In short, amid the noise and commotion, Herta officially got to work and began the manufacturing process of the Herta Puppet.
The first thing she constructed was the body.
3D printing, Netherite, built-in mechanical lungs, an artificial heart.
Of course, as Herta—even if it was only a puppet—it had to be able to experience the beauty of the world. Therefore, it needed the ability to taste delicious food, which meant installing a full digestive system.
However, this time she was creating a Herta Puppet, so excretion could be omitted. Instead, she installed a miniature black hole powered by Imaginary energy of the Path of Erudition.
Conveniently, she had recently visited the genius outpost near the edge of a black hole and gained substantial data regarding real black holes.
Herta continued working, turning the many whimsical ideas in her mind into reality.
The form of the Herta Puppet gradually took shape.
Naturally, since the puppet's appearance was modeled after Herta's childhood self, the Herta Puppet looked just as ordinary as Herta herself.
The puppet's limbs were crafted from Super Shape-Memory Alloy, granting them exceptional flexibility. In addition, they possessed impressive resilience. This meant that once completed, the Herta Puppet would possess terrifying strength—strong enough to wield even a diamond hammer with ease.
Time passed bit by bit. Finally, the manufacturing process reached its final step: the creation of the brain.
This was the most crucial stage. It would determine whether the Herta Puppet could truly become an Intellitron.
To accomplish this step, Herta had studied and observed Pearl and the transformation processes of hundreds of robots on Screwllum's planet. She had also referenced the moment Herman radically modified the Herta Magic Wand, as well as the instant Ruan Mei transformed the Ruan Mei Magic Wand.
In short, the final step in creating this puppet was to allow the robot to accumulate sufficient data. At the very instant that threshold was reached, she would input Herta's own soul attributes, turning the Herta Puppet into an extension of her consciousness.
In this way, the Herta Puppet she created would possess self-awareness just like the Herta Magic Wand, be innately close to her as its creator, and even be capable of housing her consciousness as a vessel for projection.
If she produced enough Herta Puppets and placed them throughout the cosmos, her consciousness could be projected anywhere in the universe.
Moreover, if she manufactured them in the trillions upon trillions, then what Ruan Mei had once described—the Herta Array—might truly become reality. Herta's consciousness could be projected across all galaxies in the cosmos.
Even more crucially, the Herta Puppets themselves would possess independent self-awareness. That meant they could help her with her work.
As Herta considered this, the speed of her hands increased, yet her movements grew even steadier.
The head—carefully sculpted... meticulously carved. In the end, she produced a small Herta whose appearance bore a ninety percent resemblance to her childhood self.
"With ninety percent of my childhood features... not bad, not bad."
After sighing in satisfaction, Herta transformed into a super engineer and, with her bare hands, crafted what would be considered the most cutting-edge chip technology in the entire universe.
This chip project was the result of technical exchanges between Herta, Ruan Mei, and Screwllum, researched within the Simulated Laboratory.
Inside it incorporated Ruan Mei's biological chip design and Screwllum's mechanical chip architecture, fusing the characteristics of both. In addition, it contained Herta's own World-Shaking Wisdom. She named it the Infinite Herta Chip.
As the name implied, Herta's current small ambition was to create enough Hertas to attempt completing the Herta Array that Ruan Mei had once mentioned.
By using a sufficient number of Herta Puppets to monitor the entire universe... she would be able to discover more Cosmic Conundrums that already existed within the cosmos, waiting to be uncovered.
When that time came, she could solve them.
"Heh heh heh..."
Herta hummed softly as she carefully examined the Infinite Herta Chip in her hand. After confirming there were no omissions, she inserted the chip into the neck of the completed Herta Puppet and infused it with Erudition energy, completing its first activation.
"Herta program self-check in progress. Self-check complete... Unit Herta Puppet 05 reporting to you, Madam Herta."
The Herta Puppet opened its eyes blankly and spoke in a mechanical tone as it delivered its report.
"Very good."
Herta smiled at the puppet before her, which looked ninety percent like her childhood self.
At that moment, Herman—residing within Herta's mind—voiced a complaint.
"It looks so dull. It feels just like a robot."
Herta placed one hand on her hip. "Of course. The current Herta Puppet is still a pure robot. I haven't performed the final finishing touch on Herta Puppet 05 yet."
Herman replied, "Then I'll wait and see."
"Just watch."
Herta's voice was filled with confidence.
She then raised her head and looked toward the surveillance camera. "Fourth Mirror, are you there?"
"Madam Herta, I am here." The Fourth Mirror's voice carried a hint of grievance. "Madam Herta, you first accepted Pearl, and now you've created a new Herta Puppet 05. Are you abandoning the Fourth Mirror?"
"Of course not. Fourth Mirror, you are still my best assistant. It's just that I now have too many research projects and require more assistants."
Herta stared seriously at the camera. "Now, input the ten years of data from our time together into your new partner, Herta Puppet 05. I will now perform the final finishing touch."
"As you command, Madam Herta."
The instant the Fourth Mirror's words fell, an enormous torrent of data streamed into Herta Puppet 05's chip processor, causing it to emit warning sounds.
"Too much. Cannot contain. Madam Her—error—error—"
Meanwhile, Herta muttered to herself, Still not enough... still not enough... Not at the critical threshold. Is ten years of accumulated data still insufficient to allow a machine to directly transform into an Intellitron?
"If that is the case, First Mirror, Second Mirror, Third Mirror... you will input your data into Herta Puppet 05 as well."
"As you command, Madam Herta."
"Yes!"
"Understood."
...
The three mirrors each responded in turn.
First, second, third, fourth.
These four mirrors represented four facets of Herta. All of their data poured into Herta Puppet 05's body, causing its distorted error noises to become even stranger.
At the same time, beneath the accumulation of an astronomical quantity of data, Herta Puppet 05 finally reached the critical threshold—the moment when a machine could transform into an Intellitron, a life-form possessing self-awareness and independent thought.
At that crucial instant, Herta bit her finger and used a formula dismantled from the Soul Gem project to draw upon the puppet's pale forehead.
It was the Celestial Mechanism Project · Magical Girl Formula, and the secret behind the blood-binding ritual of the Soul Gem...
This drop of blood, infused with soul attributes, combined with the special formula and the miraculous transformation that occurred at the instant a robot evolved into an Intellitron—
Ultimately granted the newborn Herta Puppet 05 self-awareness. It gained the ability to think independently and, at the same time, acquired the traits of a bonded artifact. It was innately close to Herta herself, and she could project her consciousness onto the puppet.
In the next moment, Herta Puppet 05 opened its eyes...