Herta:? / Don't worry. The Doomsday Beast's attacks can't curve, can they?

"I learned Gun Fu from my family."

"Oh."

March 7th seemed to think of something. She immediately clenched her right fist, knocked it against her palm, and revealed an expression that said she understood.

"Not the kind where the bullets curve."

"Isn't it?"

Looking at March 7th's expression, Kiana guessed what she was thinking. After all, this wasn't the first time she had seen that look.

The Gun Fu of the Kaslana family did have some issues. After all, it was a combat technique created to complement the Sacred Relic of the Heavenly Fire. Using it with an ordinary pistol did feel rather strange.

Fortunately, Kiana hadn't said much along the way, and the journey had gone smoothly despite a few close calls.

When the two of them took the elevator to the first floor and arrived at the Interastral Peace Corporation, they saw the gray-haired girl already lying on the floor.

Without Dan Heng there to keep them rational, the two of them simply lifted Stelle up and propped her against the wall nearby.

"Why was she sleeping here? Is she all right?"

Kiana said nothing and simply watched her quietly. As expected, Stelle soon woke up.

"Who are you?"

Stelle rubbed her head, unable to make sense of the situation. She had no idea what was going on.

"I'm Kiana, and this is March 7th."

"I'm Stelle. Sorry, but I seem to have lost my memory."

"Stelle, you don't need to apologize. After all, the beginning of your memories was meeting me. Let's turn this encounter into a beautiful fateful meeting."

Kiana had just reached out to pull Stelle up.

The moment Stelle's hand touched hers, Kiana suddenly felt her mastery over space improve.

The improvement was tiny, but this was the first time Kiana had felt her abilities grow since gaining them.

"Um..."

Stelle hesitated, unsure whether she should say something and ask Kiana to let go. But when she saw Kiana looking dazed,

Stelle assumed Kiana had remembered something about her identity, so she didn't withdraw her hand immediately. Instead, she decided to give Kiana time to gather her thoughts.

Stelle also had a little thought of her own. She had been lying on the floor earlier. Although the Space Station's floor wasn't particularly cold—in fact, it was pleasantly warm—the instant she touched Kiana, she felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring.

Her entire body felt warm and comfortable.

"Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something just now."

"It's fine."

March 7th looked suspiciously at the two of them. For some reason, she felt that they had many similarities, but she couldn't put her finger on what they were.

After all, they were both protagonists from MiHoYo.

Although Kiana had let go of her hand, she could still feel the power inside her continuing to grow. She simply didn't know whether it was because of the Stellaron or because of Stelle's unique nature.

Seeing Kiana lost in thought, March 7th stepped forward, took her place in front of Stelle, and began asking Stelle about her situation.

As Kiana listened, she made up her mind.

Originally, Kiana had only mentioned joining the Express crew in passing. But now, if she didn't want to muddle along like this forever, joining the Express crew might be a good opportunity to improve her strength.

"Kiana, let's go meet up with everyone first. Staying here surrounded by these strange Curios is giving me the creeps."

"Okay. Follow me."

Seeing Stelle pick up the baseball bat nearby for protection before leaving, Kiana became rather curious. Could this baseball bat have been left behind by Kafka or Silver Wolf? But why a baseball bat?

Since the area had been cleared in advance when Kiana came through, the journey was safe apart from a few newly arrived Voidrangers.

When they reached the elevator, Kiana took out her ID card before March 7th could step forward and scanned it across the elevator terminal.

"Kiana, you're back too. Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"

After Kiana and the others arrived at the Master Control Zone, Asta immediately left her original position and rushed over.

She looked Kiana up and down, as though trying to confirm whether Kiana had been injured.

If there hadn't been other people around, Asta might even have wanted to pull off Kiana's clothes and carefully inspect every inch of her body.

"Asta, I'm fine. You know how strong I am. Besides, there are people behind me. Be good, don't fuss."

Only then did Asta notice the two people behind Kiana. She knew March 7th, but she had never seen the gray-haired girl beside her.

Asta was certain that Stelle was not a member of the Space Station.

However, the current situation didn't allow Asta to think too much about it.

This brief exchange alone had created countless matters that Asta, as the station's master, needed to analyze personally.

"There are probably another ten waves of attacks coming. Sigh..."

As Asta directed the various zones, Kiana wanted to help but had no idea what she could do. In the end, she took out her phone and found a contact she had never messaged before.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: Herta, if you don't come back soon, Asta won't be able to hold out. You wouldn't want to lose such a capable assistant, would you?

Herta: [Automatic Reply] Hello. I'm currently unavailable and won't be contacting you later either.

Looking at Herta's automatic reply, Kiana puffed out her cheeks. She found a set of frightening costumes that she and Asta had bought while shopping before.

She had originally intended to use them to scare other people. But since Asta was always on the Space Station, all she had done at the time was drag Kiana over to change clothes and take two commemorative photos.

Now, it seemed time to bring out her trump card.

Chapter 5: Herta:?

Asta and Himeko were still discussing how to contact Herta.

Himeko said, "I knew it... It's fine. I'll also send Herta a message saying that we brought the Curio she wanted. At least that might interest her a little."

Kiana curled her lip.

How could she not know what Herta's interest in Curios was like? Herta might be a little interested, but she wouldn't necessarily reply because of that.

Asta, on the other hand, had said, "The Space Station is just a warehouse where she stores her followers and Curios. She doesn't care about it at all."

Asta was only half right. If it had been someone else, Herta might truly not have cared. But if something happened to Asta, Herta would definitely act.

