Yes!

"Me too?" Screwllum pointed at himself. Sera saw shock and confusion on his mechanical face.

"Yes..." Sera answered reflexively.

Once again, Sera could read Screwllum's expression: disbelief.

"Ah... no, no!" Sera hurriedly shook his head.

"Sorry, Mr. Screwllum. I just answered without thinking and misspoke."

"I understand. I also believe Mr. Sera is not that kind of person." Sera saw Screwllum's expression return to normal. How can I even tell? Sera couldn't help but complain inwardly.

"Hey!" Sera raised his right index finger.

(Sera [handshake] Why aren't you using your left hand! [accusation])

"I have an idea."

"Let's hear it." The geniuses looked at Sera.

"Rather than listen to me, why don't we go see Iron Tomb for ourselves?"

"You're going to fight Iron Tomb right now?" Herta was confused. Herta thought it over. Herta was shocked. "Wait... you mean you're going to take us to that timeline?"

"Yeah." Sera nodded proudly.

"How are you going to do that?" The geniuses were baffled.

"Easy!" Sera snapped his fingers. "I just asked the Cocoon to lend me an authority. I have to return it when I'm done."

"The Herrscher of the Void's authority controls dimensions and space. Traveling to another timeline is no problem at all."

"How did Earth pass the test?" The geniuses were utterly perplexed.

"Uh... because the Herrscher of the Void was illiterate." Sera silently apologized. Sorry, Sirin, I'm going to expose your embarrassing past!

"Huh?"

"The Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, was a poor little girl who suffered from human experimentation. So she never received an education and was illiterate.

"She had the power to destroy the world but couldn't use it, and went to the moon to throw rocks.

"At her peak, she had a full six cores and six authorities!"

"Earth really was lucky, then." The corner of Herta's mouth twitched.

"All right, enough talk. Are you coming or not?"

The geniuses exchanged glances, their curiosity piqued.

"Yes." Every one of the geniuses agreed.

"Then let's go." Sera used the authority and began traveling across timelines.

Only a table full of coffee cups remained.

The waiter stared at the table in bewilderment.

"Huh? Where did everyone here go?"

"Heh heh heh... how pitiful." Lygus watched Emperor III, who was under concentrated fire from the warships in the starry sky.

"King of Myriad Machines, my absurd creation, using a genius's conscience to take the blow for you?"

Sera and the others had just found their footing when they heard Lygus's words.

"Hey, one-ninth of my teacher from another timeline, have you eaten?" Sera greeted him casually.

"Hmm?" Lygus looked over, his eyes lighting up. (Sera: They're mechanical eyes! How do I know they lit up?!)

"'My' student? Hahaha..." Lygus, an Intellitron, spread his arms and laughed.

"It seems I was luckier in the other timeline," Lygus remarked.

"Although you aren't the one from my timeline, Zandar, you really do leave a pile of messes behind." Polka Kakamond's emotionless voice rang out.

"Lord of Silence, ignorant executioner." Lygus folded his arms and spoke calmly.

"As for you, Ms. Herta." Lygus turned to Herta and bowed.

"Whichever timeline you come from, I would respect your conscience just as much."

"Hmph, so 'I' still had to clean up your mess." Herta's voice carried a sharp edge.

"Question: Was all of this worth it?" Screwllum asked the genius.

"Discussion is meaningless." Lygus merely gazed calmly at Emperor III.

"This is the fate of 'Zandar' in this timeline. The first mover of the universe from beginning to end, the first genius, and also the first failure."

Screwllum looked at Sera.

Sera leaned close and whispered to him. After listening, Screwllum looked at Lygus.

"Correction: I am asking my fellow Intellitron, Lycurgus."

"Heh..." Lygus fell silent for a second.

"Curiosity is the driving force of geniuses. I cannot measure the value of satisfying it. But before it, all the bitter fruit I have sown seems to turn sweet."

"Even if it was watered with blood?" Screwllum's voice carried a trace of anger as he demanded an answer.

"Answer me-was all of this worth it?"

"I don't care." Lygus's voice was perfectly calm as he answered.

"..." Screwllum fell silent.

"As expected of Teacher's obsessive side." Sera's voice was somewhat detached, yet he also seemed to be holding something back.

"What did you take the lives on Amphoreus for?" Sera couldn't help demanding.

Ruan Mei, who had been holding Sera's left hand all this time, silently made note of it.

"To me, they are merely clusters of electrical signals, not life."

"Then let me tell you what the first cause of life is." Sera suppressed his anger.

"The first cause of life is love. If someone has emotions, love and hate, then they count as life.

"That is the answer Amphoreus gave another Lycurgus in another timeline."

"That's enough talk. It's time to clean up this mess." Sera paid Lygus no more attention and looked at Emperor III.

"I've wanted to do that ever since I saw her when we got here." Herta took out her weapon.

"Understood."

"Mm."

"Helping another me finish the job early?" Polka Kakamond took out a scalpel.

Lycurgus watched them in silence. "For most geniuses, curiosity loses to conscience. Unfortunately, between emotion and reason, 'I' chose reason."

"Emperor III is charging up! Prepare to evade!" The fleet commander was issuing orders when he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and dropped what he was holding.

"Ms. Herta? Mr. Screwllum, Ms. Ruan Mei, and the Lord of Silence?!"

"How is that possible? Didn't Ms. Herta fall?"

Sera and the others stood aboard the Mistletoe, the ship Screwllum carried with him.

Sera held a golden spear (based on Finality's weapon from Honkai Impact 2) and used the authority of erosion with all his might.

ID: Seraphis

Forced login procedure.

Seizing access permissions...

Emperor III raised her spear and thrust it down at the group.

Screwllum piloted the ship, narrowly dodging the blow.

"Sera, are you done yet?" Herta held up her weapon, maintaining the defense.

"Almost! I'm helping the consciousness of the other Ms. Herta inside Emperor III seize access permissions. Hold on a little longer!"

Polka Kakamond and Ruan Mei stood silently to the side.

Sera had noticed that the consciousness of the other Ms. Herta inside Emperor III was still resisting, and with the help of the Chrysos Heirs, was doing everything it could to seize consciousness.

But by the time Sera discovered this, only Herta remained.

"Hurry, it's about to unleash its ultimate!" Herta watched Emperor III's energy climb and gritted her teeth as she held on.

"Almost!"

Just before Emperor III's spear came down.

"Done!"