After her brain whirred into high gear and processed exactly what was happening:
"..."
"..."
Herta and 'Robin' both fell into a heavy silence.
The unexpected twist they had been waiting for hadn't arrived yet, but the Simulated Universe had decided to throw a completely different curveball first.
Currently, Ena the Order wasn't the only one being resurrected in this simulation.
The Swarm, sensing that Ena's Dream was beginning to expand into reality, had spontaneously begun to propagate.
Using that grandest of dreams as an egg, they were attempting to gestate a brand-new Swarm King!
The problem was, once Ena's Dream blanketed reality, the scale of this dreamscape would become unprecedented.
The number of people connected to the Synesthesia Dreamscape would be beyond imagination.
Therefore, a bug born from such a massive dream... would likely bypass being a mere Swarm King and ascend straight to being the new Aeon of Propagation!
Two Aeons would be revived at the exact moment the dream reached its limit!
That is, assuming no other Aeons stepped in to stop it.
Even so, this current development left Herta genuinely stunned.
"This branch of the Swarm you and Ruan Mei cooked up is truly... full of infinite potential."
Herta's mouth hung open slightly, her voice tinged with a rare hint of begrudging admiration.
"...Don't. I never imagined this possibility could even exist."
'Robin' covered her face, looking like she was having a hard time keeping it together.
She simply thought her Swarm was easier to control and wouldn't cause trouble; who knew it would trigger such a massive chain reaction?
Even though this was within the Simulated Universe, the logic behind the event's progression was terrifyingly seamless.
In other words, if these same choices were made in reality, this grand spectacle could actually be replicated.
Provided no other Aeon decided to reach down and smash it back into the dirt.
If this were reality, Herta and 'Robin' would have already been looking for a way to pull the plug. But this was the Simulated Universe.
After the initial shock and reflection, the two didn't just watch closely—they sent out connection invites directly to Ruan Mei, Screwllum, and Divine Herta.
They pulled all three in at once.
And then...
The assembled geniuses bore witness to the wonder of a double Aeonic resurrection.
Ruan Mei's gaze was particularly fervent. This was indeed an accident; when she first designed this branch of the Swarm, she was only thinking of how it could synergize with Bai Ming's abilities.
She hadn't foreseen that this Swarm would clash with such a specific moment to produce these kinds of sparks.
However, just as previously speculated, the Swarm King would only have a chance to revive if no other Aeons interfered.
But it was highly unlikely that the Swarm King's revival would go unnoticed by the others.
In the Simulated Universe, the Interastral Peace Corporation drew the gaze of Qlipoth through some sort of ritual. Outside the Asdana System, the Xianzhou Alliance also decisively signaled Lan.
The Preservation and The Hunt both cast their gazes toward the scene, looking ready for a fight.
Yet, Destruction descended at that moment, locking onto the reviving Swarm King that was about to be besieged.
Nanook was targeting the reviving Swarm King itself.
THEY intended to bring down THEIR wrath, incinerating the bug to ash, and then feast upon the power of Propagation within those embers as fuel for THEIR path to destroy everything.
As the simulation reached this stage, even Ena the Order became a target for everyone.
The Amber Lord's hammer and the Reignbow's Lux Arrow locked onto Ena's Dream, intending to shatter the dream covering reality and stop the birth of the Swarm King.
Meanwhile, Xipe remained on the sidelines, a mere spectator doing nothing.
Seeing this, Ruan Mei frowned slightly.
"Is there a way to logically isolate the interference from the other Aeons?"
'Robin' shook her head at the question.
"It's too late. With my current identity, I can't influence the upcoming developments."
Her logged-in identity was currently just a powerful Pathstrider.
Unless she took on Fuli's identity—but at this stage, a sudden change in persona would cause the simulation's logic to lose its authenticity, thereby stripping it of its research value.
Ruan Mei let out a small sigh.
"Very well. This data is sufficient as it is."
Beside them, Screwllum spoke up after a moment of thought.
"Logic: If a Swarm intertwined with Propagation and Remembrance can conceive an Aeon through a Synesthesia Dreamscape, then does the Simulated Universe we currently control qualify as a type of dream?"
"Sssp..."
'Robin' sucked in a sharp breath. It didn't sound that serious on the surface, but she understood the unspoken implication in Screwllum's words.
That was... given the current fidelity of the Simulated Universe, was there a chance this gestating Swarm could sense the existence of the Simulated Universe itself?
If they did... would they use the Simulated Universe as a nursery to breed a Swarm King?
A Swarm King born from the vast Memoria within the Simulated Universe... there was no telling what kind of monstrosity that would become.
"We'll need to process the data and memories of this simulation afterward. We cannot allow that possibility to become a reality."
Though the probability was low, no one could guarantee such an accident wouldn't happen.
While 'Robin' was still contemplating how to handle the data, Aha joined the fray within the Simulated Universe out of nowhere.
"Aha? What are THEY doing here?"
Herta clicked her tongue instinctively, her tone making no effort to hide her distaste for Aha.
But Aha only laughed, circling Nanook and conveying some unknown message. Then, Aha and Nanook formed a united front, moving to intercept the Amber Lord's hammer and the Reignbow's Lux Arrow.
"???"
This development was truly incomprehensible.
Aha was helping the Swarm King revive? No, strictly speaking, THEY were just stopping Preservation and The Hunt from destroying Ena's Dream.
The power of Elation, accompanied by laughter, merged into the expanding Dream of Order. With it, the increasingly massive phantom of the Swarm King began to solidify.
"...Seriously, what is that guy trying to do?"
Divine Herta finally couldn't help but ask the question. But who could provide an answer?
"Hypothesis: If the Elation within the Simulated Universe has established a connection with the real Aha, then THEIR abrupt actions represent the will of Elation in reality."
"Then the question remains: what does Aha want? Why insist on facilitating the Swarm King's revival in the Simulated Universe? It can't just be because THEY think it's funny, right?"
Herta was both disgusted and bewildered. But since it was Aha, even a genius's brain couldn't fathom the logic behind THEIR actions.
As Ena's Dream completely blanketed reality, the moment arrived where Ena of Order and the Swarm King of Propagation transitioned from illusion to reality, both ascending to Aeonhood simultaneously.
'Robin' glanced at the others. Herta and Divine Herta were deep in thought; Screwllum seemed to be doing his best to record and analyze this rare data.
As for Ruan Mei... she was watching with the most intense focus of all.
"..."
Fine. It looked like she was the only one who remembered they needed to guard against a giant bug crawling out of the Simulated Universe.
No matter where the Swarm King revived, it would surely be mobbed.
Once Ena was revived, there wouldn't be a second Aha to help hold back the others for THEM.
When that time comes, let's just hope the Swarm King in this simulation doesn't try to burrow its way out!
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL