The nonsense was cut short by Ruan Mei.
Only then did 'Georios' find the time to inspect her current appearance.
It was exactly as she had suspected. Herta and Ruan Mei had figured out the logic behind how she previously activated her abilities, then followed the pattern to replicate it on this divine body of hers.
As for why Herta and Ruan Mei were able to mess with her body without her noticing immediately... well, she'd have to ask the person who shared the access permissions with them.
Unlike Herta, 'Georios' wasn't particularly upset about being turned into a two-head tall chibi.
(T/N: In this scenario, two-head means that the head is the same size as the neck down, like chibis normally are)
After all, she didn't plan on using this form normally. A body with such a high energy signature wasn't necessary for daily life, and besides, it was a bit too conspicuous.
"I didn't expect you to analyze it so quickly. Herta, your progress is even faster than I imagined."
"Hmph—of course it is. Who do you think I am?" Herta let out a dainty huff.
Even though she was still annoyed, she never tired of hearing a good compliment.
'Georios' gave a helpless smile. Herta wasn't like ordinary people; standard ways of coaxing someone wouldn't work on her. In fact, if she tried, Herta would likely mock her while getting even angrier.
The only way was to layer on the praise bit by bit and slowly smooth her ruffled feathers.
"By the way, do you two plan on continuing this project? I expect it'll take quite a long time." 'Georios' looked toward Ruan Mei with wide, saucer-like eyes.
Though their work overlapped slightly, Herta's focus was mostly on the Elation Equation, whereas Ruan Mei was more interested in this divine body. As for Screwllum, he hadn't been involved lately.
He had apparently made a breakthrough in researching new storage modules and was currently focused on that back on Planet Screwllum. They hadn't heard from him in two days.
'Georios' couldn't help but marvel at the efficiency of geniuses. Every single one of them could produce results in such a short window of time.
"Yes. If you're still willing, there is no better subject material than this," Ruan Mei said, her gaze fixed intently on 'Georios'.
After all, if it weren't for her, Ruan Mei wouldn't know when she would have ever been able to touch the body of an Aeon. Even if she were lucky enough to obtain something, it would likely be mere remnants or shards.
To have a complete, living body handed over for her to study at will... compared to this, what kind of hardship had she been living in before?
Having stated her decision, Ruan Mei leaned down, looking at 'Georios' with curiosity.
"And what about you? This was your first time staying at the borders of IX the Nihility for so long. Did something happen?"
"It wasn't really an 'event.' I just discovered that by wielding the powers of Permanence and Elation there—letting them clash with Nihility in its purest form—it causes the Imaginary Energy to undergo a very unique transformation."
Ruan Mei's eyebrows shot up at 'Georios's' words.
Even Herta, who was standing to the side, shifted her stance and tilted her ear closer—looking for all the world like she didn't care to listen, but was actually hanging on every word.
"This transformation makes the meaning of these two Paths clearer and more concise. It's been a huge help in my research on the Paths."
Hearing this, Ruan Mei and Herta exchanged a look. Both saw the same flicker of concern in the other's eyes.
Running off to the edge of Nihility just to release the power of the Paths against it as a way to understand them?
Sister, there are easier ways to have a death wish.
Ruan Mei was still searching for the right words, but Herta couldn't hold back any longer. Mostly, she thought about the messages she had sent, waiting and waiting for a reply that never came.
She had assumed 'Georios' was just catching up with that woman named Acheron. She never imagined she was doing something so dangerous!
The thought that if an accident had happened and this girl hadn't made it back, those messages would have stayed on "unread" forever... Herta's heart gave an involuntary little squeeze.
A wave of lingering fear spread through her, making her voice sharp with agitation.
"You stayed in a place like that for half a month? And you just went like that? Leaving this body behind with us?! Is there a screw loose in your head?!"
Yes, theoretically, an Aeon could ignore the influence of the Nihility's border.
But the problem was that she had left her Aeon body right here! It was like an Aeon ditching their physical form to go on an astral projection trip to a deathtrap. Who in their right mind does that?
"You even dare to look down on Nihility? Are you really not afraid of dying there?"
"Huh? No, it's not—"
"Not what? 'Not what' nothing! It's one thing to go, but you actively sought contact with Nihility just to experiment on the collision of different Paths? You should be thanking your lucky stars you're still alive!"
