Chapter 488: Marry Acheron - 488

Little Herta lay on the examination table while the machines ran a fully automated series of tests. Ruan Mei stood beside Sylvia, speaking in a low voice.

"Would you call this... stealing someone else's love?"

"...Doesn't it feel strange hearing those words come out of your mouth?"

Sylvia's expression was hard to describe. She turned to Ruan Mei, wondering what could've possessed her to say something like that.

"I'm merely stating the facts. I'm the one who approached you about a reproduction experiment, not Herta. Yet you chose to have a child with someone who had no such intentions."

Ruan Mei's voice was as gentle as ever, though there was a hint of resentment beneath it this time.

Sylvia finally understood. Ruan Mei really was bothered that Sylvia had turned down her invitation, only to end up creating Little Herta with Herta instead. That was despite Ruan Mei knowing full well that Little Herta and the "reproduction experiment" she'd proposed were two very different things.

"Little Herta and your experiment are completely different, aren't they?"

"The circumstances of her creation may be different, but you and Herta still acknowledge Little Herta as your child." Ruan Mei pressed her point, leaning closer until she was almost resting against Sylvia's shoulder.

Her warm breath brushed Sylvia's ear as she continued. "Herta and I are quite alike. She cares for Little Herta out of responsibility rather than affection. In that respect, a child born from our union wouldn't be treated any differently."

Herta might seem to have a little more common sense than Ruan Mei, but only a little. She could even declare herself the very embodiment of the boundaries of knowledge right in front of Ruan Mei, another member of the Genius Society.

If anything, Herta was even more arrogant than Ruan Mei.

Ruan Mei didn't believe there was much that could be called "maternal love" in Herta's treatment of Little Herta. The only person who could give the child any real warmth was Sylvia, and Little Herta knew it too. That was why she only asked Sylvia to hold her or let Sylvia take care of her.

Of course, Ruan Mei could also see that Little Herta had inherited certain traits from Herta. Fortunately, she hadn't taken them to quite the same extreme.

"So, in theory, accepting my proposal wouldn't be any different from accepting Herta's. Even if you're concerned about pregnancy, you could choose to lay an egg instead. You could hand the embryo over to me for care, and it wouldn't interfere with your daily activities."

Ruan Mei explained it all in her usual patient, persuasive tone, but Sylvia froze.

"...Wait. What did you just say? Lay an egg? Me?"

"From all the information I've gathered on dragon descendants, they undergo rebirth through eggs. Your examination results confirm that you're capable of doing the same, though your mammalian reproductive anatomy remains fully functional."

Ruan Mei ignored Sylvia's increasingly stunned expression and went on to share her conclusion.

"That leads me to believe you can choose between live birth and egg-laying. Of course, I can't rule out the possibility that the outcome also depends on the biological nature of your partner."

Sylvia was too stunned by the discovery that she could actually lay eggs to speak.

For one thing, it was yet another reminder that she'd long since stopped being human. For another, she absolutely couldn't let Mei find out. Who knew what kind of outrageous things that woman would say if she heard about this?

Though, to be fair, what Ruan Mei was saying right now was already outrageous enough.

Ruan Mei smiled and delivered the final blow.

"I'm also curious why you've never considered this before. The Vidyadhara undergo rebirth by returning to eggs. Surely you've seen that for yourself?"

From what Ruan Mei had heard, Sylvia had visited Scalegorge Waterscape and even ventured beneath its waters. She'd almost certainly seen Vidyadhara eggs before.

"...It never occurred to me."

Sylvia's mouth twitched. How was anyone supposed to make that connection?

"Anyway, let's put that aside for now. Actually giving birth myself is a different matter."

Ruan Mei smiled and said nothing more.

Sooner or later, she'd convince Sylvia to lay an egg for her.

--+--

Little Herta's full medical examination soon came to an end.

Ruan Mei was fascinated by the results. Beings that combined biological and mechanical parts weren't rare in the universe, but she'd never encountered anything quite like Little Herta. The girl gave her the distinct impression of being "living metal."

Little Herta, meanwhile, had developed an interest in Ruan Mei's biology research. She clung to Sylvia's hand and insisted on staying to watch and learn.

Considering that even Herta had acknowledged the child's ability to learn, Ruan Mei agreed. She even went out of her way to prepare a set of "Basic Biology" course materials that most ordinary people wouldn't have understood in the slightest.

As for Sylvia, she had no interest in biology. But Little Herta kept holding on to her, and she couldn't exactly bring herself to pull the girl's little hand away. In the end, she settled into a chair with Little Herta in her arms and began to doze off.

