The three instants calculated by Nous were shocking to Herta—and to any genius capable of understanding the Aeon of Erudition.
It had been a long time since Nous had performed a new projection of this universe. Most people speculated that They already knew every detail of its future.
Not long ago, however, the Aeon of Erudition sensed the unknown brought by another world. They exhausted Their computational power, introducing new variables into Their projection model.
Then They arrived at three astonishing conclusions.
They were countless times more outrageous than the previous cosmic trade war or the Emperor's War.
"A war of Aeons."
"New gods will be born. Old Aeons will fall in war."
Herta silently repeated the first two projected instants over and over again.
Nous' calculations were absolutely precise—unchangeable, irrevocable.
The future would inevitably unfold according to Their projections.
From just these two simple sentences, she sensed two universe-shaking events.
The birth of a new god—namely, a new Aeon.
At present, the youngest Aeon was the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook. It had already been several thousand years since Their birth.
Though Their history was not long, that did nothing to prevent the Aeon of Destruction from becoming infamous across the cosmos, standing alongside the Antimatter Legion as the universe's foremost evil.
What Path would the newly born Aeon govern? Where would They come from? When exactly would They ascend?
Nous gave no answers. Or perhaps They were unable to calculate them.
But no matter what, the birth of any Aeon was a matter that would shake the entire universe.
It signified the emergence of a new Path, and the countless followers who would walk upon it. Such a change would inevitably influence the balance of the cosmos.
As for the fall of an old Aeon, that sounded even more terrifying.
"Nous believes there will be a war between Aeons."
Herta spoke softly.
From those simple words, she read the raging tempests of the future.
Would it be a war among the current Aeons? Or a war between the new and the old?
She could not extract further information. This time, the precision of Nous' calculation was far from ideal. It was highly unusual.
Regardless of which scenario it was, a conflict among Them would determine the future direction of the universe itself.
Compared to a struggle between Aeons, wars among other civilizations suddenly seemed like children playing house.
"Will it be The Hunt and Abundance? Erudition and Mystery? Or a cosmic catastrophe brought by the Aeon of Destruction?"
Some quick-thinking geniuses had already begun speculating.
Among the Aeons were no few whose Paths stood in opposition. A war between Them would not be unreasonable.
"..."
"Actually, it's you, isn't it?"
Herta's puppet turned to look at everyone present on Pier Point.
Nous had incorporated new variables into Their calculations and obtained completely different results.
Naturally, one could draw a simple conclusion: if the Starsea Empire had not arrived, the future would not have changed.
The Starsea Empire, coming from another world, was the "variable" that altered destiny.
In the entire universe, who else could cause such an upheaval?
"Smart."
Grey nodded.
"Taking over the Interastral Peace Corporation is only the beginning. Our rule over the entire universe obviously won't be limited to a mere human world."
"Mm... but Nous' computational power really is impressive. They can already deduce the general trajectory of the future. If possible, I'd like to have another chat with Them."
As she spoke, the nanomachine stroked her chin in thought.
After settling the Interastral Peace Corporation and taking control of most of the universe's trade and finance, the Starsea Empire naturally had to set its sights further.
To ascend a new Aeon. To create a new Path. To contend with the old Aeons for Authority.
This was a long-term objective within the Honkai universe. The Starsea Empire could not allow Aeons to toy with them or stir up trouble every few years.
Either submit to the Empire's jurisdiction—or perish.
"..."
Previously, when Grey had spoken of her grand plans, Herta had treated it as entertaining nonsense—interesting, nothing more.
But now, because of the Starsea Empire's arrival, Nous had calculated an entirely different future.
No one could deny the accuracy of Their projections.
In a sense, Nous had personally certified that the Starsea Empire would accomplish several monumental feats.
They would even involve themselves in a war between Aeons. It was unbelievable.
Herta suddenly felt as though she had been swept into something extraordinary.
"Then what about the third instant? The universe returning to chaos and the unknowable?"
"Oh, that one? Simple. They couldn't calculate any further."
The nanomachine shrugged, amused.
"Nous can deduce everything—but if the variables in the universe exceed Their computational capacity and understanding, then the future becomes a haze of chaos to Them."
"When They ran the calculation, maybe They included Nyaruko in the model? How could anyone possibly calculate that?! Pfft—"
All things are questions. Everything must have an answer.
Everything in the Honkai universe lay within Their calculations, without omission.
Unfortunately, within the Starsea Empire existed beings and knowledge that exceeded Nous' computational capacity. They could not solve those Outer Gods from another world—higher-dimensional entities beyond Their reach.
"Huh?"
Herta looked at the Cthulhu girls gathered together, playing games and chatting noisily, completely baffled.
She could not comprehend what might exist that even Nous could not calculate.
