Firefly swiftly pressed the transformation device. In that instant, the device's wings unfurled, radiating countless firefly-like glimmers that wrapped around her entire body.
In the blink of an eye, Firefly transformed from a girl into SAM—and not just any form, but the Empress armor in a fully ignited state. It was incomparably magnificent, brimming with power. The wings spread behind her were dazzlingly beautiful.
"So cool."
Stelle's eyes lit up instantly. "This is great, Firefly. Not only did you recover from Entropy Loss Syndrome this time, you've also gained a second form."
"Now, I'm not the only one in the Stellaron Hunters who can transform anymore." Silver Wolf gave a thumbs-up.
Kafka carefully examined her, a faint smile curling at her lips as she commented, "Not bad."
As for Elio, he didn't comment. Instead, in that instant, he gazed into countless futures, confirming that this was Firefly's new future—her new possibility.
In the past, he had never seen a future where Firefly transformed into the Glamoth Empress. This was a good thing... and it was also a change brought about by Herta.
Thinking this, Elio also raised a paw in approval toward Firefly.
"Thank you, everyone. But the reason I can take on this form is all thanks to Miss Herta and Miss Ruan Mei." Firefly's voice grew solemn as she continued, "If either of you ever needs me in the future, no matter where I am—even across countless worlds—I will come to help."
Firefly was certain that, having temporarily escaped the breakdown symptoms of Entropy Loss Syndrome and ascended to the level of an Empress, she had already reached the threshold of the Path of Propagation.
Just one step more, and she could ascend to become an Emanator—reaching Emanator-level combat power.
More importantly, she still held a trump card granted by Elio—or rather, by Terminus. If she used that trump card, she could even unleash power equivalent to an Emanator directly.
"Good." Herman smiled. "If something really comes up in the future, I won't hold back."
Ruan Mei nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Elio also spoke. "You've cured Firefly. That is a great favor to the Stellaron Hunters. If you ever encounter a life-or-death crisis in the future, the forces of Finality will take action."
Elio spoke with utmost seriousness. Of course, a large part of why he said this was because he truly wanted to see Herta continue living—continuing to reshape this universe, to see what it could ultimately become.
Stelle crossed her arms at her waist and strongly agreed. "That's right. I'll step in when the time comes!"
A smile tugged at Silver Wolf's lips. "If you ever run into trouble, just ask the αWolf of Punklorde for help. Big Sis αWolf will take action!"
As she said this, Silver Wolf even felt a hint of anticipation. She truly wanted to see Herta come to her for help... that scene would definitely be interesting.
Blade maintained his stern expression and said calmly, "The Blood of Abundance must be kept safe. Don't let anything go wrong again. Shuhu must never be revived, or else... all past sacrifices will have been in vain."
"Mm."
Herman nodded.
At that moment, Elio seemed to glimpse something in the future. A glimmer flashed through his feline eyes as he said, "Everyone, it's time to move. A Stellaron is already wreaking havoc in another world. If we ignore it, it will disrupt the script... so we need to depart and retrieve it now."
After speaking, Elio glanced at the group of cat cakes. "Want something tasty? Get on the ship!"
"Yay!"
"Yay, food!"
"Eat, eat, eat..."
The cat cakes hopped along excitedly, following Elio onto the Stellaron Hunters' ship.
At that moment, Stelle looked at Herta with shining eyes. "Goodbye, Herta. Next time, I hope you invent even more interesting—and powerful—technology."
Herman crossed his arms. "Of course. I'm Herta—my technology will always be both interesting and powerful."
"Mm-hmm."
Stelle smiled in agreement and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Silver Wolf looked at Herta seriously. "Who knows when we'll meet again next time. So... can I take a look at your Aether Cartridge level?"
"Of course."
Herman didn't hesitate. He took out the Aether Cartridge that Herta had created on Punklorde not long ago. The display showed:
Player Name: Herta.
Player Level: 520.
Potential Level: Unlimited!
???
Looking at the data on Herta's Aether Cartridge, Silver Wolf couldn't help but have a flood of question marks pop up in her mind as she asked, "Okay, becoming an Emanator and reaching level 520—that's reasonable. But what's with 'unlimited potential'?"
Herman replied calmly, "I made this cartridge myself. Of course I can modify the data however I like. And I firmly believe my potential has no upper limit—no ceiling at all."
Silver Wolf fell silent for a moment before saying, "Not just you—my potential has no limits either. Next time we meet, I'll break past the boundary and surpass level 999. After all, I now have another me—αWolf—supporting me."
Herman chuckled. "You should retrieve your cartridge from Elio first before making bold claims, little wolf pup."
"Oh right, my cartridge..."
Realizing the key issue, Silver Wolf hurriedly turned and dashed toward Elio.
Firefly waved goodbye to Herta and Ruan Mei, then blasted upward with a burst of propulsion, rapidly flying toward the ship.
As for Blade, after reminding Herta earlier to keep the Blood of Abundance safe, he had already returned to the ship.
Vroom—
The Stellaron Hunters' vessel sped forward, traveling along the star rails into the cosmos.
After finishing their cleanup, Herta and Ruan Mei also prepared to withdraw and return to The Blue's star system.
However, the aftermath of this great battle in the Yongmei Star System had only just begun to ferment.
For example, beyond the world of Amphoreus, electrical signals flickered continuously. Lygus stood in a pose resembling an ancient Greek statue, one hand resting on his chin as he pondered:
The Irontomb virus had indeed been spread across the Yongmei Star System. Under normal circumstances... neither Herta nor Ruan Mei should have been able to crack it.
Moreover, given the invasive nature of the Irontomb virus, it should overload and burn out all technology.
Ruan Mei resisting the virus for a time with the power of an Emanator of Erudition—that was understandable.
But Herta was abnormal. She showed no strain at all. The moment she detected the Irontomb virus, she cracked it immediately. That was completely unreasonable.
According to his calculations, even the Lord of Silence would not be able to crack the Irontomb virus that quickly.
Herta?
A genius who had only just become an Emanator of Erudition—how could she cracked the Irontomb virus so easily?
In this world, the only one who should be able to crack the Irontomb virus with ease... should be himself, the wielder of Scepter δ-me13.
The more Lygus thought, the deeper his frown became. In the end, he turned his gaze inward toward Amphoreus and couldn't help but think:
Could it be that Nous intervened to help Herta? But the problem is... I didn't sense any disturbance in the Path of Erudition. What exactly is going on?!
While Lygus was troubled, Fuli of Amphoreus—who had been observing Amphoreus as a bystander—blinked lightly, thinking to herself:
Herta has done something remarkable out there, something even Lygus finds troublesome.
But that's a good thing!
I quite enjoy seeing Lygus frown and hit a wall.
As she thought this, a faint smile curled at the corner of her lips. She then cast her gaze into the distant void beyond Amphoreus, silently thinking.
Herta, I hope you'll make Lygus suffer even more setbacks in the future.
...
Meanwhile, after Diamond reported the intelligence of the Yongmei Star System to the Seven-Member Board of Directors, the Interastral Peace Corporation—the colossal power of the universe—was shaken.
Most members of the board had never expected that a war among the Aeons had been so close to them—so close that it had nearly erupted completely. Even Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, had almost entered the fray.
"Diamond, you've done well." One of the board members praised seriously. "Preventing the escalation of the war is beneficial to the IPC's development."
Diamond replied, "Maintaining the order of the universe is already the IPC's responsibility. After all, the IPC belongs to the Path of Preservation and serves the great Amber Lord!"
The board did not refute this. They then began a serious discussion on how to prevent such sudden, large-scale wars from occurring in the future.
After all, according to Diamond's report, the battle in the Yongmei Star System had been far too dangerous. The number of factions involved had already exceeded five fingers.
The Genius Society, the Propagation Swarm, Elation, the IPC, the Xianzhou Alliance's Xianzhou Luofu, Abundance's demonic star, the Borisin, the Nameless, the Lord Ravagers of Destruction... all together, the factions were nearing ten.
If the conflict in the Yongmei Star System had escalated further and Nanook of Destruction had descended... there was no guarantee that other Aeons would not intervene as well.
Although the probability of other Aeons entering the battlefield was extremely low, as long as there was even the slightest chance, a war among the Aeons would inevitably arrive!
As the guardian of cosmic peace, the Interastral Peace Corporation had to eliminate this possibility.
After all, if peace were lost, cosmic trade would be interrupted. Without trade, the IPC would not be able to earn more Credits or acquire more materials "to build walls for the Amber Lord."
Soon, the Interastral Peace Entertainment News reported on the massive battle involving nearly ten factions in the Yongmei Star System. Before long, more than half the cosmos became aware of this event.
In an instant, news of the Yongmei Star System war shot to the top of the cosmos' trending searches. Countless people were shocked upon reading it, many realizing for the first time that the universe had been just a step away from entering a divine war.
And once a war between gods truly broke out, no matter which side's Path-origin power was devoured, the aftermath would affect dozens—if not hundreds—of Amber Eras to come.
More importantly, if such a divine war truly occurred... countless lives would be lost, and even the universe itself could be overturned!!
In the comment section of the Yongmei Star System war, countless people discussed fervently:
"I survived another day by luck. This must be the Amber Lord protecting me—praise the great Amber Lord, praise Qlipoth!"
"According to the Interastral Peace Entertainment reporters, this war began because Herta obtained the blood of an Emanator of Abundance, and that Emanator, Shuhu, sought to revive. In the end, they joined forces with the Lord Ravagers and the Antimatter Legion to wage war against Herta!"
"But Miss Herta, the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, is seriously impressive. She's only been a genius for a month, yet she's already gathered so many allies. According to the news, her allies already exceed five factions."
"The Xianzhou Alliance, the Nameless... multiple top-tier universal factions are all allies of Miss Herta."
"It seems Miss Herta isn't just intelligent and beautiful—her emotional intelligence must be high too. Otherwise, she could never have found so many allies in such a short time and united them against the Lord Ravagers!"
"I'm in love with Miss Herta—so elegant and intelligent!"
"Madam Herta fan group ID here! Apply to join the fan group created by Herta 66. You can watch live streams of Herta 66. Contribute your faith power and create a simulated version of Madam Herta!"
"I'm joining!"
+1
...
On this day, Herta's name became the hottest topic across the interastral network.
Many who knew Herta—such as Lanvelle and Patavia—found their expressions rather strange when they saw netizens in the comment section praising Herta's emotional intelligence.
The reason was simple. From their understanding, Herta spoke bluntly and often struck straight at people's sore spots. High emotional intelligence simply didn't fit her at all.
At the same time, after reading the trending cosmic news, they confirmed that their earlier guesses had been entirely correct:
Miss Herta, after developing the Super Herta Astral Computer, had indeed gone on to do something monumental.
Good grief—she had battled Lord Ravagers like Phantylia and Celenova.
She had confronted Asat Pramad and Zephyro!
She had even come within a hair's breadth of escalating the conflict into a universe-wide catastrophe—a war among the Aeons!
It was terrifying to the extreme!
Even more crucially, according to the news, the star system where the battlefield was located had already been shattered. An entire system was breaking apart. This level of warfare made countless people tremble.
...
On another front, aboard the Xianzhou Luofu of the Xianzhou Alliance, Jing Yuan described the events of the Yongmei Star System battle during a general's meeting.
After listening, Marshal Hua said seriously, "According to Yao Guang's deductions, the Reignbow Arbiter once cast Their gaze upon the Yongmei Star System."
Jing Yuan's pupils contracted. "The Reignbow Arbiter lowered Their gaze?"
"Mm." Yao Guang nodded solemnly. "Just before the Destruction Progenitor cast its gaze upon the Yongmei Star System, at that moment, there may have been a confrontation between the Reignbow Arbiter and the Destruction Progenitor—perhaps even on the verge of war!"
Jing Yuan's eyes trembled. "In other words, if we had insisted on continuing the battle earlier, a war among the Aeons might truly have occurred?!"
Yao Guang replied, "This possibility cannot be denied. But if the Reignbow Arbiter had descended, the Yongmei Star System would have been completely destroyed. Everyone would have perished... the Arbiter's Lux Arrows would have eradicated not only Destruction, but all life as well!"