The moment Ruan Mei imagined Herta being killed by Polka, her heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped. It was a sensation she had never experienced before.
At that instant, Ruan Mei's expression turned incomparably serious. She stepped forward and invoked the power of an Emanator of Erudition, instantly crossing layers of spatial barriers to arrive before Polka Kakamond. Raising her hand, she shielded Herta behind her and asked:
"Polka Kakamond, who have you come to assassinate this time?"
"Assassinate?" The mosaic-covered Polka let out a soft laugh. "Then you've misunderstood me quite a bit. I only came here to greet Herta."
"That's hard to believe."
Ruan Mei looked at Polka, who was dressed in her candy-colored gown, and said, "Every time you appear before the world in that outfit, a genius falls. For example, during the Second Emperor's War, the one who killed Rubert was you..."
Polka Kakamond sighed. "Miss Ruan Mei, your misunderstanding of me runs deep. It's not as though I kill someone every time I wear this outfit. Besides, I have no reason to harm Herta, do I?"
"She hasn't touched forbidden knowledge?"
"According to my Knowable Domain observations, she hasn't. Moreover, I came this time bearing a special gift for Miss Herta. She just said she was quite satisfied with it."
Hearing this, Ruan Mei turned her gaze toward Herta, only to see her nod and say, "That's right. I just received Polka's gift—a star map... In this era, after Akivili's fall and the loss of the Astral Express, it's an excellent gift. I'm very satisfied."
At this point, Herta paused and spoke seriously to Ruan Mei, "Also, don't suspect me of researching forbidden knowledge. A genius like me would never study such things..."
After speaking, she silently added in her heart.
Of course, that's mainly because I haven't encountered any forbidden knowledge that interests me yet. If I ever did, how could I possibly not study it?!
Wait... when Ruan Mei arrived just now and shielded her, was she suspecting that Herta had touched forbidden knowledge, prompting Polka to come assassinate her?
After thinking this through, Herta said seriously to Ruan Mei, "Still, thank you, Ruan Mei. Thank you for protecting me like that."
Ruan Mei held her opened fan, covering part of her face as she replied seriously, "We are collaborators—genius allies."
"Indeed."
Herta smiled in response.
At that moment, Polka spoke again, issuing a stern warning to the two geniuses before her. "Ruan Mei, you were just worried that Herta had come into contact with forbidden knowledge, which is why I came to assassinate her? Then let me state this clearly—if either of you truly comes into contact with forbidden knowledge... I will act."
"And let me also emphasize this. Although you recently repelled several Lord Ravagers and even demonic stars in the Yongmei Star System war, I am different. My Knowable Domain is the natural nemesis of geniuses!"
"The neurons of my Knowable Domain are connected to Nous, linked to all truth—including the weaknesses of every creation produced by geniuses. And once I know those weaknesses, I can use a scalpel to perform precise dissection."
"So I advise you—do not touch forbidden knowledge. Otherwise, the scalpel will strike with precision and remove you from the Genius Society."
By the end of her words, Polka Kakamond's tone had become extremely serious.
Ruan Mei did not respond, but the countless times she had upgraded her own biological instincts told her that everything Polka said was true.
Herta also fell into silence. The reason for her silence was Polka Kakamond's claim that her Knowable Domain was connected to the Droidhead of Erudition, allowing her to perceive the weaknesses of all technological creations and dissect them.
But what about the Droidhead itself? It certainly could not be dissected.
After all, the upper limit of the Knowable Domain could not surpass Nous' own cognitive limits.
By the same logic, if Herta continued her research and developed technologies that even Nous could not comprehend, then would Polka Kakamond's Knowable Domain still function? Would she still be able to precisely identify weaknesses and dissect such creations?
—The answer was undoubtedly no.
At that moment, Polka Kakamond continued, "By the way, there's another reason I came to The Blue star system. While my Knowable Domain was surveying the Yongmei Star System, it detected a special virus—one that can even suppress Emanators of Erudition. It's extremely troublesome to deal with."
"According to my investigation, it originates from a Lord Ravager known as Irontomb. Do either of you know anything about it?"
Ruan Mei and Herta both shook their heads, indicating that they did not know.
"As expected... even my Knowable Domain cannot determine where Irontomb is. It's only natural that you wouldn't know either. Very well—I'll take my leave. But remember, never research forbidden knowledge. If you do, the scalpel of death will arrive in an instant."
After saying this, Polka Kakamond performed a spacetime jump and vanished from The Blue star system.
At that moment, Ruan Mei and Herta exchanged a glance. There was no other reason—they truly did know where Irontomb's true body was: in Amphoreus.
But unfortunately, they had already signed an ancient contract with Lygus, a fragment of Zandar One Kuwabara, hidden within Amphoreus—a contract originating from the ancient Aeon of Equilibrium, HooH. There was no way for them to speak of Irontomb. If they did, the retaliation of the universe itself would follow.
In all likelihood, the next moment would see a cosmic-scale Final Destination scenario unfold upon The Blue star system—not merely on a planetary level, but across the universe itself. All manner of accidents and misfortune would descend in succession.
Ruan Mei thought of many things before finally taking out the nutrient solution she had just prepared aboard Ruanruan and handing it to Herta. "What you wanted is ready."
Herta was overjoyed. She quickly took the bottle containing the nutrient solution and said, "Thank you, Ruan Mei. With your help, the Devil Tree I'm cultivating will mature much faster."
Ruan Mei's gaze turned toward the entrance of the Warp. "It's nothing... By the way, can I enter the Warp and transform those emotions into life?"
Herta smiled. "Of course you can—but not now. I'm going to accelerate time within the Warp to hasten the Devil Tree's growth."
"Accelerate time?" Ruan Mei was slightly stunned. "You can already accelerate time? As far as I know, manipulating time is something only Aeons can do—like Terminus, who traverses time, or even the bullets of certain rangers..."
"Accelerating time in reality is naturally beyond me. But the Warp is different. By using psionic power to incite turbulence and plunge it into chaos, the flow of time inside becomes disordered. And with my will guiding it, I can achieve the effect of time acceleration."
Herta said calmly, "And this is one of the effects of Warp-based technology."
To throw spacetime into chaos, accelerate time... to influence the coefficients of spacetime.
Even if it wasn't in reality but within the Warp, it was still astonishing... Herta had only become an Emanator for a few days, yet she had already extended her reach into the domain of Aeons?!
Ruan Mei's gaze toward Herta grew increasingly complex. After a moment, she slowly said, "Go ahead, Herta. Accelerate time."
"It's not accelerating time—it's making spacetime chaotic," Herta corrected seriously. Then she tossed the nutrient solution Ruan Mei had just given her into the Warp.
At the same time, within the Warp, Herta's black sun—her soul projection—moved.
Using soul and emotional energy, it formed a massive psionic hand that seized the nutrient solution and poured it over the sprout of the Devil Tree.
In an instant, the sprout changed. Its growth accelerated, new leaves emerging as it began to develop toward a small tree.
"The nutrient solution is effective, but it's still not enough. At this rate... it'll take at least ten days to fully mature," Herta murmured. Taking a deep breath, she added, "I still need to throw the Warp's spacetime into chaos."
The moment her words fell, the black sun within the Warp moved again.
It began to tremble, devouring vast quantities of emotional energy. With each inhalation, it absorbed the emotional energy of an entire world. Correspondingly, each exhalation released an equivalent amount of psionic power.
And psionic power was the force that struck at the very essence of the Warp.
Under the combined will of Herta and the black sun, countless streams of psionic energy transformed into thunder and lightning, unleashing relentless bombardment!
A storm unlike any before erupted within the Warp!
Positive and negative emotional energies drawn from over a hundred worlds began to surge and riot.
The scenery of the Warp became bizarre and ever-changing.
The immense energy fluctuations distorted spacetime, causing the flow of time within the Warp to descend into chaos and disorder.
Ruan Mei, who had been observing all along, blinked and said, "So this is what you mean by making spacetime chaotic?"
"Exactly. A single storm is enough to distort the Warp's spacetime," Herta nodded. "After all, there are over a hundred worlds within the Warp right now, with trillions—perhaps even tens of trillions—of living beings generating emotional energy. The sheer mass of that energy is terrifying. It's like being near the event horizon of a massive black hole, where time itself becomes distorted."
"So that's the principle," Ruan Mei said in realization. Then she noticed something, her expression turning serious. "Herta, do you feel that something's off? It's like... someone is watching us?"
"..."
Herta carefully sensed her surroundings upon hearing this, and she too felt the sensation of being observed. Yet even after extending her perception as an Emanator, she detected nothing.
Only when she activated the Attribute Appraisal function of her Research System did she obtain a result:
The Aeon of Equilibrium—HooH, who had already merged with the universe—was watching her. Gazing upon her.
That gaze seemed to say: Stop causing trouble and increasing my workload. Maintaining the balance of emotional energy in the Warp is already difficult enough.
"..."
Herta fell silent. She had not expected that stirring up a storm in the Warp would attract HooH's attention.
Ruan Mei said, "Herta, your expression seems off. Is someone—more precisely, is a god watching us?"
Herta replied, "Yes. The one watching us is the Aeon of Equilibrium, HooH, who has merged with the universe. They're telling me to stop stirring up storms in the Warp."
Ruan Mei was slightly stunned. "In other words, the dimensional technology you've newly created—the Warp—has reached a level that even an Aeon must take seriously."
As Ruan Mei spoke, she sensed an invisible force sweeping across the Warp before them.
It was the power of the Path of Equilibrium.
That force rapidly calmed the storm within the Warp. In an instant, the previously chaotic positive and negative emotional energies became clearly separated once more.
Seeing this, Ruan Mei understood that the Aeon of Equilibrium was not merely observing—they had intervened.
This was an unprecedented major event.
Ever since merging with the universe, the Aeon of Equilibrium had never taken action. Yet a single experiment by Herta within the Warp had stirred even an Aeon into intervention...
As Ruan Mei pondered this, her gaze toward Herta grew even more complex.
At that moment, a smile appeared on Herta's face. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the Warp, where the Devil Tree had already grown into a towering giant.
"The experiment succeeded!"
?!
Hearing this, Ruan Mei followed Herta's gaze—and immediately saw a colossal tree towering into the sky.
Fruits had already grown upon its branches, each one bizarre in shape.
Some fruits were etched with patterns resembling molten lava, shaped like jagged volcanic rock.
Others looked as if they were crafted from crystalline ice, hanging boldly from the tree.
There were even fruits marked with patterns of lightning and thunder, radiating an extraordinary aura.
"Does this tree have any relation to the God Tree you cultivated in the Yongmei Star System?" Ruan Mei asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.
"No relation," Herta shook her head and said seriously. "The God Tree I planted in the Yongmei Star System was essentially an artificial Jianmu I created. Consuming its fruit grants a lifespan even longer than that of the Xianzhou long-life species... Of course, I created it back then to complete my self-coronation and become an Emanator of Erudition."
"But the tree growing in the Warp now is called the Devil Tree. Its existence is entirely unrelated to Abundance miracles. It doesn't require absorbing the life force of the Swarm—instead, it relies on emotional energy within the Warp. More precisely, it relies on the imaginative component within that emotional energy."
"Consuming a Devil Fruit grants a person a unique ability, and each Devil Fruit is one of a kind."
"Devil Fruits? Objects formed from extracting the imaginative elements of emotional energy from all living beings?"
After thinking carefully, Ruan Mei's pupils contracted. "You're planting a Devil Tree in the Warp and creating Devil Fruits... You're imitating the process of Aeons ascending to Aeonhood. Based on my analysis, when an Aeon ascends, they rely on a certain concept or primal force... to open a Path and ascend to divinity!"
"As expected, your ambition is immense. You've only just become an Emanator, and you're already aiming to become an Aeon!"
Herta did not deny this.
Extracting imaginative elements from emotional energy and condensing them into Devil Fruits... in a broad sense, it was strikingly similar to how Aeons extract concepts from the universe to form their divine thrones.
Or rather, Herta intended to use this method to understand the process of Aeon ascension.
Beyond that, her best partner, Herman, had once mentioned that within the Devil Tree existed the concept of a Brain-Brain Fruit.
According to Herman, once this fruit was formed, it would contain the accumulated imaginative wisdom that countless beings had envisioned about geniuses wandering among the stars across Amber Eras.
Whoever consumed this fruit would gain an immense boost in intelligence.