The Herta shook her head. "Whether it's the travels of the Nameless or the watchmaker's story, I have no interest in either. What I truly want to ask is this—since you are a veteran Nameless who once disembarked from the Astral Express, do you know its current whereabouts?"
Mikhail froze for a moment. He lifted a hand and stroked the white beard on his chin. "Miss Herta, are you hoping to board the train and become a Nameless yourself?"
The Herta shook her head again, denying Mikhail's speculation. "Compared to becoming a Nameless, I am more interested in studying the Astral Express personally forged by the Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili."
"And integrating its technology into the Herta Xianzhou warship. But by the time I learned of it, the train had already disappeared. I wonder whether you, as someone who once stepped down from it, know where the Astral Express is now."
Mikhail was taken aback. "The train disappeared? When did that happen?"
"You don't know either?"
"I have entered the hibernation pod many times, waiting for my missing friends—Tiernan and Razalina—to return..." As he spoke, his expression dimmed.
The Herta immediately understood. The Nameless before her most likely truly did not know the Astral Express's location.
What a pity.
If she could thoroughly study the Astral Express's technology and incorporate it into the soon-to-be-built Herta warship, that vessel would undoubtedly become one of the most formidable warships in the entire cosmos.
At that moment, Herman's voice echoed within her mind.
"Herta, you want to find the Astral Express."
"You know where it is?"
Her thoughts stirred. She immediately remembered the cheat within her—Herman.
This man seemed to possess knowledge of many things across the universe.
Perhaps he truly did know where the Astral Express was.
"I do." Herman's reply was succinct. "It crashed in Planarcadia."
The Herta's spirit jolted. "Planarcadia? The one where the Aeon of Elation, Aha, held the Phantasmoon Games?"
"That's right. It crashed there. With your talent, Herta, a little research would be enough for you to repair the Astral Express. Are you interested in becoming its navigator and roaming countless worlds?"
"No. Compared to wandering the cosmos like a street drifter, I would rather study the Astral Express itself. I already told Mikhail that just now." After refusing, she paused and thought inwardly:
It seems that once everything on The Blue is settled, I should make a trip to Planarcadia.
Tap. Tap.
At that moment, Pearl and Gopher Wood concluded the commercial negotiations regarding the Soul Gem project.
Mikhail promptly took out the contract and began signing, transferring the shares to The Herta.
Thus, the Soul Gem agreement was formally signed.
Raw materials: provided by Penacony and the Family.
Production: the Soul Gem factory on The Blue, supplied by the genius Herta.
Sales channels: the Xianzhou Alliance and the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Tap. Tap.
The group exited the conference room. The Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation hurried over with Lanvelle and said, "Esteemed envoys—and Miss Herta—may I ask whether the Soul Gem cooperation contract has been signed?"
Yao Guang, Jade, Gopher Wood, and Herta all nodded.
At that instant, the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation was overwhelmed with joy.
Herta City had been established.
The Soul Gem partnership had been secured.
The Blue Federation was destined to rise within the cosmos.
From now on, they absolutely had to hold tightly to Miss Herta's support.
"Everyone, please proceed to the dining hall. The Blue Federation will host a grand state banquet for you all."
Including Herta, everyone nodded and headed toward the cafeteria.
However, Lanvelle, walking behind the Supreme Leader, revealed a troubled expression. After hesitating for a moment, she clenched her teeth and stepped forward, whispering something into the Supreme Leader's ear.
In the next instant, the Supreme Leader's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Lanvelle.
"You're saying that all the food in the cafeteria... was eaten by Miss Herta's puppet—little Herta?"
"That was enough to feed hundreds, even thousands," the Supreme Leader said, his expression darkening. "Could it be that someone dared to embezzle supplies at a time like this—"
"No," Lanvelle said with a bitter smile, shaking her head. "The food really was eaten by Herta."
The Supreme Leader frowned deeply. To be honest, he could not believe that such an enormous amount of food could have been consumed by little Herta alone. She was just a puppet—how could she possibly eat that much...
The moment the Supreme Leader pushed open the cafeteria doors, he stopped thinking entirely.
He froze on the spot.
Before his eyes were mountains of stacked plates, piled all the way up to the cafeteria ceiling.
And there was little Herta, still devouring food at full speed.
In the open kitchen, the chefs were drenched in sweat, veins bulging in their foreheads as they stir-fried dishes at frantic speed.
"Faster, faster! Hurry up! Miss Herta is about to finish everything again!"
"There are ten master chefs cooking at once—we have to cook faster than Miss Herta can eat!"
"Turn up the heat! More heat!"
"We're out of dishes! Miss Herta ate them all by herself!"
...
Witnessing such an exaggerated scene, the Supreme Leader could not help but mutter, "Little Herta can eat this much... Could it be that she has a black hole inside her?"
Lanvelle nodded. "She really does have a black hole inside her. Miss Herta mentioned it before."
!!
Hearing this, the Supreme Leader stared at Herta—who was still sitting at the dining table and eating—with utter disbelief.
So she had a miniature black hole stomach installed inside her body. No wonder she could eat so much. That explained it. Perfectly reasonable... perfectly reasonable...
Wait. No. It was still strange.
That was a black hole. Even if it was only the size of a human organ, if it were to leak out onto The Blue, it could cause catastrophic disaster in a very short time.
Could it be that Miss Patavia had been right all along? That the crisis described by the Architects truly originated from Miss Herta?
After all, if something were to go wrong with little Herta and the mass of the miniature black hole inside her leaked into the outside world, it would be thousands—tens of thousands—of times worse than a nuclear meltdown...
By the time this thought reached its conclusion, cold sweat was running down the Supreme Leader's face.
He turned to Herta and asked, "Miss Herta... could the black hole inside little Herta ever leak due to an accident?"
Herta answered confidently, "Rest assured. That is absolutely impossible. My design is flawless."
The Supreme Leader hesitated, as if wanting to say more but ultimately holding back.
Meanwhile, Yao Guang, Jade, and the others revealed looks of astonishment.
Although they had seen Herta riding her magic wand upon arriving at the Blue Federation International Diplomatic Hall, both Yao Guang and Jade had simply assumed little Herta was an ordinary robot.
But now, upon suddenly learning that a miniature black hole resided within little Herta's body, they realized she was anything but simple—she was Miss Herta's latest research achievement.
In such a short span of time, Miss Herta had already completed another new project?
Unbelievable.
Wait...
Could it be that Miss Herta was like the 29th Seat of the Genius Society, Miss Sserkal—someone capable of producing research results at astonishing speed?
While Jade and Yao Guang were thinking this, little Herta also noticed the commotion. She finally put down her chopsticks, jumped off the chair, and trotted all the way to The Herta.
"Madam Herta, little Herta reporting in!"
After speaking, she even mimicked Pearl's earlier manner and gave a proper salute.
The Herta smiled and asked, "Was the cafeteria food tasty?"
Little Herta gave a thumbs-up. "Tasty! Super tasty!"
Hearing this, The Herta glanced at the plates that were nearly stacked to the ceiling and nodded. "I can tell. I didn't expect you to be such a glutton."
"It's all thanks to the great Madam Herta's brilliance and unmatched wisdom for installing a black hole stomach for little Herta."
Little Herta scratched her head, then asked, "So, Madam Herta, about the Soul Gem project cooperation?"
The Herta gave a slight nod. "It's complete."
Little Herta jumped up in celebration. "Yay! That means little Herta will soon have her own Soul Gem—and even a Herta Magic Wand?"
The Herta nodded faintly. "Yes. Not only you—Pearl will have one as well."
Pearl, standing nearby, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Based on rational inference and what you previously stated, Miss Herta, Intellitrons are unable to use Soul Gems. Why has that suddenly changed...?"
"Because the technology has advanced," The Herta said with a faint smile. "During my visit to Screwllum's planet, I observed the precise moment when a robot transformed into an Intellitron. At that instant, it already possessed a soul and became life."
"Of course, since Intellitrons do not have blood, they cannot perform blood-binding recognition."
"However, that does not mean there is no alternative. By opening a secure soul-network protocol port on the Soul Gem, Intellitrons can connect to its data. Through that method, they can use the Soul Gem."
The technology had advanced again?
Pearl could not help thinking that Miss Herta's research speed seemed even faster than what the Celestial Differentiator had once claimed about Mr. Screwllum's pace of research...
At that moment, Jade spoke up.
"Miss Herta, I strongly suggest that Soul Gems capable of being used by Intellitrons—and Path amplifiers—should only be produced on a small scale. They must absolutely not be mass-produced."
Upon hearing this, Herta immediately understood her concern. "You're worried that one day in the future, Rubert might return and ignite a new machine uprising—a renewed Emperor's War—and that those rebellious Intellitrons would possess Soul Gems, greatly increasing their strength?"
Jade nodded with a solemn expression. "The Emperor's War and the machine rebellion caused devastating losses to countless forces across the cosmos. Therefore, rare items like Soul Gems that amplify one's Path must never be casually sold to Intellitrons."
"If, one day in the future, Rubert III were to return and the Emperor's War truly erupted again, the resulting catastrophe would be even more terrifying."
Yao Guang also grew serious. "The previous Emperor's War swept across the entire cosmos. Even the Xianzhou Alliance was not spared and fell into chaos. If another Emperor's War were to break out—and if the Intellitrons all possessed Path-amplifying combat tools like Soul Gems—the disaster would undoubtedly be even greater."
Pearl did not refute them.
According to the records in her database, the Emperor's War had indeed been as horrifying as Jade and Yao Guang described.
Even now, many spacefaring civilizations remained extremely xenophobic—especially toward Intellitrons—seeking to exterminate every known one.
At that moment, The Herta spoke with complete confidence.
"That will not happen."
"Whether for humans or for Intellitrons, the Soul Gems are designed and manufactured by me. Therefore, I can state this clearly."
"For humans, a simple drop of blood is enough to establish deep binding with the Soul Gem. That binding operates on the level of the soul."
"For Intellitrons, however, it is different. They must connect through the secure soul-network protocol port to complete the link. As long as I detect anything amiss, I can sever their network access at any time."
"Of course, if one day all Intellitrons were to launch a massive rebellion and still be able to use Soul Gems, there would only be one possibility—"
"That I, Herta, have become Rubert III."
After saying this, The Herta herself laughed lightly. "But that possibility is so small as to be negligible, isn't it?"
Yao Guang and Jade both laughed as well.
They agreed completely.
The likelihood that Herta—the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society—would become Rubert III was virtually nonexistent.
In that case, even if another machine crisis erupted in the cosmos in the future, there would be no need to worry about Soul Gems amplifying the disaster.
After all, Herta would only need to adjust the soul-network security protocol—introduce an error into the protocol—and the Intellitrons would be unable to use the Soul Gems.
However, while Yao Guang and Jade were smiling in relief, Herman inside The Herta did not laugh.
The reason was simple.
As a transmigrator, he clearly knew that in one of the game's IF timelines, Herta had truly fused with a Lord Ravager—Iron Tomb—and become Rubert III, or rather, the Third Emperor, unleashing a catastrophe that swept across the entire cosmos.
It was entirely possible that one day in the future, Herta might once again be manipulated by Nous and lured to Amphoreus—only to have her mind seized by the Lord Ravager Iron Tomb and become the Third Emperor...
At this thought, Herman could not help but speak inwardly to The Herta.
"Don't raise a death flag!"
"What is it?" The Herta found Herman's sudden warning rather strange. "Was what I said just now incorrect? Wait... could it be that in the future I truly might be possessed by my predecessor Rubert and become Rubert III?!"
"As far as I know, yes," Herman replied seriously. "In some future Amber Era, if you were to take a single wrong step, your fate would be to have your intellect seized by a Lord Ravager and become Rubert III—triggering a new Emperor's War across the cosmos."
???
After hearing Herman's words, a string of question marks seemed to pop up above Herta's head.
A Lord Ravager possessing her? Rubert III? What was all this supposed to mean?
But since it was Herman's warning, it had to be taken seriously.
After all, Herman even knew secrets of multiple Aeons. The fact that he could interfere with causality like an Aeon—or even foresee the future—was not impossible...
Thinking this, Herta felt a chill in her heart. She knew she absolutely could not afford to waste time. She had to accelerate her research, advance further along the Path of Erudition, and unravel even more mysteries of the cosmos.
Only then could she become a true Emanator of Erudition—or go even further, and become...
Many thoughts passed through her mind. In the end, she composed herself and said, "Let's go eat."
"Sorry, Madam Herta," little Herta said awkwardly. "I already ate all the food in the cafeteria. There's only leftovers now."
"You, honestly..."
The Herta shook her head, but she did not blame her. After all, little Herta had only come into this world today. It was perfectly normal that she could not stop eating delicious food.
"In that case, forget the meal. The cooperation has already been signed. Until next time." With that, The Herta prepared to mount her Herta Magic Wand and leave.
The Supreme Leader hurriedly said, "Miss Herta, could you give me a little more time? I can make arrangements—"
"No need. A genius's time is extremely precious and very tight. Until next time, Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation."
After refusing, Herta seemed to recall something. She glanced at Mikhail and said, "By the way, my shares in the Pinocone Reverie Hotel will temporarily be held by Pearl. Coordinate with her from now on."
!!
Pearl herself was stunned.
She had never expected to be valued so highly by Miss Herta.
On the very first day of becoming an Intellitron, she had been brought into negotiations with three superpowers of the cosmos. And now, she was even entrusted to hold shares on Herta's behalf, becoming a shareholder of the Pinocone Reverie Hotel.
