Hey, Mind If I Check Your Browsing History? / Bad at It but Still Obsessed ...

Checking the browsing history?

"Ah, um..."

Caelus felt sweat trickling down his back. The Space Station's security measures had actually been flawless, but his hacker aunt had gone and caused trouble. When they had come before, they had shut down the entire defense system. Otherwise, the Voidrangers could not have gotten in, and they would not have been able to create chaos.

Caelus felt sorry for Asta. His mother and aunt were undoubtedly on the side of evil; otherwise, wanted posters for them would not be everywhere. They were the sort who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. What had happened to Asta now could be considered a bomb those two had planted, so as the son his mother had given birth to, Caelus had to solve this problem for Asta.

"Don't worry. Leave the investigation to me. Do you have any leads?"

Caelus comforted Asta a little. She knew he was capable, and her mood gradually recovered.

"Before Madam Herta disappeared, one of her puppets mentioned that an Occurrence had gone missing. It had no physical form, but it possessed life."

"You don't know what it was?"

"No. I'm not qualified to study Occurrences, and I don't want to get myself killed."

Asta was very self-aware. Her duty was to manage the warehouse. At first, she had not come to manage those researchers at all. They had flocked here to conduct research because of Herta's fame. Over time, Asta became the station master. So the claim that she wanted to harm people was completely groundless.

"Then I'll go ask the researchers who study Occurrences first. Don't worry, we'll have an answer soon."

As Caelus spoke, he let go of Asta's hand. There were many things she could not conveniently do because of her position. Normally, this was the sort of task a trusted subordinate should handle, but Asta only had two confidants. One was Peppy, a dog. The other was Arlan, a bodyguard. He was decent in a fight, but asking him to use his brain was making things difficult for him.

Asta did not say it aloud, but her heart still warmed. Caelus was in a place like Penacony, yet he had come to help her the moment she called. Everything he did was for her sake. This was not because of Herta's reputation—it was because he liked her.

Caelus quickly arrived at the area where the researchers gathered with Acheron. He was an unfamiliar face, and no one thought he was a management spy, so the researchers kept chatting as usual. Caelus eavesdropped from the side for a while and discovered that things were not simple.

The missing people had not vanished into thin air. Someone had personally witnessed them being swallowed by flames, leaving not even ashes behind. Something like ghost fire was causing trouble aboard the Space Station. No one knew whether they would be next, which was why everyone was so unsettled.

"Interesting."

Caelus rubbed his chin, then found Arlan, who was patrolling the Space Station. As Asta's confidant, Arlan desperately wanted to help at a time like this. But without any clues about the culprit, he could only use the most primitive method: patrol the station and stop the ghost fire from hurting anyone.

"Take me to the missing people's quarters."

Caelus explained why he had come. Arlan knew that he was here to help Asta deal with this trouble, so without asking further questions, he brought him to one of the missing person's rooms.

After entering the room, Caelus turned on the computer. It was private property, so naturally it had a password. There was clearly something shameful inside. But who was Caelus? His aunt was one of the top ten hackers in the galaxy. He took out his phone and opened a program she had installed for him before.

The software scanned the screen through the phone's camera. Then a chibi Silver Wolf avatar appeared and began automatically cracking the password. According to Silver Wolf, the program could crack any security system below the Interastral Peace Corporation bank's security level by itself. She did not need to do it personally. Some random software she had written could handle it. She had given it to Caelus as a toy.

A moment later, the computer automatically entered the password. Caelus could only say that his aunt truly was impressive. She was so skilled at doing bad things that, with this software alone, he could moonlight as a super hacker.

After opening the computer, Caelus immediately checked the browser history. Peppy curiously climbed onto the desk to look as well. Then the man and dog's expressions gradually turned grave. Caelus had seen something filthy, while Peppy had seen one of his own kind filming adult videos.

Nothing unusual appeared in the browsing history, so Caelus opened the chat software and began reviewing the messages. There, he found something. The missing person had actually been a hater—one who hated Asta and the management.

Caelus had chatted with Asta before and knew what kind of person his girlfriend—tentatively—was. She could get bored enough to infiltrate groups specifically devoted to hating her, then stir up discussion about herself. This also proved that many people on the Space Station were dissatisfied with her and vented their emotions in those groups all day. Caelus had not expected to encounter one of them in person.

After shutting down the computer, Caelus left that room and went to the next, doing the same thing again. This time, he also checked the chat records and discovered that the missing person was another hater. Caelus could barely hold himself back. These bastards spent every day attacking his girlfriend. They deserved to die. Even if they could be saved, he would kick them out of the Space Station himself.

Then came the third and fourth. After reading their chat histories, Caelus found their common trait: they were all people in the hater group who enjoyed attacking Asta. He took out his phone and reported this discovery to Asta.