Herta's mouth was like a rapid-fire cannon, refusing to stop. 'Georios' didn't even get a chance to explain. However, through Herta's frantic pace, 'Georios' could read the underlying worry.
Heh, Herta really is the ultimate tsundere. She talks a big game, but her heart is in a completely different place.
A tiny smile accidentally leaked from the corner of her mouth.
This made Herta, who was still mid-lecture, freeze. She was over here warning this girl about safety and telling her not to treat her life like a joke, and the girl had the nerve to laugh?
The staff in Herta's hand poked sharply against 'Georios's' large forehead.
Her gaze became exceptionally dangerous. The cold sensation of the staff—which was rapidly gathering energy—brought 'Georios' back to her senses.
Seeing Herta's foul mood, she thought, Uh oh.
She raised a hand and gingerly nudged the staff aside.
"Cough, I know you're worried about me, Herta. Don't worry, you know I can't be eroded by Nihility. But thank you for the concern anyway."
"..."
Herta belatedly remembered that this girl had mentioned being immune to Nihility's erosion before. But she had assumed it was some method of total isolation.
She didn't realize that even active contact could be blocked so thoroughly. That ability was certainly something.
However... the realization that she had just lost her composure made Herta's face darken.
She was annoyed; how could a woman as calm and heartless as herself be swayed by someone with a few screws loose? And in a moment of heat, she'd said things without thinking.
Now that she thought about it calmly, 'Georios' had said she was immune.
To an ordinary person, that kind of research was impossible and suicidal, but for her, it wasn't much different from a standard experiment. Plus, with Acheron keeping watch, there really shouldn't have been anything to worry about unless she charged straight into the face of IX itself.
Recalling her irrational behavior made Herta's head ache.
It must be that power of Elation 'Georios' left on her when she ambushed her earlier—that was the culprit. It stirred up her emotions and made her react so recklessly.
Yes! That had to be it! It was definitely all this girl's fault!
While Herta was busy shifting the blame onto 'Georios' in her mind, Ruan Mei took the opportunity to speak. "So, how was your harvest this time?"
"Better than I expected. I've analyzed about 5% of the new Equation."
"That high?" Ruan Mei was stunned.
When it came to the Elation Equation, 'Georios' was able to understand it quickly because Aha had shared power with her.
That was basically the equivalent of being spoon-fed.
If she couldn't understand it under those conditions, she wouldn't be fit to hang out with the geniuses. But this time, the Permanence didn't have an Aeon feeding her.
To analyze that much in such a short time... was the effect of clashing with Nihility really that good?
'Georios' nodded and then explained, "It wasn't just because of the Nihility. I also used the Personality Completion System."
Hearing that thing mentioned, Herta's eyebrows arched.
"That thing? What use is that to us... wait, I remember my puppets reporting a while back that a huge number of your clones appeared at the Space Station."
"Mhm. I used the power of Elation to create a massive number of clones, and then had them wear the system. Through that, I achieved the boost I wanted."
'Georios' paused for a second before adding, "My clones are at least 60% to 70% as capable as I am. So, strictly speaking, that system achieved the effect of stacking tens of millions of geniuses. That's why the efficiency was so high."
"...?!"
Even Ruan Mei couldn't help but look startled. The thought that had once crossed 'Georios's' mind now occurred to both her and Herta simultaneously.
If geniuses from Nous the Erudition's thinking units were stacked like that, what was the difference between that and a man-made "Mini-Nous"?
If that was the case, they could understand why 'Georios' had managed to analyze 5% of the Permanence Equation in just ten days.
Whether it was venturing to the edge of Nihility to observe Path collisions or duplicating millions of genius clones to mimic Nous's processing style, neither was something a normal human could do.
Even a genius couldn't pull that off.
First, perfect immunity to Nihility while actively touching it was nearly impossible.
Second, the clones—they had to be at the 60% level of a genius.
They had studied for so long without finding the definitive line between a genius and a commoner; how could they possibly create such a thing? If they had that power, they would have started large-scale cloning ages ago.
Was it that Herta and Ruan Mei hadn't thought the Personality Completion System could be used this way? No, it was simply that they couldn't produce that many clones.
It could only be said that they had run into a total "stat monster."
To solve those two massive hurdles so casually... researching the Path of Permanence was practically child's play for her now.
It was just a pity that they couldn't replicate this method at all.
Not a single part of it was achievable for a human.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL