After carefully observing Herta's puppet, Sylvia couldn't help but marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship.
It even made her a little… tempted.
Back when she first thought about Herta's puppets, Sylvia had only considered using one for a ritual—just making do.
But this level of detail was beyond anything she'd imagined. It was so lifelike that Sylvia started fantasizing about cuddling with a Herta puppet to sleep.
She just wondered if the puppet would feel soft to the touch.
"Hey—Madam Herta? You finally showed up?"
While Sylvia and Herta were still sizing each other up, March 7th broke the silence first, holding her camera up.
It took March a moment to process—Herta had finally logged into her loyal Space Station.
But why had she come here alone? Was she looking for Sylvia? Or for Stelle?
Thinking back to the first time March met Madam Herta…
The genius had wanted to study her right away because of her unusual origins.
Now, was she here to study Stelle?
After all, the Space Station's Stellaron was inside Stelle's body. A human containing a Stellaron—that really was beyond belief.
Herta glanced at March 7th, which seemed to count as a greeting.
March knew that was just how Herta was. In fact, she was relieved Herta wasn't interested in her; she had no desire to be anyone's research subject.
Still, introductions were in order. March turned toward Sylvia and said:
"Let me tell you, she's the real owner of this Space Station—#83 of the Genius Society, Herta. Though, what you're looking at is a remotely controlled puppet. Where she actually is… nobody knows."
Herta, now being introduced, swiveled her head to glare.
"Introduce me properly, then. Why lead with the Society? I have plenty of extraordinary achievements—all of them sound better than '#83.' Don't tell me that's the only thing you remember?"
"…Heh, well, for outsiders, that title is the most straightforward, right?"
March chuckled sheepishly, scratching her head.
She really hadn't memorized Madam Herta's other accomplishments, but hey—most ordinary people probably wouldn't have either.
Sylvia clearly wasn't an expert in this area either, so March figured this was the easiest way to give her an idea of who Herta was.
How could that be her fault?
Besides, all those technical terms and research papers gave March a headache just looking at them—no way she could remember that stuff.
Sylvia had only recently entered the wider galaxy; there was no way she'd know so much already.
Just getting a general understanding of this galaxy would take a long, long time.
So surely "member of the Genius Society" was both more striking and easier to grasp.
"Never mind, I didn't expect you to be well-versed in this anyway."
Clearly, Herta knew March well enough—probably from when she'd looked into studying her before.
That brain of March's obviously wasn't cut out for research.
No point expecting her to remember a list of glorious achievements.
So after saying that, Herta fixed her gaze on Sylvia, and on Stelle lying unconscious behind them.
"I skimmed the Space Station logs earlier. Your abilities are quite intriguing—I suppose you're still hiding a trick or two I don't know about. Makes my trip back worthwhile."
The degree of control Sylvia showed over Heliobus power had taken Herta by surprise.
And that assimilation and taming ability was interesting too.
Add to that the Stellaron kid here, who'd stuffed a Stellaron into her body and was still stable…
Herta nodded, satisfied.
It's just that Herta's original plan—to test whether Sylvia's ability could affect a Stellaron—was now moot.
But that was fine.
Herta had initially wanted to study whether Sylvia's physique could lead to a more convenient method of Stellaron containment.
Now, the answer to that question was lying right in front of her, so there was no need to pursue it further.
She could just study this Stellaron kid directly.
"So, the Stellaron is now inside this sleeping kid?"
With Himeko not around, Herta looked at Sylvia and March.
But March didn't answer; instead, Sylvia smiled and nodded.
"Yes, and it's quite stable."
"Fascinating. Once the kid wakes up, bring her to see me. I want a good look."
Having said that, Herta didn't glance at Stelle again, but instead scrutinized Sylvia's body closely.
After staring intently for a while, Herta suddenly remarked:
"Your constitution is interesting too. I even suspect your body could also host a Stellaron—pity I don't have a second one on hand for you to try."
Sylvia's body showed no signs of Heliobus erosion whatsoever.
That meant even though Sylvia was boldly using Heliobus power with her own body as a medium, she wasn't being affected in the slightest.
Herta wondered if, by replacing the Heliobus with a Stellaron, Sylvia might still be able to wield its power as freely as she did now.
Instead of going berserk and passing out like the kid lying nearby.
But it wasn't a big issue. Even without a second Stellaron, Herta could design other experiments to indirectly test this hypothesis.
And besides…
Not long ago, this kid had siphoned off a large portion of power from an Emanator of Destruction—whose true form was also a Heliobus.
So, could Sylvia now use that Emanator's power?
Otherwise, why go through all that trouble to gather it?
Herta's interest in Sylvia was no less than her interest in Stelle.
"Sylvia, mind if I study you a bit?"
March pouted to the side. She knew it.
Madam Herta had definitely set her sights on Sylvia and Stelle—otherwise she'd never have come over to chat with them on her own.
Sylvia simply smiled. After all, she'd expected something like this.
"Is this how Madam Herta always invites people to be studied? So direct?"
"When something interests me, I'm always this direct. Can't be bothered with the roundabout ways of the IPC—so dull. You should be glad I'm interested now; I'm willing to accommodate. Go on, state your conditions."
Herta didn't mention that Fullbottle containing the Emanator's power.
Probably in her eyes, containing Path energy wasn't such an unimaginable feat, was it?
Sylvia turned these thoughts over in her mind, quietly marveling at how a genius's train of thought was truly beyond ordinary comprehension.
But if it was just studying her body, Sylvia didn't mind.
Compared to Ruan Mei, Herta seemed to have more principles—or more humanity, perhaps.
If it were Ruan Mei standing before her now, Sylvia would have refused without a second thought.
Of course, the main reason was still having Acheron by her side.
If anything went wrong, Sylvia could always summon Acheron to get her out of trouble.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.