Not long afterward, the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation, having received Herta's instructions, connected the red hotline to the western side and informed the Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation over the phone:
He had already contacted Herta. She had agreed to take action—but there was a price... the price was that the Eastern Federation would merge into the Blue Federation.
Inside an underground civil defense facility, the Eastern Federation's Supreme Leader gripped the phone tightly.
He wanted to reject the proposal from across the ocean outright. But the reality was that the Eastern Federation's government and order had already completely collapsed. The surface had turned into a total apocalypse.
Even within the federation, dozens of state governments had begun acting independently due to the upheaval of the catastrophe. In a sense, the Eastern Federation already existed in name only.
Under such circumstances, handing the federation over to the other side of the ocean... might be the most appropriate choice.
After three seconds of hesitation, the Eastern Federation's Supreme Leader expressed that they were willing to merge into the Blue Federation.
"Good. Welcome, Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation, representing your region in joining the sole authority of The Blue—the Blue Federation." The Blue's Supreme Leader spoke with a faint smile over the phone. "Don't worry. It won't be long before you're saved!"
As the two leaders hung up, the sky above the Eastern Federation darkened.
It was not the setting sun, but the arrival of Xianzhou Alliance Cloud Knights star skiffs and corporate peacekeeping warships, blotting out the sky.
At that moment, the sky itself split open.
A woman wearing a pointed hat and exuding an aura of intellect stepped out—that was The Herta.
She raised her magic wand, preparing to strike.
At that instant, across the lands of the Eastern Federation, countless pseudo-mythical lifeforms—affected by the Path of Enigmata and currently battling the swarm—lost their support and rapidly turned into ashes, scattering into the wind.
The reason for this was simple.
The Fictionologists, led by their key figures, had already observed that the Chaos Doctors had been expelled by Herta. And at the moment of their expulsion, the Chaos Doctors had displayed expressions as though they had suffered a severe mental blow...
All of this led the Fictionologists to speculate that Herta had reclaimed the intelligence she had granted to the Chaos Doctors.
From this, they understood a terrifying truth:
Herta was someone who kept her word. If she said she would take back the intelligence of troublemakers, she would absolutely do so.
More importantly, it appeared that Herta had already joined forces with the Xianzhou Alliance's Cloud Knights and the corporation's peacekeeping forces to resolve the Eastern Federation's crisis.
In that case, they could not afford to seek death.
Retreat!
Retreat was the only option.
At the very moment they erased the pseudo-mythical lifeforms of the Eastern Federation, the Fictionologists concealed themselves using the Path of Enigmata and disappeared into the ruins.
Of course, by using her authority as the master of the Warp, as well as her Eye of Insight, Herta could still perceive their soul projections within the Warp and track their positions in real time.
However, she had no intention of dealing with them.
There were more important matters at hand.
The Swarm... and that Lord Ravager—Phantylia.
With that thought, Herta shifted her gaze toward thousands of nuclear insects, a portion of hydrogen insects, and the Lord Ravager Phantylia—who had used the power of a heliobus to possess a swarm body and conceal herself perfectly.
"The disaster of the Swarm Disaster will not spread across my Blue star. And a Lord Ravager is not permitted to cause chaos on my world."
After speaking calmly, Herta raised her wand.
Countless black-violet rays surged from the gemstone at its tip—this was Path energy at the level of an Emanator of Erudition:
Herta Magic Cannon!
In an instant, an infinitely vast projectile appeared—spanning immeasurable distances, like a black sun blotting out the sky.
Within it was nearly limitless energy. A single shot was enough to flatten the entire Eastern Federation.
That was correct.
To deal with the swarm's excessive reproduction—its locust-like infestation of eggs deep within the soil—Herta intended to plow the entire surface of the Eastern Federation once more with the Herta Magic Cannon.
On a star skiff, Yao Guang revealed a serious expression.
"Miss Herta, if that projectile falls, the entire Eastern Federation will be reduced from apocalyptic ruins to a blank wasteland. The continental shelf will tremble, and the oceans will rise in endless waves."
