It was hard to imagine—someone created something this outrageous, and the goal was just to make a bit of money.

What’s more, Herta looked like she had known all along. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest, nor did she think anything was wrong with it.

All three of them were members of the Genius Society, yet Ruan Mei suddenly felt like she didn’t belong here.

Was it because the other two were Emanators while she wasn’t?

"Don’t you think this is ridiculous?"

Seeing Herta so indifferent, Ruan Mei couldn’t understand it. She wanted at least a bit of agreement from her.

"What’s so strange about it? Making money is making money. He didn’t invent this thing and then think about earning money—he invented it for money in the first place."

Compared to Ruan Mei, Herta felt she and Su Ran were more alike.

Their styles were similar—they acted to achieve a goal.

For example, Herta created the Simulated Universe to study the origin of Aeons.

Neither of them planned things in long, elaborate stages like Ruan Mei did, so they could understand each other better.

Ruan Mei researched Emanators to deconstruct Aeons, dividing her work into multiple phases.

But Su Ran and Herta? Much more straightforward. No detours.

"...I can’t understand it."

Ruan Mei felt a bit mentally exhausted. More than just feeling out of place, she found Su Ran’s talent genuinely terrifying.

If what he said was true—that this scale could even exchange one Aeon for another—

Didn’t that mean it had already surpassed Aeons themselves?

If such a technology ever spread, it would undoubtedly stir a bloody storm across the universe.

Even someone like Ruan Mei, who usually ignored external affairs, could imagine the chaos that would follow.

Which also meant—

Su Ran would inevitably be targeted by every major faction.

"Thankfully, this hasn’t been made public yet. At least things can stay quiet for now."

Ruan Mei let out a small sigh of relief.

Then she noticed both Su Ran and Herta had gone silent.

A bad feeling rose in her chest.

"...It hasn’t spread, right?"

Su Ran shook his head. "You might want to check the trending topics on the interstellar network."

Two minutes later, Ruan Mei finally understood why Herta had insisted on turning her into a trash can.

It had to be said—Herta was ruthless. When something happened to her, she made sure to drag someone else down with her.

"So when you said I was more valuable than that puppet of yours... this is what you meant?"

Ruan Mei felt completely drained dealing with these two.

Both were Emanators, both utterly fearless.

No wonder they acted without restraint.

After all, dealing with an Emanator without another Emanator on your side came at a massive cost.

"Exactly. And honestly, I think you benefited from it. You experienced another biological form with zero side effects. For someone in the field of life sciences, that’s a huge gain."

Herta didn’t deny she had intentionally dragged Ruan Mei into this.

And in her view, someone like Ruan Mei would absolutely gain something from the experience.

"If you could do it again and let me study it properly, that would be a real gain."

Experiencing it herself was just novelty.

But observing and researching someone else—that was where real results came from.

"No."

Herta rejected her instantly.

"So you called me here just to let me experience being a trash can?"

If that was all, Ruan Mei felt her time had been wasted.

This could’ve been explained in a message.

No matter how shocking it was, it didn’t advance her research.

Her work focused on evolution, regression, or creating life from nothing.

Su Ran’s invention was horizontal equivalence—absurd, but not aligned with her goals.

"Of course not. Are you interested in a lifeform transformed from a Stellaron?"

Herta brought up Stelle.

"The girl named Stelle?"

Ruan Mei had seen her in the Simulated Universe.

If it was her, then yes—there was some interest.

"Exactly. This is a major breakthrough. A Stellaron turning into a human—how much research value do you think that has?"

Herta glanced at Ruan Mei, then at Su Ran.

"Well, I think..."

Study Stelle?

Su Ran honestly didn’t feel like it meant much.

There were plenty of absurd things in the universe.

Even if she was the protagonist, that didn’t mean he had to dissect her.

And if they fully figured her out, wouldn’t that remove all the mystery?

Herta: ...

Ruan Mei: ...

That was... blunt.

It made the two of them look like idiots who had just found a perfect lab rat.

"If not her, then what? You?" Herta shot back, clearly eyeing Su Ran again.

She had wanted to study with him for a long time.

Too bad he never agreed.

"...On second thought, let’s just study the Stellaron spirit. She’s got potential."

Being stared at by these two women made Su Ran uneasy.

Neither of them were harmless.

There was a real risk of being completely "studied to death."

Especially Herta.

Her curiosity was far worse than Ruan Mei’s.

Ruan Mei had restraint—she valued reason. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Herta? She’d dissect everything down to the last detail.

"Didn’t you just say she had no research value?" Herta smirked.

"If it keeps you two busy, that’s her greatest value."

This time, Su Ran landed the comeback cleanly.

—------------------------------

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