Screwllum had actually assumed that after the events of Amphoreus, any further contact between himself and Zandar would be a rare thing.
At the very least, not anytime soon.
But as fate would have it, no one could have predicted that because of Bai Ming, he would end up connecting with Zandar multiple times.
Especially considering the fellow had previously pulled that "I'm leaving my legacy to you" act, telling Screwllum he'd left something behind in Nanook's homeland.
Yet here they were, back in touch after hardly any time at all.
It was a good thing Screwllum was an Intellitron with a logic and sense of humor distinct from average humans. Anyone else might have burst out laughing by now.
Fortunately, Zandar wasn't exactly a typical human himself these days, so he didn't seem to care. If there was business to attend to, he simply knocked on the door.
Screwllum, however, was weighing whether a collaboration was truly necessary.
Judging by the "Cifera" persona Madam Bai Ming had recently adopted, the Equation in question could indeed have been birthed from the code of Amphoreus.
But looking at its current performance?
To claim there was still some direct link between the two felt a bit like a fairy tale.
Screwllum understood Zandar's curiosity, but collaborating with him was a different matter entirely.
There were plenty of factions, like the IPC or Screwllum himself, who had moved quickly to secure the scattered Originium.
Bai Ming had been tossing them across the cosmos like they were worthless, as if she were intent on bleeding herself dry.
It was a sight that made onlookers break into a cold sweat.
Aside from Screwllum, who was in the know, the other powers soon discovered that the so-called "Secret of the Aeons" was not so easily unraveled.
Forget analysis; even reading or displaying the data was an impossible task.
Countless pieces of top-tier equipment were reduced to scrap in laboratories across the stars, yielding nothing but a fleeting glimpse of an equation so complex it might as well have been a divine script.
Yet, it was that single, tantalizing glance that did it.
The more learned a person was, the more they realized the unfathomable mystery of the equation—and the more fanatical they became.
This was a secret pertaining to the Aeons. Even if one couldn't fully comprehend it, merely witnessing a fraction of its grandeur was an achievement of a lifetime, wasn't it?
Initially, when some mediocre research institutes leaked the news, the denizens of the galaxy didn't pay much mind.
To most people without the proper resources, the "Originium" they picked up were just pretty rocks. They felt nothing from them—nothing that screamed "Creation of an Aeon."
But as the reports flooded in and people began to believe there truly was something inside, the entire interstellar network caught fire.
As for the Interastral Peace Corporation, their first instinct had been to forcibly seize all the stones.
However, the ribbon of light stretching across the galaxy showed no signs of fading. It continued to rain down new Originium.
An internal IPC task force ran the numbers. Forget the territories beyond their reach; the number of stones falling within their own borders was already astronomical.
Furthermore, aside from the encrypted data, these stones looked exactly like ordinary crystals. They were so mundane that sensors easily lumped them in with common ores.
The IPC tried everything, yet they couldn't develop a device to accurately track them.
It was only then that the Corporation realized: it wasn't that the stones lacked power, but that they were cloaked in a power on the level of an Aeon.
Mortals simply couldn't perceive it.
Realizing they couldn't stop the phenomenon, the IPC eventually let the matter drop. If even the Intelligentsia Guild's equipment couldn't read the stones, then common civilian tech stood no chance.
There was nothing to worry about.
--+--
Meanwhile, the "culprit" behind it all...
Aha had realized what Bai Ming was doing, but instead of stopping her, THEY lent a hand, fueling the fire to drop even more stones.
That was why the brilliant river of light had yet to dissipate.
Bai Ming had intended to wrap things up, but with Aha adding fuel to the flames, that streak of light would likely hang in the sky for another system day or two before vanishing.
Back on the Xianzhou Fanghu, 'Cipher' looked down at her current body.
She was still maintaining her role, but that massive "Divine Body" Aha had cobbled together hadn't gone to waste. 'Cipher' had kneaded it down, merging it with her own Saint Graph.
At its core, it was just a massive manifestation of energy, not unlike the composition of a Saint Graph. With her current abilities, fusing the two was a simple task.
Still, it was an Aeon-body hand-crafted by Aha just for show. Compared to a true Aeon, this body was a total amateur—all brawn and no Path.
