As more factions arrived, the situation within The Blue star system grew increasingly complex, yet no chaos ultimately broke out.
Because, in the name of the genius Herta, Herman declared a single fact to all beings across the cosmos who had come to this system:
The Blue star system belonged to him.
The Super Herta Astral Computer · Eye of Insight would monitor everything and observe everything.
If anyone dared to cause trouble, she would take action... and at the same time revoke the blessing of wisdom she had granted them.
With that, the various factions naturally restrained themselves.
This included Phantylia. After infiltrating The Blue star system, this Lord Ravager had originally intended to stir chaos, but she quickly sensed her brain upgrading and her intelligence increasing.
The sensation was exquisite. It made her feel that devising schemes to plunge civilizations into internal strife here would be far more efficient.
So she immediately abandoned any plans to cause trouble in The Blue star system, lest she expose herself and have Herta revoke her blessing of wisdom.
Meanwhile, on another front, Black Swan arrived in The Blue star system on behalf of the Garden of Recollection to investigate the situation.
She was astonished to discover that even the body of a memetic entity could be enhanced by the Wisdom Halo.
There was no doubt—this was true intelligence-amplifying technology... Miss Herta had created yet another miracle, and unfortunately she had not recorded that moment.
Thinking this, Black Swan's face filled with regret.
At that moment, a spark of memory flashed through the void. A woman wearing a hat approached. Like Black Swan, she was a memetic entity once belonging to the Garden of Recollection, but had now defected to Herta.
She was Dahlia Constance. With a faint smile, she said to Black Swan, "We meet again. You look quite regretful, Black Swan... Are you regretting not recording the birth of the Warp, or the moment Miss Herta consumed the fruit and awakened it?"
"Let me tell you, I recorded everything. Those scenes are truly worth remembering and treasuring."
Boasting!
This woman was definitely showing off!
Black Swan clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down. "Dahlia, we're best friends, aren't we? Could you let me see those memories?"
"Of course, my dear Black Swan." Dahlia agreed immediately, smiling brightly. "But... unfortunately, you're here as a representative of the Garden of Recollection, aren't you? I can share them with my friend Black Swan, but I cannot share them with a Messenger of the Garden. After all, I'm still being hunted by them."
"..."
Black Swan fell silent for a moment. She wanted to insist she was Dahlia's friend and could view the memories... but the problem was that she was not the only Memokeeper present in The Blue star system this time.
There was also a Messenger.
The Messenger was the envoy of the Pure Child of Anāsrava from Eden of Blessed Insight, representing the Garden of Recollection. If she openly declared herself Dahlia's friend, she would end up on the Garden's wanted list.
After considering this, Black Swan said, "I'll investigate it myself. After all, you're not the only one who witnessed the birth of the Warp and Herta using the Brain-Brain Fruit to enhance the entire civilization of The Blue."
With that, her figure dissolved into memetic fragments and vanished.
Seeing this, Dahlia's smile grew even more delighted.
Elsewhere, the Elixir Seekers known as Bodhi arrived in The Blue star system aboard their ship. Upon arrival, they felt changes within themselves, and excitement gleamed in their eyes.
"Our wisdom light... our wisdom light has increased!"
And all of this was due to Miss Herta developing the Devil Tree and consuming its fruit!
The fruit borne by that tree was undoubtedly a miracle—an artificial divine creation made by a genius.
Perhaps... that Devil Tree might even bear a fruit of immortality.
With that thought, the Bodhi Elixir Seekers traveled to Herta City on The Blue, surrounding the Soul Factory while knocking wooden fish, attempting to attract Herta's attention and meet her.
As for the Family, the one who arrived in The Blue star system this time was Dominicus.
He was an Emanator of Harmony and an avatar of Xipe.
Upon arriving, he sensed countless rays of wisdom radiating from the genius named Herta, enveloping the entire Blue civilization and even drawing in all who had come from across the cosmos.
At that moment, everyone's minds underwent temporary evolution. What a magnificent symphony of wisdom.
Even a being like him could not help but pause.
He even considered personally inviting Herta to join the Family... or at the very least guiding her onto the Path of Harmony.
At the same time, another mysterious faction—the Fictionologists—arrived in this region.
The moment they entered, endless inspiration surged through their minds.
"Bliss!"
"Herta is a god! With her blessing, we can fabricate even more histories!"
"I've decided—the history I will construct is that within The Blue star system exists a goddess, the Goddess of Wisdom Herta. She is an Emanator of Erudition, even an incarnation of the Aeon of Erudition in the mortal world!"
"+1."
"Let's work together to construct this history!"
