Goethe Manor, the broad rooftop terrace at its summit.
The pixel-style neon data blocks dissipated layer by layer like an ebbing tide, and the gorgeous blue-purple light effects gradually faded to reveal a figure wrapped in Aether data.
Stelle and March 7th leaned forward in unison, two pairs of eyes sparkling as they gazed into mid-air, even their breathing unconsciously softening.
The fine specks of light, like stars crushed by the Galaxy, spun and gathered, congealing before everyone into several crystal-clear coins.
Iridescent halos flowed across the coins' surfaces, their edges revolving slowly like miniature planetary rings as they descended from the heavens with a light 'ding~'.
"I've tamed the Aether Spirit!"
Stelle cried out, holding up a coin.
"Looks like the final trump card will always end up in my hands after all."
Caelus snatched up the coin shimmering with Aether starlight and refined it in an instant.
But before he could even strike his half-baked detective's flashy pose, a dazzling white light suddenly bloomed behind him, and Caelus instinctively turned to look.
"That's where we'll stop this time—what a pity~"
A silver-bell voice, wrapped in the fragrance of gardenia, suddenly drew close; before Caelus could react, he was enveloped by a soft, tender touch like jade and blossom.
The girl's soft, body-warm frame pressed tightly against him; though the curve of soft jade at her chest was very slight, a distinct pressure came through the fabric.
The next second, crystal-clear lips pressed in; Bronita's tiptoed stance lifted the hem of her skirt into a light arc, and she mischievously sucked hard on Caelus's lower lip, her pearly teeth even playfully nipping it once.
The starlight dyed her eyelashes nearly transparent; that magnificent face paired with that playful, dashing wicked grin was enough to make one's heart and soul sink into ruin.
"Don't keep me waiting too long~"
As the words fell, Bronita's outline gradually blurred within the intense light, a sly smile still hanging at the corner of her mouth.
With a crisp sound like shattering glass, two figures sprang out of the blurred outline, landing respectively in Caelus's left and right arms.
The golden earrings on the two girls' ears—each echoing the other—swayed with the motion.
Without mourning even for a moment over her first kiss—preserved for more than a century—being stolen by that little brat, and without time to savor the strange sensation of the kiss, the instant The Herta's consciousness recovered from its daze, she hurriedly shouted:
"Mirror! Fourth Mirror! Get over here, now!"
"The data—the data Bronita ordered you to save—did you record all of it?"
"Uh… Madam Herta, I'm delighted to see you safe and sound. I have a name now—Adrose, changed by Madam Bronita using creator privileges."
The fourth Mirror, reacting like a textbook lackey, came bouncing and floating over, bowing and scraping.
"I don't care about your name—I only care about the data!"
The Herta, holding the Purple Key Wand, rapped on Adrose's mirror frame:
"Bronita's vital signs, her life-field data, and the information obtained from her conversation with Machine-head—save all of it intact for me! Not a single bit is allowed to be lost!"
"As you command, esteemed Madam Herta!"
Though it was a square, four-cornered mirror, Adrose anthropomorphically struck a nearly exaggerated soldier's posture—straightening its back, standing at attention, and saluting:
"Data preservation integrity: 100%. Already encrypted and archived to the core storage unit."
Having said this, the mirror's surface even lit up with a 'ding' and a little-star effect:
"All data obtained from communication with the great Nous has been chained by Madam Bronita and organized into research projects. The current project count is 42."
"Beautifully done, Bronita!"
Hearing the project count Adrose reported, even with Herta's pride she couldn't help but clap her hands with a crisp smack of excitement.
It was just like an old bookworm in the midst of a book-drought suddenly getting, in one go, 42 utterly brilliant, gripping top-tier 'spirit-grass' novels.
For a considerable span of time to come, she would remain in a research state brimming with interest.
Mm—the great Madam Herta's scholarship ran entirely on wherever her interest led; should she lose interest partway, she would instantly abandon all prior progress.