But if used in the world below the Aeons? It was the ultimate "brute force" powerhouse.
One could think of it as a physical shell for ascension. If Bai Ming chose to fully merge with it, she could wield significantly more of Elation's power, even if she didn't yet grasp the Path's true essence.
The only problem was...
This divine body was stuffed to the brim with the power of Elation.
That aura of Joy was practically leaking out of her pores. Even her Saint Graph piece was beginning to transform, displaying the mark of the Path of Elation.
'Cipher' might find Aha annoying, but the strength of this body was the real deal.
She could have followed Aha's lead and fully merged with the shell THEY provided. By borrowing the power of Elation, she could have possessed a body rivaling an Aeon.
She could have even used it to accelerate her understanding of the Path.
But!
Did Aha ever have good intentions?
If you actually trusted that guy and played along with THEIR "bright ideas," you'd eventually be pranked so hard your own mother wouldn't recognize you.
Besides, an Aeon's power comes from their Path. While Path-power seems infinite to mortals, to an Aeon, it has its limits.
A Path is like a giant tub of water with a steady intake. An Aeon can use that water however they please.
Now, Aha was trying to drag her up there to share that tub. Adding more people doesn't make the tub bigger; the volume stays the same.
If she wanted to use it, THEY might not let her, and if THEY decided to gulp it all down at once, she'd be left high and dry.
Not to mention, Aha founded the Path of Elation. If it ever came down to a tug-of-war, 'Cipher' didn't think for a second she could beat THEM.
So, after thinking it over, she wasn't blinded by this sudden windfall of power.
No matter how sweet Aha's words were, she treated herself as nothing more than a high-tier Emanator.
This "Second Aeon" talk was just Aha trying to put her on a pedestal.
'Cipher' had no intention of merging with that body fully; she didn't even want to use it ostentatiously.
While she could call on Aha for backup if things got hairy, it was hard to say if the trouble wasn't caused by Aha in the first place.
Thinking about how she'd been forced into the spotlight today made her want to kick that mask right off THEIR face.
One day, when she truly mastered a Path and became an Aeon, she'd definitely pin a big red nose right on His face.
"I'm so hurt~ My dear sister, why have you tucked away the welcoming gift Aha prepared for you?"
Aha hadn't left.
Or rather, for the current 'Cipher' who shared the Path of Elation, they could call each other at any time, regardless of distance.
"This is a gift I meticulously prepared for your ascension! With this body, you could go over there, snatch the Stone Man's hammer, and give that Yin-Yang guy who loves elbowing you a good thwack on the head."
"..."
'Cipher's' mouth twitched at His words. Was she suicidal enough to go provoke those two?
"I only want to give your head a thwack. If you're done playing, take your power back."
"Haha~ No can do! I'm still waiting to see who becomes the final 'Aha.' How could I interrupt something so entertaining?"
Aha didn't mind mortals prying into the secrets of Elation.
Let them look. It would only be more lively if someone actually managed to climb up.
Compared to that, the only thing THEY truly cared about was "Bai Ming" as an individual.
If THEY could learn her secrets, THEY wouldn't care if THEY had to hand over the entire Path.
And compared to her past blurry guesses, now that she shared THEIR power and understood Elation better, 'Cipher' felt she could finally guess why Aha was playing such a high-stakes game.
Her gaze suddenly turned serious, and she turned to look directly at Aha's mask.
"In the end, you don't care what happens to the Path of Elation at all. What you've wanted from the start is my secret, isn't it?"
"Hahahaha! You caught me~"
"I knew it. You shared the Path with me and insisted on sharing power just so you could peer further into my secrets."
What is a Path to an Aeon? And conversely, what does an Aeon represent to a Path?
'Cipher' still didn't have a definitive answer. But she knew the connection was deeper—far deeper than anyone imagined.
Now, by being forced to share the power of an Aeon, her connection to Aha had deepened through the Path.
THEY were using this method to probe her greatest secret!
For hundreds of years, Aha had tried countless ways.
THEY had even granted her power early on just to observe her. But THEY could never discover what her secret was; THEY could only watch as she pulled out one surprising persona after another.
Until this time—this time, even Aha had been startled.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL