No, no, that's not right. I didn't come here to reclaim little puppets.
Both hands slid under the Herta puppet's armpits, and Herta suddenly realized something.
Herta puppets existed whenever they wanted to. She herself still had an entire castle's worth in storage. What mattered most right now was research.
Holding the Herta puppet in one hand, Herta began moving as if nothing were amiss.
"Ahem. Do you know about Red Dust?"
That's right, Herta's line of thought was extremely simple. Since Red Dust was a kind of substance manipulated by Singularity Godzilla,… no, not long ago, he had already used a Singularity Godzilla skill, the purple atomic breath.
As for whether Godzilla would have a stress response, Herta was not worried at all.
She had done some basic observations on Godzilla. Under normal circumstances, as long as it wasn't something Godzilla was actively interested in, most of the time he couldn't be bothered to move.
And if you really wanted him to move, there were only two ways. Either act like Irontomb, which meant charging in head-on, or Zephyro, which meant drawing attention by overstepping Godzilla's authority.
In summary, neither was anything good.
Red Dust? The vertical pupils lifted slightly. Godzilla's brain, even larger than Herta's, began to turn.
Red Dust, a familiar term. If he remembered correctly, it seemed like he had touched a bit of it some time ago?
Mm, can't quite remember.
For this kind of change, Godzilla had always gone with the flow. To him, whether evolution or anything else, as long as it was something he could touch, even things that couldn't be touched in reality, would eventually be laid bare before him with the passage of time.
This was the pride of Godzilla.
"Hoo." With a light exhale, Herta got the answer she wanted.
Golden vertical pupils fixed on Herta before him. Godzilla always felt that this one was plotting something bad.
Yes, no need to doubt it. She absolutely was.
Godzilla, who considered himself fairly familiar with Herta, had no doubts whatsoever about her troublemaking ability. Therefore, in practice…
"Bye-bye."
"Whoosh."
With a tail swing, the speed was so fast that Herta, still thinking, couldn't react at all. In an instant, she turned into a comet streaking across the sky, flying off into the distance.
Using the same force as against those earlier fellows might give Herta dizziness, but letting her experience a bit of aerial acrobatics was no problem.
An Emanator was still an Emanator. The power of the Path of Erudition was not something so inconvenient.
...
Stelle glanced sideways, then slowly squatted down, casually picking up a dry branch from the ground.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho."
"Had enough yet?" A muffled voice came from the ground.
Crack. The branch snapped, and faint red marks could be seen.
Stelle looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
At that moment, the two legs sticking out kicked and struggled, hands pressing against the ground, exerting a bit of force.
"Break." Flicking her hair, Herta complained, "Really hard to guard against. If you're going to strike, at least give some warning."
As she spoke, she glanced slightly aside, catching sight of Stelle trying very hard to be ignored.
"Little gray hair, if you keep playing around like this, you might grow a second Stellaron right here."
"Hehe, gotta be brave enough to try." Having been found out, Stelle smiled without the slightest embarrassment.
Herta nodded in approval. "Not bad. Being brave enough to try is the beginning of any experiment. You've got a real scientific spirit. How about it, want to be my assistant?"
"As for the topic… researching what impact removing a Stellaron from a host would have. How does that sound, tempted or not?"
'Whether I'm tempted or not, I don't know, but I do know that if you did that, my heart would be permanently depressed.'
Stelle rolled her eyes.
"From the look of you, you're going to find Godzilla?"
Herta raised an eyebrow, guessing Stelle's next destination. Stelle nodded. There was nothing she couldn't do about that.
Although Himeko and Welt seemed rather guarded about him, that was only if it would affect everyone.
Judging from their current attitude, the two of them were taking a let-it-be approach.
"All right then. Have fun." Leaving those words behind, Herta turned into a gust of wind and vanished from Stelle's sight.
Looking in the direction Herta left, Stelle scratched her head, full of confusion.
Why run so fast? Are the little Herta's rebelling again?
Shaking her head, Stelle tossed those thoughts aside. The ideas of geniuses were beyond her understanding. Even an empty vessel like her brain couldn't figure out that kind of thing.
Since that was the case, there was no need to add unnecessary worries. What mattered most now was…
...
"Yahhoo."
With a skyward howl, a streak of gray darted swiftly along Godzilla's tail, sliding straight down, nimbly avoiding every ridge and spike along the way. Hair fluttered in the wind, heroic and dashing.
When she reached the bottom, the ferocious speed didn't slow at all, instead shooting upward again along the momentum.
Thump.
With a solid thump, she finally landed on his head. Then she gave up entirely.
Stelle spread her limbs out into a big T shape, utterly relaxed. Godzilla had always been indulgent toward the little one on his head, turning a blind eye.
He tilted his head slightly, then lowered it.
Stelle went up, came down, went up, came down, switching back and forth.
If the Stellaron inside her were a bit bigger, Godzilla almost felt like he was juggling a football.
In any case, Godzilla showed boundless indulgence toward this cutie.
People always held special feelings toward cute things. A little gray-haired girl not even two years old perfectly fit that condition from any angle.
Seeing this, Serval smiled helplessly.
She had long grown used to Godzilla's behavior. After all, this guy was always so willful, and besides…
She vaguely remembered that when she was little, she had been very indulgent toward Gepard as well. After all, she was the older sister.
...
While Godzilla and Stelle were happily playing, and Serval was lost in memories of the past. Herta sought out Ruan Mei in the laboratory, and beside her stood a familiar figure.
"Mobius?" Raising an eyebrow, Herta looked at Mobius' back.
Hearing the movement, the two turned around.
"Long time no see." Seeing Herta, Mobius smiled softly.
