"Want some?"
Noticing Miss Herta's puffed-up cheeks and undisguised unhappiness, Mr. Jiang Qiao gestured helplessly.
The next moment, she quickly approached and, without any ceremony, snatched a dessert from the plate and stuffed it into her mouth.
"It was mine to begin with!"
She chewed on the pastry like a hamster, muttering her dissatisfaction.
"Seems so... Alright, alright... It's all yours, all yours..."
Putting down the pastry he had taken a bite of, Herta stared at the missing piece, instantly captivated. But before she could make a move, Ruan Mei took the pastry first and quietly hid it away.
"...Even if you take that, you won't get any results."
Jiang Qiao sighed, well aware of their intentions.
"That's not necessarily true."
"So, has the Polka Kakamond situation been resolved?"
"You knew she was coming?"
"Don't underestimate us. We're geniuses, after all."
"Although we know very little about that person, it doesn't mean Ruan Mei and I were completely unprepared." Herta savored her black tea, pursing her lips. "I don't want to die for no reason."
"So? What happened to her?"
"Don't you already know the result?"
The fact that he could be here clearly meant something.
Herta clicked her tongue. She had originally wanted to get something out of the man's mouth.
She was quite interested in both him and the Lord of Silence.
"She walks a path opposite to yours, but she's gone much further than you."
"Is that so? That's normal. After all, Polka Kakamond is an old monster who's been around for who knows how long." Herta didn't feel defeated by this; on the contrary, she found it quite natural.
She was a rising star genius who had emerged in recent Amber Eras. Although her age was unknown, she was certainly much younger than the Lord of Silence, who had been active in the universe since the era of interstellar expansion.
For geniuses, if the difference in their talent was not significant, then the only thing that determined the gap between them was the accumulation of time.
The Perfect Scholar—such a realm was not unattainable for Herta.
As they spoke, in another domain.
Iron Tomb's expression twisted as he looked at the figure that appeared before him.
"Screwllum!"
For a machine lifeform, this name undoubtedly held a transcendent deterrent force, even for Iron Tomb, a surviving Lord Ravager.
However, his feelings towards him were more of resentment than fear.
After all, as a top-tier machine lifeform like Screwllum, Iron Tomb naturally had the qualifications to be the Emperor's successor. And as a Lord Ravager, he had acted on it, walking the Path of Destruction, attempting to revive the former anti-organic war... No, for the Legion, it should be an even more absolute anti-matter war.
Unfortunately, Screwllum's existence had become an obstacle to his attempt to revive the Emperor's glory.
As long as Screwllum existed, the Anti-Organic Equation was almost impossible to fully revive, because the most important and core part of the equation had long been locked away by this mechanical gentleman who cherished life.
"This time, you're not getting away." Miss Silver Wolf stretched lazily.
Because of Iron Tomb's mechanical nature, he was able to escape with his life in the last Xianzhou battle by sacrificing his meticulously built fleet, becoming a surviving Lord Ravager.
But this time, Silver Wolf was prepared. The network was her domain, after all. On her home turf and with preparations, she wouldn't let this guy escape again!
The battle on the data plane lasted for an unknown amount of time.
A dozen or so minutes later, Silver Wolf walked out calmly, followed by Screwllum.
"Is it settled?"
"Of course, who am I?" Silver Wolf puffed out her chest. "Just a mere Lord Ravager. Daring to come to my territory, I'll make sure he never leaves!"
Screwllum didn't even need to do much. She alone was enough to deal with Iron Tomb.
This was only natural.
After all, for a machine lifeform, the most important things were the body and the supply of computing power.
Even Iron Tomb, a Lord Ravager, was no exception.
Originally, his computing core was supposed to be the Chariot Cluster, but unfortunately, in the Xianzhou battle, almost all the chariots were dismantled. The remaining ones were hunted down by Glamoth, the Alliance, and most other forces in the universe, so the current Iron Tomb was actually pitifully weak.
If Polka hadn't had a problem, it would have been fine. Cooperating with Polka Kakamond had its benefits. As long as he cooperated, he could use the Omniscience Domain. Although the Lord of Silence would never open it up to him completely, with the support of the Omniscience Domain and the Scepter system, Iron Tomb could even surpass his peak.
But unfortunately, before Iron Tomb could act, Miss Polka Kakamond had already tragically crashed and burned. Now, she was a star... ahem, a prisoner of Glamoth.
Having lost the computing support of the Omniscience Domain, Iron Tomb's current level didn't even require Screwllum to act. The latter was just here to guard the door and prevent Iron Tomb from escaping, while also recovering the data of the Anti-Organic Equation that Iron Tomb possessed.
"So, what are you going to do about the chaos on the Xianzhou and those monkeys? Dr. Primitive himself didn't come, but he indirectly prepared a big problem for you." Herta pursed her lips unhappily, then looked at the monkeys.
These were no ordinary monkeys. Although she disliked Dr. Primitive's ideas, there was no doubt that as a member of the Genius Society and an Emanator of Erudition, Dr. Primitive was not much inferior to Polka Kakamond.
And his plan was by no means simple.
Dr. Primitive intended to use the atavistic memetic virus to disrupt everything, while also completing his own experiment. Without a doubt, this arts field, which had gathered numerous heroes from across the universe, was the perfect testing ground he had long sought.
And for Glamoth, the atavistic meme would cause Glamoth's Iron Cavalry to regress... and the origin of Glamoth's Iron Cavalry... was the Swarm of the universe!
The primitive and bloodthirsty instincts were engraved in the DNA of Glamoth's Iron Cavalry. If the Glamoth Iron Cavalry, who walked the path of justice, exposed such an ugly and terrifying side to the world, then Glamoth's public image would undoubtedly suffer a devastating blow.
