"You?"
Herta had initially wanted to refute Fu Zhu's statement, but on second thought, she found what Fu Zhu said to be quite reasonable.
Since the Simulated Universe aimed to simulate Fu Zhu's hometown, then aside from the unique elements of his hometown, it must also incorporate memories related to his hometown.
Just like how the Aeon of [Remembrance], Fuli, gathers all sorts of memories precisely to reconstruct worlds.
Memory is proof of existence, and Fu Zhu's memories could similarly serve as another way to validate its existence.
"You're right. It seems I've fallen into a cognitive trap, forgetting about that aspect."
Having solved the puzzle, Herta was instantly excited. She eagerly went forward to operate the Simulated Universe machine, then turned her head and urged Fu Zhu without looking back.
"Come on, prepare to interface with the Simulated Universe!"
Fu Zhu naturally wouldn't refuse this proposal. Firstly, he wanted to repay Herta's kindness for gifting him the Wind Glider. Secondly, he was also curious about a simulated MC. He wanted to see what kind of world a genius like Herta could simulate.
Fu Zhu stepped forward and, following Herta's instructions, put on a pair of technologically advanced-looking glasses.
"Preparing for interface, 3, 2, 1!"
The next moment, Fu Zhu suddenly felt his body lighten. By the time he reacted, he had already appeared in a purely white space, and floating before him was the game main menu he saw when he opened MC.
Slightly different was that the original MC main menu had options for Single Player and Multiplayer, whereas here, there was only one option: Create World.
Before Fu Zhu could make a move, Herta also entered this space. She stood beside Fu Zhu, frowning as she scanned the surroundings.
"There's nothing... The system isn't reporting any errors, nor is there any prompt indicating a successful simulation. It's just continuously running... What went wrong again?"
Fu Zhu glanced at Herta with some surprise. The MC main menu was so obviously floating in front of him, yet she couldn't see it?
Or perhaps... only Steve could see this?
Fu Zhu hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pressed the Create World button on the MC menu.
Herta noticed Fu Zhu's action and asked curiously.
"What are you doing? Suddenly reaching out..."
Herta's words were cut short as, all of a sudden, the pure white space began to change.
Starting from the first grass block that appeared beneath Fu Zhu's feet, it rapidly expanded outwards in concentric circles. In just the blink of an eye, it had stretched out for tens of thousands of blocks.
Then, the flat land began to rise, forming rolling mountain ranges and hills.
Saplings sprouted on the grass, growing into tall trees in a matter of breaths. Next came various creatures: pigs, cows, sheep, chickens...
Herta's eyes widened in amazement at the scene unfolding before her. Even as a genius from the Genius Society, whose knowledge and power surpassed 99.9999% of intelligent life in the entire cosmos, this was the first time she had personally witnessed the creation of a world.
And all of this originated from the man beside her!
Herta turned her head. Due to her height, she could only look up at Fu Zhu, who maintained his outstretched hand posture. His face was expressionless, like a creator god meticulously constructing his personal paradise.
She couldn't help but murmur softly.
"Fu Zhu, who are you?"
"What are you talking about?"
Fu Zhu snapped back to reality and looked down in confusion at Herta's puppet.
Just now, after he had tapped the Create World option, the system, which had been silent all along except for necessary pop-up window reminders, had also chimed in.
[Generating world....]
Its prompt was identical to when creating a world in MC. This made Fu Zhu stare at the prompt, lost in thought for a moment, and consequently, he heard Herta's murmur.
"No, nothing."
Herta immediately reverted to her usual cold and arrogant tone. It wasn't a problem; she wanted answers to everything.
Especially the question she had just asked. The answer to that question was probably something even Nous, who could compute all things, couldn't solve, right?
So, if she could solve it?
Wouldn't that prove she was even more formidable than Nous?
A slight smile involuntarily tugged at the corners of Herta's lips. She seemed... suddenly intrigued.
By both the question itself, and Fu Zhu.
Otherwise, why not just teleport her main body over and keep Fu Zhu in captivity? What's the big deal about promising him various benefits to keep him by her side? That way, she could study him every day!
Of course, this was just a fleeting thought. She hadn't reached that level of derangement yet, unless she could think of a way to make Fu Zhu stay willingly.
Otherwise, forcibly detaining him would only lead to unpleasantness between both parties.
Just as Herta and Fu Zhu exchanged these few simple sentences, the world creation was complete.
Fu Zhu looked at the familiar blocky-style world around him, feeling as if he were playing VR My World. It all felt like it had come back!
