Honkai Star Rail: But I can touch Castorice

Looking at Ruan Mei opposite Avatar No. 2, who was still gazing at it with expectant eyes, Derick naturally didn't delay any longer. Flames erupted from its body.

"What an excellent little fellow. After eating the Flame Beast I discovered on some abandoned planet, it took at most ninety-seven seconds for it to master its fire-starting ability. This kind of capability isn't something an ordinary cosmic Ancient Beast can master," Ruan Mei said with a gentle smile.

At the same time, she took out a small fire-starting device.

"Come, don't move yet. Let me test your fire resistance now that you've acquired the ability to wield flames."

Derick allowed Ruan Mei to operate. He had initially thought Ruan Mei's palm-sized device was only going to ignite a small patch of Avatar No. 2's skin. However, when the flames were released, they completely enveloped Avatar No. 2.

It was roasted to a crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Fortunately, Derick's avatars were all pitch-black, so even being charred wasn't visible.

Ruan Mei reached out and tore off a piece of the burnt flesh.

"No pain sensation, extremely strong recovery, and it possesses a tiny bit of the Flame Beast's fire resistance. I just don't know if you can only acquire a little or if you can gain more," she analyzed as she tore.

Then, she once again took out an identical 'pastry'.

"Here, little cutie, have another taste."

Derick would, of course, not hesitate when it came to something that could increase his strength. Taking what Ruan Mei offered, he stuffed it into his avatar's mouth.

Its body burst into flames once more. Ruan Mei then extinguished them and reignited Avatar No. 2 again to test its fire resistance. "Improved again? Very good indeed. Good child, you're performing wonderfully." Ruan Mei didn't skimp on praise, then set Derick's Avatar No. 2 alight once more.

Ruan Mei couldn't stop nodding as she observed Derick's Avatar No. 2.

"Excellent, excellent."

Back and forth, she put Derick's Avatar No. 2 through its paces many times. Only when the growth of its flame abilities and fire resistance became minimal did Ruan Mei finally stop.

Within the Underworld of Amphoreus, Derick's main body was idly playing with flames. The things Ruan Mei had fed his Avatar No. 2 had already granted him full flame abilities.

"I'm now looking forward to Ms. Ruan Mei conducting more experiments on me. Flames alone aren't enough; I want more things."

Ruan Mei sized up Avatar No. 2 and said with a smile, "Energy is continuously growing, and flame abilities and fire resistance are also increasing. Little fellow, you truly are amazing." Her eyes were filled with satisfaction. "The most crucial thing is that your body feels no pain and exhibits no rejection response."

Finding suitable experimental subjects was somewhat troublesome. Strong tolerance and recovery weren't enough. Ruan Mei had captured quite a few followers of Abundance for experiments in the past; those fellows had strong recovery, but their resistance due to intense pain was also significant. Ruan Mei needed to implement restrictive measures, and these restrictions greatly affected experimental results. The best experimental subjects were those like the dark fellow before her, who would obediently undergo experiments and cooperate with her procedures. She had some experiments that would inflict pain beyond the tolerance of other subjects, and now, finally, she had a subject that could undergo them.

A white light flashed, and a piece of Derick's Avatar No. 2's body was severed. Ruan Mei already knew from Herta that Derick's avatar parts would disappear, so she also researched with great speed. She knew Avatar No. 2's endurance, but she still wanted to discover its specific origins. What its genes were like, whether it could be replicated—these all required her extensive research. If she could figure out how to mass-produce these avatars, many of Ruan Mei's experiments could be conducted simultaneously.

"Mm, yes, these are indeed Ancient Twilight Beast genes. From this gene sequence, it's possibly a descendant left by an Ancient Beast from the Twilight Wars. However, it's also filled with many unusual things that can't be analyzed in such a short time."

She made this judgment just before the sample vanished. This was an Ancient Twilight Beast with an extremely old gene sequence, ancient even among Ancient Beasts. The Ancient Beast that provided the genes for this dark fellow lived even before the Twilight Wars, prior to the birth of the Aeons. And those other energies held an even greater attraction for Ruan Mei. Purely ancient Ancient Twilight Beast genes couldn't support this little dark fellow's terrifying recovery and absorption abilities. Ruan Mei couldn't properly assess those mixed energies in such a short time.

So she decided to prepare for gene preservation.

A small box appeared again in Ruan Mei's hands.

"The temperature inside here is extremely close to the universe's lowest temperature. Let's see if low temperatures can preserve its flesh. Little fellow, don't be anxious, it will be over soon."

Ruan Mei cut off a piece of Derick's Avatar No. 2's flesh and quickly placed it in the box.

