"So, tell me, when are we taking on Nous?"
Leon gave an OK gesture.
Laigu says: 111, kids, I also want to elbow-strike Nous, think I'll succeed?
Laigu before version 5.
I... Oh no, kids, I seem to be... not... stupid...
"You really have a way with words," Herta marveled at his shocking statement. "I don't want your life, you know."
"You're mistaken. No one can take my life."
Arrogance requires capital, and he happened to have it in spades.
"Where are you heading next?"
Herta, used to him by now, ignored his nonsense.
"Back to the Xianzhou Alliance. I need to get this kid settled."
"Isn't my space station good enough?" Herta had thought he brought the child for her to raise.
"Will you raise her personally?"
"I don't have time, but I can have Asta help you."
"That won't work."
With Herta, it might be fine. Life would certainly not be quiet, and she'd probably be loaded up with all sorts of scientific ninja tools.
But with Asta, forget it. That's no different from a normal life.
That's not what Luanpo wanted.
"She's a Galaxy Ranger, you get it? What's the point of becoming a researcher?"
"Oh." Herta was completely unconcerned.
"After making a quick stop at the Xianzhou Alliance, I'll probably continue looking for the Astral Express," Leon added after a moment's thought.
"Did you find Mikhail?"
Speaking of which, Herta didn't know the final outcome.
"He's dead. But judging from his last words, he didn't know where the Astral Express was either," Leon answered truthfully.
"Why are you so obsessed with the Astral Express?"
From Herta's perspective, his devotion to The Hunt far outweighed his commitment to The Trailblaze. Could it be he wanted to revive the Astral Express? That would be rather sentimental of Leon.
"I have my reasons," Leon said, the corner of his eye glancing at March 7th beside him.
"But the original reason I was looking for it has already been resolved."
He'd raise March 7th for a lifetime, okay? A dual-form, extra-large-cup unit, a must-have for the team.
Fast forward to: 'What if I never cared about your meta strength?'
If it weren't for Mikhail's dying wish, he probably wouldn't have chosen to look for the Astral Express again.
"Now, it's for another reason."
Herta responded with a long, drawn-out hum, then continued:
"If you're still looking, I can send you a copy of the Astral Express's past travel routes."
"In this day and age, you can't rely on the Nameless anymore."
"If you're serious about finding them, the only way is to retrace their steps, to walk their old pilgrimage route again. That's the best method available now."
Herta helped him again in a way she could.
Besides, was it better to be on bad terms with Leon than on good terms?
So what if Dr. Primitive died?
It had nothing to do with her; she wasn't the one who died.
Even if he hadn't died at Leon's hands, he was posturing so much he would have died at the hands of The Silent Lord sooner or later.
No matter what happened, she would definitely be on the same side as Leon.
They were both inheritors of Chadwick's will, not to mention she had many uses for him in the Simulated Universe in the future.
When The Silent Lord came looking for trouble, she could just have Leon deal with her.
What better security could there be?
Herta was a scholar.
And the pursuit of knowledge is a scholar's instinct.
Herta was not one to be content with the status quo.
Like many geniuses, she had spent her life searching for the hypothesis proposed by Genius Society #22, Ziccaro—the Knowledge Singularity.
Just as Zandar created the Astral Computer, bringing the Path of Erudition into existence and setting knowledge on a new course, every appearance of a Knowledge Singularity would cause the circle of knowledge to expand on a universal scale, constructing a completely new system in terms of methodology, tools, and cognition, permanently changing the definition of knowledge—and even shaking the thought processes of Nous itself.
Countless geniuses chased after the Knowledge Singularity, most of them disappearing into the fog at the circle's edge.
Even so, some club members still regarded it as their life's pursuit, not out of ambition, but simply because they were geniuses.
Herta was one of them.
Whether it was the Simulated Universe or her other research, these were all her attempts to break through to the Knowledge Singularity, to shatter the existing shackles of knowledge and cause the total volume of knowledge in the universe to leap forward once more.
Over so many Amber Eras, her research on the Knowledge Singularity had not been fruitless.
But every time she was on the verge of a breakthrough, something unexpected would happen, blocking her path.
It was the same no matter how many times she tried.
She wanted the total volume of universal knowledge to advance.
But someone else did not, and held a strongly opposing view.
These were two completely different philosophies, representing two extreme approaches to the answer of the Solitary Wave Algorithm.
The Solitary Wave Algorithm.
It was the reason Herta became Genius Society #83.
