I, on the Starry Sky Railway, change everything

"..."

Silently gazing into the eyes of the life she had nurtured, facing those large, bright, and constantly moving eyes, Ruan Mei knew she had failed without needing synesthetic beacons to hear their voices.

She did not see the brilliance of genius; the eyes of creation held only simple emotions.

No, the cat cakes are probably simple and honest, but with a mischievous grin on their faces, the shumai dog, who doesn't look like an honest child, is obviously a bit naughty. When he saw the cat cakes surrounding Ruan Mei in front, he excitedly circled around, wanting to cut in line and show his face in front of the Creator.

However, as it crawled around aimlessly, it bumped into a control panel button. The Phase Flame, which was originally stored in the device, was released from its restraints and disappeared without a trace after a flicker.

"Woof?!"

After all, these creatures were created by Ruan Mei with the aim of becoming geniuses. They possessed basic intelligence and combined the characteristics of pastries with cat and dog shapes. The shumai dog immediately realized that it had caused trouble, and the cat cake also panicked and scattered in a flash, trying to find its phase spirit fire.

"you--"

Ruan Mei had barely uttered two words when these creations vanished without a trace.

She suddenly understood why Hua Yi, when inquiring about the breeding status of the insect colony, directly expressed his wish to create only a single individual.

Because the other party had anticipated this unexpected development.

Ruan Mei was full of thoughts about nurturing geniuses. Once an individual like Sisikarna truly appeared, the next step would be for the two geniuses to interact.

Just like her meeting with Black Tower, Black Tower couldn't suddenly run away without any intention of having a conversation.

I have a clear idea of ​​how the research will develop as planned, but I lack a backup plan in case it deviates from expectations. Is this just my stubbornness?

In a flash, Ruan Mei realized that she had no easy way to recall the Creator, nor could she reposition the Phase Flame. She also understood another meaning that Hua Yi was conveying to her, besides the value of life.

She didn't know Hua Yi at all, not even close to it, but the other party was already quite familiar with the genius's personality.

After shutting down the surrounding instruments, Ruan Mei attempted to contact Hua Yi.

The call request was accepted quickly.

"The genius cultivation project failed. All the life forms I created have run away, but they themselves do not have the ability to threaten the lives of the space station crew. The confined compartment is in a closed state. According to my observation, they lack the intelligence of geniuses and cannot decipher the system backend, so their range of activity will not exceed this compartment."

"Well, what else?"

Hua Yi knew that the other person still had something to say, so he gestured for her to continue.

In a daze, Ruan Mei seemed to have returned to her childhood, where she was still that little girl who often made mistakes.

"...The phase spirit fire has also disappeared. The confined compartment has no facilities to prevent phase teleportation, nor any tracking instruments. I cannot determine its current location. I'm sorry."

"Now that the genius lady has lowered her proud head, she must be able to see many more ordinary people, right?"

050 "I will reassess the harm caused by breeding queen beetles."

"No need. The Phase Flame won't be lost. I'll take the Star to the confinement section later."

"Thank you."

After receiving Ruan Mei's apology and thanks, Hua Yi smiled and checked the messages he had received. Sure enough, he saw the report that the relevant department had just sent, indicating that they had successfully intercepted the Phase Spirit Fire that was about to be transmitted into outer space and completely leave the space station, and provided its still rapidly changing coordinates.

The stationmaster has no intention of making innocent staff members run around chasing phase spirit fire, nor will he personally go to collect it.

"Hey, esteemed Lady Black Tower, your collection has run away. Go and retrieve it."

"Phasefire? It's not that dangerous, why bother asking me to do it? Isn't that troublesome?"

"Because you have contributed to this. You know the characteristics of the Phase Flame, and you are also aware that Ruan Mei has not made sufficient preparations and that the confined compartment lacks space containment devices. You did not remind her of this when you were talking to her face to face."

"I'll take this opportunity to make Ruan Mei owe me a favor. It's a sure-fire way to make money."

Isn't that what you think?

Black Tower had intended to ask this question, but after careful consideration, it seemed that Hua Yi truly wouldn't be swayed by personal connections, not even those of a genius.

Chapter 117 Closed Section

In just a short while, Hei Ta had guessed most of the reason why Hua Yiming knew about Ruan Mei's oversight but had not reminded her beforehand.

It's all for the sake of the space station crew, hoping that the geniuses won't act too recklessly and conduct dangerous experiments such as creating and breeding insect swarms.

In fact, even if you add up the influence of all those experts, scholars, department heads, and staff members, it is far less than the influence of a genius. But in Hua Yi's mind, the benefits he could gain did not outweigh all of that.

He cherishes the people around him.

As one of the very few people who knew that this guy could use multiple Destiny Powers, Black Tower also understood that whether it was Hua Yi's differential treatment of hiding his abilities from the other space station members while showing his talents to him, or the overlap in their shared ideals of wanting to gain something through the simulated universe, it all showed that his position in Hua Yi's heart was definitely not low.

Just as he hasn't put the rest of the space station in danger now because of a favor to the genius, he's unlikely to betray the genius for any other benefit in the future.

Although the Black Tower doesn't think there are many things in the vast sea of ​​stars that are more valuable than itself.

"You... Fine, leave the matter of retrieving the Phase Flame to me, but Ruan Mei still owes me a favor. She lost my things, and I have to find them myself. What else is that but a favor?"

"One thing to say, one thing to say, indeed."

After ending communication with the Black Tower, Hua Yi looked at Xing, who was already fully prepared and ready to go.

"Let's go, take the elevator to the confinement section."

"Good~"

Galaxy Baseball Man is pretty excited right now.

It's a closed section that's no longer open to staff members, and even senior management in various departments don't have the authority to enter. It's like a secret base, giving you a sense of adventure.

In addition, the task of searching for Ruan Mei's creation is like playing hide-and-seek.

Who knows, they might even find a treasure chest or some abandoned, unclaimed artifact during their exploration, which fuels Xing's high spirits.

The treasure hunt begins!

Upon arriving at the central elevator, Hua Yi took out his access card. After passing through a rigorous system verification process, the elevator started and descended deeper into the space station.

Unlike the brightly lit main control and base sections, which are kept constantly lit around the clock and allow for a clear view of the outside world even from the elevator, the shaft leading to the locked sections is pitch black.

Only the interior of the capsule-shaped elevator where I was was lit, and this light, which was originally bright enough, seemed particularly dim in the excessively long shaft.

As the elevator descended at a steady speed, Xing watched as the doors with observation windows gradually moved away from the light above and into the closed compartment. She felt as if she were falling into darkness as well.

Little by little, step by step, not fast, yet unstoppable.

It's a bit scary.

She gripped the baseball bat tightly, hoping to find some comfort in the reliable weapon.

As the elevator reached its designated location, some device released pressure, as if emitting a heavy sigh in mourning for the passengers who had fallen into the abyss.

Outside the open stairwell door was pitch blackness and utter silence.

There was no white noise from other areas of the space station, nor the footsteps or voices of the staff coming and going. As soon as Hua Yi and Xing stepped off the elevator, the transport equipment behind them automatically left the enclosed area and returned to other modules to wait. The last bit of light also disappeared.

The passageway they were in clearly had a transparent outer wall like the main control module, allowing them to see the starry sky. However, it was only at this moment that the girl realized that the brilliance of the stars was not as dazzling as she had imagined.

At least, the stars visible from the closed compartment were too dim.

All that remained was pitch blackness.

The air seemed to freeze, so quiet that you could hear your own breath.

Galaxy Bat Man let out a groan; even the bat couldn't give her a sense of security, and the girl immediately hugged the arm of the person next to her tightly.

"Say something!"

"A sentence."

Hua Yi easily broke the terrifying atmosphere with just two words that hardly sounded like a phrase, teasing Xing, whose brows were already furrowed and whose eyes were sparkling.

"Weren't you quite excited before? How come you've already lost your temper after such a short time?"

"This place is too gloomy. I'd rather go head-to-head with the Doomsday Beast."

"I understand, the fear of the unknown is the most frightening."

After operating his personal terminal for a while, he woke up the lighting system, which had gone into sleep mode as the cabin was sealed off. Sure enough, some devices responded and lit up the surrounding environment.

The passageway is similar to the observation corridor in the base section, but because some of the lighting equipment is damaged, some of the lights are flickering, while others are not lit at all. It is not so dark now, but it still looks eerie and dangerous.

