"You're the captain of the Architects."
Herman turned around and immediately recognized the person who had called out to him—the infrastructure expert who had established Herta City and the Soul Gem factory.
"That's right, it's me, Miss Herta... In my team, someone has already made a prophecy. In the future, Herta City will face eighteen—perhaps even nineteen—catastrophic crises capable of destroying not only Herta City, but even the Blue Federation. How do you intend to respond?"
"In this world, there is no crisis that Herta cannot handle." Herman's voice was filled with absolute trust in Herta. "Just eighteen or nineteen major catastrophes. Could they possibly be more difficult than solving the universe's Fourth Conundrum—Solitary Waves Theory?!"
!!
Below the stage, the crowd erupted into commotion the moment they heard Herta's words.
The reason was simple—the captain of the Architects and Herta had revealed far too much information.
What did it mean that, in the future, Herta City and the Blue Federation would face eighteen or nineteen extinction-level crises?!
And that breathtaking woman dressed like a magical girl had even claimed that the immense crises awaiting Herta City in the future would be no more difficult than solving Solitary Waves Theory.
Could it be that the magical girl Herta had already solved the universe's Fourth Conundrum—Solitary Waves Theory?!
If that were true, it would be utterly outrageous!
Herta was clearly a magical girl—yet she had taken a bizarre path and gone into scientific research!
Shock rippled through everyone's hearts, and the way they looked at Herta changed dramatically.
Especially those citizens of the Blue Federation who had just returned from traveling other worlds across the cosmos, or who had connections with the Intelligentsia Guild.
They had heard that recently, the great Aeon of Erudition, Nous, had cast Their gaze upon a human.
As a result, the Genius Society had expanded, welcoming its 83rd Seat.
Moreover, this newly appointed 83rd Seat had solved the universe's Fourth Conundrum—Solitary Waves Theory—and had even published papers in the two top academic journals of the cosmos.
And just now, Herta had stated that the crises Herta City would face in the future would not be more difficult than solving Solitary Waves Theory.
From that alone, it could be inferred that Herta herself was the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society!!
The Blue had actually been fortunate enough to become the cradle of a genius!
With that realization, everything suddenly made sense. Why the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation had pushed through all opposition to name this newly built city Herta City.
Why his attitude toward Herta was so respectful, and why today he had insisted on waiting for her arrival before officially beginning the ribbon-cutting, firing the ceremonial cannons, and unveiling the banners.
As people thought of these details, the way they looked at Herta underwent an immense transformation.
...
At the same time, the captain of the Architects continued speaking earnestly to Herta:
"Eighteen or nineteen times. The fact that Herta City will repeatedly face near-collapse is a terrifying matter. It means that in the future, there may be the Antimatter Legion, swarms born of Propagation, the Borisin's demonic star, or even a Stellaron—the cancer of all worlds—descending upon this world."
The captain's words sent waves of unrest through the entire venue. Even the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation revealed a grave expression.
They all thought the same thing.
The Blue has only one genius—Herta. Could she truly handle the horrifying crises the captain described?
After all, no matter what, Herta was only one person. And the disasters the captain had just mentioned were the kind that even the most powerful cosmic hegemonies or top-tier forces could not completely resolve without paying an enormous price.
It was at this moment that Herman spoke slowly:
"An ordinary genius might not be able to completely resolve those crises. But Herta is different. As long as I am given time, I will be able to solve them."
The captain of the Architects replied, "But according to our prophecy, Herta City is the planet that will encounter the second-highest number of crises. The first was the Adrifen—a planetary system that has already been destroyed. More importantly, it was the world where the master of the Antimatter Legion, the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, ascended to aeondhood.
"And before Nanook's ascension destroyed Adrifen, it had already suffered the Swarm Disaster and the Emperor's War..."
The captain's warning echoed in everyone's ears, causing countless faces to turn pale.
Even the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation struggled to maintain his composure. His expression became extremely unpleasant.
If Herta City ranked second in the number of crises it would face, did that not mean that in the future, Herta City—and the Blue Federation—would become a battlefield on the scale of the Emperor's War or the Swarm Disaster, super-cataclysmic events that swept across the entire cosmos?
Could a war of the Aeons break out in the future?!
And would the Blue become one of its battlefields?
Just as everyone's hearts grew heavier with fear that the Blue might one day be destroyed, Herman, standing atop the platform with the Herta Magic Wand in hand, spoke slowly:
"Rest assured. As long as I am here, the Blue will not be destroyed."
As a transmigrator, Herman naturally knew the source of the eighteen—perhaps nineteen—crises mentioned by the Architects.
They were all experimental accidents caused by Herta herself.
Of course, in the end, Herta had always stepped in with overwhelming force to turn the tide and save the Blue Federation from disaster. As for where the disasters came from—best not to ask.
Thinking this, Herman glanced at the crowd, whose faces were filled with boundless worry, and continued:
"As long as I stand on this planet, it will not be destroyed. In the future, I will develop even more advanced technologies to protect this azure world."
Herta's words rang out across the venue, firm and resonant.
The unease in the people's hearts was temporarily soothed.
The captain of the Architects nodded, thinking to himself:
The warning has been delivered. I only hope that in the future, The Blue—and the genius named Herta—will not fall amid the coming crises.
With that thought, the captain prepared to turn and board his spacecraft, departing this planet to continue infrastructure construction in other worlds.
Meanwhile, Herman lowered the Herta Magic Wand, intending to fly toward the Soul Gem factory, deploy the Fourth Mirror's computational power, and have it attempt to operate the factory's monitoring system.
However, at that very moment, a swarm of frenzied reporters surrounded him. Numerous microphones were thrust toward his face.
Helpless, Herman could only pause and gesture for them to ask questions one at a time. He pointed to the female reporter closest to him.
"You first."
The female reporter asked excitedly, "Miss Herta, are you truly the newly joined 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, the genius who published papers in the two most prestigious journals of the universe?"
"Yes. That would be me."
Another reporter immediately asked, "Miss Herta, we've heard you are a student at The Blue's First University. At your age, to research and solve the cosmos' Fourth Conundrum—Solitary Waves Theory—is truly extraordinary. Did your classmates or teachers provide you with any assistance?"
Herman responded with a question of his own:
"What do you think?"
The reporter gave an awkward laugh. "It's unlikely they provided assistance. I recall that the Intelligentsia Guild once dispatched a large number of scholars to research the universe's Fourth Conundrum, but they ultimately failed."
"That's right. Only a genius like me could solve Solitary Waves Theory." Herman spoke seriously. "As for my classmates and teachers... my only hope is that they refrain from maliciously slandering the name Herta on the interastral network."
Herta's words only made the reporters even more excited, and they began firing off question after question.
At that moment, the Supreme Leader of the Blue Federation finally understood that what Herta truly cared about was the online defamation directed at her.
A sense of relief rose within him.
Fortunately, they had already dealt severely with those students and teachers who had smeared Herta's reputation online... sending them straight to prison.