Incompetent Asta

(This chapter has been significantly revised due to an unavoidable elbow strike.)

At this moment, in Asta's office, Asta desk was covered with all sorts of funding applications.

It contains both the arduous post-war repair work on the space station and the material and funding applications submitted by various departments.

She carefully checked each item, her expression serious yet subtly tinged with a hint of pleasure.

For her, these funds were nothing. As long as the application was reasonable and there was no fraud, she would generally sign it off.

She carefully checked the last expense for repair parts from the support department, confirming that all costs were within budget. Satisfied, she breathed a sigh of relief and signed her name in the approval column.

After processing the funding application, Asta stretched and loosened her stiff shoulders and neck. Just as she was about to make herself a cup of black tea as a reward, a soft glow suddenly appeared on the delicate vintage watch on her wrist.

A notification also popped up on her terminal.

Asta paused, momentarily stunned, before her eyes lit up with a bright light.

This notification was specifically set up by her; it would only be triggered when Bai Luoming returned to the space station or when his life signal fluctuated drastically.

Since the plugin she installed on Bai Luoming's terminal was silently removed by Herta, she changed her strategy. Virtual things are easy for Herta to destroy, but physical components, Herta can't just take them away arbitrarily.

Upon hearing the notification tone, she immediately put down all her work and quickly walked to the huge mirrored wall in the office to carefully check her appearance.

She tidied her slightly disheveled long hair and smoothed out the almost non-existent wrinkles on her skirt. After confirming that she was in perfect condition, she took a step and walked quickly towards the boundary anchor point.

As she walked, she silently thought about what she should say to Bai Luoming when she saw him later.

She even mentally rehearsed the different answers Bai Luoming might give, and how she would respond to each one.

Just thinking about it made Asta's lips curl up uncontrollably.

However, when Asta arrived at the boundary anchor platform, there was no one there; the entire platform was empty.

There wasn't even a trace of Bai Luoming, let alone a passing researcher.

Her smile faltered slightly. She stood there for a few minutes, then walked around the massive Realm Anchor, carefully confirming that there was indeed no one around.

What happened?

A sense of confusion rose in Asta's heart. She raised her wrist and looked at the watch. The positioning signal icon was lit up clearly and steadily, but the position of the coordinate cursor was not near the anchor point.

She took out her terminal and zoomed in on the location map.

The cursor, representing Bai Luoming's location, was clearly positioned within an area inside the space station.

That location is— the Herta's private lounge.

Asta stared at the coordinates for a moment, and the smile she had managed to maintain began to slowly fade from her face.

But Asta still harbored a sliver of hope: perhaps it was Ms. Herta who had called Bai Luoming for a checkup.

After all, during the last communication, Herta had mentioned that he would give Bai Luoming a comprehensive physical examination once he returned to the space station.

So it's perfectly normal that he was called over as soon as he got back, yes, very normal.

As Asta tried to convince herself, she pulled up her contacts and dialed Bai Luoming's number.

But the phone was quickly hung up as soon as it rang.

Asta looked at the message "The other party has hung up" on the terminal screen with a serious expression. Unconvinced, she dialed again.

This time, the call was rejected before the notification tone even finished ringing.

Asta stared at the repeatedly disconnected calls, a wave of panic washing over her. Clearly, the excuses she'd used to comfort herself were no longer valid. After all, who would come to their own room for a checkup? What kind of checkup was this?

She put away the terminal, her fingertips turning slightly white from the force she used.

In an instant, countless terrifying thoughts surged into her mind, but she forcibly suppressed them.

"Calm down, Asta, calm down..."

She took a deep breath, forced a polite smile, and turned to walk towards the Herta's private lounge.

Her pace remained quick, but her posture remained elegant.

She can't panic, at least not outwardly.

As she passed by the department, researchers greeted her, and she smiled and nodded in response, as if she were just conducting a routine inspection.

But no one saw that her hand, hidden at her side, had already clenched into a fist.

After she passed through the last door, there was no one there. Of course, almost no one had the authority to get here. Apart from Asta, even Arlan wasn't qualified to be here.

At the entrance, two identical Herta Puppets stood with their hands behind their backs, guarding either side of the entrance.

Before Asta could even get close, the doll on the left raised its hand, making a polite but unwavering "stop" gesture.

"Asta, Ms. Herta is currently dealing with very important matters and is not available to receive visitors at the moment," the doll on the left said in a businesslike tone.

The doll on the right tilted its head slightly and echoed, "Yes, it's extremely important, more important than ninety-nine percent of what's happening on this space station."

Asta frowned. "What is Ms. Herta doing?"

The two Herta Puppet exchanged a glance, as if weighing whether they could speak. In the end, the doll on the right gently shook its head and said, "What Ms. Herta is doing is not convenient to disclose at the moment. You should go back now."

"Yes, yes," the puppet on the left immediately replied.

Seeing that the dolls here were unwilling to reveal anything, Asta's heart sank.

She bit her lip, deciding not to get entangled with the two dolls any further.

She turned and left, but after taking a few steps, she couldn't help but look back at the tightly closed door. Just then, a muffled sound came from inside, but it was indistinct through the heavy door.

Hearing this, she quickened her pace.

Asta practically fled back to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She stood against the door for a few seconds, her chest heaving slightly, before walking straight to her desk and sitting down.

She took a few deep breaths to compose herself before opening the terminal, swiping her finger across the screen to bring up the watch's hidden advanced function panel.

Ambient audio synchronization.

Simply put, it's eavesdropping.

This was the last line of defense she kept for herself after Herta removed her terminal plugins. She hadn't originally planned to use this feature; it felt like invading someone's privacy.

But now, she can't care about that anymore.

The monitoring channel was activated, and after a brief period of electrical noise, the sound became clear.

Asta listened to the voice coming from the terminal, she froze, her fingers unconsciously loosening their grip, and the terminal slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor.

The screen was facing upwards, and the light illuminated her face, which had instantly lost all color.

Asta staggered to the bedside, threw herself onto it, and buried her face deeply in the soft pillow.

Hearing the voice from the terminal, Asta could no longer hold back and collapsed onto the bed, tears streaming down her face.