"You mean them? They're...?"
"The Commander sent them over to handle emergencies and keep an eye on things. Don't worry about it."
"If you want to play games, you can find them. As for research... for your own good, better not."
"Eh?"
...
Time passed in a flash.
Herta temporarily stayed on Pier Point, directly joining the Starsea Empire's Research Division, immersing herself in knowledge from another world.
Asta returned to the space station to handle routine affairs there.
The three new instants deduced by Nous caused a tremendous uproar among the Genius Society and Their followers.
Everyone was doing their best to parse useful information from the complex data, hoping to glimpse Nous' projection of the universe's future.
Whether it was the birth of a new god, or a war of Aeons that would bring about the fall of old gods and the transfer of Authority—it was simply too explosive.
So explosive it defied imagination.
Each event was enough to shock the entire cosmos.
Compared to the Aeonic war predicted by Nous, even the Emperor's War seemed several tiers lower.
Unfortunately, because Nous' projection was interspersed with large amounts of indescribable corrupted data, it was impossible to verify the details of the three instants.
For example, when each instant would occur, whether one or multiple new gods would ascend, or which Aeons would fall in the war—Nous had not calculated those specifics.
The only certainty was that the three events would occur sequentially.
The gathered geniuses were utterly perplexed. The gears on Screwllum's body creaked as he attempted to extract more information from the incomprehensible data.
"A new god who creates a Path and ascends by Their own hand? Who could it be? What new Path would they create? ..."
"One? Or several?"
...
Elsewhere.
On the Xianzhou Luofu, near the Starskiff docks.
Ever since the Xianzhou Alliance established stable relations with the Starsea Empire, exchanges had grown increasingly frequent.
Hum—
Another starship bearing the insignia of the Starsea Empire descended.
Tingyun, Yukong, and other members of the Sky-Faring Commission had long been waiting, warmly welcoming the new arrivals.
"Mm... coming down to the surface all at once—no, coming to another world—still feels a little strange."
A blonde girl with red eyes and twin ponytails jumped down from the hatch and greeted everyone.
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Ereshkigal, Goddess of the Underworld. The Commander mentioned earlier that I'll be collaborating with the Ten-Lords Commission."
"I hope we can work together to resolve the issue of mara and reshape the cycle of life and death in this world."
Thud—
Behind her, another girl with long pink hair landed lightly.
"Hi, I'm Elysia. I'll be temporarily stationed on the Xianzhou in place of Miss Grey."
"The Commander handed me a super difficult mission, you know~"
"Oh..."
Inside the Palace of Astrum, the upper echelons of the Xianzhou warmly received the new delegation sent by the Starsea Empire.
During the early stages of contact between the two sides, Setsuna had proposed that Ereshkigal cooperate with the Ten-Lords Commission and attempt to take control of the cycle of life and death in this universe.
At the time, the delegation lacked the authority to decide and returned to consult Jing Yuan. Even the general alone could not make the final call, so the matter was elevated to the Xianzhou Alliance.
Only then was a consensus finally reached.
"Miss Grey is currently stationed on Pier Point, so for the time being, I'll be in charge of the Empire's delegation on the Xianzhou. Please take care of me~"
"Mm... this place looks quite nice. No wonder Kiana and the others didn't want to leave after staying on the Xianzhou."
Elysia lightly greeted everyone.
"Oh..."
Yukong felt that Elysia's temperament was completely different from Grey's.
"How has the Sacrosanct been faring in the Starsea Empire recently?"
Tingyun asked.
"Very well. The Empire's flagship is undergoing another round of upgrades. He spends his days either at the port or somewhere else, training with shipgirls, Spirits, Heroic Spirits... and me as well."
"He uses time-distortion abilities every single day. Honestly, it's exhausting."
Elysia tilted her head as she spoke.
"Mm. The Sacrosanct manages countless affairs daily. Truly arduous work."
Yukong nodded solemnly. Ereshkigal and Elysia almost failed to keep straight faces.
After thinking it over, they decided to let it be. Once the Xianzhou representatives visited the Starsea Empire in the future, they would understand just how many creative ideas Setsuna could come up with during his so-called free time.
"However, recently the Sacrosanct has caused quite a stir in this universe."
Tingyun sighed.
"The Interastral Peace Corporation... they actually surrendered."
"When the unconditional surrender agreement was signed, weren't you watching from the Luofu or the Yaoqing? Everyone was stunned."
From the Luofu's perspective, the war between the Starsea Empire and the Interastral Peace Corporation had erupted without warning. Overnight, the two sides entered full-scale conflict.
And it ended even faster.
Qingque, Guinaifen, and the others had still been worrying about their card-playing friends and masters. Not long after, news arrived that IPC star systems had been subjected to Photoid cluster bombardment.
