Chapter 295: Crown of the Mundane and Divine 『 Part Nine 』
「 Stelle held her bat horizontally before her, knuckles turning white from the force of her grip. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the impact that was surely coming—
However, nothing happened.
There was no deafening explosion, no searing pain tearing through her body, not even the slightest gust of wind pressure. There was only an eerie, spine-chilling silence.
Stelle slowly opened her eyes.
The Swarm King hovered in mid-air, its colossal frame convulsing at an unnatural frequency. The blue light upon its carapace flickered dim and bright, resembling a lightbulb with a faulty connection.
Stelle stared blankly at the scene before her. The body of the Swarm King began to collapse at a rate visible to the naked eye; its form shrank rapidly until it finally dissolved into countless tiny motes of light, vanishing without a trace into the air.
The True Stings that had split off from its body perished along with it, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
"In 56 seconds, it will become unable to sustain its own existence and will completely annihilate, as if it had never been born."
On the second-floor platform, the man with the plaster head watched everything unfolding below with a cold detachment. Upon confirming the Swarm King was thoroughly dead, he let out a cold sneer and left the area without looking back. 」
「 ..... 」
〜One Piece World〜
The Holy Land, Mary Geoise—
"56 seconds? A guy of that level deserves to be called an Emanator? That lass Stelle didn't even pull out the flaming lance; that wasn't even enough of a warm-up to be satisfying."
Ryokugyu casually set his sake bowl down across the table, the vines sprouting from his fingers retracting lazily:
"…And all that talk about 'blooming with unprecedented life.' I saw the 'blooming' alright, but the 'withering' happened a bit too fast, didn't it? Speaking of which… did that woman Ruan Mei exaggerate things?"
Fujitora gently rubbed the hilt of his shikomizue, lost in thought:
"Perhaps this Emanator was merely one of her failed experiments. Not only its lifespan, but its power as well must have been significantly discounted."
After watching the entire Emanator battle on the Xianzhou, Fujitora had formed a preliminary judgment regarding the combat capabilities of Emanators—an Emanator fighting in earnest was absolutely an existence capable of destroying a civilization.
Yet this bug, let alone destroying a civilization, its battle with Stelle hadn't even managed to attract the notice of Herta or Screwllum. It seemed that not only was its vitality severely compromised, but its strength had been whittled down to almost nothing.
But this was also a good thing. Whether out of concern for Stelle's safety or the lives of those innocent researchers on the Space Station, Fujitora did not wish for an Emanator of 『 Propagation 』 possessing one hundred percent of its power to make a move—even if it meant he would miss out on a spectacular battle between Emanators.
Ryokugyu narrowed his eyes, looking back up at the sky curtain:
"Ruan Mei knew this bug's power was incomplete, but why didn't she tell Stelle this news in advance? Was it because of a lack of trust?"
"She said she doesn't trust anyone other than herself."
Fujitora nodded.
"Although this lady is skilled in research, she seems rather insensitive to matters of human emotion."
"Tsk… no wonder those two 'dear' were said so nonchalantly."
Ryokugyu clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
"Compared to her, Screwllum is actually the most human of the three geniuses… even though that guy is a robot."
—
「 Stelle arrived at the platform and found Ruan Mei once again.
The meeting of geniuses had concluded. The results were unimportant to her; what mattered was the situation on Stelle's end.
Seeing Stelle's stern expression, Ruan Mei paused for a moment. She lowered her eyelashes, the cold light of the platform casting faint shadows across her face: "From the look of you… You're angry, aren't you? I'm sorry, I have no defense to offer. To this day, my experiments have failed countless times, and the outcomes are always within my expectations."
"I created a replica, but the distance between it and that Emanator… remains ultimately unreachable."
"You didn't have to hide it from me," Stelle said huffily.
"How should I explain it to you? I am not adept at communicating with others…" Ruan Mei's tone remained faint. "Constrained by time and location, its life sequence could only be considered a semi-finished product. I reproduced the moment of its birth, but very quickly, it would dissolve into particles."
"An insignificant step—an answer exactly as predicted."
"But it almost ate me." Stelle was getting angrier.
"I said that if you encountered insurmountable danger, I would intervene to strike it down." Ruan Mei shook her head gently. "In fact, I do not like everything to proceed exactly as I have planned. An experiment without variables is tedious."
However, in this story that Ruan Mei viewed as arriving right on schedule, there was indeed a pleasant surprise: the little ones she had originally deemed "failures."
They possess emotions, which is moving. The manifestation of emotion may be positive or it may be negative. But within that, the love rooted in the bottom of the heart is an eternal constant.
They are still far from being geniuses, and thus cannot distinguish whether this love is friendship, familial affection, or romantic love. But for Ruan Mei, she too cannot do so… nor does she understand what "love" is, and she has no way to respond to their feelings. 」
「 ..... 」
〜Demon Slayer World〜
"Is this the flaw of a genius…?"
Kocho Shinobu gently set down her teacup. gazing at Ruan Mei's somewhat lonely figure on the sky curtain, she sighed softly:
"Despite possessing the most brilliant mind in the universe, she cannot understand the most basic of human emotions. It's like a double-edged sword, pushing her further away from people, yet bringing her closer to her own goals."
Kanroji Mitsuri blinked, her pink and green hair swaying gently as she tilted her head:
"Eh… then is this a good thing or a bad thing? For a genius scholar like Miss Ruan Mei, it should be a good thing, right?"
"But for the little ones she cultivated, it is not a good thing."
Speaking of this, Kocho Shinobu's expression turned somewhat melancholic. The Critter Pick created by Ruan Mei reminded her of the stray cats she used to feed with her older sister when she was young. Her sister's personality was the complete opposite of Ruan Mei's; if a small animal rubbed against her leg, she would absolutely be unable to walk away.
Regrettably, after her sister was eaten by that demon with the folding fans, she had never seen the stray cats they used to feed again. Now, seeing the Critter Pick blinking its large eyes with such a pitiful look made her wish she could dive into the sky curtain and scoop it up in her arms.
Combining the cuteness of a cat, shedding no fur, and understanding human speech… it was simply the perfect pet!
—
「 "Stelle, in your eyes, did I do wrong?" Looking at Stelle, who seemed to want to speak but stopped herself, Ruan Mei smiled gently: "You don't need to tell me the answer. I was just… expressing a sentiment. How should they be cared for? Staying on the Space Station is perhaps the best choice."
"Furthermore, the effects of the anti-truth serum will soon wear off. In the future, if anyone mentions me, feel free to say whatever you like, or even say we never met."
"After all, the memories between us will soon dissipate like smoke." 」
「 ..... 」