At Herta Space Station, Ye Yan, March 7th, and Himeko stepped off the train onto the platform.
"Judging by your reaction, you know this place well."
Himeko smiled faintly as she watched Ye Yan look around.
After so many years, she had become more mature and composed than she had been as a girl, and time had left a few traces on her face.
Ye Yan, on the other hand, had not changed at all...
No, he had changed.
What had changed? Probably his identity.
Himeko had never imagined that the young man who had diligently repaired the train beside her back then was actually an Emanator.
He had claimed to be a follower of the Church of Eternity, but was actually an Emanator who had received an Aeon's gaze. Now he had boarded the Astral Express of the Trailblaze, and had even once been "the worst Nameless"...
"Don't you have a few too many identities?"
"Hey~ You need plenty of identities to get by out there."
Ye Yan spoke casually. Even if he claimed to be one of the Denizens of Abundance, Lan's arrows of light would not come for him.
"When you're out in the world, your identity is whatever you say it is!"
March 7th chimed in beside him. She had prepared a full seventy-seven backstories for herself!
There had originally been sixty-seven, but Ye Yan had come up with another ten for her over the past two days.
Things like "a beautiful girl who led the Denizens of Abundance, narrowly escaped the Reignbow Arbiter's arrow, accidentally got frozen, lost her memories, and was picked up by the Express."
And "a beautiful girl who was a Masked Fool, angered the Aeon of Remembrance by being too mischievous, was cruelly sealed in Six-Phased Ice, and was then picked up by the Express."
"We'll be staying at the space station for a few extra days this time. Do whatever you like, Little March. You can have a good look around."
Himeko chose to give March 7th free rein. Once March 7th left, she turned to Ye Yan. "What's your relationship with Ms. Herta like?"
He had visited the space station, and both were Emanators who had lived a long time. How could Herta never have interacted with Ye Yan? Himeko felt there had to be some connection between them.
Didn't people of the same age always have plenty to talk about? Whenever they reached a new planet and the two children went down to Trailblaze, she and Welt would chat about everyday things on the Express.
"She wants my body."
Himeko: ???
Himeko suspected she had misheard, but she was still just a little interested in hearing the gossip. Everyone had a girlish side, after all~
"Tell me more."
"Can't really talk about it."
Himeko: ...
This was the first time she had ever seen Ye Yan act like this.
Ye Yan really could not say it. If he did, wouldn't that blow his cover as an Aeon?
"You can go ask the Masked Fools at the Tavern. If you're lucky, you'll run into a certain bastard who specializes in gossiping about the universe's biggest news."
The two chatted as they walked to the space station's Master Control Zone.
According to the original plot, Herta was not at the space station during this period. The relic she had commissioned the Astral Express to find had been acquired, so aside from replenishing supplies, they had also come to deliver it.
With Herta absent, Ye Yan breathed a sigh of relief. That saved him from having that girl constantly latch onto him and milk him for all he was worth.
Upon spotting the petite, adorable girl with pink hair, Himeko was the first to greet her.
"Lead Researcher Asta, long time no see."
Himeko went over to chat with Asta. Uninterested in the conversation between the mature older woman and the energetic girl, Ye Yan began wandering around the space station.
He did not see any Herta Puppets in the Master Control Zone, so he decided to check Herta's office next. It was supposedly the most (un)mysterious office in the entire universe.
The next second, Ye Yan appeared in Herta's office, where he happened to see a petite Herta Puppet standing motionless in standby mode.
Hmm...
No doing anything naughty.
Just as Ye Yan was about to leave, the Herta Puppet suddenly raised her head and grabbed his wrist.
"**Holy *(Aeon expletive)!***"
"Tsk." A sweet voice reached Ye Yan's ears. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"Good thing I checked this puppet to see whether any idiots had barged into my office. I didn't expect it to be you."
"Ah, I wasn't calling you an idiot. Come with me first."
The Herta Puppet brought Ye Yan to the door of an office-his private office-then logged off.
Ye Yan pushed the office door open. The clean, tidy interior, without a speck of dust or grime, made his eyes light up.
But what delighted Ye Yan even more was that there were two Hertas by the desk.
One was a powered-down Herta Puppet. The other was Herta herself, also known as The Herta. She had just opened a portal and hurried back.
"Oh~ A reunion gift after so long apart. Not bad." Ye Yan looked at the new-model Herta Puppet.
It was easy to see that the standby puppet in his room was more finely crafted, and she even wore twin tails.
"Am I prettier now, or was I prettier as a child?"
The Herta posed the question to Ye Yan.
"Hmm... Please give me a moment to think. Ms. Herta's beauty is unrivaled, enough to put all of nature to shame. Even as a little puppet, she's still the cutest."
Herta's looks truly were unique. As for her rejuvenated appearance, Ye Yan could only say:
She was the cutest among mature beauties, and the most mature among cute girls. That perfectly balanced beauty really appealed to Ye Yan.
"Human, female, young, beautiful, cute." Herta patted her chest. She never concealed her beauty.
"Your way with words has improved quite a bit again." She stood beside the puppet, creating a striking contrast.
"Ah... A year ago, I met a knight of Beauty. We had a wonderful conversation. It's all thanks to Idrila."
"So what exactly is Beauty like?"
"That depends on your understanding of 'beauty.'"
Ye Yan pinched the puppet's cheek again, and his eyes lit up.
"This feel! She's on a completely different level from those puppets outside. You really put some thought into this."
"Hehe... Don't underestimate this genius. This is a special puppet I developed just for you. I added eighty-three hidden joints on top of the original ones, making her even more flexible to use!"
"And her hairstyle can change, too!" Herta took out a remote. Each press gave the puppet before them a different hairstyle.
"You can even customize it yourself~"
"You certainly know a lot."
Ye Yan pinched the powered-down puppet. "Send her to the church."
"Huh?" Herta was startled. "I spent time and effort developing this puppet specifically for you, and you're throwing her away after a few looks?" Herta asked incredulously. Countless people begged her to invent things for them, and she never even acknowledged them.
"The church doesn't have enough guards, and my priestess is always going out to play under the pretext of missionary work. With their strongest fighter absent, it wouldn't be good if those children ran into danger."
Ye Yan was very protective of his own, but he had not visited the church in nearly a thousand years, and he had no idea what it was like now.
"True. This puppet has half an Emanator's combat strength, after all, and she can self-destruct if there's danger."
Herta was still introducing her to Ye Yan, but he was no longer concerned with the new-model puppet.
"Don't tell me you're a puppet too?"
"Standing before you is Herta herself. I'm not so lazy that I'd even leave deconstructing an Aeon to a puppet."
"Deconstructing..." Ye Yan gave a cold laugh. "You've studied me for all these years. Have you made any progress?"
Although this body of his was fabricated, its structure was no different from his true body. It could simply draw on less energy, while its physical strength and every other bodily parameter were maxed out.
"I will eventually."
Herta refused to concede. She had studied Ye Yan for nearly a hundred years and had yet to scrape off even a layer of skin. Every time, she relied entirely on him to find experimental materials for her.
For example: a rinsing cup Ye Yan had used, Qlipoth's dandruff, fragments of Aha's Fool's Mask, and fragments of a blown-up train carriage...
Ye Yan only gave her scraps. He did not dare give her anything too outrageous, afraid Herta would be unable to withstand it.
Without any protective measures, Herta was still flesh and blood despite having rejuvenated herself. Directly touching things belonging to Aeons was nothing but a pipe dream.
A single strand of Xipe's hair could cause an ordinary Pathstrider to suffer a mental breakdown.
Of course, Ye Yan's own belongings were an exception.
To help people better explore Eternity, protective measures had been placed on every object associated with him.
Legend had it... that the weapon of the Church of Eternity's priestess had been personally forged for her by the Aeon of Eternity.
"That's why I say everyone in the Genius Society is insane. Why don't you call yourselves the Lunatic Society?"
"What genius isn't insane?"
Herta mocked herself. She was a perfect example, just as Ye Yan had lost interest in the puppet she had developed after only a few looks.
If she grew tired of studying something, she would toss it aside and never pay attention to it again. She was just that fickle.
But studying an Aeon was different!
"You might as well rename yourselves the Idiot Society."
Ye Yan clicked his tongue. He had dropped such an obvious hint. How could she still not understand?
"Tell me, do Aeons bleed?" he asked.
"Yes. Nanook the Destruction-"
Before Herta finished, she realized something and looked up at Ye Yan.
"Now you're getting it." The corners of Ye Yan's lips rose slightly as he waited for Herta to say those words.
"You won't get anywhere studying me. There are so many Aeons in the universe, yet you either ask that heap of scrap metal questions or study my body. From an Aeon's perspective, your sights are still far too narrow."
Ye Yan had never seen the other Aeons in an injured state. The worst injury he had suffered was a blow from Qlipoth's hammer. That blow really had hurt a little. It was all Akivili's fault!
"So, Ms. Herta, can't you use that clever little head of yours and be a bit bolder?" Ye Yan took out a wooden hammer and stared at the pointed witch's hat atop Herta's head.
Being hammered by Qlipoth had not been without its rewards. Ye Yan's body was very tough, too; he had merely ended up with a large bump on his head, which Aha and Akivili, who had matching bumps, had mocked for days.
The rewards had been plentiful. As the saying went, every action had an equal and opposite reaction. If Qlipoth could hammer Ye Yan, why couldn't Ye Yan hammer back?
This wooden hammer had been pieced together from chunks of amber that had fallen off Qlipoth. Each piece contained Emanator-level energy. As for how many pieces there were...
Ye Yan had never counted.
"You should be using Nanook as your starting point. Even Silver Wolf knows that if you can't beat the boss, you clear elite mobs to level up first."
"Hurry up and say it, or I'll knock you on the head." Ye Yan first tested the amber hammer's strength himself.
"Help me get a sample of an Aeon's blood."
"Beg me."
"Please, help me."
"There~ Wasn't that easy?"
Ye Yan had been waiting for Herta to say those words. Now he had a legitimate reason to go after Nanook.
"You're even more approachable toward humans than I imagined. The Simulated Universe's data needs updating."
Herta really had not considered this possibility. She was merely an Emanator, yet she could actually commission an Aeon to help her. Before this, she had been too busy asking the machine-head questions.
It was as absurd as a new employee going straight to their top boss and asking him to do their work for them.
"Consider this your reward for tirelessly studying me all these years."
Ye Yan truly had been moved by Herta's spirit. This behavior came very close to Eternity.
"There aren't many people who care about Emanators as much as I do, even if you aren't my Emanator." Ye Yan always felt like a homewrecker, constantly trying to coax Herta onto the Path of Eternity.
"Are you on good terms with the machine-head?"
"If I were, you'd already be a dual Emanator walking two Paths." Ye Yan tapped Herta's hat with the amber hammer.
He did not have a particularly good impression of Nous. Like Fuli, this one loved observing others.
One played paparazzi; the other sought answers to everything.
A pair of peeping Toms.
"Let's get to the point. What are we studying this time?"
"You in depth, of course."
"I'm pressed for time. Let's get straight to it."