Because of this, several of civilization's crucial leaps had come to an abrupt halt over "this is boring," and even when the Erudition Society went to great pains to get hold of the manuscripts, they often beat their chests in frustration over being unable to do anything with them.
Miss Haxxor Bunny lay back in the crook of Caelus's arm, the two of them staring blankly at each other.
Unlike Herta, who was a Genius, it took her a full two minutes to recover from Bronita's Genius-level depth of thought.
"Where's the thing?"
Paying no heed to the intimate state the two of them were in, Miss Haxxor Bunny hurriedly looked around: "Where's the thing!"
"Hm?"
Watching Haxxor Bunny's little hands patting all over herself, rummaging inside and out of every pocket, Stelle tilted her head: "Bronie, what are you looking for?"
"The thing Bronita left behind, of course."
She'd searched her pant pockets, back pockets, and coat pockets all over—nothing—so Haxxor Bunny looked toward The Herta, who was conversing with Screwllum and Ruan Mei:
"Hey, did Bronita put that thing on you?"
Under normal circumstances, if Haxxor Bunny spoke to The Herta in that tone, the old she-devil would surely have snapped back at her in two or three words.
But right now The Herta was in a great mood, and seeing as the little brat's ability had been a huge help, she patiently checked and gave a friendly triple-combo reply.
"Dunno. I don't have it. Look for it yourself."
"So, what good thing did Bronita leave behind? Is it something tasty?" March 7th asked curiously.
"How about you give it a taste, Ah Qi, and see what this thing tastes like?"
Caelus brought something to March 7th's lips and stuffed it in a bit.
"Pft, pft, pft! What is this?"
March 7th bit down once but couldn't make a dent.
"How come the thing's with you?"
Haxxor Bunny's rummaging froze.
"She put it in my mouth while we were kissing." Caelus told the plain truth.
"Oh."
Miss Haxxor Bunny tugged at her bunny-ear hood and lowered her head to hide her blushing little face; her mind had been entirely on finding this thing, and Caelus suddenly bringing up the kiss made her recall the scene from just now.
No, seriously, she just couldn't understand it—Bronita clearly had a personality even prouder than Herta's, so why, of all people, toward Caelus would she…
Could it be that Herta, who looked like such a sharp-tongued trash-talker, actually liked Caelus deep down, and combined with the other self's feelings for Caelus, that's why Bronita didn't even bother to hide it?
March 7th stuck out her tongue and got a clear look at the thing in Caelus's hand:
"Eh, this sparkly thing is… a Light Cone, right?"
"[Before the Novice Mission Begins]"
Caelus handed the Light Cone to Haxxor Bunny.
On the Light Cone—
A fluorescent-blue tide of particle data blanketed heaven and earth; towering warships glinting with a cold, biting light floated within it, blue-white nebula vortices swirling at their main cannon-muzzles as they gathered energy.
Long hair gradating from cold-tea to blue-purple fluttered, and the peerlessly beautiful girl stood quietly there, as if she were the sole center of the world.
"This one's a limited edition."
Haxxor Bunny excitedly took the Light Cone: "After all, a real Light Cone is made using the Garden of Recollection's technology—even Herta can't manage that."
And as for herself, that went without saying.
After the fusion is dissolved, neither of the two parties who used the earrings retains any of the other's memories or knowledge—so how could one borrow Herta's knowledge?
Simple: the Light Cone.
By encapsulating memory and knowledge within a slice of light, Haxxor Bunny could use the Light Cone to power herself up and project a star-destroyer!
Of course, this also required Haxxor Bunny's projection ability to reach the corresponding energy level.
With external plugin support for the software system, what limited her now was raw hardware strength.
Right now she could only project a single or several fire-control turrets from a star-destroyer, with no way to directly construct an entire warship.
"What do you mean I can't do it? A trifling bit of Light Cone technology—I'm simply not interested, that's all."