The group of Fictionologists used the power of the Path of Enigmata to influence the history of The Blue star system. Then they discovered that their fabricated history had completely failed.
Reality returned a clear response: Herta was already an Emanator.
The Fictionologists were dumbfounded.
What was going on?
How had Herta already become an Emanator of Erudition?
Hadn't she only become a recognized genius less than two months ago?
Could it be that her origin had already been altered by fellow Fictionologists?!!
The Fictionologists scratched their heads in confusion.
Elsewhere, the Doctors of Chaos also arrived in this world.
The moment they entered, they felt subtle changes in their bodies and consciousness—previously affected by Nihility.
Their spirits were lifted. They believed that conducting research here might allow them to more efficiently develop medicine to treat the afflictions of Nihility.
Without hesitation, they applied for immigration through The Blue's Immigration Bureau and threw themselves entirely into research on combating Nihility.
And beyond the Doctors of Chaos, a Self-Annihilator also arrived.
She had long black-purple hair and carried a blade of nothingness on her back.
She came from Izumo—a world devoured by Nihility. Her name was Raiden Bosenmori Mei, now going by the alias Acheron.
Having arrived in The Blue star system by chance, she also felt changes within herself—and they were positive changes.
This made her realize that the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, Herta, was no ordinary existence. Originally intending to leave, she instead decided to remain for the time being, to visit Herta and ask whether her condition of self-annihilation could be cured—or at least delayed.
With representatives from countless factions arriving, all believed The Blue star system to be a land of immense promise—a future sacred ground of the cosmos.
And all came to the same conclusion:
Herta's wisdom had reached the heavens.
In truth, it wasn't only the various factions who believed Herta's abilities had reached the heavens—even the insects thought so.
A Swarm King, a direct offspring of the Aeon of Propagation Tayzzyronth, had already infiltrated The Blue star system.
This infiltrator was the Bewitching Swarm King. It possessed extremely powerful illusion abilities, altering itself into a human form. As it experienced the amplification of intelligence, it sighed inwardly:
"A group-wide halo... a power that astonishes even insects. If my offspring were born in this world, they too would gain higher intelligence under its influence."
"More importantly... I can sense that my ancient companion, the Starcrusher Swarm King, has revived within this star region."
"Herta... is she researching Propagation? If so, would she allow me to give birth to offspring within this star system?"
The Bewitching Swarm King pondered this, yet made no move.
The reason was simple. Having survived the Swarm Disaster without being slain by those deranged Path-followers, it possessed extremely sharp instincts. Its intuition warned it that if it attempted to propagate here, what awaited it would be absolute death and annihilation.
Continuing to walk across this land, the Bewitching Swarm King soon realized the source of that danger.
An Emanator of Harmony—Dominicus, an avatar of Xipe—was actually present in The Blue star system?!
And that woman with the dull expression, carrying a blade on her back... she was an Emanator as well, wasn't she?!
An Emanator of Nihility?!
Strange... it had never heard of the Aeon of Nihility, IX, granting blessings to any lifeforms. Where had this Emanator come from?
The Bewitching Swarm King thought of many things, and ultimately concealed its true body even deeper, only projecting a fragile, harmless human girl illusion to walk among society.
Having long roamed countless galaxies across the cosmos, it knew well how advantageous a beautiful, harmless-looking girl could be in surviving among civilizations.
...
Tap... tap...
A Masked Fool named Giovanni arrived in Herta City. Taking a deep breath, a smile appeared beneath his mask.
"Good, good, good... I can feel my intelligence upgrading. In the future, I'll definitely be able to develop even more interesting and engaging games!"
Beside him, Sampo spoke up, "Stop thinking about games. The situation in The Blue star system is already incredibly complicated. If a fight breaks out, I won't be able to escape."
Giovanni retorted, "It probably won't come to that. After all, Miss Herta already issued that announcement."
Sampo shook his head. "Hard to say. This cosmos is full of monsters and gods."
While the two were talking, Herman—standing at the edge of The Blue star system—had already instructed the intelligence of the Super Herta Astral Computer, the Fourth Mirror, to act when necessary.
In short: no chaos could be allowed to occur.
"Don't worry, Second Madam Herta. Leave everything to me. I'm no longer the weak and fragile mirror I once was. Now I have strength and methods. I won't let anyone cause trouble in The Blue star system!"
"I've already mastered the core of computational power."
After receiving Herman's command, the Fourth Mirror executed it with absolute loyalty.
Thus, on this day within the Soul Factory, whether it was the worker Herta puppets already on the assembly line producing Soul Gems, or the newly born little Hertas equipped with super genes, all received a directive from the Fourth Mirror—or rather, from the Dark Plane's Super Herta Gene Intelligence Program.
