'Georios' stared intently at Typhon, her gaze filled with suspicion.
It wasn't until Typhon couldn't bear it anymore and adverted her eyes that she finally spoke slowly:
"What are you up to? You weren't the type of dragon to act like this before. If there's something on your mind, just say it. Don't be so weird."
"Ahem... is it really that weird? It's, well, it's fine, I think."
Typhon felt a wave of intense embarrassment, like someone caught red-handed indulging in a secret hobby.
As for 'Georios'... she wasn't particularly worried. After all, even if Typhon did have some ulterior motive, with her current power, she could easily subdue or escape her.
However, seeing Typhon's fidgety behavior, 'Georios' thought for a moment and suddenly flashed a mischievous smirk:
"If you think it's fine, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I edited all these little reactions of yours together and sent them to Inferno for your subjects to see."
"Don't you dare—!"
The stubborn Typhon couldn't keep up her act any longer. If she persisted, her lifelong reputation among the Infernalians would evaporate instantly.
The look 'Georios' gave her only made it harder for Typhon to keep her composure. Finally, she chose to surrender.
"Fine, I admit it. Your current dragon form is just too beautiful... the kind of beautiful that makes one instinctively want to get closer..."
Typhon awkwardly looked away, but as she scanned the room, 'Georios' clones were everywhere in the laboratory. No matter where she looked, her eyes met individuals that made her heart flutter.
Seeing this reaction, 'Georios' didn't suspect anything deeper. She simply moved her tail in front of herself, examining it closely.
"What a simple, unadorned reason..."
To be fair, in her own eyes, this tail was indeed quite stunning. It possessed a beauty filled with the charm and aesthetics of Permanence. But to be as obsessed as Typhon... that was a bit much.
Even accounting for the different aesthetic tastes between dragons and humans, 'Georios' recalled the countless breathtaking beauties she had encountered. None of them had acted quite like this.
Ultimately, 'Georios' came to a conclusion. This Typhon character simply wasn't a very 'proper' dragon.
Still, while she was a bit eccentric, it wasn't so ridiculous that it was unbearable.
So, one of the clones passing by extended her tail, letting it settle right in front of Typhon.
Typhon looked up at 'Georios' in disbelief.
The latter simply said indifferently, "Since you seem to like it so much. Just don't disturb me."
"..."
Typhon almost let out a cheer, but she forced it back after hearing the second sentence.
Her hands reached out clumsily to cradle the clone's tail. The cautious, delicate way she handled it made 'Georios' want to laugh.
It was just that Typhon's expression was... a bit much to look at. With those slightly flushed cheeks, heavy breathing, and trembling pupils, she looked like some kind of creep.
She really couldn't understand this brand of dragon-fixation.
'Georios' shook her head and stopped paying attention to Typhon. Although the dragon's expression was perverted, 'Georios' didn't actually feel anything from having her tail touched.
After all, reality wasn't some game with strange settings; tails and horns didn't possess that kind of odd sensitivity. Moreover, it was just a clone.
To her, Typhon's strange attitude was nothing more than a minor interlude. In comparison, deciphering the Permanence Equation was far more important.
Even with various buffs, if 'Georios' wanted to understand the Path of Permanence deeply enough to claim it for herself, it would take at least ten years—and several decades wouldn't be surprising.
This was only possible because the Personality Completion System was in full swing, combined with her existing understanding of the Elation Equation.
Without the efficiency of the system and the experience of analyzing the Elation Equation, she truly wouldn't have known how many eons it would take to finish the analysis.
Even Herta had only made significant progress because of 'Georios's' help. Otherwise, even for a genius, facing the Elation Equation alone would lead to nothing but a scratched head.
Of course, relatively speaking, the power of a so-called Emanator felt like a mere drop in the ocean compared to the strength of an entire Path.
So, while directly usurping the position of the Aeon of Permanence might take a long time, mastering it to a level comparable to or exceeding an Emanator wasn't exactly difficult.
Besides, ten years wasn't long in the grand scheme of things. 'Georios' could afford to wait.
Her only regret was that among the Twelve Titans, there wasn't an individual representing Propagation.
She could find sections in the Permanence Equation that carried concepts similar to Propagation.
This was likely because the version of Permanence Typhon practiced leaned toward the prosperity of the kin, so the parts perceived through her naturally tilted in that direction.
Since Propagation had originally branched off from Permanence, it was only natural for the Path of Permanence to retain some of those traces. It was normal for the equation to contain such content.
However, her current research into the Permanence Equation wasn't deep enough yet, so she wasn't sure how much of this content existed or if it was enough for her to grasp the mysteries of Propagation.
As for whether this Permanence Equation would directly contain the concepts of Propagation and Abundance...
One could only say it might contain glimpses, but full inclusion was unlikely. She wouldn't indulge in such fantasies.
Regarding the study of Propagation, while she did have a swarm of her own, they were her own people and possessed extraordinary abilities. To be honest, using them for experiments would be a waste.
If she truly wanted to study Propagation, it would be better to take a trip to Glamoth's territory.
There were plenty of bugs there—and not just bugs, but a vast number of humanoid Pathstriders of Propagation, and even an individual who had become a Swarm King.
She decided to make a trip there whenever she had the time.
While 'Georios' was still immersed in her research, over on the Xianzhou Fanghu, Xuanquan had finally received the result she wanted.
The Vidyadhara were currently scattered across the various Xianzhou ships, and since the ships were vast distances apart, communication wasn't frequent. Essentially, each branch was relatively independent.
Given Xuanquan's delicate status, inviting outsiders to perform a large-scale transformation of the Vidyadhara required approval from many sides.
Fortunately, most Vidyadhara in positions of power were troubled by the slow death of their race.
Thus, while the plan Xuanquan proposed carried the risk of being manipulated by outsiders, it was truly the only option worth trying at the moment.
The Vidyadhara side was basically in support of Xuanquan's decision. On the contrary, the Xianzhou Alliance held differing opinions.
While they gave various reasons, their actual concern was likely that if the Vidyadhara solved their reproductive issues, they might defect directly to the banner of the Aeon of Elation, Bai Ming.
This would leave the Abundance Plaguemarks on the Xianzhou ships with no one to seal them.
Xuanquan could understand why the Alliance would think that way.
Mainly, it was said that the new Aeon of Elation wasn't like other Aeons who vanished after ascending.
Instead, she stayed openly at the space station outside Amphoreus. The members of those space stations had leaked plenty of video footage, and she was a hot topic on the network lately.
So, Xuanquan understood the Alliance's concerns. But understanding didn't mean she was going to give up this opportunity.
Through her efforts during this period, she had finally secured support from all parties and achieved a satisfactory result.
Fortunately, things had been relatively peaceful on the Xianzhou front lately. Because of Celenova, the Denizens of Abundance—who had already suffered heavy casualties—were now being pushed to the brink of extinction.
Forget the short term; they probably wouldn't have the strength to cause trouble for thousands of years.
Therefore, Xuanquan planned to personally visit Amphoreus to invite Bai Ming.
As for the price to be paid...
Previously, she thought she could use the treasures owned by the Vidyadhara as payment, or even offer her own life for the other party to experiment on as they pleased.
But now, Xuanquan no longer knew what kind of reward they could offer to satisfy an Aeon. When the gap was this vast, one truly didn't even know how to offer payment.
She could only wait until they met to ask in person.
With that in mind, Xuanquan began arranging her affairs to free up time so she could leave the Fanghu in a while.
'Georios' had no idea Xuanquan was planning a personal visit. After she finished her thorough "research" on Typhon at Amphoreus, she took the Imbibitor Lunae Light Cone and headed toward Leyaris.
She had taken the time to ask Baiheng and Jingliu about this Light Cone. As for why she didn't ask Jing Yuan... it was better not to bring such a sensitive item to the Luofu.
Jingliu said she had no use for it, while Baiheng asked carefully about Dan Heng's whereabouts.
Upon hearing that he had not only escaped the shadow of Dan Feng but had also finally ended his self-exile and joined the Astral Express, Baiheng let out a massive sigh of relief.
While Dan Heng might feel that Baiheng's current form—neither quite foxian nor quite dragon—was a result of his past life's mistakes, to Baiheng, being able to live a long life wasn't a bad thing.
Aside from not being able to show her face in public, there were no other side effects.
It was a good thing that Dan Heng had stopped beating himself up. At least everyone could move toward a new life.
Even if it was hard to reunite, knowing through news reports that everyone was living well was a decent enough ending.
In short, Baiheng chose to accept the Light Cone.
"To think an Aeon would personally deliver this, I'm actually feeling a bit embarrassed," Baiheng said as she took the Light Cone, flashing a grin at 'Georios'.
She didn't look like she was feeling awkward at all.
"You don't look embarrassed to me."
Hearing this, Baiheng just scratched her head with a giggle. 'Georios' looked at Baiheng's scarf, reminded of the scales on her body, and added:
"By the way, I can help you hide the scales on your body. Do you need me to?"
Baiheng blinked, then shook her head with a smile.
"No need. Actually, with my connections as a Galaxy Ranger, there are ways to cover those traces if I wanted to. I just haven't planned on hiding them completely."
"Why?"
"I was an accomplice back then, too. If I hid them completely, it would feel like I was running away."
Seeing Baiheng's insistence, 'Georios' didn't push further.
"Fair enough."
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL