"Please take those people and leave this place."
Koji finally found Lygus, who had been searching for him. The first thing Lygus did was try to drive him away.
Because of these people's presence, the whole process had gone completely off the rails. If this continued, Iron Tomb would never be born.
"Lygus, who do you think you are, daring to give me orders?"
"Since when did a bug like you get to talk like that?"
Koji looked at the mechanical intelligence before him with open disdain. Trash like this loved to jump out and yap; it really ought to be lying quietly in some scrapyard.
"So you refuse?" Lygus said.
It wasn't as if he lacked ways to expel them—he just knew those methods were unlikely to be very "friendly" to the targets.
"Wait a sec."
Koji vanished, then quickly returned with two more people in tow.
"What is this place?" Herta frowned.
She and Screwllum had just been discussing the Simulated Universe when Koji suddenly showed up, claiming he'd found something interesting.
"According to preliminary analysis, this is a virtual data world that does not appear anywhere on the Astral routing charts," Screwllum reported, the green mechanical eye on his head flickering.
A world the Path of Trailblaze had never reached?
"Ooh, Screwllum, there's one of your own kind here," Herta noticed Lygus and spoke with interest.
"And it looks like his security protocols are almost on par with yours."
For the true body of a Messenger of Erudition, seeing through something like this was effortless.
"The automaton in front of us appears to have been bathed in the gaze of Erudition," Screwllum added, streams of data flashing rapidly across his green optic.
Lygus went silent.
He was completely numb. There had already been so many variables, and now Koji had dragged in two walking catastrophes.
Two famously troublesome members of the Genius Society—here in Amphoreus in person, not just as projections.
"The source of Amphoreus lies in the Emperor's Scepters. Right now they are nurturing the Doom Overlord Iron Tomb, whose ultimate target is Nous, the Aeon of Erudition," Koji said bluntly, spilling everything.
"Oh?"
Herta's interest was truly piqued, her expression turning a shade more serious. She was no stranger to the Emperor's Scepters.
Once upon a time, the Emperor's Scepters had plunged the cosmos into misery and carnage. Only after she solved the Lonely Wave algorithm did the residual catastrophe finally come to an end.
She had never expected to find three Emperor's Scepters still operating in some forgotten corner the Path of Trailblaze hadn't even reached.
Even more surprising, the mysterious Doom Overlord Iron Tomb was right here—created specifically to annihilate Nous, the Aeon of Erudition.
"Screwllum, put the Simulated Universe on hold for now. A Doom Overlord who hasn't fully formed yet has far greater research value—and it can help us refine the 'Destruction' branch in the Simulated Universe modules," Herta said, lips curling into a smile.
A staff appeared in Herta's hand. Her gaze burned as she stared at Lygus.
If she was right, this automaton was serving as something like the administrator here.
Still, what a disappointment. By rights, it should have been the destined Doom Overlord, yet even after three hundred years it still hadn't finished gestating.
"I agree. Even if Nous may already be aware of Iron Tomb's existence, and even if Iron Tomb may not be able to threaten Nous directly, it will definitely affect every mechanical intelligence in the universe," Screwllum said.
He wasn't prejudiced. Iron Tomb was still a Doom Overlord, a Destruction Emanator. If it unleashed something like an anti-organic equation, it could very well trigger another anti-organic war across the stars.
As the mechanical king of his homeworld, Screwllum would never wish to see such a war erupt again.
Perfect—now all their hostility was directed squarely at Lygus.
Lygus felt his pressure spike. Amphoreus only had one not-yet-born Iron Tomb. How could it possibly fight two Genius Society members in their real bodies?
What now? Should he send a distress call to his "colleagues"?
"So that's it. Amphoreus has been masked by a fourteenth-order polynomial and heavy encryption, probably to block Genius Society No. 4—Polka Kakamon—from observing it," Screwllum continued his analysis.
If the ripples from the Emperor's Scepters leaked out, Polka Kakamon would definitely sniff them out and come hunting, strangling Iron Tomb in its cradle.
After all, the former wielder of the Emperor's Scepters had been killed by Polka Kakamon.
"Ha, how cautious. They even knew to guard against that Genius," Herta said mockingly.
So even a Doom Overlord had someone it feared. Then again, Polka Kakamon really was terrifying—easily called the strongest being below the level of the Aeons.
Lygus was speechless; he felt like he'd been stripped naked.
"Don't bother trying to send a signal. Screwllum has already blocked every channel you have," Herta said lazily. "We're not interested in trading blows with Doom Overlords anyway."
"This place is fascinating. So thanks in advance."
To Koji, Amphoreus—powered by long-running Emperor's Scepters and serving as a womb for a Doom Overlord—was a treasure house of research materials. For a genius, this level of data was irresistible.
"Well then, I'll leave you to your fun," Koji said with a shake of his head, before disappearing once more.
Herta and Screwllum walked toward Lygus. They knew the one before them was essentially just an avatar; but since their true bodies were here, tracking down Lygus's real core wouldn't be difficult.
The moment these two geniuses descended on Amphoreus, Lygus had known Iron Tomb had almost no chance of ever being born.
…
"Pardo, you like 'stocking up' too?" Cipher brightened when she saw Pardo, as if she'd finally found a soulmate.
0.0
Even though Cipher had appeared in Amphoreus across countless cycles, she never inherited any memories from those "previous lives." Pardo, however, was already over fifty thousand years old, so Cipher naturally called her "Pardo-nee."
"I run around stocking up all the time to keep my little business going. Rich big-shots, tycoon bosses, you name it—I've taken goods off all of them."
Back in the Elysian Realm, Pardo had never managed to kick the habit either. She was always making the rounds, "stocking up" from the other Flame-Chasers. Of course, she only took things that weren't important or valuable—never anything truly precious.
"That's perfect. We'll go stock up together next time!" Cipher could hardly wait. The two-woman stocking-up team was about to come online.
At last, she'd found someone who truly understood her. Their compatibility was off the charts.
"Cipher, after all these years, you still haven't cured that old habit of yours," Aglaea said with a helpless smile.
Watching Cipher, she could feel her own humanity slowly returning, bit by bit.
"Seamstress, what's wrong with it? I just can't stand those people who are rich and still trample ordinary folk," Cipher replied seriously.
She didn't hate the rich as a class; she just despised the ones who went too far—those who used their wealth to treat normal people like ants beneath their feet.
Robbing the rich to help the poor was precisely the sort of thing she loved doing.
With her godlike speed, she could take anything she wanted, any time she wanted.
"I've seen plenty of that too—some of them are rotten to the core. So taking goods from them comes with zero guilt," Pardo agreed with a nod.
Most of what she "stocked" ended up being donated to orphanages and convalescent homes. Pardo loved seeing the children's smiles as they ate until they were full.
"Then next time, let's go out stocking up together," Cipher suggested with a grin. "Herta's been cooped up way too long; dragging her along with us will be a nice change of pace for her."
This was her own understanding of justice, and she'd long since settled on it. She really did have a surprisingly firm sense of conviction.
"Cipher, it's been so many years, but you still haven't forgotten how to be kind," Aglaea said quietly, a beautiful smile blooming on her face.
Seeing Cipher, she felt as if the blossoms of her humanity were returning one after another.
"Boss, what's wrong? I just think those rich scumbags deserve a little 'education' in charity," Cipher said, taking Pardo's arm with a completely earnest expression.
She wasn't just driven by hatred; what she'd seen over the years had simply been too much. Having money didn't give anyone the right to treat others like disposable tools.
With her godlike speed, she could take anything she wanted, any time she wanted.
"And I've seen plenty of them too, bad to the bone. That's why I stock up from them without any burden on my conscience. The charity organizations and orphanages we supply are all very happy with us," Pardo added with a small laugh.
The goods she moved often ended up helping to feed and support the children in those institutions. Pardo genuinely loved seeing them come running out to greet her with bright smiles, bellies full.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]