Above The Blue, numerous Xianzhou star skiffs and corporate ships entered Herta City. Something was being transported from the Soul Gem factory.
Immediately, many Pathstriders understood—Herta had likely completed new research and reached another round of cooperation with the Xianzhou Alliance and the corporation.
Herta was still advancing... It would not be long before she intervened in the situation on the Eastern Federation's side.
Thinking this, Phantylia began using the mental power of the heliobus to influence the swarm, accelerating their devouring of everything and increasing their rate of propagation.
At the same time, she influenced those mythical creatures fabricated by Fictionologists, instilling in them a special cognition:
By killing more life, they could move from illusion to reality, becoming true living beings—and even evolve further.
Of course, even Phantylia could not truly turn these beings of the Path of Enigmata from illusion into real life. However, as the most powerful existence among the heliobus, she could distort their perceptions, making them believe that slaughter would lead to reality—and that more killing meant greater evolution.
Under Phantylia's influence, the slaughter continued unabated.
...
Meanwhile, within Herta City, The Herta herself watched as numerous Herta Puppets were taken away by Xianzhou star skiffs and corporate ships, her face filled with joy and excitement.
She knew that it would not be long before the little Hertas, carrying out her will, would travel to more worlds, open gateways to the Warp, and absorb emotional energy from those worlds—using it to further nurture the growth of the Warp.
At that moment, Yabuli from the corporation and Yao Guang approached The Herta again. They reported that they had sensed the presence of Borisins and the swarm on the other side of the planet, and asked whether they should dispatch forces to eliminate these disasters.
Hearing this, The Herta fell into thought and quickly contacted the Fourth Mirror via brainwave communication, inquiring about the situation in the Eastern Federation.
The Fourth Mirror responded immediately: "The Eastern Federation is currently completely cut off—no network, no electricity, no water... Thousands of nuclear insects are conducting relentless bombardments. The surface has already become a total wasteland."
"Across the federation, the nuclear insect swarm is locked in chaotic battle with pseudo-mythical entities catalyzed by Fictionologists. At the same time, the Chaos Doctors are researching formulas, attempting to develop Awakening Agent 666—a potion capable of reviving the dead."
The Herta raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"Madam Herta, as you know, you created the Warp, and it has absorbed the souls of those who died in the Eastern Federation. The Chaos Doctors discovered that these dead individuals did not carry any trace of Nihility. As a result, they created Awakening Agent 666 and administered it to those whose souls had left their bodies."
The Herta blinked. "Without any clinical trials, they just used it directly? They trust their potion that much?"
"Perhaps... it's because they trust the intelligence you granted them, Madam Herta. Or perhaps it's because Awakening Agent 666 was designed from the start to be consumed by the dead—they have no reservations."
"And the result?"
The Fourth Mirror replied, "After forcibly pouring the potion into corpses, they did manage to pull the souls back from the Warp. However, the returned souls became extremely deranged, losing all reason. They began slaughtering indiscriminately and eventually became tainted with Nihility, transforming into Sin Thirsters."
Hearing this, a trace of confusion flashed through The Herta's eyes.
"That shouldn't be... The emotional energies within the Warp are already balanced and clearly divided into two distinct domains. How did those who lived a second life become insane?"
Forget it. I'll go see for myself.
The Herta closed her eyes and connected to her soul projection within the Warp.
In that instant, within the Warp, the enormous black sun stirred, radiating endless cold yet profoundly intellectual light—that was the will of the master of the Warp.
In an instant, every change within the Warp was observed by Herta, its master. From this, she understood how Awakening Agent 666 functioned—and why those who lived a second life through it descended into madness.
Within her vision, she saw that the souls corresponding to dead bodies were suddenly pulled by a certain force, involuntarily rushing toward the exit she had recently established at the edge of The Blue star system.
More importantly, as the souls rushed out of the Warp, they passed through vast regions filled with both positive and negative emotions. After being battered by violent emotional fluctuations, they passed through the Warp exit, entered real space, endured direct solar radiation, plunged into the core of Jupiter's gaseous body, and witnessed countless bizarre and surreal sights.
At the very end, when the soul returned to the body, they would realize that their heart had already stopped beating, their blood had ceased to flow and circulate... They recognized that they had truly died.
Their body was dead, yet their consciousness remained. That bizarre sensation was an unbearable torment, intensifying the spread of madness until they began destroying everything around them.
After reducing everything around them to ruins, they would discover that the Eastern Federation had already become a wasteland. When they sought out their loved ones, they found them dead as well. In the familiar cities, only nuclear insects and countless mythical creatures remained, locked in battle.
Under such dire conditions, those revived from death would develop an overwhelming desire to die again. Only by dying could they return to the Warp and see their loved ones once more.
