The Herta shared with Herman every piece of research inspiration she had obtained by igniting her Legendary Achievement Points and triggering World-Shaking Wisdom. Herman's heart shook violently in response:
Good grief. I can only say, good grief!
This time, Herta had used World-Shaking Wisdom to obtain an astonishing amount of knowledge from beyond the universe.
Still, could Shendu's Bagua source concept, the Power of Existence, Stand Arrows, and the Campione ritual... truly be considered technology?
Had the things Herta comprehended not become somewhat absurd?
The Campione ritual was especially outrageous. Within the worldview of Campione, once a mortal slew a Heretic God, they could obtain supreme divine authorities from that god.
And according to Herman's understanding, many deceased Aeons within the Honkai: Star Rail universe were capable of "returning from the dead." One example was Ena of Order in Penacony's game storyline.
Another was Oroboros of Voracity...
Should the Campione ritual truly prove effective, Herta could hunt the remains of fallen Aeons and seize their authorities and supreme power!
In Herman's eyes, all four of the things Herta had comprehended were incredibly outrageous. Yet the most absurd of all was still the fifth, a device that could actually be called technology—the What-If Phone Booth.
As a transmigrator, Herman naturally knew that this was surreal technology originating from the world of Doraemon.
More importantly, its function was to create parallel universes!
Once parallel universes were created, those possibilities would no longer be converged by Nous. Emperor Rubert III, the mastermind Herta, Lord Ravager Jingliu, and even the fleeting Lord Ravager Dahlia might all emerge from them... then exhaust every possible method to reach the primary universe.
Should those beings truly arrive in the primary universe, the cosmos would undoubtedly become even more chaotic.
After thinking this far, Herman gave The Herta a serious warning. "Every piece of knowledge and inspiration you obtained through this activation of World-Shaking Wisdom is dangerous technology without exception. If any of them are deployed on a large scale, they could lead the universe itself toward destruction."
"I understand." The Herta nodded and replied seriously, "I merely wish to conduct research. I have no intention of destroying the universe. After all, this universe still contains far too many mysteries waiting for me to solve. I enjoy solving problems, not destroying everything through violence."
"Mm."
After nodding, Herman withdrew his consciousness from the Simulated Laboratory and turned his gaze toward the starry sky of The Blue's star system. Before long, he saw lights flashing along the star rail connecting The Blue's star system to other galaxies. One spacecraft after another belonging to the IPC's Building Material Logistics Department arrived and unloaded vast quantities of materials into the vacuum of space, forming a new mountain of supplies.
A gleam flashed through Herman's eyes when he saw this. He immediately called out to The Herta within his mind. 'The construction materials for the Plasma Spark Tower have arrived.'
The Herta was delighted. 'That is excellent news.'
Once their exchange ended, Herman and The Herta swapped souls. In an instant, control of the body passed into The Herta's hands.
The Herta then waved the Herta Magic Wand in her hand. A Warp gateway instantly opened among the stars and swallowed the countless materials into the Warp.
—The Plasma Spark Tower was dangerous technology, so The Herta intended to construct it within the Warp.
Ruan Mei and Screwllum, who stood nearby, both focused their gazes upon The Herta and asked in unison, "Are you about to begin another round of research and creation?"
The Herta nodded slightly to them. "Yes. A genius' intellect stands at the pinnacle of this universe. Likewise, a genius' time is exceptionally precious. Every minute and every second must be put to good use."
"I will be heading into the Warp for a while. As for the two of you, please make yourselves comfortable. Should you require assistance with research materials or data, you may ask the Fourth Mirror, otherwise known as the Super Herta Astral Computer... You are my friends, so she will help you!"
As soon as her words fell, The Herta's body vanished from the Herta Xianzhou and reappeared within the Warp.
Upon seeing this, Ruan Mei could not help but sigh with emotion.
"Herta is right. A genius' intellect stands at the pinnacle, and their research time is equally precious."
After speaking, Ruan Mei silently added within her heart:
To fulfill the beliefs and ideals within my heart, I truly should treasure every minute and every second, before my soul's lifespan reaches its limit.
Data flowed through Screwllum's eyes as he spoke. "Now, I finally believe that Madam Herta's greatest passion truly is research... She is a pure and single-minded person."
After saying this, Screwllum paused before turning to Ruan Mei. "Miss Ruan, I will also be heading to the laboratory to conduct research. I intend to study the principles behind the birth of machine-spirits within machinery."
At this point, Screwllum raised his head and looked toward the surveillance camera on the bridge. "For that purpose, I require the Fourth Mirror's assistance and knowledge."
"I am happy to serve you, Mr. Screwllum, friend of Madam Herta. I will retrieve information from the Sacred Herta Repository of Knowledge and assist you in gaining a deeper understanding of the structure of machine-spirits."
"Thank you, Miss Fourth Mirror. Until we meet again, Miss Ruan."
After speaking, Screwllum departed from Shipgirl Herta.
At that moment, Ruan Mei also raised her head and addressed the Fourth Mirror. "Dear Fourth Mirror, I also need you to provide me with information regarding the Galactic Shipgirl species... I wish to attempt modifying the Ruanruan and transforming it into a Galactic Shipgirl as well."
"Of course. I am fully capable of providing that information to you, Miss Mei," the Fourth Mirror replied at once.
"That is wonderful."
After speaking, Ruan Mei nodded in satisfaction and departed from the Shipgirl Herta. She returned to her laboratory without delay and immediately began a new round of research into creating another Galactic Shipgirl.
Within the Warp, boundless emotional energy churned endlessly. Aside from that emotional energy, countless souls were also present... They belonged to people who had died throughout the dozens or even hundreds of galaxies surrounding The Blue's galaxies.
At that moment, all of them focused their gazes upon the beautiful young woman who seemed utterly out of place, wearing a pointed hat and radiating an air of mystery.
They were certain that she was human... a living human who had entered the Warp in the flesh. That appearance and that aura unquestionably belonged to the incomparably great Madam Herta, creator of the Warp.
Many souls who had only recently entered the Warp had watched the episode of Keeping Up With Star Rail featuring Herta 66 as a guest. They all began shouting:
"Madam Herta is unrivaled beneath the sky! Madam Herta possesses peerless intelligence! Madam Herta..."
"Madam Herta is unrivaled beneath the sky..."
The people shouted and cheered for Herta.
The Herta herself merely found their voices extremely noisy.
"You fools! If you do not focus on condensing psionic energy, the Warp's emotions will distort your identities and turn you into mindless monsters! By then, you will not even be qualified to join the Society of Idiots!"
The instant her words fell, The Herta raised a hand and exercised her authority as master of the Warp.
In an instant, both the positive and negative emotional energies within the Warp surged like waves, sweeping away every soul surrounding her.
However, this also caused the Warp's emotional energy to become chaotic once again.
At that moment, Herta felt a prickling sensation across her back, as though someone were staring fixedly at her.
More importantly, even as the Warp's master, she could not discover who it was.
Her four thousand five hundred Research Points immediately led her mind toward a particular conjecture:
The one staring at me is neither human nor a soul within the Warp. It is an Aeon existing on a higher level—HooH of Equilibrium, who has already merged with the greater universe.
As The Herta thought this, she heard Herman's voice. 'I just used Attribute Appraisal to identify Them... Your conjecture is correct. The one watching you was HooH. They are dissatisfied that you stirred the Warp's positive and negative energies into chaos.'
The Herta's heart filled with confusion. 'Dissatisfied? Why would HooH be dissatisfied?'
Herman replied, 'Perhaps because, in Their eyes, you are already a Pathstrider of Equilibrium, yet you committed such a reckless act and disrupted the balance...'
The Herta froze. 'The Path of Equilibrium? When did I set foot upon it?'
'I helped you do so,' Herman said seriously. 'When I created Planet Gaia, I adjusted the gravitational forces throughout The Blue's star system, making its gravitational system more perfect and balanced... HooH of Equilibrium judged that you and I were the same person and therefore determined that you had already embarked upon the Path of Equilibrium.'
Upon hearing this, The Herta used Attribute Appraisal on herself. She quickly discovered that the Path of Equilibrium had indeed been added to the Paths she had embarked upon, and she truly could use the Path's energy.
However, this energy from the Path of Equilibrium was simply too weak compared to her Emanator-level power of Erudition. It was so insignificant that she had failed to notice it.
Still, now that she thought about it, she had already embarked upon quite a few Paths!
There was no need to mention the Path of Erudition. Through self-coronation, she had already become an Emanator.
Then came the Path of Abundance, which she had embarked upon by planting trees, attracting and accepting the Elixir Seekers, and sharing chakra...
Afterward, she had created countless little Hertas and had them work together to construct one megastructure after another, thereby setting foot upon the Path of Harmony.
Finally, there was the Path of Equilibrium, which she had only just discovered.
At that moment, Herta had already become a Pathstrider walking four different Paths and was steadily advancing toward the pinnacle of the cosmos.
Herta carefully examined her data before turning her gaze toward the enormous mountain of materials nearby and taking inventory.
A solar stellar core, materials required for super nuclear fusion, dark matter, dark energy materials... Not bad. The IPC has taken my order quite seriously. Not a single material is missing, nor have they cut corners.
Construction of the Plasma Spark Tower megastructure officially began!
At that moment, The Herta looked up toward the black sun hanging high above the Warp—her soul's projection.
The black sun trembled and released boundless psionic energy, which formed billions of hands. Those hands seized the materials and rapidly began tempering them... Bolts of psionic lightning flashed throughout the Warp.
Every time the psionic lightning flashed, the materials were refined into suitable components for the Plasma Spark Tower.
Crackle! Crackle...
Psionic lightning flashed without end!
Seven system days later, every material had been fully tempered and transformed into components for the Plasma Spark Tower.
The Herta then began assembling the enormous structure entirely on her own. Fortunately, The Herta herself was the designer of the Version 3.0 Plasma Spark Tower and possessed its complete blueprints.
Therefore, she merely needed to assemble the Plasma Spark Tower as though putting together a puzzle.
The component at the Plasma Spark Tower's summit released miraculous light!
The Plasma Spark Tower's foundation was the origin of light!
The Plasma Spark Tower's body formed the veins of light...
Another three system days passed, and The Herta's assembly work finally came to an end. Even so, she did not relax. She carefully inspected the entire structure once more before finally confirming that the Version 3.0 Plasma Spark Tower had been completed.
Only then did The Herta release a sigh of relief and silently think:
Had I built it outside with tens of millions of Hertas assisting me, it should never have taken ten system days.
After all, the Plasma Spark Tower is nowhere near as large as a stellar megastructure, much less an entire planet. It is merely the size of a mountain.
Under ordinary circumstances, it should have been completed within twenty-four system hours... However, dangerous technology must ultimately be treated with due caution.
After thinking this far, The Herta carefully sensed her surroundings using her authority as master of the Warp. Once she confirmed that no souls were nearby, she chose to activate the Plasma Spark Tower.
Hummm...
At that moment, the Plasma Spark Tower began radiating light. Boundless, immeasurable light of evolution illuminated the Warp!
From that moment onward, the meme of Giants of Light began appearing within the Honkai: Star Rail universe!
As master of the Warp and creator of the Plasma Spark Tower, Herta immediately sensed that the overflowing white emotional energy of justice and hope within the Warp had begun to activate beneath the tower's illumination.
The positive emotional energies of hope, justice, and similar concepts merged into the first light of the Honkai: Star Rail universe, transforming into a fifty-five-meter-tall giant. Enormous wings stretched from the giant's back, making it appear incomparably sacred.
More importantly, the instant this giant was born, it became capable of controlling the Warp's vast positive energies and instinctively began calming the Warp's chaotic storms!
Upon seeing this, The Herta immediately confirmed that the giant possessed limitless potential. After all, it had condensed from emotions such as hope and justice and could control the Warp's positive energy.
—As the Warp continued to grow, this silver giant with wings and the ability to wield emotional energy in battle would inevitably become incomparably powerful in the future, reaching the level of an Emanator... It might even surpass Emanator-level combat power.
Such were The Herta's thoughts.
However, when the other consciousness within her body saw the appearance of the Honkai: Star Rail universe's first light, he cried out in astonishment within his heart.
Holy shit, Noah!
One of the Four Mysterious Ultras, the first and final light of the universe, has appeared in the Star Rail universe!!