After a night of tinkering, Ryan had finally gotten familiar with his abilities.
Of course, for Ryan, the time investment was nothing.
He could now receive feedback from the outside world at any time—meaning a 3D projection of Herta’s entire residence would constantly refresh in his mind.
Including exactly how many little Herta dolls there were—he could see them all clearly, like having a god’s-eye view.
Checking the time on his phone, he realized he hadn’t slept from yesterday afternoon until this afternoon.
The bloodshot eyes said it all.
But this was nothing new to him.
Back in the lab, he’d once gone three days with only four hours of sleep.
The only problem was he was hungry.
Thirsty.
And his eyes hurt.
“Almost blinded myself.”
In his vision, every collision between positive and negative charges produced a faint halo of light.
He’d accidentally let a whole bunch of negative and positive charges collide, and then the world went white…
Ryan floated down from the air and tried to stretch his limbs—only to stumble and collapse onto the bed.
“Can’t even walk straight anymore…”
A wry smile mixed with resignation appeared on his face.
“This is like getting an early taste of what it feels like returning to Earth from space…”
After his brief lament, he headed to the bathroom and quickly freshened up.
Even the toothbrush and cup here were Herta-themed.
He picked up the purple-laced lab coat from the bed.
The style wasn’t just similar to Herta’s—it was identical, with only the size being different.
Ding-a-ling!
Ryan opened his phone.
A message from Herta.
Herta: You awake?
Come here first — [location pin].
Actually, the moment the message was sent, Ryan’s mind had already automatically generated a 3D map of the location.
Ryan: Awake.
Be right there.
He stepped out of the room, confirmed the route, and whoosh—disappeared.
In less than half a minute, he was standing before the Herta doll.
“Under half a minute—faster than a flying carpet, and that’s including going the wrong way at first.”
“Just applied a little electromagnetic trick. The wrong turn was because two rooms were too close together and I couldn’t tell them apart.”
“How’d you do it?”
Ryan grinned.
“A strong positive electric field and a weak negative field create an electric field gradient. Its interaction with my body’s own charge lets me move faster.”
The Herta doll nodded with interest and asked: “What’s your top speed?”
“Don’t know. But if I go too fast, I might spontaneously combust.”
Ryan answered quickly.
Herta was thinking—his speed just now had reached about 98 meters per second.
So where was his limit?
The Herta doll crossed her arms, her purple eyes carrying a hint of scrutiny.
“You went the wrong way just now even with the location pin. That means you weren’t looking at the map—you were navigating some other way?”
Ryan didn’t plan to hide it.
Trying to be clever in front of this genius would probably get him seen through anyway.
“That’s right. Last night I… developed my abilities a bit. I can now emit and receive specific electromagnetic waves to construct a complete real-time 3D map of my surroundings in my mind. The entire layout of this residence—wall thicknesses, hidden conduits, even…”
He paused, seemingly confirming something, then continued: “Even exactly how many medium-sized robots are active—I can see them all clearly. 127 total, right? Three maintaining the garden, five cleaning the east wing corridor, and a dozen or so distributed throughout the various labs…”
The Herta doll listened quietly, her expression unchanged, but her purple eyes narrowed slightly, and the corner of her lips curved into what might have been a smile.
“Oh? A humanoid walking radar with real-time modeling?”
Her tone was impossible to read—but carried intense interest.
“Using electromagnetic wave feedback to perceive your environment. The principle holds up. Your application of vector analysis and field theory appears to go deeper than I expected.”
She walked a few steps closer, examining him with great interest—like looking at a machine.
“So you’re telling me you now know my territory better than I do?”
Ryan immediately deflected.
That phrasing was dangerous.
“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m more familiar with it. I can only see the structural layout. I can’t tell what specific rooms are used for.”
Ryan’s words carried some credibility.
He’d only gained his abilities yesterday and had already developed practical applications overnight.
A normal person wouldn’t even know where to begin.
This at least proved his knowledge was genuine.
Though simple tricks like this would only make Herta think…
acceptable.
Not treat him like an idiot.
“By the way, thanks for reminding me. I just remembered—I left one of my dolls in the storage room and forgot to bring her out.”
With that, the Herta doll went offline, then quickly came back online—clearly having activated the doll in storage.
Listening to the doll’s words, Ryan instinctively used his ability to closely “observe” the doll’s internal structure before him.
Electromagnetic perception penetrated the surface, and the feedback made him secretly gasp.
“Oh damn. Simulated bioelectric signals and micro-current neural conduction networks?”
“Classic perfectionist Herta. I thought this was just a high-end robot. Didn’t expect it to be practically a bio-android—this realistic.”
“Wait, does that mean…”
A flash of curiosity that wasn’t exactly in line with proper research ethics crossed his mind—but reason quickly suppressed it.
Some risks aren’t worth taking, no matter how curious you are.
At that moment, the Herta doll seemed to receive new instructions and turned, gesturing: “Follow me. Madam Herta is waiting in the main laboratory.”
Ryan refocused and hurried to follow.
In his mind, the optimal route to the main lab automatically appeared, while he silently “observed” the complex electromagnetic fields emitted by the various precision instruments along the way.
They passed through several bright corridors before arriving at a large door, which slid open silently to reveal the vast interior.
The main laboratory’s scale far exceeded Ryan’s imagination.
Countless devices he couldn’t name operated silently.
Several massive holographic projections floated in the center, displaying complex star charts and mathematical models.
And Herta herself stood at a control console with her back to them, adjusting parameters.
The escorting doll delivered him and then walked off in another direction.
Herta turned around, still in her familiar attire, her purple eyes settling on Ryan.
“I heard you were busy last night and even took the liberty of scanning my entire property.”
Well, busted…