Vivian suddenly felt her throat tighten. She hurriedly grabbed the sunflower by her hand to cover half her face, her voice muffled from behind the petals: "Do you think... calling someone you've just met 'dear' is too frivolous?"

Rin blinked, then suddenly leaned in close enough to see her eyelashes: "Does Vivian want to try?"

"Wh—" The sunflower in her hand fell to the ground with a "thud," Vivian felt all the blood rush to her cheeks, her face growing even hotter...

Rin nonchalantly bent down to pick up the flower and gently handed it to the still-dazed girl: "Just like this—" She suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, "'Dear' Vivian, your flower fell, you know~"

"P-Phaethon-sama—"

Vivian felt her head starting to spin, her heart fluttering like a bluebird trying to take flight, beating wildly in her chest, making her somewhat flustered.

"...That's just too unfair!"

——

“It seems I was overthinking it. Herta was just acting on a whim… which is very much her style.” Ms. Ruan Mei let out a long sigh of relief. “Luckily, it was just a false alarm. However, meetings are what I dread the most… it looks like it will be hard to get away, so I’ll have to stay here for a while.”

She saw that Stelle had already recovered the life form from the Master Control Zone, but there was something she needed to explain to Stelle beforehand: her life form recovery was not just that one; there were others, stored in a certain sealed compartment.

Due to the Legion's invasion, that area is no longer open to the public. Now, her "Big Trouble" is stored there.

"Herta authorized you to use it?"

Ms. Ruan Mei nodded: "Yes, she gave me permission and didn't ask any further questions. However, some information can be revealed: it will also be used to receive non-human visitors, and there are shuttle buses connected to outer space."

Ruan Mei handed her command card to Stelle, and after recording her fingerprint information, she was granted free access.

"My dear, be careful. If you encounter danger that you truly cannot resolve, just give a signal, and I will personally intervene regardless of the consequences."

"Remember, in the center of the compartment, there is a giant... petri dish. My 'Big Trouble' is stored there."

——

Jujutsu Kaisen.

"Big Trouble? How much trouble can it be? More trouble than the Doomsday Beast? Or more trouble than Cocolia?"

Kenjaku counted on his fingers, "She wouldn't not know Stelle's strength, right? She even beat a Destruction's Emissary, you know. Could it be that Ruan Mei can cultivate an Emissary-level creature?"

With such ability, her own ability would already be completely comparable to an Emissary, wouldn't it?

"Humans are always keen on creating dangerous guys, then killing each other... It's quite interesting though."

Ryomen Sukuna leaned lazily against the headboard, his robe wide open, his chest brazenly exposed to the air, the black markings covering it stained with a bit of blood.

He held a piece of vibrant meat in his hand, a faint red peeking through the light pink, still with some ice shards, looking like fresh, bursting juiciness.

The meat of these Jujutsu Sorcerers was freshly caught and slaughtered by Uraume, and Sukuna used to enjoy this taste, but ever since the locust plague, he had lost interest in this kind of meat.

—It wasn't that he developed an interest in insects, but after experiencing the power of a star god up close, the meager residual cursed energy in human flesh could no longer satisfy his "appetite."

"...No appetite?" Kenjaku chuckled, propping his chin.

"Hmm, wait. Once I kill Gojo Satoru, maybe that hunger will be satisfied."

Kenjaku licked his lips, "Then can you give me one eye when that happens?"

"As you wish."

——

Upon reaching the sealed compartment, darkness spread like viscous asphalt.

Stelle swallowed, her boot soles echoing solitarily on the metal floor. With each step, it felt as if unseen things were staring at her from the darkness.

Suddenly, her steps halted. She saw a fried rice robot floating not far away.

And just as she was a few steps away from the robot—

"Click."

The robot suddenly turned around, its mechanical joints emitting a grating friction sound. Immediately after, a dazzling red light abruptly illuminated its eye display, and its mechanical arms began to twitch wildly, startling her into a gasp and making her stumble back a few steps, hitting the cold compartment wall.

After scaring her, the compartment lights suddenly came on, everything so coincidental it was like a haunting.

The out-of-control little robot was not far away. Stelle learned from it that this was one of the Herta Space Station's few "high-risk alert zones," where not only Ruan Mei's creations but also Herta's dangerous artifacts were stored.

Stelle took the elevator to a deeper room, where she found a previous experimental record of Ruan Mei on a computer.

"The Phase Spirit Flame's spark is very interesting, but unfortunately, the research was not completed before it disappeared; I have started new attempts."

"This time, both experimental samples are growing well. They simultaneously possess two emotional traits: cute, weak, sensitive, prone to crying; fierce, instigating, overbearing, confident."

"Interestingly, they also possess a tendency: to miss their creator, developing a naturally existing, strange emotion towards them, like an infant to its Mother, life to food, or between people."

Just as Stelle was about to continue reading, a strange noise suddenly came from the laboratory door. She walked out of the room and saw a Cat-Cake curled up on the ground, making adorable "meow" sounds.

"...Is this the 'Big Trouble' Ruan Mei spoke of?"

——

Akame ga Kill.

"How can this be called 'Big Trouble'? This is clearly a little cutie!"

Accompanied by those "meow" sounds, Mine felt like she was melting, stars sparkling in her pink eyes: "Ms. Ruan Mei is truly a genius! To be able to create such adorable creatures! Najenda! I want to adopt one too!"

"But we don't have such small animals here. If you want to adopt a cat, you can..." Najenda cautioned, "But you have to take full responsibility for your own pet!"

"But this little thing doesn't look like 'Big Trouble' at all, does it? Could the trouble still be ahead?"

Lubbock shrugged: "I once read a novel where there was a similar monster that appeared to be a small animal but was actually a demon. Maybe this cake-like cat is just disguised to be cute, and when Stelle turns around, it'll suddenly grow huge and swallow Stelle whole!"

Just as Lubbock was speaking excitedly, the Cat-Cake in Celestial Screen screen let out a soft, prolonged "meow~" at just the right moment, causing Stelle to pick it up and nuzzle it.

This is the correct way to interact with Ruan Mei's creations!