A trace of expression appeared on Stelle's usually placid face. Gu Fan looked carefully and could just make out a faint blush on her cheeks.
Stelle held a pickaxe in her hand, one with a design that defied description—it could only be said to have a distinctly "Old Mi" style.
Gu Fan didn't know what the pickaxe was, but it felt somewhat like an exclusive weapon bestowed upon awakening the power of a Path.
Wait...
Could it be that from the beginning she wasn't spacing out, but was actually awakening her Path power?
So I...
That's a bit embarrassing...
The surrounding space completed its mission, and before Gu Fan could fully shake off his embarrassment, they had already returned to that room.
The Apocalypse Beast's head lay on the ground, shattering into fragments.
Kafka and Silver Wolf were nowhere to be seen.
A tall figure clad in silver armor stood in the center of the room.
Sam! Gu Fan's heart leapt with joy. His biggest curiosity about the game was whether Firefly was actually Sam. By the end of version 2.0, he had almost seen her true form.
But Kafka and Silver Wolf had left, so why would Sam stay behind?
With a mixture of excitement and trepidation, Gu Fan approached Sam step by step.
"Intruders, drop your weapons!" A young woman with medium-short hair, wearing a white off-shoulder top and a black mini skirt, walked in.
Gu Fan certainly knew who she was—the acting director of the Herta Space Station beneath his feet, the universe-class little rich girl—Asta. At this moment, she was glaring at Gu Fan, her eyes clearly marking them as enemies.
"Young mistress, please don't rush. Stay behind me." Another young man followed closely behind her.
...Who was he again?
Right, Gu Fan smacked his forehead. Asta's bodyguard, also the head of security for the Herta Space Station: Arlan.
"Miss, we're not enemies," Gu Fan said.
Stelle and Sam remained silent, not saying a word, leaving Gu Fan to do the talking. Asta obviously didn't believe him, her eyes full of wariness. With all this mess, a huge hole in the wall, and the room's most valuable treasure—the Stellaron—missing.
Among them was even a Stellaron Hunter. Looking at it from Asta's perspective, she couldn't possibly trust him.
Gu Fan rubbed his temples, suddenly feeling the urge to uninstall the system and go home.
Another heavyweight figure walked in—Welt Yang.
This middle-aged man was a character from Honkai Impact 3rd. Gu Fan knew a little about him—the former Herrscher of Reason, the leader of Anti-Entropy, a person of unfathomable depth.
Welt Yang, commonly known as Old Yang, was staring at Stelle with extremely sharp eyes.
Could he have recognized the true identity of the gray-haired Stellaron Hunter at a glance? Gu Fan couldn't help but wonder.
With so many people suddenly rushing in, the room meant for hiding the Stellaron felt somewhat crowded. But the two groups stared at each other, with Stelle now completely considering herself an ally of Gu Fan and Sam. The hostile gazes of Asta and Arlan aroused her enmity. The scene had a sense of impending storm.
Even though Gu Fan knew this was all a misunderstanding, he didn't know how to explain it. In an instant, Gu Fan felt time seem to slow down, and a destructive, violent energy spread across his heart.
Old Yang walked quickly out of the room, with Gu Fan and the others following.
Through the glass walls of the Herta Space Station, they could see the vast starry universe outside. Countless stars shone, adorning the lonely cosmos. Among those stars, a pair of golden-yellow eyes hung high like the sun and moon, watching the Herta Space Station.
With just such a gaze, tremendous pressure caused the station's outer walls to gradually crack.
The moment Asta and Arlan saw these eyes, they crouched down in pain. Sam knelt on one knee; even as a Stellaron Hunter, he didn't look comfortable. Even the unfathomable Old Yang avoided its sharpness, his face showing slight discomfort as he turned away, warning everyone not to look directly into the Aeon's eyes.
Was that an Aeon? Gu Fan looked toward the pair of eyes with golden-yellow pupils. For some reason, Gu Fan didn't feel any pressure at all.
Those eyes seemed familiar to Gu Fan as a game player, especially their color.
The eyes closed before destroying the place where everyone stood—the Herta Space Station—leaving only the shining stars in their original position.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, the system's effect suppressing Gu Fan's wound expired. The injuries on his back flared up with doubled intensity. A sharp pain struck him, and with a silent curse, Gu Fan directly passed out from the pain.
Stelle, who was beside him, caught him before he could fall to the ground.
......
The Herta Space Station was a gathering place for intelligent individuals, including those with superb medical skills. Gu Fan received treatment in the medical department and was quickly discharged.
The acting director of the space station, Asta, didn't give Gu Fan much time to recover before taking him to the center of the space station to meet its true owner, Herta, and ask her to judge Gu Fan and his companions.
As expected of the Herta Space Station, after treatment, Gu Fan could hardly feel the pain in his back. Instead, there was a kind of numbing, pleasant sensation crawling on his back.
Herta—the true owner of the space station. She wore a white dress with a cape-like black garment over it. From her exposed skin—shoulders, legs, hands, etc.—one could clearly see some inhuman characteristics. The connection lines visible throughout and the spheres at the joints all indicated that Herta before them was a puppet.
Her face, however, was quite exquisite, indistinguishable from a real person. She wore a brown beret on her head, with a balloon flower pinned to one side.
She was the renowned 83rd member of the genius club, who had independently solved many major problems that had troubled the universe for years.
This space station was built by the super-corporation spanning the entire universe and defining the currency system—the Interastral Peace Corporation—in an effort to recruit Herta.
"You're saying the Stellaron wasn't stolen by the Stellaron Hunters, but turned into this kid?" Herta looked at Stelle as she spoke.
"You can test Little Gray Hair," Gu Fan said. "We Stellaron Hunters don't take things by force."
"No need, I have enough discernment for that," Herta said. "By the way, are you with the Stellaron Hunters?"
Gu Fan couldn't very well say he had sprung from a rock. When Herta asked where he came from, he wouldn't be able to explain clearly. Currently, the most suitable identity was being a member of the Stellaron Hunters.
"A new recruit," Gu Fan said.
Herta quickly looked at Stelle; she had no interest in Gu Fan, even if he was a new member of the famous Stellaron Hunters. She said, "I built an entire space station to protect the Blue Star from the Stellaron's calamity, while the Stellaron Hunters accomplished it with just a single body... Interesting. I need to do some research on her body to see if the Stellaron Hunters' technology has reached this level."
"You want to keep her here?" Asta asked from the side.
"Do you have any objections?" Herta glanced at Asta.
Asta hurriedly shook her head. She felt uneasy about keeping people associated with the Stellaron Hunters, but she dared not contradict Herta's wishes.
"The rest of you, go back to wherever you came from," Herta said. "This is a space station, not a shelter."
She had issued a dismissal to Gu Fan and Sam. Gu Fan stroked his chin. Sam's over two-meter-tall figure stood nearby like a giant spirit; even the 1.9-meter-tall Old Yang was shorter than him by a head. Gu Fan didn't know why Kafka and Silver Wolf hadn't taken Sam with them, or why Sam had chosen to stay.
[Host detected at target location]
[Current mission target character: Herta]
[Time limit: 72 system hours]
[Target emotion value: 400]
Gu Fan couldn't just leave like this. Going back to the Stellaron Hunters' base with Sam to see the true form of Elio, whom he had been thinking about, would be nice. He could also find opportunities to get closer to Mommy Kafka and little Silver Wolf. He could even take the chance to peek at Sam's true form. If not for the mission here, just thinking about it would be exciting.
Before Gu Fan could speak, Stelle pointed at him and said, "Wherever he goes, I go."
So Little Gray Hair wasn't mute, Gu Fan thought to himself. He didn't know what state Stelle was in now; the usual humor from the game was gone, and the iconic bat from the early game was nowhere to be seen. She still looked somewhat dazed.
Could it be because he was the one who pressed the Stellaron into her chest? Is that why Elio said the gender decision had to be made by Kafka? Gu Fan couldn't figure it out.
Wait, what did Little Gray Hair mean by that statement?
Herta was direct, "Then you stay too, don't go anywhere!"
This situation was naturally what Gu Fan desired, and he breathed a sigh of relief. The target emotion value wasn't high, and the time was relatively sufficient. But to win over Herta would require careful planning; after all, she was a universe-class genius. His only advantage was knowing some information.
Just as Gu Fan was about to leave, Welt Yang interjected, "While the method of stabilizing the Stellaron is fascinating, I suggest you study him as well."
Welt Yang, commonly known as Old Yang, was a middle-aged man. He had a slender figure, about 1.8 meters tall, wearing a scarf and coat, carrying a cane—every inch the English gentleman.
Old Yang's cane pointed at Gu Fan, "Those eyes belonged to the Destruction Aeon. He was watching us, but neither of them showed any signs of feeling pressure. And the appearance of the Aeon, I fear..."
Toward the end, perhaps not very confident in his judgment, Old Yang didn't finish.
The appearance of this Destruction Aeon was indeed strange; in the game, the actual form of an Aeon had never appeared in the real universe.
Gu Fan pondered silently. Little Gray Hair hadn't awakened the Path of Destruction either, but held a pickaxe in her hand. What Aeon did the pickaxe represent? What Path had she awakened?
Herta hummed thoughtfully, "You come assist me with the research, too."
Well... that's fine. At least there was an entry point for winning over Herta.
"You all go back and rest for now. Stelle, come to my room after 12 system hours. You, come after 16 system hours."
Is this some kind of royal summons? Am I that casual a man? "Alright," he said. Who could refuse little Herta? Staking his dignity as a Star Rail player, he would definitely figure out her true form, to see whether she was a little loli or a mature lady.
Herta had made her decision, and everyone dispersed. Asta looked somewhat unwilling; Gu Fan and Little Gray Hair were thieves who had secretly entered her home. Not only were they staying, but from Herta's meaning, they would be well taken care of.
"What about him?" Asta glanced at Sam.
Sam took a step forward. His tall figure stood in the center of the space station, out of place with the surroundings.
Gu Fan said, "Wherever he goes, I go."
End of Chapter