But now that won't be necessary.
If they cooperate, then it becomes a trade.
If they don't...
With this many geniuses involved, we'll simply take it by force.
With so many members of the Genius Society working toward the same goal, the Garden of Recollection won't have much room to resist.
Even their Emanators wouldn't be able to stop us.
This is only a minor matter.
I just need to settle on a time with you so everyone can coordinate.
Ruan Mei and Stephen also changed their positions recently.
It seems the Garden of Recollection has something they urgently need as well.
Herta shrugged.
It's no surprise that Ruan Mei is interested.
But Stephen joining in is rather unusual.
At that moment, Herta looked exactly like the leader of some interstellar bandit crew planning a grand robbery.
Lin Yi was deeply shaken.
Bring back the real Herta.
And Stephen too.
Such a good, honest kid...
Now even he had gone astray.
Lin Yi could not help asking,
Why is Stephen involved in this?
The last honest child is gone now.
It must be Aha's fault.
Anyone who spends too much time around Aha eventually becomes strange.
Herta replied calmly,
I don't know why Stephen suddenly wants to participate.
But he must want something.
With his extreme social anxiety, there's no way he would willingly leave his house otherwise.
Even Herta herself did not know the reason.
Stephen's research topics were not something she pried into.
And Stephen never volunteered to talk about them.
Under normal circumstances, someone like him would never take part in an operation like this.
After answering, Herta glanced sideways at Lin Yi.
To borrow your own words—
Those near vermilion become red; those near ink become black.
So tell me.
Who do people spend more time around?
Aha?
Or you?
Who exactly corrupted everyone's style?
And who is the ink here?
Lin Yi coughed awkwardly.
Ahem...
That isn't important.
As for timing...
I need the next two months to sort out a few things.
After that, I'm free.
So let's discuss the real matter, shall we?
At the mention of the real matter, Herta fell silent.
Then she glanced toward the massive device in the center of the laboratory.
If I want to explain this properly...
I'll have to start from a long time ago.
Here's what happened.
A Long Time Ago
Herta, Screwllum, and Lin Yi were carrying out the final pre-launch debugging of the Simulated Universe.
As for Ruan Mei—
She was occupied with some extremely important private research and had no time to join them.
The data required to construct the Simulated Universe was enormous.
But there was a problem.
Herta frowned.
There's a mountain of data here.
But most of it is useless junk.
Redundant. Repetitive. Meaningless.
Truly valuable information—especially anything related to Aeons—is extremely scarce.
This won't do.
Screwllum. Lin Yi.
Just as Herta said, the quantity of data existed.
But the quality was terrible.
Screwllum responded calmly.
Affirmation.
With current data, the value of the Simulated Universe would be extremely limited.
Analysis.
We cannot obtain large quantities of high-value data in a short time.
Suggestion: after launch, we may gradually improve the system through continuous updates.
Conclusion.
A perfect solution is unlikely.
We must compromise.
Herta sighed.
Screwllum, you always manage to say something completely obvious in such a precise way.
These geniuses are exhausting...
As the saying went—
Among three people, eventually one of them would come up with a brilliant idea.
Lin Yi listened to the exchange between Herta and Screwllum and began thinking.
After only a brief moment, inspiration struck.
He did not know how Herta had solved this issue in the original timeline without him.
But he had a better answer.
It was bold.
Very bold.
Not offensive to heaven.
Only mildly offensive to the Garden of Recollection.
After all—
If one wanted the largest collection of high-value information in the universe...
Where could possibly be better than the Garden of Recollection?
The Aeon Fuli observed the universe from above.
They personally gathered memories from across existence.
Those memories were among the most valuable records imaginable.
Even if stealing Fuli's own memories was impossible, there were still countless Memokeepers roaming the universe collecting rare memories.
Anything they gathered had already passed one layer of selection.
Then there were the Cremators hidden within the Garden.
They stole memories and erased what they deemed unimportant, preserving only records of value.
That meant the data had been filtered twice.
Collected by Memokeepers.
Curated by Cremators.
A premium archive of memories.
Guaranteed quality.
What database could possibly be better for constructing the Simulated Universe?
None.
Absolutely none.
After all, Fuli gathered memories in order to rebuild the universe after its destruction.
And the Simulated Universe...
Worked in a strangely similar fashion.
Coincidentally, Lin Yi also had some unresolved grievances with the Garden of Recollection.
Rather serious ones.
So if he handled this well—
He could settle old scores too.
One large-scale operation.
And the Simulated Universe would instantly obtain a complete dataset.
No endless future expansions required.
The only remaining limits would be hardware capacity and software compatibility.
And for geniuses—
Those were trivial concerns.
Revenge.
Completing the Simulated Universe.
Collecting rare treasures for private collections.
Three birds with one stone.
The more Lin Yi considered it, the more brilliant the plan seemed.
Would Herta agree?
Lin Yi estimated the probability at nearly one hundred percent.
After all—
Geniuses were famous for ignoring ordinary rules.
Conventional morality rarely constrained people like them.
If it improved the Simulated Universe, Herta would absolutely agree.
If Herta agreed, Ruan Mei likely would as well.
If the three of them approved, Screwllum probably would not object.
That left only Stephen.
At worst, Stephen simply would not participate.
He would never oppose them outright.
So Lin Yi presented his proposal.
The Garden of Recollection stores the majority of valuable memories across the universe.
And those memories have already been filtered by both Memokeepers and Cremators.
In other words, they are extremely high-value data.
They are perfect for the Simulated Universe.
So why don't we begin with the Garden of Recollection?
If we obtain their memories...
We won't just solve our data shortage.
We'll solve it permanently.
Herta slowly looked up.
Her eyes filled with shock—
Then excitement.
Even Screwllum stared at Lin Yi in surprise.
Herta began pacing rapidly.
Lin Yi!
You're a genius!
Then she abruptly stopped.
Oh, right.
We're all geniuses.
What I mean is—
Your thinking is wonderfully unrestrained.
You always produce entirely new perspectives at the most critical moments.
Working with you is genuinely delightful.