As Ruan Mei's lectures grew more and more incomprehensible, Sylvia leaned back in her chair and soon fell fast asleep.

Ruan Mei stopped speaking. She turned toward the sleeping Sylvia and took a step closer, only to find Little Herta hugging Sylvia's arm and watching her with a guarded expression.

Ruan Mei paid her no mind. Instead, she found a blanket nearby and draped it over Little Herta's head.

"Cover your parent with this. I can't do anything without Sylvia's cooperation anyway."

Little Herta raised her short little arms and struggled to spread the blanket over both herself and Sylvia. Then she looked at Ruan Mei with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.

"Daddy's an idiot. I'm already worried about whether I'll ever manage to learn everything Mother knows. Aren't you worried about that, Miss Ruan Mei?"

"Hmm... That's a good question."

Ruan Mei smiled and considered her answer.

She wasn't quite blunt enough to tell a child to her face that she was only interested in research and had no intention of placing any unnecessary expectations or affection on her offspring.

Besides, Herta herself probably hadn't expected Little Herta to grow into someone who could rival her.

"But that's a matter for adults. We can discuss it when you're older."

Little Herta pouted. She might be young, but she was a very fast learner.

Miss Ruan Mei was a lot like her mother. In fact, Little Herta thought she was quite similar to her mother herself. So even without Ruan Mei spelling it out, she could guess what the woman was thinking.

Of course, that didn't mean she had any doubts about her own birth. For one thing, Herta had already explained the whole story to her. For another, she didn't care all that much. If she ever wanted someone to spoil her, she could just go to Sylvia.

Little Herta couldn't see anything wrong with that.

What worried her most was the possibility that her intelligence might turn out to be the average of Herta's and Sylvia's.

She'd already set herself a minimum goal: she had to understand everything Herta knew. She wasn't even aiming to make new discoveries. Just keeping up with her mother would be enough.

After all... her daddy didn't understand academics at all.

Knowing your own limits was important.

Little Herta was mature for her age, and she'd already adjusted her expectations to match reality. She wasn't going to set herself some impossible goal out of blind ambition.

--+--

By the time Sylvia woke up, Little Herta was gone.

"Ruan Mei? Where's Little Herta?"

"She went out. More importantly, now that you're awake, you should go see Herta. She wants to speak with you."

Ruan Mei answered without looking back. She seemed to be analyzing Little Herta's data, though Sylvia had no idea how it might help her research.

Sylvia sat up, holding the blanket that covered her.

"Thanks for the blanket. Aren't you coming with me?"

"No need. Herta and Screwllum are the ones mainly responsible for running the Simulated Universe."

Ruan Mei had contributed a great deal during the Simulated Universe's development, but managing and maintaining it wasn't her specialty. That was also why she hadn't been connected to it in real time during their earlier confrontation with Polka Kakamond.

"All right, I'll leave you to it."

Sylvia got up and quietly left the laboratory.

--+--

Outside, Mei was waiting for her. As soon as Sylvia emerged, Mei handed her a bottle of something to drink.

"Here. Have something."

"Thanks. Why're you waiting out here?"

Sylvia accepted the drink and looked at Mei with curiosity.

"I didn't want to disturb Miss Ruan Mei's experiments."

The two left the Seclusion Zone together.

"By the way, some curious people have managed to trace the path of that light arrow you fired the other day. Herta might want to see you about that," Mei said.

The gaze of The Hunt had descended upon The Blue, causing an uproar across the universe. Countless people had become fascinated by the streak of light, and they'd set out to discover where it had gone.

The thing had traveled across who knew how many light-years, but there were always people close enough and bored enough to chase after it.

Since its destination wasn't somewhere beyond the reach of known civilization, someone had finally located the point of impact after several days.

"How'd they even find it? Didn't that rainbow light fade away?"

Sylvia looked at Mei in confusion. The enormous beam of light that had appeared when she fired that bullet hadn't lasted forever. It'd vanished from sight around the space station ages ago, so how had those people managed to track it down?

"No idea."

Mei shook her head. How was she supposed to know what methods they'd used?

Sylvia clicked her tongue and pressed the elevator button for the Master Control Zone.

"Those people really have a death wish. Weren't they worried about charging straight into the territory of the Denizens of Abundance?"

That was a bullet fired by The Hunt, for crying out loud.

What a bunch of lunatics.

"Still, thanks to them, we can at least learn what happened to Polka Kakamond."

That remote star system was so far away that even traveling there aboard the Express would require several jumps. A round trip alone would take more than half a month, and that wasn't counting the time it'd take to search an entire star system for traces of Polka.

