As soon as the words left her mouth, the Judgment of Shamash reappeared in Kiana's hand.
Although that earlier strike of Might of An-Utu Unsealed had indeed drained a great deal of her power, she had also just received another massive upgrade.
Even without having fully recovered, her combat strength was still enough to stand at the very top of the galaxy.
And, sure enough, Polka stopped where she was.
"War?" she said evenly. "I think you misunderstand me, Miss Kiana. I only want to talk. About this Theresa."
Kiana remained noncommittal.
She wasn't particularly surprised that Polka knew about Theresa.
After all, Polka's passive ability really was absurdly overpowered.
According to rumor, as long as someone somewhere in the galaxy was thinking about her, speaking of her, or dwelling on her, that woman would immediately sense it.
There was probably some exaggeration in that, but it still said enough about what she was capable of.
Still, since Polka had come because of Theresa, Kiana felt there was room to work with this.
Judging by the level Polka had shown, her efficiency as a "power bank" was only likely to be higher than Herta's, not lower.
"Talk?" Kiana said calmly. "Don't tell me even you, Lord of Silence, have lost all memory related to my aunt?"
As expected, the moment Kiana said that, Polka's expression grew serious.
At first, when she had learned of Theresa, Polka hadn't believed a word of it. She had assumed that some Emanator-level Fictionologist had tampered with Kiana's memories.
But after Herta and the others' experiments, Polka had immediately realized something was very wrong.
And she had acted quickly.
Unlike Herta, who had limited her testing to herself, Ruan Mei, and a randomly chosen staffer, Polka had done things on a vastly different scale.
In the span of just four hours, without anyone noticing, she had conducted examinations on herself and on lifeforms across countless inhabited worlds.
And sure enough, she too had found traces of Enigmata flickering within them.
So she expanded the scope and intensity of her investigation even further, even pulling in a few collaborators.
The result was still the same.
What was more, after analyzing the Enigmata covering the entire galaxy, Polka had discovered traces of Erudition mixed in with it.
At that point, even Polka had no choice but to take this matter seriously.
After a moment, she finally answered, "That's right. Even I do not remember such a genius ever having been born in this galaxy."
Kiana only gave a faint laugh.
"So the great Lord of Silence has come in person just to confirm that?"
Polka did not answer directly. Instead, she asked, "How much do you know about Theresa?"
"My aunt…" Kiana swayed her head slightly, putting on a thoughtful look.
Truthfully, in a situation like this—a dangerous figure suddenly appearing, seemingly with ill intent, then refusing to retreat even after being exposed and trying to obtain information from her instead—
if Kiana truly had equal strength, she should have gone straight for the throat.
But considering Polka's potential as a high-quality power bank, Kiana decided it was worth talking to her properly.
"I think she once said she was a Perfect Scholar."
Polka's eyes widened at once.
"That's impossible!"
Perfect Scholar.
To outsiders, those words might sound like nothing more than some level of Erudition beyond the common idea of genius.
But Polka knew exactly what they meant.
Perfect Scholar was not a title.
It was a state of being—a state that was enough to become true Erudition itself.
In the entire history of the galaxy, there had only ever been one being who could truly be called a Perfect Scholar:
Nous, the Aeon of Erudition.
Other than that, no second person in all of galactic history had ever reached such a realm.
And yet now, Kiana was saying that Theresa had been a Perfect Scholar too?
"You're lying." Polka's voice calmed again, but her gaze sharpened. "Until I see this Theresa with my own eyes, I will regard all information related to her with suspicion."
"Do you have any proof?" she pressed.
At that, even Kiana lost interest in continuing this tug-of-war.
Tch. This woman really was hard to deal with. Not even a single point out of her.
Back when Kiana had dealt with Herta and Ruan Mei, even when they had still only been in the doubt stage, they had still given her points.
Not many, but at least some.
But Polka?
So far she had been a complete miser—stingy down to the bone.
Kiana spread her hands.
"And why should I prove anything to you?"
"Aren't you the Lord of Silence? If you want that information, go verify it yourself. Why ask me?"
Polka fell silent. She clearly hadn't expected Kiana to turn on a dime like that.
Still, Kiana was right on one point.
"You're not wrong. I should verify such things myself," Polka said. "But perhaps… you could help me."
Kiana answered flatly, "We barely know each other. Why would I help you?"
Polka replied, "Because you want to know too, don't you?"
"Theresa Apocalypse. Your aunt. The second seat of the Genius Society. A Perfect Scholar. A being who created Nous together with Zandar."
"Someone like that was erased from the memory of the entire galaxy by Enigmata. Don't you find that strange? Don't you want to know the truth?"
"If you come back with me, then once I confirm these things for myself, I will help you uncover the truth."
"Well?"
When Polka finished, silence fell once more.
Kiana looked at the Fourth Seat of the Genius Society standing before her and began calculating inwardly.
Why did all these geniuses love abducting people so much?
Herta wanted to take her.
Ruan Mei wanted to take her.
And now Polka wanted to take her too.
Since when had she become such a hot commodity among the Genius Society?
Still, compared to Herta and Ruan Mei, Polka's appeal was far lower.
Leaving aside how stingy she was—not even dropping Kiana a single point—
just her reason for wanting to take Kiana away was enough to make the answer impossible.
What a joke.
Go back with her and help prove Theresa's information? Wasn't that just asking Kiana to lift a rock and smash her own foot with it?
If she went along, never mind whether she could keep farming points from Polka—just being watched by her every day would put all of Kiana's fabricated personas at risk of exposure.
And that was something Kiana absolutely could not allow.
In that case, the answer was obvious.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 26
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