(Dehya: To actually get 50 points, that's considered a high score no matter what.)
(Azar: How could... how could there be such a high score! Even that Doctor's score was only 3 points! This shouldn't be a score for IQ, should it?)
(Dehya: You are so strange, Grand Sage! Nahida was formed from a branch of the Irminsul. Your Akademiya worships the Irminsul so much, shouldn't you be happy that Nahida got a high score?)
(Azar: I... I just can't believe it! No matter how I think about it, her score is too high.)
(Nilou: Could it be related to Nahida being a clone of the Irminsul?)
(Alhaitham: It's also possible it's related to Nahida having already stepped onto the Path of Memory. But ultimately, the Rating Pistol's scoring criteria are too random. Without enough data, it's probably difficult for us to clearly define what Nahida's score of 50 represents.)
(Sangonomiya Kokomi: Perhaps, only Lord Takagi knows.)
"Lord Takagi, do you know why she got a score of 50?" Miss Asta asked curiously.
A score of 50 is already a considerably high score. Whether it represents Nahida's combat power, intelligence, or something else, it is certain that Nahida's potential is very high. Therefore, Miss Asta couldn't help but look at Nahida with higher regard.
"This might be related to her own characteristics; in her world, she is a clone of the World Tree. As for the World Tree... you can think of it as a giant computer that records information about the entire world," Takagi explained.
"A clone of a giant computer? Artificial intelligence?" Miss Asta became even more curious after hearing Takagi's words.
"Not exactly. Also, she is quite important in that realm. Do not let the researchers target her. Even Ms. Herta, after learning about her situation, wanted to target Nahida. Unless Nahida herself is willing to offer herself for Ms. Herta to test or something," Takagi said.
"Hehehe, I understand." Miss Asta rubbed the back of her head and smiled.
Takagi turned his head back to look at Nahida: "The Rating Pistol had some reservations when scoring you; it seems you haven't truly reached the standard for the Rating Pistol to give you 50 points yet. Your identity as a clone of the World Tree can be considered your hidden power. When you master this hidden power, you will truly reach the 50-point standard. Perhaps at that time, you will also be able to resolve the things you want to resolve."
Nahida: "Is that how it is... I understand. Thank you, Lord Takagi."
Although Takagi did not explain what the Rating Pistol was scoring her on, she heard recognition for herself from Takagi's words. This made Nahida, who had always doubted herself, gain a bit more confidence.
On the other hand, the Grand Sage, far away in Sumeru, after hearing Takagi's words to Nahida—which seemed to hide approval and recognition—became even more anxious. It's just a pity that at this moment, he could do nothing. He could only watch the current situation and worry.
"We've finished visiting here. Next, let's go to Herta's Office to experience the Simulated Universe. After being away for so long, they should have finished maintaining the Simulated Universe by now," Takagi said.
"Don't worry, Lord Takagi. In order to get more information about the Aeons from you, Ms. Herta, Ms. Ruan Mei, Mr. Screwllum, and Mr. Stephen have been working overtime to maintain the Simulated Universe. Incidentally, to prevent you from overloading the Simulated Universe's data again, they have also added many protective programs," Miss Asta said with a smile while leading the way for Takagi and the others.
"Is that so? Then they must have worked hard," Takagi smiled.
"Speaking of which, Lord Takagi..." Miss Asta approached Takagi. She glanced at Nahida and the others following behind her and Takagi, and asked in a low voice near Takagi's ear, "Earlier, I heard them talking about stepping onto a Path or something. Do you have a way to make them step onto a Path?"
Takagi stroked his chin and smiled. "This can be considered my special ability. Those influenced by me can relatively easily step onto a Path. Right, don't tell Ms. Herta and the others about this, lest they find another point to study me."
Miss Asta looked at Takagi's face with admiration and said, "Lord Takagi is indeed quite special. However, although I can promise not to tell Ms. Herta, with her intelligence, she will probably figure it out quickly, right?" After speaking, Miss Asta also glanced at La Signora, The Doctor, and the others.
Takagi also understood that if La Signora, The Doctor, and the others truly stepped onto a Path in the Space Station, Ms. Herta would most likely know and might even think of him.
"Let's keep it a secret for as long as possible," Takagi waved his hand and said casually.
Miss Asta nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and led everyone to the entrance of Herta's Office.
