The Astral Express departed, carrying the prototype weapons that Bai Ming had so graciously "sponsored."
But truth be told, Himeko didn't think for a second that they could actually break this Drytron Alpha Thuban.
In fact, Himeko couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of scenario they'd have to encounter to force this machine to unleash its full potential.
As for Bai Ming, after seeing off the Astral Express, she settled back into a quiet routine.
Over at Herta's place, the researcher was so consumed by her study of the Elation Equation that she'd completely lost track of the outside world.
Screwllum, while collaborating on the research, was also busy designing a device capable of storing Path Equations.
Ruan Mei, meanwhile, was preparing for her upcoming experiments on artificial Scions of Long.
Since all three were preoccupied with their own projects, they basically had no time to bother with Bai Ming. Even the incident in the Simulated Universe didn't get much attention once they knew she had handled it.
With nothing else on her plate for the moment, Bai Ming threw herself entirely into her own research.
Thanks to that previous "capture" of the simulated Aha and the influence of that utterly absurd fan-content website, Bai Ming's accumulation of Mood Points was going smoothly.
The efficiency, which had dipped slightly before, had begun to climb back up over the past few days.
And so, after some time had passed...
The ten pulls Bai Ming had been longing for were finally ready!
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[Roleplay System]
[Name: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: ∞]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta, Acheron, Celenova, Jingliu, Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Hertatomb, Lord Ravager - Jingliu, Young Herta, Robin, Artoria, Cyrene · Fuli (Charge: 14.5%), Cipher (Charge: 87.6%)]
[Available Pulls: 10 (0.1%)]
--+--
[Special Gacha Method Available]
--+--
During this period, rumors were flying all over the universe claiming that the secrets of Originium had been unlocked.
Of course, they were all pure fabrications. Some people were just gullible, some were clout-chasing, and others were arrogant enough to believe their intellect could challenge the wisdom of an Aeon.
In reality, the only ones who had actually touched the Elation Equation and gained anything from it were a few Geniuses.
And aside from Herta and Screwllum—who had barely managed to step across the threshold thanks to Bai Ming's help—neither Zandar nor Polka Kakamond had produced any useful results yet.
It was true: Bai Ming could now use the Originium scattered across the stars as her eyes to peer into every corner of the world.
So, when she discovered the whereabouts of Polka Kakamond and that slippery Dr. Primitive, who had once again evaded judgment, her first instinct was to call down a divine strike and wipe them both out in one go.
But she was stopped.
Well... "stopped" isn't quite the word.
It was more like a persuasion.
They were all Aeons.
Although Bai Ming wasn't "complete" yet, she could wield the power of an Aeon, making her at least half of one.
An entity like an Aeon, if taken individually, could manipulate the entire universe according to their whims. Generally speaking, however, Aeons rarely intervened directly in mortal affairs.
They were simply too powerful; every action they took sent massive ripples through existence.
For most Aeons—those who weren't actively trying to destroy the world—this kind of interference wasn't in their collective interest.
Nanook didn't mind descending whenever THEY pleased, but even THEY couldn't fight everyone at once.
Most of the time, THEY had to know when to stop; if THEY went too far, other Aeons would step in to forcibly smooth out the impact THEY caused.
In short, while the Aeons weren't exactly friendly with one another, they shared a general consensus: unless it involved their own Pathstriders, you could act as you pleased—provided you were prepared for the consequence of being blocked by multiple Aeons simultaneously.
Even regarding their own Pathstriders, if the scope of influence grew too large, other Aeons might still intervene as they saw fit.
Up until now, Bai Ming's actions hadn't really tapped into Aeon-level power, with the exception of scattering Originium across the cosmos.
But since Originium was basically an unsolvable riddle for humanity, no one reacted much—even HooH the Equilibrium hadn't shown up.
This time was different.
Bai Ming wanted to use the power of the Elation to snuff out two Geniuses chosen by Nous. That was equivalent to killing two of the Erudition's neurons.
If Bai Ming had used her own strength to hunt them down, that would have been one thing.
At her core, she was still a regular human who hadn't truly ascended. But using the direct power of an Aeon to do it?
That was clearly against the rules.
In the past, when Aha gave out power, it was usually just a "one-minute trial card" that came with a nasty prank. This time, Bai Ming wasn't on a trial; the situation was completely different.
Possessing the power of an Aeon long-term while flinging it around like a mortal created too much interference. If everyone played that way, the end of the universe would arrive immediately due to a war of the gods.
So, both Nous and HooH sent messages to Bai Ming, telling her not to interfere so drastically with the development of the universe.
