'Hysilens' didn't exactly stop her work.
Instead, she pulled Acheron into a series of experiments aimed at the power of IX.
"I'm going to see if I can use the power of Elation to suppress the influence of Nihility without harming the Sin Thirsters. Acheron, help me out here."
When it came to fabricating NPCs for the first time, 'Hysilens' chose Elation, the Path she was most comfortable with.
Even though she disliked Aha as much as ever, she had to admit that the Path abilities granted by the concept of Elation were incredibly convenient in almost every sense.
However, her understanding of Nihility wasn't deep enough, so she had to rely on Acheron's explanations to guide her.
The research didn't go all that smoothly, but 'Hysilens' wasn't in a rush to finish it instantly.
Naturally, while conducting these experiments, they would pass the time with idle chatter.
For instance...
At one point, 'Hysilens' suddenly remembered someone.
"Speaking of those who study Nihility, Polka Kakamond comes to mind."
"Kakamond? That rather unfriendly genius? But isn't she busy hunting down other geniuses? Why would she study Nihility?"
Acheron wasn't well-acquainted with Kakamond, but since she stood on the side of 'Hysilens', she naturally held a distaste for Kakamond's past actions.
"I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but it's likely because of the Theory of Four Apocalypses; she chose Nihility. Much like how Zandar chose Destruction."
'Hysilens' didn't have a particularly high opinion of Polka Kakamond either.
In her eyes, at least Zandar was focused on his own research projects. Polka, on the other hand, spent every day obsessing over other geniuses, terrified they might do something to disrupt the Erudition. She was a total meddler.
Yet, from another perspective, this same woman had established Device IX in an attempt to resist Nihility.
It was as if she wanted to draw a circle around the world, refusing to let anything outside in, while forbidding anything inside from leaving.
But was that even reasonable?
Even the Permanence had practiced the truth through death—that change is the only eternal constant. Polka's attempt to frame the entire universe was a bit too idealistic.
Making an enemy of the whole world is never a wise choice.
But whatever. She wasn't close to Polka and had no interest in overanalyzing the woman's motives.
Whether Device IX was meant to isolate Nihility or even keep watch over the Quantum Sea didn't really matter.
After all, 'Hysilens' never possessed that brand of "farsightedness" typical of geniuses. Compared to the work of probing the boundaries of the world, she cared far more about the person right in front of her.
Besides, she held the Nihility Equation in her hands. When it came to the study of Nihility, she would eventually surpass Polka Kakamond.
And what she wanted to achieve here had nothing to do with Polka.
It had nothing to do with the end of Nihility, either.
Because the Sin Thirsters were at the horizon of Nihility; there was no need to venture deep into that place at all.
After a period of research, 'Hysilens' made a breakthrough in her study of Nihility.
She finally completed the first version of the "Release Program."
To verify the program, Acheron found a Sin Thirster and, out of trust, brought the spirit with her into the world 'Hysilens' had constructed.
As the outsider entered, the originally blurred world began to crystallize, centering on the spot where the Sin Thirster had descended.
Specks of light transformed into men, women, the young, and the old, falling around the Sin Thirster and taking on various identities.
The location where the Sin Thirster landed—the starting point of this world—was a school.
With a deathly pale face and a vacant, hollow expression, the Sin Thirster appeared in a classroom, dressed in a uniform.
He could neither comprehend the situation nor his own self.
The power of Nihility still clung to him, leaving him in a daze.
Of course, this was only temporary.
The students and teachers of the school—all sorts of people—interacted with him, shared with him, and built relationships.
In response, the Nihility swirling around the Sin Thirster acted like partitioned stagnant water, slowly drained away bit by bit by the crowd.
Consequently, the sluggish Sin Thirster gradually regained a flicker of consciousness.
He still didn't know who he was or where he came from, but he had at least recovered a modicum of self-awareness.
Seeing everything steadily moving onto the right track, Acheron, knowing she was out of place in this evolving world, chose to leave.
The moment she stepped out, she was met with 'Hysilens'' smile.
"It looks like it's going well. My design uses the equation as I understand it to curb the expansion of Nihility, uses the power of Elation to isolate the interior from the exterior, and then distributes the burden of Nihility to let the spirit gradually wake up."
"Yes, it's going smoothly. It's just... are you sure this won't be too much of a mental burden for you?"
Acheron looked at 'Hysilens' with concern.
After all, whether it was suppressing Nihility, sharing its weight, or maintaining the world's operation, these were all acts of defiance against Nihility.
