After hanging up the call, Silver Wolf immediately rushed off to train. She was brimming with motivation, and her mind was entirely occupied with breaking through the level cap.
In fact, Silver Wolf was not the only one thinking this way. αWolf, whose consciousness resided within the Soul Gem she carried, had the same idea.
After all, the road beyond Emanators was right there before them. As players, they naturally had to find a way to break through and shatter that barrier! Whether by exploiting bugs, using some other game item, or perhaps...
Silver Wolf and αWolf began discussing the matter together.
Meanwhile, the Stellaron Hunters were also discussing who should travel to The Blue and retrieve Zagi's Dark Spark Doll.
...
Elsewhere, The Herta emerged from the Warp at that very moment.
The first thing she received was a greeting from Fourth Mirror, the Super Herta Astral Computer.
"Madam Herta, you have finally emerged from the Warp."
The Herta asked in confusion, "What happened? Did anything strange occur on The Blue while I was conducting my research?"
Fourth Mirror replied, "Not particularly. The only change is that the tide of immigration has grown even larger... Many new immigrants have arrived from worlds destroyed by factions of the Antimatter Legion. The World City you constructed has become much livelier."
"Naturally, as the number of immigrants increases, your Credit holdings have also continued to grow. There are already so many zeroes that you could never spend them all in a lifetime."
The Herta shook her head upon hearing this. "How could I possibly fail to spend them all in a lifetime? I still have many, many research projects ahead of me. I also need to purchase an enormous batch of materials from the IPC for my new research projects."
"Madam Herta, do you mean that your project to construct the Plasma Spark Tower has already been completed?"
"Mm." The Herta inclined her head slightly before continuing, "The materials I require are as follows: Dreamstones, Phantasm Stones..."
The Herta listed a vast quantity of spiritually resonant construction materials.
At that moment, The Herta was already preparing to construct the world of the dead—the Soul Society.
"Understood, Madam Herta. I will place the order with the IPC."
As a supercomputer Intellitron, Fourth Mirror operated with astonishing efficiency and immediately began placing orders through the IPC's online platform.
Because she was using The Herta's exclusive premium membership account, her orders received the highest possible priority. Every material would be delivered within twenty-four hours.
After completing the order according to The Herta's instructions, Fourth Mirror asked her another crucial question. "Madam Herta, in the past, the task of placing orders with the IPC was always handled by the Second Madam Herta. Now that you are doing it yourself, has something happened to her?"
The Herta glanced at Fourth Mirror. "You seem rather concerned about her."
Fourth Mirror replied, "Hehe. After all, she is also a part of you."
This time, The Herta did not refute her. Instead, she fell silent. Only after quite some time did she speak again.
"The Second Herta you mentioned is fine. She is merely resting at present. Also, Fourth Mirror, check whether Ruan Mei and Screwllum have completed their research experiments and emerged from their laboratories."
"Yes." After agreeing, Fourth Mirror used her extraordinary computational power to complete the search within a fraction of a fraction of a second, then reported back to The Herta.
"Madam Herta, neither Miss Ruan nor Mr. Screwllum has left their laboratory. They are still researching the Machine-Spirit and the shipgirl modifications for Ruanruan respectively..."
After hearing this, The Herta gazed toward the endlessly glittering stars and thought silently.
I have already completed my research, yet Ruan Mei and Screwllum still have not finished theirs.
As expected... as my Research Points continue to increase, their research efficiency has already begun falling far behind mine!
Even so, my research cannot stop. The last time I triggered World-Shaking Wisdom, I obtained quite a few top-tier ideas.
Turning those ideas into actual scientific achievements will still require a great deal of effort.
After thinking this far, The Herta closed her eyes and spoke to Herman within her body.
'Switch with me. I am going to conduct research in the Simulated Universe.'
'All right.' After agreeing, Herman asked The Herta a question. 'Previously, when you triggered World-Shaking Wisdom, you obtained five research ideas: the Stand Arrow, one-eighth of the Eight Trigrams concept, the Power of Existence, a ritual for slaying gods and seizing their authority, and finally the What-If Phone Booth, an ultra-high-risk technology capable of creating parallel universes! Which idea do you plan to research first?'
'I want to investigate the Power of Existence... After all, the Soul Society will soon be completed!'
The Herta said seriously, 'Once I construct the Soul Society, a world after death where souls can continue living normally, and combine it with the Power of Existence, I will finally be able to completely negate Nihility.'
'Moreover, I believe that uncovering the essence of the Power of Existence may allow me to resolve the problem faced by Self-Annihilators such as Acheron without needing the Simulated Universe to recreate Izumo, which has already been destroyed and now exists only within her memories.'
'It would resolve the problem of Self-Annihilators falling into Nihility at its very root.'
