HPDBC Chapter 406 67 - Preparations for an Aeon Hunt
Chapter 406 67 - Preparations for an Aeon Hunt
"..."
Herta furrowed her delicate brow. Why had the Simulated Universe been having more and more bugs lately? She hadn't pushed any major version updates recently. Had it been hacked? Was it that little hacker brat again? No, hadn't Screwllum strengthened the defense network? If there were a hack, she should have been notified immediately...
Staring at the abnormal data fluctuations, the more Herta thought about it, the more something felt wrong. But a small matter like this wasn't enough to call Ruan Mei and Screwllum. Due to the recent "Great Cosmic Changes," those two were incredibly busy. One was researching how to terminate the Anti-Organic Equation, and the other had been invited to openly study the Swarm. As for that Dr. Ratio, he was elusive, coming and going like a ghost. Relying on him... was less likely than the Simulated Universe fixing its own bugs...
"Sigh, forget it. I can't roll it back now. I'll fix it during the next cleanup."
Herta decisively got up and left. She couldn't be bothered with such a small issue. If a person spent all their time fixing bugs, they'd burn out sooner or later!
Little did she know, the culprit behind the Simulated Universe's bugs was currently using it to simulate something.
That's right, it was Wende.
As an Aeon, it was perfectly normal for him to directly access the Simulated Universe's Aeon chat group, right? That being the case, it was also perfectly normal for him to borrow the Simulated Universe for a bit, right?
So, Wende specifically went to Silver Wolf to get some pointers. Amidst her "Are you changing careers?" expression, she told him how to access the Simulated Universe's base code.
And then... Wende didn't understand a word. After promising to make Silver Wolf a sumptuous dinner, he vanished in a flash, leaving behind a bewildered child scratching her head and staring at the empty air.
Although he didn't understand, when in doubt, just use the power of Chaos. After all, it was the origin of all things. Hacking into the Simulated Universe in a different way was a simple matter.
Wende had two purposes for hacking the Simulated Universe. First, ban Tayzzyronth the [Propagation]'s account! He absolutely could not let it know about the existence of the Simulated Universe. Whether It was even conscious at the moment was another question, but just in case, Wende decided to directly cut off Its ability to communicate with other Aeons through the simulation.
While banning the account, Wende dropped by the Aeon chat room for a look. He saw a certain traumatized god constantly @'ing Akivili, shouting for him and Tayzzyronth to be destroyed together!
Honestly, for a being who had ascended to Aeonhood, couldn't he be a little more mature? With such an explosive temper, wouldn't he just be used as a weapon by a certain trickster?
Wende only glanced at it before closing the chat room. There was nothing of substance in there, nothing worth watching.
Next, Wende directly connected to the Simulated Universe's underlying code and began searching for its embedded data core. This was the second objective of his trip.
Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Wende decided it was best to first understand Tayzzyronth's true situation. The information provided by the game in the Honkai world was limited; relying on the Simulated Universe's database was the most reliable option.
After reviewing the data on [Propagation], Wende became curious about its Emanators. The previous confrontation between the Antimatter Legion and the Swarm was suspected to have been a Lord Ravager against an Emanator of Propagation. Although there was no concrete evidence, it suggested that Propagation's forces could definitely go toe-to-toe with the Antimatter Legion.
However, whether the outcome was having their pincers torn off by the Legion or being roasted into kebabs by the Lord Ravagers was anyone's guess.
While searching for information on Propagation, Wende didn't forget to look up another person of interest: the fourth member of the Genius Society, the mysterious lady known as the Lord of Silence, Polka Kakamond.
Her assassination skills were truly top-tier in the entire cosmos. Whether it was assassinating other members of the Genius Society or pinning Rupert I to his throne and ending the First Emperor War, these were all her handiwork.
To this day, no one knew her true face. She had long since used various means to erase all recorded images of herself in the universe. Perhaps the only one who knew her true identity was that senior executive of the IPC, Dongfang Qixing.
Wende wasn't looking for her for any other reason than to study and learn from her assassination techniques. Unfortunately, there were very few records of her in the Simulated Universe, let alone any way to replicate her methods through the simulation. This was a great pity.
But she did give Wende a few ideas.
Exiting the Simulated Universe, Wende returned to miHoYo Planet.
The instant Wende logged out, Herta, who had just returned to check on the Simulated Universe's status, was once again baffled. Wait, where did that bug go? Did it grow wings and fly away? Could the Simulated Universe really be fixing its own bugs?
Herta walked out of her office with an expression of existential doubt. She might have to go and verify if the simulated version of Nous would take the initiative to help fix bugs in the Simulated Universe.
---o---
On miHoYo Planet.
Under the administration of Otto Apocalypse, miHoYo Planet was now flourishing in an orderly fashion. The once relatively barren planet had seen a massive, modern metropolis spring up in less than a month, complete with all kinds of facilities. Whether it was due to Otto's personal bias or not, Wende discovered a still-under-construction St. Freya Academy in this new city. Was he opening a branch campus for Theresa?
Also, while Wende didn't object to Otto planning the city according to his own preferences, wasn't this statue of Kallen a bit much? I haven't even erected a statue of myself, okay!
Sigh, whatever... The man was working for free, after all... Let him build what he wants. He just wondered if the Void Archives from the Star Rail world would give itself a good hard slap in regret if it ever found out about this.
As soon as this new city was built, it attracted countless people from across the universe to settle there. The prerequisites for settling on miHoYo Planet were simple. First, one needed complete identity information, from their home galaxy and planet down to their former house number. Second, they had to be included in the "Alliance's" credit system and have a good credit score.
Currently, the largest group of new residents came from Belobog. The climate on miHoYo Planet was pleasant and the scenery was beautiful. In contrast, Belobog, despite improvements with Wendy's help, was still a bitterly cold place.
And thanks to the now highly developed interstellar travel, Belobog's residents could take an interstellar commuter shuttle to work in Belobog during the day and return to miHoYo Planet to rest at night.
After all, Wende had no plans to move the planet, and the distance between miHoYo Planet and Jarilo-VI was ridiculously short.
If it weren't for the fact that Belobog needed its Supreme Guardian in residence, even Bronya would probably have come to live here for a while.
Seeing miHoYo Planet beginning to thrive, Wende was content to be a hands-off manager. He didn't need to worry about the trains; Himeko and Welt could manage all three of them perfectly. Here on miHoYo Planet, he had Otto and Kevin, one for civil affairs and one for martial, enough to solve most problems. Wende now had no worries at all.
Oh, he never really had any to begin with. If he had to say... the only thing he cared about was probably everyone on the Express.
After packing a few things, Wende set off for [Propagation]'s location.
To say he was "packing" was an overstatement. He didn't really need to bring anything, nor did he need any protective gear.
Wende first used his eyes to observe the planetary location of Tayzzyronth the [Propagation]. Ever since Tayzzyronth's resurrection, apart from Lan's arrow going astray, there seemed to have been no follow-up.
Lan didn't choose to fire a second shot. The Amber Lord, who had once smashed [Propagation] to death with a single hammer blow, also seemed indifferent. Xipe of [Harmony] was constantly calling for unity, but that was in line with Its Path, so it was normal.
Nous the Erudition generally didn't show itself. Its three previous prophecies had not been made public, and very few even knew of them. Most people couldn't even analyze their true meaning.
IX of Nihility was slacking, Yaoshi of Abundance didn't care, Nanook of Destruction was just barking mad, and the rest were inactive, some having never even appeared in the Simulated Universe. They were likely the types who preferred to stay in the shadows. No wonder Aha often complained that hanging out with this bunch of Aeons was no fun at all.
In truth, it wasn't that the Aeons were indifferent to [Propagation]'s resurrection. It was actually because Wende had set such a stunning precedent. If it weren't for the return of the long-lost [Trailblaze] to the world, they might have been a bit more surprised by Propagation's return.
But now... was an insect really worth the Aeons uniting against it?
The answer was clearly no. And with Nanook currently muddying the waters, and that trickster who usually instigated things staying on the sidelines, dealing with [Propagation] felt like it was beneath them!
Of course, Lan was an exception. It was just one arrow, after all, no big deal.
The most crucial point was that the original [Propagation] had escalated to the level of the "Swarm Disaster" due to factors beyond just Tayzzyronth's actions. Even Tayzzyronth itself was likely just a sacrifice. The truth behind it was unknown, but it was certainly related to the machinations of Order and Equilibrium.
Even now, that might still be the case.
HooH tipped the scales to let Tayzzyronth survive Lan's arrow of light. Combined with Long's words, upon careful consideration, it was a blatant setup for Wende to go and absorb the Path of Propagation, and it was presented as a perfectly logical course of action.
Long was the visible hand guiding Wende, while HooH was the invisible hand clearing his path in the shadows. And from Wende's speculation, this invisible hand probably didn't belong to HooH alone.
Whatever. Now was not the time to overthink it. Instead of continuing to guess their intentions, it was better to get his hands on the Path of Propagation first and see what changes occurred.
Wende's figure slowly faded from miHoYo Planet, reappearing outside the atmosphere of a certain planet on the frontier.
This place was teeming with insects. Whether on the planet's surface or in the space outside it, Wende could say without exaggeration that this entire star system was packed with them. Unless he directly detonated the system's star, he honestly couldn't think of any other way to clear them out.
But he wasn't here to clean up insects. Or rather... he was only here to clean up one insect!
Using the power of Chaos to conceal his form, and under the power of Order, Wende's existence seemed to merge with the planet itself. He was the air and the water, the trees and the soil, both the tangible and the intangible. The ordinary insects were completely unable to detect him.
Of course, even those formidable-looking Emanators of Propagation, seemingly blessed by [Propagation] itself, still couldn't discover Wende's presence.
Watching the behemoths pass by him, Wende sighed. If Propagation was not eliminated, these blessed insect Emanators alone would be enough to give any faction a run for their money.
Although their oppressive life force was practically zero in Wende's eyes, he had to admit, these insects were born fighting machines!
Maintaining his concealment, Wende passed directly through the atmosphere onto this "insect planet." After landing, there was barely any place to set foot. This planet was more visually shocking than Emperor Rupert III's. Compared to a mechanical planet, an entire planet that was "alive" from the inside out was far more chilling.
This solidified Wende's resolve to eliminate [Propagation]. What he was seeing now was more direct than any written record or even what he had seen in the Simulated Universe! If these insects were allowed to invade a place, they probably wouldn't leave a single hair behind on that planet!
Guided by the power of Chaos, Wende's body slowly passed through the surface. Even the soil beneath was filled with insects!
After passing through several dozen kilometers underground, Wende found that the space suddenly opened up. He had arrived in a vast subterranean cavern. It was extremely dark, and the sound of carapaces scraping against each other echoed from deep within the earth, sending a chill down one's spine!
And Wende's target, Tayzzyronth the [Propagation], was at the very center of this space. Just as Long had said, Its current strength was not even one-tenth of its peak. It had reached a point where It could no longer manifest as a [Path] and could only survive by clinging to its physical body!