Herta, Peerless Under Heaven

Mingdu.

At the top of a skyscraper, a Soul Tool elevator came to a leisurely stop. With a ding, its silver-gray metal doors slid open to either side.

Xu Tianming stepped out of the elevator.

By then, he had changed into the Fools' standard black military uniform. The tailored uniform outlined his tall, upright figure, with dark gold patterns embroidered along the lapels and epaulets. A black cloak draped down from behind his shoulders, its edges swaying gently with the airflow.

He wore a black mask that covered the upper half of his face, revealing only a pair of icy red eyes.

At that moment, he was no longer Xu Tianming, the seventh prince of the Sun Moon Empire.

He was Aether, a member of the Fools.

A mysterious Soul Master with the Golden Dragon Martial Soul, whose identity had been completely severed from the Sun Moon Empire.

To conceal his identity, Xu Tianming had not even brought any items representing the royal family. Even his Soul Power aura had been disguised, transforming him completely into another person.

For the past two years, he had been leaving the palace in similar ways. Using a disguise Soul Tool made by Herta, Rita would temporarily assume his appearance and remain in Mo Mang Palace.

Meanwhile, the real Xu Tianming would take Karna around to clear out the Rift Realm.

It was precisely thanks to that convenience that he had amassed enough Wish Power in only three years to summon Rita, Herta, and the Fools' third-ranked Harbinger, Columbina.

Xu Tianming walked to the end of the top floor.

There was no ordinary office area here. The surrounding walls were made of silvery-white metal, the floor was paved with black crystals, and several Soul Tool lamps floated in midair, casting a cold purple glow.

Small Herta Puppets stood along both sides of the corridor.

They all had the petite figures of young girls, with long ash-brown hair falling to their waists. Their blunt bangs lay neatly against their foreheads, their purple eyes were clear and bright, and their delicate features carried a distant, impersonal chill.

Black berets rested atop their heads, each decorated with a purple lily pinned to one side.

They wore short black-and-purple Lolita dresses, white ruffles spreading along their collars and hems. Black short gloves covered their slender hands, while low-heeled leather shoes adorned their feet.

Delicate mechanical structures were hidden at their joints. They looked like a group of exquisite dolls displayed in a shop window—except every single one of those dolls belonged to Herta.

Xu Tianming stopped before one of the Herta Puppets.

The puppet had been hanging her head as if in standby mode. Sensing someone approach, she slowly raised her head, and her purple eyes lit up.

Xu Tianming took off his glove and casually raised a hand.

"Herta, I'm here."

The Little Herta Puppet blinked. The next second, her expression turned solemn, and her voice abruptly rose.

"Special conditions detected."

"Activating remote puppet automatic praise mode."

"Lady Herta is peerless under heaven!!!"

"Lady Herta is incomparably brilliant!!!"

"Lady Herta possesses beauty that puts fish to shame and makes geese fall!!!"

The corridor fell silent for two seconds. Xu Tianming's mouth twitched. He really wanted to complain...

But considering that this was Herta's personal style, he ultimately held back. After all, Lady Herta's narcissism had never required anyone else's understanding.

The Little Herta Puppet continued to maintain her solemn expression.

"Lady Herta is exceptionally talented."

"Lady Herta possesses both beauty and wisdom."

"Lady Herta~~~"

"That's enough."

Xu Tianming raised a hand to interrupt her.

"If you keep praising her, you'll flatter the walls of this lab into collapse."

The Little Herta Puppet tilted her head.

"Praise mode interruption detected."

"Would you like to switch to Lady Herta Is in a Bad Mood mode?"

Xu Tianming fell silent for a moment.

"No need."

"Understood."

The Little Herta Puppet lowered her head again and returned to standby mode.

Xu Tianming was already used to it. Herta's puppets always managed to demonstrate Herta's overwhelming presence in the strangest ways.

Not long after, a large patch of purple patterns suddenly lit up across the metal wall at the end of the corridor.

A cool female voice came through a Soul Tool.

"Kid, you finally made it?"

"Come in directly."

"I've already opened the laboratory entrance for you."

Xu Tianming walked up to the wall.

The wall silently split apart, revealing a deep-purple metal door. Several purple crystals were embedded around the frame, and within them, stardust seemed to be flowing.

"I thought you'd let the puppet keep praising you for a while longer."

Xu Tianming spoke as he walked.

"That's an automatic program. What does it have to do with me?"

"You wrote it yourself."

"That's exactly why it's objective."

"Objectively praising yourself?"

"Kid, your comprehension skills have declined."

Xu Tianming chuckled and entered the laboratory. Herta's laboratory was far more spacious than it appeared from outside.

It had clearly been expanded with spatial Soul Tool technology. The interior covered at least several thousand square meters. Metal platforms at varying heights floated in the air, all kinds of Soul Tools moved slowly along tracks, and crisscrossing purple light formed a complex three-dimensional array.

All kinds of collectibles were piled around the laboratory: strangely shaped Soul Tools, Soul Bones in every color, and intact crystal cores extracted from Rift Realm Creations.

There were also chunks of oddly shaped ore, their surfaces gleaming with different colors.

A Soul Tool armor more than three meters tall floated within a transparent cultivation chamber. Half a Rift Realm crystal core was embedded in its chest. On a metal rack beside it sat a bone-like Soul Tool missing one corner, with unfinished Soul Tool patterns still lingering around its edges.

Farther away, several transparent containers of different sizes preserved tissues from various Rift Realm Creations.

Some had already lost all activity, while others still slowly wriggled within their containers.

Xu Tianming stopped before a dark-purple ore. A folded space existed within it, where several tiny crystals spun like a miniature starry sky.

"Is this one of your collections too?"

"Of course."

Herta's voice came from ahead.

"It's interesting."

"Have you finished researching it?"

"I have."

"Then why keep it?"

"Because it's interesting."

Xu Tianming looked around.

"Many of the things in this laboratory have already lost their research value, haven't they?"

"So what?"

Herta's voice was matter-of-fact.

"Just because I've lost interest in something I studied doesn't mean it has no value as a collectible."

"What if I become interested in it again someday?"

Xu Tianming looked at the rare treasures piled throughout the laboratory.

Clearly, Herta had a bit of a collecting habit. As long as she found something interesting, even after her research was complete, even after she temporarily lost interest in it, she would still set it aside for safekeeping.

As for whether these things would gather dust here for the rest of their lives...

Herta never considered questions like that. The future could wait until it arrived.