It required a constant, steady supply of power from 'Hysilens'.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Rather than that, let's focus on the subsequent development of the Sin Thirster. We can't have him getting stuck on a level."
"Fair enough."
Acheron gave a small sigh. She felt she was becoming a bit of a nag.
Perhaps it was just a case of "concern leads to confusion."
While the two were chatting outside, inside the small world, the Sin Thirster was slowly integrating into that peaceful life.
Then, bit by bit, he began to remember his own existence and his lingering obsessions.
Time inside and outside the world was not synchronized.
Only a moment passed in the outside world, but nearly a month had gone by within the small world.
This Sin Thirster slowly recalled his past, realizing his own death and his regrets.
Finally, in that school, he reached his graduation ceremony.
The entire process went relatively well.
The only issue was that as the Sin Thirster gradually remembered who he was, he would begin to feel doubt toward this comfortable world.
While this experimental subject hadn't shown any destructive urges, it didn't mean others wouldn't.
A solution to optimize that part of the content would have to be found.
At the same time...
The overall framework was complete; the general direction of guiding the Sin Thirster toward letting go was correct.
The next step was to establish a rule that could automatically guide them.
As for that... there was no way to substitute it with other Paths. One could only start from the aspect of Nihility.
It wasn't for any other reason than the fact that it required high-frequency, wide-range searching in this godforsaken place.
Relying on the power of other Paths to achieve this would cause the energy consumption to skyrocket.
But if it were implemented with the power of Nihility, the consumption would be much, much lower.
It would also save a lot of trouble.
However, this could only be figured out slowly over time. After all, the speed at which she could decode the Nihility Equation was quite limited.
After explaining the upcoming plans and solutions to Acheron, 'Hysilens' returned to the work of perceiving the Nihility Equation.
And Acheron, just as 'Hysilens' had expected, was full of interest in that world designed for the release of Sin Thirsters.
After asking 'Hysilens' for a mask that could precisely regulate that world, she spontaneously began to stuff every Sin Thirster she could find into it.
Moreover, by observing the reactions of these different spirits within the world, she gradually performed targeted optimizations and programming.
She looked like a programmer grinding away at code; it was actually quite interesting.
In this way...
Acheron was no longer like before, having nothing to do all day but stare at 'Hysilens'.
However, 'Hysilens', who had just secured a good research environment, realized she had reached her limit once again.
Compared to last time, both the duration of her persistence and the results of her research were significantly greater.
The harvest was certainly quite good.
Furthermore, there were less than ten days left before the Hysilens character card expired.
She had wanted to push through and use up all the remaining time before resting, but since she had made a promise to Acheron, it wouldn't be right to break it.
So, after giving Acheron a heads-up, 'Hysilens' left the horizon of Nihility once more.
As for Acheron... she was still enthusiastic about building that world, and by the looks of it, she would likely be lost in it for quite some time.
After leaving the horizon of Nihility, 'Hysilens' naturally went back to Penacony.
And there, she found a surprise.
"You've already found it?!"
'Hysilens' looked at Demiurge and Evernight with utter shock.
It had only been a few days. How had they found it so quickly?
Demiurge nodded with a grin.
"I guess a beautiful girl's luck is just that good. It was practically handed to us~"
Standing nearby, Evernight handed over an object that looked like a crystal.
"This is the consciousness of that Nameless. She and I protected it carefully; it really is a bit too fragile."
Inside this memory crystal, which looked like Six-Phased Ice, were the memories of Razalina and that precious consciousness.
It was clear that before she arrived, Evernight and Demiurge must have been trying to nourish this fragile existence.
"But how do you plan to resurrect her? If you take her out to resurrect her directly, that Law itself will collapse."
Evernight looked at 'Hysilens', unsure of her plan.
The two of them had found the target but remained in Penacony because if they took Razalina away, the Rule of Penacony—built upon a life—would crumble along with her.
Neither of them had the ability to rebuild it.
"Leave that problem to me. By mimicking the current Law, I can completely construct a new one. It's just that Penacony's Synesthesia Dreamscape might be a bit turbulent because of it. I'll need Gopher Wood to help out."
Since the consciousness had been found, stripping Razalina from the Law and then rebuilding it was a task that held no difficulty for 'Hysilens'.
The only thing to watch out for was the transition between the old and new Rules.
Because the Rule directly blanketed the entire Synesthesia Dreamscape, changing it would inevitably cause the dreamscape to fluctuate.
It certainly wouldn't destroy the dreamscape.
But it might lead to some chaotic situations, like people dreaming themselves into strange places.
Preventing those incidents would have to be left to The Family.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL