Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Herta's Revenge

Another round of familiar faces, Asta mused. All three newcomers seemed to be people she knew.

Jingliu's manic laughter cut off abruptly. She stared at the new girl's ID that had appeared in the group chat.

Wangshu sneaked a glance at Senior Jingliu. Her complexion was turning ashen at visible speed, fingertips trembling ceaselessly. The ruby-red crimson of her eyes was darkening into a flat, turbid scarlet — as if thick blood were churning beneath the surface.

Wait — wait! Wangshu was suddenly on high alert. Could you have a mara episode even inside the consciousness training space?!

"Senior!"

"SENIOR!!!"

Wangshu and Asta called out desperately, trying to rouse whatever remained of Jingliu's lucidity.

"SWORD! PRACTICE!"

Jingliu ground the words through clenched teeth. An ice blade crystallized in her hand. Frost flowers drifted in the direction the sword pointed. Those turbid, blood-colored eyes hadn't cleared, but that didn't seem to impair her reason.

Wangshu and Asta nodded like obedient chicks, movements impeccably compliant.

To her credit, Jingliu didn't take it out on them. Today's training remained the same monotonous yet foundational sword swings.

Only the air-rending whistle accompanying her casual swings seemed noticeably fiercer than usual. Ice-cold sword energy crisscrossed the modest training space, making the other two practitioners instinctively shrink their necks.

Time crept by. Once the frustration faded a bit, Wangshu found his mood wasn't actually that bad. The recruitment function existed now — opportunities would come eventually.

Surely Senior Jingliu felt the same way!

Probably...

"By the way, little boy..." After who knew how long, Jingliu sheathed her sword and stood still, her voice restored to calm. "Has anything major happened in Cangcheng?"

Cangcheng isn't the kind of place that has a minor disaster every three days and a major one every five. Asta's mind instantly replayed the senior's earlier words.

"Yes. A few days ago, a Cloud Knight drenched in blood crashed into my courtyard. Along with several Houyhnhnm-like enemies."

Wangshu answered without thinking. In his view, today's incident could be called their Sarajevo moment.

The residual scarlet in Jingliu's eyes gradually receded as Wangshu spoke, revealing their original clarity. But now, those crimson eyes were filled with obvious confusion and... a lucid blankness.

"You brought them?"

She frowned slightly. No such event existed in her memory. Jingliu tapped her own head — her memories were genuinely foggy. But had enemies ever invaded the courtyard in the past?

Wangshu: ...

His expression was helpless. "I don't think selling jianbing guozi is what attracted them."

Besides, Cangcheng was destined to fall next year during a pursuit that walked into an ambush. And a war lasting a year wasn't exactly unheard of.

"I know what this is — it's the butterfly effect! It means a tiny action causes massive changes to the predetermined future."

Asta chimed in from the side. The evening tutoring session had left her instinctively looking out for Wangshu and Jingliu's academic welfare.

I know that too! I was just bad at school, not actually stupid. But Jingliu nodded anyway. The butterfly effect... that tracked.

"I hope the coming war doesn't arrive too quickly."

Jingliu sighed.

Wangshu's talent was excellent, and his receptiveness to the power was high. But the time was simply too short. Far too short.

"Senior, believe in me — and in your own strength."

At the end of the day, Wangshu couldn't see how the Propagation-enhanced Jingliu could lose to Hoolay.

Hoolay was powerful, no question. But among the strong, there were still tiers. Hoolay seemed more like a mechanic-based, regeneration type — not a brute-force damage dealer like Scorchwind.

Jingliu: ...

She looked at Wangshu's expression — that face of absolute I-believe-in-you trust — and found herself momentarily speechless.

"If only this update had fixed the world-entry bug."

Then she could personally save her past self, save Cangcheng, and rescue everyone else on Wangshu's timeline while she was at it.

She could even teach little Jingliu a thing or two. Like how the better-looking boys were, the better they were at lying.

She hoped her past self would grasp this truth quickly, and then keep her distance from a certain someone who added garbage tags. At the very least... maintain some wariness.

......

The next day

Asta hummed a little tune, fastening the belt on her white station chief uniform, then tying a big bow beneath her pale throat, and finally pinning on her badge.

"Morning, Xing!"

She pushed open her door, full of energy.

In the corridor, the gray-haired girl was already standing at attention, eyes ablaze with a fire called motivation.

"Good morning, Station Chief!"

Xing's voice was loud and crisp.

Ms. Herta was probably still asleep — or possibly researching the group chat. Oh right, Xing had joined the group too.

At that thought, Asta walked briskly up to Xing. "Xing, how come you haven't said anything in the group? Don't feel pressured — Jingliu and Wangshu chat in there all the time and it's fun!"

Come to think of it, she really did feel bad for Wangshu and Jingliu. They'd gone through all that effort, and ended up pulling in two people she already knew.

"What group?"

Xing blinked. The confusion on her face was one hundred percent genuine. She tilted her head. And who were Jingliu and Wangshu?

Asta's small face froze. Something clicked, and her smile went slightly unnatural.

"Xing didn't receive some kind of strange invitation? Like... the Bright Future Chat Group?"

She clung to one last shred of hope, carefully seeking confirmation.

"If the Station Chief needs anything, just give Xing her orders! This emotionless task-machine rune is fully deployed — Xing is standing by at all times!"

Xing straightened her back, eyes burning with a hunger for advancement, her voice ringing with conviction.

After staying up all night investigating Asta's and Herta's identities, Xing now knew exactly what she needed to do.

For a greater order and greater profit!

"I..."

Asta squeezed out one more smile, brushed Xing off with something vague, and retreated to her room. She shut the door firmly.

【Bright Future Chat Group】

March 7th: "Based on this young lady's preliminary assessment, the Xing who hasn't spoken in the group is definitely not the Xing I know from the Express."

Jingliu: "..."

Wangshu: "@Herta██"

Wangshu: "@Xing"

Asta: "Wahhh — the Xing here isn't from my side either."

When she thought about it, the fact that Ms. Herta's "world-saving heroine" tag had been crossed out should have been the first clue. Could it be that Ms. Herta wasn't from her timeline either?!

Wangshu: "Sigh. The moment I heard the Express crew was heading to the Prismatic Trails — Patrevinici, I had a feeling."

Herta██: "Ha — haha! Tin head, is this one of your contingencies left behind?"

Wangshu: "Clearly not."

Wangshu had already fully synced with the new members' vibe.

Herta██: "Good. Otherwise, a genius's revenge would be quite vexing if it couldn't find a clear target or reason."

Star Calendar Year 8101, Amber Era 2158. The blood-drenched edge of a certain battlefield.

Emperor III's universe-sweeping campaign of annihilation ground to a sudden halt. The Iron Tomb's efficient algorithms completely froze — something they couldn't comprehend had jammed the system.

The notification chime of 【Successfully joined the Bright Future Chat Group】 still lingered. Herta's consciousness snapped awake.

Emperor III surveyed the scene — the IPC warships in the distance, the Nameless, the Family, even Asta with tears not yet dry... and Ruan Mei, who apparently did have emotions after all.

Faced with all this, something rare stirred in Emperor III's core — a complex, low-frequency laugh that everyone could hear clearly.

"Boring..."

"What's the point of destroying the universe? I'll never understand why this thing, after gaining my intellect, spawned such a tedious idea."

Her gaze swept across everyone present. Unfortunately, an Aeon's perspective was far beyond what a mere Emperor III could easily perceive.

Tin head, Nanook, and Zandar... I'm coming for you.