"Ms. Herta's Office has AI robots, so you don't need me. I need to go back to work now. But if you need anything, Lord Takagi, you can contact me anytime." Miss Asta stopped at the door and shook the phone in her hand.
"No problem, I'll give you my number." Takagi said, and he and Miss Asta exchanged numbers.
Afterward, Miss Asta walked to her workstation, feeling satisfied. Along the way, Takagi and the others could still hear Miss Asta cheering things like "I finally got Lord Takagi's number."
Takagi smiled and led everyone into Herta's Office. As soon as they stepped through the door, everyone's attention was drawn to the glowing device at the back of the office.
"What is that? It seems to possess quite powerful energy," Cloud Retainer asked curiously.
"That is the entrance to the Simulated Universe," a floating robot flew over and explained.
"A machine that can communicate! Is this the AI robot that Miss Asta mentioned earlier?" Nahida said curiously.
"That's right, I am an auxiliary robot developed by Ms. Herta. I am specifically responsible for assisting Lord Takagi and the people he brings with the Simulated Universe experience when Ms. Herta is not present," the AI robot said.
"But isn't there someone standing there? That should be Ms. Herta," La Signora looked at the "person" standing beside the light sphere and said. There were many places in the Herta Space Station with exhibition projections of Herta. Therefore, La Signora already knew what Herta looked like.
"That is Herta's puppet. Her true self usually doesn't come to this Herta Space Station. When there are things that need to be handled in the Herta Space Station, she will connect her consciousness to those puppets and control their movements," Takagi explained.
Cloud Retainer: "It's actually a puppet?"
Takagi nodded and said, "Although it is a puppet, the power of this puppet is very strong. After Herta goes online with the puppet, she can make the puppet display strength even greater than anyone else in this Herta Space Station. If you don't want anything to happen to you, you must not think about studying the puppet she created while Herta is not online."
After speaking, Takagi glanced at The Doctor intentionally or unintentionally. From just now, The Doctor has been acting particularly strangely. Clearly, the Rating Pistol incident had a greater impact on him than he let on. Takagi was really worried that this guy might be crazy enough to want to study Herta's puppet so that he could further study and modify Scaramouche's body later.
(Yae Miko: A puppet, you say? That reminds me of an old acquaintance... or perhaps, three of them?)
(Yae Miko: As for the difference, I suppose the two puppets created by the person I know both have a certain degree of self-awareness.)
(Yae Miko: I'm suddenly wondering, if that old acquaintance of mine were to go to the Herta Space Station, would she be able to learn some methods for making puppets from Ms. Herta?)
(Yae Miko: Otherwise, one puppet wouldn't have gone mad, and the other wouldn't be too stubborn.)
(Ei: You've said too much, Yae Miko.)
(Raiden Shogun: ...)
(Scaramouche: ...)
(Kujou Sara: Yae Miko, what exactly are you saying?)
(Yae Miko: Hehe, I was just mentioning a possibility. Lord Takagi, did you see my message? Do you think Herta would guide my old acquaintance?)
(Takagi: That depends on whether your old acquaintance can pique Herta's interest herself.)
(Takagi: However, if you ask me, although the technique your old acquaintance uses to make puppets is not bad, that is only considering it from Teyvat's perspective.)
(Takagi: If viewed from the perspective of the Universe, from Herta's perspective, those two puppets are far inferior.)
(Yae Miko: So they are not as good as Herta's puppet, huh? I wonder what my old acquaintance would think knowing this news, hehe.)
(Ei: ...)
(Yae Miko: Speaking of which, Lord Takagi really does know about my old acquaintance and the two puppets.)
(Takagi: I just happened to know!)
....
"Lord Takagi, since this is Herta's office, does that mean those projection images hold unusual significance for Ms. Herta?" Cloud Retainer looked at the row of projection images along the edge of the corridor and asked.
"Indeed, those are members who belong to the 'Genius Society' along with Herta," Takagi nodded.
"Genius Society? They must all be people with extremely high intelligence," Lisa said curiously.
"Naturally. If you were to use the Rating Pistol to score the members of the Genius Society, perhaps the only score the Rating Pistol could give would be the words 'Cannot Evaluate.' This applies whether evaluating from the perspective of strength or intelligence," Takagi said.
"Cannot Evaluate... What kind of intelligence and talent must they possess for the Rating Pistol to give such an evaluation? And what achievements have they made with such intelligence and talent? Among these people, not all of them should have participated in creating the Simulated Universe you mentioned, Lord Takagi," The Doctor had a serious expression, looking at Takagi with a look of inquiry.
