Herta: Whoa, the Missing Person Is Back

After an unknown amount of time, Jingxing slowly woke up.

He opened his eyes, and the first thing he felt was Fu Xuan's hand, which was tightly clenched in his palm.

Perhaps because he had used too much force, Jingxing felt his fingers had stiffened. He could only slowly loosen them one by one, and his joints cracked a few times in the process.

"Where are we?" Jingxing gently stood up and looked out the porthole. What came into view was a brightly lit platform, a place he hadn't seen in a long time— the Herta Space Station.

"How did we get here?" Jingxing frowned, pondering as he woke Fu Xuan, who was lying beside him.

When the Lord Diviner opened her eyes, she let out a sticky hum, but she immediately came to her senses and quickly pulled her hand back, looking down at her wrist, where there was a very light red mark.

She pulled her sleeve down to cover herself before looking up at Jingxing: "Where are we now?"

"Herta Space Station."

"The Herta Space Station?" Fu Xuan was taken aback. "Have we returned to the present?"

"I think so." Jingxing used a little Imaginary Energy to confirm that he and Fu Xuan were both in good condition. "It seems that our existence has been anchored to the timeline calculated by the Nous. The problem has been solved."

Fu Xuan breathed a slight sigh of relief, "So what should we do now?"

The next second, there was a knock on the hatch.

"Are you awake? If you are, come out." The mechanical voice of the Herta Puppet came from outside. It didn't sound like that genius was operating it himself.

Jingxing pushed open the hatch and saw a Herta Puppet standing outside, tilting its head. "You're awake after all. Come with me."

Fu Xuan peeked out from behind, and Jingxing took her hand. "Let's go. Ms. Herta is relatively easy to talk to, and we can also ask her about her current situation."

"That's true. If he were a genius, he would know how we got here." Fu Xuan nodded and followed Jingxing Xing.

Walking down the corridor leading to the Herta office, every passing staff member turned their head to look at them.

Fu Xuan tugged at Jingxing's hand. "Is there something strange about me?"

"I can't tell. I just think Xuan'er has always been adorable," Jingxing replied after carefully examining her.

"Why the sudden change in address?" Fu Xuan turned his head. "How strange..."

The main reason was that it was the first time the Lord Diviner had heard such a form of address in front of the Herta Puppet, and he was quite embarrassed.

"Don't you like this title?" Jingxing asked in a low voice.

"No," although still shy, Fu Xuan absolutely wouldn't allow the progress bar to go backwards. She gripped Jingxing's hand tightly. "I really like this nickname. You have to call me that from now on."

"Okay," Jingxing readily agreed.

The Herta Puppet walked ahead, seemingly oblivious to everything. But inside the Herta office, another Herta Puppet wrinkled its nose and gulped down some saliva.

As the two stood at the door of Herta's office, the door slid open by itself.

The interior is surrounded by three glass curtain walls, and at the highest point, another Herta Puppet sits in an office chair with its back to the two people, watching the data flowing on the screen.

"Long time no see," she said, "My debtor."

Jingxing had just opened his mouth when the Herta Puppet raised its hand to interrupt him.

She jumped off the chair and walked around them, her nose almost touching theirs.

Then, the Herta Puppet frowned and took a step back.

"You two have a familiar scent," she said. "I smell this sweet scent every time my experiments fail. Can you tell me what you encountered? I won't ask you for nothing; I can forgive part of your debt."

Fu Xuan's fingers curled up inside her sleeve, then she looked at Jingxing. She left the negotiation to him.

"We had a truly unique trip," Jingxing replied. "We met some people and participated in some activities."

"I'm not interested in your honeymoon experience," the Herta Puppet, narrowing its eyes. "You should know what I'm going to ask."

"Okay," Jingxing shrugged, "I remember there are some people in the world who seem to sense something once their name is mentioned, right?"

"You don't need to say anything more." The Herta Puppet waved its hand. "I already know who you're talking about."

She tapped the data panel beside her twice. "But how did you two manage to escape her pursuit? Even Rupert I couldn't do that..."

The Herta Puppet sized up Fu Xuan— "The Diviner of Luofu."

Then she looked at Jingxing: "And you, how did you manage that?"

"I slightly glitched a bug related to the Imaginary Universe and the Imaginary Tree." Jingxing shrugged.

"Imaginary Universe? Imaginary Tree?" The Herta Puppet's face darkened. "Why don't you just say you've ascended to godhood?"

"How did you know that I would have ascended to godhood if I had taken just one more step?" Jingxing feigned surprise. "But the thought of owing the incredibly intelligent Ms. Herta a debt made me afraid of becoming the first Aeon to default on his debt, so I didn't dare take that step."

"Tch—" The Herta Puppet scribbled a couple of lines on the data panel, "I'd love for an Aeon to be involved in my Metaverse project."

"May I ask my question now?" Fu Xuan interjected.

"Please, Miss Diviner of Luofu, I'm also very curious how you got together with him." The Herta Puppet glanced at Jingxing, then looked away.

"How did we get here?" Fu Xuan asked. "Jing Jingxing and I had just left that planet and were preparing to head to our next destination when I heard a voice and then I passed out."

As expected, Fu Xuan fainted before he could even hear Equilibrium's whisper. Jingxing Xing wasn't surprised by this.

"And you?" The Herta Puppet looked at Jingxing.

"I fared a little better than Xuan'er. The voice that knocked her unconscious came from 'Mutual'." Jingxing paused. "Then we were fortunate enough to receive help from the Amber Lord, but after that Equilibrium Aeon left, another being intervened, bringing Xuan'er and me back to the present. I don't know what happened after that."

"Alright, let me explain from my perspective." The Herta Puppet produced a pair of glasses from somewhere and perched them on its nose. "It's been a year since you left the Herta Space Station, and there hasn't been a single word from the galaxy. I thought something had happened to you. Until this morning, I was preparing to continue building my Metaverse facility when your spaceship suddenly appeared on the rooftop. It startled all my researchers. It was Asta recognized it as an early model modified by the Interastral Peace Corporation. Afterwards, Ruan Mei came to take a look and confirmed that you two were still alive."

"Thank goodness Ms. Herta didn't let her drag us both into the experiment," Jingxing said sarcastically.

"I didn't stop her." The Herta Puppet shifted its gaze. "She took something from the hull of your spaceship and then floated away."

"Alright," Jingxing tapped his head, "Then Xuan'er and I will take our leave. I need to take her back to Luofu and then go to Yuque to retrieve my spaceship."

"Take care." The Herta Puppet turned around, looked back at the screen, and said, "Although I don't know how you were able to roam freely in the past, since you're still anchored to the machine head 'now,' I suspect your return is related to the mystique. In short, I suggest that after you send your lover home, you should go to the places where you left traces in the past and trace the changes."

"Thank you for the suggestion, Ms. Herta. I will go." Jingxing nodded, then took Fu Xuan's hand and left the office.