Chapter 717: NO.86: How Would You Interpret Yourself?

NO. 86: How Would You Interpret Yourself?

Although that was the case, when Aomo entered Xintiao Xi's underground laboratory from the first-floor lobby, he still heard Ling's apology.

He simply accepted it, then with a few sentences moved the topic along, clearly not minding.

After all, Aomo himself has a mental list of places to visit when he has free time.

On this list, Miss Nian is fairly far down, and Miss Xi didn't even make the cut.

One was a casual mention of having time to play with her, the other never had an invitation, so naturally there was no opportunity to make an appointment.

To Aomo, the whole thing was just a minor mishap that could be laughed off, but it was Miss Ling making such a small mistake that made him slightly concerned.

In Dongyan's terms, this would be 'overstepping the bounds,' right?

Given Ling's information and the overall impression people have of her, this is quite rare.

It's rare that he shouldn't bring it up.

Thus, in the calm telepathic call, he focused more on the real interaction—namely, having already arrived at the office and finished breakfast together with Suzi, Aomo, Xi, Chazuo, and Bourbon.

"Chazuo, did you sleep well last night?"

"... Still a bit sleepy, but it's fine."

"And Bourbon?"

"No abnormal response, no fragmented information interference, and the system runs stably."

"That is……meaning he doesn't even remember dreaming," Aomo heard, reached out and touched the cyber horse girl's head, causing her ears to twitch slightly and perk up.

Although Aomo doesn't believe that the stress-relief points of Jidong women are concentrated in the head, Bourbon and Chazuo indeed favor this kind of small interaction.

This is also one of the few instances where Aomo can initiate physical contact.

"That's good, I was still wondering if the appointed time was a bit early…" Aomo said, glancing at the pink-haired JK beside him who walked with nearly closed eyes, every few steps being yanked by the collar back up like a cat being lifted by the scruff.

Compared to her high-quality coat, her dazed state is obviously more noteworthy.

She looks like she could collapse at any moment, and now they are in the process of going downstairs.

"Miss Xintiao, could you hold the handrail a little?"

"Blanket… my blanket…"

"How about opening your eyes a bit more?"

"Bed… my bed… my Gabaton…"

"Perhaps it would be better to just support her," Ling's suggestion sounded from the side, prompting Aomo to turn his head and glance at the unperturbed Bourbon, Chazuo, and Suzi.

"Hah, can she really give us a test in this state?"

"... Does Suzi even have the right to say that?"

"Talkative, but I'm standing here perfectly sober, in perfect experimental condition."

"Master, request assistance."

It's obvious that these three didn't notice the dragon girl standing at the side.

Even though Chazuo has extraordinarily keen spiritual sense and also shows some outstanding performance in the dream realm, she merely gave the air a few doubtful glances at first, as if sensing a slight anomaly, then quickly dismissed it.

After all, in terms of spiritual sense feedback, she and Aomo are of the same type.

People whose perception is overly keen either constantly busy processing messy information, or learn to habitually ignore such mess.

Both of them are the latter.

As long as it doesn't directly interfere, they simply treat it as an illusion to ensure their daily lives aren't disturbed.

If unnecessary, they won't display any abnormality, just as Aomo's first reaction upon hearing Ling speak beside him was to pretend nothing was happening.

Otherwise, having to attend to every abnormal perception, hallucination, fluctuation, and sound would easily drive one mad.

Life isn't a game; there's no need to constantly wait for side‑quest clues to fall from the sky, especially when this clue looks off at first glance—it might just send you drifting toward outer space or the deep sea.

But compared to such keen Chazuo, Miss Xi is obviously dull.

Even if lifted by the scruff of the neck like a cat whose fate has been yanked, she remains dazed, maintaining the state she had while eating breakfast.

This caused Aomo to let out a silent sigh.

But he ultimately didn't follow Ling's advice; instead, he slightly quickened his pace, walked alongside her, and lowered his head a little.

"Your Gabaton has turned into stars." He whispered low in her ear, feigning a hoarse, indifferent tone.

"No! I can't be sent up there!"

"Your monster models are also slowly cracking; nobody maintains them."

"Ugh…"

"Next are those monster pillows; they've been embedded in cards, given vitality, and have spontaneously left you."

"... Ugh…" The girl, as if suffering from an indescribable headache, furrowed her brows with eyes closed, then suddenly opened them and shouted, "Little Snake, I'll fight you!"

"..."

Watching the furious girl attempt retaliation, only to be single‑handedly suppressed by the expressionless youth, Ling too was left speechless.

Recalling that she had once said he resembled a blend of the eldest and second brothers, seeing this adept prank now made her think it was more like the work of a little brat, often causing Xiao Xi to adopt the same reaction as Miss Xintiao.