"Naturally, not all of these people participated in the development of the Simulated Universe. They each have their own achievements. Furthermore, the achievements of Screwllum and Herta, who are involved in these images, include not only the development of the Simulated Universe, but also other quite remarkable achievements."
As Takagi spoke, he had already walked in front of Herta's projection image. As he lightly touched Herta's image with his finger, a pre-recorded voice immediately played.
[This is Ms. Herta, member #83 of the Genius Society. In her youth, she solved the solitary wave algorithm problem and the model hypothesis of the Spark.]
[In her youth, she discovered the transformation method for the Sigma baryon, and in her middle age, she proposed the Herta Sequence and published a paper on de-aging.]
(Baizhu: Hmm?! A paper on de-aging! Is this Ms. Herta doing research in this area?)
(Venti: De-aging... Can such a thing really be done?)
[...In her old age, she returned to youth, and in her youth, she once again solved the mystery of the Imaginary Leakage phenomenon, captured and sealed a Stellaron from beyond the heavens... She has twice caught the gaze of an Aeon...]
(Baizhu: She... she really returned to youth and succeeded!? Doesn't that mean she has gained eternal life?!)
(Madame Ping: The introductory voice includes her experience from youth to old age and back to youth again, so it seems she must have returned to youth.)
(Neuvillette: Even gods cannot do something like returning to youth.)
(Dehya: I don't understand the Herta Sequence and Sigma baryon paper stuff mentioned earlier, but I understood returning to youth. This is something the scholars of the Akademiya could never achieve. Indeed, there is a difference between the scholars of the Akademiya and true geniuses.)
(Kaveh: Although it's a bit frustrating, a subject like returning to youth is indeed incredibly difficult.)
(Barbara: What's even more amazing is that she twice caught the gaze of an Aeon; she caught the gaze of an Aeon through her own ability.)
(Jean: Yes, we all have to rely on Takagi's power to catch the gaze of an Aeon, but Ms. Herta can do it on her own.)
(Lumine: Perhaps, this is the reason Herta can be called a true genius.)
(Morax: Herta met an Aeon through her own power, which means... is she an Emanator?)
(Neuvillette: An Emanator? Does the Geo Archon know what an Emanator represents? Can you become an Emanator by meeting an Aeon through your own power?)
(Morax: As for the specifics about Emanators, let's wait for Takagi to explain it to you.)
"Although I don't understand the significance of achievements like the Herta Sequence and the Sigma baryon paper, being able to return to youth and twice catch the gaze of an Aeon... This Ms. Herta is indeed quite remarkable," Nahida said with emotion. Having met the Aeon of Memory, she knew the greatness of an Aeon. To be able to make such an Aeon cast their gaze upon her, Herta must have sufficient merit; it would certainly be impossible otherwise.
And Lord Takagi can use his power to make it easier for us to meet an Aeon... Perhaps Lord Takagi's identity is more complex than we imagined. Nahida looked up at Takagi, thinking to herself.
"De-aging, this is indeed a remarkable achievement. However, if it's merely de-aging and not obtaining eternal life, then it can't really be called a Genius Society achievement. As for the Herta Sequence and the like, with our current perspective, we cannot understand them. Indeed, to know just how much of a genius Herta is, do we still need to start with the Simulated Universe?" The Doctor muttered to himself, looking up at the place similar to the entrance of the Simulated Universe not far away.
(Kaveh: Although I don't entirely agree with what The Doctor said, we can't feel the de-aging, and we don't understand achievements like the Herta Sequence. To understand the achievements of a universe-level genius like Herta, do we indeed need to start with the more direct Simulated Universe?)
(Alhaitham: We did not follow Takagi to the Herta Space Station. Even if La Signora, Lisa, and others experienced the Simulated Universe, we may not necessarily get the same experience as them and truly know the greatness of the Simulated Universe.)
(Tighnari: Indeed, I still hope Lord Takagi can build an Astral Express connecting Sumeru and the Herta Space Station.)
(Faruzan: This must be difficult. Not to mention that Sumeru's rulers did not arrive at the Space Station with Takagi, unable to sign for travel jumps like Acting Grand Master Jean and Bronya. Even if Sumeru's rulers were truly involved in this trip, given the advanced nature of the Herta Space Station, would it really be willing to open up the Space Station for the people of Sumeru to travel and learn?)