Anti-Irontomb Equation, Digimon, Special Seeds of Light.
All three projects were advancing simultaneously while continually attempting integration with one another.
Through the collaboration of numerous geniuses, the work progressed steadily and methodically.
The initial idea of 'Hertatomb' was that Digimon should remain just that—Digimon.
The Seeds of Light would play a supporting role, enabling certain land-based Digimon to evolve into Giants of Light.
That was the standard process for the birth of a Giant of Light.
However, the other Herta, having personally witnessed the Irontomb disaster, thought differently.
She felt it would be better to directly integrate the special Seeds of Light with the source code of the Digimon.
Because to fundamentally rewrite the calculation tendencies of the Emperor's Scepter from the source, turning everyone into light clearly offered a higher chance of success.
Moreover, Digimon possessed immense potential.
If countermeasures weren't prepared in advance, should certain entities tamper with them, they might become reversed, corrupted versions and spread uncontrollably.
The consequences would be extremely troublesome.
And since a special organization like the Land of Light already existed, these unique lifeforms, the Digimon, could be directly placed under its jurisdiction.
This would prevent other factions from coveting them.
While various major powers had sent people to help during the fight against the Irontomb, one shouldn't naively assume they were all selfless altruists.
As for the other Herta's proposal, after a group discussion, everyone agreed it seemed the better choice.
"But speaking of which, if you plan to use Irontomb's body to achieve self-coronation and actively request the inclusion of Seeds of Light, won't you then…"
'Hertatomb' looked curiously at the other Herta.
If things were to proceed as she described, then the other Herta would naturally become a member affiliated with the Land of Light.
Given the current atmosphere in the universe, once you displayed the characteristics of a Giant of Light—even degraded ones—all major factions would automatically classify you as belonging to the Land of Light.
Then, aside from the IPC, no one would engage with you, simply waiting for the Land of Light to send someone for recruitment.
Unless both sides explicitly declared independence from each other, basically no one dared to cause trouble.
As for the reason? One would have to ask those factions who have actually fought the Giants of Light.
Even the IPC, if it dared to act unethically, the Land of Light would confront them head-on without hesitation, showing not an ounce of fear.
In the eyes of the universe's current major powers, the Land of Light was practically indistinguishable from cosmic hooligans.
At the slightest sign of trouble, these guys come sniffing around.
The key issue is they never give up until their goal is achieved. They can disregard losses and costs, throwing themselves into the fray one after another for what some might call a childish slogan.
Even worse, once these 'hooligans' start losing a fight, they begin shouting about hope, passion, protection, and the like, triggering sudden power-ups and fusions.
Then their individual combat prowess skyrockets, often producing energy reactions on the level of an Emanator—sometimes even far exceeding ordinary Emanators.
They've mastered the 'unity of purpose' shtick more smoothly than The Family itself.
Consequently, nowadays, major factions feel a chill whenever they see multiple Giants gathering together.
Unless absolutely forced, no one wants to conflict with such a 'rogue faction.'
"I know. Affiliation with the Land of Light, right? That sounds perfectly fine. Cooperating with the Land of Light is far better than dealing with the IPC."
The other Herta didn't seem bothered by this.
Or perhaps, having experienced death once and connected with Nous, this Herta had indeed changed in certain aspects.
Madam Herta had clearly noticed this as well, leaving her with a slightly complex feeling.
"Moreover, my existence is special, and the Land of Light's attributes can provide excellent endorsement for me."
The other Herta was well aware of her origins.
She could only contend for control by intertwining her source code with Irontomb's, which meant she needed an insurance policy for herself—to prevent her future self from degenerating into Rubert III.
The Land of Light was obviously the perfect candidate for that role. No other entity in the universe was better suited to be that safeguard.
"You've really thought this through comprehensively."
'Hertatomb' felt somewhat surprised after hearing the other Herta's perspective.
"No one wants to experience becoming Rubert III again. Not even a genius like me."
As for the other Herta's idea, everyone voted in favor and began a new round of work.
--+--
Under Ruan Mei's leadership, the development of the Digimon' source code proceeded relatively smoothly.
After attempting to integrate it with the Seeds of Light, some technical hurdles were even resolved.
"With the Seeds of Light as a guarantee, individual consciousness will be safer, and evolutionary designs can be more aggressive."
The design of the Digimon was primarily led by Ruan Mei.
'Hertatomb' focused more on calculations, identifying flaws and optimizing within the simulations: "Evolutionary design is manageable. Now we need to tackle the final challenge: data materialization."
While energy materialization had been achieved before, and the two concepts might seem superficially similar, the underlying principles for realization were worlds apart.
Ruan Mei nodded upon hearing this.
Screwllum, standing nearby, spoke up:
"Suggestion: For data materialization technology, perhaps we can reference the hacking techniques of Punklorde."
Herta tilted her head in agreement: "I have a data cartridge from a legendary Punklorde hacker… Hmm, probably tossed into the space station somewhere. I'll have an AI send it over."
The other Herta smiled upon hearing this:
"Speaking of Punklorde, the Stellaron Hunters will recruit a little brat named Silver Wolf in the future. Her hacking skills are decent. But at this point in time, that kid probably isn't even born yet."
"Oh? Did I have a run-in with this Silver Wolf character in the future?"
"She came to the space station provocatively, wanting to challenge Screwllum. But I didn't indulge her. I deleted all… what was it… over seventy of her game accounts. The little brat ran off crying and throwing a fit. Still, despite that, her skills were indeed noteworthy."
"…"
Screwllum tilted his head slightly nearby. He was involved in this too?
"For Madam Herta to praise someone's skill, it must indeed be remarkable."
"That's true. I heard from the future you that you briefly sparred with that little brat. According to you, it was a draw."
Screwllum grew somewhat curious about this girl named Silver Wolf upon hearing this.
However, the casual chat didn't last long.
The AI was highly efficient, soon dispatching a puppet to deliver the cartridge.
Thus, after a brief break, the geniuses dove back into development work.
Several more days passed in this manner.
After analyzing Punklorde's hacking techniques, they iterated upon the Digimon code once more.
Once the upgrades were mostly complete, Ruan Mei finally created the first Digimon.
As for why they didn't follow the other Herta's wish for her to become the original Digimon—this was, after all, a plan to counter Irontomb.
They couldn't just skip all verification experiments and apply it directly to the other Herta.
'Hertatomb' stubbornly insisted this individual could only be considered a prototype; the title of the true, complete, primordial Digimon was still reserved for the other Herta.
Whether this actually convinced her or not was debatable, but they managed to use this excuse to smooth her feathers, so to speak.
As for the design, 'Hertatomb' shaped it into the form of a white puppy.
Everyone watched as it flowed out of 'Hertatomb's' body as a stream of data, then materialized before their eyes—a cute little dog with a golden collar around its neck.
"Arf!"
The newborn creature showed no fear at all.
Instead, it wagged its tail and barked happily at everyone in the room.
Even Herta reached out with interest to ruffle its head.
"Quite interesting. No need to worry about feeding, washing, or fur management. When traveling, it can hide as data in a phone to keep you company. Practically the ideal pet."
"… Digimon have high intelligence. I just made it look harmless. Don't actually treat it like a pet."
'Hertatomb' helplessly emphasized the point.
As for Ruan Mei, she was reviewing the prototype's data report.
From the calculation results and current scan readings, everything was within projected parameters.
"Next, we need to conduct evolution experiments. If evolution can also be completed stably, then we can officially proceed."
Using the infection capabilities of the Digimon and Seeds of Light, they would completely infect Amphoreus, forcibly introducing variables into the calculation experiment, using the Path of Hope to counterbalance the Scepter's destructive tendencies.
While the other Herta used Irontomb to achieve self-coronation, the Scepter could also serve as the computational host for the Digimon—making full use of resources and avoiding waste.
After all, given Herta's aesthetic tastes, she would certainly disdain Irontomb's appearance.
It was likely that after the coronation, the other Herta would find a way to separate herself, leaving that body for Amphoreus to deal with on its own.
--+--