"Sister Lumina, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Lumina's voice was not hidden at all, and everyone present heard it clearly.
It drew everyone's attention.
And Castorice also asked in confusion.
"I just thought of something very regrettable." Lumina did not hide it and spoke the truth.
On that face that could be deeply engraved in everyone's hearts, a few traces of sorrow and regret suddenly appeared, just like a lonely old woman, making people unable to resist feeling sorrow and regret along with her.
"Sister Lumina..." Seeing her Sister Lumina in this state, Castorice also realized the seriousness of the problem.
She felt that Lumina was reminiscing about a person while seeing an object, recalling a very regrettable incident from the past, which finally turned her into this state.
Could Sister Lumina, who was invincible under heaven and could do anything, also show this kind of emotion?
If it were before, Castorice might have been conflicted over this question.
After all, Sister Lumina was so omnipotent, so pure and kind, how could she have any regrets left in the past?
But now, seeing this expression on Sister Lumina's face, this question finally received a clear and effective answer.
The answer was simple and straightforward.
Even someone as powerful as Sister Lumina was still a "person."
People always have regrets, and even Sister Lumina could not escape them.
Faced with this, Castorice did not know what words of comfort to say.
She could only slowly walk to her side, gently reach out, and take Sister Lumina's slender, soft hand.
Through the connection of hand to hand, she brought Sister Lumina a bit of warmth called "comfort."
Lumina: "?"
It's just...
Regarding this "comforting" warmth from Castorice, a puzzled little expression appeared on Lumina's small face.
What is Sister Castorice... doing?
This sudden action by Castorice and the inexplicable emotion it generated filled Lumina's heart with confusion.
Although she was puzzled, Lumina did not dwell on it too much.
Castorice had no malice, only goodwill, and what she was doing was beneficial to Lumina.
Since that was the case, who cared what she was doing?
Fortunately, Lumina did not know what Castorice was thinking. Otherwise, she would probably laugh out loud, making Castorice's face flush with shame...
"I'm fine, little sister Castorice." Feeling the warmth from the small hand, the regret Lumina felt for not recording Herta's pouting expression completely vanished.
Indeed, the only thing that can cure the negative effects brought by a beautiful girl is the positive effects brought by a beautiful girl.
Sighing silently in her heart, all the sorrow and regret on Lumina's face dissipated.
"Sigh..." Seeing this, Castorice slowly withdrew her small hand.
Only then did she realize what she had just done, and a deep blush immediately covered her small face.
I... I actually took Sister Lumina's hand... right in front of so many people.
This... this is really, really too embarrassing!
Castorice shouted in her heart with bashfulness.
But...
But Sister Lumina's hand is truly, truly so soft... I really, really want to keep holding it like this.
Recalling the sensation that had just come from the small hand, a wave of emotion rippled through Castorice's heart.
Polyxia: "..."
"Hmm..."
Looking at Castorice's appearance, a gleam flashed in Polyxia's eyes.
With a calm, indifferent expression, she was lost in thought...
-
"Hey, hey, Little Herta, what did you just say?"
"Era Nova is a lie? Why is it a lie, do you have proof?"
After being comforted by Castorice, Lumina stopped dwelling on the previous topic and leaned in close to Herta's ear, tossing out several questions.
This time, Lumina behaved much better and didn't exhale any warm breath.
She just leaned in and asked with the most normal tone.
But even so, Herta's ear still felt a tingling sensation.
It was very comfortable, yet also very awkward.
This kind of alternating cold and hot sensation made Herta somewhat unable to resist it.
If it were anyone else, they would have probably already been immersed in this warm paradise of Lumina's.
But Madam Herta was truly Madam Herta. Even though she found this feeling irresistible, her surface remained calm and rippleless, as if she hadn't been affected by Lumina's actions at all.
"Proof? My words are the proof." Herta's tone was flat, but her sentence was filled with an overwhelming confidence.
"Alright, alright, Little Herta is right." Hearing this, Lumina smiled dotingly and did not question Herta's words at all.
Just like a mother who unconditionally trusts and dotes on her own child, Lumina's expression was full of kindness.
"Hey, hey, hey, dial back your emotions a bit."
Lumina made no attempt to hide her feelings, causing Herta's gaze to drop as her face filled with exasperation.
Why did Little Lumina always love to take advantage of her in these situations?
Would she die if she didn't take advantage of her?
"These are my normal emotions, so why should I dial them back?" Faced with Herta's remark, Lumina chose to play dumb and retorted.
"..." Herta was speechless and didn't feel like saying anything more about Lumina's display of emotion.
Let her be; her emotions were her own, and she could do whatever she wanted with them.
Herta couldn't control her.
Similarly, Lumina couldn't control Herta's own emotions.
And as for Lumina taking advantage of her with words and expressions, Herta didn't really mind.
Let her take advantage of her. If she felt happy doing so, then let her.
Anything that made Lumina happy without bothering Herta in the slightest was a win for Herta, no matter how she looked at it.
Why was it a win for Herta, even though Lumina was the one who was happy?
Because—if Lumina was happy, Herta would also be happy.
There were no fancy reasons; the truth was just that simple.
"Amphoreus is merely a program, which we already knew when we entered this place." Without dwelling on anything else, Herta explained to Lumina in a detached tone.
"Now, through observation, I have found that this program is one that is constantly running."
"Each time a Era Nova is completed, it means another restart."
"As for the purpose of this continuous restarting... I think it should be to obtain a certain kind of energy." Herta lowered her head in thought, drawing her own conclusion.
"And then, connecting this to what Intellitron said about a [Lord Ravager]..."
"Perhaps, the purpose of obtaining this kind of energy is to feed it back to that [Lord Ravager]."
