This variable had introduced new uncertainties into the futures He had calculated.
Of course—
they were still within calculation.
After all, even the most polished single-player game inevitably contained high-quality side quests.
To Nous, the Aeon of Erudition, the Evan now standing outside His primary predictive model was nothing more than one such branch event.
Still…
That strange power—
What exactly was it?
Something capable of triggering a resonance with a Path was no trivial anomaly.
The consciousness space stretched endlessly.
Evan stood quietly within the cosmic expanse, allowing the Path of Erudition to envelop him.
With Emanator-level energy acting as a super-charged core,
both the Authority of Reason and its evolved Truth Authority were being supplied without limit.
Peak "If I think it works, it works."
Ninth layer. Fully perfected.
He had it.
And yet—
Evan still felt a ripple of disbelief.
Did Nous just… invite me to the Genius Society?
In the current universe, there were two major factions that worshiped Nous:
One was the Intelligentsia Guild, operating under the Interastral Peace Corporation.
The other—
Was the Genius Society.
Any scholars claiming faith in Erudition outside these two structures?
Nous rarely spared them a glance.
Much like how the Primitive Doctor never bothered acknowledging the "monkeys" beneath him.
The Genius Society was different.
It accepted members only by personal invitation from Nous.
Emperor Rubert, a Genius Society member, had personally created the Scepter System, attempting to overturn existing universal data frameworks—
and was invited because of that.
The infamous Primitive Doctor, enemy of the Galaxy Rangers, was inducted for his atavism experiments, reversing evolution itself.
Screwllum, a mechanical lifeform, researched the Anti-Life Equation,
a terrifying construct capable of annihilating civilizations.
He also studied Imaginary Exploration Pulses, technologies so destructive that mere leaks could destabilize interstellar politics.
Then there was Ruan Mei.
Her biological research—using DNA from a Propagation Emanator—successfully produced the Swarm King, a lifeform that survived mere seconds.
Not to mention the ever-popular Cat Cake, now a mascot of Herta Space Station.
And Herta herself?
Solved the Wave-Particle Paradox Algorithm at a young age.
Later developed de-aging technology, and now—along with three other Genius Society members—was constructing the Simulated Universe, attempting to uncover the origins of Aeons themselves.
These people were monsters.
Regardless of morality, they were invited because, in a single moment, they achieved something unprecedented.
So…
What did I do?
Evan froze.
Then it hit him.
The Moonlight Thrones.
To counter the Stellaron and the Fragmentum crisis, he had constructed over a thousand Moonlight Thrones out of nothing.
Large ones. Small ones.
A full thousand.
They had blanketed the entirety of Everwinter Ridge.
And beyond that—
There was still the unconstructed final Moonlight Throne—
The one designed to counter the Finality itself.
That had to be it.
The Moonlight Throne was absurd.
By nature, it was an anti-Finality superweapon.
Later civilizations never used it against Finality directly—
Or did they?
Evan couldn't quite remember.
He did recall that Bronya once used the Authority of Reason to construct it—
breaking the barrier over Schicksal HQ and suppressing the Herrscher of a Thousand.
The only problem back then was power supply.
Understanding dawned.
Evan relaxed slightly—and nodded.
A personal invitation from Nous was not an opportunity one refused.
Out here in the universe, identity was self-assigned.
Right now, he was nothing more than a treasure hunter from the Underworld.
Even if he wanted to join the Astral Express, its patron Aeon was long gone.
But the Genius Society?
That meant standing behind an active Aeon.
And not just any Aeon—
Nous.
Even Equilibrium had dragged in Enigmata to suppress variables.
More importantly—
Evan was leaving Jarilo-VI.
If he could leverage this connection to reach Herta, Ruan Mei, or Asta,
getting Herta Space Station to assist in planetary reconstruction was no longer unrealistic.
At the very least—
Jarilo-VI wouldn't be bullied by the IPC when the time came.
With no further hesitation, Evan nodded.
"I'm honored to witness the future of the universe," he said calmly.
"I accept the invitation to the Genius Society."
[Acknowledged.]
[You are hereby granted Genius Society Seat #85.]
[Notification has been issued to all current members.]
[We look forward to your brilliance illuminating the cosmos.]
[…]
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