As her research points suddenly surged to four thousand five hundred, The Herta herself felt inspiration erupting within her. Her consciousness became incomparably clear, as though she had activated a thought accelerator.
Problems and difficult points that had once seemed as though they would require an enormous amount of time to solve... had now become exceptionally easy.
Her intuition told her that the Herta Xianzhou shipgirl megastructure, the Soul Society, and even the Plasma Spark Tower, all of which should originally have taken a very long time to complete, could now be researched rapidly.
Once she completed those projects, she would activate World-Shaking Wisdom again and unravel even more mysteries!
With those thoughts in mind, Herta greeted Herman, then threw herself back into her research.
Seeing this, Herman did not continue disturbing Herta. Instead, he grabbed the Herta Magic Wand beside him and returned to the dormitory. Without greeting anyone, he went straight to sleep.
After all, fighting a Lord Ravager and conversing with members of multiple factions had taken a tremendous mental toll. This body was already utterly exhausted.
...
Eight system hours passed in the blink of an eye. Herman slept until he woke naturally. After washing up and eating breakfast, he received a call from Pearl. Her voice came clearly through the phone.
"Miss Herta, I sincerely apologize for disturbing your rest, but I would still like to report on the Penacony Reverie Hotel's current situation."
"You're not disturbing me. I'm already awake anyway. Come to my dormitory and make your report in person."
"Yes."
Before long, Pearl arrived at Herta's dormitory and earnestly explained the Penacony Reverie Hotel's operating situation.
"Miss Herta, the Reverie Hotel has now reached one hundred percent occupancy. Countless people throughout the universe who wish to earn money have arrived on Penacony to mine Dreamstones and sell them to us. We then process those stones into Soul Gems for resale."
"That's a good thing. As for the hotel being fully occupied, simply expand the Reverie Hotel," Herman replied with a smile.
"The occupancy issue can indeed be solved by expanding the hotel, but the real problem lies with the sale of Soul Gems." Pearl analyzed the situation seriously.
"Based on the computing power of the Super Herta Astral Computer and the sales data provided by the IPC, a large portion of those purchasing Soul Gems come from factions aligned with Destruction—worlds that have been destroyed by the Antimatter Legion!"
"I strongly suspect that a Lord Ravager is purchasing Soul Gems."
Herman nodded upon hearing this. "Your suspicions are correct. One Lord Ravager has indeed been purchasing them all along. That Lord Ravager is Phantylia."
"What?!" Pearl froze. "But according to the information I received, whoever has been making those large-scale purchases is still continuously placing new orders today. Yet Phantylia has already been killed by you. Could it be that Phantylia never truly died, and that she somehow managed to escape?!"
"No. I truly did kill her once." Herman shook his head, rose from the sofa, and walked onto the balcony. Looking up at the starry sky, he said, "The reason she can still purchase Soul Gems is that she successfully resurrected and began a second life."
Pearl was stunned upon hearing those words. "Resurrection?!"
"That's right. Phantylia divided the source of her heliobus flame, placed a fragment of her dormant soul inside a Soul Gem, and established a mechanism that would reignite the heliobus flame after her original body died... Through that method, she achieved resurrection."
Pearl's thoughts ground to a halt. "Miss Herta, you mean that by splitting one's soul... and entrusting it to a Soul Gem, one can return even if the original body dies?"
Herman nodded slightly. "I named it a Soul Gem because it naturally possesses a method of carrying souls. However, ordinary people and common Pathstriders cannot use this resurrection method. After all, they cannot even perceive the form of their own souls."
"Phantylia is different. She is a great heliobus. Possession and the manipulation of souls and emotions are her greatest specialties... Splitting her soul is effortless for her."
"..." Pearl fell silent for a moment before saying, "If Phantylia is still alive, that means she will continue using schemes to overthrow one civilization after another from within."
"That is unlikely. She will not dare show herself again for some time." As Herman spoke, he used the Research System's abilities to sense Phantylia's condition with perfect clarity. At that very moment, Phantylia had already been bound to the Soul Gem and was wearing an adorable bright-yellow magical-girl outfit that she could not remove. The moment she went outside, she would suffer unbearable public humiliation.
More importantly, Phantylia's original ability to corrupt the emotions of an entire civilization from within had also been altered by her magical-girl state.
Originally, her emotional energy would cause people to experience negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, bloodlust, and sloth.
Through those emotions, she would cause people to grow jealous of and furious with one another.
Ultimately, she would guide them toward mutual slaughter and the final collapse of their civilization!
But now that Phantylia was in her magical-girl state, her heliobus power had also transformed. It could only bring living beings emotions such as happiness and joy. Under these circumstances, it was difficult for her to guide a civilization toward self-destruction.
For the time being, her power as a great heliobus was effectively crippled. She could only resolve problems through physical destruction.
However, Herman knew perfectly well that such methods did not conform to Phantylia's aesthetic of Destruction. Compared to physical annihilation, Phantylia preferred to attack civilizations from within, guiding them toward chaos and ruin.
Sitting on the sofa, Pearl vaguely understood at that moment that Miss Herta had installed a special back door in Soul Gem technology, one capable of monitoring Phantylia's movements.
That raised another question. Since Herta could monitor her, could she also control the Soul Gem carrying Phantylia's soul? If she truly could, did that not mean The Herta could already control a Lord Ravager's life and death?!
In the end, Pearl did not ask that question. Instead, she bowed in farewell to Herta and stated that she needed to return to Penacony to manage the Reverie Hotel.
"Wait for now," Herman said calmly. "My inspiration has been overflowing lately. It may not be long before I develop new technology. When that happens, I will need you to return and sign cooperation agreements with the various factions."
"Yes, Miss Herta."
Pearl agreed, inwardly marveling at the speed of Herta's scientific research.
Miss Herta's research speed is truly too fast. It has reached an absurd degree. She only just developed the Devil Tree and the Warp... yet she has already found new inspiration.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
Within the Simulated Laboratory, Herta, whose research points had reached four thousand five hundred, completed the analysis and research of two out of three major projects: the Soul Society, the Herta Xianzhou shipgirl, and the Plasma Spark Tower.
The first project Herta completed was the Herta Xianzhou · Shipgirl.
She had finished the Xianzhou's internal blueprints, as well as the design schematics for transforming it into a Galactic Shipgirl. At the same time, she had successfully crafted a Honkai: Star Rail universe version of a Wisdom Cube by hand within the Simulated Laboratory.
The Wisdom Cube would use the psionic enlightenment of the black sun within the Warp to awaken intelligence through mind over matter.
Soul Gem technology would then serve as its foundation.
Finally, energy from the Path of Erudition would be introduced as a vessel, while three special energy systems—stellar energy from the Solar Radiance Gene, Honkai energy, and another form of power—would circulate to provide it with an almost limitless energy supply.
With that, the Xianzhou's blueprints were complete! The Wisdom Cube could also be manufactured! As for the necessary materials, the IPC could supply all of them!
Regarding the workforce needed to build the Xianzhou, the Herta Puppets walking off the production lines were the perfect assistants!
All preparatory work for this creation was complete.
With those thoughts in mind, The Herta communicated seriously with Herman through their mental connection. 'Next, we need to purchase a massive quantity of materials. Construction of the Herta Xianzhou can now be placed on the agenda.'
Inside the room, Herman, who had been fooling around with Herta 05, suddenly heard The Herta's words and blinked. 'The Herta Xianzhou supermassive megastructure has already been fully researched? As expected of you, Herta.'
'Hmph.' The Herta huffed softly, then sent Herman the complete list of required materials. 'These materials will be needed for construction. Purchase them from the IPC. In addition, mobilize all the little Hertas and have them participate in constructing the megastructure.'
'No problem.'
Herman agreed immediately.
Seeing that the Second Madam Herta, who had been holding her, had suddenly gone blank, Herta 05 shrank her head back.
Could Madam Herta's consciousness be awakening? If she sees me being held in the Second Madam Herta's arms instead of working, she won't scold me, will she?
Herta 05 began struggling, only to discover that the Second Madam Herta was holding her extremely tightly. She hurriedly said, "Second Madam Herta, let go of me... If Madam Herta wakes up in a moment and notices that I'm sitting in your arms instead of working, she'll definitely scold me."
"Don't worry. She won't scold you." After saying that, Herman recalled that even the harshest insult Herta had directed at Stelle in the game was, "You should join the Dumb Society."
That kind of insult was far too feeble. It had practically no bite at all.
When The Herta heard Herta 05's words, she puffed out her cheeks and revealed an angry expression.
What is that supposed to mean?
Am I really such a terrible person in Herta 05's eyes?
It's not as though I'm a slave driver or some ruthless capitalist.
The Herta urged anxiously within his mind, 'Herman, hurry up and refute her. Defend me.'
'All right.'
Herman agreed inwardly, then raised a hand and stroked little Herta's head. Little Herta cooperatively revealed a comfortable expression and even rubbed her small face against Herman's palm.
The next moment, Herman smiled and said, "Little Herta, The Herta is your creator, not a slave driver. She loves you too."
Upon hearing that, Herta 05 raised her head and stared directly at Herman. Her gaze seemed to say:
Second Madam Herta, blink if The Herta is threatening you.
Noticing the change in Herta 05's expression, Herman said inwardly to The Herta, 'It seems my defense was completely useless. But this is also because you spend all your time conducting research and never accompany the little Hertas.'