Hearing Haxxor Bunny say this, The Herta was none too pleased.
The Light Cone counted as a fairly impressive enhancement-type Curio; Herta had gotten hold of several to study, only to lose interest halfway through.
"Ah, yes yes yes, you're amazing."
Considering that even a limited (pirated) edition Light Cone was thanks to Herta, Miss Haxxor Bunny expressed her goodwill in a wooden, monotone voice.
Herta's research on Light Cones, plus Bronita's Emanator-level projection ability and Aether Editing, had hand-cranked out a pirated Light Cone capable of greatly boosting Haxxor Bunny's combat power.
Its enhancement effect and performance were about the same as the genuine version; it was only that the underlying encapsulation principle differed, the framework was crude, and the shelf life was short.
In the end, it was something Bronita had thrown together within a few dozen minutes.
Miss Haxxor Bunny's standards weren't high, though—if it worked, it worked.
If it broke, at worst she'd just act cute and coquettish with Caelus, borrow the earrings to fuse with Herta, and have Bronita whip up another one.
"Buh-shh, jie-men—what kind of novice mission would even need a star-destroyer?"
Stelle stared at the Light Cone's design, making a derpy cross-eyed face as she quipped.
Was she going to start a war with the IPC?
That really would be quite the "novice" affair.
Probably only Nanook would be fit to serve as the game's BOSS, right?
"Indeed, it does feel a bit out of our league." March 7th nodded cutely.
In return, Miss Haxxor Bunny let loose a string of lines like, "It's a built-in mod, why can't I use it?" "I didn't even turn on cheats—does a tiny cheat count as cheating?" "I'm not lying, it really is a built-in mod."
Bronita was basically half of her, so a Light Cone she'd cranked out herself counting as 'built-in' wasn't too much of a stretch, right?
Bronya showed Pela the contract Oswaldo had signed, and Pela's little round face promptly fell into a state of questioning her entire life.
Th-that's so, so many credits!
"I admit, you've given me a surprise beyond imagination! You didn't make my true body's trip a wasted one."
The three Geniuses wrapped up an academic discussion that—despite the Synesthesia Beacons—was still utterly incomprehensible, and The Herta walked up to Caelus on her lovely legs sheathed in black stockings.
"Of course—Brother Caelus never lies to anyone."
Caelus said with a grin spreading across his lips.
Screwllum adjusted his top hat: "Permit me to reconfirm this question: Mister Caelus, regarding your earlier assertion that 'the earrings possess the efficacy to affect an Aeon'—could you possibly mean…?"
"That's right. If you put the other earring on Nous, you should be able to fuse with Him—though, because the modes of existence differ too greatly, a human's consciousness would probably vanish."
Caelus took back the earrings from Herta's reluctant hands.
"…It can even pull off something like that?"
Ruan Mei knitted her brows slightly:
"These earrings… just what exactly are they?"
"Well, they're just as you see."
Caelus gave the three Geniuses a brief explanation of the earrings' premise.
"Even though I've experienced it once, I still find it fascinating. Next time, could you let Ruan Mei and me give it a try?"
The Herta was itching to give it a go.
Fusing with Haxxor Bunny had shifted her mode of thinking, yet it remained Genius-level thought.
She greatly looked forward to what kind of intellectual sparks two Genius minds fusing and colliding would produce!
"Unfortunately, apart from certain specific people, the vast majority who use the earrings to fuse can never separate again. If the two of you tried it, it would amount to completely giving up your individual selves."
Caelus didn't say that among those who fuse there had to be himself or Stelle—otherwise there'd be no way to explain Bronie.
"Then never mind."
Hearing this restriction, Herta instantly deflated.
"Specific people—does that include you?"
Ruan Mei gazed at Caelus for a moment, then asked softly.
"It does. Both Stelle and I work."
"Then, darling, could you fuse with me?"
Ruan Mei spoke these tantalizing, imagination-stirring words in an elegant, refined tone.
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