Herta's Discovery

After Jingxing left the office, Ruan Mei set down the glass dish and placed her latest creation on it.

"Can someone who only set foot on a Path two months ago actually fend me off?" she said. "He's progressing so quickly."

"I saw that," Herta replied as she sorted through her data. "You tried to do something to him just before he left."

"I only wanted to observe his growth." Ruan Mei spoke naturally, without a trace of regret at her failure. "Idrila's gaze was reproduced in him. He has a chance to become the Emanator of Beauty you've always dreamed of. You're curious too, aren't you, Herta?"

"No. He still owes me thirty billion." Herta gave a tap of her toe, sending her chair spinning. "Until his debt is cleared, I have an obligation to protect him."

"I can pay it on his behalf. Then he can repay me by cooperating with my experiments. From an efficiency standpoint, that would be more advantageous to you."

Herta stopped her spinning chair and stared at her. "Ruan Mei, you should know I won't agree to that."

Ruan Mei didn't deny it. She simply continued, "I thought that, to you, I was more important as a partner, as was the Metaverse. Let me study him, and I'm confident I can take the Metaverse project a step further. You should understand that, so you must have a reason for refusing me."

Herta fell silent for so long that Ruan Mei thought she wasn't going to answer.

"Although you already know his eyes are special," Herta said, "Ruan Mei, when I first scanned him, I thought I'd already seen that his eyes were, in essence, a blessing from an Aeon."

"So they aren't?"

"For the most part, they are. But amid those layers upon layers of Imaginary Energy, I caught a glimpse of a bit of noise. It doesn't belong to any known Path, and it even interferes with my calculations of the Herta Constant Formula." Herta shook her head. "It's a fragment from beyond this galaxy."

"Then I'm just the right person to experiment on him." Ruan Mei's voice seemed to grow a little more self-assured.

"As if." Herta spread her hands. "His eyes are my most important research subject right now, apart from the Metaverse."

"Don't you want to cut them open and take a look?" Ruan Mei asked.

"I've considered it." Herta shook her head. "But my genius intuition tells me there's madness at the core of that noise."

She looked toward Azure Star. "I don't want to destroy this place."

The stationmaster's office was in the same section. When Jingxing walked in, Asta was waiting for him, just as Herta had said. Three documents, two cards, and a portable terminal lay on the desk. Although Asta looked about the same age as Jingxing, the brisk efficiency with which she handled the paperwork made her look every bit the career professional, a stark contrast to a freelancer like him.

"Your housing allowance, identification, and pass." She pushed the documents and cards over to him. "The supply ship leaves tomorrow at seven in the morning, standard time. Don't miss it."

"The supply ship?"

"Everyone on the space station has to eat," Asta explained. "The corporation would love to make that money, but Ms. Herta insists on buying food from Azure Star for our supplies. Only food for staff with special circumstances goes through the corporation's channels."

Jingxing could tell without much thought that the accounting would be far more complicated than leaving everything to the corporation.

"Thank you for all your hard work, Ms. Asta," he said, unable to help himself.

"It's no trouble at all." Asta's expression was serious. "I could never repay Ms. Herta's kindness with just this work."

Jingxing's lips twitched. "Why does it feel like there are people everywhere who owe her all kinds of debts?"

Before Asta could speak, a Herta Puppet suddenly cut in. "Of course. That's because Ms. Herta is so great."

"Sorry—" Jingxing was about to apologize to Herta, who had caught him grumbling about her, when the Herta Puppet raised both arms—

"Ms. Herta is without equal in all the world! Ms. Herta is a peerless genius! Ms. Herta is so beautiful that fish sink and geese fall from the sky!"

"This is..." Jingxing, unable to make sense of what was happening, looked at Asta.

Asta smiled and explained, "It's all right. That's the Herta Puppet's praise function, so please don't mind it. Of course, Mr. Jingxing, you're welcome to join in the praise."

Figuring that joining in wouldn't get his debt reduced anyway, Jingxing shook his head and left the office with the documents and cards. But now he knew that a Herta Puppet he encountered wasn't necessarily Herta herself.

Early the next morning, Jingxing boarded the ship bound for Azure Star. The staff members traveling with him closed their eyes to catch up on sleep as soon as they boarded. Jingxing stayed by the porthole alone, watching the planet, so blue it was almost black, fill his field of vision bit by bit.

The ship jolted a few times as it passed through the clouds. By the time it steadied, the Herta Mountain Range had emerged above the sea of clouds—a jagged black stone peak poking through it. How should he put it... thinking of the Herta Puppet's height, the contrast was quite something.

Jingxing stared through the porthole at Mount Herta's highest peak. As he watched, his eyes began to move on their own. The lines of the ridges, the paths of the cloud bands, the light and shade on the snowy slopes... all became flowing lines.

He snapped his gaze away, his heart racing so fast it frightened him. When he looked out the window again, the mountain was still a mountain, the clouds were still clouds, and the lines had vanished completely. Only the white light reflected off the snowy slopes remained, stinging his eyes until they ached.

Jingxing leaned back in his seat and took a moment to recover, then began settling on the final version in his mind.

It was still early when the ship landed at the designated location. After briefly greeting two of the staff members, Jingxing headed alone to the accommodations Asta had arranged for him.

As one might expect of the Herta Space Station's stationmaster, the hotel she had arranged was quite luxurious. Jingxing received VIP treatment as well, with someone assigned to show him to his room.

After entering the room, Jingxing closed the door and put down his luggage. The room was large without feeling empty, and through the window, Mount Herta stood close by in perfect clarity. He could almost paint it from here without ever going outside.

Jingxing took the easel out of his suitcase, set it up by the window, and took a deep breath.

"I'd better get myself ready first." Although he was eager to find out whether Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer could elevate a painting he had put his all into into a Curio, he first needed to make sure he was in top condition to put his all into it.

Before heading out for a meal, he pulled out his phone.

First, he sent Robin a message: [I've arrived. Ms. Asta generously arranged a very nice hotel for me. Are you busy right now?]

Robin replied almost immediately: [I'm about to go onstage. Get some rest. I know you can do it!]

[Jingxing: All right, good luck with the show! I'll go watch your livestream now.]

He sat back down on the bed, switched on the television, and moved to another chat window. Yunli had sent him a message two hours ago, but he had been so absorbed in the view outside that he hadn't noticed.

[Yunli: Have you arrived? Is Herta easy to talk to?]

[Jingxing: I'm here. Ms. Herta didn't make things difficult for me, but she doesn't think I can do it, either.]

[Yunli: Then show her what you're made of!]

[Jingxing: Don't worry. I'll definitely paint something worthy of Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer.]

[Yunli: You can do it.]

"Yunli, we're about to set sail. Stop looking at your Jade Abacus! Once we leave, who knows how long it'll be before we stop again?" Just as Yunli was thinking about what else to say, someone called her name.

"Coming!" Yunli put down her Jade Abacus.