'That is a promising idea... and it has a certain chance of succeeding. Acheron has also been on The Blue for some time now. It truly would be inappropriate to keep her waiting any longer.'
Herman said earnestly, 'In that case, The Herta, enter the Simulated Laboratory. I will control the body outside. I will also receive the materials you instructed Fourth Mirror to order from the IPC.'
The instant his words fell, control of the body switched. Herman once again took command of The Herta's body. He adjusted her hat, raised his head toward the surveillance systems aboard the Herta Xianzhou, and said, "Fourth Mirror, I heard every word of concern you expressed about me just now."
"I-I was not concerned about you! There cannot be two suns in the sky. I, Fourth Mirror, have only one master, and that is Madam Herta. You are merely the second Herta. You can only rank second in my heart."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Herman's lips upon hearing this. "Your second-favorite person? That is not bad... After all, I have no intention of replacing the unique place your creator, The Herta, holds in your heart."
After saying this, Herman stretched lazily. "All right. That period of research left me somewhat exhausted. I need to rest properly for a while. Prepare some more food that is good for the brain."
"Yes."
Fourth Mirror acknowledged his request.
...
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Kafka of the Stellaron Hunters arrived on The Blue and took away Zagi's Dark Spark Doll.
The IPC's Building Material Logistics Department also delivered every material Herta had ordered for the Soul Society to the World of The Blue's star system.
After resting enough, Herman called The Herta's name within his mind, intending to have her leave the Simulated Laboratory and officially begin constructing the Soul Society, the megastructure of the afterlife.
'Wait... I still need more time to finish researching the Power of Existence.' After responding instinctively, The Herta continued secluding herself within the Simulated Laboratory, synthesizing and deconstructing the unique energy known as the Power of Existence.
After hearing her response, Herman did not interrupt Herta's research again... After all, he knew that scientific research was the thing The Herta loved most.
Thus, while Herman continued lounging aboard Shipgirl Herta, he also began listening to recent major-event reports released by the Interastral Peace Broadcast.
The Xianzhou Alliance had assembled its fleets and, while traveling toward the World of The Blue's star system, encountered a Borisin force head-on, along with Elixir Seekers and the demonic star Rahu.
War erupted at once.
Feixiao, the Merlin's Claw of the Xianzhou Yaoqing, led one hundred thousand Cloud Knights and hundreds of millions of Honkai war beasts into battle.
The result was an overwhelming victory!
The battle shattered the Borisin fleet, completely annihilated the wicked Elixir Seekers who had seized other blessings of Abundance, and destroyed the true body of the demonic star Rahu dozens of times.
The demonic star Rahu's true body was simply too difficult to kill... In the end, several Xianzhou generals had to act together to seal Rahu away.
Thus, after the death of Shuhu, the Emanator of Abundance and divine tree bestowed by the god of Abundance, the Borisin had lost yet another high-ranking combatant.
According to the news broadcast by the Interastral Peace Broadcast, the Xianzhou Alliance had displayed tremendous might in that battle!
After watching the report, Herman could not help sighing inwardly.
The Xiandan Alliance truly mobilized everyone to invite Herta into their alliance. It probably will not be long before they arrive on The Blue.
At that time, The Herta will gain another identity—the eighth member of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou, the Eighth Arbiter-General.
Perhaps when that moment comes, the Reignbow Arbiter spoken of by the people of Xiandan—Lan, Aeon of The Hunt—will cast Their gaze upon The Herta.
After thinking this far, Herman continued listening to the reports from the Interastral Peace Broadcast and discovered that the news also mentioned another event.
On a frontier world resisting the Antimatter Legion, a new warrior dedicated to preserving order had appeared. His name was Gumen.
He was currently saving an ocean world. Within twenty-four standard hours of his appearance, he had successfully exterminated hordes of Doomsday Beasts and rescued three thousand islands.
Each time he appeared, he emerged amid a burst of light and could transform between different forms. Whenever he changed forms, the aura of Preservation would emerge from his body, which stood dozens of meters tall.
Without question, he had been born from the radiance unleashed by the Amber Lord's hammer! He was a warrior of light created by the Amber Lord!
At that very moment, an IPC fleet was already traveling toward the ocean world to assist this giant of light!
After reading the report, a strange expression appeared on Herman's face.
A giant of light born from the fiery sparks released when Qlipoth, Aeon of Preservation, swung Their hammer!
The people of the IPC certainly know how to exaggerate... If the light released whenever Qlipoth swung Their hammer could truly evolve into giants, then countless giants would have appeared over the innumerable Amber Eras, and the Land of Light would most likely have been constructed long ago.
Still, this is a good thing... With the Amber Lord, Qlipoth, Aeon of Preservation, serving as a public cover, information related to the Plasma Spark Tower can remain well protected.