MEI had read the extensive experimental records left by her "future self" in the original timeline.
She knew that without the armor known as the Key of Blankness to mediate the conversion, a Herrscher Core recovered from the remains of a defeated Herrscher could not transform another person into a Herrscher.
This was a significant difference from the Herrscher Cores of the Old Era, once known as the Current Era, which had been almost plug-and-play.
Therefore...
"The original Project Stigma was essentially an attempt to take a shortcut."
"It is clearly unsuited to our current, exceptional circumstances."
"Therefore..."
MEI was no old conservative who would stubbornly cling to the concept of the "pure human."
In that regard, she was quite similar to Mobius.
She lacked Mobius's fanatical passion, but she was not opposed to the idea of "evolution."
With that as her foundation...
"Interstellar migration is no minor undertaking that can be accomplished overnight."
"Even setting aside the inevitably long journey, we must be prepared for all manner of strange and unpredictable emergencies that could arise anywhere in the universe."
"At the very least, humans from Earth must be capable of surviving in a vacuum."
"Just like the MANTISes and the Herrschers."
"Beyond that, we will need a more comprehensive optimization plan."
This was MEI's current line of thought.
On one hand, she would use the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason to create a superior Ark.
On the other, she had to ensure that everyone who boarded it in the future would be a powerful "Extraordinary" being.
Her standards for both objectives were extremely high.
Take the new Ark, for example.
Ideally, it would be a spacecraft with one or even several anchored subspaces directly attached to it.
That way, its capacity would no longer be restricted by the physical dimensions of its hull.
Achieving this would require the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void.
As for the "Extraordinary" beings who would board the Ark...
The Stigma.
To a certain extent, this technology had encoded Herrscher Authorities into human DNA.
According to the experimental records left by her "other self," the original inspiration behind the Stigma's development had come from the Herrscher of Dominance.
MEI's attention was now focused on two derivative products of the Stigma.
The first was Stigma Space.
MEI believed that if a person's primary consciousness could be preserved within it, then the physical body would become little more than a disposable shell.
The idea had been inspired by Prometheus's current existence as a unique super-AI life-form.
Honestly, if Ling Ke had been there, he would have complained, "Are you trying to handcraft a Spiritron Recording Band?"
As for the other derivative...
The Stigma Crystal.
Of course, this was no ordinary crystal or gemstone.
It was a special life-form known as an "Idea."
According to records left by the Gray Serpents, such beings had already existed during the now-vanished Old Era, the former Current Era.
One such Idea was Misteln Schariac, known as Hare, an executive of the original World Serpent.
From the moment of her birth, she had continuously radiated immense quantities of Honkai energy into her surroundings.
Without intending to, she could cause terrible harm.
Even though she had never wanted to.
Unfortunately, Ling Ke had neither brought her into this era nor given her a "One-Way Ticket Against Time." She had already faded into Nihility along with the Old Era.
Otherwise, MEI would have very much liked to study such an extraordinarily rare experimental subject.
In MEI's design...
The New Ark would serve as the physical vessel that carried humanity out of the Solar System.
Stigma Space would serve as its spiritual vessel, greatly increasing the chances that human civilization from Earth would survive.
Meanwhile, Ideas, beings that "continuously emitted massive amounts of Honkai energy merely by existing," would serve as the power source for the interstellar journey.
After all...
"Both of these objectives must be completed before we officially depart," MEI reasoned. "I must account for the possibility that we will be unable to rely on the Cocoon of Finality at all."
The Newborn World Serpent had not yet discovered the hidden danger of crustal displacement. MEI therefore remained unaware that human civilization in the present era had only three years left.
Even so, she had cautiously considered another possibility: What if Kiana Kaslana refuses to cooperate with us?
From there came the next question. If they could not use the power of the Cocoon of Finality, what would they do?
By sheer coincidence, MEI had stumbled onto the correct concern.
And it was on that basis...
"The Cocoon of Finality does not ultimately belong to human civilization on Earth. At least, not yet."
"And it may never belong to us."
"Given that this possibility is far from small, once we truly leave Earth and the Solar System..."
MEI lowered her gaze to the blue, orange, and purple Herrscher Cores embedded in her chest.
According to the experimental records left by her other "self," all Herrschers were projections of Finality.
In other words, the Authorities of Reason, Void, and Death that she currently wielded, along with every Divine Key, could function only within the region of space reached by the Cocoon of Finality.
To use a simple analogy, the Cocoon of Finality was a Wi-Fi hotspot with unlimited data. Smartphones, tablets, and laptops that traveled too far away would no longer receive its signal.
This was the fundamental reason MEI believed those two objectives had to be completed before departure.
Once they left, she would no longer possess experimental conditions as favorable as the ones she had now.
This was also why she intended to use Ideas as the expedition's power source. Without the Cocoon of Finality, her faction would not even be able to maintain a stable connection to Imaginary Space.
Ideas most likely possessed the ability to connect to Imaginary Space on their own.
In that respect, they were far superior to the MANTISes.
As an aside...
MEI did not know that even the Sugars, despite possessing far more advanced technology, had failed to overcome this exact problem. They could only occasionally establish a covert connection to the Imaginary Tree and "steal power."
Using Ideas to bypass the problem was, in its own way, another shortcut.
In any case...
"Every one of these projects is of paramount importance."
"But my time and energy are ultimately limited. I cannot personally oversee every detail of every experimental project."
"Prometheus is an excellent assistant, but she lacks sufficient 'innovative thinking.'"
"Perhaps she will develop it in the future. After all, we have both stepped onto the Path of Erudition."
"But there is no time to wait for her to continue growing."
"The experiments must continue to advance steadily without interruption."
By the time she finished laying out her reasoning, MEI already had a plan.
It was something of a gamble.
Namely...
"Design and construct a more capable Ark, preferably with Vill-V's assistance."
"But she will only be responsible for proposing concepts. I will approve them."
"And... this assignment must be entrusted to the Sims."
"As for the New Project Stigma, the best choice would be..."
MEI thought of someone.
Not Ling Ke.
Instead, she thought of the person who had nearly thrown the Newborn World Serpent into chaos from within at the very beginning.
Mobius.
To be precise, she should have been called Sim Mobius.
But MEI knew that after Mobius had so decisively done that, after she had so decisively killed the Original Body, she would never tolerate having the word "Sim" attached to her name.
She would find the label utterly grating and redundant.
Therefore, if MEI wanted to collaborate with her...
"I'll need to prepare a convincing set of talking points."
Vwoom~
A golden-orange spatial portal opened. Still absorbed in her plans, MEI left the experimental area.
At present, the area had no physical entrance or exit.
The only way in or out was through a spatial portal.
Within the Newborn World Serpent, only MEI and Prometheus Prime currently possessed that ability.
As for everyone else, strictly speaking, they could not even enter without MEI's permission.
Forcing their way inside was another matter.
But in that case, Kevin would be the one to stop them.
Right now...
"MEI, you're finally out."
MEI had barely stepped through the portal and returned to her room when she discovered someone already waiting inside.
The visitor had pointed ears and curly pink hair tied back in a single ponytail. Her entire presence radiated liveliness.
"Is something wrong, Elysia?"
MEI knew that the Elysia before her was a Sim.
Then she heard...
"The Herrscher of Thunder attacked the Mu Continent again just now."
Sim Elysia gave her report with a helpless expression.
"She... destroyed the Sea of Quanta Portal."
"..."