The directive:
Protect Madam Herta's Blue star system!
At once, every little Herta became excited.
After all, this was a command from The Herta herself. More importantly, most of the Herta puppets in the factory had existed for so long, possessing terrifying power, yet had only been allowed to work on the Soul Gem assembly line.
Now, the chance to go out—and even to fight—had finally arrived!
"For Madam Herta!"
"For Madam Herta!"
The little Hertas raised their fists and shouted. Their voices shook the void and echoed in all directions.
On this day, Herta 10000 stepped out of the Soul Factory. In Herta City, she located a visitor from another world of the cosmos. According to calculations from the Super Herta Astral Computer, this individual was a dangerous element with a certain probability of causing trouble.
He was a hooded Doctor of Chaos. When Herta 10000 found him, he was muttering to himself:
"With the amplification of intelligence, I will definitely create a medicine to cure Nihility afflictions... The required materials are Dreamstones, sufficient memories as anchors to stabilize existence, and Soul Gems capable of housing the soul... With these, I will succeed. I will definitely succeed..."
From Herta 10000's perspective, the Doctor of Chaos looked like a madman suffering from a mental illness.
Soon, the little Herta stepped forward. "You there, illegal doctor. Unauthorized medical practice is prohibited."
???
The Doctor of Chaos, Virex, stopped his manic muttering and turned his crimson gaze toward her.
"That form... you are the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society—no, that's not right. The statue at the center of Herta City isn't this small. You are a creation of that genius."
"That's right. You can call me Herta 10000. Doctor of Chaos, you were just attempting to create a medicine, weren't you?"
"Yes! The greatest medicine!" Virex said excitedly. "Believe me. Once it's complete, it will cure the condition of Self-Annihilators and return them to normal!"
Herta said flatly, "Your formula is definitely flawed."
Virex refused to accept it. "Impossible! This is the perfect formula I devised after comprehending the wisdom of your creator, Miss Herta. How could it be wrong?"
"—Unless you're disloyal to your creator!"
Herta's eye twitched slightly. "Madam Herta's wisdom is indeed boundless, and the Wisdom Halo she developed is unparalleled. But people are not."
After speaking, she pulled out a sheet of paper covered in writing and held it up. "Can you understand this?"
Virex revealed a confused expression. "What is the meaning of this incomprehensible scribble?"
Little Herta snorted. "This is a manuscript written by Madam Herta. It details her research into Nihility theory. And yet you... can't understand a single word. At your level, even with the blessing of the great Herta's Wisdom Halo, you're still mediocre. A mediocre person shouldn't be researching toxic medicine and harming others."
"After all, I have records of your Doctors of Chaos. Across the cosmos, you've conducted countless experiments on treatments for Nihility—and not once have you succeeded."
"For example, Awakening-310 was a drug your Doctors of Chaos faction developed in an attempt to erase the emotions of Nihility at their root."
"But unfortunately, due to the positive feedback caused by cognitive correction, once the ointment spread to frontier systems, it turned into a psychological narcotic used to escape reality."
"Before the IPC intervened, sixteen star systems had already been pushed to the brink of destruction due to cognitive disorder and drug abuse, ultimately falling into Nihility."
Virex panicked. "N-No, that's impossible... Let me see that paper again. I can definitely understand the formulas on it!"
"There's no need. And I should tell you—you're not the first Doctor of Chaos in Herta City to claim you've developed a formula to cure Nihility. There were three others before you."
"Of course, all of them have already been given 'gentle persuasion' by us little Hertas. They are no longer permitted to research or produce any medicine related to Nihility within The Blue star system."
"One last thing. When those Doctors of Chaos encountered us, they said exactly the same things you just did. They all claimed their formulas could cure Nihility. But the problem is... the materials you all use are completely different. You could even say they are worlds apart."
"..."
Virex fell silent.
He had not expected that so many Doctors of Chaos, all confident in their intelligence, had rushed to this place of enhanced intellect just like him, attempting to use it to develop a cure that could eliminate Nihility at its root.
As for those other Doctors' so-called formulas, he believed they were all flawed—incapable of truly curing Nihility.
The only viable one was his own formula: Existence Serum 999...
But the problem was that Herta had banned his research. If he defied her, he would face Herta's iron fist—most likely being expelled from The Blue star system and losing the enhancement to his intelligence.
That was something Virex absolutely could not accept.
He had already stepped onto the Path of Nihility. His memories, his sense of taste, hearing, sight—everything—was fading, collapsing into nothingness.
He longed to stop that descent, to cure this life that was gradually slipping into oblivion.
