Inside the highest-level conference room of the Blue Federation, everyone stared wide-eyed and dumbfounded as Mars, within an extremely short span of time, condensed into ice and transformed into a blue crystalline planet.
Several seconds later, a senior minister finally spoke.
"If I didn't see wrong just now, the moment Miss Herta waved her magic wand, Mars froze over, right?"
"You have to understand, the water molecules on Mars were blown away by the solar wind long ago and escaped into the cosmos. Yet now Miss Herta froze Mars with a single gesture. Such methods are simply miraculous—this is magic!"
"A genius. Unbelievable."
The crowd exclaimed in amazement.
...
On Mars, Ruan Mei watched the scene of Herta freezing the planet with a swing of her wand. A faint smile curved her lips as she said, "It seems your experiment was a success. The Herta Magic Wand has now fully integrated with the hypervariable factor genes of the Honkai Beasts."
"Mm." Herta nodded, then looked at Ruan Mei. "You can also try combining the Ruan Mei Magic Wand with the hypervariable factor."
Ruan Mei nodded and began the attempt. However, she quickly discovered it would not work. A slight frown appeared on her face.
"No... the hypervariable factor is rejecting the Ruan Mei Magic Wand. Or rather, it's conflicting with the Ruan Mei Stigmata contained within it."
"The Ruan Mei Stigmata was created from the crystallization of my biological genetic wisdom. Such a Stigmata is completely incompatible with the beastly genes—the hypervariable factors—within Honkai Beasts."
"Incompatible?"
Herta frowned slightly. Then she used the method Ruan Mei had taught her not long ago to condense a Herta Stigmata, preparing to implant it into the Herta Magic Wand.
She soon discovered that the essence of Stigmata and hypervariable factors did indeed conflict—and the conflict was severe.
Meanwhile, Herman within Herta's body heard their discussion and immediately recalled something.
On Earth in Honkai Impact 3rd, those who possessed Stigmata had indeed never undergone meta-morph surgery.
Of course, Herman was certain that the issue of incompatibility between Stigmata and hypervariable factors would not stump Herta and Ruan Mei. After all, both of them were geniuses.
Just as Herman reached this thought, Herta's voice sounded.
"There is indeed a conflict between Stigmata and hypervariable factors, but it's solvable. Give me time, and I can resolve it."
Ruan Mei shook her head slightly. "Everyone has their specialty. Both Stigmata and hypervariable factors relate to genetics. Let me, as the biologist, research it. I'll produce results within a month."
"When the time comes, I'll share the results with you."
"Then I'll have to thank you."
"No need. After all, Honkai energy was synthesized and discovered by you. If you hadn't contacted me proactively, I wouldn't have been able to unravel the mysteries of Stigmata technology in such a short time."
The Herta smiled at those words. At this moment, she had completely regarded Ruan Mei as a friend.
Just then, Herman's voice echoed within The Herta's mind.
"Herta, Ruan Mei has provided you with so much technology. You should offer something in return."
"What kind of return?"
"Honkai Beasts... You two should cooperate and sell Honkai Beasts together!" Herman said seriously. "After all, you've already replicated the Will of Honkai's control rune and can perfectly command Honkai Beasts. In that case... you can raise the Honkai concentration on Mars and turn it completely into a breeding ground for Honkai Beasts.
"When their numbers are sufficient, you can delegate second- or even third-tier control authority and sell the Honkai Beasts to various forces across the cosmos—turning them into pets.
"I believe many in the cosmos would be willing to purchase such extraordinary creatures. When that happens, you'll earn a considerable fortune, and your research funding will become far more abundant."
After some thought, Herta found Herman's reasoning quite sound. She turned to Ruan Mei and said, "I have an idea to use Honkai Beasts to generate research funds. Are you interested?"
Ruan Mei nodded, curiosity flashing in her eyes.
Seeing this, The Herta's smile deepened as she described her plan—to turn Mars within the Blue planetary system into a cradle of Honkai, breeding more Honkai Beasts for sale.
"Given how novel Honkai Beasts are, many will certainly buy them. But as you said before... Honkai energy can erode biological bodies. If people keep these Honkai Beasts for long periods, passive exposure might kill many humans."
"You don't need to worry about that. Leave the erosion properties of Honkai energy to me. I'll definitely solve it. After all, I'm Herta."
"Very well. I'll return first and await your good news." Ruan Mei then glanced at the Honkai Beast hordes on Mars and the Honkai concentration that had ceased rising. "If we intend to sell Honkai Beasts at scale, we'll need sufficient numbers. Right now, there are far too few on Mars."
"We need to go further—raise production. For example, create a fully automated machine that produces Honkai energy."
Herta nodded in agreement. "In fact, after handcrafting so much Honkai energy just now, I already have some ideas. Once I return to The Blue, I'll handcraft a machine that automatically combines Imaginary energy with crystal tuning to produce Honkai energy."
"As expected of you, Herta. Inspiration flows endlessly."
Ruan Mei sighed with admiration. She raised her hand once more, extracting a large quantity of experimental genes from the Honkai Beasts. Then she looked up at the Ruanruan biological starship, which had withdrawn from combat form and reverted to its soft, glutinous appearance.
"This time, I truly am leaving. No need to see me off."
The moment her words fell, a cloud drifted down from the sky and carried Ruan Mei upward.
Before long, Ruanruan departed the firmament, laden with abundant harvests. It broke through Herta's freezing magic and the solidified Martian ice sphere, stepping onto the star rail.
Herta waved toward Ruanruan in farewell.
Then she heard a tremendous commotion.
It was Garuda and Chiyou being spat out by the Ruanruan biological starship, crashing onto the Martian surface.
The two Honkai Beasts were in a miserable state, their bodies covered entirely in purple blood, not a single spot unscathed.
The other Honkai Beasts shrank back at the sight.
At that moment, Herta struck the ground with her wand and spoke slowly to them.
"You lot will obediently remain on Mars from now on. If any of you dare stir up trouble, you won't end up as pets—you'll be smashed to death by my wand, or beaten to death by Ruanruan's tangible giant hands in combat celestial form."
The Honkai Beasts trembled in silence, not daring to utter a word.
With that, The Herta paid no further attention to the quivering creatures and waved her wand, preparing to leave Mars.
At that moment, the demonic dragon Benares summoned its courage. Propping up its massive draconic body with powerful hind legs, it hurriedly called out, "Miss Herta, was what you said earlier about taking me as a mount true?"
"Of course it's true. From now on, you are the dragon leader of the Martian Honkai Beasts. All of them must obey you. If they refuse, beat them soundly." Herta's tone was entirely serious.
"What if they don't listen? After all, there are even Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts among them, far stronger than me."
As it spoke, Benares cast a small sidelong glance at Brahma and Maheśvara.
"If they refuse and even kill you, then when I return to Mars, I'll avenge you. I'll eliminate every Honkai Beast that dared lay a hand on you."
As she said this, Herta had already mounted her wand and swiftly flown away from Mars.
After hearing her words, a grin spread across the dragon's massive face.
Heh heh heh! "All Honkai Beasts must obey my command. From now on, I am the Dragon King of Honkai!"
Whether Brahma, Maheśvara, or the other Honkai Beasts, they could only respond grudgingly.
There was no helping it. The Judgment-class Honkai Beast Benares had simply been fortunate enough to be taken as Herta's mount.
Though the status of a mount was hardly prestigious, it was still far better than their fate—being sold off to buyers across the cosmos in the near future.
...
Meanwhile, riding her wand through space, Herta quickly realized that the upgraded Version 2.0 Herta Magic Wand now flew at a speed entirely different from before.
It was no longer merely five Mach. Instead, it had increased twentyfold—reaching one hundred Mach.
Herta was slightly surprised and began to analyze it carefully.
She soon discovered that the previous Version 1.0 wand's maximum flight speed had never truly been five Mach. It had only been limited to five Mach within The Blue due to planetary gravity and atmospheric resistance.
Now, in the vacuum of space—and with the wand upgraded—the flight speed could reach one hundred Mach.
Of course, this was not the limit. In space, there was no resistance, so one hundred Mach was merely the initial speed. Over time, it could accelerate even further.
...
Before long, she returned to Herta City on The Blue and entered the Soul Factory. There, she discovered that the Soul Gem production line had already begun operating.
A steady stream of Soul Gems was being produced, inspected, and boxed... then the Fourth Mirror contacted the company's express delivery to ship them across the cosmos for sale.
Meanwhile, Herta's own production line had also started running. Five Herta Puppets had already been produced.
Herta Puppet 05, 06, 07... 09.
Herta Puppet 05, who had been overseeing the production line, noticed The Herta's arrival and immediately spoke.
"Sisters, Madam Herta has arrived. What should we do?"
"Madam Herta is peerless in the world! Madam Herta outshines all beauties! Madam Herta is supremely intelligent!"