After Feixiao left, Lingsha once again stepped forward to pour tea for Ruan Mei.
"Madam Ruan Mei, if you have free time, please do visit my humble abode again as a guest. I will surely receive you well."
Herta snatched the teacup and drained it in one gulp, her tone casual.
"No time!! She still has to research the Starcrusher Swarm King. How could she possibly have time for a place like this?"
Lingsha froze, instinctively looking at Ruan Mei. Her gaze now held an indescribable shock.
"The Starcrusher Swarm King?!"
Herta resumed her usual absolute confidence.
"An Emanator of a fallen Path. Explaining further would be wasted on you. The gap between geniuses and mortals is, after all, far too vast."
Lingsha gritted her teeth, brow furrowing slightly.
Don't get angry, don't get angry. In mere seconds, she had composed herself again.
"Then... until we meet again."
Ruan Mei nodded slightly and headed for the door. As Bailu was about to leave, she made sure to pack up the uneaten pastries on the table.
Watching their retreating figures, Lingsha couldn't help but sigh softly.
"I thought I might have found a kindred spirit. Instead, an invisible wall separates us—the gap far wider than I ever imagined."
"But that Starcrusher Swarm King... could it be an existence like Shuhu?"
---
Just as they stepped out of the Alchemy Commission, Herta casually waved her hand. Her magic key instantly dragged several alchemists out from hiding.
"Speak. Why were you following us?"
The alchemists paled in terror, instinctively looking toward Bailu.
"We... we were just passing through!"
"Yes, exactly! Just passing by!"
Herta yawned and casually annihilated them.
"We are the Dragon—AHH!!"
In their dying moments, the alchemists revealed their true forms as Abundance remnants. They barely rose before being erased once more.
Bailu looked up at Herta, confused.
"Herta, they didn't even finish talking! They didn't confess anything. Why did you erase them all?"
"Growing a conscience, Vidyadhara Dragon Lady?"
"I couldn't possibly pity those creeps! But at least let them finish their sentences!"
Herta waved a hand dismissively.
"With your intelligence? Sigh."
"I'm in no mood to return to the Alchemy Commission today because of a certain someone."
"On my last day before leaving the Luofu, I'll drop by and take care of that Dragonfang for you."
Bailu's eyes went wide in disbelief.
"Ah?! Not handing him over to the Six Commissions for trial? Letting due process run its course and locking him in the Shackling Prison?"
Herta crossed her arms.
"That's your Alliance's internal affair. I'm not part of the Alliance."
Bailu fell silent, head bowed.
The Dragonfang who had tormented her for centuries had always evaded justice. Even General Jing Yuan, considering the Vidyadhara, chose to turn a blind eye.
And now, Herta was saying she'd casually eliminate the Dragonfang before leaving the Luofu—to avenge her.
Bailu's expression softened.
"Madam Herta is truly great."
"That Dragonfang bullied me for hundreds of years. Now I'll never again be dragged back to that manor where I was all alone, isolated and helpless."
Herta tapped Bailu's head.
"If anyone on the Luofu bullies you again, just drop mine and Ruan Mei's names."
"Mm!"
---
When the three returned to the Star-Gazing Terrace, they found Wisteria Cake slowly approaching Ruan Mei Cake.
"Wisteria Cake. Please control yourself."
"Control myself? Control what? Do I, Wisteria Cake, need to control myself?! I'm not like Herta, just standing there tsundere and making faces while accomplishing nothing!"
"You!!"
"What 'you'? Even if Machine Head showed up today, they couldn't save you!"
Ruan Mei covered Bailu's eyes and cast a cool glance at Herta.
Herta gritted her teeth and stepped forward to separate them.
Wisteria Cake blinked.
"Madam Herta? And... Madam Ruan Mei? You... why are you back so early today?!"
Ruan Mei Cake hid behind Ruan Mei. Herta's expression darkened.
"Wisteria Cake! What do you think you're doing?"
"I was merely acting upon the most essential characteristics of life. Conducting an experiment."
Herta's face fell. She summoned her magic key, ready to teach Wisteria Cake a lesson.
Wisteria Cake looked at Herta without fear.
"When you were dreaming last night, it was Ruan Mei and—"
Herta sealed Wisteria Cake mid-sentence, successfully preventing the rest.
"Be quiet! Ruan Mei, this creation of yours has serious issues."
Ruan Mei remained perfectly calm.
"To be precise, Wisteria Cake resembles you."
"Impossible! This creature is utterly lawless. I may be arrogant, but I have limits!"
Ruan Mei simply walked past Herta with Ruan Mei Cake.
Back in her room, she spoke to Ruan Mei Cake alone.
"What happened between you and Wisteria Cake while we were gone?"
"Well, Wisteria Cake and I were discussing the Simulated Universe. Soon the conversation turned to Yu Qingtu's cocktail mixing."
Ruan Mei offered Ruan Mei Cake a pastry.
"And then you started talking about Yu Qingtu?"
"Mm! I mentioned that Yu Qingtu was the one who introduced Ruan Mei and Herta. Wisteria Cake suddenly became incoherent."
"She started rambling about how if there were a Yu Qingtu Cake, what would our relationship be? And how she, Wisteria Cake, was the third cake or something."
"And then... well... you saw what happened."
Ruan Mei pondered this. Hmm. She hadn't created a Yu Qingtu Cake, had she?
[Why not give it a try?] ♪
"That would be difficult. I don't have any life-spiral data on Yu Qingtu. She never let me observe or preserve any."
[Ah, I see. By the way, will Herta end up like Wisteria Cake? And what about your confession?] ♪
Ruan Mei fell silent. So this is the so-called legacy of Elysium?!
---
At the same time, outside, Herta had gotten the gist from Wisteria Cake.
Wisteria Cake looked at her with proud aloofness, dissatisfied.
"Herta, don't blame me. I've been helping you all along, and you keep messing things up."
"I?! I mess things up?!"
"You need to understand: Yu Qingtu came first. If Yu Qingtu returns, you won't stand a chance. If a Yu Qingtu Cake appears, neither will I. Got it?!"
Herta gritted her teeth.
"Don't talk nonsense. I... I'm no worse than Yu Qingtu!"
Wisteria Cake flicked her tail.
"It's not about being worse or better. It's about the white moonlight returning. Your chances dwindle."
Herta blinked, puzzled.
"White moonlight? What does that mean? I've never heard of it."
Wisteria Cake handed Herta a book explaining the term.
"Here. I learned it from this book."
Herta skimmed through it and grasped the general meaning.
(T/N: White moonlight refers to an unforgettable first love.)
Wisteria Cake was right. Neither Asta, nor Fu Xuan, nor Tingyun could compare to Yu Qingtu.
"Where did you get this book?"
"From Peppy."
"Peppy?! Asta's Peppy?!"
"Yes! Back at the space station, when you and Ruan Mei ignored us,"
"Asta would have Peppy bring us books she'd read—to help pass the time."