Herta's intelligence enhancement was the only boost he had ever felt in his long existence.
He had to cling to it.
More importantly, the little Herta before him had said that Herta herself had already conducted research into Nihility.
What if... just what if... the genius Herta stepped into the domain of Nihility, and with the assistance of their Doctors of Chaos, truly managed to develop...
"Miss little Herta, I wish to request an audience with your creator," Virex said.
"No. Madam Herta is far too busy right now—overwhelmingly so..." Herta 10000 shook her head.
"Then please make an appointment for me. No matter when, as long as Madam Herta is willing, I must meet her," Virex pleaded.
"Fine. As long as you stop your experimental practices."
"Understood."
As Virex agreed aloud, he silently added in his heart:
The research on the formula must continue... but the experiments will have to be conducted in another star system—somewhere beyond Herta's awareness.
...
Elsewhere, another little Herta—Herta 10010—had located a mass of flame.
It was Phantylia, a Lord Ravager of the Destruction faction.
"Herta... you actually found me—and so quickly." Phantylia shifted from her heliobus flame form into a humanoid shape. Her brows furrowed slightly as she spoke in astonishment.
She was certain she had concealed herself well. There was no way she should have been discovered so quickly.
After all, concealment was the greatest ability of the heliobus—and she, Phantylia, was the strongest among them since the Flint Emperor.
Herta 10010 snorted. "Finding you isn't difficult. Your soul projection in the Warp is far too obvious—a mass of flame with overwhelming presence. Anyone who isn't blind could find you."
"The Warp... soul projection?"
Phantylia froze.
The suspected soul-dimension created by Herta could automatically project souls?!
That explained it... everything made sense now. This must be some new Warp-detection technique developed by Herta.
If she managed to retreat safely this time, she would need to develop methods to conceal herself within the Warp.
As her thoughts churned, she also perceived the Warp hidden beyond the surface of reality.
She saw clearly divided positive and negative emotions, and she saw the black sun hanging high in the sky of the Warp.
That sun—though cold—shone eternally, vibrant beyond measure.
As a heliobus, Phantylia could tell at a glance: that was a soul engaged in intense thought, analysis, and research...
But how was that possible?
Herta was clearly controlling her creations in the real world. Could she truly multitask—conducting research while simultaneously acting in reality?
If that were true... then she was practically a god.
Could it be... that Herta truly was such a divine being?
After thinking this through, Phantylia took a deep breath and asked the little Herta what she intended.
She understood that the initiative lay entirely with Herta. After all, this was Herta's domain.
The little Herta replied, "Madam Herta's instruction is this: even a Lord Ravager of the Destruction faction is forbidden from causing trouble or carrying out destructive activities within The Blue star system."
After saying this, Herta 10010 added, "Madam Herta also said: Phantylia, you wouldn't want to fight a positional battle against a genius Emanator of Erudition within The Blue star system, would you? Also, there is more than one Emanator here who is on friendly terms with me."
"..."
Phantylia fell completely silent.
Her rationality told her clearly: there was no chance of victory fighting in the stronghold of a genius Emanator of Erudition.
More importantly, she was not like Zephyro—she did not rely on brute force to destroy everything. Her philosophy of destruction lay in schemes: dividing civilizations, inciting internal conflict, and letting them destroy themselves.
The countless worlds she had destroyed in the past had all fallen this way.
After gaining the boost in intelligence, she had originally intended to stir chaos within The Blue star system.
But before she could act, she had already been discovered by a little Herta.
—A Warp capable of projecting souls was extremely unfriendly to a heliobus like her.
Even more crucially, there were indeed many powerful beings in The Blue star system.
She had already sensed the presence of her old enemy—the general of the Xianzhou Alliance.
In addition, she had sensed an Emanator of Nihility... and that individual seemed to be seeking an audience with Herta.
Damn it—where did this Emanator of Nihility even come from?
The Aeon of Nihility was like a piece of wood—devoid of emotion, nothing but emptiness. There was no way it would grant blessings.
Phantylia continued to think, and in the end, spoke to the little Herta:
"I will not cause trouble in The Blue star system."
The little Herta nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Madam Herta says she knows. She also says she will be watching you."
"..."
Phantylia fell silent. Closing her eyes and opening them again, she looked toward the black sun in the Warp, endlessly radiating cold light.
A thought surfaced uncontrollably:
Was Herta watching her through the Warp right now?
Had she been under Herta's surveillance ever since entering The Blue star system?
If that were the case... would she fall into danger next?
After all, Herta was allied with the Xianzhou Alliance.
As this thought settled, Phantylia's heart grew heavy.