She solved this millennia-old problem and derived a constant from it.
When the universe's instability index exceeds this constant, the future tends toward chaotic uncertainty.
Conversely, when the instability index is below it, the universe falls into a predetermined end.
Herta was a proponent of the former.
She believed that only the unknown held infinite possibilities; the universe should not be a wind-up toy.
And the one obstructing her was clearly a proponent of the latter.
As for who this latter person was, Herta already had a few ideas.
"I can never repay Herta's kindness!" Leon raised his hands, weeping theatrically.
"Don't say things like you can never repay me."
Herta told him to cut the act. "In the future, there's someone I'll need you to stop. I hope you'll help me then."
"Are you finally planning to take on Nous?" Leon asked when they would be taking up arms.
"Something a bit simpler than that."
"I won't do anything that violates my flexible moral bottom line."
"Don't worry. I'm just asking you to stop them, not kill them," Herta nodded.
"How can I refuse such a ridiculous request? I'm in."
Leon immediately hit the auto-follow button, signaling her to call him when the big event started.
Receiving his reply, the corners of Herta's mouth lifted slightly.
Who was stopping her from breaking through to the Knowledge Singularity?
The answer was in plain sight—The Silent Lord, Polka Kakamond!
Looking at all the geniuses she had personally killed, they all shared one undeniable common trait.
They had touched the edge of the Knowledge Singularity.
One could even say they were just one step away from a true breakthrough.
Unfortunately, just before the moment of enlightenment that would have let them ascend, these geniuses were deliberately killed.
'I accept this challenge,' Herta thought to herself.
Member #4 and Member #83. The two geniuses had arrived at two equally correct, yet completely incompatible, philosophies.
Herta didn't see Polka as an obstacle, but as a challenge to herself.
She quite admired Polka Kakamond.
Did she know how incredibly difficult it was for her to find someone with whom she could sit and discuss the Dao?
Herta felt the two of them must have a lot of common ground.
Unfortunately, Polka Kakamond didn't seem to think so. She had no time to play games with a child.
'Just you wait. I'll definitely break through the Knowledge Singularity for you to see. I swear it on my name as a genius!'
Herta would prove her philosophy to her.
She wouldn't deny that, as fellow Emanators, her combat prowess was a whole tier below The Silent Lord's.
But just because she couldn't win didn't mean someone else couldn't.
Wasn't Leon right here?
Herta firmly believed that with her intellect, breaking through the Knowledge Singularity would be a piece of cake.
If Polka hadn't been plotting in the shadows, she would have succeeded long ago.
Of course, the past was the past, and now is now.
Times had changed; she couldn't keep living in the past.
Now that she had Leon, she had nothing to worry about.
She just needed him to hold Polka back, just as Polka had obstructed her.
Heehee, she was going to break through the Knowledge Singularity right in The Silent Lord's face!
"By the way, where's Ruan Mei?" Leon noticed someone was missing and asked.
Herta snapped back to reality. Hearing him use her partner's full name, she immediately shot him a glare:
"Why don't you have a nickname for her?"
"Don't try to stir things up, okay?" Leon shook his head.
Why the differential treatment? What was she lacking compared to Ruan Mei? Xianzhou people just have a thing for that gentle and beautiful type, don't they?
"I respect Herta, I just respect the 'big' Herta the most." He told her she wouldn't understand what it felt like to have a rabbit-head investment radar.
The Erudition warship is a trap at first glance, bros.
"Why?" Herta laughed, an exasperated laugh. "Is my original body not good-looking?"
"Young, beautiful... everyone who's seen me says Idrila was a step too late. I simply cannot find a second existence more perfect than myself."
"Some things are just above others."
Beauty is the kind of thing you glance at to satisfy the little head, and that's it.
The kind of internal conflict between logic and libido would never happen to Leon.
Because he only liked characters that could satisfy all aspects of his being.
Like Changyeyue.
"If you like Ruan Mei so much, you can tell her you're willing to be her research subject. I'm sure she'd be delighted." Herta scoffed, having nothing more to say on the matter.
"Do you have her contact info?"
"Hm? Are you really going?" Herta glared at him again. "Why not let me have the benefit? Don't let good things go to outsiders, isn't that one of your Xianzhou proverbs?"
"I'm kidding. I don't have that kind of special fetish."
But it was true he had a favorable impression of Ruan Mei. Characters with high stats naturally have an advantage in the eyes of a build reviewer.
"Besides, there's nothing about me worth researching."
Throughout his journey, the number of people who could unify his mind, body, and soul were few and far between.
"If you want to research an Emanator, why not just analyze yourself completely?"
Changyeyue was one, Robin was one, Ruan Mei was one, and Herta could barely be considered one.
And that was it.
Oh, right, there was also Cyrene, but that was still uncertain.
As for the 'big Herta' and the other medium-cups, he wished them good luck.
"Too lazy."
Emanators were just slightly more expensive, mass-produced cabbages.
Not every Emanator receives the favor of an Aeon.
She had audiences with Nous several times.
More times than Leon had seen Lan. Could she claim that Nous favored her based on that?
No. Having an audience with Nous wasn't difficult for a genius.
It was merely a matter of wanting to or not; the mechanical head wouldn't refuse anyone.
"By the way, if you're not in a hurry to get to the Xianzhou Alliance..." Herta thought of something and spoke again.
"Don't leave for a few days. Let me borrow this little girl and the Phantylia next to you for some research."
The atavism caused by Genesis Forest wasn't as hard to crack as the kind inflicted by Dr. Primitive himself.
By carefully studying the test subject Luanpo, Herta would have enough to find a cure.
She could also take this opportunity to study the Heliobus she'd always been interested in, and see if she could program it into the Simulated Universe as a summer intern.
How wonderful.
Leon didn't refuse.
He had originally planned to send Phantylia to the Zhuming to work, but it seemed she'd found a job ahead of schedule.
Congratulations, congratulations.
Next, Herta the genius took action.
She easily conquered this simple atavism.
She constructed the equation to reverse it and disseminated it all under the name of the Galaxy Rangers.
Although, at Luanpo's own strong request, she did not remove the memetic virus she carried.
However, Herta adapted it.
Using Punklorde technology, she removed all the harmful parts. Now, it was less a memetic virus and more a virtual reality game immersion.
After Phantylia was thoroughly studied by the powers that be, Leon didn't linger. The three of them set off for the Xianzhou.
...
The Xianzhou Luofu.
Just as Leon arrived, leading one big and one small pink-haired girl, and was about to step into the Luofu's territory, a familiar voice sounded in his ear.
[Weekly Superpower Has Refreshed]
Here it comes, the weekly blind box drawing time.
[「Right Hand Fellowship, Left Hand Kingmaker」]
[You are the Kingmaker, but I am no King.]
[This superpower has two parts that must be used in combination.]
[Obtain 'Fellowship' to become a fan of the common man, obtain 'Kingmaker' to upgrade to a die-hard loyalist.]
[Fellowship Ability Description: When someone is in any negative emotional state, say nothing. Silently take out a cigarette from the pack and offer it to them, causing them to enter a 'Reformed' state. After this process, people from any faction will over-rationalize their way into being won over to your side.]
[A smoke for one is a solo act; a smoke for the group is a Fellowship]
[Kingmaker Ability Description: After winning someone over, present them with a whole pack of 'Kingmaker' cigarettes. This will trigger the passive「I Shall Pledge Fealty to You」. After they perform an ancient Greek loyalty dance, you will gain a batch of die-hard followers.]
[Share the Fellowship, gather the will. Gift the Kingmaker, win the heart.]
Leon mentally assessed its tier ranking.
It seemed the conditions for using this superpower had quite a few prerequisites.
This was the first time he'd gotten one with such a tedious, step-by-step process.
Although the ability was powerful, it was too mechanically demanding.
Not a wheelchair build. Let's rank it as a large cup.
[Superpower Saved.]
[「That's a Typical XX Mindset」]
[This ability removes the completeness mechanic. Instead, good and bad keywords will refresh randomly each day, and the trigger probability will also be randomized. Just believe! Believing requires no reason!]
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
When Leon saw the words 'believe' and the famous quote for the saved ability, he screamed internally, 'You've got to be kidding me.'
The kind of probability-based ability that score-chasers love.
But for him, the appearance of the word 'probability' basically meant it was out of the running for a wheelchair build.
This was true probability, not the fake probability from before.
This time, although it was like the previous few abilities, with those, he could obtain a medium or item that guaranteed activation, or there was some advantageous condition where the probability was greatly increased.
If he felt lazy, he could just use an item to force it, but not this time.
This time, if he wanted to use it, he'd have to brave the 0.1% probability and grind it out. Succeed or die trying.
Although, on the plus side, it saved him the trouble of a cultivation process.
_____
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