Then came reports that Oswaldo's main fleet had been pressed flat into a painting by a Dual-Vector Foil, hanging in the sky.
The headquarters was struck by a Neutron Sweep, and the IPC's upper management was completely purged.
Without exaggeration, even when the Yaoqing people went to clear out Abominations of Abundance on a single planet, they were not as fast as the Starsea Empire had been in crushing the entire Interastral Peace Corporation.
"Ah, the Commander thought it was just a small matter. Nothing special. So many shipgirls were scrambling to be the vanguard, and some didn't even get the chance."
Elysia spoke lightly.
Setsuna truly had not taken the IPC seriously at all. He had handed full combat command to Grey and the Northern Parliament fleet.
"...The Xianzhou Alliance has practically been thrown into chaos these past few days."
Tingyun rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"The various merchant guilds on the Luofu were in disarray for quite some time. Many people even used the incident as a pretext to protest against the Alliance."
"They attacked the Alliance in the name of the Starsea Empire—asking why you could so boldly reject the IPC's terms and beat them into submission, while the Alliance could only tolerate the IPC's interference."
"There are even rumors claiming the Starsea Empire is a true utopia—completely free healthcare and education, not even needing money for shopping..."
"Uh... recently, on both the Luofu and the Yaoqing, a lot of so-called 'spiritual Starsea Empire citizens' have popped up, going to the Divination Commission every day to ask whether they can immigrate."
"Huh?"
"Spiritual Starsea Empire citizens?"
Elysia and Ereshkigal were both stunned.
Thinking about it, it made sense. In the eyes of the Xianzhou people, the Starsea Empire was simply dazzling and domineering.
First—and most importantly—their martial prowess was overwhelming.
They had crushed the most powerful force in the universe, the Interastral Peace Corporation, unveiling an entirely new philosophy of interstellar warfare. They had even promised to help the Xianzhou fight the Abominations of Abundance.
Their economic and cultural strength was no less formidable. The Cloud Knights were now training and conducting operations using mobile suits entirely imported from the Starsea Empire. All sorts of consumer goods were everywhere.
Combined with bits of information leaked by the delegation, the Starsea Empire had already become a dreamland in the imagination of the Xianzhou people.
"Everyone who enters the Starsea Empire is personally invited and approved by the Commander. We do not accept outside immigrants. Thank you."
Ereshkigal said, black lines nearly forming on her forehead.
After exchanging pleasantries, the conversation turned to business.
"According to the previous plan, I will open a new Underworld on the Xianzhou and attempt to reshape the cycle of life and death here."
"Mm... additionally, I hope to select a few assistants from the Ten-Lords Commission. Otherwise, once the Underworld expands in scale, I won't be able to manage it alone."
Ereshkigal said.
Setsuna had high expectations for her. She intended to expand her Authority into more worlds, accumulate strength, and ascend by her own power.
The Honkai universe was her first target, and the Xianzhou would serve as the first testing ground.
"We have already obtained the consent of the Xianzhou Alliance. We can begin with the Luofu."
Jing Yuan replied.
"However, may I ask, Divine Lady, how do you intend to open the Underworld and govern life and death?"
The Xianzhou did not know how to address a native god of the Starsea Empire like Ereshkigal, so they respectfully referred to her as Divine Lady.
"The Underworld is simple. I brought a small universe with me. I can rebuild one here. As long as the Xianzhou falls within the scope of my Authority, the rest is easy."
Ereshkigal tapped the table lightly.
"However, there is one thing I must remind you of first."
"Within the Xianzhou Alliance, I cannot grant you the privilege of endless reincarnation between life and death."
"Understood."
Fu Xuan nodded.
"In ancient times, the Xianzhou sought immortality and suffered the three calamities of life, fire, and void, throwing the world into chaos. The Alliance is not the Starsea Empire. If we were to obtain unrestricted immortality again, turmoil would inevitably follow."
"Good."
"This humble one has another question."
Tingyun suddenly spoke.
"The Sacrosanct previously mentioned that if we agreed to this condition, he would help the Xianzhou resolve the issue of mara. May I ask...?"
"That? Simple."
Ereshkigal patted her chest.
"Before coming here, we discussed it with the Life Sciences Division."
"Dr. Mobius will soon bring a team to conduct research and analysis on mara."
"If it can be resolved from a biological science perspective, that would naturally be ideal. If not, the Magic Division has a few methods as well."
She pondered for a moment.
"Additionally, there are legends that it's connected to the Aeon of Equilibrium? That would be slightly more troublesome..."
"It's related to the Sacrosancts?"
The Xianzhou officials were startled.
"No wonder. In that case..."
"Then we'll just go reason with the Aeon. Small problem."
"...?"