'Robin' felt a certain inexplicable complexity coloring her thoughts as she listened to the conclusion Herta had drawn.
She went over it one more time, tracing the entire logic of the hypothesis.
"Hmm… so everything Ena did was actually out of... kindness?"
Since the Path had been polluted, any action taken would have been considered normal.
Moreover, despite the pollution, the overall power of Order had been intensifying. For Ena to choose suicide so directly could only mean THEY simply didn't want to live anymore.
While 'Robin' found it quite surprising, no matter how she looked at it, that truly seemed to be the case.
"It appears so. It seems Ena was even more exacting than I imagined. The Order she pursued was perhaps one that was just, beautiful, and absolute."
Hearing her conclusion, Herta let out a soft chuckle in her ear.
"Can you really use adjectives like that for an Aeon? Don't personify them too much."
Herta clearly didn't quite agree with 'Robin's' description.
"Hey, as long as the meaning gets across. Let's just keep moving forward."
Under Herta's operation, the frozen stream of time leaped forward once again.
The general overview of the Swarm Disaster unfolded before the two of them. Of course, in this simulation, they were focusing more on the fluctuations within Order.
Just as they had surmised: as the Swarm Disaster spread further, the Order that people craved out of fear began its own further disordered expansion.
Once this power reached a certain threshold, even 'Robin'—without needing to delve deep—could feel the emptiness and static hidden beneath that swelling strength.
What was even more noteworthy was that throughout the entire Swarm Disaster, Ena of Order barely made an appearance.
They were in a state of total strike.
'Robin' clicked her tongue.
"Fine… Ena even refused to respond to the mistaken pleas of the people. Though, it might also be because the essence of Propagation was merely survival, not the destruction of anything in particular."
"That's why I said, don't use human likes and dislikes to define Aeons. To Ena, THEY were likely contemplating how to handle the overall situation and their own funeral arrangements at that time."
Herta's tone grew a bit more excited. Because, after the Swarm Disaster progressed to a certain point, the Aeon finally made a move.
Ena of Order sent an invitation to Preservation, even entrusting THEM with a heavy responsibility.
"Wow~ this footage is way more detailed than the memories from Divine Herta!"
Herta's voice was buzzing with excitement, while 'Robin' was focused more on sensing the power of Order.
The story on the surface followed the memories of Divine Herta. Order finally appeared, and then THEIR Path intersected with that of Preservation in a single instant.
After that, Order vanished.
The time within the Simulated Universe froze at that very moment.
Herta's voice, brimming with curiosity, rang out:
"Essentially, the whole process matches Divine Herta's memories without any errors. So, theoretically, this is where Ena committed suicide after handing some sort of responsibility over to Preservation. What do you feel?"
'Robin' was participating in the simulation as a Child of Order. On the level of the Path, she could sense Ena's disappearance with total clarity.
"The power is being absorbed into a Path with immense inclusivity… that has to be Harmony. But… it feels like Harmony's process of swallowing Order wasn't all that smooth. Order was too strong, especially during that period."
Throughout this process, 'Robin' continuously sensed the Path of Order as it was being devoured by Harmony.
This sensation even helped deepen her own understanding of the current Path of Harmony.
As for Herta, she was busy recording the data changes of the 'Child of Order' during the entire sequence.
It had to be admitted that 'Robin's' talent in this area was the real deal.
Divine Herta had managed to measure plenty of data relying only on that special Stellaron brat, but when it came to the parts concerning Order and Harmony, it couldn't compare to the detail Herta was collecting today.
"And I don't know how to put this, Herta, but… the relationship between Ena and Xipe feels very delicate."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"I can feel that Order was actively pleading to be swallowed by Harmony. Ena didn't just resolutely choose suicide; They were even urging Xipe to consume THEM. Rather than a suicide, it felt more like a fusion."
'Robin' felt many things. Perhaps benefiting from Bai Ming's own memory-related abilities, she was able to perceive more delicate details while the Simulated Universe was running.
"I can feel Ena begging Xipe to hurry and devour THEIR flesh and blood, to inherit THEIR covenant… perhaps beyond these appearances, Ena had reached some kind of agreement with Xipe long ago."
"Based on current intel, that seems to be the case. I'll try inputting your hypothesis, but unfortunately, even with the current Simulated Universe, it's still impossible to perfectly replicate the communication between Aeons."
Herta tried to investigate what Ena had been doing behind the scenes of the Swarm Disaster.
The good news was that Ena had indeed done something, and it involved other Aeons.
The bad news was that even the current Simulated Universe couldn't decipher how they communicated.
It wasn't that the information couldn't be intercepted, but rather that the encryption was fundamentally beyond human comprehension.
"Still, it's not a big deal. I wasn't that dying to know the speaking style of Aeons anyway. The intel from your side, Bai Ming, is enough for me to deduce what happened."
Herta said this, then paused suddenly.
"However, there's still one inexplicable Path that I can't link to the events for now."
"The Voracity?"
"Yeah. Compared to the others, this one… The Voracity was fighting tooth and nail with the Swarm in the early stages, and then suddenly vanished. Damn it, even this version of the Simulated Universe can't run it? Bai Ming, can you turn into a Leviathan next time to run the simulation?"
Herta lamented that the disappearance of the Voracity remained a mystery.
Mainly, throughout the event, Voracity arrived with great fanfare and left inexplicably. This resulted in THEM having very little presence, leaving behind very little information to deduce.
'Robin' only felt a wave of speechlessness.
"...Obviously not."
"Ugh, when is your ability going to evolve?"
"Evolve more? I can already turn into Fuli. If I could really choose freely, I'd just pick Permanence or Beauty next time. Wouldn't that just blow everything up?"
'Robin' didn't think much of her own complaining, but Herta caught the key information.
"What do you mean? Didn't your last experience building the Simulated Universe turn you into a Pure Child of Anasrava? What do you mean by Fuli?"
"Uh… last time, didn't I become the Simulated Universe's Fuli in the identity of Demiurge? It seems like I can turn into Demiurge again in the future, as Fuli..."
"You had this kind of capability and didn't say so earlier?!!!"
Herta's voice jumped an entire octave!
"There was no point in saying it. I can't change now, and I won't be able to for a long time to come."
"Phew..."
Herta began to take deep breaths. She had always thought that after the Simulated Universe was established, that identity of Bai Ming's would be stuck inside forever—equivalent to a total sacrifice.
In the end, this person tells her that not only can she still turn into Demiurge, but it's even the Demiurge that became Fuli?
Just how many secrets was this person hiding from her?
Right now, Herta really wanted to lock Bai Ming in a small dark room and take complete control of her.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL