With the help of the mask, Bai Luan regained his composure.
The first thing he did was to soothe Ark, who was on the verge of bursting out, back into dormancy.
Now was not the time.
Ark's path was still being woven; appearing now would only reveal an incomplete form.
The later Ark emerged, the more perfect his path would be, and the closer his power would be to perfection.
Bai Luan knew that the path Ark was currently weaving was very special, and its concept and form of power, if exposed too early, could very likely attract unnecessary attention or even interference.
Before Ark possessed enough power to face any challenge, developing in secrecy was the best strategy.
The most suitable time for Ark to manifest was after he had mastered the ability to calmly protect himself, even in the extreme scenario of being besieged by all the Aeons.
Although the probability of such an extreme situation occurring was extremely low, preparing for the worst-case scenario was not a bad thing.
Currently, many factions were trying in their own ways to delay or prevent the arrival of the Finality.
The universe needed a path strong and unique enough to become a key force against the Finality.
Ark, your mission is long and arduous. For now, continue to accumulate power.
After soothing the restless nascent Aeon, and with the absolute rationality provided by the mask, Bai Luan calmly watched the entire PV.
From this PV, he extracted the following important pieces of information:
1. He owed Ms. Black Swan a sincere apology.
2. Unless he was mentally prepared for his intervention to lead the entire universe to Finality, or to trigger a universe-wide disaster, he should not easily interfere with the script guided by Elio.
3. The PV's narration seemed to subtly hint that Herta still faced the risk of falling at some point in the future.
4. Each of the Lord Ravagers was not to be underestimated.
『I told you you couldn't hold it in』
"It would be a miracle if I could hold it in!"
Even in a state of absolute rationality, Bai Luan couldn't help but roll his eyes at the system.
If it weren't for the cyber mask forcibly maintaining his calm, at that moment, he might have disregarded everything, taking the immature Ark, and directly searched the entire universe for traces of the iron tomb.
But that would undoubtedly be impulsive and foolish.
Once Ark formally manifested, he would no longer be able to accumulate strength and perfect his path in a relatively safe and secret environment as he could now.
Whether an incomplete Ark could survive a potential siege by multiple Aeons was a complete unknown.
If he lost Ark, his crucial trump card, then in the future, when facing Aeon-level threats, he would fall into an unprecedented state of helplessness.
If a crisis similar to the iron tomb were to arise again, he would not be able to guarantee Herta's safety.
The most rational choice at present was still to let Ark continue to accumulate strength.
At the same time, in response to various situations that might arise in the future, he had to start making more and deeper arrangements... To do so, he needed to know what happened to Amphoreus.
"System?"
『I knew you'd ask that』
『Go look, what you need has been given to you』
"Thanks."
『We're bros, no need to be polite』
The system's down-to-earth reply brought a faint smile to Bai Luan's face.
He said no more and began to focus intently on analyzing the detailed information about Amphoreus provided by the system.
Under the extreme calm provided by the mask, Bai Luan, as if reading an objective experimental report, finished viewing the full picture of the Amphoreus... So, the first slice of the Genius Society attempted to forcibly elbow Nous to death at the cost of sacrificing the entire universe?
The birth process of the iron tomb was achieved by tormenting the residents of Amphoreus in such a way?
Lygus... I think you're also due for an elbow.
Soon, with the aid of the cyber mask, Bai Luan returned to a purely objective analysis mode.
It seemed that the problem of the iron tomb itself could be resolved without too much intervention from him.
The Golden Lineage and the members of the Astral Express possessed enough power to resolve this threat.
In that case, what he should consider most was not how to kill the iron tomb, but rather how to optimize the outcome.
For example, how to rescue Cyrene from the karmic cycle, elevate the data life of Amphoreus into true life, and reduce the casualties of the Anti-iron tomb Galactic Allied Forces.
Although it was only briefly mentioned in the game, the spaceships destroyed by a single shot from the iron tomb here represented countless lives.
The latter two points were manageable and within his power to resolve, but Cyrene was anchored in the past, forming a karmic closed loop. To save her, he would likely need to borrow Ark's power.
Hopefully, by then, Ark would be able to... Before his thoughts had fully settled, Ark's response came through.
He would figure out everything needed and assured him not to worry.
Feeling Ark's swift and certain response, Bai Luan couldn't help but smile.
Heh... Everyone around me really is a reliable bunch.
In that case, he couldn't afford to be idle either.
Indeed, he should personally visit Penacony soon, find Black Swan, and obtain the specific coordinates of Amphoreus from her.
Only the Garden of Recollection knew the coordinates of Amphoreus.
So, what kind of gift would he need to prepare to exchange for these crucial coordinates from Black Swan? ...He hoped the memories he had accumulated on his journey would be enough to qualify for this information.
Finally, the problem came to the most critical point—Herta.
After fully understanding the Amphoreus storyline, one could only say that Ms. Herta was truly worthy of her great name.
Although, from the known plot, the final outcome of Amphoreus was much better than the two endings proposed in the Myriad Celestia PV.
However, this was far from enough. In the unknown future, Herta might still face considerable risks.
It was hard to say whether the mechanical brain would again think of sacrificing Herta to achieve some purpose.
I really... should find a way to add a few more layers of insurance for Herta.
Trying to persuade Herta not to do what she wanted to do was inherently meaningless and destined to fail.
If she could be easily persuaded, then she wouldn't be the unique Herta, dedicated to exploration and problem-solving.
As Herta's assistant, Bai Luan knew Herta's personality too well.
Therefore, he would not make futile attempts at dissuasion.
He would only, from his position as an assistant, prepare everything she might need before she made any decision.
Those things she clearly knew, and those she had not yet noticed but might be crucial.
Having made up his mind, he rose from the hospital bed.
Compared to how to deal with the 1 hit sentence, he now had more important and urgent matters to complete.
It seemed he needed to work a little overtime.
He had to tailor some truly useful self-defense curios for Herta.
Bai Luan raised his hand, gently removed the mask that maintained his absolute rationality from his face, and put it away.
At this moment, his heart had already returned to peace and determination, no longer needing external objects to force calm.
He pushed open the ward door and saw Lars waiting outside.
"Station Master, you..."
Lars looked at Bai Luan, keenly noticing that his Station Master seemed to have changed somewhat.
He appeared more composed and serious than when he had peeked at him before, as if he had made some kind of decision.
Bai Luan smiled at him, the smile still gentle, but with an added, undeniable resolve:
"I have some important matters to attend to. For issues with the research project, go find Jarvis first."
Without much explanation, after leaving this remark, Bai Luan left directly.
He went straight into a laboratory, then the door closed tightly, temporarily isolating him from the outside world.
The curio smith was about to start forging some curios...