o— “Hah…
I’m so full~” Having eaten and drunk her fill, Emily squinted her eyes in contentment, letting out a blissful sigh.
She stretched lazily in her seat before remembering that someone was still sitting across from her.
“I-I’m heading back to my workstation!” Hua Yi smiled as he watched the young researcher shoot to her feet and hurry away in a slightly flustered manner.
He then made his way to his own office as well.
The Herta Space Station was immense.
The Master Control Zone, which served as its core, was actually a large starship capable of independent interstellar travel.
It was normally connected to the base, functioning as the station’s central hub.
The station was comprised of multiple such zones, including the Master Control Zone, Base Zone, Supply Zone, and Support Zone.
As one of the five major research departments, the Department of Lumina Archives, where Hua Yi worked, naturally occupied more than just one or two rooms.
Arriving at his workstation, he could see top-of-the-line computers and various precision instruments provided by the Interastral Peace Corporation arranged neatly on a rectangular desk.
In front of him was a floor-to-ceiling window made of high-performance quartz glass, prepared using a chemical vapor deposition process.
Outside the window, giant pillars constructed from aerospace materials—whose value and performance were far beyond the imagination of ordinary people, or even many planetary civilizations—supported the station’s main frame.
Even this mere glimpse of the scientific marvel was enough to leave one in awe of the station’s majestic scale, and of one’s own insignificance as an ordinary researcher.
And beyond the station, the starlight, which knew no day, night, or seasons, and the cosmic canopy that held the stars, of unknowable height and breadth, made even the station itself seem like a drifting speck of dust.
When people gaze up at the starry sky, are they mesmerized by the endless mystery and beauty of the cosmos, or do they feel a primal fear, believing that terrifying, man-eating monsters lurk in the darkness beyond their sight?
Hua Yi was clearly not in the latter group.
He observed the cosmic expanse for a moment before turning his attention to the electronic equipment before him, skillfully accessing the internal database.
The Department of Lumina Archives currently had 101 records on Aeon mysteries.
Though numerous, their utility was limited.
Some of these “mysteries” even involved using the beard of a station veteran, casting a shade of mysticism over the scientific research.
Thanks to Ms.
Herta rarely assigning work to the station directly, and Station Master Asta not being the type to mistreat her subordinates, the work life of the station’s members was relatively relaxed.
Researchers whose workstations were adjacent could even chat during work hours.
At a desk on the far side of the office, several female researchers had slid their office chairs over and were talking amongst themselves.
Many seats were empty, not because the station was understaffed, but because many researchers from the Department of Lumina Archives were out exploring the universe, investigating the secrets of the Aeons.
Some had even set foot in the territory of the Abundance.
The Herta Space Station provided its researchers with stable financial support, and should they produce outstanding results, they could easily make a name for themselves throughout the entire cosmos.
Hua Yi’s workstation was isolated, separated from the others by large equipment.
Perhaps the station administration felt that newcomers should be held to a stricter standard, environmentally eliminating any possibility of him chatting or slacking off during work hours.
Or perhaps the more talkative seniors had already claimed all the good spots, leaving only this secluded one.
This suited Hua Yi just fine.
He could focus on reviewing the secrets of the Aeons.
After selecting talents from various planets, the Herta Space Station didn’t immediately assign newcomers a heavy workload.
The initial phase was for familiarization.
Some planetary civilizations didn’t prioritize technological development, and their chosen researchers would have to spend a considerable amount of time just learning how to use the station’s advanced equipment.
Hua Yi had skipped the equipment-learning phase entirely.
Having quickly familiarized himself with the environment and the station’s regulations, he was already able to work normally.
He had long since completed the training assignment given to him by the Department of Lumina Archives.
Thanks to this, he could use his remaining work time to further his understanding of the Aeons.
[Preservation] Qlipoth, [The Trailblaze] Akivili, [Destruction] Nanook, [Erudition] Nous, [Propagation] Tayzzyronth…
Even though these sentient celestial bodies were mysterious and untraceable by mortals, the galaxy was not without the traces they left behind, nor the legends that shook the cosmos.
The Aeons were supreme and powerful, but they were not invincible, nor were they immortal.
Conflicts had erupted between them before.
If a black shadow appears in the midday sky, bar your doors, for that is not the early arrival of night, but a ravenous swarm.
Tayzzyronth, the Aeon of Propagation, who once caused the Swarm Disaster and brought incalculable loss to the universe, was rumored to have already fallen in a war among the gods.
Based on limited intelligence, the Department of Lumina Archives speculated that the Aeon of Propagation, having ascended amidst hatred and solitude, engaged in endless self-replication, forming a swarm that blotted out the sun.
This not only endangered all life in the universe but also had a detrimental effect on other Paths: it damaged the [Order] of the cosmos, threatened the [Equilibrium] of the world, and blocked the path of [The Trailblaze], among others.
The gods besieged [Propagation].
With Tayzzyronth’s death, the Swarm gradually declined, losing its former glory.
Yet, to this day, remnants of the Swarm continue to plague the universe, counted as one of its three major disasters.
It is rumored that every insect in the Swarm is a clone of Tayzzyronth.
As long as the Swarm continues to exist in the universe, Tayzzyronth of [Propagation] will eventually return.
Could one infer from this that Aeons are, in fact, immortal and indestructible?
Hua Yi stared at the Aeon secrets displayed on the screen, lost in thought, when a voice spoke from behind him.
“Since you’re already looking at the files on the Aeon of Propagation, you probably didn’t miss Nous, the God of Knowledge whom Ms.
Herta had an audience with, right?” “That’s right.
The Aeon who presides over the Path of [Erudition].
Originally a celestial computer designed to solve all things, it ascended from a machine.
The Genius Society, which Ms.
Herta belongs to, is comprised of geniuses who have earned Nous’s favor.” “Then—” Meyer, a veteran of the Department of Lumina Archives who looked not much older than Emily, couldn’t help but be astonished at the speed and accuracy of his answer, even though she had already heard of Hua Yi’s excellence.
“Have you learned about [Preservation], the one the Interastral Peace Corporation believes in?” “Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation.
The Amber Lord, who is eternally building the Celestial Fender.
The Interastral Peace Corporation initially acquired building materials from various planets to offer to the God of Preservation.
Later, they found bartering to be inconvenient and gradually introduced the Credit system.
To this day, even though the IPC has grown into a cosmic behemoth that controls the economic lifelines of countless planets, it still maintains a fervent faith in the Amber Lord.” —o—