This trust from Miss Herta caused an inexplicable change in the rhythm of Pearl's reactor—her mechanical heart.
What was this feeling...?
After a moment of confusion, Pearl firmly resolved to help Miss Herta manage the Penacony Reverie Company well.
Meanwhile, as the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation watched Miss Herta ride her magic wand into the sky and depart at high speed, a deep sense of worry welled up within him.
The state banquet had not been properly arranged.
This was a dereliction of duty on his part as Supreme Leader.
More importantly, the medal for the Blue Federation's First Genius Academician had not yet been awarded.
At that moment, little Herta suddenly jumped up and shouted anxiously, "Madam Herta! Madam Herta! I haven't gotten on yet! I haven't gotten on!"
Hearing this, a sharp glint flashed through the Supreme Leader's weathered eyes.
Herta Puppet—little Herta—was also Herta.
Since Miss Herta herself had already left, then little Herta could receive the Blue Federation's First Genius Academician Medal on her behalf.
With that thought, the Supreme Leader smiled at little Herta. "Miss Herta, since you've eaten so much of our food, could you do the Blue Federation a small favor?"
Little Herta blinked innocently. "I just rolled off the assembly line not long ago. My knowledge isn't as profound as Miss Herta's. To be more precise, I don't know how to do anything yet."
"You don't need to know anything. Just stand there and receive the medal. Please."
"Alright then."
Having eaten their food, little Herta could hardly refuse. She followed the Supreme Leader toward the podium at the International Hall, preparing to receive the award.
Meanwhile, Yao Guang quickly boarded a starskiff and returned to the Xianzhou.
She intended to research Solitary Waves Theory, combine it with the Fortune Hexagram, and calculate the future trajectory of the Alliance—whether the War Among the Aeons would erupt.
Jade, on the other hand, boarded a small aircraft and returned to the IPC warship. She contacted Diamond to deliver her report, explaining that Herta had updated the Soul Gem architecture. The current Soul Gems could now be used by Intellitrons.
However, Herta possessed special technology—she could remotely melt down everything in an instant, cutting off all Intellitrons holding Soul Gems from ever using them again.
Diamond responded promptly. "In that case, let Herta list the Intellitron-compatible Soul Gems for sale. Credits still need to be earned."
Jade replied, "I will contact Herta. I will also urge Penacony to send the first batch of resources for crafting Soul Gems to The Blue as soon as possible."
"Very good," Diamond said. Then he added, "By the way, a genius's safety is of utmost importance. The company can arrange personnel to protect her."
"I don't think that's necessary," Jade replied. "During this meeting, I used the Jade of Credit. I confirmed that Miss Herta's current strength has risen to an astonishing level—at the very least, not below mine."
On the other end of the call, Diamond—an Emanator of Preservation—revealed a look of surprise.
"You wield the Cornerstone and possess one-tenth the power of an Emanator. You could be considered a pseudo-Emanator. Yet you say Herta is not beneath you?"
Jade's voice was firm. "Yes."
"It seems we have underestimated the 83rd Seat genius, Herta. In such a short time after joining the Genius Society, she has already become a pseudo-Emanator."
Diamond sighed. "Indeed, every genius who joins the Society, if they so choose, can leverage wisdom to pry open the rules of the material world and obtain power."
"Perhaps the next time I hear of her, she may already have become an Emanator of Erudition."
Of course, that last remark was spoken in jest.
As an Emanator of Preservation, Diamond deeply understood how difficult it was to become an Emanator.
For example, when the Xianzhou Alliance selects a successor general, they must undergo the Rainbow Ordainment, receive the gaze of The Hunt, and inherit divine authority.
Pathstriders who walk the Path of Preservation must overcome countless obstacles before they are confirmed as Emanators of Preservation, wielding the cornerstone that safeguards the universe.
After all, the responsibility of an Emanator of Preservation was immense. In the distant future, they would stand alongside Qlipoth—the Amber Lord—to resist an unknown invasion. Though the support they could provide to the Amber Lord might be minimal, it was still a force nonetheless.
Similarly, Pathstriders walking other Paths had to overcome numerous trials.
Those on the Path of Erudition, for instance, needed to unravel layers upon layers of mysteries and earn the blessing of Nous in order to become an Emanator of Erudition.
In Diamond's view, even a genius like Herta—member of the Genius Society—would find it extraordinarily difficult to speedrun the process of becoming an Emanator.
Of course, Herta herself did not think so.
She was the most confident person in this universe, firmly believing that no problem within it could possibly stump her.
—She, The Herta, was simply unparalleled in all the cosmos!!!!!
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