"It won't."
Herta replied calmly.
"I have some confidence in my control over energy."
The moment her words fell, the massive projectile—like a falling meteor—descended, violently rubbing against the air and igniting black flames, making it appear even more terrifying.
Ssssss...
Countless swarm creatures hissed and scattered, fleeing into basements and parking structures. Others began attacking civil defense facilities.
At this moment, billions of swarm creatures moved frantically in their struggle to survive.
As a result, countless citizens hiding within underground shelters fell into extreme panic. They could hear the reinforced alloy doors shaking, warping under the relentless assault of the swarm.
At the same time, the high-ranking officials of the Eastern Federation were equally terrified.
Through satellite observation, they could see the terrifying projectile Herta had formed while holding her wand high.
It was something millions of times more powerful than a nuclear weapon—something capable of destroying continents... even planets.
The officials' faces turned pale as they muttered in despair.
The Eastern Federation's Supreme Leader immediately dialed the red hotline again. The moment it connected, he spoke urgently:
"Didn't you say the Eastern Federation would be allowed to submit?!"
"What is that black-violet projectile—far more powerful than any nuclear weapon?!"
Beside him stood a blonde, blue-eyed female secretary.
More accurately, it was the Lord Ravager Phantylia possessing her body.
Listening to the Supreme Leader's frantic voice, observing the despair around her, and watching the world-ending projectile descending from the sky, Phantylia could not help but think:
Originally, I planned to use schemes and manipulation to tear the Eastern Federation apart and destroy it completely.
But now... the attack of a genius will bring about its destruction even faster.
As expected, Herta is naturally suited for the path of Destruction!!
Within the panic-stricken underground shelter, everyone was tense and terrified.
Everyone except one.
Phantylia was smiling.
At this moment, she even began considering whether, through some special method or scheme, she could make Herta develop an affinity for Destruction—and ultimately guide her into joining that path...
However, in the next instant, an unexpected change occurred.
The descending projectile—capable of shattering continents—suddenly split apart in midair.
It divided into countless streams of violet light, numbering even more than the swarm itself.
More importantly, these rays seemed to possess tracking ability, relentlessly pursuing the swarm.
Billions of violet rays, guided by Herta as she danced her wand, began locking onto and slaughtering the swarm with frenzied precision.
Each split projectile seemed to possess built-in targeting and headshot accuracy, massacring the swarm as green bodily fluids mixed with red blood sprayed through the air.
The scent of blood spread everywhere.
More importantly, every single projectile could curve midair, striking only the insects without damaging any buildings.
Within the underground civil defense facility, the Lord Ravager Phantylia was momentarily stunned by the sight.
Herta's control over energy... was this perfect?!
Every one of the billions of energy projectiles struck an insect—without exception.
Wait...
Phantylia suddenly thought of something and abruptly raised her gaze toward the distant horizon.
Could it be that Herta had mobilized the computational power of that astral computer?
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she witnessed the swarm dying on a massive scale.
Plop... plop...
The insects engulfed in black-violet light fell like rain, piling up into mountains of corpses that soon rose to the height of skyscrapers.
And yet, not a single surrounding structure was damaged in the process.
Art... the art of death.
Precision was the difference between slaughter and surgery... indeed, Herta was perfectly suited for the path of Destruction.
With that thought, Phantylia turned her gaze toward a corner of the underground shelter.
There lay the Bewitching Swarm King—the offspring of the Aeon of Propagation.
Its body was not large, and its greatest specialty was the creation of illusions. That was how it had perfectly concealed itself within the tunnels.
However, Phantylia, born of the heliobus race, excelled in mental manipulation—and thus could see through the illusion and locate the Swarm King.
"Bewitching Swarm King, your offspring are dying in droves. Are you not going to do anything?" Phantylia communicated mentally, using the power of the heliobus to incite and provoke.
"Up in the sky stand two Emanators," the Swarm King replied calmly. "One of them is a general of the Hunt—aligned with the Xianzhou Alliance."
