"Can we just blow it up?" Welt spoke first.
Herta planted one hand on her hip, her expression indifferent.
"If you are not afraid of the imaginary energies' backlash flying everywhere and turning the entire cosmos into a mess."
Screwllum chimed in. "If there were only a small number of imaginary vortices, Mr. Welt's approach might be feasible. But the current vortices are connected to the Imaginary Tree. Detonating them rashly would only lead to consequences that cannot be predicted."
That path was shut off.
For a moment, no one had a better idea.
Imaginary vortices were rare in the cosmos, but in places where imaginary energy occasionally accumulated, strange phenomena could still occur. Even the imaginary pulse devices had produced effects unlike anything ordinary when detonated.
The sheer power generated by massive concentrations of imaginary energy far exceeded what most people could imagine.
If it were something that any major faction could clean up, it would not be a problem. The issue was that this time, the imaginary vortices contained an inexhaustible supply of power, producing might no one could predict what it could do.
"Miss Herta, do you happen to have any good solution for the current situation?"
When in doubt, ask a Genius Society member. Taravan turned toward Herta and spoke up.
"Actually, the method is very simple." Herta smiled faintly and slowly opened her mouth under everyone's curious, expectant gazes.
…
"Boom!!"
Amid the surging waves of the Sea of Quanta, two figures intertwined, collided, and separated. The shockwaves from their clash slammed into already fragile world bubbles, sending those that were barely holding together on their final journey to complete collapse.
"Rumble!!" Another head-on collision forced both sides apart with the resulting turbulence, and they faced each other from afar.
"An Emanator of Nous… I remember you. A member of the Genius Society who summoned Nous."
During the brief moment to catch his breath, Irontomb looked at the graceful green figure before him. His organic body assumed the most optimal counterattack stance, ready to launch an assault at any moment.
Yet the words he spoke did not match his movements.
"I knew it. Only someone who could achieve that kind of stability under such extreme conditions…"
Though housed in an organic body, Irontomb's consciousness was still that of an Lord Ravager. By mobilizing vast computational power, he could obtain detailed data on Mobius's movements within the Sea of Quanta.
Perfect. Truly perfect.
If he himself was like a beginner who had just learned how to swim, then Mobius was a national team athlete, the kind who casually took home gold medals.
He had only managed to enter this place by relying on countless resources, cautiously probing along the way. His ability to glimpse the essence of the world and the nature of life itself came from extreme prudence, something he possessed in abundance thanks to his absolute rationality.
Even after partially converting into a quantum state, he would never act recklessly.
But Mobius was completely different.
Just from her effortless, familiar movements, it was obvious that she had spent a long time immersed in either the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree.
"Heh. The cosmos all says that Herta is the scholar who understands the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta most deeply. But their experience blinded their judgment. You are the one who has been hiding the deepest."
Irontomb's gaze was like that of someone who had discovered an unparalleled treasure.
Mobius's legs had transformed into a serpent's tail, coiled around the wreckage left behind by a completely shattered world bubble. Facing Irontomb's murmured words, she smiled softly, amused.
From a certain perspective, he was not wrong. Even Herta could not suppress her in authority in this domain.
After all, she was uniquely blessed.
"But there is one thing I am curious about," Irontomb said after a pause. "You were clearly here all along. Why didn't you stop me?"
"Stop you? Why would I stop you?" Mobius chuckled. "High-quality lab rats like you are hard to come by."
Hearing that, Irontomb understood.
Everyone knew that aside from a small number of normal people, most members of the Genius Society were… not exactly aligned with mainstream values.
Even that small group of 'normal' ones were merely good at putting on a front in public. Their actual conduct differed wildly from common viewpoints.
As far as he knew, the people like Polka Kakamond, Dr Primitive were all somewhat problematic.
Mobius was no exception. Her serpent-like posture reflected her inner disposition.
Snakes were cold-blooded creatures. Mobius carried some of those cold-blooded traits. The rest came from her nature as an organic lifeform, the reason she was categorized as such.
Perhaps she held affection for anything to step forward to protect it. But the ranks she stepped into would never include the common masses.
To her, the countless lives of the cosmos were merely passersby, strangers she had never met.
She knew there was life there, but that had nothing to do with her. She only needed to be herself and explore the unknown.
The Genius Society, heh, was practically a mad scientist collective.
"So, what did you discover?" Irontomb asked.
"Something interesting, of course. For example, the special reactions that occur when an Emanator absorbs the power of the Sea of Quanta."
Her tail swayed gently, a sign of her current mood. She was very pleased.
"Before you, I observed the changes that occur when the Path of Erudition merges with quantum energy. It was an intriguing research topic."
"Erudition? So Dr. Primitive really didn't die."
Anyone observed by Mobius who had entered the Sea of Quanta had to meet a certain threshold. Before now, only Herta and Dr. Primitive qualified.
Even before stepping into the Sea of Quanta, Irontomb never believed Dr. Primitive was dead.
Someone like that would never fail to leave himself an escape route.
Unless the end of that road was the grave he himself sought.
But clearly, for a genius driven by boundless curiosity toward the unknown, that was impossible.
Irontomb was curious about that person as well. But now was not the time to dwell on it.
Looking at Mobius, he spoke again.
"There is no irreconcilable conflict between us. In that case, why not cooperate and achieve our respective goals together?"
As for the previous incident involving the Xianzhou and Celenova, Irontomb had never taken it to heart. Under those circumstances, it was impossible for him to truly act.
What mattered was only the possibility of cooperation between them. Even their previous clash had merely been a way to verify whether the other was qualified to walk alongside him.
Having arrived in such a magnificent place and witnessed wonders he had never experienced before, how could he possibly return to the comfort of his former existence?
People were inherently lazy. But unfortunately, he was a machine, bound to rationality.
"That sounds rather interesting," Mobius said, raising an eyebrow with evident curiosity. "What do you plan to do? Have your robots slaughter the cosmos?"
"This cosmos is far too bloated. Every single resource must be calculated with precision. Yet countless organic lifeforms discard vast amounts of valuable resources, never cherishing what the cosmos bestows upon them."
"If that were all, it would be tolerable. But their very nature of life limits them and affects other forms of life as well. Only by tearing everything down and starting over can the cosmos be reborn!"
"So your idea is to exterminate all organic life, then convert the remaining inorganic life into something like yourself?"
"Heh, exactly. This form of mine is still not fully mastered, since I have only recently obtained it. But I have already gained more than everything I experienced before. All those so-called Paths and misguided Aeons pale in comparison."
Mobius understood.
Irontomb was preparing, no, he had already begun.
He intended to overturn the known progression of life itself. In that process, all sacrifices were meaningful, and those who remained to the end would receive gifts from beyond the world.
It was an idea that was… tempting. Mobius had to admit it. Many so-called seekers truly would be drawn to such a path.
But unfortunately, those people were precisely Irontomb's targets for purging.
As for herself… Her philosophy clashed with Irontomb's on too many levels. The concept of cooperation had never existed in her way of thinking.
In that case…
"I would much rather my little lab rat climb onto the operating table on its own!"
"What a shame. You have rejected an invitation!"
Without any warning, both sides launched their attacks simultaneously. Destructive power wrapped in quantum aura surged toward Mobius like a tidal wave.
Already as comfortable in the Sea of Quanta as a fish in water, Mobius dodged at bizarre angles, evading attacks that seemed to seal off every possible escape.
Not almost. Every single one. But Irontomb was still too weak.
This was experience accumulated over fifty thousand years. The Sea of Quanta was far more complex than what you saw.
Aware of his own shortcomings, Irontomb immediately widened the distance between himself and Mobius, retreating madly toward the rear.
Along the way, every world bubble was used as cover or as a weapon.
These world bubbles, having lost their intrinsic power, were pitifully weak under the ravages of an Emanator.
At the same time, the other half of Irontomb was not idle either.
Across the cosmos, the frenzied legions abruptly halted their advance. In the next instant, countless armies flickered and jumped toward a single direction.
…
"So this matches exactly what Herta said. All the legions are heading in one direction!"
Clever and perceptive, March 7th stared wide-eyed at the scene of the Antimatter Legion surging across the screen.
Above them, fleets cut through the cosmos like comets, ignoring everything else as they unhesitatingly moved to join their companions.
"Hmph. Just as expected." Herta's lips curved slightly upward, a glint of wisdom flashing in her eyes.
"So many of them… Is the IPC's firepower enough?"
After her initial amazement, Miss Memokeeper couldn't help but voice the question.
After all, the ones who benefited the most had always been the Interastral Peace Corporation.
With their markets expanded to every world on the star chart, the more glorious their rise, the less they could afford to run when attacked. If someone was going to get hit, it would be them.
"…The power of an Emanator is not that simple." Taravan responded in a low voice, finding the question almost laughable.
No Emanator could ever be underestimated. A single mishandled response, and they could shake the foundations of any major power.
Without a defined battlefield or an equivalent opposing force, any action targeting an Emanator was nothing but a joke.
Simply put, even without Irontomb personally commanding them, the authority he granted to his legions as an Emanator was enough to put the IPC's fleets at a disadvantage.
The only difference was how much they would lose, depending on who was leading.
"What are they trying to do?" Yukong frowned and asked.
"Assimilation." This time, the answer came from Ruan Mei.
As a supreme authority in life sciences, within this domain, Ruan Mei's words carried absolute weight.
"Irontomb intends to use his authority as an Emanator to assimilate the Legions."
Irontomb's authority was no secret to them.
Before this, aside from attacking organic life and occupying the Balanza Furnace, Irontomb had made few other moves. Externally, he was mostly known for those vast, sky-covering Legions.
But they never forgot where those legions truly came from.
"Some from conquered worlds, some self-produced, and some… born directly from his authority." Screwllum explained.
"As an Emanator who ascended to the position of Lord Ravager as a machine, Irontomb has never relied solely on overwhelming a world with sheer numbers. When necessary, he will activate his authority to assimilate an entire planet. Naturally, the civilizations on it have nowhere to go. They either leave the world that birthed them, or…"
"Become nourishment, forming the foundation of a new world," Mobius said softly.
Before her eyes, Irontomb was doing exactly that. One world bubble after another was being assimilated.
In the past, even with Emanator-level power, corrupting an entire fallen world depended on circumstances.
But now, having acquired the power of the Sea of Quanta and the ability to move freely within it, Irontomb could ignore certain restrictions to a considerable degree.
He would wield his authority to grasp countless worlds, becoming a mechanical calamity looming over all existence.