A stretch of silence.
Godzilla lowered his gaze, watching Fu Xuan quietly make her way toward him.
With matters weighing on her mind, Fu Xuan advanced toward Godzilla as carefully as possible, trying not to draw anyone else's attention.
Seeing this, Godzilla slowly extended his tail in front of her. Stelle who had been sitting on it earlier had just climbed down to chat with Qingque.
Stepping lightly onto it, Fu Xuan looked at Godzilla drawing ever closer and let out a soft breath.
Reaching his ear, she spoke in a low voice. "Someone within the Alliance has investigated your territory and suspects it can suppress mara."
Long ago, Fu Xuan and the others had already noticed it. Staying near Godzilla could effectively suppress mara.
The best example was the current General of the Luofu, Jing Yuan, who was already over eight hundred years old.
By all rights, given his age, even if mara had not yet erupted, it should not have been far off.
After all, at its root, mara was caused by the Xianzhou people's bodies being unable to withstand an overload of memories. And sitting upon the seat of a Xianzhou general might look glorious, holding immense authority, but correspondingly, the pressure one had to endure was several times greater than that borne by ordinary people.
And Jing Yuan had carried that pressure for hundreds of years.
All this while the companions of the High Cloud Quintet had died, scattered, departed, or turned into fugitives roaming the cosmos, leaving the Luofu with a severe lack of talent that had to be forcibly filled by promoting the next generation.
Without exaggeration, if the burden on Jing Yuan were given physical form, it would be enough to overload any other person.
Fu Xuan understood very clearly what it meant to sit in the general's seat. Perhaps she had not understood before, but after everything she had experienced, she had already grown.
Sitting on the general's seat now might still be too early, but at least she finally understood what it meant to bear that weight.
Godzilla slightly raised his eyes, his mind beginning to process what Fu Xuan had said.
It seemed, maybe, probably… it had little to do with him?
He had never interfered with whatever effects his ecosystem produced, letting it develop naturally.
At most, his subconscious had prevented the people on Jarilo from developing obvious physical mutations.
As for what Fu Xuan mentioned, the Xianzhou Alliance discovering that he might suppress mara, why would the Alliance not still want to pressure him?
He believed the Alliance would make the most correct choice, not only because there were familiar figures within the Xianzhou, but also because he held power.
Pure, absolute violence.
The Xianzhou had sailed for eight thousand years. Inevitably, internal factions would affect it, but they understood even more clearly that if the Xianzhou ran into trouble, it would benefit no one.
So…
"Roar." A low growl carrying reassurance instantly dispelled the worry that had begun to rise in Fu Xuan's heart.
After all, the one before her was a being whose every movement could sway the hearts of countless others.
The foundations of the Xianzhou Alliance were nowhere near enough to wage war against him.
Godzilla stood alone at the very top of the cosmos. This was a consensus shared by all powers across the cosmos.
Rubert's fall had come about due to Polka Kakamond and the intervention of some unknown external forces.
Godzilla had no one, no force capable of restraining him.
Disagree?
…
"If you disagree, you can go see it. Go see that rift that stretches across three galaxies, still wracked with spacetime chaos to this day. I was there."
At the Alliance council, Jing Yuan spoke calmly.
"Ahem, this old one has no such thoughts. General Divine Foresight, if Godzilla truly can suppress mara, that would be a great boon to the entire Xianzhou Alliance. You yourself fought your way up step by step hundreds of years ago, you of all people know how terrifying mara truly is."
The elder who had spoken earlier hurriedly waved his hands in explanation, his peripheral vision flicking toward the scoundrels who had urged him to speak up.
When they were stirring him up earlier, they talked as if flowers were falling from the sky. Now that reality was in front of them, every one of them shrank back, leaving this old man to charge ahead alone.
Hmph. Hypocrites.
"For now, we can set this matter aside. If any of you were sitting in the Divine Foresight General's position, you would likely make the same choice."
In the end, Marshal Hua stepped in and temporarily put a stop to the intense questioning.
She looked toward Jing Yuan and spoke. "General Divine Foresight, since you were the first to discover this, can you guarantee that the subject of today's discussion is true?"
Jing Yuan gave a slight nod. "I swear upon the name of the Seven Arbiter-Generals, there is no falsehood here. As for why I concealed it, first, I could not confirm whether it would be effective for every Xianzhou native. Second…"
He glanced at the people staring at him and continued unhurriedly. "If everyone had known this from the start, it would have been hard to guarantee that some individuals would not react excessively."
They very much wanted to say this was unfounded suspicion.
But the other party was also a Xianzhou native, and one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals, perhaps the person who understood Xianzhou people best. It was wiser not to argue on this point.
Not everyone harbored malice, but likewise, not everyone harbored goodwill. The cosmos lacked nothing more than ambitious schemers.
"The Divine Foresight General handled this very well." Hua nodded slightly in praise.
In the face of that atomic beam that spanned three galaxies, any lifeform with a brain needed to stop and think carefully.
The Xianzhou Alliance was no exception.
Was that attack a simple one? Imagine if it had originated within the Xianzhou's detection range and struck any one of the six current Xianzhou ships. What then?
The world ships' defenses were formidable, yes, but that was an attack that tore through galaxies and completely annihilated the spacetime within them. Who could withstand it?
At the very least, Hua did not want to see such a scene.
Seeing that everyone had regained some clarity, Jing Yuan continued.
"Even without the ability to suppress mara, we would still need to maintain good relations with Godzilla. Now that we are the ones seeking his help, acting rashly would only put the Xianzhou in an awkward position."
Hua nodded gravely. "In the name of the Marshal, I guarantee this. If anyone dares to act out of line, I will personally intervene."
A killing intent seeped into her words. Everyone knew that this marshal, who guided the Xianzhou forward and possessed terrifying combat power, was serious.
At once, everyone straightened their expressions, not daring to relax in the slightest.
If you provoked Jing Yuan, he would still weigh many considerations, at most maneuvering things so you suffered a bit.
If you provoked Marshal Hua, then it could only mean your good days were over.
To sit securely in the marshal's seat on the martial Xianzhou required far more than courtesy. In the vast cosmos, force was the ultimate truth.
Seeing that everyone had taken her words to heart, Hua nodded in satisfaction and then looked to Jing Yuan.
"Does the Divine Foresight General have a way to verify that this is effective for all plagued by mara, and if it truly is effective, how might we persuade Godzilla? As long as the Xianzhou possesses it, we can promise anything."
This condition was no small matter.
One could even say it was the most significant promise the Xianzhou Alliance had ever made to an external party since its founding.
But Godzilla was worth it. The potential value he represented was enormous.
Only…
"Do we actually have any conditions that could tempt Godzilla?" Jing Yuan interlaced his fingers, posing the question.
For now, let us set aside the Xianzhou's discussions on this matter.
...
The research project jointly undertaken by Herta, Ruan Mei, and Mobius welcomed a special guest today.
"Well now, look who this is. I actually get to see the real Herta. If I told people, even my friends at the tavern would be proud. But you all seem troubled. Why not tell me about it, you three geniuses?"
The blue clad shop owner rubbed his hands together, greeting the three with a broad smile.
"Sampo?" Herta was not unfamiliar with him. Back on Jarilo, this fellow had made quite a few appearances, and the cost performance of his goods was not terrible.
"What, did you dig up something interesting again? Don't tell me it's some fun curio." Raising an eyebrow, Herta chuckled.
This goodwill was reserved only for the occasions when Sampo actually brought something worthwhile.
Although most of his shop was filled with strange, nonsensical junk, Sampo did manage to get his hands on some decent items from time to time.
Sometimes, one could even find a respectable curio among his wares.
While pondering what step to take next, running into this unreliable fellow was oddly relaxing.
"Hehe, look at you say that. Would I dare come see you without good stuff?" Rubbing his hands, Sampo mysteriously pulled a crystal from his satchel, one that shimmered with a dazzling, multicolored black sheen.
"The color's quite pretty. What does it do?" Herta nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.
"Oh, it's incredibly useful. Let me explain it to you properly."
"After my meticulous observation, I discovered that this crystal can observe Quantum energy!"
Hearing this, Herta raised an eyebrow, her scrutinizing gaze falling on the crystal glittering in the sunlight.
"Quantum energy… before I published my work, barely anyone even paid attention to that concept. And now you casually pull something out and say it can observe Quantum energy. You… are you serious?"
"Oh come on. Would I lie to you? Honestly, if I hadn't run into you, I wouldn't even be willing to take it out." Sampo slapped his thigh, his expression full of earnest sincerity.
"That said, it only has observational capability. No other functions. How about it? Want to buy it as a collectible? Put it in your room as decoration, it's top tier for that!"
"Fine, I'll buy it. Now get out of my sight."
"Got it!" Seeing the credit transfer notification, Sampo smiled. True to his word, he vanished in a flash from the sight of the three.
"Mourning Actors… are they all like this?" Mobius chuckled softly, watching the direction Sampo disappeared.
"No idea. He's always been like this whenever I run into him." Herta shrugged indifferently, lifting the crystal she had taken from Sampo.
He said it could observe Quantum energy… and it really could.
But just as Sampo said, its function stopped at observation. It could not even manage slightly deeper analysis, not even qualified to serve as a microscope.
"Oh well. At least it's something that can observe Quantum energy. I'll toss it into storage."
Although she was a bit surprised that Sampo could find such a toy so soon after her publication, Herta did not take it to heart.
Perhaps a previous owner of the crystal had no idea about the concept at all. Or perhaps Sampo himself had been its first owner.
In any case, she had little interest in it now.
"Let's go. It's time to greet our next guest."
She lifted her gaze slightly toward the firmament, humming an unknown tune as she stepped forward.
"I can feel him. He's there." Acheron spoke softly.
Godzilla's presence was never concealed. She could sense that familiar aura within. This was Godzilla's territory.
She knew it. Although she paid little attention to the rumors spreading across the cosmos, many still reached her ears unintentionally.
Come to think of it, during the recent mechanical calamity, she had also been involved. Those disasters that sent most beings fleeing in terror deliberately avoided her.
She was not surprised. Even if they did not avoid her, she would raise the blade in her hand and cut down with a single strike.
"What are you doing here?" Just as Acheron paused, a somewhat familiar voice reached her ears.
She turned her head slightly. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar person before her, Acheron parted her lips, hesitating.
"…Herta?"
"Mm hmm, don't recognize me?" Herta chuckled lightly, her right hand holding the brim of her hat, tilting it ever so slightly.
"Allow me to introduce myself. The cosmos's foremost genius, the revealer of the singularity algorithm, the creator of the Simulated Universe, a person who freely pays homage to Aeons. I am Herta, and I wish you a good afternoon."
"…Herta." Despite Herta's flamboyant self introduction, Acheron maintained the most sincere attitude.
Whether it was Herta or her puppets, there was no difference in her eyes.