"And as far as I know, that general has the authority to use the Cloudpeer Telescope to transmit coordinates directly to the Aeon of The Hunt. Once the coordinates are sent, the light-arrow arrives instantly."
"So even if I go out to fight them and win... I would still be pierced by that arrow."
"More importantly, the difficulty of winning is already at its peak. The one standing beside Yao Guang—Herta—may be a newly ascended Emanator, but her methods are extraordinary. She can even develop technology that increases intelligence."
"And not long ago, one of her puppets—like you, Phantylia—saw through my illusion and found my true body, warning me not to cause trouble."
Phantylia replied, "But you already caused trouble. That overwhelming swarm is proof enough."
The Swarm King shook its head. "This hardly counts as causing trouble. If I truly acted, the swarm's disaster would not be limited to a single continent. It would spread across several—perhaps dozens—of star systems. Creating a small-scale Swarm Disaster is not difficult for me."
"After all... since our great mother fell, the swarm has diminished greatly. But precisely because of that, more and more of us feel loneliness."
"That driving force called loneliness is pushing the swarm across the cosmos toward greater strength—including myself."
Phantylia raised an eyebrow. "So in the future, when the swarm's numbers decline further—even to the point that more Swarm Kings fall—the dead Aeon of Propagation will return from the Path?"
A grin appeared on the Swarm King's grotesque face. "Exactly. The fewer we are, the greater the loneliness—and the greater the loneliness, the faster my mother's return."
After speaking, it glanced at Phantylia. "Herta warned you before as well. Yet you still interfered with the civilization beneath us. For example, inciting looting, or provoking chaotic street gunfights."
"And if not for you, this civilization would not have descended into civil war so quickly—splitting into dozens of states, each governing itself, engaging in endless internal conflict and constantly replacing their governors."
"Even those pseudo-mythical lifeforms—mere constructs of the Fictionologists—were able to contend with my swarm. That, too, was your doing, wasn't it?"
"It can be said that without the swarm, this civilization would have collapsed and been destroyed entirely under your influence—and it would have appeared completely natural."
Phantylia did not deny it.
"You're absolutely right. I did exert influence—but I never truly made a move. If I did..."
She paused briefly before continuing:
"Even a top-tier civilization like the Xianzhou Alliance would lose a star vessel—and even their Ambrosial Arbor would be taken by me."
The Swarm King responded, "Since we have both exerted a bit of influence on this civilization, then let us go out and meet Herta—and that Xianzhou general."
"Sure."
Phantylia agreed immediately.
In the next instant, the Swarm King spread its wings.
Flames of the heliobus rose.
The two ascended into the sky, confronting Herta, Yao Guang, the Cloud Knights' star skiffs, and the corporation's peacekeeping fleet.
"Miss Herta, please cease the slaughter of my offspring," the Swarm King spoke first, its wings vibrating. "I will take them away from The Blue star system. I ask that you show mercy."
"The Bewitching Swarm King—an Emanator of Propagation... and the Lord Ravager Phantylia!!"
Yao Guang's gaze sharpened instantly.
The Cloud Knights and the corporation's personnel were shaken to their core. They had never expected to encounter these two on this planet.
Immediately, the sky filled with star skiffs and warships, surrounding the Swarm King and Phantylia. Every face was grave.
The reason was simple.
Both of them were entities of absolute terror—figures who had left horrifying records in the history of the cosmos.
During the Swarm Disaster, the Swarm King had once created linked illusions across ten entire star systems.
To those caught within the illusion, life in those systems appeared completely normal.
Even when a Nameless navigator aboard the Astral Express passed through, no abnormalities were detected.
Yet beyond the blind spots of the illusion, in reality, those ten star systems had already become massive nests.
After some time, the Swarm King departed with Swarm.
—When other lifeforms later arrived, they found that all matter in those ten star systems had been completely devoured. Even the suns had vanished, leaving behind nothing but absolute darkness and silence.