Chapter 179: Herta: "Oh, Isn't This the Little Silver Wolf Who Was Crying and Throwing a Tantrum?"
As Ruan Mei's phantom dissipated into motes of light, Herta didn't dwell on their exchange. Instead, she found her mood improving, a crisp satisfaction settling over her.
Sure enough, when one was feeling gloomy, the best remedy was to find a way for others to "share" that gloom. It was a surefire way to recalibrate one's own mindset.
However, the subject of Leon… he truly was a special case.
Five Aeons were currently keeping him company. This was no longer a matter of speculation but an obvious fact laid bare before her.
She was forced to confront the question: What on earth did Leon possess that allowed him to stand in the company of five separate Aeons?
Even for her, Herta, a member of the Genius Society, seeking an audience with Nous required lengthy preparations and careful, painstaking arrangements. Yet Leon… he was clearly just "hanging out" with them, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
What kind of existence… could stand on equal footing with an Aeon?
The thought was inescapable. In fact, it had taken root in her mind the very first time Leon had entered the Simulated Universe.
After all, when he first stepped into her creation, he hadn't disguised himself as Akivili, the Trailblaze, like Stelle and Caelus had. Yet even so, the moment he arrived, Lan, Aha, and Nous had all sought him out, one after another. It was as if his very presence was a coordinate in the cosmos, impossible to ignore.
Herta had been pondering this mystery ever since. What did Leon possess? What special quality allowed him to attract the gaze of so many Aeons? He had even managed to punch Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, within the confines of the Simulated Universe.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered the possibility of Leon being an Aeon himself, but since Nanook's ascension, no new gods had been born in this sea of stars. The prevailing theory among scholars was that until the Path of Destruction was no longer walked, until Nanook had fallen, or until the end of the universe had arrived, no new Aeons would appear.
What about Terminus, the Aeon of Finality, who had returned from the end? Well, its very title implied it was born after the universe was destroyed.
Of course, at this point in time, Herta was still unaware that Lan, the Hunt, had not yet been born in the current timeline she was observing.
So, if Leon wasn't a new Aeon, yet could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with gods…
Herta had to entertain another suspicion: perhaps he was an Aeon who had already fallen, now returning from the silence of oblivion.
Was it Long, the dragon of Permanence? Was it Idrila of the Beauty? Or… was it the long-lost Akivili, the Trailblaze?
Considering Leon's uninhibited, freewheeling, and often mischievous nature, the scales of Herta's logic gradually tipped toward the last possibility. If he truly was the returned Akivili, then everything seemed to fall into place.
'What's going on? I became Akivili without even knowing it,' Leon would probably say.
'That's right, you must be Akivili!' Stelle and Caelus would undoubtedly cheer.
"The mysteries of the Aeons…" Herta shook her head, pulling her wandering thoughts back to the present. Believing Leon was a returning Aeon was far more reasonable than guessing he was some "transmigrator from another world." While rumors of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta did exist in this universe, the only evidence was Aha, who had supposedly climbed the tree and ascended to godhood. No one knew what the Aeon of Elation saw on that tree, only that they returned as… well, "Elation."
She sighed. Thinking about it was useless.
Herta decided to try a different approach to find her answer… the game Leon had created. Given his personality, the game was surely filled with hidden details and Easter eggs. The main storyline was a chronicle of the Trailblaze, while the "IF routes" could be deductions of other possibilities. From these, she might be able to glean some clues.
Hmm… why does this make him seem even more like Akivili?
She clicked on the updated Honkai: Star Rail icon but didn't rush to advance the main storyline. She had limited interest in Belobog itself. It was just another planet that had fallen into distress due to a Stellaron; if not for Leon's involvement, she wouldn't have even bothered with the cooperative agreement.
Her gaze swept across the quest list, and the title of a companion mission instantly snagged her attention.
[Silver Wolf: I Did Not Cry or Throw a Tantrum!]
The corners of Herta's lips curled up in a slow, silent smile.
This mission… could it be…?
She clicked into it with a burgeoning sense of interest, casually adding the "Herta" and "Asta" characters to her in-game team. Although she already knew the ending of the real-life event, watching the plot unfold scene by scene under her own control caused Herta's smile to grow deeper and more genuine.
Sure enough, games were meant to be played with a smile.
"Foolish Stellaron Hunters… under the peerless calculations of Genius Society member Herta, you could only watch helplessly as you lost seventy-six treasured accounts, crying and throwing a tantrum! Boo-hoo, how pitiful~"
The further the mission progressed, the brighter her mood became.
After exiting the mission, she casually sent a message to Asta.
Herta: "Are you there?"
Asta: "I'm here, Madam Herta! What are your orders?"
Asta quickly minimized her own game window and snapped back into work mode.
Herta: "The game Honkai: Star Rail. You know of it, correct?"
Asta: "I do, Madam Herta. Are you… playing it as well?"
Asta was a little surprised. Madam Herta was actually interested in games?
Herta: "It's good that you know."
Herta: "Pass down a notice. Have all researchers on the Space Station complete the companion mission in the game, [Silver Wolf: I Did Not Cry or Throw a Tantrum!]."
Herta: "After completing it, everyone must submit a video recording of the mission process. I want everyone to see it."
Asta: "Huh?"
Asta: "Okay, Madam Herta."
Though thoroughly confused, Asta executed the order with her usual efficiency. Soon, a new task popped up in the internal notification group for the Herta Space Station.
[Temporary Work Arrangement]
All Researchers are to log in to Honkai: Star Rail, complete the companion mission [Silver Wolf: I Did Not Cry or Throw a Tantrum!], and record the full process video for submission to the Logistics Archives Department. This task will be factored into this month's performance review.
The researchers stared at the notification. "...?"
After a brief moment of collective confusion, a spark lit up in many of their eyes.
Playing games during work hours, and it was officially sanctioned? This was a rare and wonderful treat.
And so, throughout the Master Control Zone, the Base Zone, and the Storage Zone, countless researchers quietly pulled out their personal terminals and clicked on the familiar game icon.
As they progressed through the mission, a wave of whispered conversations and sudden exclamations rippled across the station's various departments.
"So Silver Wolf really did invade our space station before?"
"You didn't know about this? It happened just a little while ago."
"I was on rotation leave then… so the problem has already been solved?"
"Of course it's solved! Otherwise, how could we be playing games here in peace?"
"Is this that 'battle of wits' between Madam Herta, Mr. Screwllum, and Silver Wolf?"
"A peak showdown!"
"Don't forget Mr. Leon… he saw through both sides' plans at a glance. His reaction speed was shockingly fast."
"So the final result was… Silver Wolf lost seventy-six game accounts?"
"Pfft… Miss Silver Wolf… she's actually quite, ahem, quite cute."
"You fake fan, get out of here! Madam Herta is the cutest!"
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