Chapter 18

Xing saw Kafuka, her body being pulled and deformed, mixing with the umbrella in her hand, turning into droplets that fell at her feet.

She discovered she was a wailing Yadelifen infant, embracing a twin whose umbilical cord had not yet been cut. She recalled a golden scar on her body, golden blood flowing across a dying planet. She discovered her skin was dark, her robe sweeping across the wasteland.

Then, Its voice suddenly came from afar——

"Robes float, wrapping your travels, you unfold black skin, you sneer, explore, threads spin, intertwine, warp and weft woven into oceanic words..." Each word spoken from Its mouth linked together, as if murmuring. Before Xing could answer, It suddenly vanished.

Xing was holding her head when suddenly Heita's excited voice came from nearby: "Success! That's Fuli, It thought you were the fallen Akivili and initiated conversation—this is even better than I imagined! Fuli is very helpful to my research, for It possesses everyone's memories, knowing things second only to the Omniscient Sovereign!"

The speaker meant nothing, but the listener took it to heart; Qietelali lowered her drink, the corners of her eyes slightly drooping, she fell into silent thought.

Possessing everyone's memories, could this "everyone" include all of humanity in the universe?

This is also……

As the great shaman of the Smoke Mire, Qietelali had some understanding of the Affairs of the Death Arbiter; even though this Arbiter held supreme authority over death, its domain was limited solely to Teyvat.

If we judge by the worldview shown on the light screen, their universe must contain many worlds similar to Teyvat, and the Memory Star God Fuli then governs the memories of countless worlds.

Compared to the power of the Archon, this is simply heaven and earth apart……

Qietelali furtively glanced at Mawika; Mawika, who had just been speaking and laughing, after personally witnessing the virtual Star God's authority, her expression also became unusually stern.

"Come out, Xing, I want to upgrade the 【Simulated Universe】; from now on you'll need to spend more time in there."

As Heita's words fell, Xing felt her navel hooked, her whole body flipping over; when she opened her eyes, she found herself already in Heita's office.

Heita remained immersed in joy, one hand manipulating the Simulated Universe's dial, the other muttering: "I need to quickly tell Stifen about this result… oh right, Xing, don't just stand there, go back in and wander around, try to say a sentence or two or something else…"

Heita's utterly inconsiderate attitude left Xing slightly dissatisfied: "You should give me some respect."

"Indeed, you're right," Heita said without turning, still adjusting the machine, completely unbothered by Xing's contradiction, acquiescing: "I got carried away, sorry, Xing, you did great! If convenient, please go back in for another test."

"I've upgraded the Simulated Universe; it now has greater storage and a longer process. I guess the last round must have been rather dull, so I'll have Stifen add some more interesting elements."

"Er, this Lady Heita's personality……" Filien wanted to speak but held back.

"People with such a personality are rare in daily life, but they're fairly common in certain research fields."

Fulilian recalled what it was like meeting those court mages decades ago. They were all eccentrics, yet their skills were truly profound; they unreservedly devoted their limited, fleeting lives to magical research and deciphering, for the sake of minuscule progress, even sacrificing their humanity.

By comparison, this Lady Heita is already quite mild.

"It would be more practical to give me some rewards," Xing said, spreading her hands.

"Oh, that's certain, after all you'll be spending more time on this project; I'll arrange the rewards later, you don't need to worry." Having said that, Heita began to continue operating the Simulated Universe, clearly starting the upgrade.

Seeing Heita busily at work, Xing left the office quietly.

"Beep-beep——" Just after leaving the office, Xing heard her phone vibrate.

Aisida: Xing, thank you very much for helping Lady Heita conduct the Simulated Universe test.

Aisida: The test wasn't easy, was it? Truly thank you for your effort; this is your reward. Credit points 30000000, please accept.

Aisida: Sorry, I couldn't think of a suitable reward right away; next time you visit the space station, I'll give you something else.

Aisida: Sorry. jpg

Seeing Aisida's cute emoticon, Xing only felt the star core in her body warmly warm. But when she shifted her gaze upward and saw the long string of zeros after the credit points, she suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air.

At the same time, the people outside the light screen also felt a pang of envy.

"Academic ace, young and beautiful, gentle and considerate, pink hair, butler……" As Qianyu Yuzhen carefully compared Aisida on the light screen, her gaze began to shift toward Yuecheng Liu, who was quietly eating a red bean bun beside her.

Except for the size of a certain eye-catching part being vastly different, everything else matched perfectly!

Except for a certain eye-catching body part's size being vastly different, everything else is practically perfect!

Qianyu Yuzhen hehe laughed: "Deputy Instructor Liu, you wouldn't also be a hidden rich lady, would you?"

"Huh? You're talking nonsense——"

Before Yuecheng Liu could retort, Yuzhen brought her face close to the desk, putting on a pitiful look: "Deputy Instructor Liu, you know me—I've been frail and sick since childhood, especially my teeth, I can't eat hard food……"

Before Yuecheng Liu could retort, Youzhen leaned their face onto her desk, putting on a pitiful look: "Deputy Section Chief Liu, you know me—I've been frail and sickly since childhood, especially my teeth; I can't eat hard food……"

Yuecheng Liu pushed up her glasses, her tranquil smile still on her face, her pale scallion-like fingers already resting on the retractable sheath at her back. Seeing this, Qianyu Yuzhen broke out in a cold sweat, sensibly pulling her head back.

Yuecheng Liu pushed up their glasses, the calm smile on their face unchanged, their pale scallion-like fingers already resting on the retractable knife sheath behind them. Seeing this, Qianyu Youzhen broke out in a cold sweat, sensibly pulling their head back.

The next second, Yuzhen felt something sweet and soft in her mouth; only after coming to her senses did she realize someone had shoved a soft, glutinous red bean bun into her mouth.

The next second, Youzhen felt their mouth sweet and soft; only after coming to their senses did they realize someone had stuffed a soft, glutinous red bean bun into their mouth.

"Yuzhen, you can't eat hard food? Cangjiao gave you Liu sister's share of the red bean bun she divided for me today!"

Cangjiao timely brought her little head over, her smile pure and adorable, making one unconsciously think of the budding flowers by the river at Guangying Plaza.

Cang Jiao timely brought her little head over; her face bore a pure, cute smile that made people unconsciously think of the budding flower trees by the river at Guangying Square.

Youzhen stared for a full ten seconds, just about to burst into tears and hug Cang Jiao, sighing what a good child, when she discovered that Cang Jiao's hand was secretly hiding an empty lunch box.

The lunch box bore the name Qian Yu Youzhen written in a crooked, wobbly hand.

When the girl smiles, she unconsciously reveals two cute little fangs, but at this moment, Youzhen felt those two fangs prick him so sharply he sucked in a breath of cold air. Cang Jiao raised the lunch box with one hand, proudly puffing out her chest, full of pride:

"……Youzhen, you also said you can't eat hard food, right? But don't worry, look, Cang Jiao has already finished it for you."