Chapter 1157 — And Just Like That, the Mood Was Gone

"The simulated brainwave converter burned out from too heavy a load?" Hearing there was no great harm, Gao Yang felt relieved, but he could not help frowning—after all, this too was a hidden danger, neither great nor small. "How did it suddenly burn out? That thing's power output shouldn't be large, and Naritel personally tested it—divine power cannot pass through the protective wall..."

"It was left running too long without a break," Nikolaus said, rocking side to side before Gao Yang could finish. "I think you should have reminded her not to stay hooked to the network twenty-four hours a day—machines need rest too, especially a machine that also has to withstand a god's mental assault. I checked just now: that connection device hasn't been switched off once since it was installed..."

Gao Yang: "..."

After a two-second blank, he spoke with a strange expression: "So no matter what Enya is doing, she's actually always online, and has never logged off?"

"Of course. Otherwise why would it burn out?" Nikolaus said with a helpless tone, then even let out a very human-sounding sigh. "Ah, say no more. I still have to make a trip to the Fortress of Defiance later—two sets of equipment over there burned out as well."

Gao Yang: "...?"

So these retired gods had, without his knowing, been soaking in the neural network at high intensity for nearly half a month?! They'd even burned out their network devices?! Couldn't the three of them find something else to do in their spare time?!

But no matter how his thoughts stampeded, Gao Yang could only show a slightly helpless smile on his face. He shook his head with a smile, keeping his tone as calm as he could: "Well, I can understand their boredom in daily life, and... the novelty of finally being able to come into such close contact with the mortal world. Don't worry, I'll remind them later."

"That's good," Nikolaus said, shaking his sphere. "I hope these mighty 'gods' can restrain themselves a bit. After all, the equipment made for them is custom-crafted with special techniques—even the most basic components cost a shocking amount. I don't want to face Lady Hetty's ball-murdering expression after this quarter's financial settlement."

As he spoke he turned and floated off to the side: "Well, if you have no other arrangements, I must get back to work. There are still two burned-out neural interface devices waiting for me to repair."

Gao Yang nodded, watching the silver-glinting metal sphere float toward the other end of the corridor. But suddenly a strange thought surfaced in his mind—he could not even say whether it was bold or wildly fanciful—and driven by it he called out to Egg: "Nikolaus, wait a moment."

"Huh?" The metal sphere stopped in confusion. "What is it?"

Gao Yang opened his mouth, still feeling his notion was too bizarre, but having already called the sphere to a halt, he had no choice but to speak: "You've probably been dealing with Enya a lot these days, haven't you?"

"Indeed," Nikolaus bobbed up and down. "Lady Enya's device is newly installed, and I installed it myself, so naturally there's no shortage of debugging work. Is there a problem?"

Gao Yang: "I'm just curious—what's your... impression of Enya?"

At that moment he used nearly all his strength to keep his expression somewhat normal, and as he spoke he kept repeating inwardly: they're both round, they're both round; asking can't hurt, and I've nothing better to do anyway...

Nikolaus, however, had no idea why Gao Yang would ask such a thing. He did give it serious thought before slowly speaking: "Lady Enya... is a woman worthy of admiration. She possesses profound learning and impeccable manners, and is gentle in all her dealings. In temperament and cultivation alike, I would say she approaches perfection..."

Gao Yang had only asked casually, but now he could not help slowly widening his eyes: "So you think she..."

"A pity, though—there's just one regrettable thing," Nikolaus Egg sighed, picking up the second half before Gao Yang could finish. "She isn't round enough."

Gao Yang: "...Not round enough?"

"Yes, it's a pity she isn't round enough," Nikushi said, his tone rather earnest. "Of course, I'm not a ball who cares overmuch about appearances—especially after landing in this world, where all I've seen are creatures as oddly shaped as you people, so I long ago stopped paying attention to how others look. But Lady Enya... is still not round enough. Ah, I shouldn't be judging a lady behind her back, but... but..."

Nikushi said "but" several times, and in the end it all coalesced into a sigh. "Ah, what a pity—big on one end and small on the other..."

Gao Yang: "..."

An awkward silence briefly settled over the corridor. Only the tireless chirring of insects in deep summer came through a nearby open window, echoing freely down the hallway; brilliant sunlight slanted in through the window and fell upon Nikushi the Egg Boss's clear, gleaming shell, raising a bright sheen.

It was practically a display of his own roundness.

"Your Majesty, is there anything else?" Nikushi finally sensed that something was off about the mood and spoke up to break the silence.

"No, nothing," Gao Yang suddenly felt that what he had just done was rather foolish, and waved a hand listlessly. "Go about your business."

"All right, then I'll float off..."

...

The door of the hatching room was pushed open, and Gao Yang stepped into this "guest room"—the most peculiar one in the entire building.

It was now close to afternoon; sunlight poured through the window onto the pedestal at the very center of the room. The pale-gold giant egg stood there quietly as always, dense and arcane runes drifting across its surface, dreamlike luster wandering over it. The ventilation equipment in the room hummed low and slow, the neural-interface device set beside the giant egg blinked with a regular rhythm of lights, and several containers of liquid flew up and down around the golden egg, ceaselessly blending the dark solution within it. A newspaper floated in front of the egg as well, open to a page discussing "cosmic scale."

Now Gao Yang understood: this retired Dragon God could split her attention enough to do all these things at once—without even delaying her browsing the web.

"Gao Yang, welcome," came a gentle, faintly cheerful voice from within the golden egg before Gao Yang could speak. "Lovely weather today."

Gao Yang looked at Enya, opened his mouth, and suddenly found he did not know what to say. He had originally brewed up countless words and serious questions after leaving Kamael's place, but by the time he walked here, all that accumulated emotion had been spent—now, looking at the former god before him, only one sentence remained in his mind:

Did you know you were just rejected by an iron ball? Because you're big on one end and small on the other...