"Feed it back to that [Lord Ravager]? Can such a small amount of energy have any impact on a [Lord Ravager]?" Hearing this, Lumina asked in confusion.
After thinking for a while, Herta reached a conclusion: "The energy from one cycle might not be enough, but what if there are an infinite number of cycles?"
"Small amounts accumulate over time. Through cycle after cycle, the energy gathers bit by bit, eventually reaching a terrifying level."
"I see..." Lumina lowered her head, thinking.
Though Lumina was thinking, it was only a simple thought.
As for this [Lord Ravager], Lumina wasn't particularly concerned.
Just like her original thought upon entering Amphoreus: if this [Lord Ravager] had any brains, he wouldn't come looking for trouble.
If he did, he couldn't blame Lumina for taking him apart.
A [Lord Ravager] was nothing; Lumina had beaten more than one of them.
Actually, which [Lord Ravager] in the Cosmos hadn't she beaten?
It was a minor issue, completely unworthy of much thought from Lumina.
"Of course, there is another possibility."
A [Lord Ravager] plunging Amphoreus into endless cycles just to obtain power... this was a bit too outrageous.
Therefore, Herta had another hypothesis.
"Amphoreus is gestating a new [Lord Ravager]."
-
"Mm-hmm."
Hearing Herta's hypothesis, Lumina showed no trace of shock.
She had thought it was some major event involving a beautiful girl, but it was just the gestation of a [Lord Ravager].
Minor issue, minor issue.
It was completely unworthy of much thought from Lumina.
"Your expression is so impassive," Herta couldn't help but remark, seeing Lumina's lack of reaction.
[Lord Ravager], what a terrifying and heart-stopping name that was in the Galaxy.
Even the Interastral Peace Corporation, even the Xianzhou Alliance, would have to be extremely cautious upon hearing this name.
Only Lumina could remain so calm and indifferent when hearing it.
Then again, with her strength, she simply didn't care about any [Lord Ravager].
In Lumina's eyes, a [Lord Ravager] was probably no different from an ordinary Pathstrider.
Um... of course, there was one exception.
That was,
if this [Lord Ravager] was a beautiful girl.
If that were the case, then in Lumina's eyes, the difference would be much greater.
Although at that point, that [Lord Ravager] wouldn't be a [Lord Ravager] anymore, but rather the "prey" Lumina had been yearning for.
"It's just a Lord Ravager, what's there to be surprised about?" Lumina shrugged, her expression still as impassive as ever.
"I'll say it again, as long as he doesn't interfere with me and the beautiful girls of Amphoreus becoming close friends and besties who know each other inside and out, he can do whatever he wants."
Lumina repeated her stance.
In her eyes, becoming good friends and besties with beautiful girls was a matter that rose above all else.
No matter the occasion, as long as there were beautiful girls present, she could temporarily set aside whatever else was happening in that occasion and make friends with the beautiful girls first...
Of course, this was on the condition that the matters of the occasion wouldn't interfere with this.
Otherwise, Lumina would first "angrily" resolve the issue and then, in a heroic posture, handsomely earn a wave of favorability from the beautiful girls.
"Then you might be disappointed." Herta didn't say much more, just looked up at the constellations in the starry sky, "If that Lord Ravager truly is born, then Amphoreus might cease to exist."
"Oh?" Hearing this, the impassiveness on Lumina's face gradually vanished, gradually replaced by a wave of solemnity.
"Then this matter is indeed a bit troublesome."
Herta: "..."
Watching Lumina's expression change, Herta's exquisite little face was once again covered in a wave of speechless exasperation.
This person is really...
Herta really didn't know what to say anymore.
I don't understand, but I respect it.
Herta sighed silently in her heart and said nothing.
As long as Lumina is happy.
Shaking her head, Herta continued, "If it's truly like this, then the solution might be to suppress the birth of this [Lord Ravager]."
"Can't we just kill that [Lord Ravager] directly?" Lumina said in a calm tone, uttering a sentence that could shock the entire Cosmos.
"Uh..." Hearing this, Herta was slightly at a loss for words for a moment. Then, after thinking seriously for a while, she nodded. "That's also possible."
"But if this [Lord Ravager] hasn't been born yet, we might need to wait until it is born before we can completely kill it."
"However, if any accident occurs halfway, I'm afraid Amphoreus will be directly destroyed."
Regarding Lumina's sentence, Herta not only offered no words of refutation but instead seriously helped Lumina think and analyze.
"Hmm... So what should we do?" After learning the outcome, Lumina thought about it briefly but found herself unable to come up with any solution.
So, she tossed the problem to her external brain, Little Herta.
"What else is there to do? We just take it one step at a time."
But unfortunately, as Lumina's external brain, Little Herta did not provide a concrete solution.
This made Lumina feel somewhat disappointed in this external brain.
"Alright, alright, Little Herta, you're right. We'll just take it one step at a time." Lumina spread her hands, sighed, and said no more.
Actually, despite all this, this was only a minor problem for Lumina.
Even if Herta didn't provide a solution, Lumina had one of her own.
If Amphoreus, as a mass of data, had no way to escape the fate of becoming energy for a [Lord Ravager], then... what if she turned this Amphoreus into a real Amphoreus?
What if she turned this Amphoreus into an Amphoreus that stood in the Cosmos, remembered by everyone in the Cosmos?
In that case, Amphoreus would naturally escape the outcome of becoming energy for a [Lord Ravager].
And for Lumina, this was not a very difficult matter at all.
It was just a little bit of a super hassle.
Well, the "super hassle" Lumina was referring to was the super hassle of wasting time.
Every minute and second wasted inside Amphoreus was being deducted from the time Lumina could spend cuddling with the beautiful young lady.
Wasn't this a super hassle for Lumina?
No,
Or rather, it wasn't just a super hassle, but the ultimate, invincible, biggest hassle!