The image on the light screen faded, and a deep red option box appeared in its place:
[After shielding you from the gaze of Nous, The Erudition, Herta can now decide her own future without being watched... She will reach her desired conclusion through her own free will.]
[Herta has extended an invitation to you, inviting you to conduct an experiment together—an experiment that, whether successful or not, will surely make you both famous throughout the sea of stars. Everyone will be stunned by your audacious feat.]
[She reaches out a hand to you. You see a brilliant light shining from her crystal eyes, like a young girl full of curiosity for something new, mixed with anticipation and confidence for the future—]
[This is the first time you have seen such a lively side of Herta... She has shed all her coldness and indifference, leaving only surging passion and fervent hope.]
[She is full of confidence in her goal, and even more full of expectation... She wants to probe the essence of an Aeon with the body of a mortal, and you have given her an answer—now, it is time to put it all into practice.]
[Will you accept her invitation? The echo of the Path of Nihility that you drew upon from the higher narrative layer is about to fade, and the gaze of Nous, The Erudition, is about to return... You must make your choice quickly.]
[Please Choose—]
[1. Accept Herta's invitation.
You can feel the passion and anticipation nearly overflowing from Herta... Although creating an Aeon from scratch is an incredibly difficult thing to imagine, you are still willing to give it a try with her.
After all... you yourself have no reverence for the Aeons, do you?
Upon selecting this option, the special project "Creating an Aeon" will be unlocked in this simulation. Herta's favorability towards you will increase by 20.
You will form a partnership with her, and she will provide you with all possible assistance in revitalizing Jarilo-VI.]
[Creating an Aeon: You have reached a cooperative agreement with Herta. You will try every possible method to create a brand-new Aeon from scratch within Herta's Simulated Universe.
But even in the Simulated Universe, creating an Aeon is extremely difficult... After starting this project, you will choose to selectively invest your daily energy points into it.
The more energy invested, the more progress the project will gain. When the project completion reaches 100%, it will randomly trigger the event: "Dawn of Destruction" or "End of Hope".]
[2. Reject Herta's invitation.
You know exactly what the two simple words "Aeon" represent... Everything in this world is but an ant, only the Aeons have transcended, controlling the entire sea of stars from a higher plane.
To create an Aeon as a mortal—you do not deny the possibility, as Nous, The Erudition, was also an artificial product that ascended to Aeonhood—
But you know that was just a miracle that exhausted all probabilities in the sea of stars to break through the limit... You know that you and Herta trying to create an Aeon is nothing but a fool's dream.
You decide to reject Herta's invitation and focus all your energy on revitalizing Belobog, preparing to resist the future finale that will befall it.
Upon selecting this option, you will lose the opportunity to start the project "Creating an Aeon," but you will gain more energy points. Your research rate for technologies to revitalize Belobog will increase by 10%.]
"Create... an Aeon?"
Ron was momentarily stunned, looking at the options on the screen with some confusion.
He didn't understand why Herta would suddenly make this offer... To be blunt, he had no idea why the topic had suddenly jumped to something as unimaginable as "Creating an Aeon."
Although his research on the Stellaron had yielded an incredible answer, that answer had nothing to do with creating an Aeon.
It was merely that the Stellaron's existence was bizarre, as if it had been pre-programmed. What connection could that possibly have with creating an Aeon?
Ron was completely baffled, but he didn't hesitate when looking at the options.
He chose option one without a second thought, giving the second option no chance at all.
He could find out what the connection was by working with Herta; there was no need to rack his brains now. Ron had absolutely zero reverence for the Aeons. If Herta had a way to research and create one, he was more than happy to join in.
What's more, Herta would provide him with all possible assistance to revitalize Belobog...
This was an opportunity to build a good relationship with Herta, and Ron had no intention of letting it go.
Jarilo-VI and the Azure Star were clearly similar planets, with no special place in the vast sea of stars. Why were their current situations so vastly different?
Wasn't it because the Azure Star had produced an Emanator of Erudition like Herta? If Jarilo-VI could also gain Herta's support, Ron's plan to revitalize it would become infinitely easier.
Even the hidden crisis that might appear in the future would be easier to handle with Herta's help...
With these thoughts in mind, Ron watched as the deep red option box faded from the screen, replaced by new lines of text:
[In the final second before the turbid current around you dissipated, you gave a slight nod, choosing to accept Herta's invitation.]
[The deep black, nihilistic current dispersed at that moment, and the gaze of Nous, The Erudition, once again appeared in Herta's eyes.]
[The crimson gaze swept outwards, looking at you with a thirst for knowledge—Nous still hoped to get an answer from you. Its curiosity had not vanished due to the few seconds of shielding from the Path's echo.]