However, no matter what, this side wouldn't make her doubt her previous opinion of Aomo.

On the contrary, it would make her feel that he could get along well with her family.

But deliberately recommending things like that? Better to just forget it.

——

"Ahaha, Suzi, what did you say before? Can you perform that again? Just that— you know, sounding like…"

"At least three verifications are needed to prove the theorem's result— you haven't forgotten that, have you, Xi?"

"Being stubborn is useless, Suzi— do it two more times, it's the same! You have to face your fate!"

A girl's thoughts are always this changeable.

Just a few minutes ago, Miss Xin Tiao Qian still had a puffed‑up angry look, but now she wore an expression of uncontainable joy, staring at the 98.4% coordination rate displayed on the screen, and she flipped the switch to her own 'mockery mode'.

Not far from the two of them, Mancheng Chazuo, standing beside the same instrument, stared blankly at the numbers on the device, finding it hard to believe that she herself had a coordination rate as high as 86.4% with the 'Dark Ruler'.

According to the reference data provided along with the technology from the Land of Light, a coordination rate of 70% is already sufficient for this kind of thing.

One can normally stuff cards, badges, capsules and the like into the device, so as not to end up flailing about with a feeble power origin like an over‑eaten Geliza.

Once it exceeds eighty, you can say the compatibility is excellent, and once it goes above ninety……

If it were the guys from the Aomo shed, they'd start wondering whether there's a blood relation.

But if it were the monster shed——then, as Miss Xin Tiao Qian's teasing put it, that's a matter of personality, or rather innate compatibility.

This is also why the Land of Light never creates anything related to monster power, the only reason actual Pokémon‑like 'capsule monsters' can exist.

Pure existence, pure power—what they reveal is the mind‑heart, the essence.

The pure data simulation used by Ultraman Ace is passable, but monster cards of this sort are made using part—or even the entirety—of the opponent's existence.

Traits such as frenzy, darkness, and ferocity are, so to speak, ill‑fated with the inhabitants of the Land of Light.

Even if they were made, they'd be unusable.

If they could be used, they'd instead require strict investigation.

But humans are different.

With their vast numbers and all kinds of eccentric individuals blossoming forth, humans truly are the cradle of possibility.

Even the horse girls, who are still considered part of humanity in biological terms, are the same.

Although not to the extent of Ailisuzhi, who has a despair‑inducing 'iron‑clad number' sitting on her potential personality issues, Chazuo's coordination rate merely begins with eighty, yet her heart remains tangled.

After all, that is Gatanjea.

Even before meeting the trainer, Chazuo, who wasn't particularly interested in tokusatsu or the Ultraman IP series, had still watched the 'Ultraman Diga' aired on the Jiemen District TV station.

The influence of that work is exactly that great—great enough to let her have a very clear concept of the opponent.

Evil god, the Dark Ruler……

Indeed, Chazuo cannot deny liking darkness, and she once hoped, during the cosmos‑flower viewing, that the trainer would not conceal that deep darkness—this alone could explain her compatibility, but……

……Trainer…what would he think?

She turned her head instinctively, just as Suzi, who was still sparring with Xin Tiao Qian not far away, also stole a glance with the corner of her eye at the figure standing in the laboratory corner.

People always care about evaluation; in reality they crave recognition, and adolescents are at a stage where both their perception of the outside world and their self‑understanding are still being formed.

If they then find themselves in an environment of extremely strong competition, the recognition they need will exceed ordinary demand by tenfold, a hundredfold, or more.

The more delicate and sensitive one's thoughts, the more one attends to surrounding feedback—let alone that this coordination‑rate test comes from the Land of Light Office, possessing absolute authority.

In that case, rather than saying it's a test of monster compatibility, it's more like an unavoidable psychological test that forces you to confront the negativity lurking in your heart, which is often a distorted desire.

And what kind of evaluation would such a self receive……

Will there really be so‑called recognition?

However, while the two remained silent, merely looking and glancing at each other, a certain chestnut‑red‑haired horse girl who truly had nothing to hold back—and indeed had nothing to hold back—had already stepped straight in front of the other party and reached out to tug at their sleeve.

"Master."

"Huh?"

Just moments ago she had been gazing blankly at the empty space beside her, then helplessly turned back, pouring the blue liquid substance from the secret key into the instrument's Aomo; her hand was still resting on the lever, not yet having had time to pull it down, when she first turned her head in puzzlement.

She looked toward the chestnut‑red‑haired girl standing to the side, her ears hanging undecided.

"Requesting evaluation: my coordination‑rate error with the mechanical constructs Gold Ancient Bridge, Galatron, and Asgalon does not exceed 0.7."

His indigo‑blue eyes gazed up at him; though his look appeared utterly calm, his hand was firmly pulling at the sleeve.

He repeated again:

"Requesting evaluation."