"That world—where is it?"
Herta spoke up immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
Her desire for that world was burning hot.
A world capable of achieving such brilliance in fields untouched even by members of the Genius Society—it had to be unimaginably valuable.
Who knew how many other technologies there might exist, unknown to the rest of the cosmos?
And since they had never been blessed by any Aeon, the inhabitants of that world were most likely ordinary short-lived species. That meant the cost of acquiring their knowledge wouldn't be high at all.
Besides, compared to those lifeless things like the hairpin, a world full of living teachers would allow knowledge to be acquired far more efficiently.
In short, that world was a treasure trove of technology waiting to be mined!
With that thought, her gaze sharpened again, locking onto Sylvester.
The man who could produce something like the [Cognitive Seal]—even if he didn't know the precise coordinates, he had to have some clue.
"Tell me," Herta said, her tone calm yet heavy with purpose. "All the knowledge I possess—I'll trade it for that."
Fu Xuan, standing beside the [Cognitive Seal], was startled.
Herta would offer all her knowledge in exchange for a world's coordinates? That was absurdly one-sided.
No one in the Genius Society could agree on whose achievements were the greatest—but when it came to how many breakthroughs one person had made, there was no dispute: Herta stood unmatched.
The Solitary Wave Theory, the Spark Model Hypothesis, the Herta Sequence—each one of these was priceless. If she made even one public, countless powers across the universe would pay fortunes for exclusive rights.
And now, she was offering them all up—for a single location?
Fu Xuan glanced again at the massive pod-like machine. The [Cognitive Seal] was impressive, yes—but compared to the Herta Sequence? Not even close.
That technology—the one that could reverse aging—had once shocked the entire universe. The Xianzhou Alliance had even convened a special Six Charioteers Council to discuss it, concluding that it was one of the very few technologies that might free the Xianzhou from the curse of Mara.
But when the Alliance sought to obtain it, Herta had refused.
As for why…
Fu Xuan sighed softly.
Herta had said the "manuscript was lost."
But clearly—that had only been an excuse.
And now, Herta was willing to hand over that very technology, without even a hint of hesitation?
Herta stared unwaveringly at Sylvester.
She knew perfectly well how much her own creations were worth. But to her, knowledge already mastered held little value.
Money? A vulgar concern—only relevant when research demanded it.
As for now, as bargaining chips? Perfectly fitting.
Technology for technology. If she thought it fair, then it was fair.
"That world, huh…"
Faced with Herta's question, Sylvester fell silent.
Her offer was indeed generous. For the mere price of a coordinate, anyone else would probably leap at the deal.
But unfortunately, such things were of no use to him.
Besides—whether that world, Earth, even existed here was still uncertain.
If it didn't, searching would be pointless. But if it did, and Herta found it…
That might be worse than if she never had. Who knew what she would do once she got there?
"That world, it…"
Sylvester rubbed his nose, glancing toward Fu Xuan, intending to say he didn't know.
But then, as he caught the sight of that pink-haired figure, realization struck him.
If Earth really was in this universe, wouldn't that be dangerously reckless?
Annihilation Gang, the Denizens of Abundance, the Interastral Peace Corporation—none of them were exactly benevolent. If they found it first…
Well, look at Aventurine's home planet, Sigonia-IV—that was warning enough.
Though it probably wasn't his own Earth, just a parallel one.
Sylvester glanced at the [Cognitive Seal]. His own home didn't have anything like this, nor any dehydrated three-body monsters.
But just leaving it unaddressed felt wrong too…
sigh
Fine. It might not even exist here anyway. No harm in giving an answer—and if necessary, he could always use his connections to have the Xianzhou protect it. With his current influence, that wouldn't be hard.
Still…
He looked at Herta's burning gaze and decided to add a bit of insurance.
"Alpha Centauri," Sylvester said lightly. "That's what the locals call their star system."
"Nothing particularly special about it—just three suns. As for whether the [Cognitive Seal] exists there…" He shrugged. "It should, probably. They did say, 'The Lord does not care.'"
"Excellent."
Herta smiled faintly upon receiving the answer, not elated, just quietly satisfied.
"My knowledge will be sent to you shortly. If luck's on your side, you'll get about twenty ships' worth. If not—ten."
She added offhandedly, "It's been a long time since I organized my manuscripts."
Fu Xuan couldn't help but look at Sylvester with envy.
The rejuvenation technology was invaluable to the Xianzhou.
She opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end, said nothing.
After all, the Xianzhou had nothing they could offer in exchange—and these days, even the Alliance itself was hoping for a miracle from Sylvester's garbage bins.
But unlike Fu Xuan's admiration, Sylvester's feelings were… mixed.
He blinked, then asked, "Wait—did you say manuscripts? You mean, on paper?"
Shouldn't that kind of thing be transmitted via memory bubble? Or at least stored electronically? Why on paper?!
"Yes, on paper," Herta replied matter-of-factly. "Networks can be hacked; memory constructs can be stolen—especially with those sneaky people from the Garden of Recollection lurking about.
But paper? That's different. It can only hold limited information, it's tedious to read, and once the pages are shuffled out of order, the context is gone. Even if someone memorized the contents of twenty ships' worth of documents, no one but me could interpret them again. After all—it's the highest of sciences."
Sylvester felt a powerful urge to roll his eyes.
Wow. What an exquisitely paranoid security system.
Twenty ships' worth of paper? Even if he could read it, where was he supposed to put it all?
He squinted. "I only accept memory bubbles. With explanations included. Must come with full comprehension guarantee."
He might not have much use for them, but at least that way, he could understand what he was getting.
If it came the way Herta described, it'd be twenty ships of literal garbage!
What would he even do with it? Use it to resupply Exalting Sanctum's public restrooms? Let everyone in town wipe their backsides with cutting-edge research? What a waste of perfectly good paper.