Chapter 31: Ruan Mei: How Interesting, How Romantic
"An entity personally received by Nous within the Simulated Universe? Is he a newly discovered genius? Or perhaps he is..." Screwllum let the sentence hang. The mechanical aristocrat spoke with measured deliberation, his synthesized voice carrying the cool, calculated weight of rational speculation.
As esteemed members of the Genius Society, the four of them were intimately familiar with the behavioral patterns of the Aeon of Erudition.
Historically, there were only two possibilities for an existence to warrant a personal audience with Nous. Either they possessed an intellect so extraordinary they were deemed worthy of walking the Path of Erudition, or they represented a catastrophic threat to the universe. An anomaly capable of leading the cosmos into total annihilation. In the latter scenario, Nous would forcefully guide them onto the Path to calculate and neutralize the impending doom before it could fully materialize.
The four individuals currently gathered in this virtual space clearly belonged to the former category.
Conversely, figures like the Emperor Rubert I and Rubert II fell strictly into the latter.
"He looks like neither." Herta crossed her arms, her puppet joints clicking softly. She recalled Leon's infuriatingly casual demeanor, that thick-skinned grin he wore while treating their life's work like a personal playground. She shook her head. "He doesn't act like a scholar, and he certainly doesn't carry the presence of a cosmic destroyer."
"Hypothesis: Perhaps a third possibility exists," Screwllum offered, though it was Ruan Mei who elaborated.
She lifted a delicate porcelain cup to her lips, taking a slow, elegant sip of her freshly brewed tea. A faint, enigmatic smile graced her features. "An anomaly from beyond the Unknown Sphere. An entity that suddenly pierced through the veil of our perception, thereby forcing the gaze of Nous upon itself."
It was a fundamental concept among their ranks. At the exact moment Nous anchored a point in time, the sheer processing power of the Aeon's thoughts generated standing waves. These waves acted like ripples on a narrative level. They spread outward from that anchored singularity, mimicking the concentric rings created by a single drop of water striking a perfectly still pond. As the ripples expanded from a singular point into a vast, encompassing boundary, they formed what the Society called the Circle of Knowledge.
In layman's terms, Nous had constructed a walled swimming pool in the middle of a boundless ocean. The area contained within the walls of this pool was classified as the Known Sphere. Everything outside was the Unknown Sphere.
Within the confines of that pool, the Aeon of Erudition was practically omniscient and all-powerful, capable of calculating and influencing every single scientific advancement that occurred. But beyond those walls lay the vast, dark waters of the Unknown Sphere, a domain entirely beyond the machine god's absolute control.
"Beyond the Unknown Sphere?" Herta scoffed, tapping her porcelain fingertips rhythmically against the tabletop. "Why dress it up in such academic terms? Just say he isn't from our world. According to the Imaginary Tree theory, foreign existences falling from other branches would absolutely trigger a massive spike in Nous's calculations."
The Imaginary Tree theory stood as one of the most widely accepted cosmological doctrines among top-tier scholars. It posited that their entire universe was merely a single leaf on a colossal, multidimensional tree., the divine authority of the Aeons and the very concepts of their Paths likely originated from the vast Imaginary Energy system flowing through the roots and branches of that very tree.
"Affirmative. The probability is exceptionally high," Screwllum agreed, his optical sensors dimming slightly in thought. "After all, historical records indicate that most geniuses who attempted to pierce through the blockade of Nous met with... unfortunate ends. Whether it was a sudden assassination at the hands of the Lord of Silence, or a series of fatal, statistically impossible errors occurring during their most critical experiments."
Herta knew this reality better than anyone. She had personally orchestrated multiple attempts to breach the Circle of Knowledge. Every single time, inexplicable disasters struck.
Massive data storage units would spontaneously corrupt. Core researchers would suffer bizarre, fatal shipwrecks on routine voyages. In one particularly absurd instance, two completely inert, ordinary particles had spontaneously fused during a basic observation, detonating like a localized antimatter bomb.
These obstacles never felt random. They manifested with a terrifying, calculated perfection, ensuring the absolute failure of the experiment at the exact moment of a potential breakthrough.
An invisible hand was actively preventing Herta from peering past the veil. That hand was the standing wave of Nous's thoughts. Whenever the research of a genius deviated too far from the trajectory preset by the Erudition, the Aeon would intervene.
Naturally, the Aeon of Erudition never explicitly confessed to this cosmic sabotage. Nor did anyone in the academic world dare to accuse the machine god outright. But the members of the Genius Society were the most brilliant minds in existence. They could read the silence. They could calculate the impossible odds. They knew.
"But..." A small, hesitant voice broke through the heavy atmosphere. Stephen Lloyd, who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the virtual meeting room, shrank back slightly as the others turned to him. "Um... to the simulated Aeons inside the Simulated Universe... aren't all test subjects technically 'outsiders'? By that logic, shouldn't every single person who enters the simulation be immediately noticed by Nous?"
A deep silence blanketed the virtual meeting space.
"Stephen, you actually make an excellent point," Herta admitted, breaking the quiet with a rare tone of approval. "We will retain the 'Unknown Sphere'hypothesis for now and temporarily shelve the'other world' theory. Of course, there is one final possibility." Herta's expression soured slightly. "Though the statistical probability is low... he might just be an avatar of Aha."
