At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the reporters bombarded Herman with countless questions. Eventually, he grew impatient and stopped answering altogether, simply patting the Herta Magic Wand.
The wand immediately carried Herta away at several times the speed of sound, bursting out of the crowd and shooting into the sky, vanishing above the clouds.
To the onlookers, it felt as though she had disappeared in the blink of an eye.
...
Not long after, Herman arrived at the newly constructed Soul Gem factory.
He promptly took out a USB drive he had prepared in advance and inserted it into the server in the factory's control room.
As a result, the Fourth Mirror's data began transferring into the Soul Gem factory. At the same time, the mechanical arms that the Architects had already installed throughout the facility began to move, raising themselves in salute one after another.
From the factory's speakers came the Fourth Mirror's voice:
"Madam Herta is peerless in the world. Madam Herta outshines even the most stunning beauties. Madam Herta possesses unparalleled intelligence."
Herman waved his hand and spoke toward an already activated surveillance camera.
"That's enough, that's enough. Now check whether the factory's monitoring systems are fully in place."
"Understood."
A few seconds later, the Fourth Mirror's voice sounded again.
"All 42,000 surveillance units within the factory have been properly installed by the Architects. There are no blind spots remaining."
A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Herman's lips.
"Very good. Now we just need the materials to arrive and the contracts to be signed... then we can officially begin forging and selling the Soul Gems."
As he spoke, Herman thought to himself.
'Once the Soul Gems—these Path amplifiers—are mass-produced and sold on a large scale, the power of those Path lunatics across the universe will surge.'
'And when that group of lunatics realizes that only by wearing gorgeous magical-girl outfits can they perfectly utilize the Soul Gems' amplification... they will inevitably change their attire for the sake of power.'
'In that case, more and more beautiful girls dressed in magical-girl-style outfits will appear throughout this cosmos.'
'More importantly, many of those Path lunatics will also come into contact with magical-girl television shows and films.'
'Some of them may even be influenced by that culture and choose to walk the path of protecting the world instead. Wouldn't that count as cultural export? Making this world a better place?'
'Likewise, the Antimatter Legion's Voidrangers are forged in furnaces of war, mass-produced as weapons with no sense of self. Naturally, they have no possibility of using Soul Gems.'
'In that case, if a world is invaded by the Antimatter Legion, its Pathstriders—empowered by Soul Gems—will be far better equipped to defend it.'
As Herman continued thinking, the sound of a phone ringing reached his ears.
He could not help but wonder.
Could it be that envoys from the IPC, the Xianzhou Alliance, or the Family have arrived?
He pressed the answer button and immediately heard an introduction from the other side.
"I am the Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation. Miss Herta, the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, I hereby formally invite you to join the Eastern Federation."
"As long as you join us, I can offer you better treatment than the Blue Federation—along with top-tier laboratories."
"I believe that if you join us, you will make the Eastern Federation—"
"Get lost."
Herman's reply was extremely brief and direct.
A single phrase caused the Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation on the other end to seethe with anger. Still, he forced himself to endure it.
"Miss Herta, please reconsider. We are very sincere—"
Before he could finish speaking, the line went dead.
Beep... beep... beep...
The Eastern Federation's Supreme Leader's face twisted. The hand holding his phone began to tremble.
...
Inside the Soul Gem factory, Herman glanced at the phone he had just hung up and curled his lip.
Herta doesn't even want to join the Blue Federation's Academy of Sciences or the Intelligentsia Guild.
And now you—a mere Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation—think you can lure her away with better treatment? Dream on.
At that moment, Herta's own voice echoed in Herman's mind.
"Well done. You rejected the Eastern Federation's recruitment and completed the ribbon-cutting ceremonies for Herta City and the Soul Gem factory. It seems I was right to leave these trivial matters to you."
Herman raised a brow and responded inwardly:
"You seem especially happy right now. Did your research succeed?"
"Indeed. During the time you were handling mundane affairs, I completed the research within the Simulated Laboratory."
Herta's voice carried unconcealed satisfaction.
"That went surprisingly smoothly," Herman said.
"It's all thanks to your suggestion. If you hadn't advised me earlier to meet with Screwllum and Ruan Mei to exchange technical insights and gain inspiration, I wouldn't have been able to overcome one technical bottleneck after another in such a short time, complete the design of the Herta Puppet, and successfully manufacture it within the Simulated Laboratory!"
"Haha."
Herman chuckled softly.
At that very moment, his phone rang again.
His brow furrowed slightly.
Don't tell me that asian Supreme Leader of the Eastern Federation hasn't given up yet?
Does he not understand English? That can't be right... in this era, Synesthesia Beacons already span the universe.
Taking a deep breath, Herman answered the call—only to hear that it was a delivery specialist from the Interastral Peace Corporation.
The courier stated that all the materials Miss Herta, the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, had applied for through the company had arrived and required her personal signature.
The materials arrived already?
It hasn't even been half a day. Is the IPC's logistics this fast?!
Herman's spirits lifted.
"Where are you now? At the delivery station?"
"No. I am currently aboard the company's logistics vessel, directly above Herta City."
Hearing this, Herman looked out the window.
The sky outside had already darkened. A colossal battleship had broken through the clouds and now stood between heaven and earth.
At the prow of the vessel was a massive ram shaped like the Amber Lord wielding a giant hammer.
As expected of the Building Material Logistics Department.
Their devotion to the Amber Lord was truly fanatical.
With that thought in mind, Herman quickly informed the courier over the phone that he was inside the newly established Soul Gem factory.
"Understood. The materials will be delivered immediately."
The warship docked near the factory. Soon, logistics robots began transporting batch after batch of materials into the Soul Gem facility.
After Herta signed for them, the robots departed without delay.
Rumble—
At the rear of the company's vessel, a tremendous torrent of energy erupted, forming Mach rings.
The ship rapidly ascended, eventually entering space through the starport, reaching the star rail, and then departing the Blue planetary system via high-speed transit.
With that, the Soul Gem factory was left with only Herta once more.
Herman prepared to begin manufacturing the very first Herta Puppet.
Herta's voice echoed again in his mind:
"Wait. I will craft the first puppet myself. I refuse to have the puppet I create altered into something bizarre by your meddling."
Of course, that was not the real reason.
The true reason Herta did not want Herman to create the Herta Puppet was because the one she intended to make bore an uncanny resemblance to her childhood appearance—it was practically a replica of her younger self.
More importantly, she had already learned her lesson from the Herta Magic Wand. After Herman created it, the wand had immediately begun rebelling.
If the Herta Puppet were made by Herman and ended up recognizing him as the true Herta—its creator—while regarding her as the fake, then she, the real Herta, would truly be left speechless and wronged.
To prevent such a scenario, the Herta Puppet had to be crafted by her own hands.
Furthermore, she had no intention of allowing Herman to witness the birth of the Herta Puppet.
Thus, she made a request in her mind—when she began crafting the puppet, Herman was to close his eyes tightly.
"That's impossible. There's no way I can do that," Herman protested. "Besides, I'm just your cheat. Didn't you once say you treat me like a pet? Then just treat me as a pet—not as a man."
Herta was so exasperated she laughed.
"Your moral boundaries are remarkably flexible."