o— “Is the tour already over?
Aww, I’ll never forget the space station for the rest of my life!” “It was amazing!
Even just the space elevator and the reception hall were filled with all sorts of high-tech stuff.
I didn’t understand any of it, but I was totally blown away.” “Not just on my planet, but across the entire universe, the Herta Space Station is a dream destination for countless top scholars.
If I could work here one day, I’d probably wake up laughing from my dreams.” “You just have to pass the selection process.
Participate in the station’s trials, defeat all the competitors on your planet, and prove you’re on par with applicants from other worlds, and you can become a researcher here, exploring the truths of the cosmos—Aww, it’s so hopeless, that’s way too hard!” The tourists in the reception hall took the space elevator, reluctant to leave the station that had already captured their hearts and minds.
In reality, they were already lucky ones, envied by many.
Not only had they passed the station’s review and been permitted to visit, but they also came from rather well-off backgrounds.
Ordinary people, and even those with both wealth and power in many planetary civilizations, couldn’t so easily achieve interstellar travel.
Even in the interstellar age, with technological support from factions like the Interastral Peace Corporation, one still had to pay a hefty sum to board a starship.
If a planet itself had not yet embraced the cosmos, even someone who received a visitor’s pass for the Herta Space Station could only gaze at the stars and sigh.
The station certainly wouldn’t arrange a special starship just to pick up visitors from planets not yet connected to interstellar travel routes.
Those who weren’t approved for a tour, or who lacked the means for interstellar travel, envied the visitors who came to the station.
The visitors, in turn, envied the researchers.
And the researchers envied their more capable colleagues…
This was a perfectly ordinary human emotion.
One could call it an insatiable desire, but it was also the drive for self-improvement.
Among Herta’s researchers, there were many who had never set foot on the station before their selection, who had pooled the resources of their entire family, and even many friends, just to afford the cost of the journey.
The tourists, the researchers, and even the failed applicants here—everyone has a story.
Even as Hua Yi left the office area and strolled through the station, he could see, through the isolation window of a plant cultivation room belonging to the Department of Star-Field Species, a notice that was full of story.
[WARNING!!!
The special plants cultivated here have not yet undergone complete safety testing.
Any unauthorized contact may lead to unpredictable consequences!
The following adverse reactions have been observed: Hallucinations, such as seeing little people with bubbles over their heads, an Aeon riding a Warp Trotter, a sky full of flying Credits, or snacks crawling all over the floor.
Sudden personality changes, commonly manifested as an impulse to reveal secrets to colleagues or superiors.
Identity confusion.
If you believe you are a rice cooker or an atomic pen, do not doubt it—you are in grave danger right now.
Confidently creating fabricated things, such as a non-existent warning and a list of made-up adverse reactions.] The description of the adverse reactions on the notice was incredibly vivid, especially the line “an Aeon riding a Warp Trotter,” which sparked endless curiosity.
Even Hua Yi couldn’t help but imagine it, combining the sentient celestial body with the pig-like, dimension-hopping creature in his mind, trying to picture what it would look like.
The Herta Space Station truly was open and tolerant.
Even though it revered the Aeon of Erudition and its financial backer, the Interastral Peace Corporation, was a follower of the Aeon of Preservation, the term “Aeon” was not subjected to strict limitations.
People could still let their minds run wild, give themselves wings of imagination, and grant an Aeon a peculiar steed.
This also demonstrated that the Aeons, who were like personified philosophical concepts, truly did not care how mortals in some corner of the sea of stars chose to portray them.
Otherwise, even if the crooked handwriting in the latter half of the notice proved the writer had become delirious, an Aeon would surely not allow text that damaged their image and dignity to remain for long.
[Given the plant’s dangerous nature, please move away immediately and seek help from the station if you experience any of the above adverse reactions or other abnormal situations!
Otherwise, you’ll…
you’ll become…
ah~…
just like me…
become…
a happy…
pen…
riding a Warp Trotter…
in this galaxy, catching the raining Credits…
and eating all the snacks that have grown legs…] Hua Yi examined the notice with an amused smile.
The person who wrote the warning was truly dedicated.
To prove the danger of the special plants within the isolation chamber, they had put themselves at risk, using facts to demonstrate the severe consequences of unauthorized contact.
The station’s Base Zone had a dedicated surveillance room, so this area wasn’t some forgotten corner hidden from the cameras.
Judging by the color of the sticky note, it had likely been there for some time.
Perhaps the Herta Space Station kept it as a more persuasive warning to deter any researchers who might think of acting rashly before the plant’s safety tests were complete.
But from another perspective, it also confirmed for Hua Yi just how unknowable the Aeons truly were.
Speculating wantonly about the Aeons was not a crime; in fact, it was a common research method for many scholars.
For mortals to even begin to comprehend such sentient celestial bodies, they could only make inferences based on scant clues or even缥缈 and unverifiable legends.
The station’s choice not to deliberately remove a researcher’s note, allowing “an Aeon riding a Warp Trotter” to capture the imagination of onlookers, was proof enough that such an offense was inconsequential.
It was precisely for this reason that an unexpected glance from a lofty and distant Aeon was considered such a great blessing.
Otherwise, if one could attract the attention of a mysterious, higher being simply by making up stories about them, the universe would surely have no shortage of madmen willing to risk their lives.
So, if in the future I use Imaginary Energy to simulate the power of a Path, borrow its wonders when necessary, or even change things through the influence of certain Aeon factions in the universe…
they probably wouldn’t mind, right?
Hua Yi felt reassured.
His next step was to use the boundless knowledge of the Department of Lumina Archives and the Herta Space Station as his foundation, observing the truths of the cosmos so that he could properly utilize his talent with the Imaginary within the framework of its rules.
Oil and water are both liquids, but if you confuse the two without understanding them and pour them on a fire, the results are completely different.
If one viewed Imaginary Energy as the broad category of “liquids,” then the differences between one Path and another were like those between oil and water.
The properties of the latter have been thoroughly analyzed, but the study of the former remains shrouded in mist.
In this, Hua Yi’s philosophy aligned with that of the Department of Lumina Archives, and indeed, the entire Herta Space Station.
He was simply seeking the truth.
—o—