Who would become Rupert III?
The moment those words left Herta's lips, two tears traced silently down Ruan Mei's cheeks. She stepped forward and embraced Herta again, saying nothing.
A flicker of shock and confusion crossed Herta's beautiful face, but in an instant, she arrived at a terrifying answer. In Ruan Mei's dream, it was perhaps her—Herta—who had become Rupert III, the destroyer of all.
"Me? That can't be. There may be plenty of fools and bugs in this universe, but I've never wanted to destroy it."
Ruan Mei still said nothing. She sketched on the screen the Rupert III from her dream. Grotesque, sorrowfully beautiful, unparalleled and arrogant. Herta couldn't help but smile and sigh.
"Not bad. Even darkened into Rupert III, I, Madam Herta, am still this beautiful. Though I do feel a little familiar."
Ruan Mei sighed helplessly. Even seeing her own darkened form, Herta still unabashedly praised herself. Only Herta. Optimistic? No—just utterly confident.
"Herta, in my dream, Rupert III had another half besides you."
Herta examined the image more closely. It was clearly her beautiful self being seized by a terrifying "monster." Even Herta's smile began to freeze, her face paling. A fear she had never known gripped her.
"Irontomb? Amphoreus? Wait, with you and me, plus the power of that special curio, the Flawless Crystal, didn't we already rewrite its permissions and send that Senior packing?"
Ruan Mei shook her head slightly. "Amphoreus has been settled, but we only found and destroyed three of Zandar's clones. The remaining six—whether he himself still exists or is executing even more absolute plans in some corner of the universe—we simply don't know."
Herta fell into thought. This Senior Zandar had created Machine Head, yet wanted to destroy Him—to annihilate the very Path of Erudition. In his eyes, Nous's existence only robbed humanity, the world, the universe of further possibilities. Everything calculated by data, the future reduced to predictable destruction. As he said, only three Paths would truly lead the universe to destruction—and one of them was Erudition.
Herta held Ruan Mei gently and whispered in her ear, brushing past a loose strand of hair. "Enough. Don't borrow trouble. No matter how many plans that Senior has, we—the Genius Society, the Astral Express crew—will stop them. For now, I just want to live well with you in the present. We've already bought and prepared the new house, haven't we? Let's find a time to move in. And the wedding invitations, the decorations—I think we can put them on the schedule. Don't you agree?"
This time, Herta's voice was gentle, her words full of hope and longing for the future—a far cry from her usual tsundere demeanor.
Ruan Mei covered her mouth and laughed, teasing half-seriously, "Wherever you are, that's home."
Herta froze, her eyes darting away. A flush crept across her cheeks. She instinctively pulled down her magic hat, stammering, "I... I have a research report to prepare. I'll come back later to discuss the new house properly."