"What is it?" Acheron asked softly.
All along the way, the Herta puppets had been acting secretive, never telling her exactly what she was needed for.
But since she had nothing particularly important to deal with anyway, she came along.
"Of course it's something extremely important. Come on, come on, it's almost time for you to shine and show your worth."
With a light laugh, Herta waved enthusiastically, leading Acheron as she hurried back at full speed.
...
The sudden gathering of familiar faces brought liveliness to Jarilo once more.
Bronya, who normally spent her days buried in work, was also temporarily pulled away from her desk under Cocolia's supervision, finally getting a chance to relax.
Because of everyone's arrival, Bronya wore a smile on her face the entire day.
If there was anything that still left her uneasy…
Crackle. The campfire burned steadily, sparks popping as the flames danced.
Warm red firelight illuminated her fair face, giving it a gentle glow.
At this moment, Bronya no longer had the seriousness she wore in the Supreme Guardian's office.
What remained was the softness and youthful vibrancy befitting a girl in the prime of her years.
"I'm still a bit worried," Bronya sighed softly under the firelight, murmuring in a low voice. "I wonder what Lady Herta and the others are doing."
She trusted that Herta and Ruan Mei would not conduct experiments that endangered Jarilo.
It was not because she placed any particular hopes on their moral standards, but simply because Godzilla was stationed here, and at worst, Lady Mobius had also joined in.
With the combined oversight of those figures, it was impossible for things to spiral completely out of control.
Still, one could never be too careful.
After all, they were top geniuses of the cosmos. Even casually researching something after going their separate ways could cause a massive stir, let alone a joint project carried out together.
It was hard not to wonder whether they were working on something that could not be made public.
"You should relax a little. Herta still knows where the line is."
"Eek, that's cold!" A cup of ice cold fruit juice was pressed against Bronya's slightly warm cheek. The chill instantly cooled her overheated thoughts.
She took the juice with both hands and unconsciously puffed out her cheeks, glaring at Seele, who sat beside her as if nothing had happened.
Seele took a big gulp and let out a satisfied sigh. "Ah, drinking something cold in front of a campfire really is the best."
Serval at the side glanced at the still sulking Bronya and chuckled softly before continuing.
"Think about it. Didn't Herta and Ruan Mei build a laboratory together on the insect planet before? It didn't affect Jarilo at all."
"That's true." Bronya nodded slightly, unable to refute her words.
Though that process had not been without issues.
For instance, Lady Herta would sometimes run experiments just to see what kind of new species would emerge after extracting large amounts of True Sting genes from the Crimson Tide.
Most of the time, the embryos could not withstand the genes. In a few cases, the experiment succeeded, and then… they went berserk.
During that period, one could often hear noises from the insect planet, along with the sight of a figure swinging a massive hammer through the stars.
Thinking of this, Bronya finally set aside her worries and focused on enjoying the warmth of the campfire and the chill of the fruit juice.
Not far away were Stelle and March 7th, laughing as they played on a makeshift "slide." Fu Xuan sat on a picnic blanket with her legs neatly together, drinking boba tea with elegant composure. Qingque sat across from Himeko, both studying the cards in their hands.
Everything felt peaceful and serene.
Bang!
As everyone knows, when life has been going unusually smoothly lately, so smooth that you might even pick up stray money on the street from time to time, you should be careful.
This is not the world suddenly deciding to be kind. On the contrary, it is compensation from the world itself.
As for how much that compensation amounts to, it depends on what kind of situation you are about to face.
The sudden explosion was especially jarring during this moment of leisure.
"That direction is… where Lady Mobius and the others are," Fu Xuan lifted her gaze slightly, thought for a moment, and then chose to ignore it.
Three geniuses gathered together, some form of incident was practically inevitable.
In any case, it was probably not something life threatening. Just a simple explosion, nothing worth worrying about.
The artisans of the Artisanship Commission detonated things dozens of times a day. If they did not blow something up for a while, Jing Yuan would start worrying that something major had been buried somewhere.
Once everyone knew who was involved, they stopped paying attention and went back to what they were doing.
As for the true master of this place, Godzilla merely observed calmly.
The power of Nihility had appeared within his territory, subtly influencing the surroundings at all times.
But Godzilla did not grow angry as he did when dealing with Irontomb.
The difference was intent. Irontomb acted deliberately, Acheron did not.
Godzilla had always been tolerant. After all, it did not affect him.
The distance Acheron had traveled on the path of Nihility was nowhere near enough to stand opposite him.
His long, thick tail lifted slightly, with two small figures lying atop it, looking somewhat dazed and adorable, completely motionless.
...
At the same time, at the site that had briefly drawn everyone's attention, Herta hid behind two Herta puppets. After the explosion fully settled, she cautiously poked her head out.
The scene was a complete mess.
"Ah, as expected, it failed." Geniuses could often sense failure in advance.
Even though it was a failure, the experience gained was invaluable.
As for why it failed… that was none of your business.
"The power of Nihility is unstable. Incorporating it allows us to glimpse more mysterious domains, but its stability cannot be guaranteed, and it also causes the system to lose control," Mobius analyzed calmly.
"Perhaps we can increase the proportion of real matter," Ruan Mei suggested softly.
"Stacking too much real matter makes the anchor overly solid, preventing it from truly functioning," Herta joined the discussion.
Acheron stood quietly in place, listening to their discussion in silence.
Her role was merely to inject the power of Nihility. Everything else had nothing to do with her.
The power of Nihility was highly corrosive. Over time, everything around it would be dragged into nothingness.
