The Title Ran Away

Upon hearing Bai Luoming's words, Xing felt no sympathy whatsoever; instead, she became excited.

She quickly moved closer to Bai Luoming, lowering her voice, but her tone was full of barely suppressed eagerness. "You've been set up? Tell me the details! Is there anything I can do for you? Just say the word, and I'll do anything!"

As he spoke, Xing placed his hand on Bai Luoming's shoulder, ready to go to great lengths for his brother.

Seeing Xing's mischievous and trouble-making appearance, Bai Luoming sighed and said, "You should take a break. With our combined fighting strength, we might not even be able to defeat them."

Upon hearing this, Xing's excitement faded.

She then crossed her arms and looked Bai Luoming up and down, her expression changing. "Who exactly is it? Someone who can make a numerical monster like you, who can sweep through everything in your path, lose all confidence?"

In her memory, although Bai Luoming usually seemed easygoing, he was actually quite strong when it came to fighting, and even Dan Heng was no match for him.

Bai Luoming raised his hand to rub his temples, then sighed heavily and said, "Stop guessing. I reckon you'll see the notification on your device in a little while."

Seeing his evasive and refusal to reveal anything, Xing pursed her lips and didn't press further. She wasn't one to dwell on things; since the person involved didn't want to talk about it, she'd just wait and see.

Seeing this, Bai Luoming stopped talking and changed the subject. "By the way, what are you doing at the space station? Did you come here to rummage through the trash cans?"

She shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "I'm here to rummage through the trash!"

Bai Luoming:...

He shouldn't have had any expectations of this worthless Stellaron Spirit to say anything normal.

Seeing Bai Luoming's indescribable expression, Xing finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She waved her hand, letting him off the hook. "Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. This time, someone from the space station contacted me, saying they wanted to thank me in person for my previous help."

Bai Luoming's mind raced for a moment, realizing that the current point in the story should be the Silver Wolf arc. Thinking about this, he even began to wonder how much of a surprise this arc would bring him.

Bai Luoming didn't say much, just nodded to Xing and said, "Okay, then go ahead and do your thing."

"And what about you?" Xing asked.

"I need to go back to Herta's office," Bai Luoming said, feeling a bit of a headache himself. "Judging by the time, she should be heading back to her office by now..."

Before leaving, Xing didn't forget her "main mission." She winked at Bai Luoming and extended a sincere invitation. "Really not coming with me to open a few blind boxes? I feel like my luck is exceptionally good today."

"No need," Bai Luoming decisively refused. "Just have fun yourself."

He simply couldn't understand how anyone could enjoy rummaging through trash cans.

Xing patted his shoulder with a hint of regret, her face full of remorse. "What a pity, it seems I'll be the only one enjoying this treasure trove of the space station."

After she finished speaking, she turned around gracefully, waved, and walked towards the other end of the corridor.

Bai Luoming watched her receding figure, shook his head helplessly, and turned to walk towards the Herta office.

He returned alone to the heavy automatic door, which slid open silently. The office was as quiet as when he left; Herta had not yet returned.

Bai Luoming sat down in the swivel chair in front of the control panel, and listlessly spun around twice with his toes on the ground.

But now that Herta hadn't returned, he didn't know what to do, and finally his gaze fell on the standby doll at the door.

Thinking of this, Bai Luoming got up from his chair, walked to the doll, tentatively waved his hand in front of her eyes, and then softly called out, "Hello?"

The doll's previously dim eyes suddenly lit up with a soft light. She looked at Bai Luoming and spoke first.

"Hello, Mr. Bai Luoming."

Bai Luoming was stunned.

He remembered clearly that the puppet who had guided him last time was extremely taciturn from beginning to end, and even had a cold face the whole time, as if it didn't want to talk to him at all.

Looking at this doll again, the transformation is too drastic.

He became interested and tentatively asked, "What's your number?"

"Herta #10." The doll answered Bai Luoming's question, instead of its previous aloof tone.

Bai Luoming's curiosity was piqued. He walked around the dummy and continued to press, "So, what do you usually think of the Herta?"

"Ms. Herta is the creator, the meaning and absolute principle of our existence," the doll said earnestly.

