Herta Space Station.
In the previous moment, Herta had been tightly embraced by Lucian, her back pressed against his warm chest, feeling the terrifying tide of energy as Nous's projection was recovered.
In the next instant, she found herself safely seated on the familiar sofa in her lab.
Because the environment had shifted too quickly, her body still lingered with the sensation of being embraced tightly, along with the aftereffects of the overwhelming energy of Nous, but her mind had already returned to its cold, rational state.
"..."
Herta crossed her arms, her expression blank as she sat silently, making the surroundings so quiet that only the soft hum of machinery could be heard.
Before long, she glanced down at her smooth arm, then instinctively reached to touch her side, feeling as if Lucian's arm still lingered there.
"Lucian—that guy..."
Herta murmured to herself, her brows furrowing in rare contemplation.
In the vast computational field of Nous, so overwhelming it could take one's breath away, with the entire planet beneath them beginning to deconstruct into data, Lucian's first reaction wasn't to escape but to swing a sword at THEM.
In the end, without even knowing whether Nous would retaliate, he didn't run away alone like before, but instead sent her back first to the absolute safety of Herta Space Station.
"Beyond your involvement..."
Herta repeated Lucian's final words to herself, unconsciously pulling out her phone.
No matter how she thought about it, this made no sense at all.
A person who dared to attack an Aeon, even splitting THEIR projection in two—did their survival still need to be questioned?
Such a power was so far beyond comprehension that even she could only describe it with vague terms like 'close to conceptual.'
Lucian clearly had enough means to protect himself, maybe even some backup, but why, at such a critical moment, did he prioritize her safety as if something deadly would befall them?
'Was he worried that my presence there would risk his secrets?'
Herta's thoughts raced as she tried to find a logically consistent explanation for Lucian's action.
'Or... was it simply some form of... protective instinct?'
As this thought unconsciously surfaced in her mind, Herta found it somewhat absurd.
Her relationship with Lucian was, at best, that of temporary collaborators with some shared secrets.
Protecting her?
Such a thing was far too tender.
Yet deep down, she felt an inexplicable, almost unexplainable, sense of restlessness.
Could Lucian really escape unscathed after cutting Nous's projection?
Would he exhaust himself?
Would he be injured?
All these 'unnecessary' worries quickly buzzed through Herta's mind like tiny electric currents, uncontrollable even within her precisely calibrated brain circuits.
"Tch..."
Herta clicked her tongue in annoyance as she experienced this strange feeling for the first time, so unlike her usual persona.
In the end, after hesitating for about three seconds, Herta's finger tapped on her phone, finding the contact labeled 'Pervert.'
Staring at the blank input field, she let her fingertips hover for a while, as if trying to form the right words, before quickly typing a line and hitting send.
[Herta: You still alive? Did Droidhead not tear you apart and recycle you as scrap metal?]
Right after sending this message, as if she had just completed a difficult task, Herta switched the screen to a complex stream of cosmic model data, pretending to be busy.
One minute...
Two minutes...
Three minutes...
Still no reply...
Ten minutes later, Herta, no longer able to sit still, stood up and called for her Magic Mirrors.
"First Mirror, construct my data body."
"Second Mirror, input coordinates."
"Third Mirror, map the data body to the coordinate position."
"Fourth Mirror... just shut up."
Herta initiated her data body projection to the deserted planet where she and Lucian had confronted Nous to check the situation, but soon found that the result was, unfortunately, nothing.
Nous was gone.
Lucian was gone.
Only some planet blocks, deconstructed by Nous, were floating in space.
"Droidhead, you'd better not let anything happen to him..."
===
Meanwhile, in the Epsilon's Golden Theater, Robin ultimately sang once more.
Under the soothing, harmonious melody of Harmony, it seemed that the earlier incident had been quickly forgotten as the audience, with the seats packed, was lost in the unparalleled visual and auditory feast.
Some listeners closed their eyes to listen, their eyes moistening.
Others stared at the dazzling figure on stage, forgetting to breathe.
As the song was rising to an emotional climax, Robin tilted her head up slightly, stretching her arms as if trying to embrace the entire starry sky, but just then, her high notes suddenly fell lower, her voice growing quieter, until it stopped abruptly as her head lowered, her bangs covering her eyes.
In that instant, the theater fell into utter silence.
Now, the expressions of the audience—infatuation, melancholy, and obsession—froze, only to be replaced by confusion as they stared at the silent Robin on stage.
"What's going on? Can't hit the high notes anymore?"
"I was almost at the climax. Why did it stop?"
"Uhh... Is this how the song is supposed to be?"
"Did she fall asleep?"
At first, the audience was calm, only murmuring questions in confusion, but when Robin's manager noticed that Robin's eyes were tightly closed and then rushed forward to check on Robin's condition, her hand passed right through Robin's shoulder!
No matter what the manager did, she couldn't touch Robin and couldn't wake her up, which terrified everyone who was watching.
However, given the previous incident, the audience was still somewhat restrained, wondering if this was just another gimmick.
===
Penacony, Dewlight Pavilion.
Sunday was still watching his sister's concert through the live stream, so he also saw the strange situation.
Remembering the previous incident that was still fresh in his mind, he immediately connected this strange situation with Aha.
"Again, that damn Elation, how many more times do you have to mess with Robin?!"
Sunday's fists trembled in anger.
He could hardly wait to stand right in front of the Aeon of Elation and punch THEM in the face twice.
Of course, he also didn't forget the unknown man from Jarilo-VI.
How dare he have such thoughts about Robin?
Before Robin was harmed, he had to make sure that he eliminated those two.
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO ROBIN NOW?!"
*BANG!*
Sunday yelled while slamming his palm on the expensive mahogany desk, making the sturdy surface groan under the pressure.
Even if that unknown man had Aha THEMSELF backing him, anyone who dared to touch his sister had to pay the price!
With this thought in mind, Sunday immediately left the Dreamscape and arranged for a spaceship to depart for Epsilon.
He needed to personally confirm Robin's condition before he could rest easy.
'Once the Order revives, once I become an Emanator of Order, I'll be the first to deal with you...'
Aeon may have been untouchable, but an unknown man?
Not so much.
He had to let this raging feeling out, or he would lose his mind!
He would definitely make that man kneel before him and call him father!
Ironically, the very man Sunday held a grudge against was currently running his sister's script.
[Random character script starting...]
[Robin]
[Randomly drawing a conceptual ability...]
[BGM: Select any form of music as background music. When the music played, it granted immunity to all abnormal statuses and all damage within its soundwave range.]
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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