Looking at the letter, Lin Yi could not help laughing.
"Master of the Pointed Hat…"
He wondered what Herta would think if she heard that title.
Ruanpo's memetic-virus infection had long since been cured, yet the way she spoke and behaved remained unchanged.
No one knew whether it was simply habit—
Or terminal chuunibyou.
But Lin Yi suspected another reason.
During the stage when her worldview had first formed, she had been deeply influenced by the beasts of the Origin Forest.
That phase had passed.
And once the critical learning stage was missed, even intelligent beings found change difficult.
Knock knock knock—
Dongfang Qiqing knocked on the door.
When she entered, she wore an impeccably proper dress.
The only strange thing was the little polar bear cub clinging to her leg and refusing to let go.
Lin Yi wondered when she had adopted another pet.
Hopefully she had not abandoned the old favorite for a new one.
Oh—
There it was.
Cat Cake was bouncing along behind her.
When Dongfang Qiqing worked, she looked highly professional.
Completely different from the impression she had given before.
"Mr. Lin Yi," she said.
"I discovered that many factions previously sent gifts to Shenxiao Space City, yet the city has never sent return gifts."
"From a diplomatic standpoint, should we prepare gifts of equal courtesy in return?"
Lin Yi: "..."
Return gifts?
In personal relationships, naturally.
But dealings between interstellar factions were something he had absolutely no experience with.
Who would have imagined this situation in the past?
Lin Yi sighed.
"Alright. Send them."
Dongfang Qiqing nodded and produced a prepared list.
She had already completed the groundwork before asking.
No matter what Lin Yi decided, she could execute it immediately.
"I've already filtered out the less important entries."
"The remaining ones are major interstellar factions, along with special guests who interact with you frequently—such as Herta and Screwllum."
"I've drafted a gift plan."
"Please review whether it is appropriate."
Lin Yi waved a hand.
"I don't want to look."
"From now on, handle these minor matters yourself."
But then curiosity struck him.
How did a professional administrator actually manage work like this?
He had always found such matters exhausting.
"Actually… since you brought it, I'll take a look."
Return Gift ListXianzhou Luofu — Jing Yuan
Gift:
Two specially bred Snow-Stepping White Lions from the Garden of Life.
Reason:
Jing Yuan previously raised two white lions. These genetically tuned long-life lions match his preferences.
Xianzhou Zhuming
Gift:
300 tons of special forging materials.
Reason:
Zhuming once gifted a ceremonial sword. Equivalent forging materials are an appropriate return.
Xianzhou Yaoqing
Gift:
300,000 units of diluted Life Essence Solution.
3,000 doses of Heteromorphic Pheromone Immunity Serum.
Reason:
The prototype of Shenxiao Space City originated from Yaoqing. Since Yaoqing is constantly engaged in warfare, gifts that reduce casualties are the most appropriate.
Interastral Peace Corporation
Gift:
300 replicated Light Cones related to Qlipoth.
Lin Yi nodded.
"Not bad."
"The planning is highly targeted."
"But don't send anything to Herta."
"She just took the Origin Cell from me."
"No way."
Dongfang Qiqing blinked.
"?"
Lin Yi laughed.
"Just joking."
"Go ahead and follow your list."
"And in the future, be bold."
"As long as it doesn't interfere with my research, you can make decisions yourself."
"Understood?"
After she left, Lin Yi returned to thinking about repairing the Phase Walker.
Without that tool, many things had become inconvenient.
First priority:
Fix his equipment.
There were far too many things waiting to be handled.
Welt Yang had already appeared.
Even before Welt arrived, Lin Yi had planned to wait near the Astral Express around this time.
He wanted to study the method Welt used to travel from the Honkai Impact universe into the Star Rail universe.
But until now—
He still had not departed.
Meeting Welt seemed indefinitely delayed.
He also had no idea how the Simulated Universe upgrade was progressing.
He had barely paid attention recently.
Herta had told him to come in ten days.
The Simulated Universe was no simple project.
He should leave earlier to understand the changes in advance.
Meanwhile, the problems in the Garden of Life had also been delayed.
And Yaoshi had casually planted some mysterious tree there.
It obviously held tremendous research value.
Yet Lin Yi had not even gone to look at it.
Fortunately, Ruan Mei had promised to visit Shenxiao Space City soon.
She might help investigate it.
Lin Yi himself had become an Envoy of Abundance.
That alone was an extremely valuable research sample.
After all—
Who could better study the changes in his own body than himself?
Perfect experimental material.
Yet he had not had time to examine it carefully.
Even the changes after his body exited the Ascension Experiment had only been briefly recorded.
There had been no time for deeper analysis.
Then there were:
Dominicus (Robin's manifestation) samplesStellaronsCountless other strange research materials
And that was only from recent events.
If he counted the backlog…
Lin Yi felt the work would never end.
So many high-value research topics.
For a genius, this might be considered a pleasant burden.
But still—
There was never enough time.
Now Lin Yi understood why Herta squeezed every second and deployed puppets everywhere.
Her puppets were not only for mobility.
They could assist in research as well.
To be honest—
Lin Yi wanted to learn that technique.
Even though countless research tasks awaited him, there was one immediate priority.
"To do good work, one must first sharpen their tools."
He decided to contact Stephen Lloyd first.
Meanwhile, Dongfang Qiqing handled administrative work while listening to the latest broadcast:
Interstellar Peace Broadcast
"Good morning, afternoon, and evening to all listeners."
"Welcome to today's Interstellar Peace Broadcast."
"Here are today's headlines."
"After more than three months of coordination and distribution, the Universal Medicine has now been successfully deployed throughout the galaxy."
"The previous shortages have completely disappeared."
Dongfang Qiqing continued reviewing documents.
"Igor's request to replace the full training equipment?"
"Approved."
"Budget: 37 million credits?"
"That's barely anything."
"Make it 300 million instead."