Polka Kakamond stared at the pointed-hat figure before her—The Herta.
"My true purpose is mainly to see you."
Hearing this, The Herta revealed a look of disbelief. "If you're going to continue spouting nonsense, then I won't accompany you. I still have someone else to meet. I truly don't have time to chat idly with you."
Polka Kakamond did not grow angry. She merely leaned against a bookshelf and said calmly, "The Knowable Domain I research allows me to learn many secrets of the universe. And at every audience, I can connect to Nous' ontological computational core to obtain more temporal calculation data about the future, further perfecting the Knowable Domain.
"To a certain extent, aside from the First Seat, Zandar One Kuwabara, I am the one closest to Nous. I can see countless futures. It is precisely because of this that I know which genius will touch the unknowable taboo and thus become the target of assassination.
"Even the Stellaron Hunter known as Destiny's Slave—Elio—used the eyes of Finality to glimpse countless futures!
"As for me, I used my connection with Nous to calculate innumerable futures and construct a domain of omniscience. Though this omniscience is imperfect!"
"But during my last audience, among the many futures calculated by Nous, you would become the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society.
"—However, the timing was not now. It was four years later. At that moment, you would unravel the Fourth Cosmic Conundrum and derive the answer to Solitary Waves Theory."
As Polka Kakamond said this, the mosaic-obscured eyes grew serious. "This means that something has changed about you, Herta—something unknown, something even the Aeons are unaware of."
Hearing this, The Herta's heart stirred.
If Herman had not appeared, under normal circumstances, I would only have solved the problem four years later—at age twenty-two, upon graduating from The Blue's First University—and only then become a genius.
In other words, the appearance of Herman—the Research System—allowed me to solve it four years in advance and become a genius.
Which also means the fifty percent boost from Universal Genius is absolutely not as simple as merely increasing research intelligence by half on the surface.
And my original 1,000 points of research intelligence were certainly not just a thousand times beyond ordinary people. The increase in intelligence points isn't additive—it must follow a more complex mathematical formula. Perhaps multiplicative... or even geometric growth...
In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through The Herta's mind. She became even more acutely aware of the importance of Herman—the Research System. It was absolutely the number one Curio in existence.
Could the legendary First Seat of the Genius Society, Zandar One Kuwabara, truly create something like this?
Herta doubted it.
At this moment, she even suspected that Herman—the Research System—originated from the unknowable domain. And if that were true, then she herself carried a forbidden knowledge system from the unknowable domain.
And speaking so freely in front of Polka Kakamond—the very Lord of Silence who most detested geniuses exploring forbidden knowledge—was truly exhilarating.
After reaching this point in her thoughts, The Herta spoke to Polka Kakamond.
"Is it possible that your Knowable Domain isn't as omniscient as you claim? After all, you said yourself that you can only see the 'machine head' during each audience.
"Perhaps in more future possibilities, I solve Solitary Waves Theory four years earlier."
Polka Kakamond fell silent for quite some time before replying, "It's not impossible. That's why I did not swing my scalpel. And your... way of addressing Nous is truly quite distinctive."
"After all, They are not omnipotent, are They?"
The moment The Herta confirmed that Nous, the Aeon of Erudition, could not detect Herman's existence, she had already confirmed that Nous was not omnipotent. Naturally, her attitude changed. She no longer addressed Them reverently as Nous, instead calling Them 'machine head.'
Polka Kakamond did not deny this. She merely said calmly, "Within the framework of the known universe They are omniscient. Therefore, within the known universe, They are omnipotent.
"For example, through Them I saw a possible future timeline where everyone wore the Pathstrider Energy Amplifier you developed—also known as the Soul Gem.
"In that future, regardless of gender, everyone in the universe wore beautiful little dresses, achieving a grand and lovely harmony!
"Even more, in that timeline... the missing Aeon of Beauty, Idrila, returned because of it!"
Hearing this, The Herta's interest was instantly piqued. "In that timeline, did the returned Idrila elevate me to an Emanator of Beauty?!"
"She did not... but you indeed stepped onto the Path of Beauty, achieving a crossing between Erudition and Beauty."
"That truly is a beautiful yet imperfect future." There was a trace of regret in Herta's voice. "It's a pity that in that future, I did not become an Emanator of Beauty."
Polka was somewhat speechless. She had not expected that Herta, a genius, would be so obsessed with becoming an Emanator of Beauty.
After a moment of silence, Polka said, "From what I understand, you have already produced a physical Soul Gem. Can you give me one?"
The Herta was not polite at all. "If I give you a Soul Gem, and in the future I grow curious and step into the realm of researching forbidden knowledge... will you abandon your assassination?"
"..."
Polka Kakamond was silent for a moment before replying, "That is impossible."
The Herta was not disappointed. After all, the person before her was the Lord of Silence.
Thus, The Herta decided to make the Lord of Silence pay for the gem. She extended one hand.
"This number. I'll sell it to you."
"A Soul Gem personally crafted by Miss Herta is indeed worth one trillion Credits. I'll buy it."
???
Hearing the number Polka Kakamond quoted, The Herta froze.
Where did the Lord of Silence get so many Credits?
Normally speaking, even genius research projects would experience failures and consume astronomical amounts of funding.
At that very moment, Herman, residing within The Herta, spoke.
"Don't just stand there, Herta.
"One trillion is already an excellent price!"
'How does she have that much money?' Herta's thoughts were filled with confusion.
"She's a true veteran—the one who assassinated Rubert I. And more importantly, she possesses the Knowable Domain. Who knows, she might control a large portion of Rubert's legacy. Beyond that, she could have used the Knowable Domain to purchase countless assets across the universe... She's absolutely wealthy and definitely not lacking research funds."
"..."
Hearing this, The Herta fell into silence.
At this moment, she keenly felt the enormous gap in wealth. Her current assets amounted to only one hundred billion Credits, and that was provided by the IPC in order to build goodwill with her as a genius.
Polka Kakamond, however, was different. She could casually produce one trillion. Her personal wealth was undoubtedly an astronomical figure—perhaps enough to buy dozens, even hundreds, of life-bearing planetary systems...
In the end, Herta took out the Soul Gem she had crafted in her dormitory not long ago and tossed it into Polka Kakamond's hand.
At the same time, with a swipe across her wrist device, one trillion Credits were transferred into Herta's account.
The transaction was complete.
Polka's figure vanished from the genius outpost. She was returning to carefully study the Soul Gem created by The Herta.
In truth, her core purpose in coming to the outpost was to purchase the Soul Gem from Herta.
The reason was simple. She was deeply interested in the mysterious formula inside the Soul Gem known as the Magical Girl.
After all, it was a mysterious formula that even the Knowable Domain could not analyze.
...
Watching the place where Polka Kakamond had disappeared, The Herta could not help but think.
With Polka Kakamond's research capabilities, she will quickly discover that the Soul Gem only achieves its maximum Pathstrider Energy Amplifier effect when one wears beautiful clothing—specifically magical-girl-style attire.
One day in the future... will I see the Lord of Silence carrying out slaughter while dressed as a magical girl?