Chapter 83

The space station is finally back on track, and repairs are proceeding smoothly. The restored power system is once again providing the space station with comfortably cool air, and the warm current touching the skin gives one a sense of relief that all disasters have been averted.

In the past few days, Bai Jun's surroundings have undergone drastic changes.

First, the people on the space station became much friendlier towards him, perhaps even overly so.

Although their attitude towards him was initially very good, after the attack a few days ago, their attitude has clearly crossed another level. If their evaluation when they first entered the space station was friendly, then now it has reached the same level of fanaticism as their attitude towards the Herta.

Asta and Arlan said that the people on the space station witnessed his battle and their opinions of him changed... They were right. Centered around the hot-blooded Security Department, passersby did start to approach him and start talking to him.

However, the content of their conversation was somewhat... unpleasant.

"Mr. Bai Jun, I deeply love you, whether it's winter or spring, whether the flowers bloom or wither. If this love could be transformed into stars, I would be a shooting star falling for you; if this love could be transformed into flowers and grass, I would be a vine growing by your window; if this love could only be a fleeting dream, I would still be a passerby in your dream; but now, I only wish to stay by your side, I only wish time could stop at this moment, I only wish to hold your hand until the world Destruction."

"Mr. Bai Jun, I've been a fan of yours since birth! Could you please sign your name for me? Ah, no need for a signature sheet, just write it on my inner thigh!"

"Mr. Bai Jun! I really like you so much! For you, I want... I want--!"

These eyes held adoration, love, and gratitude, so intense they seemed to pierce through his gaze.

It would be fine if there were only women, but for some reason, there were also many children, men, and even androids mixed in!?

"It's alright, there's no need to deny others' aspirations for you; it's good for you and good for them too."

Although Ruan Mei had specifically used this phrase to comfort Bai Jun, her subtle smile and eyes seemed to be teasing him.

But this wasn't what really gave Bai Jun headache. The real culprit was a certain gray-haired girl who was like a clingy pest, never leaving his side and always wanting to be by his side.

She follows him around during workouts, meals, and walks; she even sneaks into his room without him noticing when he sleeps, only to be thrown out by him, yet he still does it every day with great enthusiasm... The worst part is that this has led another pink-haired stationmaster to drop everything and join in her antics.

Occasionally, really only occasionally, Welt would come to chat with him. The topics of their conversations were varied and the stories he told left a deep impression on Bai Jun.

Today was an ordinary morning. There were no urgent tasks or major projects to attend to. Everyone got up and went to work happily. It was just another normal day.

Perhaps there are countless days like this, and even if we are currently on an ordinary day like this, it makes us want to cherish it.

Bai Jun walked unhurriedly through the crowd, responding to each person who greeted him.

Based on the habits developed on the space station, after breakfast, the body should naturally head to the training room for warm-up exercises.

However, today was different; before that, he wanted to go see Asta.

Strangely enough, a couple of days ago, Arlan mysteriously handed him a key, claiming that he was the most suitable person to hold it, and repeatedly warned him not to give the key to Asta, but it was unclear what the key was actually used for.

The watermark pattern on the edge of the key looked somewhat familiar, and the cosmos in the background gave Bai Jun a sense of déjà vu. If he remembered correctly... this was probably something from the Interstellar Peace Company, right?

So Bai Jun thought he should ask Asta what exactly this thing was.

Unwittingly, Bai Jun glanced around as he walked along the corridor. The woman beside him was chattering away, and the two behind him were whispering among themselves. The staff members, carrying documents, strolled along the roadside, chatting excitedly about something.

This morning, without the gray-haired girl clinging to him like a leech, Bai Jun was in a rare, pleasant mood. Even the incessant chatter around him seemed melodious. But when he spotted Xing, March 7th, and Dan Heng in the crowd, a sudden surge of curiosity arose within him, and he quietly approached them.

--Who is the strongest on the "space station"?

"Hmm? It must be Bai Jun! You guys didn't see his sword strike back then, it cleaved that huge bug into powder in an instant!"

March 7th casually tossed her bangs aside, playing with her pink hair, and stated her choice of partner as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The calm and collected Dan Heng gave a rather rigorous answer, "Well, it depends on the situation. Academically speaking, it's Ms. Herta, but in other respects, it's definitely Bai Jun."

Xing, who was Bai Jun's only supporter, yawned lazily, crossed her arms, and gave a seemingly casual but rather meaningful answer, "Hmph, is there anyone else besides him?"

How embarrassing...

Bai Jun, who had inexplicably become the "strongest" in other people's eyes, twitched his lips. Listening to them haphazardly adding all sorts of strange settings to him, he suddenly felt a sense of shame that made him unable to watch.

However, looking at it another way, at least Xing gets along well with the people on the train, so there's no need to worry about her anymore.

Recently, most of the staff have been focusing their energy on repairing the space station, and the number of people in the Master Control Zone has visibly decreased. As a result, when Bai Jun came here, it felt particularly deserted, with only a few staff members sitting at their desks working.

Asta rarely sits in her office; she spends most of her time in the Central Surveillance Zone of Master Control Zone, observing the operation of the space station and the work status of various departments.

Known for her meticulousness and seriousness, she unexpectedly slacked off today. Asta was browsing the forum with her head down when she saw a picture that had just topped the group chat, and occasionally let out a pleasant chuckle.

The title is. "Shocking! Station Director Asta Está has succeeded!?"

The picture shows Bai Jun and Asta walking side by side, chatting, from behind. It's not very clear, but you can see that the two have a close and harmonious relationship. Most of the comments below are like, "So jealous! I'm so jealous! I'm so jealous!"

In truth, Asta didn't care much about other people's opinions, but regarding her relationship with Bai Jun, she did find it quite enjoyable to make others envious and jealous. So, Asta smiled, gave it a thumbs up, and left a comment below.

Name Withheld: Great photo, it made my heart flutter. Actually, I've always thought they were a good match, and now it seems my guess was right, hehe.

"Red-Haired Turtledove: That's classy, I think so too. Why don't they just get married?"

"Flying a Spaceship Without a License: Come on, does that little brat Asta really deserve that man?"

"Badger in the Melon Patch: Ugh, come on, don't think too highly of others. That guy named Bai Jun actually has a lot of dirt on him."

Mars Robot: Let's Talk About It!

Bill Gaiwa: Bring it on! I'm quite curious, so that guy has some dirt on him too!

Red-Haired Turtledove: Oh? I've chatted with Bai Jun a few times, he's a really nice guy...

"Flying a Spaceship Without a License: Indeed, he is an excellent gentleman. What evidence do you have to support your claim?"

"Not well-known: @Guotianliyi is talking nonsense. I know Mr. Bai Jun's character best! And there will be a price to pay for spreading rumors randomly. I advise you to withdraw what you just said!"

"Badger in the Melon Patch: I'll say it like this in Egypt."

"Badger in the Melon Patch: That's enough, isn't it? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were someone important to him. Stop pretending to know everything. Even if you do know a lot, do you think you know as much as I do?"

The faint, warm smile on her face vanished after seeing these comments. Asta's sky-blue eyes gradually lost their warmth and color, and she seemed to be swallowed by an unknown, terrifying black aura. Even the screen of the phone she held in her hand suddenly cracked with several horrifying fissures.

These shameful parasites who only know how to spread rumors, if it weren't for Mr. Bai Jun's help, you would have long since become garbage floating in space, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage...

Why did your expression suddenly become so scary?

Bai Jun noticed that something was wrong with Asta from afar. He came over and waved in front of her, which brought her back from the frightening state of being surrounded by black mist.

"Hey? Mr. Bai... Mr. Bai Jun... what brings you here!"

Asta's expression softened, her voice became gentle, and her cold gaze gradually melted into a tender, watery look.

Perhaps she herself hadn't noticed, but now she would unconsciously look for Bai Jun's figure, and whenever she found him, she would be overjoyed and immediately run in his direction.

"Arlan gave me a key a couple of days ago, and it's not really appropriate for me to keep it, so I came to ask you what it is. If it's useful, you can take it back."

"It's my key..."

Bai Jun took out the key that Arlan had given him from his pocket. The black card made Asta recognize it at a glance as the key to her online bank deposit. Just a few days ago, she had gotten angry because Arlan refused to let her buy another space station.

No wonder Arlan wouldn't hand over the key no matter how much she threatened him; it turns out she gave it to Bai Jun instead.

However, Asta stopped halfway through extending her hand. She suddenly realized that Arlan's deliberate handing of the key to Bai Jun seemed to be an implication to him.

Based on her extensive reading and experience with shoujo manga, she quickly recalled the common practice in ordinary families of the male head of the household handing over his salary to the female head of the household.

So her relationship with Bai Jun is similar to that of the male and female heads of a household... in other words, a newlywed couple!?

"Uh, are you really okay...?"

"Waaaaah..."

Asta made an embarrassing sound, her mind filled with alluring blushes. She covered her flushed cheeks with her hands and lowered her head shyly.

In Bai Jun's view, all he could see was Asta's expression change from astonishment to seriousness, then her face instantly turned red, her eyes filled with ripples, and she lowered her head in a daze.

"No... it's really nothing, nothing important. Anyway, Mr. Bai, Mr. Bai Jun, please take it!"

Just as Bai Jun was completely confused and at a loss, Asta suddenly raised her adorable, blushing face and forcefully stuffed the key into Bai Jun's pocket.

Bai Jun couldn't refuse any longer, so he had no choice but to accept the key again. "But it's really rare to see Asta slacking off on her phone during work hours."

"Actually, no, well, how should I put it?"

Asta sighed with some distress and told Bai Jun about the rumors that were circulating on the space station recently. Many of these rumors were even directed at Asta herself, and the content was basically about accusing her of embezzling public funds and favoritism.

If you're determined to deal with it, mere rumors are certainly not a problem, and handling such matters isn't difficult. The public is more interested in the drama than the facts. There's no need to uncover the truth; simply stopping the rumors from spreading is enough. Rather than painstakingly debunking them, it's better to directly identify the rumor-mongers.

However, we are currently in a period of just ending turmoil, and if we do not handle this properly, it could backfire and cause more rumors and panic.

Moreover, Asta is unwilling to reveal her identity, so she is now worried about what to do.

"Being the stationmaster is really tough. The space station just survived an attack, and now people are spreading rumors and causing trouble. What's that saying again? 'Be submissive to external enemies, but strike hard when it comes to internal strife'..."

Bai Jun crossed his arms and, after a moment's thought, realized that Asta seemed to be under too much pressure, so he offered his suggestion:

Is there anything I can do to help?

"I'm really happy that Mr. Bai Jun has this idea, but your heroic status has already spread throughout the entire space station, so investigating this matter will definitely be inconvenient. I hope you won't get involved."

Asta didn't want to trouble Bai Jun with this matter. If it backfired and damaged Bai Jun's reputation, she would be heartbroken. So she decisively rejected Bai Jun's suggestion.

"That's not a problem, I have my own way of handling it."

Bai Jun revealed a mysterious smile, and with a flick of his wrist, a fox mask appeared out of thin air.

Chapter 111 The Beautiful Young Woman Unleashes Her Power

Mask?

A red and white mask shaped like a fox.

Although Asta trusted Bai Jun and knew he would definitely have a suitable solution, Asta heart still skipped a beat when she saw him take out just a mask.

After much hesitation, she finally couldn't help but ask with concern, "Mr. Bai Jun... do you mean you want to wear a mask to investigate this matter?"

A hint of confusion flickered in those beautiful eyes, perhaps because she felt things were being a bit too frivolous.

"Trust me, you'll see when the time comes, but before that, we need to roughly confirm the other side's location."

Bai Jun did not respond immediately, but instead kept it a secret, pretending to be mysterious.

Asta had no choice but to swallow her other words for the time being and continue with the topic Bai Jun had just discussed:

"I have done some research on this. There are some staff members on the space station who are quite adept at gossip. According to my investigation over the past few days, I have found a suitable candidate. Her real Pamela, and she usually refers to herself as a 'Melon Farmer.' I think we might be able to get some information out of her. I originally planned to have Arlan try to sound her out, but I haven't found a suitable opportunity..."

"Are they that vigilant?"

Bai Jun pressed for details out of curiosity, after all, Arlan was one of the top experts on the space station, and surely he could handle an ordinary staff member.

"Not really, it's mainly because of me... Arlan was worried that his status as an attendant would affect me, so he couldn't act freely. That's why he couldn't find a suitable opportunity to contact the 'Melon Farmer.' Otherwise, the clerks might find out that Station Director Asta was thoroughly investigating this matter, which could easily alert the enemy."

Asta sighed softly. She knew it was her fault; otherwise, Arlan might have already exposed the mastermind.

"I understand. So where is she?"

"At this time... let me see, she must be skipping work and slacking off outside the Base Zone department, right?"

Asta glanced down at her watch and analyzed the information gathered during the investigation.

Bai Jun nodded, preparing to set off alone, while Asta, after some internal struggle, followed quickly out of concern for Bai Jun's thoughts.

As the two of them arrived at the Base Zone via the elevator connecting the Master Control Zone and the Base Zone, Bai Jun's pace gradually slowed down, and they bumped into several acquaintances in the corridor.

"Good morning, Miss Asta! And Mr. Bai Jun!"

Good morning, you two.

"Oh my, what a coincidence! I didn't expect to run into Station Director Asta and Mr. Bai Jun here."

March 7th happily reached out to greet the two of them. Dan Heng, standing beside her, nodded slightly to them. Himeko's face showed a gentle smile. In the middle of them, the gray-haired girl's amber eyes lit up instantly when she saw Bai Jun, and she rushed up like a gust of wind.

"What are you trying to do now? How can I allow you to lay a hand on Mr. Bai Jun in public!"

However, Asta had already seen through her thoughts, or rather, the moment she saw the gray-haired girl, Asta switched from her work mode to a different mindset, immediately blocking Hoshi's way with a gloomy face, her slender, fair arms forming a large X in front of her chest, refusing to let her cross the line.

"Tch, Asta's so stingy, fine, I won't hug you then... Just kidding, this is my real plan!"

The gray-haired girl reluctantly pouted and gave up her plan under Asta's gaze, but then suddenly sprang into action the moment she turned around, nimbly dodging Asta's body and leaping into Bai Jun's arms.

"Stay away from Mr. Bai Jun, you shameless scoundrel!!!"

"Ughhhhh, Hoshi! What are you up to now?!"

Almost overlapping screams came from Asta and March 7th, one of them furious and the other of terrified. Dan Heng and Himeko shrugged helplessly, probably already used to it.

The gray-haired girl, caught in the middle of the chaos, didn't seem to care at all. A big smile graced her delicate face as she gently rubbed her cheek against Bai Jun's chest.

"Why does it always have to turn into this... Miss Stellaron, calm down, I'm talking to you."

Ignoring the gray-haired girl's pitiful, reluctant expression, Bai Jun grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, as if he were setting down a little sloth clinging to him.

Taking advantage of the situation, Asta rushed forward and started a fight with the gray-haired girl, while March 7th quickly stepped in to break it up.

Ignoring the others, Bai Jun turned to the two who appeared to be acting normally. "Mr. Dan Heng and Ms. Himeko, is there something you need?"