'A genius' time is incomparably precious. Compared to accompanying the Hertas, I would rather keep knowledge company.' The Herta curled her lips, then hurriedly added, 'Now give little Herta a task. Have her organize and assemble the little Herta teams, then tell all of them to prepare for construction of the Herta Xianzhou megastructure.'
'Leave it to me.' Herman agreed, then opened his eyes and said to Herta 05, "Break time is over. You now have an extremely important task. Assemble all the Hertas and have them participate in a great megastructure project."
Herta 05 blinked and thought silently.
The Second Madam Herta went blank again just now. She must have been communicating with The Herta.
Sure enough, The Herta's consciousness has already awakened, and the first thing she did after waking was assign a task to a little Herta like me.
As expected, The Herta only treats us Hertas as tools.
The one who truly loves us is the Second Madam Herta!
After reaching that conclusion, Herta 05 hurriedly struggled free from Herman's arms and stood up. "Understood, Madam Herta. I will carry out your orders immediately."
After speaking, Herta 05 rushed out of the room.
Herman blinked as he watched her leave, then said to The Herta within his mind, 'It seems Herta 05 has already noticed that your consciousness has awakened. In her eyes, you assigned her a task the moment you woke up. Her opinion of you may continue worsening.'
'Of course, you could ask me for help. As long as you ask me nicely, I can say good things about you in front of the little Hertas.'
The Herta froze slightly upon hearing this, then said without hesitation, 'Please. No matter what, you must say good things about me in front of the Hertas... After all, they will be indispensable to the upcoming megastructure project.'
After speaking, The Herta silently added another sentence deep within her mind.
I, The Herta, don't want the Hertas to hate me!
"All right, all right. I'll help you."
Herman spoke with a smile.
He understood The Herta's somewhat tsundere personality extremely well.
Herman then took out his phone and contacted Jade of the IPC, explaining that he wished to place an order for the materials needed to construct the Herta Xianzhou.
Jade replied immediately, "Miss Herta, the IPC prepared some of the materials you require long ago. They have already been transported to a corner of The Blue star system for storage."
"They've already been prepared?"
"Yes... After all, you mentioned that you intended to construct a Xianzhou. Naturally, the IPC would not dare neglect the matter. You are one of our most important partners."
After speaking, Jade sent Herman a coordinate map showing the materials' location. She also explained that the remaining materials required to build the Xianzhou would be delivered to the designated location within twenty-four system hours.
"Excellent." Herman nodded slightly, then walked onto the balcony. After comparing the coordinates with the map, he quickly confirmed that a massive quantity of materials had indeed been piled within the cosmic void at one corner of The Blue star system, forming what resembled an asteroid belt.
The IPC truly is considerate... They certainly put enough care into dealing with a genius like Herta.
As Herman marveled inwardly, he heard The Herta ask:
'Herman, what happened to Venus? Wasn't it covered by extraordinarily dense clouds that trapped all its heat and raised the planet's temperature to an astonishing level? How did it become a life-bearing planet capable of supporting living creatures?'
"It was the work of the IPC and Ruan Mei." Gazing toward Venus, Herman explained calmly, "Half a month ago, the number of immigrants had already reached twenty billion. The Blue alone could not support such an enormous population. The IPC therefore contacted Ruan Mei and asked Ruanruan to disperse the thick clouds, allowing the heat trapped by Venus to escape!"
"They then carried out a sweeping transformation of Venus, the celestial body within The Blue star system, turning it into a habitable Gaia planet. At present, ten billion lifeforms who immigrated from all corners of the universe are already living there."
"In fact, Venus was not the only planet they transformed. Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, and the other terrestrial planets were also completely transformed through the IPC's immense investment."
"All of this happened during the brief half month you spent inside the Simulated Laboratory researching Xianzhou technology."
The Herta carefully extended her senses upon hearing this and discovered that Herman was correct. Among the eight planets of The Blue star system, every world with a solid surface, and even their moons, had been transformed by the IPC. This included the moon orbiting The Blue itself.
The planets they had not transformed were gas giants such as Jupiter... On Jupiter, the IPC had merely constructed a colossal city encircling the planet's surface.
After carefully sensing and observing the situation, The Herta said, 'Everything is indeed exactly as you described. The IPC has transformed every material celestial body that could be transformed.'
"Not only that. Not long ago, the IPC and the Blue Federation jointly sent me an invitation for a scientific research assignment. As long as I accept and complete it, I will receive an astronomical number of Credits."
'What research assignment?' A trace of curiosity flashed through The Herta's eyes.
"It's very simple. They want me to manufacture a new habitable celestial body within The Blue star system. According to the IPC, every existing planet has already been developed to its absolute limit. If they wish to continue accepting immigrants on a massive scale, they must create an entirely new planet."
Upon hearing this, The Herta quickly understood why the IPC had chosen not to transport an existing planet, instead inviting a genius to construct one.
The reason was simple. Every world, from a single star system to an entire galaxy, was separated from the others by bands of Imaginary tidal currents.
For an Emanator such as Herta herself, crossing an Imaginary tidal band was simple.
But for anyone else, artificially transporting an entire planet across an Imaginary tidal band would be unimaginably difficult.
First, moving a planet would require pulling it onto the star rail. Without placing it on the star rail... the light-years separating star systems within realspace would become an insurmountable obstacle.
After all, even light, traveling at three hundred thousand kilometers per second, would take years to reach another star system.
Using technology to transport a planet across dozens of light years would inevitably require even more time.
But that raised another problem. Even the Xianzhou Alliance's Xianzhou ships could not serve as research tools capable of transporting an entire planet. Perhaps only the Astral Express could accomplish such a feat.
Only the Astral Express' immense Trailblaze power could pull a planet while preventing the force of the towing process from tearing the planet apart. It could also prevent the planet from being swept away while passing through the tidal band.
The problem was that the Astral Express had already crashed.
Therefore, transporting a celestial body was almost impossible.
Unless Ruan Mei took action to enlighten an entire planet, bringing it to life while infusing it with an enormous amount of Erudition energy and artificially creating a combat celestial body similar to the demonic stars once created by Shuhu, Emanator of Abundance—the Ketu Mirage and the Devourer of Worlds.
Only such a combat celestial body could board the star rail and protect its planetary body while crossing the Imaginary tidal bands between different worlds, preventing itself from breaking apart or being swept away by the raging Imaginary energy within those tidal bands.
However, creating such a combat celestial body would consume an enormous amount of an Emanator's energy and Path power, inflicting a tremendous toll on the Emanator.
Otherwise, when Shuhu, Emanator of Abundance, had still been alive, he would not have created only a few demonic stars.
As for bypassing the Imaginary tidal bands through intergalactic jumps, that was impossible as well. Such abilities belonged solely to Emanators.
...
After considering all of this, Herta took a deep breath and said inwardly to Herman:
'The IPC's assignment to create a Gaia planet will be somewhat difficult.'
'After all, creating a planet would exert an enormous influence on the gravitational system of the entire star system. A single mistake could cause the entire gravitational system to collapse, triggering a chain reaction that would send every planet crashing into one another.'
'More importantly, constructing the planet's core would require it to generate vast quantities of energy, enough to create a planetary magnetic field and drive the planet's rotation... At the same time, the planet would need to rotate without affecting the original celestial gravitational system of The Blue star system.'
Herman asked with a smile, "So you intend to reject the assignment?"
'Of course not.' Herta shook her head. 'Constructing a planet and integrating it into an existing celestial gravitational system may be difficult, but that does not mean I cannot solve the problem... After all, I am Herta.'
'However, completing that assignment will have to be postponed. The most important task right now is constructing a Herta Xianzhou.'
"You're right."
...
Twenty-four system hours later, Herman returned to the rooftop. He saw that the IPC had already dispatched vessels from the Building Material Logistics Department and delivered all the materials required for The Herta's construction project to the designated location.
Herman lowered his gaze and saw a dense army of little Hertas standing beneath the dormitory building. Their numbers had already reached the thousands, and that was merely the maximum number the dormitory campus could contain, not the limit of how many little Hertas existed.
Even more little Hertas filled the athletic field, basketball courts, classrooms, and streets.
At that moment, The Blue's First University had been completely filled by little Hertas.
As for the university's students?
They had long since received a notice from the Ministry of Education. At that moment, all of them had been squeezed outside the university grounds, where they continued discussing the situation.
Within Herta City, many factions from across the universe also noticed the gathering of Herta Puppets... At that moment, they all realized that the genius who had enlightened the wisdom of every lifeform in the entire star system half a month ago was preparing to make another major move.
Amid the crowd, Giovanni murmured, "Herta's technology is awe-inspiring... This time, she is probably going to develop another terrifying technology!"
Standing beside him, Sampo said, "Perhaps Herta will experience her first failure during this project."
Giovanni asked, "Sampo, are you planning to interfere? Are you going to use the power of Elation to influence Herta's research and guide it toward failure?!"
"Hey, hey, hey, don't say things like that... I have no desire to provoke someone as terrifying as Herta. Old Sampo still remembers perfectly well how she killed a Lord Ravager of Destruction half a month ago!"
Sampo hurriedly denied the accusation. "I'm merely curious. I want to see what Miss Herta is planning to research with such an enormous display..."