Bai Ming chuckled at Silver Wolf's response.
She had envisioned several possible reactions, but this one was truly unexpected.
Judging by the expression on Silver Wolf's face, the girl must have run through some internal logic before arriving at that conclusion.
However, since she didn't voice her thought process, the answer seemed a bit of a leap to Bai Ming.
Of course, a leap was perfectly fine. Bai Ming wasn't one to sweat the small details, and it was a good thing for Silver Wolf to be fired up.
While she had her share of rivals as a hacker, she had always lacked an opponent who also used Aether Editing.
Facing someone trained in the same techniques—essentially from the same master—was the best way to identify and fix her own shortcomings.
Bai Ming reached out and scooped Silver Wolf up from the ground. The girl was small, but not frail; she felt quite nice to hold.
"Of course you can. I believe in you. But keep in mind, your opponent won't be standing still either, so the pressure is on."
Instead of being intimidated, Silver Wolf felt a surge of excitement.
Since leaving Punklorde, she had been searching for a goal.
Following Bai Ming wasn't a goal—it was her life. But outside of that life, she hadn't decided what she actually wanted to do.
Now, Silver Wolf had left a beacon with Bai Ming; she could find her whenever she wished.
Once her initial longing had been soothed, she no longer had a reason to cling to Bai Ming's side every second. She simply hadn't moved on because she didn't know what else to do.
But now...
While it might not be a lifelong ambition, Silver Wolf decided to treat this person as a stage boss to be conquered.
She would defeat that Stellaron Hunter named Silverwing in a fair fight and then mock her right back! Silver Wolf silently added this to her grudge list.
As for Bai Ming... watching how Silver Wolf held a grudge, she silently resolved to keep her "Silverwing" persona tightly under wraps.
If Silver Wolf ever found out, she wouldn't be nearly this easy to coax back to good spirits.
Silver Wolf's fighting spirit was fully ignited. She had already begun discussing the most efficient leveling plan with the Simulated Universe.
To say she was enthusiastic would be an understatement. Perhaps it was because Bai Ming's prior interventions had turned what should have been a "Hell Mode" starting zone into a walk in the park.
Now that she'd finally encountered a boss that looked genuinely challenging, her gamer's soul was on fire.
To win, the young girl was even willing to share all her data—excluding personal privacy—with the Simulated Universe, hoping its calculations could derive the perfect strategy for her.
As for the Simulated Universe itself... it had been built for the sake of derivation long before it gained sentience.
Though no one forced that responsibility upon her after she became independent, the Simulated Universe remained passionate about it.
Furthermore, she hadn't even achieved one hundred percent control over her own body yet.
If you wanted to know why, you'd have to ask Bai Ming, who had been bold enough to use Fuli's power to turn this small world into a closed loop. No matter how you looked at it, the Simulated Universe was a realm sealed by the Remembrance.
Gaining total, absolute mastery over it wasn't something even the Simulated Universe could manage in a short time.
Thus, she constantly sought answers from within, engaging in frequent self-dialogue to fully digest the legacy left by Bai Ming and the others.
Once that was done, she was confident she could truly analyze an Aeon.
Regarding the Simulated Universe's proactivity, Herta and Bai Ming had considered that testers wouldn't be available at all times, so they had left several of their own "slices" inside.
This meant the Simulated Universe no longer required someone to manually log in to simulate; it was calculating the cosmos and deriving the Aeons twenty-four hours a day.
Its current data output efficiency was leagues beyond what it used to be.
If there was one negative side effect, it was that there was no longer any chance of an Aeon's true form popping out to cause trouble like before.
After all, Nous had anchored the Simulated Universe as a "Genius," effectively sealing off the possibility of future accidents.
Bai Ming suspected that Nous had intervened so decisively precisely to curb such unpleasant possibilities. Regardless, she had no complaints.
She had no desire to witness a second attempt at the resurrection of Propagation or Order.
In short, Silver Wolf had found a temporary goal and intended to work hard for it. Bai Ming didn't need to interfere for the time being.
She just had to maintain her Silverwing persona and play the role of the rival.
Bai Ming didn't have much else on her plate.
The research she wanted Herta to look into wasn't urgent, so she took the data she had prepared—along with a secret stash of Kiana's "dark history"—and sent it all toward the Solar System.