However, the flesh still quickly disappeared before Ruan Mei's eyes.

"If low temperature doesn't work, then how about biological preservation within a living organism?" Ruan Mei tried another preservation method.

In the time that followed, Derick witnessed Ruan Mei's arsenal of biological specimen preservation techniques. From temperature to vacuum, from drugs to chemicals, Ruan Mei even took out a device that could maintain a small area in relative time stasis.

But none of them worked. Derick's avatar parts disappeared as they always did.

Watching this from the Underworld, Derick couldn't help but laugh.

He whispered softly, "I estimate the only way to preserve my flesh is through a conceptual-level preservation method—my grandma's refrigerator. Only in that place, no matter how long food is stored, it never changes in my grandma's eyes. That's what I call a conceptual-level preservation method."

Herta Space Station.

As Ruan Mei was conducting her experiments, Herta's puppet finally walked over.

"Although I said you could experiment on it freely, your actions are a bit too much. If you continue like this, the impact on the surroundings will be significant. I suggest you go to the specialized lab beneath the space station..." Herta was halfway through her sentence when she noticed Ruan Mei was deep in thought, not having heard a word Herta said.

"Have you figured something out?" Herta asked Ruan Mei.

"Yes." Hearing Herta's question, Ruan Mei came back to her senses and replied.

"Well, where is it from?"

Ruan Mei nodded. "I've tried various methods to preserve its flesh, and all have failed. Therefore, I believe the method by which its flesh disappears must originate from a domain beyond my knowledge. There's a high probability that this ability comes from an Aeon."

"Oroboros, the Aeon of Voracity? I had that thought last time," Herta asked Ruan Mei.

"Yes, I'm speculating that this little fellow is very likely a descendant of Oroboros," Ruan Mei replied.

"A descendant of an Aeon and an Ancient Beast? It?" Herta looked surprised upon hearing Ruan Mei. Its current strength is too weak, isn't it? One had to know that the Vidyadhara of the Xianzhou Alliance were merely descendants with a trace of the Aeon of Permanence's bloodline, yet their entire race was exceptionally strong.

"It's very possible. Although its current strength is weak, its potential is immense," Ruan Mei said with a gentle smile.

Then she picked up another 'pastry'.

"Here, little fellow, have some more pastries."

Derick controlled Avatar No. 2 to continue swallowing the 'pastry'. Soon after, its entire body began to fester, and green fluid oozed from the cracking wounds.

In the Underworld, Derick snapped his fingers, and a cloud of green smoke appeared in his hand.

"Is this to give myself poison resistance again? This is pretty good. If I can't beat someone, I can still use this to harm them insidiously," Derick thought.

At Herta Space Station, after Ruan Mei saw Derick's Avatar No. 2 recover, she immediately began a new round of feeding.

"Hurry and take it downstairs. Although I'm very curious about Avatar No. 2, seeing the floor in a mess from its festering body, Herta still urged Ruan Mei to leave quickly.

"Alright."

Ruan Mei gently raised her hand, and a giant creature appeared beside her. It found a large box and placed Derick's Avatar No. 2 inside. Ruan Mei had cultivated many creatures; whether for work or dealing with enemies, she always had the most suitable choice.

As she headed down, Herta didn't forget to remind her.

"If you have any results, remember to inform me promptly."

"Mm." Ruan Mei nodded. Then she took Derick's Avatar No. 2 all the way down.

On the way down, Ruan Mei continuously fed Derick's Avatar No. 2 poisonous creatures.

Derick, in the Underworld, felt his body constantly strengthening, his heart filled with excitement. Truly Ms. Ruan Mei. We've met for less than three hours, and my body has already undergone so many changes.

"Continue, please continue."

Derick excitedly urged Ruan Mei to experiment on his avatar.

Leading Derick's Avatar No. 2 to the lowest level of Herta Space Station, to Ruan Mei's exclusive laboratory.

Walking into the lab, Derick, through Avatar No. 2's perspective, looked around. On one side of the circular, empty room, there were numerous experimental supplies and equipment. Derick glanced over and saw dense arrays of data. Then he looked into the space and saw a giant, chrysalis-like object floating in the empty room.

Is this the replica of the Emanator, the Star-Crushing King Worm, that Ruan Mei created?

As if sensing Derick's Avatar No. 2 looking at the Star-Crushing King Worm, Ruan Mei, while feeding it a new 'pastry', said to it, "What? Curious about that thing? Do you want to try devouring it?"

Derick certainly wouldn't refuse this request. Although he felt he probably couldn't swallow it whole for now, he still wanted to try.

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