Hearing the doll's reply, Bai Luoming looked somewhat disappointed. "What? I thought you were going to say that."

The doll looked puzzled and said, "I wonder which sentence Mr. Bai wants me to say?"

Bai Luoming became interested and uttered the praise that the Herta Puppet often used, "Just that one: Ms. Herta is unparalleled in the world! Ms. Herta is exceptionally intelligent! Ms. Herta is as beautiful as a fish or a goose!"

"Thank you for praising Ms. Herta, Mr. Bai. Ms. Herta is just that perfect!"

"..."

Well, as expected of a genius's creation, even this managed to outwit him.

"Let's put that aside for now. I want to know why your attitude towards me has changed so much?" After a moment of silence, Bai Luoming asked the question that concerned him most. "The guy who led the way last time didn't say a word the entire time."

The puppet was silent for two seconds, seemingly searching for relevant instruction sets.

She then gave her answer, "Because you are now with Ms. Herta. Our core code of conduct has been updated for you."

Bai Luoming pondered those words carefully, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Does this mean that the Herta specifically issued a special instruction to the puppet system, adding it to the "one of their own" whitelist? That does seem like something the Herta would do.

He discovered that the doll not only answered all his questions, but also showed no defensive reaction to his subsequent physical contact.

He reached out his finger and gently poked the doll's shoulder.

The puppet remained completely still, not even a flicker of light in its eyes.

He grew bolder and reached out to pinch the doll's arm. The material was soft and cool to the touch, very close to the texture of real skin, but the bones and electrical structure beneath the skin could be clearly felt, creating a wonderfully mixed sensation.

Bai Luoming's research spirit has truly taken hold.

He began to carefully observe every detail of the dolls, and soon he discovered that the workmanship of these dolls was ridiculously exquisite. Apart from the obvious mechanical marks on the joints, the rest of the parts were not much different from real people.

As expected of Herta, even their dolls are made with such detail.

He silently complained to himself, then gently reached out and pinched the doll's smooth cheek.

The feel is also unexpectedly good.

It's soft and bouncy, with a slightly cool feel. It will deform slightly when squeezed, but will immediately return to its original shape when released.

Just as he was completely absorbed in his research—

The office's automatic doors slid open silently to both sides.

At the entrance, Herta stood there, with the king of Planet Screwllum, Screwllum, beside her.

Their gazes simultaneously fell upon Bai Luoming, who was studying the Herta Puppet.

Bai Luoming saw the door suddenly open and Herta enter the office with Screwllum, his fingers freezing in place.

Then he slowly released his hand, and as he stopped moving, the Herta Puppet's face returned to normal, the light in its eyes dimmed, and it returned to standby mode expressionlessly, as if nothing had just happened.

He turned around stiffly, meeting Herta's eyes, which seemed to be both smiling and not smiling.

Herta raised an eyebrow and just stared at him, his expression revealing no anger, more like he was observing a novel experiment.

Bai Luoming coughed lightly, feeling his cheeks burning, and tried to make amends for his behavior.

"Ahem, I'm researching... researching your doll-making techniques."

Herta didn't respond to his comment.

She wasn't actually unhappy at all, because these dolls were made based on her appearance as a child. If Bai Luoming was interested in the dolls, wasn't it just that he was interested in her as a person?

Besides, no matter what, a person shouldn't be jealous of the creatures they created.

A thought flashed through her mind: perhaps she could choose a puppet and send it to Bai Luoming to help him Trailblaze. It could provide assistance in combat and daily life, and also allow her to better understand Bai Luoming's movements.

Herta thought the plan was more and more feasible, but she kept her expression hidden, waiting to give Bai Luoming a surprise.

She gathered her thoughts, turned to the side, and formally introduced the guest beside her to Bai Luoming.

"This is the seventy-sixth seat of the Genius Society, Screwllum. He's here at the space station to discuss the Simulated Universe project, which has nothing to do with you. But since you're here, it's good to get to know him."

As soon as she finished speaking, Screwllum, who had been standing quietly to the side, took a step forward.

He stepped forward, bowed slightly, and greeted Bai Luoming.

"Hello."

"Ms. Herta's rumored boyfriend."