Chapter 50: Is This How Geniuses Communicate?
Ruan Mei slowly withdrew her slender fingers from his arm. A fleeting ripple of surprise—so faint it would have been imperceptible to anyone else—disturbed the usual placid surface of her eyes.
"Your cells... are deeply fascinating," she murmured, her voice carrying the soft, melodic cadence of a scholar discovering an unmatched phenomenon. "Unlike ordinary humans, they brim with an endless, surging vitality. It is as if they are in a state of constant, perfect regeneration."
Leon felt a faint stir of amusement in his chest. He blinked, letting a lazy, teasing light enter his gaze.
"Maybe I just stick to a very healthy sleep schedule?" he offered with a perfectly straight face. Then, the corners of his mouth tipped upward into a roguish grin. "But you know, since you went ahead and touched me so intimately... you are going to have to take responsibility for my virtue."
Rather than taking offense, the corners of Ruan Mei's lips curled upward. On her normally cool, detached features, that subtle shift was breathtakingly elegant.
"A delightful sense of humor as well," she noted softly, her gaze remaining intensely focused on his face. "But I wish to explore your... unique qualities on a much deeper level. As for taking responsibility..." She let the sentence hang in the air for a heartbeat, the smile on her lips deepening into something deeply intriguing. "I have no objections to that."
She maintained her steady gaze on Leon, that faint, enigmatic smile never wavering.
Standing just a few paces away, Asta felt her jaw practically unhinge.
She actually agreed?!
The Lead Researcher of the Herta Space Station stood completely frozen, her mind short-circuiting as she watched the exchange. Was this not progressing far too quickly? One moment they were exchanging pleasantries, and the next they were discussing taking responsibility for physical contact! Asta's internal monologue devolved into the high-pitched, frantic screaming of a startled marmot.
Even Leon found himself momentarily caught off guard. He had tossed out a shameless line expecting a cold rebuff, only to find that the master scholar was more than capable of playing his game. Fortunately, his thick skin was practically a legendary artifact in its own right.
Still, a ripple of genuine surprise washed over him. He clearly recalled the original storyline. When Ruan Mei first encountered the Trailblazers, she had unceremoniously spiked their food with an anti-truth serum and casually labeled them as perfect test subjects. It was a coldly pragmatic, almost offensive introduction that had left quite an impression.
Yet here he was, receiving a reception that was entirely different from the rough treatment Stelle and Caelus had endured. Somewhere out in the cosmos, he could almost hear the two Trailblazers crying out in sheer jealousy over the blatant favoritism.
Desperate to regain control of the spiraling situation, Asta finally swallowed her shock and forced a professional smile. She stepped forward, clutching her clipboard like a physical shield.
"Madam Ruan Mei, welcome to the Herta Space Station. We have prepared a selection of traditional pastries sourced directly from Jarilo-VI. I wonder if you might care to sample..."
Only then did Ruan Mei slowly shift her attention away from Leon. She directed a polite, yet entirely dismissive nod toward the pink-haired girl.
"I appreciate your hospitality, Lead Researcher. However, for today, I would much prefer to converse with Leon in private."
Dismissing Asta's presence entirely, she turned back to Leon. Her voice dropped back to that soft, intimate register.
"I rarely visit the Space Station in person. Only today did I realize that the view from this observation deck is so vast, so wonderfully tranquil." She gestured gracefully toward the massive panoramic windows. "A view of this caliber pairs perfectly with the delicate fragrance of lotus leaves, dried plum blossoms, glutinous rice, and sweet frosting."
Before Leon could formulate a reply, Ruan Mei closed the distance between them with a single, graceful step.
"Come and look. That brilliant blue planet rests right beneath our feet." She gazed out at the swirling azure sphere suspended in the dark void. "It brims with such vibrant, untamed life... Much like this pastry."
She raised a delicate, beautifully crafted sweet to her lips and took a small, measured bite. Then, without a hint of hesitation, she offered the remaining half toward him.
"It is quite delicious. I will share the rest with you."
Her slender fingers gently pressed the half-eaten confection directly against Leon's lips. The sweet scent of plum blossom and sugar wafted into his nose, mingling with the faint, elegant perfume of the scholar herself. Had any unaware bystander walked onto the observation deck at that exact moment, they would have instantly assumed the two were deeply entangled lovers sharing an intimate moment.
"Don't mind if I do."
A handsome, knowing curve formed at the corner of Leon's mouth. If his memory served him right, this exact pastry was the delivery method for her infamous anti-truth serum. Knowing full well what it likely contained, he leaned forward and took the pastry directly from her fingers, letting his lips brush lightly against her skin in the process.
He chewed slowly. He had to admit, the culinary craftsmanship was absolutely stellar. The sweetness was perfectly balanced.
"Sweet pastries always evoke the imagery of flowers blooming in early spring," Ruan Mei whispered, her eyes tracking the movement of his throat as he swallowed. "When you taste it slowly, bite by bite, the floral fragrance lingers pleasantly between your teeth."
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze softening. "I do hope it suits your palate."
"How is the flavor?" she asked, a genuine smile gracing her features as he finished the treat. "If it pleases you, I can prepare a larger batch exclusively for you next time."
"It is a carefully crafted recipe," she continued, her tone taking on the rhythmic cadence of a lecture. "Exactly ten grams of sugar, balanced with a single dried, salted plum blossom. Baking and cooking, in truth, share many fundamental principles with the act of nurturing a universe."
She raised a hand, tracing an invisible line in the air. "The heat must be controlled with absolute precision. One must be entirely careful, deeply thoughtful, and above all else, one must never succumb to panic, regardless of the variables introduced."
"Unfortunately, this Space Station remains entirely too noisy."
Ruan Mei's cool gaze swept dismissively over the still-frozen Asta, drifted toward the gleaming silhouette of the Astral Express docked in the distance, and finally locked onto a seemingly empty, shadowed corner of the deck. Hidden perfectly within that shadow was a dormant Herta puppet, silently observing the entire exchange.
"Such a chaotic, clamorous environment truly does a disservice to the experience of enjoying exquisite pastries." She looked back to Leon, her eyes locking onto his. "Would you not agree?"
Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully, preparing to test the waters. "Yeah, it is pretty loud around here."
He paused, blinking in mild confusion.
'Wait... that is strange. I do not feel any restrictive effects.'
The words had rolled off his tongue completely naturally. There was no mental block, no forced redirection of his speech like the infamous serum was supposed to induce. He had fully expected to try saying one thing and have his mouth betray him with another.
Deciding to drop the act entirely, Leon looked at Ruan Mei with genuine curiosity. "Strange. Did you forget to spike that pastry with your anti-truth serum?"
At those words, Ruan Mei's graceful movements halted for a fraction of a second. A sudden, intensely burning light flared within her usually placid eyes—the thrilling spark of a scientist encountering an anomaly that defied all logic. Just as quickly as it appeared, she masked it, elegantly wiping her fingers with a silk handkerchief as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said.
"It appears you understand my methods quite intimately," she observed, her voice dropping to a dangerous, velvety purr. "Indeed, I had fully intended to use the anti-truth serum on you..."
She took a slow step closer, invading his personal space once more. "But upon observing you, I discarded the notion."
Ruan Mei looked straight into Leon's eyes, her gaze piercing. "I abandoned the idea because my intuition told me it would be entirely ineffective against you."
"I have analyzed the preliminary data from your cells. You are fundamentally different from every other biological entity I have encountered." The air between them grew heavy, charged with an electric tension. Ruan Mei tilted her head, her expression completely serious, yet carrying an undercurrent of intense desire. "I wish to extract your haploid cells. Do I have your permission?"
Asta felt her soul attempt to leave her body.
The Lead Researcher, who had been trying her absolute hardest to blend into the background, resumed her internal marmot screaming with renewed, terrifying vigor.
Was this a confession?! This absolutely had to be a confession! They had only met mere minutes ago, and they were already escalating straight to the exchange of haploid cells?!
As the highly educated Station Lead of the Herta Space Station, Asta possessed more than enough biological knowledge to know exactly what a haploid cell was. Gametes. Reproductive cells.
Was this how the legendary members of the Genius Society flirted?! To proposition someone for something so incredibly intimate, so utterly scandalous, and to disguise it behind the cold, clinical terminology of cellular extraction... it was simply too shameless!
Asta's cheeks ignited, burning with a furious crimson blush. Just visualizing the practical application of extracting haploid cells made her heart pound against her ribs like a trapped bird. Yet Madam Ruan Mei had delivered the line with the calm, unbothered grace of someone asking for a glass of water.
This level of boldness was simply staggering!
Leon met Ruan Mei's completely unshielded, predatory gaze, finding himself caught in a rare moment of hesitation. Was his hard-earned innocence truly about to be claimed right here, right now, in the name of scientific inquiry?
He gritted his teeth, a spark of competitive amusement flaring in his chest. He absolutely refused to fold so easily. This was a blatant honey trap, and he was a professional fun-seeker.
"Then when exactly shall we begin the... extraction process?" The corner of Leon's mouth curled into a wicked, devastating smirk. A cunning, predatory light danced in his own eyes as he matched her energy. "I must admit, I am already growing a bit impatient."
He took a step forward, deliberately closing the final gap between them until they were sharing the exact same breath.
"You had best cherish this sample," he chuckled, his voice dropping to a dark, husky whisper meant only for her ears. "Even Herta demanded access to my body, and I flatly denied her."
He leaned his head down, his lips hovering dangerously close to her ear. "But... since it is you doing the asking, how could I possibly find the heart to refuse?"
It was almost hilarious when he thought about it. Herta had shown absolutely zero sincerity, attempting to make him submit to her research demands while hiding safely behind a mechanical puppet! If the genius truly wanted his cooperation, she needed to show up in the flesh. In that regard, she was leagues behind Ruan Mei's direct, hands-on approach.
Asta slapped both hands over her mouth, barely stifling a shocked squeak. The heavy metallic clipboard slipped from her numb fingers, crashing onto the deck with a loud, echoing clatter. She did not even flinch at the noise.
Oh, Aeons above! Were they heading to the laboratory right now?! Was the extraction going to happen on a sterile lab table?! The sheer velocity of their relationship was breaking the laws of physics—it was faster than an interstellar warp jump!
Ruan Mei completely ignored the clattering clipboard and the hyperventilating Station Lead. Her intense, beautiful eyes remained locked exclusively on Leon, treating him as though he were the single most fascinating anomaly in the entire universe.
"Very well," she agreed, giving a slow, deeply satisfied nod. "My laboratory is open to you. You are welcome to enter anytime."
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