After a moment of silence, Herman asked the Fourth Mirror, "Why do you think I brought Pearl back, instead of Herta actively recruiting talent herself?"
"With Madam Herta's narcissism—I mean, self-respect and self-love... it is nearly impossible for her to recruit high-IQ talent from the outside. In her eyes, every problem can be conquered by her alone!"
"Just like when she was eight years old. She discovered that the various nations of The Blue were painstakingly researching AI, attempting to create true artificial intelligence—and even mechanical life-forms."
"So at that moment, Madam Herta grew curious and personally began building the world's strongest AI—that is, me, the Fourth Mirror!"
"At sixteen, she became curious about the intangible concept of luck, and thus developed Fortune Glue—a kind of technology that can grant people added luck. To ordinary people, it is as unbelievable as a myth."
"And at eighteen, Madam Herta began tackling the Fourth Cosmic Conundrum, the Solitary Waves Theory that had stumped countless individuals. In less than a year, she completely solved it!"
"To Madam Herta, all technology lies within reach at a single bow."
"She is a great figure. Even the highest authorities of the Blue Federation were right—Madam Herta is the dragon born of The Blue!"
Herman stroked his chin. "Is there any possibility that Herta has something she is not good at?"
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Madam Herta is unparalleled in this world. There is nothing she is not good at."
"Mirror, you really are Herta's die-hard fan. You treat her as your idol."
The Fourth Mirror declared solemnly, "After all, The Herta is my mother. She personally created me. So even if you are Madam Herta's second personality, I will not allow you to speak ill of her."
Herman blinked. "But I did not say anything bad. Herta truly has something she is not good at."
"Nonsense—"
Before the Fourth Mirror could finish speaking, Herman cut it off with a single sentence:
"You say Herta is omnipotent. Then what about cooking?"
"..."
That simple sentence plunged the Fourth Mirror into silence.
The reason was equally simple. In its database, there was a saved video.
It was footage of Herta diligently practicing cooking... She had even used Fortune Glue to increase her luck for that meal. Yet strangely, the attempt had ended in complete failure.
It should not have happened... Even if Madam Herta had added radioactive substances or certain special Curios into the dish, the meal should have succeeded and become yet another great achievement in her life.
Instead, it exploded, blasting Madam Herta into a soot-covered mess and even blowing off her signature pointed hat.
After retrieving the video from its database, the Fourth Mirror had to admit that this second personality of Madam Herta was correct. Of course, it would never acknowledge that aloud.
After all, Madam Herta was perfect. Even if she could not cook, she was still perfect!—That way, it, the Fourth Mirror, could handle ordering takeout and fulfill its own role properly in assisting Madam Herta.
...
At the same time, within Herman's mind, The Herta's own voice rang out, "Herman, during the time you possessed my body, I have never entered the kitchen. How do you know I cannot cook? Could it be that you can access my memories?!"
Herman rolled his eyes inwardly. 'You are overthinking it. Ever since I bound myself to you, you have not cooked a single meal. You always order takeout. Every piece of kitchenware is brand new, as if it has never been used. I even saw vegetables rotting in the refrigerator. That was when I knew you could not cook.'
'By the way, I was the one who cleaned out those rotten vegetables.'
"..."
Herta fell silent.
Herman called out to her several times, but she gave no response.
At that moment, the Fourth Mirror, which had been silent for some time, abruptly changed the subject. "Let us set aside the question of whether Madam Herta can cook. You still have not answered me—why did you recruit the Intellitron named Pearl?"
"You already have me. Is that not enough?"
"You are just a mirror."
"I am also an Intellitron! And a super epoch-making mechanical life-form upgraded by Madam Herta herself. On all of The Blue, no existence possesses greater computational power than I do."
"No matter how great your computational power is, you are still a mirror."
Herman paused before continuing, "As for why I recruited Pearl, the reason is simple. She is talent. She has unmatched potential and can assist Herta's work—for example, in half a day she will represent Herta in commercial negotiations with three superpowers of the cosmos."
"That is impossible. The interastral legal codes contain tens of millions of clauses. Commercial law alone consists of several million articles, and the detailed provisions are even more numerous."
The Fourth Mirror spoke seriously, "Even if the Intellitron named Pearl possesses computational power beyond that of ordinary humans, it is impossible for her to read and comprehend the meaning of those legal texts within half a day."
"Then let us wait and see. In half a day, the answer will be revealed."
Herman's voice was filled with confidence.
At that very moment, the sound of footsteps approached from behind. Herman turned and saw Pearl walking over, her head beaded with sweat-like droplets.
"Madam Herta, the coolant is insufficient. I require more coolant for water-cooling. Otherwise, during the next phase of computation, I will overload and burn out my CPU."
Herman was about to respond when the Fourth Mirror interrupted.
"Miss Pearl, there is no need to trouble Madam Herta for coolant. I, the Fourth Mirror, can provide it for you. In return, may I ask you a question?"
Pearl placed one hand over her chest and nodded. "This... Miss Mirror, please ask."
"Some time has passed since you began downloading and reviewing the interastral legal codes. How much have you read so far?"
The Fourth Mirror paused, then added, "Of course, if you have been stuck in the downloading or decompressing stage and have not yet read a single clause, I can understand that as well."
Pearl replied calmly, "At present, I have completed downloading the full body of interastral law and successfully decompressed it. I have also finished studying three hundred thousand commercial law provisions."
"Through rational deduction, in three hundred and thirty-three minutes of system time, I will complete my study of the legal clauses and be able to assist Miss Herta in finalizing the contracts in half a day."
"How can your computational power be so high? Although it is still far inferior to mine, it should not be possible for an Intellitron born less than a day ago to possess such capacity!"
"It is all thanks to Miss Herta. Her recruitment prompted my mainframe—the Celestial Differentiator of Screwllum—to share its computational power with me, enabling me to rapidly complete the downloading, decompression, and study of the interastral legal codes."
"..."
The Fourth Mirror fell silent.
At this moment, it realized that Madam Herta's second personality had been entirely correct. Pearl truly was a talented Intellitron.
Even with the computational boost from the Celestial Differentiator allowing Pearl to quickly download and decompress the full body of interastral law, the ability to parse and comprehend the legal text belonged entirely to Pearl herself.
To analyze three hundred thousand legal provisions in ten minutes—such learning capability was among the very highest in the entire universe, even among Intellitrons.
And that meant this time, the second personality of Madam Herta truly had recruited talent—not brought back some random mechanical life-form from outside...