This longing for death would ultimately affect their physical bodies, causing further collapse and inviting Nihility. And the power of Nihility would transform the resurrected into Sin Thirsters.
Through the Warp, The Herta witnessed this entire process. Without hesitation, she exercised her authority as the master of the Warp and directly closed the Warp passage at the edge of The Blue star system.
As a result, Awakening Agent 666 completely lost its ability to revive the dead.
Immediately afterward, Herta mobilized the computational power of the Super Herta Astral Computer and used her insight ability, quickly observing the current state of the Chaos Doctor Virex.
At this moment, Virex was filled with confusion:
Under the effect of Awakening Agent 666, the souls had already returned to their bodies. After wreaking havoc, their consciousness had also stabilized... so why did they all still fall into Nihility and become Sin Thirsters?
Is there something wrong with my potion? Does it need further refinement?
No... with Miss Herta's enhancement, the Awakening Agent should be flawless.
Let's try again.
???
What's going on? Why has Awakening Agent 666 lost its effect? Why can it no longer pull souls from the Warp into reality?!
Virex fell into confusion.
At that moment, The Herta's voice crossed half the planet through the Warp and reached Virex's ears:
"I already told you not to conduct your mad experiments on The Blue... yet you still did. Not only that, you created Sin Thirsters on the land of the Eastern Federation. I have decided to withdraw the intelligence I granted you and expel you from The Blue star system."
!!
The Chaos Doctors, led by Virex, were about to speak—but then they felt something terrifying: their minds suddenly became dull. More precisely, their thinking slowed, as if a layer of fog had enveloped their brains.
The sensation was unmistakable, and they realized that Herta's punishment had already descended.
In the next moment, something even more terrifying occurred. Space split open before them, a black sun flashed by, and then a massive psychic hand formed.
The hand blotted out the sky, enormous beyond measure. It seized the Chaos Doctors and dragged them into the Warp.
The psychic hand moved at incredible speed through the Warp, crossing infinite distances. In the next instant, the Warp gate opened again, and with a swing of the hand, the Chaos Doctors were thrown out.
Afterward, dozens of Chaos Doctors, including Virex, found that their surroundings had changed. No longer were they in ruins—this meant they had already left the Eastern Federation.
When they looked up at the sky and observed the stars, they realized they had completely left that domain filled with intelligence—The Blue star system.
"This is group teleportation!!"
"Spatial transfer is something all Emanators can achieve, but transporting dozens at once... something like this... only an Emanator of Trailblaze could possibly accomplish!"
"Could it be that Miss Herta has also stepped onto the Path of Trailblaze?!"
"Is that really what we should be concerned about right now? We should be worrying about whether we can continue researching new potions!"
"After all, we've lost Herta's intelligence enhancement..."
"We're finished."
Realizing the severity of the situation, the Chaos Doctors began frantically calling out Herta's name, apologizing and admitting that they should not have researched and tested potions on The Blue.
However, the void gave no response. More precisely, after dealing with the Chaos Doctors, The Herta had already made a decision—to resolve the situation in the Eastern Federation.
According to the Fourth Mirror's report, the surface of the Eastern Federation had already been bombarded by thousands of nuclear insects transformed from nuclear weapons. Only ruins remained.
Those still alive had all retreated into underground civil defense facilities, trembling in fear. The emotions they emitted were terror—and a desperate hope that someone would come to save them.
As the master of the Warp, The Herta could even sense that the Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation was also fervently hoping for a savior to appear and rescue the federation.
...
Yao Guang and Jade watched as Herta remained in deep thought for a long time. After exchanging a glance, they finally asked how she intended to handle the situation in the Eastern Federation.
"Now," Herta said slowly, raising her head.
Yao Guang nodded. "I'll mobilize the Cloud Knights immediately."
Yabuli added, "I'll deploy the corporation's fleet as well."
After speaking, Yabuli silently added in her heart that with over ten billion people already immigrating to The Blue star system, they absolutely could not allow The Blue itself to become a swarm-infested hive world.
"Mm."
After Herta nodded, she heard Herman's voice: "Herta, before taking action, contact the Supreme Leader of The Blue star system. Have him persuade the Eastern Federation's leader to surrender. If it succeeds... The Blue will have only one regime left, and your rear will be completely secure."
Herta's thoughts shifted, and she finally understood why Herman had previously ignored the situation in the Eastern Federation, allowing the Swarm and Fictionologists to wreak havoc—it had all been to ensure she would have a stable rear.
After understanding Herman's intention, Herta did not speak on behalf of the dead citizens of the Eastern Federation, nor did she voice any reproach. She simply answered seriously:
"Alright."