Walking over gracefully, Herta spoke. "You joined in too?"
"Why not?" Mobius countered.
"Of course you can. We welcome every genius to join us." Herta chuckled lightly.
She wasn't surprised at all by Mobius's participation. She had only been slightly taken aback when she first saw her. No genius could resist researching pure unknowns. None.
Especially when that unknown involved Godzilla. Given Mobius' relationship with Godzilla, there was no way she would miss such a rare opportunity.
"I've already asked. The big guy has indeed sensed Red Dust, or he might already be able to use it. The specifics, I don't know. After all, it's a substance never seen before, and he's only used it indirectly."
As she said this, Herta took a moment to recall, confirming that Godzilla really hadn't directly used Red Dust.
At present, the newest thing was undoubtedly that atomic breath.
"And you, have you seen it before?" Herta turned her gaze to Mobius.
But unfortunately…
"No. For Godzilla, aside from Aeons, there probably isn't anything in this cosmos that could make him actively use Red Dust, assuming he can use it." Mobius shook her head slightly.
As for whether Godzilla could use Red Dust, she had no doubts at all.
Even if he couldn't now, it would become possible before long. That was Godzilla's unique charm, turning all impossibilities into possibilities.
"My puppets have already found Acheron. The power of Nihility should be able to help us. As for the rest, I'll think about it. Trailblaze, Memory…"
This memory was not that memory.
To prevent unknown changes after touching the target they wanted to touch, for example to prevent forced memory erasure or sealing to stop the world from undergoing drastic change, they had all set up memory anchors in advance. Even if something happened to them, they could reconstruct the process through fragmented clues.
Three of the rare geniuses of the cosmos gathered together, jointly discussing their shared goal.
...
The next day, a vessel from the Xianzhou Luofu docked at the harbor.
Holding her head high, dignified and imposing, the Master Diviner walked at the front, followed by several others, and, of course, Qingque.
"Master Diviner, it's just an official trip. There's no need to drag me along, right? I still have three shifts of paperwork waiting…" Qingque walked half a step behind Fu Xuan, her tone full of grievance.
Fu Xuan snorted lightly. "Do you really think I don't know you already finished most of that work? What's left is trivial. I arranged everything before we came. No need to worry."
'Is that what I'm worried about? I'm worried that following you means I can't slack off.' Qingque wore a miserable expression, sighing internally.
This little Master Diviner finally going on a business trip, she thought she could properly recuperate. Who would have thought the Master Diviner would leave no loopholes at all, directly dragging her along.
'Ah, my vacation.'
"Godzilla personally suppressed and killed the Lord Ravager Irontomb. By reason and by sentiment, the Xianzhou must show respect. Sending an envoy to Jarilo is necessary."
Fu Xuan stated the purpose of the trip calmly. Although, based on her and the others' understanding of Godzilla, thanks were not really needed.
It wasn't that thanks weren't necessary, but rather that what the Xianzhou could offer wasn't something Godzilla urgently needed.
If it were any other Emanator, the vastness of the Xianzhou and its abundant production would surely yield a treasure that satisfied them.
But what Godzilla needed, they could only think of massive energy sources.
The problem was, for Godzilla, who could shatter three galaxies with a single strike and create enormous space-time rifts, what kind of energy source could attract him?
Ahem. Actually, in the past, there really was one extremely suitable energy source.
The Flint Emperor.
But considering that the Xianzhou Zhuming not only needed Flint Emperor for navigation, but also relied on it's fire to forge weapons, the idea was ultimately shelved.
"Welcome to Belobog." Already waiting there, Bronya and Cocolia smiled as they greeted Fu Xuan and Qingque.
Fu Xuan returned the courtesy, her expression composed and reserved.
Although they had known each other for a long time and were on good terms, in public settings… those who understood, understood.
...
Time turned, day and night alternated.
After the necessary exchanges, Fu Xuan finally met the primary target of this mission.
"As expected, it's still more comfortable here." The pain brought by the Dharma Eye on her forehead vanished, replaced by an unparalleled sense of ease.
The Xianzhou people's ever-present regenerative trait constantly clashed with the treasure bestowed by Nous. The price of gaining the Dharma Eye's assistance was enduring unceasing pain.
But at this moment, that pain was gone.
Although she had served as Master Diviner for a long time, in truth, Fu Xuan, whose age of just over twenty-six was still considered barely an adult, let out a long breath.
Mm. Although the Master Diviner could already be called aunt among short-lived species, among the long-lived Xianzhou people, for whom thousands of years were no issue as long as they could endure, she was still far too young.
Godzilla sat up, his massive body blotting out the sky. Standing below, one couldn't tell whether the sun was rising or setting.
It felt like standing in darkness, yet the sense of security within it was incomparable. Whoever stood here would be wrapped in intense warmth, and no matter how troubling their problems, they would fade away.
At the tip of his tail, Stelle lay there waving at them, and faintly, it seemed she was shouting something.
"Long time no see. How have you been lately?" Fu Xuan asked softly.
"Roar." Godzilla responded with a low rumble.
Qingque still wore a miserable expression, but her eyes were already darting around nonstop. With his keen eyesight, Godzilla easily guessed what she was thinking.
"How have you been recently?" Serval greeted the two with a cheerful smile.
As for the others, they were arranged to be received in Belobog. Unless Godzilla personally summoned them, or they were already familiar with him, Bronya would strictly guard access to this place.
No one wanted the god to be disturbed.
Unless Godzilla was willing.
But clearly, judging by Godzilla's behavior, if the visitor were Stelle, no matter how much she caused a ruckus, nothing would happen.
A gentle breeze blew.