If Polka Kakamond had survived, she'd have been long gone by then.

That was why neither Sylvia nor Mei had even considered going there to investigate in person.

Sylvia admired those people's reckless courage, and Mei had a point. At least now they could learn something about what had happened.

Who knew? Maybe Polka really was dead.

Sylvia didn't hold out much hope, but she couldn't help imagining it.

--+--

They soon arrived at Herta's office.

Before Sylvia could even open her mouth, Herta tossed a holographic screen toward her.

"Here. Take a look at this. It's the latest intel from the IPC."

"Hm? What's this...?"

Sylvia caught the screen and began reading it with Mei.

It was an investigation report detailing the findings from that remote star system.

"The Winnemud System... So that's what the place was called."

Sylvia had barely started reading when she spotted the star system's former name. Apparently, the information had come from a History Fictionologist, and they weren't even sure whether the name was real.

What on earth had happened there for the entire star system's name to be lost to history? It really was an absurdly remote place.

She continued reading.

A certain space adventurer had happened to observe the beam of light from a location that wasn't too far away. Although the light had faded before the adventurer reached the system, an unusual phenomenon had appeared at the place where the arrow of The Hunt had struck.

That phenomenon was what allowed them to confirm the point of impact.

As for the images attached to the report...

"Why aren't there any pictures?"

"Apparently, it's a phenomenon that technological devices can't capture. I'd like to go take a look if I ever get the chance."

Herta answered Sylvia's question with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

Everyone knew the Aeon of Abundance had a habit of planting strange wonders throughout the universe. The Hunt, on the other hand, was far more direct. Most of the time, THEY simply destroyed the wonders left behind by Abundance without creating anything of THEIR own for people to admire.

Herta even suspected that the phenomenon described in the report might've been Polka Kakamond's doing.

"More importantly, look farther down. The adventurer discovered wreckage from a spacecraft along with traces of biological tissue. Data recovered from the wreckage confirmed that the ship belonged to Polka Kakamond."

"Polka Kakamond was injured?"

"Yes, and it definitely wasn't a minor injury."

Herta nodded and explained her reasoning.

If someone attacked her space station, there was no way she'd abandon it and flee. And in this case, they'd even found evidence aboard the ship that could identify Polka Kakamond.

That wasn't the sort of thing someone would leave behind on a disposable decoy.

Besides, Polka Kakamond possessed that strange ability to manipulate causality. Hitting the ship she was aboard shouldn't have been much easier than hitting her directly.

If the attack had managed to destroy her ship and leave biological remains among the wreckage, it was reasonable to conclude that Polka herself had been struck.

After explaining this, Herta shot Sylvia another resentful glare.

"Why didn't you let me study something that interesting first?! What a waste!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Next time!"

Sylvia rolled her eyes. She'd lost count of how many times Herta had complained about this over the past few days.

How could someone be so petty and hold a grudge over something like this?

"Hmph!"

Herta snorted and turned her head away.

Every time she saw Sylvia these days, she was reminded of that Curio she hadn't even gotten a chance to lay eyes on. Then came the frustration of knowing she'd missed her chance to study a one-of-a-kind specimen.

The more she looked at Sylvia, the angrier she got.

Damn it!

If her puppet had been strong enough to beat Sylvia, she'd have jumped on her and punched her a couple of times just to let off some steam. If only her real body were here!

By now, Sylvia had grown immune to Herta's resentment. She simply continued reading the report and its analysis.

The adventurer had been just as surprised that any biological tissue could've survived such a terrifying attack. But judging by the amount of tissue and the bloodstains left behind, Genius Society member #4 had to be severely injured, assuming she was still alive.

They hadn't found a body, so her death remained unconfirmed.

Sylvia nodded in satisfaction.

She'd never expected that single shot to kill Polka Kakamond. She hadn't even dared to hope it would inflict the kind of serious injuries described in the report.

After all... something like the Knowable Domain was simply too absurd.

But judging by the results, the shot had accomplished far more than she'd expected.

"So what do we do next?"

"Hmph. Isn't it obvious? We push ahead with the plan at full speed. We'll replicate the Scepter System in the Simulated Universe and break through the boundaries of knowledge."

Herta raised her chin as she answered.

If Polka came to stop them, Sylvia's presence would render the Knowable Domain useless. There was no way Polka could withstand several geniuses working together without it.

And if she didn't come, she'd have no choice but to stand by and watch as Herta broke through the boundaries of knowledge.

Now it was #4's turn to suffer.

--+--