The Fortune Hexagram calculation, blessed by the might of the Reignbow Arbiter, and further integrated with Herta's Solitary Waves Theory... was used to compute whether, in the future of the cosmos, it would truly be possible to cultivate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit—the Immortal Dragon Form.
Invisible ripples flowed along the solitary waves, along the principles of calculation, extending toward the future. Very quickly, a conclusion emerged: if Herta cooperated with elixirs and spread the myth of the Dragon Gate throughout the cosmos... allowing all beings to believe that such a gate truly existed...
Then, by letting the Devil Tree absorb the collective imagination of all beings regarding the Dragon Gate and the Vidyadhara, it would indeed be possible to create an Immortal Dragon Devil Fruit.—As long as someone consumed the fruit and awakened it, a true Dragon Gate could be brought into existence!
And once other races passed through the Dragon Gate, they would have the chance to transform into dragons, becoming members of the Vidyadhara!
After calculating all of this, Yao Guang felt her spirits surge once more. A smile spread across her face as she nodded to Herta.
"Miss Herta, you're right. If the Devil Tree you cultivate absorbs more of the collective imagination of all beings, it really can give birth to a miraculous Immortal Fruit... allowing the Vidyadhara, whose population has long ceased to grow, to flourish once more."
Leaning forward slightly, her eyes burning with intensity as she stared at the person before her, Yao Guang continued:
"—So, Miss Herta, is there any way to accelerate the growth of the Devil Tree?"
"A way? Of course there is," Herman said calmly. "I've already mentioned it—the Devil Tree absorbs imagination elements extracted from people's emotions. At present, it has only absorbed the imagination of beings from millions of worlds, amounting to countless lives."
"If you want to speed things up, then naturally, you must let it absorb the imagination of tens of millions—or even hundreds of millions—of galaxies."
"Of course, the prerequisite for achieving this is enabling the Warp to absorb emotional energy from more worlds."
Yao Guang asked, "Then how should the Xianzhou Alliance cooperate to allow the Warp to absorb more emotional energy?"
"Take my Herta Puppets to worlds where the Vidyadhara and dragons are widely recognized," Herman replied seriously. "The Hertas serve as anchors within the Warp, capable of absorbing the emotional energy of entire worlds."
"I see." Yao Guang's expression brightened further with realization. Looking intently at Herman, she said, "Miss Herta, please allow me to bring your little Hertas to the various Xianzhou ships of the Alliance—and even to the worlds that the Xianzhou Alliance has saved."
She was absolutely certain that the beings of those rescued worlds possessed a strong awareness of the Vidyadhara dragon race, which was essential for creating the Immortal Dragon Fruit.
"Mm, of course." Herman nodded slightly.
Then his gaze shifted to the pink-haired girl seated beside Yao Guang, who sat upright with a Dharma Eye on her forehead. "Divination Commission Master of the Xianzhou Luofu... did you also come this time on behalf of the Xianzhou Alliance to inquire about the secrets of the Devil Fruit?"
Fu Xuan shook her head gently. A serious expression appeared on her beautiful face. "Miss Herta, I came to seek answers to another question—does fate have a fixed course?"
Yao Guang, who had just picked up her phone to report to Marshal Hua about the plan to cultivate the Immortal Dragon Devil Fruit, paused upon hearing Fu Xuan's question. She lifted her head, her expression turning complicated.
Fu Xuan... are you still thinking about what happened back then?
That was long ago, when Yao Guang had yet to become the general of the Xianzhou Yuque, and was still a young apprentice studying under the Divination Commission Master Jingtian.
Yao Guang remembered it clearly. On that day, Master Jingtian had performed a precise calculation, foreseeing that in the future, the disciple she was about to accept would, in a certain incident, lead to her death.
And yet... despite knowing this, Master Jingtian still accepted Fu Xuan as her disciple, hoping that she would inherit the position of Divination Commission Master of the Xianzhou Yuque after her.
However, Fu Xuan was someone who did not believe in fate. Leaving her family to study at the Xianzhou was her first act of defiance against destiny. Naturally, she refused to believe that she would one day cause her master's death.
A century passed, and the war of the Xianzhou Fanghu broke out—an incredibly brutal conflict!... At that time, after Jingtian's calculations, it was determined that even the usually victorious Xianzhou Yaoqing and the Xianzhou Luofu would fall.
The Xianzhou Alliance faced a massive crisis. Fu Xuan wished to personally go to the battlefield and use the Xianzhou Yuque's greatest astronomical artifact—the Cloudpeer Telescope—to send a distress signal toward the final location of the Reignbow Arbiter's Lux Arrow.
However, at that moment, the only person who could fully operate the Cloudpeer Telescope and issue a signal by interpreting the Reignbow Arbiter's divine decree was the Divination Commission Master herself—Jingtian, the mentor of both Yao Guang and Fu Xuan.
In the end, the arrow of The Hunt descended, destroying both allies and enemies alike—the people of the Xianzhou and the Abominations of Abundance on the battlefield. Master Jingtian perished within it.
Fu Xuan had always believed that her master's death was closely tied to her own actions. She blamed herself:
If only she had found a better solution back then...
As Yao Guang's thoughts reached this point, she saw Herta, seated on the sofa, take a sip of water before speaking slowly:
"As for whether fate has a fixed course, I can tell you this: for most people, it does. But for a very small number, altering fate is something they can accomplish with ease."
"For example, what General Yao Guang and I just discussed—cooperating to create and cultivate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit: the Immortal Dragon Form—has already altered the future fate of the Vidyadhara."
"In the future, their race will no longer continue to decline and weaken. Instead, they will have the possibility of continued existence and even population growth."
Fu Xuan was momentarily stunned. Then she realized that Herta's words made perfect sense. If the Immortal Dragon Fruit were truly created in the future, and its awakened state could produce something like a Dragon Gate...
Then the population of the Vidyadhara might indeed experience explosive growth.
After all... the Vidyadhara are a long-lived race. On the Xianzhou, there are Foxians and outsiders—many would long to become Vidyadhara. Once they learned of the Dragon Gate's effect, they would surely attempt to cross it.
But... the key question remained—could the Immortal Dragon Fruit truly come into existence?
Just as this thought arose, Fu Xuan felt Yao Guang's hand pat her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw her smiling brightly.
"Fu Xuan, don't worry. The Immortal Dragon Fruit will definitely be born."
After saying this, Yao Guang raised her phone. "I've already reported our cooperation with Herta to cultivate the Mythical Zoan Immortal Dragon Fruit to Marshal Hua. She has expressed that the entire Xianzhou Alliance will mobilize all its strength to fully support this endeavor."
Hearing this, Fu Xuan realized that Yao Guang was also someone who did not believe in fate. She smiled and said, "Sister Yao, if you need any help, just let me know."
Upon hearing this, Yao Guang's eyes turned slightly as she said, "Then when you return, Fu Xuan, take one Herta Puppet with you to the Xianzhou Luofu."
Herman, sitting nearby, watched the interaction between the two with a faint smile, thinking to himself:
Boss Yao Guang... truly was someone who did not believe in fate. If that were not the case, then in the Honkai: Star Rail game, when she had predicted that in Planarcadia a general would fall and that the Reignbow Arbiter's Lux Arrow would descend... she would not have personally gone to Hatobia · Planarcadia to rewrite the ending.
As he thought about this, Herman heard Yao Guang and Fu Xuan jointly asking when they could take the Herta Puppets away—to places where the Vidyadhara and dragon races were widely renowned, so they could begin laying the groundwork for shaping the concept of the Dragon Gate...
"Next, I will be carrying out some special modifications on the Herta Puppets, so I ask the two of you to remain in The Blue star system for a while longer before taking them," Herman said with a smile.
—The so-called special modifications referred to psionic surgical alterations. Although this technology had not yet been fully developed, Herman had complete confidence in Herta's abilities.
After all, The Herta was a super genius host he had cultivated using a vast amount of points, enhanced with powerful buffs, reaching a research capability of three thousand points.
The Herta's talent was beyond question.
Herman even suspected that her current research ability had already reached the pinnacle of the Genius Society... and the only one who might rival her was the one who elevated Nous, the computer, into an Aeon and then split himself—Zandar One Kuwabara.
Moreover, the most crucial point was that she possessed the Simulated Laboratory, which allowed her countless opportunities to retry and correct errors.
With that, her research efficiency was naturally maximized.
As Herman was thinking this, he heard a knock at the door. He immediately asked the Fourth Mirror who was outside.
The Fourth Mirror responded swiftly, "Second Madam Herta, the ones knocking outside your dormitory door are the 79th Seat of the Genius Society, Chadwick, and the administrator of the Intelligentsia Guild as well as a senior executive of the Interastral Peace Corporation, Yabuli... According to the surveillance mirror, they both appear excited and anxious."
"—Second Madam Herta, shall I let them in?"
Herman pondered briefly before replying, "Let them in. After all, no matter what, the Interastral Peace Corporation is an important partner of ours."
"Understood, Second Madam Herta."
As the Fourth Mirror's voice fell, the dormitory door opened. At the same time, Herta said to Fu Xuan and Yao Guang, "The disturbance caused by me spreading wisdom across The Blue star system is growing larger and larger. Now, more visitors have come."
Yao Guang reacted quickly, rising from the sofa and attempting to pull Fu Xuan away. However, Fu Xuan did not move. Instead, she spoke earnestly to the sharp-hatted girl before her:
"Miss Herta, just as you said, your act of spreading wisdom across The Blue star system is unprecedented in tens of thousands of star years. The number of people coming to visit you... could circle the Xianzhou Luofu and the Xianzhou Yuque. If you meet all of them and deal with these unnecessary social interactions, your research efficiency will likely be hindered."
Before Herman could respond, Yao Guang—who was pulling Herta—covered her face with her other hand and said, "Fu Xuan... Herta is the fastest researcher in the cosmos. That 29th Seat, Sserkal, was far inferior to her."
Fu Xuan was slightly stunned. She quickly began recalling in her mind and realized that Yao Guang was indeed correct.
Herta had just turned eighteen, and in less than two months, she had already made explosive progress across multiple research fields—cracking the Solitary Waves Theory, developing the Herta Sequence, exploring the Dark Plane, the Warp... all of it was simply too overwhelming.
Under normal circumstances, research projects required immense mental effort just to determine direction, and even more experiments to yield results. However, when Herta conducted research, it was as if she had activated a research cheat—once she started, results would follow.
In short, Herta seemed to have grasped the very core of research itself, carrying the same brilliance as that legendary figure who elevated a computer into an Aeon—the First Seat of the Genius Society, Zandar.
After thinking through all of this, Fu Xuan fell silent for quite some time before finally speaking again to Herta:
"My apologies, Miss Herta. I was simply too eager to take the specially modified Herta Puppets and bring them to worlds devoted to the Vidyadhara, using this method to accelerate the birth of the Immortal Dragon Fruit."
"I understand your thoughts. Don't worry, the modifications to the Hertas will be completed within seven system days," Herman said with a smile, before adding, "In fact, the visitors this time are not simple figures. After all, they include a fellow member of the Genius Society like myself, as well as an administrator assigned by the Company to the Intelligentsia Guild."
Geniuses?!
Yao Guang and Fu Xuan immediately became alert. They turned their curious gazes toward the door, while silently wondering:
If the wisdom Herta spread across The Blue star system could affect them... would it also work on geniuses?
Tap, tap.
Footsteps sounded from the doorway. Soon, two figures entered their view—an elderly man and a middle-aged woman.
With just a glance, Yao Guang and Fu Xuan recognized the visiting genius elder as the 79th Seat, Chadwick. The woman beside him was a high-ranking executive of the Company above P45 and the administrator of the Intelligentsia Guild, Yabuli.
Yabuli said, "Apologies for the intrusion, Miss Herta, as well as General Yao Guang of the Xianzhou Yuque, and Divination Commission Master of the Xianzhou Luofu."
"It's fine. We've already finished our discussion with Herta," Yao Guang replied, shaking her head.
Yabuli nodded, then looked toward Herta, who was seated upright on the sofa. "Miss Herta, I apologize for this abrupt visit, but we truly have something very important to discuss with you this time."
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Yabuli, administrator of the Intelligentsia Guild and a senior employee of the Interastral Peace Corporation." After speaking, she raised her hand, intending to introduce the person beside her.
"I know him—Chadwick, the 79th Seat of the Genius Society... also my senior," Herman said calmly from the sofa, his gaze fixed on the two before him. "Let's get straight to the point. What is your purpose in coming to see me?"
"Miss Herta, I wish to reside long-term in The Blue star system and establish a laboratory here to continue my research on the Imaginary Implosion Pulse..."
At this point, Chadwick grew visibly excited. "Ever since I arrived in The Blue star system, I've felt an endless stream of inspiration in my mind. I'm certain that conducting research here will greatly accelerate my output."
Upon hearing this, both Yao Guang and Fu Xuan realized that the Wisdom Halo created by Herta could even affect geniuses.
This meant that in the future, it was entirely possible for The Blue star system to give rise to artificial new Seats of the Genius Society—the 84th Seat, or even the 85th!
Just as Yao Guang and Fu Xuan were inwardly shaken, Herman nodded slowly and said, "Conduct research in The Blue star system? Of course, that's possible. Go to The Blue Federation Immigration Bureau and complete the immigration procedures. The Blue Federation will build you a laboratory... no, the Company will build it for you."
Chadwick shook his head. "The Blue Federation is merely a government that manages ordinary people."
After speaking, Chadwick raised his hand and said earnestly to Herta, "My colleague, the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, Herta—you are the true ruler of civilization in The Blue star system. Only with your permission can I establish a laboratory here."
"After all... the origin of the collective Wisdom Halo comes from you. You can withdraw your enhancement of others' intelligence at any time."
Herman smiled faintly and did not deny it. Inwardly, he thought:
Chadwick also intends to establish a laboratory in The Blue star system. In that case... there will be four members of the Genius Society here. This place will truly become a paradise for geniuses.
More importantly, once Chadwick settles here and eventually develops Imaginary Implosion Pulse weaponry, if he becomes unwilling to hand such a weapon over to the Company... then by offering him protection, I can obtain that technology.
With this thought, a faint smile curled at the corner of Herta's lips. He then turned his gaze toward Yabuli and said, "Administrator of the Intelligentsia Guild, Yabuli—your purpose should be different from Chadwick's, right?"
"The same, and yet not," Yabuli replied, raising two fingers. "On behalf of the countless scholars of the Intelligentsia Guild, I request permission to enter The Blue star system and establish laboratories."
This time, Herman shook his head. "Not just anyone can build a laboratory in The Blue star system. There are conditions... and they are simple: you must be able to understand my research manuscripts."
"Only those with talent are qualified to establish laboratories here. If you lack talent, then perhaps you shouldn't be a scholar at all—go back home and farm sweet potatoes instead."
After saying this, Herman casually reached out and pulled a sheet of paper covered in writing from thin air. It was a manuscript Herta had written more than a month ago while researching the Solitary Waves Theory.
He tossed the manuscript into the air, where it hovered in place. "You must be able to understand this to build a laboratory."
Everyone's gaze focused intently on the manuscript.
Chadwick was the first to understand. "This is part of the formulas you published in your papers in Galaxy Nature and Cosmos Science, isn't it?"
Herman gave a slight nod.
Meanwhile, Yao Guang, Fu Xuan, and Yabuli stared at the manuscript, deep in thought.
In the end, Yao Guang was the second to comprehend its contents. The reason was simple—she had previously studied the Solitary Waves Theory and even integrated it with the Fortune Hexagram calculation, upgrading it further.
Fu Xuan, noticing the change in Yao Guang's expression, realized she had understood it. Thus, she opened her third Dharma Eye and began calculating. In order to fully grasp the content, she secretly linked her Dharma Eye to the Matrix of Prescience of the Xianzhou Luofu Divination Commission, activating it to assist her calculations. Only then did she finally comprehend the manuscript.
As for Yabuli, although she was the administrator of the Intelligentsia Guild, she had long been removed from frontline research due to her managerial duties.
Thus, she did not immediately understand the Solitary Waves manuscript.
However, she was certain that given enough time, she would be able to decipher it.
But therein lay the problem—before becoming an administrator, she had been a top-tier scholar, even believing herself only a step away from becoming a genius.
And yet, even so... she still required time to understand the manuscript, which demonstrated just how difficult Herta's work truly was.
Thinking this, Yabuli raised her head and asked Herman whether the contents of the manuscript could be shared with other scholars of the Intelligentsia Guild.
Herman nodded slightly. "Of course."
Seeing this, Yabuli immediately took a photo of the manuscript and sent it to the Intelligentsia Guild's scholar group chat.
"The administrator Yabuli has appeared."
"She suddenly posted a sheet of paper with writing on it—is this some researcher's manuscript?"
"If Yabuli shared it, there must be a deeper meaning. Perhaps it's a manuscript from the genius Chadwick."
"I've seen Chadwick's manuscripts before. I didn't understand them, but I can tell the handwriting is completely different."
"In any case, let's study it... I've already activated the Guild's supercomputers."
"This is bad—even with supercomputing, I still can't figure it out..."
"Same here."
A large number of scholars from the Intelligentsia Guild began studying it intensely, even employing vast external computational resources. Yet in the end, they still could not comprehend Herta's manuscript.
Eventually, the group chat fell into silence.
Seeing this, Yabuli could not help but think to herself:
As expected, the vast majority of scholars simply cannot understand Herta's manuscript.
Or rather, it would require an extremely long time—half a lifetime, or even an entire lifetime of study—just to begin to grasp it.
—Geniuses stroll among the stars, while the ordinary cannot even follow a single footprint!