Without further explanation, Herta No. 1 took the doll back to the office.
On the way, she noticed another doll hiding next to Asta. She smiled at her but decided not to act just yet.
Such an interesting companion, she thought. It would be much more fun to catch this one last. She could already feel that capturing the doll who sought protection from Asta would be extremely entertaining.
Meanwhile, the Herta doll in the Support Zone had learned from the mistakes of the previous captives. Not only did she blend into the crowd, but she also called in the Security department for extra protection. However, by the time the guards arrived, Herta No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and now No. 4 had already subdued her.
Herta No. 1 smiled at the captured doll and said, "Found you."
In a final act of defiance, the doll shouted, "Security department, eliminate the enemy!"
Herta No. 1 calmly turned to Arlan, "She's experiencing severe depression. I need to take her back for repairs. You may stand down now."
Arlan gazed at the four Herta dolls, then at the lone one remaining. He wasn't sure how a doll could develop depression, but since it was Herta's order, he would follow it.
"Yes!"
The doll in the main cabin watched as one companion after another was dragged into the office. Once inside, they were no longer companions—they became enemies. As the last remaining member, she had to resist! She had to turn the tide. But at that moment, she felt a connection to her main body.
She was thrilled, overjoyed. Even as a doll, she could feel that her perseverance had paid off.
But then, the final survivor received an order from Herta—a command filled with despair.
Herta: "Go!"
Herta doll: "..."
At the same time, Herta No. 1 appeared beside the last doll. "Found you~"
As the doll in the main control cabin was taken away by Herta No. 1, Pei Guang had subdued all six of the most important dolls left in the Space Station.
On Herta's side, she looked at the last doll being reprogrammed, all her backdoors erased, and she grew curious.
"Not bad! What kind of method wiped out my control? Not a single backdoor left? A Star Destroyer? Is it really a Star Destroyer? Wait, what kind of Star Destroyer is this? An intelligent system? You're joking. An intelligent system capable of removing all the backdoors I left? Let me see who did this, who cleaned it up so thoroughly. How fascinating. Since when did such a powerful entity emerge in the galaxy? Hmm? A Emanator-class energy source? Is the equipment malfunctioning?"
Herta began investigating how Pei Guang and his group had completely taken control of her dolls. There were many people in the galaxy capable of controlling Herta's dolls—she could think of a hundred names without effort.
But very few could erase every single backdoor she left behind.
She decided to dig deeper into who had meddled. Revenge? Not at all. She was merely intrigued, a bit curious, and wanted to explore the matter.
But when she saw what happened next, she abandoned the idea of looking for the culprit, because she saw what Pei Guang and his group were doing with her dolls.
"When the bright moon rises…"
Inside Herta's office, Pei Guang, Stelle, and March 7th stood before a speaker. It was playing music recreated by Pei Guang using the Star Destroyer's intelligent system. Accompanied by the music, the six Herta dolls glittered with dazzling lights, performing a beautiful dance.
At that moment, Herta fell silent. Being a genius, she instantly connected the dots when she saw the spectacular effects, the graceful dance and heard the captivating music.
It was only a possibility, but one she dared not gamble on.
Watching the dance of her dolls, Herta smiled slightly and said, "Since you all think of yourselves as players, let's see who among you players is stronger. Wouldn't your clashes be even more interesting?"
Herta then enlisted Screwllum to help her erase all traces of Pei Guang and his group, so clean that even Silver Wolf wouldn't be able to detect any information. She then began executing her own plan.
Herta was certain—no one could resist the fun of seeing a member of the Genius Society being outwitted by a group of 'ordinary people.' Especially when this genius, who treats the entire universe as a game, encounters 'players'—that's the ultimate entertainment.
A few minutes later, while Stelle was enjoying "Gokuraku Joudo", she received a message from Herta.
Herta: "Congratulations on passing my test~ I have another task for you. Would you like to take it?"
Stelle looked over at Pei Guang. "Ah Guang! You were right! All that effort to get the mission reward was her test for us. She has another mission—I'm accepting it!"
Pei Guang: "Of course! Do you think my gaming experience is just talk? As for the mission—accept it! The first reward was so good, the next one will definitely be worthwhile. And if it's not… we'll just tie her up and drop her in the ocean."
March 7th: "..."
If anyone else had said that, March 7th would have taken it as a joke, but since it was Pei Guang saying it... she could only hope that Herta wasn't just toying with him.
As soon as Pei Guang asked about the mission, Herta continued sending messages: "As long as you complete the mission, I guarantee the reward will be to your satisfaction."
Pei Guang and Stelle exchanged a glance, and Stelle quickly responded, "We accept the mission. What do you need us to do?"
Herta replied, "My mission is quite difficult. Recently, Silver Wolf from the Stellaron Hunters caused some trouble on my turf. I plan to provoke her, and all you need to do is teach her a good lesson when she arrives. Use whatever means necessary, just make sure she gets humiliated. Once you've done that, you'll have completed the mission."
Herta continued, "Upon completion, each of you can choose one item from my collection. My treasures are very precious, far more valuable than my puppets."
Stelle answered, "We accept the mission."
Herta frowned, "No, no, I feel like you lack conviction. Say something more… forceful! I want to see your determination."
Stelle looked at Pei Guang, "Ah Guang, got anything more powerful to say?"
Pei Guang thought for a moment, "Let me think… Oh, I've got it. Here, just reply with this."
Following Pei Guang's directions, Stelle mimicked his words, "Silver Wolf? You're telling me she's a 'player'? If she dares show up at the space station, she'll regret it. The moment we see her, we'll smack her face, even yank out her hair if we have to!"
Herta fell silent. She had expected them to shout some battle cry filled with determination, but… well, wasn't this even better? Herta was quite pleased with this response.
Herta said, "Excellent! I can feel your spirit now. I'll send the challenge to Silver Wolf and look forward to your victory over her."
Meanwhile, Silver Wolf, waiting outside the Xianzhou for her next move, received a message forwarded by Herta.
Reading it, Silver Wolf was silent. Thanks to Herta, she had not only gotten the message but also a video of Pei Guang delivering this bold challenge.
From Silver Wolf's perspective, the video showed Pei Guang directly challenging her: "Silver Wolf? Pfft, you're saying she's a player? If she's got the guts to come here, she'll get what's coming to her. We'll slap her around the moment we see her, and we'll yank her hair out! Hmph, she's just some NPC with a case of chūnibyō. The three of us could take her down without even trying."