[But the moment the echo disappeared, Herta began to repeat everything you had just told her—she recounted the research records on the Stellaron in meticulous detail, clearly speaking to the celestial computer at the edge of the universe, to Nous, The Erudition...]
[The deep red light gradually dimmed at Herta's words, eventually disappearing completely—Nous had obtained the answer It needed from Herta's mouth, and so It unhesitatingly averted its gaze, not bothering to linger here for even half a second longer.]
[This was the cold attitude of Nous, The Erudition, which only desires to answer all things... but for you two, this was clearly a good thing.]
[You understand exactly why Herta immediately repeated all this knowledge—because Nous always has a way to get the information It wants from their minds. Herta did not want to expose her plan to create an Aeon, so she immediately relayed the information Nous was expecting.]
[This way, Nous would leave satisfied and would not, out of its thirst for knowledge, go rummaging through their memories...]
[After all, were it not for the existence of an unknown truth, Nous would never waste its precious time searching the memories of others.]
[The gaze of Nous left the research vessel, and Herta departed along with it, leaving only a lifeless, offline Herta puppet in the corner of your laboratory—]
[She told you she was logging off for now and would be extensively debugging the Simulated Universe at the Herta Space Station to prepare for the "Creating an Aeon" project.]
[Once the project is successfully launched, she will log back into this puppet and ask you to come to the Herta Space Station to help her begin creating an Aeon...]
[However, before the project begins, you will receive a generous gift from Herta—she will establish a resource supply agreement with you to provide all the resources Jarilo-VI needs.]
[You can communicate any resource needs to the Herta Space Station. Because of this supply agreement, the corresponding department will prepare the supplies for Jarilo-VI and send them to Belobog via interstellar express.]
Reading the text on the screen, Ron nodded in satisfaction.
Herta was truly magnanimous... An Emanator of Erudition who could constantly fleece the Interastral Peace Corporation should possess such boldness.
Ron had many plans for transforming Jarilo-VI and revitalizing Belobog, but they had all been put on hold due to a lack of resources. He had been forced to focus on researching the Stellaron, hoping to use its infinite energy to drive a civilizational upgrade...
But even then, Jarilo-VI would have numerous shortcomings that were difficult to address. After all, building an interstellar civilization required more than just endless energy.
The technology to guide the civilization forward, the energy to power its progress, and the solid industrial foundation needed for its construction—these three were indispensable...
And now, Herta's generous gift had perfectly filled his biggest gap. This resource supply agreement would provide Ron with endless materials. With the Herta Space Station backed by the Interastral Peace Corporation, Ron wouldn't have to worry about material shortages at all.
Relying on these materials and the technology tree Ron was slowly unlocking, the people of Belobog could easily build factory after factory, producing all sorts of light and heavy industrial products, creating a solid industrial base...
Perhaps... after unlocking a few more essential technologies, it would be time to start pushing Belobog's great leap into the interstellar age.
Ron thought this over and made a simple decision in his heart.
He tapped the light screen before him, proceeding with the simulation according to his plan.
The text on the screen faded, and new lines appeared:
[Because you are preparing to push Belobog into the interstellar age, you immediately begin your preparations.]
[Relying on the resource supply agreement with Herta, you requested a large batch of materials from the Herta Space Station, the vast majority of which were light and sturdy construction materials—]
[Jarilo-VI's environment is harsh, and the city of Belobog is old and crumbling. Since you have sufficient resources and technology, you have no desire to let Belobog continue to eke out a miserable existence in this hostile environment.]
[You will make humanity the true master of this desperate, frigid world.]
[While the Herta Space Station prepares the materials, you immediately begin researching how to utilize the infinite Imaginary Energy of the Stellaron.]
[Because your understanding of the Stellaron has reached the deepest level, you were able to create a simple Stellaron power generator within just one week, while still being able to fully contain it.]
[Although this converts Imaginary Energy into inferior electrical energy, and the energy consumption in the generation process is extremely high, the Stellaron's infinite power and the superconducting materials you researched long ago give this generator immense practical value.]
[You install it as the heart of Belobog, directly beneath Alexandra Square. Using simple superconducting pathways, it provides a continuous power supply to the city's large-scale electrical facilities, drastically reducing Belobog's consumption of Geomarrow.]
[All factories, under your command, have cleared their production lines. They have been upgraded according to your requirements and blueprints. The new production equipment is warming up, ready to be put into operation at any moment.]
[The interstellar express has also arrived in Belobog early. The building materials brought by hundreds of ships have piled up to cover almost half the planet—everything is now ready.]
[It is time to start pushing Belobog into the interstellar era... But then again, there is so much to do. Where should you start?]