled the Curio into his hand and put it away.
"When anyone says the three words 'yīng yīng yīng' in front of that Curio, it will activate and begin to glow. The range of the light can be adjusted; at its maximum, it can become a galaxy-sized luminary and transmit its light over an infinite distance. This light can be transmitted through mediums like electronic devices and can also be converted into invisible light that is difficult for the naked eye to perceive." This was also why Chen Li only began his explanation after putting the Curio away.
"So what was the range of the effect just now?" the Great Herta suddenly asked.
"After I adjusted it beforehand, the range of the last use only covered the Herta Space Station. So you don't have to worry about needing to save the Azure Planet for the twentieth time. And this Curio is very user-friendly. I don't know if you noticed, but while many staff members in the space station turned into little ones, many others didn't, like Asta, for example."
"That's because anyone infected with the Mengyin Shen virus will only have it trigger during their non-work hours, turning them into a Yingying—those little things you two became. Very user-friendly, right?" Chen Li said, pointing to Asta nearby.
"Eh? Me?" Asta grew a little nervous as she found everyone's attention focused on her.
"I see… Wait, Asta, you have a pink heart in your eye," the Great Herta said, noticing something strange after leaning in to observe Asta.
"I don't see it," Ruan Mei frowned.
Snap! Chen Li snapped his fingers.
A flicker of pink light flashed through Ruan Mei's eyes.
"I see it now. What did you do?" Ruan Mei turned to look at Chen Li.
"Everyone infected by the Mengyin Shen virus will have a pink heart appear in their eyes," Chen Li explained.
"Is this pink heart wholesome?" Having learned a lot of not-so-wholesome knowledge from chatting with the members of the Curio group chat at Chen Li's suggestion, the Great Herta asked.
"Of course, it's wholesome. In fact, this pink heart is normally undetectable unless I grant an exemption. And after this pink heart triggers the virus once, it will fade until it's almost transparent. When the pink heart reappears, it means the person's mental state has reached a certain limit and the virus needs to be triggered again," Chen Li said.
"Then should I be giving Asta a break… Asta, starting now, you're off the clock," the Great Herta suddenly said to Asta.
"But Lady Herta, I still have a lot of work to do."
"Don't you worry about that. I said you're off the clock, so you're off the clock. Leave the rest to me. Don't you trust me to handle everything?" said the Great Herta.
"Well… alright." Asta reluctantly nodded.
The next moment, amidst a flash of pink light, Asta suddenly transformed into what Chen Li had called a Yingying.
"Yīng yīng yīng!"
"Just as Chen Li said, the moment she entered non-work time or had no work on hand, the virus triggered," the Great Herta said, very satisfied with the success of the experiment.
"That's right. That's why I said this Curio is very user-friendly. Let's use Asta as an example: the height of any creature that turns into a Yingying can be used to judge their stress level. The Yingyings you two became were about 1.2 meters tall, while Asta is only about 1.1 meters tall. This means the negative emotions and stress you two have accumulated are greater than Asta's," Chen Li explained.
After all, neither of them were young, and they were much older than Asta.
"This Yingying is actually pretty cute." The Great Herta patted little Asta's head. Little Asta didn't refuse, instead taking a handful of snacks from her basket and offering them to the Great Herta.
"After transforming into a Yingying, it will greatly reduce the attack desire of any unit towards it. While being habitually ignored by everyone except those gifted with snacks, it will also enter a pseudo-invincible state and apply the Innocence Effect to surrounding units. That is, making pink hearts appear in people's eyes. This is the other transmission method of the Mengyin Shen—human-to-human."
"You're calling that pink heart 'Innocence'?" The Great Herta looked at Chen Li with a strange expression.
A pink heart is a pink heart. How dare you associate it with 'Innocence'?
"Don't look at me like that. That's how the Curio is designed," Chen Li said with a shrug.