To this, Aha expressed that THEY loved a good mess and encouraged Bai Ming to steal Qlipoth's hammer, smash HooH, and straighten out Nous's neurons.
But Bai Ming wasn't Aha. She ignored THEIR bait and abandoned the plan to target those two Geniuses.
Realizing there were unwritten rules among the Aeons, she basically gave up on the idea of directly eliminating people, aside from a bit of voyeurism.
Whatever—fighting and killing were exhausting anyway.
She didn't have Aha's talent for causing worldwide chaos purely through deception without using raw power. Better to just settle down, wait for her gacha pulls, and enjoy herself.
And so, she waited until today.
Bai Ming looked at the interface—a lineup more luxurious than anything she'd seen since she first crossed over. A surge of confidence rose in her heart.
Nothing more to be said. Let's pull!
This ten-pull pity system wasn't about luck; it was a straight-up transaction.
As for her target, she did hesitate for a moment between the Earth Titan and the Romance Titan.
For Bai Ming, either Path worked.
However, one thing bothered her: rumors regarding the identity of Xipe's third face.
Some guessed it was Idrila the Beauty. There wasn't any definitive evidence for that, and others guessed it might even be the Voracity.
Even with her current power, Bai Ming could only locate Xipe.
To figure out who that third face was, she'd have to fly over and literally dive into Xipe's embrace to analyze them—she couldn't see it from a distance.
So, was it worth the gamble?
If it really was Beauty, then eventually the Path of Beauty would be swallowed by Harmony.
If Bai Ming used the power of Beauty so directly, it would only cause Xipe to fixate on her.
The risk with the Permanence was much smaller. Both the Abundance and the Propagation had completely branched off; even with the intent to submerge them, it would be incredibly difficult.
Plus, the Propagation was currently without a master.
Comparing the two, mastering the Path of the Permanence before approaching the Beauty seemed like a much safer bet.
Even in the worst-case scenario—facing off against Xipe while Aha pulled the rug out from under her by withdrawing the Elation—having the Permanence as a foundation meant she could at least tank the hit.
"Alright then. For the ten-pull selection: the original Earth Titan of Amphoreus, Georios."
Bai Ming didn't choose any of the demigods who had inherited the Titan title over the generations.
Aside from Dan Heng, who had crashed the party at the end, the Earth Titan lineage consisted almost entirely of Dromas, with the occasional Mountain Dweller mixed in.
Bai Ming had no desire to be a Dromas or a Mountain Dweller with muscles like granite.
But the original Earth Titan, Georios, was different. This one was a dragon.
While the image was somewhat similar to a Dromas, the physique was longer and more powerful.
It had four limbs, a long tail, and a thick, sturdy neck.
A Character Card featuring a pure dragon form appeared before Bai Ming, labeled simply: [Georios].
As for whether she'd be stuck as a dragon... please.
Not only was the power of the Permanence naturally adept at manipulating matter, but she still had the Elation. A little nudge of power would be enough to shift into a "dragon-girl" state.
Bai Ming silently deactivated her current form, letting the body she had woven out of Trickery dissipate, and used the character card in her soul state.
Very quickly, a new body manifested around her soul.
A massive, wingless dragon appeared within the Space Station.
"Roar..."
When she opened her mouth, a heavy, resonant growl emerged.
Compared to the trickery of the Elation, the power of the Earth Titan was anything but flashy.
It was grounded and honest.
It governed the earth—the magma beneath the crust, the layers of rock, the plants on the surface, the crops, and even the ability to nurture life itself.
It could create life from its own flesh and blood, a concept very close to the nature of the Permanence—the cycle where one thing falls so that ten thousand may rise.
And of course, tucked away within the character card, she found it: the Permanence Equation.
It was actually there!
Though she had found the Elation Equation on the Cipher card before, she hadn't been sure it would happen again.
She'd feared the system might find her actions "improper" and lock future equations in a black box.
Fortunately, the system didn't care about such trifles.
This Permanence Equation, like the Elation one before it, had no encryption or protection. It was just running plainly within the character's body.
Bai Ming didn't rush into anything else.
She experimented a bit and found that while the Earth Titan had the ability to alter matter, it wasn't as effortless as the true Path of the Permanence. It seemed that was a limitation of being a Titan.
She didn't force it. Instead, she used the power of the Elation to reshape her new form.
The massive terrestrial dragon body began to shrink.
Dark dragon horns and a tail emerged, accented with patterns of orange and gold that shimmered like fire.
Bai Ming kept her original appearance, but her gown took on a deep black hue, and her hair turned a golden shade that matched her horns.
Her eyes shifted into the vertical slits of a Draconian.
Overall, her color scheme now bore a striking resemblance to Terravox.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL