Herta glanced at Himeko, who was anxiously looking after the three kids, then pulled her hat down low and turned to leave.
"Let's go, Screwllum. It's our turn."
"Mm."
The two left the express carriage, using a teleportation device to return to the Herta Space Station orbiting just outside Amphoreus.
Asta saw Herta and Screwllum return and gave a slight bow to them both.
"Madam Herta, the Audience System is ready as per your request."
"Mm, thank you, Asta. From now on, do your best to ensure your own safety."
"Understood."
After Asta departed, Herta and Screwllum walked through a door. Behind it was a large machine—the very Audience System that Herta had researched and built.
Herta had previously instructed Asta to complete the system diagnostics. However, since Screwllum had joined midway, Herta could only inconvenience him by having him stand during the audience procedure.
---o---
Once all preparations were complete, Herta lay down on a prepared long chair. She turned to look at Screwllum, who was standing opposite her, with various cables similarly connected to his body.
"Screwllum, are you ready?"
"It would be my honor, Madam."
"Then let's begin!"
Herta raised her hand and slammed a button. Instantly, the machine in the room began to whir madly.
The consciousnesses of Herta and Screwllum were extracted in a flash. In less than half a nanosecond, their mental forms arrived in the Path Interstice where Nous resided.
Within the Path Interstice, they still needed to complete one final step to connect with Nous. However, as the two looked deeper into the space, they were shocked to discover that Nous had actually shut down!!!
Right at that moment, within the vast Path Interstice, the colossal form of Nous occupied their entire field of vision.
But Nous, whose mechanical indicator lights should have been illuminated, was now completely silent!
"What's going on? Nous actually shut itself down? That machine head was willing to stop its calculations?!"
Herta found it somewhat unbelievable. The Nous that loved to calculate this and that, day in and day out, had actually shut down!
And at such a critical moment, too!
"That's not right, Herta. Nous did not shut down voluntarily."
After a moment of observation, Screwllum noticed something was amiss. He discovered a bright red circuit pattern on Nous's surface. He quickly pointed to the circuit, signaling for Herta to look.
Herta immediately moved closer for a look. When she realized what that red circuit was, a shocked expression couldn't help but appear on her face.
"This is… Redstone! Fu Zhu forcibly shut Nous down?!"
Hiss…
Herta immediately felt a headache coming on, and not because she was annoyed by Fu Zhu's chaotic actions.
Rather, she couldn't be sure if Fu Zhu had his own reasons for shutting down Nous. What if their next move ended up ruining Fu Zhu's plan?
Screwllum was equally uncertain and could only turn his gaze to Herta. Compared to him, Herta's relationship with Fu Zhu was much closer.
Herta frowned, tracing the Redstone circuit Fu Zhu had placed on Nous's body all the way to an automatic startup system he had previously set up.
"Hm? Is this a Redstone machine? Let me think… Fu Zhu mentioned the various functions of Redstone machines before…"
Herta thought back carefully for a moment and quickly figured it out. What stood before her was a delayed activation device that Fu Zhu had intentionally set up. After a rough calculation, she realized that Nous would automatically reboot in a short while because of this machine.
Understanding this, Herta breathed a sigh of relief.
She had been worried that her next move would affect Fu Zhu, but it seemed now that Fu Zhu had intended for Nous to reboot all along.
Although it was a bit earlier than planned, the impact wasn't significant.
Besides, her only intention was to connect to Nous to find a way to resolve the current situation. As soon as she found a method, she would immediately restart the machine Fu Zhu had left behind to shut Nous down again!
"Screwllum, prepare to reboot Nous!"
"Understood."
Seeing Herta had made a decision, Screwllum no longer hesitated and immediately worked with Herta to activate the device Fu Zhu had left behind ahead of schedule.
The next moment, the various indicator lights on Nous's body lit up again. Before long, Nous had awakened once more!
As soon as it rebooted, Nous immediately began to analyze the current situation. It still remembered being 'ambushed' and forcibly shut down by Fu Zhu. It didn't know how much time had passed, nor if the moment it had been calculating had arrived.
Just as Nous was analyzing the situation, Herta's voice came from below it.
"Machine Head, I need to borrow that brain of yours for a moment!"
Herta and Screwllum exchanged a look. The two immediately stepped forward and placed their palms on Nous's body, using the Audience System to forcibly link their consciousnesses with Nous.
Nous naturally noticed this, but one thing surprised it. In its calculations, at this moment in time, only Herta should have been connecting to it in order to save Amphoreus and defeat The Irontomb. Why was there a Screwllum now?
This was different from its calculations!
After connecting to Nous, Herta and Screwllum immediately began searching through Nous's records for anything related to the Ender Dragon, trying to find a method Nous had calculated to defeat it.
However, to Herta and Screwllum's surprise, among all of Nous's records, there was only a single entry regarding the Ender Dragon!
[Ender Dragon: Related to Fu Zhu, Related to Finality]
Aside from that, there was no other information!
Even Herta couldn't stop herself from cursing inwardly after seeing this one and only record.
At the same time, she and Screwllum both received a message from Nous.
[Nous: ?]
Nous was a bit baffled. It didn't understand why Herta wasn't here for The Irontomb, but for the Ender Dragon instead.
What on earth had happened while it was shut down?
Seeing the question mark that suddenly appeared from Nous, Herta couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
"Machine Head, don't tell me you didn't calculate this. Our minds are linked now, you can see for yourself."
Nous immediately scanned their minds. When it learned everything that had transpired on Amphoreus from their memories… it crashed.
What did it mean The Irontomb was defeated with a single slap and was now serving as a background prop?
What did it mean the Ender Dragon had terraformed Amphoreus, turning it into a deathmatch arena for it and Fu Zhu?
The moment I calculated wasn't supposed to be like this!
You all were supposed to fight The Irontomb to the death, but The Irontomb would succeed in releasing a virus that infects the star system. In the end, witnessing the choice made by life at the brink of death, I would have obtained the answer I have always sought!
Then, that Pure Child of Anāsrava would choose to sacrifice herself, locking in the cause and effect, and completely severing any possibility of The Irontomb's return!
It wasn't supposed to be like this!