"And the snacks in the basket that every Yingying carries are actually the physical manifestation of their mental burden. They will share their snacks with those they have a good relationship with. The better the relationship, the more snacks they give. Once all the snacks are given away, the physical and psychological 'burdens' accumulated over time or due to other abnormal reasons will be completely cleared. Eh, I get some too? Thanks." Chen Li accepted a fine little cake, a signature Asta specialty, from her hand.
The process of giving away snacks was the process of clearing one's own burdens.
"Furthermore, after becoming a Yingying, the concept of 'relationships' is not affected. They won't be dumb enough to run up and hug just anyone. Just like how Asta was willing to shake my hand but wouldn't let me pat her head," Chen Li continued to explain.
"You said that after becoming a Yingying, they enter a pseudo-invincible state… right?" The Great Herta's hands started to get fidgety as she watched Asta distributing snacks in front of Ruan Mei.
"More or less pseudo-invincible. Now that I've given you an exemption, you can attack a Yingying, but even if you smash it into a flat piece of paper, it will just pop back into shape because their art style is different from ours. But I wouldn't recommend you do that," Chen Li said.
"Why?" The Great Herta, who was holding Asta's head and about to test how far she could stretch her little face, turned her head and asked.
"Because you'll get beaten up." Just as Chen Li's words fell, the Asta-Yingying reached into her little basket and pulled out a giant pink hammer that was bigger than her entire body.
Seeing this, the Great Herta silently released her hands and took two steps back.
As an Emanator of Erudition, the Great Herta was confident in her own strength, but she would never pick a fight with one of Chen Li's Curios or its derivatives.
Because… their art styles were different.
After being released by the Great Herta, the large hammer in Asta's hand instantly exploded into a puff of pink gas. Asta then cheerfully carried her basket off to distribute the rest of her snacks.
"Are these snacks edible?" the Great Herta asked after watching Asta disappear from the current cabin.
"They are, and they're delicious. But you can't eat the snacks you give away, only those from others," Chen Li said as he ate the snacks given to him by Ruan Mei, the Great Herta, and Asta.
"The transmission via invisible light, electronic devices, and human-to-human contact is for convenience. The virus not triggering during work status is to avoid disrupting order and the rhythm of life, ensuring the survival of the infected group is not threatened. And the pseudo-invincible state and reduced aggression from others after transformation is to protect the Yingying's safety… You've thought this through very thoroughly. So thoroughly that it's unlike a genius."
Pondering the effects of the Curio Chen Li had forged and the considerations behind them, Ruan Mei said to him.
"Let me add one more thing. This Curio will clear psychological and physiological burdens, resist erosion, and restore clarity of mind… but it doesn't mean an old person will turn into a young man after using it, so it won't break the balance of life," Chen Li said.
"But the Revival Games Curio you forged not only broke the balance of life, but also the balance of life and death," the Great Herta reminded him.
"That's a separate matter. And I don't just go around resurrecting anyone," Chen Li replied.
"I think I understand why the Aeon of Equilibrium granted you the authority of an Emanator," Ruan Mei nodded.
"Don't praise me like that, you'll make me blush."
"And I also understand why the Aeon of Equilibrium punched you first before granting you the authority," Ruan Mei added.
It was balanced, but not completely balanced.
Just about balanced.
"…"
"In any case, by forging this Curio, I will surely accumulate immeasurable merit. Great Herta, take a guess, what price would the Xianzhou Alliance be willing to pay for the temporary usage rights to this Curio?" Chen Li said, tossing the pink heart Curio he had just taken out.
Balance aside for a moment, whether Chen Li's actions were right or wrong was a judgment best left to the Praise of High Morals.
"Merit" would not lie.
"If you were to trade with this Curio… whatever you ask for, the Xianzhou will give," Ruan Mei was the first to answer.
"Yīng yīng yīng." But the Great Herta's answer was incomprehensible.
The next moment, the [Mengyin Shen] in Chen Li's hand once again erupted with a pink light.