"For Glamoth, that is not something to be ashamed of."
Well aware of Dr. Primitive's intentions, Jiang Qiao was quite calm about it.
Was being an insect so hard to accept?
No matter what, that was Glamoth's past, a reality that could not be escaped. Therefore, it was not something to be ashamed of.
Bestiality is terrifying, but it is precisely by overcoming the impulses in one's blood that humans are called humans.
"They chose this path, and they will not regret it."
In Glamoth's education, that initial state was the Empress's sincere and unreserved truth to her people.
Those who chose to move forward became Glamoth's Iron Cavalry. As for the insects who remained behind, Glamoth never forced them, but simply let them stay in the past, drawing a boundary for them so they would not be lonely.
"Everything they do comes from the heart. Therefore, even if they are despised and feared, it is not so terrifying."
"Glamoth will never lack courage."
"But... that being said, to let their efforts and people's expectations end in such an unfair and imperfect way... for both the Xianzhou and Glamoth, it would be somewhat unpleasant."
"So..."
"The rest will be left to the new Marshal of the Xianzhou."
His gaze fell.
On the arena, at some point, the young woman in green robes was standing there.
"What? You want me to handle this mess?"
A few minutes ago, Qingque was speechless at his arrangement.
"Do I look like I can solve this kind of thing?"
If someone asked her to fight, although she wasn't very good at fisticuffs, she could more or less get by with brute force.
But... she couldn't even find Dr. Primitive. Was she supposed to fight a bunch of monkeys?
"It's alright, I'll help you."
"Huh? Why go through all that trouble? Can't you just do it yourself?"
"That would be fine, but some things are more suitable for you to do."
"Then you can just use my body."
"This time is different. I'm going to teach you something along the way."
To this, Miss Qingque pursed her lips. Haven't you taught me enough while holding me down?
Despite her words, she did not refuse.
After all, with the current chaos, although Miss Qingque was quite troubled by this Marshal position that had fallen from the sky, even if she wanted to slack off, as a responsible person, she had to do her part to the best of her ability.
Even though she hadn't officially taken office, she had to consider everything from the Xianzhou's perspective.
The Denizens of Abundance who attacked the Xianzhou, Dr. Primitive who disrupted the Xianzhou's martial arts ceremony... if all of this couldn't be resolved properly, it might not be a big deal for Glamoth, but for the Xianzhou itself, this time would be a considerable failure. What was worse, she would probably be under a lot of pressure after taking office. No! I don't want that!
In order to minimize her workload as much as possible, Qingque stepped onto the arena.
The next moment, a certain someone's voice sounded in her ear.
"Do you still remember that Omniscience Domain?"
"Hmm? How could I forget?"
It was almost a complete suppression. As the name suggested, under the Omniscience Domain, Polka Kakamond was like a mini-Aeon, able to directly reproduce a nerfed version of an Aeon's power to a certain extent.
The moment she was invaded, she could feel the value of that thing.
"People in this world are born to walk different Paths because of their actions."
"Practicing that philosophy, delving deep into it, exploring... they are called Pathstriders."
"You have the Emanator's power that I left in you. I think you probably understand what an Emanator is."
Although in many cases, being noticed by an Aeon already meant that the person had gone extremely far on that Path—otherwise, the Aeon would have no interest in a tiny human. Or rather, to them, humans were too small and insignificant. Only a sufficiently strong light of the Path could attract their attention.
But there were also artificial creations like the Swarm of Elation, purely born out of a whim, with no real mastery.
Polka Kakamond despised such existences.
They themselves did not possess the ability to master power, but were simply lucky ones hit by a pie falling from the sky.
Power that cannot be mastered is not power at all, but should be called a shackle.
And what the Lord of Silence had reached.
Was the embodiment of an individual's deep involvement in a Path...
"Throne."
To achieve a level surpassing an Emanator, comparable to an Aeon, in a certain aspect of a Path through personal will. Such a person could complete their own coronation without the blessing of an Aeon, ascending to the throne and mastering the power of the Path.
Although compared to an Aeon, which could represent an entire Path and was also a symbol of the entire Path, a Throne that had only reached the extreme in a part of the Path might be far inferior to an Aeon, in Jiang Qiao's view, such things were not so absolute.
The Throne, though weak, was free. The Aeon, though strong, was subject to various restrictions.
This was also why, at the moment he was qualified to ascend to the position of an Aeon, he would deliberately use a method hundreds of times more difficult than ascending to the position of an Aeon to resist becoming an Aeon.
"Qingque, let me show you the true meaning of the Hunt."
The words echoed in her mind, and she could feel her body being guided by a gentle force. The next moment, the young girl slowly opened her eyes, her gaze clear.
Her long hair, flowing behind her, billowed without any wind.
At this moment, it was as if a small pebble had been thrown into the Path.
The originally chaotic scene fell silent.
Most of the audience froze.
Only special individuals like Herta, Diamond, or Robin could maintain their thoughts.
The latter watched this scene with a fervent expression.
And the generals of the Xianzhou seemed to have sensed something as well, especially Hua, who looked at the figure in the arena with a hint of pleasant surprise.
"Jade Tiles of the Hunt, Celestial Law and Judgment."
The girl's voice was soft, almost inaudible, but it seemed to echo in everyone's heart.
"Sever."
Including Dr. Primitive, who was somewhere unknown, awaiting the results of his experiment.
As the jade tile landed on the star array, something in the universe seemed to have been subtly stirred.
A genius disappeared without a sound, and with him, the Sleepy Banana Monkeys that were trying to create chaos. The traces of the disturbance seemed to have been completely erased at this moment. People stood there in a daze, as if nothing had happened.
"Kong from a Quad!"