“We’re not looking for Ruan Mei’s creations. How about we split up? That would be more efficient.”

"Absolutely not! The main characters in horror movies always encounter danger after being separated from their group!"

"Wow, you're quite experienced."

Ren Xing held his hand tightly, but Hua Yi had already memorized the map of the confined compartment and walked ahead with a clear goal in mind.

After passing through the corridor, an isolation door, thicker and several times wider than most of the hatches on the space station, blocked the only way.

It is the second access control checkpoint after the elevator. Even if someone tries to hack into the elevator or even takes advantage of their physical strength to jump down the elevator shaft and enter the restricted compartment, they will be blocked by the explosion-proof barrier.

Hua Yi's super privileges were detected, the isolation door opened automatically, and there was another elevator behind it.

"How deep is this place?!"

"We are currently in the shallow layer of the confinement module. After descending in this elevator, we will be in the middle layer. The space station hides many secrets, and you, carrying the star core, are one of the biggest secrets. So move forward bravely."

They took the elevator deeper, traversing a passageway whose bulkheads had been reinforced several levels, significantly enhancing its defensive capabilities, before reaching another hatch.

The view behind the door was no longer gloomy; it was a laboratory, well-lit, with a large smart terminal operating normally, displaying various complex images and strings on its screen.

Xing doesn't understand these things, but Hua Yi does.

He tapped a few times on the touchscreen and brought up the archived data, which showed Ruan Mei's figure during the research period.

“In the process of nurturing geniuses, I added my personal preferences to the concepts. I’m not sure what the result of doing so is that they simultaneously possess two emotional characteristics: cute, weak, sensitive, and prone to crying; fierce, instigating, domineering, and confident…”.

Chapter 118 Geniuses can simplify problems

"The laws governing things are always complex and fascinating on the surface, but simple and unadorned on the inside. All things can be attributed to a single formula that can dispel the confusion of all beings."

In the video recording, Ruan Mei still speaks in a gentle, unhurried tone, with a calm expression, yet she possesses the demeanor of a genius.

"I want to understand the essence of life, the things that every individual possesses but is unaware of—whether it be the materiality of existence or the unknowable things beyond matter."

In such a short time, they almost acted on their ideas and succeeded in creating entirely new life in human form.

The feat, which seemed like that of a creator, did not stir any emotion in her. It was as if the creation that would drive countless scholars crazy was just a commonplace thing.

This was certainly true for Nguyen Mai.

Ordinary people wander in the sea of ​​learning, eagerly absorbing knowledge, walking on a thorny path, dreaming of knocking on the door of truth.

However, this door had already been broken through by a genius, leaving it behind.

The height that ordinary scholars pursue their whole lives but can never reach is merely the path taken by geniuses, so ordinary that it cannot stir her in the slightest.

She only wanted to peel away the external distractions like a coordinate axis and explore the most fundamental and beautiful form of life.

Even though Star 307 knew very little about scientific research, after living on the space station for so many days, he had witnessed the research projects of various departments. Compared with Ruan Mei, his superiority was immediately apparent.

A genius is truly a genius, and there is a vast distance between them and mediocrity.

No matter how hard you try, you can never catch up to it.

I've dealt with Black Tower before, and I even saw Ruan Mei on the platform right away, so why am I only now having a clear understanding of it?

When they interacted with me... no, to be precise, when they interacted with Hua Yi, they didn't seem particularly special.

By the way, did Ruan Mei really intend to do something to me back then?

Bad woman!

"Meow."

During the video playback, there were cat-like meows. Hua Yi easily identified that the sound was not coming from the speakers, but from the corner of the office.

The black cat-shaped creature inside the mung bean cake shell is the life cultivated by Ruan Mei, the cat cake.

"It's quite cute, huh? It shouldn't be dangerous, right? It's not bait for aliens or predators. When we get close, its harmless appearance suddenly cracks open, revealing ferocious fangs and a long tongue."

"There's no danger. You've seen quite a few horror movies."

"Oh, then I'm relieved."

Xing picked up her mobile device and started taking pictures of the cat, while Hua Yi activated the synesthetic beacon, a tool that enables cross-species communication.

"Meow. (I am not a qualified creation.)"