Even Herta had helped Ruan Mei keep it a secret.
"So, after all that, the problem comes down to this memory of how the Aeon of Destruction was born?" Lin Yi asked.
Herta nodded. "Yes. The third reason I came to see you—and the most important one—has to do with this memory."
"After studying the information it contains, I discovered something extraordinary." A trace of excitement appeared on Herta's face as she spoke. "Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, has two aspects. The Nanook we know today is merely the outward manifestation of one of them."
"Do you understand what this discovery means? Destruction isn't entirely Destruction!"
Lin Yi frowned, searching his memories of the game's lore, but nothing came to mind.
"Are you saying Nanook is some kind of dual-aspected twin god? Or is there another Path concealed behind the Path of Destruction?"
This was completely beyond his expectations. Could he no longer trust the game's original lore? Or had he simply missed something?
As for the possibility that Herta's discovery was wrong or that she'd made a mistake in her research...
The chances of a Genius Society member making such a basic error were lower than the chances of Aha deciding to stop having fun.
Herta nodded, then shook her head. "Both, and yet neither. If you're interested, you can come to my laboratory sometime and look through my recent research records."
"And I'm not talking about the space station. I mean the tower at the edge of the known universe. You know where it is."
"I've been conducting a special experiment there for some time, and now I need something of yours to help me complete it."
"What is it?" Judging by the way Herta was looking at him, Lin Yi already had a suspicion.
Since they'd come this far, Herta saw no reason to beat around the bush.
"The Origin Cells."
Lin Yi immediately shook his head. "Absolutely not! I've spent years working on the Origin Cells. Herta, you of all people should understand how important they are to me."
Herta stood up and spoke solemnly.
"I give you my word. I stake my reputation on it—the reputation of Herta of the Genius Society."
"I only want to borrow the Origin Cells. I won't cause them any damage, and I'll return them immediately once my experiment produces results or I no longer need them. If they're accidentally lost or damaged, I promise to find something equally valuable to compensate you."
Herta laid out her terms with a perfectly calm expression. She was determined to get her hands on the Origin Cells.
"As long as you're willing to lend them to me, everything I possess will be at your disposal from now on. Whatever you ask of me, if it's within my power, I'll do it."
"I remember you once mentioned that you were searching for a way back to your homeland. With a genius devoting her full efforts to helping you, surely you'll reach your goal much sooner."
Herta appealed to both his feelings and his reason.
"Besides, the experiment you're currently conducting with the Origin Cells doesn't seem to have a particularly high chance of success, does it? I doubt temporarily suspending it would have much effect on your overall progress."
"While you're not using the Origin Cells, you could focus on accelerating your training to improve your resistance to Destruction. Compared to your experiment, which will conservatively take hundreds, if not thousands, of years, the time I'll need them should be relatively short."
Her gaze shifted to the crown of thorns above Lin Yi's head.
"More importantly, now that you're already an Emanator of Abundance, do you really still need that experiment?"
Lin Yi fell into thought as he poured Herta another cup of tea.
Her offer was certainly tempting. Based on everything he'd learned recently, his so-called Godhood Ascension Experiment had quite a few flaws and oversights. Putting it on hold to make some adjustments wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
His lifespan was extraordinarily long anyway, and the experiment was destined to take an equally extraordinary amount of time. A temporary interruption hardly mattered.
Besides, Herta had a point. He was already an Emanator of Abundance, and not an ordinary one at that. Unless his Godhood Ascension Experiment achieved its intended results in full, it would offer him very little practical benefit.
And Lin Yi himself doubted that achieving those results was even possible.
After personally experiencing a portion of the Path of Abundance, he'd come to understand that possessing an Aeon's body alone wasn't particularly useful. The true foundation of an Aeon's power was their Path.
Even if the Aeon of Propagation returned in a completely intact body, their shattered Path would no longer be capable of supporting the immense power they once possessed.
The same principle applied to his Godhood Ascension Experiment. Even if he successfully created a body equivalent to that of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, all he'd really gain was an extraordinarily high resistance to Destruction.
Without the corresponding Path, the body would ultimately amount to nothing.
Lin Yi was already leaning toward accepting Herta's proposal.
"You make a good point. You've almost convinced me. But what exactly do you intend to do with the Origin Cells?"
"Something similar to what you've been doing," Herta explained. "I want to use them to replicate Nanook's body and create a vessel capable of accommodating Destruction's other aspect."
"The Aeon of Destruction has two aspects, but the one presented to the outside world has always been just one of them. My hypothesis is that the other aspect will only manifest after Nanook has accomplished the destruction of all things."
Excitement crept into her voice.
"I want to find out whether reconstructing a body equivalent to Nanook's could serve as a vessel for that other aspect—and whether I can make it manifest ahead of time!"
Lin Yi stared at her in disbelief.
"You want to tear Destruction apart? That's even more outrageous than anything I've come up with! There's no way it'll work!"
"I'm not trying to tear Destruction apart," Herta countered seriously. "I'm giving Destruction a choice. I want to offer Nanook's other aspect the opportunity to decide for itself whether it wishes to manifest ahead of time."
"The decision belongs to that aspect, not to me. All I'm trying to do is provide a catalyst—the final straw that might tip the balance."
"Even so, how long would your experiment take? Hundreds of years? Thousands? I've spent so long studying the Origin Cells that I know exactly how efficient they are."
"But I only need to create a catalyst, not an entire body," Herta replied. "If that aspect wishes to manifest early, I merely need to provide the initial catalyst. Its own power will accomplish everything else."
"And if it doesn't wish to manifest, then even creating a perfectly complete body would be pointless."
Lin Yi drew a deep breath.
He was genuinely stunned by the sheer scale of the project Herta had quietly been working on.
Still, if Herta was willing to attempt something this outrageous, she must have at least some evidence supporting her theory. He didn't know the full background of her research, so it wouldn't be fair to pass judgment without understanding it.
But revealing Destruction's other aspect—bringing forth the side of Destruction that was supposedly meant to appear only after everything in existence had been destroyed...
Even if she succeeded, wouldn't that cause some enormous problems?
Then again, if she did succeed...
That would be nothing short of creating a god!
Herta would stand alongside Zandar himself.
Stunned by the magnitude of her ambition, Lin Yi finally made his decision.
"Fine. You can have the Origin Cells. But I want to participate in and observe your experiment from beginning to end."