Even setting aside the vague bond between them—perhaps merely a one-sided assumption by the others—as long as it involved Asta's abilities, even Herta couldn't bear to see anything happen to her.

After all, there were only a handful of people under Herta who were as capable as Asta. And there was no one else who was as hardworking, honest, obedient, and willing to spend money like Asta.

Kiana searched through her phone and pulled up the photo she had saved earlier. Although it had been taken with a phone, it was the latest model released by the Interastral Peace Corporation and was no worse than a professional camera.

Kiana found several solo photos of Asta: a mummy costume, a witch costume, and a skeleton costume. Finally, she picked out a picture of Asta in ordinary clothes, with numerous bandages wrapped around her body and fake wounds painted on them, and sent it to Herta.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: image.jpg

Herta: ?

Herta: I'm coming.

Herta: Is Himeko beside you? Have her use the orbital cannon. I authorize it!

On the other side of the galaxy, one of Herta's puppets was attending a meeting in her place. Finding it boring, she happened to see the messages Kiana had sent.

At first, Herta had paid no attention to the messages from Asta, Himeko, and Kiana. She had merely ordered the puppets scattered throughout the Space Station to move a little if anything happened.

Then she saw the picture Kiana had sent.

Herta slammed her hand heavily onto the table.

The staff member who had been speaking assumed he had said something wrong and asked in a low voice, "Ms. Herta, did I say something wrong?"

Herta ignored him and frantically tapped at her phone.

After sending three messages in succession, she left only one sentence behind: "Let's end the meeting here. Send me the rest afterward. I'll skim through it."

With that, Herta left.

When Herta connected to the nearest puppet at the Master Control Zone of Herta Space Station, she discovered that the area around Herta Space Station seemed to be surrounded by a strange force field.

For Herta, cutting it off took only a few seconds. She then connected to the puppet.

She had assumed the place had become a living hell. Otherwise, how could Asta have been injured? But after arriving, she discovered that everything seemed no different from usual.

The staff members along the way smiled when they saw Herta.

Herta ignored them and rushed straight to the center of the Master Control Zone. When she saw Asta safe and still directing the situation, with Kiana holding her phone nearby, Herta immediately understood what had happened.

Concern had clouded her judgment. Herta had forgotten that she could simply check the surveillance footage or make a phone call.

Now, Herta felt as if she had been played.

"Ah, Ms. Herta, what brings you here?"

When Asta spoke, Herta replied irritably.

"Weren't you the ones looking for me? Whatever. Since I'm here, I might as well clear out those things on the Space Station too."

Herta swiped her hand through the air several times. Throughout the Space Station, all the Herta Puppets woke up. Each of them picked up a huge purple hammer and began clearing out the Voidrangers inside the Space Station.

After finishing all this, Herta glared at Kiana before logging off.

"Kiana, what did you do?"

None of them were blind. Herta hadn't hidden her emotions, so everyone turned to look at Kiana.

Asta was especially curious. Even when she and Himeko had stepped in, nothing had worked. How had Kiana managed to summon Ms. Herta directly?

"Ah, don't worry about it. Isn't a perfect ending all that matters? Besides, with Herta's puppets taking action, nothing short of a Doomsday Beast would..."

"Here, have some candy. Stop saying things like that."

Asta hurriedly took a piece of candy from her pocket. She didn't even unwrap it before stuffing it directly into Kiana's mouth.

Perhaps she was worried that Kiana would keep talking and bring about something bad. Asta had used too much force and failed to notice that her finger had gone into Kiana's mouth as well.

When she pulled it out, it even drew out a few strands of saliva.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Kiana immediately started coughing. She hadn't expected to avoid injury from the Voidrangers only to nearly transmigrate again because of a single piece of candy from Asta.

"Ah, sorry, sorry! Kiana, are you all right?"

Ignoring the candy Kiana had spat out, still wrapped in its packaging, Asta hurried over and gently patted Kiana's back.

The members of the Express crew and Stelle found the sight rather amusing.

Only Himeko had learned about Asta beforehand, so she understood Kiana's mouth to a certain extent. As she watched the red danger zones on the console gradually decrease, Himeko felt that her worries had been somewhat unfounded.

Warning!

High-Energy Alert!

Danger!

Just as everyone thought the crisis had ended, and the Herta Puppets returned to their original posts to stand by after completing their mission,

before anyone could cheer, warning symbols began flashing wildly across the screen in front of Asta.

Kiana had just taken a photo and was preparing to send it to Herta so Herta could continue handling the matter when she noticed an exclamation mark appear after the message she had just sent.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: image.jpg!

Kiana tapped it and discovered that it wasn't a network problem. Instead, a prompt had appeared.

Herta has enabled friend verification. You are not her friend. Please send a friend request first. You can chat after she verifies you. Send friend request.

Oh, great. Herta had deleted her.

When the image came through and everyone saw the Doomsday Beast captured outside Herta Space Station, they couldn't help turning their gazes toward Kiana.

"Um, if I say this has nothing to do with me, will you believe me?"

"What do you think?"

Kiana felt utterly wronged. It truly had nothing to do with her. But because she had run her mouth, she had no choice but to take the blame.

Chapter 6: Don't worry. The Doomsday Beast's attacks can't curve, can they?

Everyone looked at one another. Finally, accompanied by a sigh from Asta, they decided to seek the Express crew's help because Herta was offline.

"Everyone from the Express crew, I'm counting on you."