Herta glanced around. Apart from the environmental style being consistent with the blocks Fu Zhu used, she hadn't noticed anything particularly unusual for the time being. She turned her head again to question Fu Zhu.
"Next... what should we do?"
Fu Zhu shrugged, stretched lazily, and felt completely relaxed.
"In this world, you can do whatever you want. This world is vast enough to accommodate all things."
Herta nodded, seemingly understanding yet not fully grasping it. Her gaze fell upon the grass block at her feet.
"Since it's come to this... let's start researching."
Seeing Herta crouch down directly and begin to touch the grass block on the ground, Fu Zhu simply took out his phone, preparing to contact March 7th and the others.
Unfortunately, in this simulated MC, there was absolutely no signal. Forget making calls, even sending a message was impossible.
Although Fu Zhu had many novel ideas he wanted to try out in this simulated MC, he didn't want his companions to worry for too long.
"Herta, since the Simulated Universe is successful, I'll be leaving first."
Fu Zhu intended to leave the Simulated Universe first. There would be plenty of time later. After settling matters on the Xianzhou, he could always come back to the Herta Space Station to research the Simulated Universe.
"No way!"
Herta, who was still analyzing the composition of the grass block, immediately stood up when she heard Fu Zhu was leaving. She wrapped her arms directly around his arm, her face full of reluctance.
"No, you can't leave! Please!"
"It's no use even if you beg."
Fu Zhu's face was etched with exasperation. "I've already helped you solve the problem of the Simulated Universe failing. Can't you just handle the rest yourself? I still need to return to the Xianzhou Luofu to meet up with March 7th and the others!"
Herta's puppet pouted and said bluntly, "Are they three-year-olds? Will they die if you're not around for a day or two? You have your own life too, you can't possibly be by their side all the time!"
"You mean, the content of my own life is to be by your side?"
"Are you being a contrarian? Is that what I meant! Though the content itself isn't bad."
Fu Zhu disdainfully made an interstellar gesture of goodwill towards her, then irritably explained why he was at the Herta Space Station and why he was in such a hurry to return.
"Listen, our Astral Express got into a fight with a Lord Ravager on the Luofu. I died, and then, for some reason, I revived at the Herta Space Station. March 7th and the others still don't know I'm not dead. That's why I'm in a hurry to go back, understand?"
Herta blinked, looking Fu Zhu up and down.
"You can revive? And you revived at the space station from so many light-years away? Did you perhaps receive the blessing of [Abundance]?"
"How did you know?"
Fu Zhu was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Herta to guess one of the reasons for his revival.
Herta scoffed dismissively.
"Apart from that, I can't think of any other explanation for your long-distance resurrection. It could only be the great power of [Abundance] that revived you."
Herta paused slightly here, then looked at Fu Zhu and remarked with feeling.
"You really resemble this world."
"What do you mean?" Fu Zhu was a bit confused.
"Just as you said yourself, this world can accommodate all sorts of things and possibilities. You're the same, able to accommodate so many Paths. Truly wondrous."
Fu Zhu merely shrugged with his eyes closed, not feeling particularly proud of this. He believed that no single person would be bound by just one Path.
Just like a person walking the Path of [Elation], they are merely pursuing joy; it doesn't mean that this person only has [Elation].
"Alright, since you've put it that way, it wouldn't be right for me to keep you."
After hearing Fu Zhu's explanation, Herta didn't continue to try and make him stay. After all, he still needed to go back and report to his companions.
What if, later on, Welt and the others returned to find Fu Zhu had been kept by her at the Herta Space Station researching the Simulated Universe, and that's why he couldn't report his safety? The Astral Express might just dismantle the Herta Space Station!
"Alright, I'm off then. We'll chat again when we have time."
Fu Zhu nodded. Just as he was about to exit the Simulated Universe, Herta suddenly reached out and stopped him.
"Wait a moment."
Fu Zhu turned back to look at Herta, puzzled.
Herta, smiling radiantly, proposed a deal to Fu Zhu.
"I want to make a deal with you. After your trip to the Luofu ends, the Astral Express will inevitably have a period of rest and maintenance. At that time, could you come to the Herta Space Station to assist me in researching the Simulated Universe? I plan to invite a few more geniuses over to collaborate on this research during this period. How could we possibly miss out on you? As for the reward... you can name your price when the time comes."
"Is that offer genuine?"
Fu Zhu suddenly narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Herta's puppet from top to bottom.
"To be honest, I'm quite curious about your true form. There are quite a few rumors on the space station saying your age exceeds three digits. So you... you wouldn't happen to be an old granny using a puppet's transformation device to communicate with me, right?!"
"Shut up!"