Beep... beep... beep...
The call connected quickly.
Lanvelle immediately heard the sound of fierce wind howling through the receiver. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Miss Herta, are you currently flying in the sky on that wand? May I ask—was that wand created using your newly developed Soul Gem technology?"
"That's right. It's the Soul Gem V1 prototype. Its current name is the Herta Magic Wand." Accompanied by the rushing wind, Herta's voice came through the phone, brimming with excitement. "What, did you capture a photo of me flying on it?"
"Yes. Earlier, you crossed paths with an airplane. The passengers took photos of you and uploaded them online, and it became a trending topic. However, to prevent information leakage, we have already removed the trending post and sealed the news."
Herta sounded surprised. "Prevent information leakage?"
"Miss Herta, you know that the Blue Federation is not the only dominant power on The Blue. On the neighboring continent, there is also the Eastern Federation."
Lanvelle spoke seriously into the phone. "If they discover that our Blue Federation has produced a scientific genius like you, they would absolutely dispatch special forces—perhaps even marines—to carry out a decapitation strike against you."
"Their marine units are all elite forces of the Eastern Federation. The captain is even a Pathstrider of the Path of Destruction. If they join forces... against an Erudition Pathstrider like you who does not specialize in combat, you would be in danger!"
On the other end of the line, Herta responded with complete confidence, "There's no need to worry about that... I'm no longer someone a mere special forces unit can assassinate. If they want to eliminate me, they'd at least need to dispatch a fleet of planet-destroying battleships—or even send an Emanator..."
Planet-destroying fleet?!
An Emanator?!
What was Miss Herta talking about?!
How long had it even been since she became a genius? Had her personal strength already risen to such a degree?
Did joining the Genius Society drastically increase one's power...? I've never heard of such a thing before!!
Lanvelle was utterly stunned, her thoughts thrown into complete chaos. In the end, she could only say to Herta on the other end of the line:
"Miss Herta, just in case, we will continue to provide security services for you. In addition, please pay attention to technological confidentiality. At the very least, before reaching cooperation agreements with the three superpowers of the universe, the technology must absolutely not leak..."
Technological leakage?!
That really was a problem.
If, after mass production, the Soul Gems could be easily dismantled and replicated by outsiders... if pirated and modified versions flooded the world, that would be troublesome!
Herta fell into deep thought. After quite a while, she said to Lanvelle on the other end of the call, "Your reminder is important. I'm hanging up... I'll return and research technical encryption immediately."
Beep... beep... beep...
Hearing the busy tone, Lanvelle realized that Miss Herta had taken the reminder seriously. At the same time, she prepared to report upward that Miss Herta likely already possessed strength surpassing all high-level Pathstriders on The Blue.
In fact, once Lanvelle's report was submitted, it triggered tremendous shock among the Federation's highest leadership. Herta's classified file was updated accordingly:
Name: Herta.
83rd Seat of the Genius Society!
A genius born from the concentrated fortune of an entire planet—indeed, of the entire Blue planetary system.
With only a slight sharing of her scientific achievements, she could elevate Blue civilization to ascension!
In less than a week, she solved the Fourth Cosmic Conundrum—Solitary Waves Theory, developed the Soul Gem, and conducted what appeared to be a form of soul ascension?!
Her strength has advanced by leaps and bounds!
Possesses the power of a high-level Pathstrider—possibly approaching that of an Emanator!
Capable of confronting planet-destroying battleships head-on?!
Individual combat strength assessment... suspected to surpass all beings within the Blue planetary system. Potentially capable of destroying a planet through personal power alone—planet-shattering level!
This classified file held by the Blue Federation's highest authorities was still incomplete... yet even so, its contents were already shocking enough. At the very least, no one within the Blue Federation who had read the file would dare harbor any ill intentions toward Herta.
...
Meanwhile, after riding the Herta Magic Wand in a full orbit around The Blue, Herta finally returned to her dormitory and began contemplating how to encrypt the Soul Gem technology.
Just as she set her mind into high-speed thought, Herman's voice sounded from within her consciousness.
"Herta, you already possess the encryption technology for the Soul Gem. There's no need to think about anything else."
Herta revealed a puzzled expression. But soon, her brilliant mind connected the dots.
"You're saying... that after your magical modification, the V1 Soul Gem prototype—the Herta Magic Wand itself—already contains encryption technology?!"
"As expected of the genius Herta. Your mind turns fast," Herman praised before continuing seriously. "When I modified the Soul Gem, I followed the logic of creating a Magical Girl Transformation Device. Since it's a transformation device, the device itself naturally carries mystery. It cannot be analyzed. Go ahead and study it carefully."
Upon hearing this, Herta immediately picked up the Herta Magic Wand and examined it closely. Sure enough, she discovered within it a segment of unknown formulaic code—something that did not conform to existing scientific theory at all.
It was like magic itself.
A mysterious formula beyond comprehension.
It was precisely the existence of this mysterious formulaic code that rendered the Herta Magic Wand itself exceedingly enigmatic, making it nearly impossible for others to analyze.
Herta moved swiftly. She immediately gathered the remaining Dreamstones and Memoria she had purchased from the grand celebration on Penacony and, combining them with this mysterious magical girl formula, began manufacturing the 002 Soul Gem.
The completed Soul Gem was exactly as expected. It was as though she had embedded a heavenly-engineered mechanism and a super-encryption protocol within it—virtually impossible to decipher.
Moreover, after incorporating the mysterious magical girl formula, the internal structure of the Soul Gem became exquisitely intricate, as if crafted by nature itself. Its interior seemed shrouded in mist and mystery.
With this, even if the finished Soul Gem falls into someone else's hands, they won't be able to analyze or dismantle it successfully... the technology won't leak.
As that thought settled in her mind, The Herta still felt it was not enough.
Once the Soul Gem factory was established, workers would inevitably need to be recruited and production carried out.
And as long as humans were involved—even under a strict division of labor, where each person manufactured only a single component—if a major power intervened and launched a financial offensive with Credits, there would still be a risk of the Soul Gem manufacturing technology leaking.
If she truly wanted to eliminate the possibility of technological leakage, then human labor had to be removed entirely.
What she needed was a fully automated, super-intelligent AI factory.
As for the factory's intelligent management AI...
At that thought, The Herta's gaze slowly focused on the Fourth Mirror, which was still in the midst of evolution.