--+--
On the other side, the original Kiana sensed the emergence of another power of Finality and knew Bai Ming had arrived.
Kiana had previously wondered if Bai Ming had missed becoming Finality due to a "bad signal," but even now, as that power appeared in the Solar System, the usual process didn't trigger.
This left Kiana utterly baffled.
Strange as it was, Kiana tucked away the storage device and asked, "Aren't you coming over to hang out this time?"
"...Didn't you say you can't return to Earth yet?"
Kiana scratched her head awkwardly.
That was true. The other woman was now brimming with the power of Finality; like her, Bai Ming couldn't step foot on Earth and had to stay elsewhere.
There really wouldn't be anywhere to "play." Wandering around the Moon or Mars was a bit dull.
She couldn't very well have Bai Ming come all this way just to introduce her to Mei and Bronya, could she?
Still, Kiana knew a thing or two about hospitality. "Right, I can't yet, hehe... maybe in a while. I'll let you know when the coast is clear?"
"It's a deal then. Remember to notify me. Also, make sure you give that hard drive to Bronya first."
Bai Ming's oddly specific reminder made Kiana scratch her head again. Did that really need a reminder?
While there were other people she could give it to, Kiana would obviously go to Bronya first.
After all, Bronya was the only one on the Moon right now. Kiana figured Bai Ming had prepared some of those high-tech games from the other world that Bronya was looking forward to.
Since Originium was essentially a crystallization of Elation, it wasn't safe to send over, but copying a game collection was no problem. She just wondered how many games Bai Ming had packed in there.
Kiana didn't even consider the possibility of her own embarrassing past being in there. "Got it, got it. It's just that big game collection we talked about, right? I'll give it to Bronya first."
"Mhm~"
The corners of Bai Ming's mouth curled up slightly. Besides the games, she hoped Bronya would enjoy that special little surprise.
"Hehe, I'll recommend a few games to Bronya that she'll definitely love. Bye-bye!"
Kiana waved and vanished through space, returning to the Moon in an instant.
At the lunar base, Mei had returned to Earth for a mission, but Bronya had stayed behind.
She was mostly curious about the data and games from the other world. Although she maintained a calm facade, her intense gaze completely betrayed her excitement.
Kiana grinned and placed a palm-sized storage device on the table. "Here, everything's inside. Bai Ming said she made something special so it can link directly with our equipment."
Bronya didn't even stop to tease Kiana this time.
She reached out, picked up the slightly heavy device, and plugged it into the prepared interface. Without waiting for Kiana to speak, she began scrolling through the contents at lightning speed.
Skip the tech files... Game Collection! Wait... is there another folder? Bronya's keen eyes caught a specifically marked folder and she opened it.
In an instant, a flurry of chaotic but vivid recordings of Kiana filled the screen. After watching just the beginning, Bronya could barely suppress her smirk.
She could guess exactly what the rest of that long progress bar contained.
What a pity Mei wasn't here. If she were, they could have had a public screening—a total "public execution" for Kiana.
Since it was just the two of them, Bronya felt a public broadcast would waste the surprise.
She decided to watch it in secret first, copy the files to take back to Earth to share with Mei, and then find the perfect moment to "let" Kiana discover the folder.
Oh, the expression on Kiana's face then would be priceless.
Bronya pursed her lips, daydreaming about that glorious scene.
She quickly closed the window and switched back to the game collection folder, all while secretly initiating a background copy of the files. She planned to savor them later.
Kiana, still oblivious to what Bronya had seen, leaned over. Seeing the screen filled with games, she assumed Bronya's smile was simply due to the vast alien library.
Very quickly, a packaged file was sent to Mei's terminal on Earth. The note said nothing specific, only that it was "good stuff" and Mei should watch it immediately.
Mei, who happened to be on a break, looked at the sender with confusion.
Wasn't Bronya supposed to be waiting for the games and data from the other world?
"Bronya? What 'good stuff' is she sending me at a time like this?"
With a curious heart, she downloaded and extracted the file.
Seeing it was a video, Mei felt even more puzzled.
She pressed play. As Kiana's figure appeared on the screen, Mei burst into laughter.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL