"Madam Herta is peerless in the world! Madam Herta outshines all beauties! Madam Herta is supremely intelligent!"
One little Herta after another raised their hands high, shouting their reverent praises toward Herta.
The Herta listened to the pleasing chorus and curled her lips into a faint smile. "These compliments are perfectly accurate. I truly am flawless. And you, my Hertas—my research has achieved new results. I can share them with you."
Whether it was Herta Puppet 05 or the other little Hertas, their eyes all lit up upon hearing this.
Every little Herta that had rolled off the production line knew deeply that the wisdom of the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society stood at the absolute peak of the world—and she was the type who spoke plainly.
If she said there were new research results, then it was certainly true.
One by one, the little Hertas surrounded The Herta, hugging her legs with expectant expressions.
The Herta did not hesitate. She directly pulled Herta Puppet 05 into her arms and condensed a Honkai scalpel, engraving Herta's Stigmata onto her body first.
"So much knowledge... endless knowledge and wisdom are entering my brain. All this knowledge belongs to Madam Herta... Eh? I'm actually the real Madam Herta!"
Herta 05 let out a strange cry.
"Stop fooling around!"
The Herta chopped her lightly on the head with her hand.
The four little Hertas nearby heard Herta 05's words and grew even more eager. They too wanted to obtain that peerless knowledge belonging to Madam Herta.
The Herta showed no favoritism. After implanting Herta's Stigmata into Herta 05, she implanted Stigmata into the other little Hertas as well.
However, the degree of awakening differed for each one.
The highest Stigmata awakening belonged to Herta Puppet 05. At this moment, she had already mastered the method of crafting Soul Gems and could also manufacture Fortune Glue.
The other four little Hertas were slightly inferior. They had not fully mastered any specific branch of Herta's research—only fragments of knowledge.
This situation made The Herta realize that just as people have differing aptitudes—some geniuses, some fools—the same applied to Intellitrons.
Most Intellitrons could only follow procedures step by step, while individuals like Screwllum and Pearl were different. One was a true genius among Intellitrons; the other, a business prodigy.
After thinking this through, The Herta lightly patted little Herta 05.
"Your Stigmata awakening is the highest. That means your responsibilities will be heavier. You'll manufacture Fortune Glue in the factory. In addition, you'll act as supervisor—monitor the Soul Gem production line at all times. If anything goes wrong, repair it."
"Ah... this..."
Little Herta 05's eye twitched.
The higher the Stigmata awakening, the more work there is?!
Now not only do I handle little Herta production, I'm also responsible for Soul Gems and Fortune Glue.
I don't want to work. I was just born not long ago—I'm still a baby Herta...
Little Herta 05 wailed inwardly.
At that moment, Herta 06, Herta 09, Herta 10, and the others gathered around Herta 05.
"So envious! You awakened the highest-level Herta Stigmata. This proves we the Hertas are closer to Madam Herta!"
"As expected of Herta 05, the senior member."
"In the future, Herta 05 will be the big boss among us! If we ever form a Herta Council, I, Herta 07, vote for Herta 05 to become Speaker 05!"
"Agreed."
"+1."
The Hertas cheered around Herta 05.
Listening to their envious voices, Herta 05 could only suppress her inner sorrow and force a smile.
"Everyone, don't talk about any Speaker of Herta nonsense. If there's ever a Herta Council, the Speaker can only be Madam Herta."
"Oh? If 05 becomes Speaker, I wouldn't mind," The Herta said with a smile as she gazed at Herta 05. "After all, you're the first Herta Puppet I created. You're the most special one. In the future, I'll give you even heavier burdens. Be prepared."
"..."
Herta 05 fell silent.
The Herta stopped teasing her and turned serious as she addressed the newly born Hertas.
"Now that Herta's Stigmata have been implanted into you, you can consult the Stigmata Will from now on."
"What's the Stigmata Will?" Herta 09 raised her hand, confused.
"Sense carefully. You'll perceive a Stigmata space—and within it, another Herta. That is the will I left within that space."
The little Hertas closed their eyes.
Soon, they truly sensed a special space, and within it, the consciousness of Herta's Stigmata. The Stigmata Will of Herta wore a faint smile.
"In the future, if you don't understand something, you may consult me."
"Yay!"
The little Hertas cheered. To be able to consult and see a Stigmata Will identical to The Herta at any time was a wonderful thing to them.
Herta 05 could hear their cheers.
She only felt that joy and sorrow among Hertas were not the same.
Because she was already being urged by Madam Herta to begin manufacturing the special Intellitron-version Soul Gems.
Madam Herta had told her that this batch of Intellitron-version Soul Gems was specifically for the Hertas.
Thus, little Herta 05 buried herself in work, striving to do her utmost.
Of course, The Herta was not one to enforce double standards. While urging Herta 05 to work diligently, she herself was also racing against time.
Using the company's crystal materials and her own Honkai technology, she constructed a special device.
The Honkai Furnace.
As the name suggested, it was similar in concept to the Warforge of the Destruction faction.
As long as materials were fed into it, it could continuously convert them.
The Warforge could transform anything input into Antimatter Legion Voidrangers—billions upon billions at a time.
The Version 1.0 Honkai Furnace, however, was Herta's initial model. It only accepted crystal and Imaginary energy. As long as sufficient quantities of both were supplied, it could continuously produce Honkai energy.
With greater accumulation of Honkai energy, more and more Honkai Beasts could naturally be cultivated.
It was a positive feedback loop.
However, this time, The Herta did not intend to personally deliver the Honkai Furnace to Mars.
She was too busy.
There was Honkai ability development... magic refinement.
There was Angel Wings No. 7, Dark Plane Teleportation, and Xianzhou Delve spatial technology... integrating them into the Soul Gem project for a major upgrade—so that those who used Soul Gems could directly undergo Magical Girl transformation.
In addition, there was research into Galactic Shipgirl technology.
Busy. She was truly busy.
And Herman was busy as well. After all, if they were to sell Honkai Beasts, they would need to contact the IPC and even the Xianzhou Alliance—negotiating with these superpowers of the cosmos.
...
Thus, the task of transporting the Honkai Furnace to Mars was assigned to little Herta numbered 09.
"Yes, I guarantee to complete the mission." Herta 09 saluted, then scratched her head in confusion. "But how do I get up there? That's in the sky."
"The Herta Magic Wand will send you to Mars. If you encounter trouble, it will handle it for you."
"What if I run into a situation even the Herta Magic Wand can't deal with? For example, if some Honkai Beasts still harbor resentment and try to ambush me!"
Little Herta 09 shrank her neck. "I don't want to get blown up by Honkai Beasts on my first day after obtaining the great Herta's Stigmata."
"Your concern is reasonable. Let me give you a buff."
After thinking for a moment, The Herta took out the Fortune Glue she carried with her and applied it to little Herta 09 to increase her luck.
"It doesn't feel like anything changed." Herta 09 touched her forehead, looking blank.
"There was a change. Fortune Glue has raised your luck by a tier. After all, the fact that you exist in this world already proves you're fortunate."
Herta 09 blinked in confusion.
"Being alive is lucky enough???"
The Herta nodded.
"War is happening across the cosmos every moment. The Antimatter Legion under Celenova is rampaging through one world after another."
"The Xianzhou Alliance—especially the Xianzhou Yaoqing—is at war with the Borisin."
"Even the Aeon of Nihility, IX, continues to expand Their domain, devouring the cosmos."
"Every day, thousands of planets and trillions of lives perish."
"So to exist in this world and live an ordinary life already means you are fortunate."
After saying that, The Herta seemed to recall something.
"If you still don't feel safe even after the Fortune Glue, I'll give you another weapon."
As her words fell, she spread her arms and unleashed Honkai magic. In an instant, a hammer materialized—formed entirely of diamond.
The diamond magic ability originated from a certain Judgment-class Honkai Beast among the herd.
Herta 09's eyes sparkled upon seeing the diamond hammer.
"This is great! I like this!"
"If you like it, take it."
The Herta tossed the diamond hammer over. Little Herta 09 caught it effortlessly.
The reason was simple.
The limbs of every little Herta were constructed from special Super Shape-Memory Alloy. Forget diamond—even a mountain could be lifted by a little Herta.
In truth, the Hertas only appeared cute on the surface.
In reality, each and every one of them was a creation of cutting-edge technology—a super-engineered Intellitron.