"The common point is that they were people who attacked me? Your investigation is progressing so quickly. We searched for so long before and never found what they had in common."

Asta spoke in surprise. But she wanted to ask whether hating her really counted as a common trait. She had quite a lot of haters. She had not expected four of them to disappear at once. How much less fun would she have in the future?

"Miss Asta, I think you may be in trouble."

Dr. Ratio had heard everything clearly from beside her and stated his opinion.

"Logic: agreed." Screwllum spoke as well.

"What do you mean, Dr. Ratio?"

Asta had actually already guessed what was happening, but she wanted to hear Dr. Ratio's explanation. She also wanted to know who exactly her enemy was. The researchers could not possibly possess such methods. Could Herta's Occurrences really be used by just anyone? Then what was the point of the Space Station?

"If the investigation is correct, the missing people were all dissatisfied with you. Combined with the Anti-Matter Legion's attack on the Space Station, this crisis of trust will become irreversible. The researchers will believe that you used Herta's Occurrences to eliminate dissenters. No one wants to become the next target, so naturally, they will strike first."

Dr. Ratio spoke bluntly. A helpless expression appeared on Asta's face. She was not afraid. She had simply imagined the Space Station's destruction. Once management was brought under control, all it would take was someone continuing to fan the flames for a person driven mad to do something irrational—such as crashing the Space Station into the blue planet below. Human nerves were fragile. When constantly threatened, people would absolutely do foolish things.

PS: Please bookmark, recommend, and send monthly tickets.

PS: The "Prisoner Duke" storyline took place after Ruan Mei's, but due to length issues, Ruan Mei's arc would be moved later.

All Talk, No Skill

"This was planned. Everything is a conspiracy. But who did it?"

Asta felt that the conspiracy had begun when Herta's puppet disappeared. But she could not understand who the enemy was. Her first thought was that Herta had offended someone, because the researchers and station master had all been working honestly. It could not possibly be trouble she herself had brought in, could it?

Just as Asta was puzzled, her phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up and saw an emergency news bulletin appearing on the Space Station's internal chat network.

"There has finally been follow-up regarding Madam Herta's attack! The Ever-Flame Mansion has claimed responsibility for the entire incident and announced that it will take further action. The Association strongly condemns this."

The bizarre news bulletin left Asta completely confused. Immediately after the news came a speech. Since they had said they would take responsibility, naturally they would not be finished with just a text message.

The video began in a dim setting. Then a flame suddenly lit up on screen, and a ram-headed demon whose entire body burned with fire appeared. A flaming crown sat atop its head, representing its status as a leader. Even Caelus was confused by this.

"The interstellar gods depart from worldly customs, heedless of the insignificant masses."

"Only the wounded Lord grants all worlds the light of destruction's flames."

"There will always be cowardly fools who seek to reject grace and flee from bestowed wounds."

"Run. Run as you please. No matter where you flee, annihilation shall eventually arrive!"

After the ram-headed demon finished these words, the video ended. Caelus looked utterly baffled, and his mind was filled with one question: Who was that?

"Is this one of those cryptic talkers?"

Caelus looked at Peppy beside him and asked. Peppy merely tilted his head, indicating that he did not know that fellow who looked like a roasted whole lamb either.

"Allow me to explain."

Screwllum's voice came through the phone. Caelus had forgotten that there was a genius here who was as famous as his grandmother. With him around, they could understand the cryptic speaker's words.

"This Grand Duke of Fiery Purgatory Afleed was a lifeform born on the extinguished planet Tuofei'er. The fire demon race, which burns without cease, regards Nanook as its emperor and calls him their Lord, yet they have never received so much as a glance from the Aeon."

As expected of a genius, Screwllum knew everything that Caelus did not. At the very least, Caelus now knew that the roasted whole lamb was called Afleed and seemed to be a follower of Destruction. Yet somehow, he had also been unknowingly branded a sycophant.

Thinking about it, Afleed called Nanook his Lord and spent every day wanting to do things for him, yet the Aeon could not even be bothered to look at him. And he was still so loyal. He was practically the galaxy's biggest bootlicker.

"Asta, do you understand now?"

Caelus asked Asta on the other end of the phone. Asta nodded. Watching Afleed's speech alone only made him seem like a cryptic lunatic, but once it was combined with the Space Station surviving the Anti-Matter Legion's attack, the conclusion became clear.

Afleed was a follower of Nanook. Somehow, he had learned that the Space Station had repelled the Anti-Matter Legion. He was unhappy about that. In his eyes, destruction was the Aeon's blessing, and the Space Station had rejected that blessing. As a bootlicker, he naturally had to restore some face for his Lord. Thus, his plan against the Space Station began.

Although it sounded bizarre, it made perfect sense if one followed a villain's thought process. After hearing the explanation, Caelus was dumbfounded. He did not even know how to mock Afleed's bootlicking.

"Fire demons are violent by nature. Burning and destruction are their instincts. Afleed is especially wicked and cruel. As a fire demon, he naturally excels at the trick of spontaneous human combustion. The disappearances of the researchers and puppets are all part of the plan. After this, that video will quickly spread across the Space Station. Just watch. Before long, the Space Station will become a sea of flames."

Dr. Ratio spoke and gave his conclusion. Caelus and Asta looked at each other, both helpless at the feeling of suddenly being targeted by a bootlicker.

"If it has such strength, why does it not come here personally and destroy the Space Station?"

Caelus asked in confusion. From what he had heard, Afleed seemed to possess at least the combat power of a Doomsday Beast. Yet judging by the current situation, was the other side simply... bored out of its mind?

"Because its true body is inside Eternal Fire Manor. What has come to the Space Station is merely a flame avatar. Why do you think it wants to create a crisis of trust?"

Dr. Ratio explained. What he meant was that Afleed himself did not have the courage to wrestle with Herta, so he did not even dare bring his true body here. He was afraid that Herta's puppets would toy with him to death, which was why he resorted to these schemes in the shadows.

That was indeed the case. If Afleed had come personally, Herta might have come personally as well. Earlier, Afleed had merely ambushed one puppet. Herta had only gotten a question mark over her head, then ignored it and went back to her own work.

"Because its abilities do not support destroying the Space Station with its own hands. But how did it get into the Space Station? Are the security measures here at the level of the Land of Light?"

Caelus had begun to form an idea. He looked toward Asta, who replied with an angry expression. Her blue eyes made Caelus' heart skip a beat.

"The Occurrence Madam Herta lost has no physical form, but possesses life. Isn't that a characteristic of fire demons?"

After thinking for a moment while stroking her chin, Asta spoke. Her words clarified many things, and they could follow this line of thought further.

"You mean Afleed projected its flames here through that Occurrence, which might be related to fire, and used it to create these spontaneous combustion incidents?"

Caelus found it rather unbelievable because the explanation was somewhat forced. If it was to stand, they needed more proof. This involved human lives; they could not make conclusions based on random guesses.

"Yes, exactly. We only need to search through the Occurrence list and find the ones related to fire..."

As Asta spoke, she wanted to search through Herta's Occurrence list, but Screwllum beside her raised a hand, signaling that she did not need to look.

"It is the Phase Fire, a creation of Sissik'al, the twenty-ninth member of the Genius Society," Screwllum said.

"That Occurrence is our enemy?"

Caelus immediately asked upon hearing Screwllum's words. This was no joke. A creation from a Genius Society genius was not something one Space Station could withstand. Even an entire star system might struggle to withstand it.

You're Seeking Your Own Death

"No. The Occurrence Madam Herta lost should be the Core Flame of the Phase Fire. Miss Sissik'al was a remarkable genius—intelligent, kind, and humble. Unfortunately, by humanity's concept of time, she only lived for twenty-nine days."

Screwllum explained patiently, leaving Caelus at a loss. He wanted to complain about whether that genius had died too young, but to enter the ranks of geniuses with such a short lifespan meant the wisdom she possessed must have shone brilliantly.

"The Phase Fire shifted into another phase the moment it was born. By the time it returned, Sissik'al had already died of old age. Afterward, it continued shifting between phases and became impossible to capture again."

Screwllum continued. At this moment, Dr. Ratio also began displaying his knowledge. Although he was not a member of the Genius Society, compared to ordinary people, he was already unimaginably extraordinary.

"It is said to have burned countless worlds, leaving behind many descendants of flame. The Core Flame of such fire... must be the Occurrence Herta lost, while the Grand Duke of Fiery Nether is one of those flame descendants."

Dr. Ratio and Screwllum played off each other. Caelus and Asta both felt their scalps go numb. A bold guess about the current situation was that Afleed wanted to make a move against the Space Station, only to find the Core Flame birthed by its mother here—its wild brother.

Then Afleed and its wild brother discussed it and felt that this could work. So it projected its own flames onto its wild brother to control it. Since they originated from the same source of fire, controlling it was effortless. That was probably the truth behind the disappearances.

"Someone once accidentally caught sight of the Phase Fire's traces and captured a wisp of its offspring flame. Herta accepted it and lent it to Ruan Mei for research, only for the Phase Fire's Core Flame to be lost as a result. If Afleed is also a descendant of the Phase Fire, the full picture becomes clear."

"As its descendant, the Grand Duke of Fiery Nether possesses abilities similar to the Phase Fire. He likely cannot shift phases, but he can perform an inferior form of spatial transfer. This is the truth behind spontaneous human combustion. The researchers did not disappear—they were transferred elsewhere."

After Screwllum and Dr. Ratio finished speaking, Caelus only felt as though his intelligence had been rubbed against the ground. This was not a metaphor. It really had been rubbed raw. Those two were too smart. Compared to them, he felt like an idiot. But that could not be helped. Wisdom needed training, and Caelus had never trained it, so it was normal for him to be inferior to them.

While Caelus was complaining inwardly, the Space Station work group had already exploded. After Afleed's declaration came the chat records of the missing researchers. Their attacks against Asta had been exposed, and then they had vanished due to spontaneous combustion. At this point, information about the Core Flame Occurrence was also sent into the group.

The researchers were not stupid. At a glance, they saw the connection between the Core Flame Occurrence and Afleed. Combined with the Space Station's practically nonexistent security measures, their emotions were easily guided in the same direction: Asta had deliberately disabled the defenses and invited the wolf into the house. She had first taken out Herta's puppet, then used the Core Flame Occurrence to eliminate dissidents. She was killing people.

"Not enough," Dr. Ratio suddenly said.

"What isn't enough?"

Asta asked instinctively, only to see Dr. Ratio staring directly at her. His gaze made her skin crawl.

"As long as Miss Asta is willing to explain herself properly, there will still be people willing to listen. If I were Afleed, I would not give you that opportunity."

As soon as Dr. Ratio finished speaking, blue flames ignited around Asta's body. She had only just let out a cry when her entire body vanished before everyone's eyes.

"Asta!"

Caelus shouted the moment he saw it. He felt cold from head to toe. His girlfriend had disappeared just like that. Gone. The scene was a perfect reenactment. The last person to disappear had been called Tingyun.

"Calm down. Asta was merely teleported away. Her life is not in danger."

Screwllum calmly caught the phone Asta had dropped when she disappeared, sparing it from being smashed. Screwllum was gentle with everyone, especially mechanical devices.

Screwllum's words undoubtedly gave Caelus hope. At this point, the only person he could rely on was this genius. He believed that with Screwllum's abilities, he could definitely help him save Asta.

"Through direct contact, I have confirmed that Afleed's flames are merely sparks of the primordial spirit fire and do not possess phase-shifting capabilities. Logic: Asta remains within the Space Station."

Screwllum continued. In that instant, he had already recorded Afleed's flames into his data. A mechanoid looking at something once was an entirely different concept from a human looking at something once.

"What do we do now?" Caelus asked anxiously.

"That flame must still be somewhere in one of the compartments. Find it, and we will find a way to bring her back," Dr. Ratio said.

"I will activate the folded space within the Occurrence containment room in Herta's office. With slight modifications to its parameters, it can block the other party's transfer route and seal it within the Space Station."

Screwllum continued. His words completely eliminated the possibility of Afleed running wild through the Space Station. The reason it could not leave the Space Station was also because of the warehouse's nature. This was a warehouse Herta used to store Occurrences. How could they simply run out whenever they pleased?

"Dr. Ratio, please accompany Mr. Caelus and contain it."

"Fiery Nether is also a form of energy life. The manifestation detector will capture its traces."

As Dr. Ratio spoke, he took out an instrument Caelus could not understand, then left Herta's office and headed for the corridor in the compartment, where he met up with Caelus.

Using the manifestation detector in Dr. Ratio's hand, Caelus truly saw traces left by the flames on the ground. He hurriedly followed the trail everywhere and did find the Core Flame's location, but it possessed powerful escape abilities. As soon as they found it, it transferred away.

Meanwhile, Screwllum folded the surrounding space whenever the Core Flame fled, shrinking the area it could transfer through. It kept returning to the same few places, and those areas continued shrinking until Caelus finally cornered it in a dead end.

"Run, you bastard! Keep running!"

Caelus glared at the Core Flame before him and shouted. He was furious and anxious, terrified that something might happen if they rescued Asta too late. He wished he could tear that Core Flame into pieces, yet he was afraid of hurting Asta.

"No wonder this is a place even the Lord could not purify. It does indeed possess remarkable qualities. I shall acknowledge this failure."

The azure Core Flame spoke. Caelus felt that the thing was completely unwilling to admit defeat. Let alone a genius like Screwllum being here, even Dr. Ratio alone would have been enough to toy with it to death. Yet it still acted so superior.

"Give Asta back to me!"

Caelus pointed the City Builder's lance directly at the Core Flame. He looked ready to destroy Afleed's avatar at the slightest disagreement. The Core Flame did not say anything more. It directly transformed into a humanoid form, spat out Asta, and flung her toward Caelus.

Caelus immediately threw down his weapon and raised both arms, pulling the flying Asta into his embrace. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other beneath her knees, catching her firmly in a princess carry.