---o---
Even though Celenova's side now had another Lord of Annihilation, Herta's group remained unfazed.
In fact, Herta looked over the inhuman Asat Pramad with great interest, then pulled a phone from her pocket and snapped a picture with a loud click.
"It's not every day I get to meet another Lord of Annihilation. I have to get a good picture to add to my archives."
"Heh heh, to have captured the attention of the renowned Lady Herta is truly humbling. Since fate has brought us together today, why don't we find a place to sit down and have a chat?"
Herta put her phone away and scoffed at Asat Pramad.
"You don't seriously think you can just leave because you have one more Lord of Annihilation, do you? Why don't we take a guess? How long will it take for that Divine Foresight General to deal with your fleet? And in that time, do you think we can hold you here until he gets back?"
Seeing Herta's confidence, Celenova spoke in an icy tone, "Lady Herta, a mind as brilliant as yours should know that even with four Emanators, it would take some time to deal with us. And in that time, who can guarantee... that the one behind us won't catch up and obliterate us all right here?"
That shut Herta up. Of all the Emanators present, she and Screwllum understood the Ender Dragon the best.
The only reason they could stand here and trade threats was because the Ender Dragon had completely ignored them, merely continuing its leisurely flight.
If it were to truly strike, not a single person present would survive for a second.
Just as both sides fell silent, waiting for someone to make the next move, Jing Yuan suddenly returned. Despite having faced an entire army alone, he didn't have a single speck of dust on the corner of his robes.
Jing Yuan rejoined the group. He was a little surprised to see Herta and Screwllum had arrived, but he gave them a nod in greeting before turning his cold, hard gaze on Celenova and Asat Pramad.
"Get lost. Consider half of your fleet the price for your little scheme."
Celenova's face flushed with anger. Just as she was about to lash out, Asat Pramad stopped her, giving her a slight shake of his head.
"Let's go."
Only then did Celenova let out a sharp huff and turn to leave with Asat Pramad.
As the two Lords of Annihilation took what remained of their fleet and departed on a different route, a slightly perplexed Feixiao looked at Jing Yuan.
"You're just letting them go like that?"
A trace of helplessness crossed Jing Yuan's face as he threw up his hands. "No choice. Who's to say the Ender Dragon won't catch up? Besides, they're right. We couldn't have taken them down quickly. However, The Hunt's keen arrow is already aimed at them. Escaping won't be so easy."
"The Ender Dragon is here?"
Feixiao turned to look in one direction. Though it was pitch black, she could sense a powerful force approaching. It wouldn't be long before it reached them.
"Alright, let's retreat for now."
The four of them didn't dare to linger and turned to catch up with their retreating main force.
---o---
A dozen or so minutes later, the Astral Express, which had been quiet since Fu Zhu's group of four had departed, was bustling with activity once more.
"Thank you all for coming."
Himeko was deeply moved to see Jing Yuan, Feixiao, Herta, and Screwllum arrive as promised.
Jing Yuan smiled and waved his hand. "You're too kind, Ms. Himeko. The Astral Express is an important ally of the Xianzhou Alliance. Naturally, we couldn't ignore your request for help."
Himeko nodded and then looked toward Herta, who simply shrugged.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not here to help. I'm here to collect a debt!"
"Collect a debt?" Himeko's expression was one of slight bewilderment. She had no idea when the Astral Express had incurred a debt.
Herta, slightly annoyed, turned her head to look at Welt and Sunday.
"When these two came to find me, they interrupted my plan to have an audience with Nous. So, I'm here to collect. Once I've rescued Fu Zhu and the others from Amphoreus, I'm going to make him help me meet Nous!"
Screwllum, standing beside her, chuckled and explained to Himeko, "Going by the descriptions of human personality, Lady Herta's current remarks are quite similar to what you call 'tsundere.' Therefore, Ms. Himeko, you need not pay it any mind."
"Who… Who's a tsundere!" Herta glared fiercely at Screwllum, like a cat whose fur had been ruffled.
Himeko gave a slightly strained laugh and quickly changed the subject, afraid that if they continued down this path, Herta might actually explode.
"The current situation is that we lost contact with Fu Zhu and the others after they entered Amphoreus. Fu Zhu returned once midway through and told us that after entering Amphoreus, he had traveled to the past, while Xing and Dan Heng are in the 'present.'"
Hearing this, Herta frowned with a hint of confusion.
"Why did only Fu Zhu go back to the past?"
Himeko shook her head with some regret. "On that point, we have no way of knowing. Lady Herta, Mr. Screwllum, could I ask you two to help us contact Xing and Dan Heng? I want to confirm their situation."
"We can give it a try."
---o---
Half a system hour later, in a space at the outermost edge of Amphoreus.
An Intellitron was continuously manipulating the Scepter System, trying to bypass Fu Zhu's commands and grant himself renewed access to Amphoreus.
But just as he was busy at work, he heard two sets of footsteps behind him.
"So this is Amphoreus? Looks pretty run-down, huh? You over there, the robot head, turn around."
Hearing the voice, the Intellitron had no choice but to stop what he was doing. He turned around and, although he saw two unfamiliar faces, the Scepter System immediately provided him with their identities.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from two esteemed geniuses to Amphoreus?"
Seeing that this Intellitron recognized them at a glance, Herta raised an eyebrow.
"Your tone suggests you're connected to this Amphoreus. Cut the crap and let us in. I don't want to waste my time on you."
"And what if I say no?"
The Intellitron straightened up, his hands behind his back as he stared coolly at the two of them.
He might not be a match for the mysterious Fu Zhu, but could he not handle these two junior members of the Genius Society?
"No?" Herta's eyes narrowed into a dangerous arc.
"I'm afraid you don't have that ability."
The Intellitron chuckled, completely unbothered by Herta's threat.
"Indeed, if you two were to attack together, I might not be your match. However, you two are not the only ones present who have bathed in the light of Erudition. Our destruction is mutually assured."
"Mutually assured?"
Herta couldn't help it; she let out a snort of laughter. Then, she looked pointedly at the Intellitron.
"If you're really as powerful as you claim… then how did someone who shouldn't have been able to enter Amphoreus get in?"