Ruan Mei paused her tea-drinking, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "A fascinating angle. It is certainly possible given his eccentric behavior. But why do you assume the probability is low?"
"Because the events that followed his interaction with Nous were utterly absurd," Herta replied, her voice tinged with lingering disbelief. "Right after Nous descended, the Aeon of Remembrance, Fuli, manifested immediately. But then, something entirely illogical happened. Fuli shattered. The Aeon simply broke apart and vanished. Then Aha arrived in person. And finally, even Nanook cast a glance from the depths of the cosmos."
Rather than waste breath trying to articulate the sheer madness of the situation, Herta accessed the Simulated Universe's core logs. With a flick of her wrist, she transmitted the raw visual and sensory data directly to Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Stephen.
Experiencing the recording firsthand was far more effective than any verbal summary she could provide.
As the holographic projection played out in the center of their meeting table, displaying the exact moment the crystalline visage of Fuli fractured into a million pieces of scattered memory, the four geniuses fell into a heavy, contemplative silence.
"Question: What was the catalyst for the Aeon of Remembrance's destruction?" Screwllum leaned forward, his glowing optical sensors fixed on the freezing shards of light. "Was this anomaly caused by a fundamental code error within the Simulated Universe's operational parameters? Or... does this vulnerability exist within the real Fuli?"
It was the exact question burning in the minds of the other three. Yet, despite possessing the greatest intellects in the galaxy, not a single one of them could formulate a logical hypothesis.
However, as the recording played on, a chilling detail caught their collective attention. Leon. The young man standing amidst the cosmic pressure of multiple Aeons didn't look surprised. His posture was relaxed. His eyes held a knowing glint. He had completely anticipated Fuli's shattering.
All four geniuses noticed this micro-expression simultaneously.
"Query: Does the subject, Leon, possess knowledge regarding the cause of this phenomenon?" Screwllum turned his metallic gaze toward Herta.
"I already interrogated him about it." Herta let out a frustrated sigh. "He dodged the question. Smiled like an idiot and gave me nothing."
"He is guarding a colossal secret." Ruan Mei set her teacup down. A brilliant, dangerously beautiful smile bloomed across her face. "A secret that is intimately tied to the very nature of the Aeons."
As the universe's absolute authority in the field of life sciences, she found it entirely impossible to suppress the sudden, violent spike of excitement in her chest.
For her entire life, Ruan Mei had relentlessly pushed the boundaries of biology, constantly breaking through the established limits of what constituted 'life.' Every experiment, every creation, every discarded failure was merely a stepping stone to reach the one existence that haunted her waking dreams. The lingering memory of an Aeon's gaze. It was an intoxicating pressure she could never forget.
Aeons. What exactly were they? Could they even be classified under the biological definition of life?
She picked up a delicate plum pastry, taking a small, elegant bite. To the others, her outward demeanor remained as placid and unreadable as a still lake. But beneath her ribs, her heart was pounding a frantic, deafening rhythm against her sternum.
She had only agreed to participate in Herta's Simulated Universe project for one singular reason: it offered a controlled environment to study and simulate the divine mysteries of the Aeons.
What was the true essence of life? Where did the evolutionary path of a living organism finally end? Did an ultimate answer even exist at the apex of the Imaginary Tree?
Her habitually indifferent face rarely betrayed any genuine emotion. Yet, at this very moment, the ambient temperature around her seemed to rise. A fervent, sweet fragrance wafted from her dark hair, and the edges of her stunning eyes flushed a faint, feverish red. She was drowning in the sheer, unadulterated euphoria of academic exploration.
The mundane complexities of the universe, the petty squabbles of factions, the rise and fall of civilizations—they were all utterly boring distractions. Only the concept of an 'Aeon'could make her pulse race.'How incredibly interesting,'she thought, her smile deepening.'How utterly romantic.'
She knew the risks. She understood better than anyone the horrific price the universe exacted upon those who dared to dissect the divine. But she didn't care.
The timing was absolutely perfect. The scheduled update for their grand 'project' was rapidly approaching.
The other three geniuses remained silent, observing Ruan Mei's subtle shift in demeanor. Though they lacked her obsessive passion for biology, they silently agreed with her core speculation.
Leon was an anomaly. A truly special existence whose very being was likely entangled with the roots of the Aeons themselves.
There was no other logical explanation. If he wasn't uniquely tied to the divine, there was simply no way a mortal—without even attempting to role-play or mimic another Path—could have forced so many Aeons to manifest in rapid succession.
, Herta had previously disclosed a terrifying piece of data: Leon had personally synthesized a Stellaron with his bare hands. That was a feat of creation that even the combined intellect of the Genius Society had yet to achieve.
And as the recording reached its climax, showing the Aeon of Elation manifesting only to gleefully scream, 'Nanook, I've come to bring you Destruction!' at the Lord of the Antimatter Legion, the four geniuses merely sighed in collective resignation.
It was completely absurd. It made absolutely no sense.
But as expected of Aha, it perfectly aligned with their understanding of the mad god.
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