But there were three geniuses present. Without absolute suppression by overwhelming power, their abilities and technical prowess were more than enough to impose restrictions.
As for the subject they were researching, Acheron had formed some vague guesses of her own.
A Self Annihilator passively forgot many memories, but throughout her travels she had encountered many things.
Although she still could not keep up with the geniuses' leaping thoughts, by personally participating in the experimental process, making basic inferences was not difficult.
She glanced slightly to the side. Within the area affected by the earlier explosion, countless tiny energy particles lingered, beginning to self disintegrate the instant they touched the air.
Developing a new substance? Or searching for one? She did not know.
Based on the current situation, either was possible.
She did not know why they were conducting this research, nor did she wish to know.
Sitting quietly in her seat, she listened as the three continued their discussion, which showed signs of heating up.
To avoid disturbing their train of thought, Acheron silently left the laboratory.
Night had fallen. Under the night sky, Belobog shimmered with brilliance, bathed in lights and color. People from various star systems wandered through the streets, bringing prosperity to the city.
It was beautiful.
This was Acheron's first impression of the city at night.
But she did not belong to this world. Neither light nor song could offer her a place here.
She was already used to it. The endlessly shining stars were far colder than this.
"Acheron?"
As she wandered aimlessly to an intersection, a familiar voice reached her ears with a hint of surprise. Following the sound, she saw Welt and Dan Heng standing across the street, both wearing startled expressions.
"I didn't expect to see you in Jarilo," Welt said.
"I was invited," Acheron replied calmly.
Welt nodded slightly, but his thoughts were clearly elsewhere. To be honest, seeing Acheron in Jarilo was something he never would have expected.
Acheron herself was not the issue, but the Path of Nihility she carried was a major concern.
The Path of Nihility made it impossible for her to remain in one place for long. Penacony was the best example.
Jarilo VI was far more important than Penacony.
If Acheron's power of Nihility affected the surroundings, it was hard to say how Godzilla would respond.
That would spell disaster. Welt knew Acheron's combat strength was terrifying. As a rare Self Annihilator, her power placed her comfortably among top level Emanators, if not above them.
But that was Godzilla. Just imagining Godzilla's overwhelming battle power was enough to make countless factions abandon any thought of contending with Jarilo.
At the very least, Welt found it difficult to picture Godzilla and Acheron clashing.
"It's fine. He won't drive me away," Acheron said softly, seeing through Welt's concerns.
She could not explain much, nor did she feel the need to.
Her instincts told her that as long as she did not cause too much disturbance here, Godzilla would generally not pay attention to her.
And even if she did notice, it would not matter. Acheron did not care.
Welt nodded. He did not know why Acheron was so certain, but beings at this level often had their own perception of the world. Since she said so, he chose to trust her judgment.
The two did not press the matter further. After exchanging a few more words, they watched as Acheron turned and left.
Watching her departing figure, Welt fell into brief contemplation.
If one were to ask who on Jarilo was most likely to invite this Self Annihilator…
...
"You're back," Himeko said with a gentle smile as she heard the door open and turned to look at Welt and Dan Heng.
The campfire party had ended. Stelle and March 7th had already washed up and gone to bed, waiting only for Welt and Dan Heng to return from their visit.
"So, how was the survey?"
Dan Heng wanted to document the current customs and culture of Jarilo, with Welt accompanying him.
"Jarilo has changed a lot. There are many outsiders in Belobog now, and I even saw quite a few people from the Xianzhou," Dan Heng said.
The Xianzhou usually paid close attention to the movements of its people. They could not land on just any world, and Jarilo was clearly not on the list of forbidden destinations.
"We met someone unexpected," Welt added.
"Oh?" Himeko raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued.
"Acheron."
"Acheron?" Himeko looked stunned.
That truly was unexpected.
Even a Self Annihilator of Nihility had stepped onto this planet.
But Himeko quickly thought of the three key geniuses currently on Jarilo.
"She…"
"Most likely was invited by them." Welt finished her unspoken thought.
"This really is something," Himeko shook her head slightly and smiled wryly.
It was not that she had any objection to Acheron's arrival.
It was just that, thinking of a Self Annihilator setting foot on Jarilo, she could not help but wonder whether it would cause some kind of impact.
"But since even Godzilla hasn't reacted to Miss Acheron's arrival, it should be fine," Welt said.
The two nodded. They had already agreed on this point earlier.
There was only one question left.
Why had Herta and the others sought out Acheron?
Out of respect, neither of them had asked Acheron about her purpose.
"No matter why Miss Acheron came, at the very least, we should make sure she gets to experience Jarilo's beauty, right? As for any possible issues…" Himeko said softly, thinking of Nihility's influence on the surroundings.
The brief exchange ended there. The night passed without incident.
...
In the pitch black laboratory, not a single person could be seen. Mobius and the other two were still engaged in intense discussion over their next steps.
A dark crystal, pitch black yet shimmering with multicolored hues, quietly began to glow, standing out starkly in the empty lab.
It flickered a few times, then fell silent again.
...
The next day, morning dew slowly evaporated under the rising sunlight.
"Found it!" An excited shout shattered the morning's tranquility.
Herta snapped her head up, eyes blazing with excitement.
"I know what's missing!" A sleepless night was nothing to a genius.
"The power of Nihility causes fluctuations in its outer shell, which in turn affects precision."
"The anchor is already stable enough. Increasing or decreasing it further would either make it too rigid and slow progress, or cause it to snap outright."
"But what if we add something that can cleave open the path ahead?"
The three looked at one another, seeing the same brilliance reflected in each other's eyes.
"Then it can break through everything and point straight to the result!"