Chapter 317

"Who knows? Maybe he thinks his breakfast is the best in the world. That's why he doesn't allow me to eat with other people's food?" Chen Li said as tactfully as possible.

After all, Chen Li couldn't very well say that it was because Herta thought Himeko's coffee tasted bad, could he?

"Maybe. Would you like another cup of coffee?" Seeing that Chen Li was able to drink her coffee with pleasure, Himeko was very happy, thinking that she had met a kindred spirit.

"That won't be necessary, one cup is enough," Chen Li shook his head.

Chen Li can indeed taste the deliciousness of anything he eats, but there are different kinds of deliciousness.

The Gourmet Cells is like a food beauty camera. With the help of the Gourmet Cells, Chen Li can even feel that it is slightly... not very delicious, which is enough to show how bad the original taste of this cup of coffee is.

To put it bluntly... it's not as good as the original Black Mud in the Holy Grail!

The taste of the Black Mud in the Holy Grail can now be changed according to the taste of what Chen Li puts in it, but the initial taste of the Black Mud was also just average. However, at least Chen Li could taste the bitterness of life...

But Himeko's coffee is different—it's just awful.

With just a cup of coffee, Himeko is already a master in the world of dark cuisine!

Making disgusting food with disgusting ingredients is no skill, just like Dianming porridge...

A true master is one who can make something taste terrible with perfectly normal ingredients!

"May I try some coffee?" Xing asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Sure, but coffee is an adult drink. Are you ready?"

"Of course!" Xing nodded.

Xing is extremely the Trailblaze Spirit!

Although this was only her first day as Nameless Guest!

Three minutes later, Xing stared at the "black" coffee in front of him, lost in thought.

Xing felt as if she were facing Abyss, and yet she also felt as if she were hearing the whispers of the Abyss...

Xing's intuition told her that she shouldn't drink this coffee, but she witnessed Chen Li drink it without changing his expression.

In the struggle between reason and intuition for control of her body, Xing ultimately couldn't resist her curiosity.

The moment the coffee touched her lips, Xing's mind raced with a series of thoughts...

As the first sip of the dark brown liquid washes over the taste buds, the afterglow of the Big Bang explodes on the tip of the tongue. In the chaos where quarks and gluons have not yet combined to form protons, a neutron star-like intense bitterness pierces the cheekbone, and the magma ocean of the primordial Earth 3.8 billion years ago begins to surge, with the smell of sulfur and methane erupting from the depths of the throat.

... I forgot the middle part, I forgot the end...

But when Xing regained consciousness, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Oh, you're awake?"

"How did I get here?" Xing asked the brown-haired girl wearing a beret in front of her.

"Try to recall what just happened. Luckily you arrived in time, otherwise..."

"Otherwise I'd be dead? Himeko... my sister's coffee is terrifying!" Hoshi gasped.

"Otherwise you would have woken up long ago."

"???"

"I did a check-up while you were asleep, and this check-up had a little bit of... sleep-inducing effect."

"Who are you?" Xing didn't recognize the person who had secretly examined her.

"I am the Herta, the owner of this space station. Never heard of me? Never mind, it's not important."

"You're Herta!" Xing's eyes lit up.

"That's right, I am Herta, the owner of Herta Space Station. In my youth, I solved the Isolation Wave Algorithm problem and the Spark model conjecture. In my young adulthood, I discovered the transformation method of Sigma baryons. In middle age, I proposed the Herta sequence... and I am a member of the Genius Society #83. It seems that you wandered around Herta Space Station yesterday, smashing trash cans, and learned a bit about the common knowledge of Herta Space Station." Little Herta nodded in satisfaction.

"I've never heard of these things before."

"So where did you hear about me from?"

Chen Li said you're amazing at dyeing your hair!

"... Hair dyeing? Forget it. Since you've heard of Chen Li, I'll get straight to the point. As payment for your cooperation in my physical examination, I can grant you one not-too-outrageous request. Tell me, what do you want?"

"I want a super cool hair color like Chen Li's!"

"I can't do it."

"Hmm, aren't you Herta?"

"Yes, I am Herta, but the one who dyed Chen Li's hair is Great Herta, while I am Little Herta."

"So you were Herta when he was young! That's amazing! You can even do something like that?! You truly are a genius!"

"Idiot, I'm obviously a puppet."

"Sorry, I didn't see it clearly just now." Xing sat up in bed and then noticed that Herta had some obvious characteristics that belonged to a doll or a robot.

"Let's change the request. While you're at it, help me test the Simulated Universe." Little Herta crossed his arms.

The Herta was willing to pay for astronomical Simulated Universe.

Although Little Herta suspected that the more important thing that Great Herta mentioned when assigning this task to him must have been "stolen" from Chen Li, Little Herta was fortunate enough to be quite interested in the task.

Furthermore, the Little Herta will house all the "parts" of the Aeon within its body in the future. To ensure their harmonious coexistence and smooth operation, it is indeed necessary to study Simulated Universe.

"You can't even do this? I think I'll go find the Great Herta..." Xing visibly became disappointed.

"It's not that it's impossible, it's just extremely troublesome..."

"That's impossible."

"You..." Little Herta was getting a little anxious.

Do you really think it was easy for the Great Herta to give Chen Li that cool hair color as punishment?!

Theoretically speaking, the Little Herta understands all the knowledge of the Great Herta, but it really can't figure out how this Little Herta was done.

Could it be that the Great Herta has been secretly studying behind my back again?

"But I just want a super cool hair color!" Xing seemed unmoved.

"You... never mind, calm down! You forced me to do this."

"What are you trying to do? Let me tell you, I have Stellaron inside me. Be careful it explodes!"

"It won't explode at all; the Stellaron inside your body is currently very stable. In other words, even if you die, the Stellaron might not explode."

"Sigh, won't it explode?"

"Of course... but I can teach you." Seeing Xing's disappointed expression, Little Herta suddenly had an idea.

"Um?"

"Others may not be able to teach you, but I can. My exclusive skill— Backup Hidden Energy Source!"

"What is that? It sounds really impressive."

"It's about unleashing the hidden power within me and exploding against the opponent! This is my power." The Little Herta took out a small portion of its Nihility "divine body."

"That's awesome! I want to learn it!"

"Wait a minute. If my Stellaron explodes, won't I be gone?" Star realized the blind spot.

"What's so difficult about that? I just need to think about taking this power back, and I can do it perfectly."

"But I can't do it!"

"Hmm... How come you don't even know this? Forget it, go find Chen Li and have him forge a Miraculous Item you. Or have him lend you the [Revival Match] itself. That way you can waste your life as you please."

"What?! Say what you just said again if you dare!" Chen Li, who was forging Miraculous Item with a hammer, could hardly believe his ears.

"I want to learn from Herta how to self-destruct Stellaron," Xing said honestly.

"It's not difficult. As long as Xing goes to the world where Aqua is to become an adventurer and obtain the trait of 'being able to learn any skill from others,' I can demonstrate it to her a few times, and she will be able to learn how to activate the Backup Hidden Energy Source." The Little Herta shrugged.

This is why most members of the Miraculous Item group chose the Adventurer class.

The adventurer class has such an outstanding Profession Trait.

While a lack of mastery in learning is the biggest problem for adventurers, this can be solved by using Starstones to increase the Exclusive Profession's brightness.

"Wait a minute..." Chen Li was forging the Miraculous Item with a hammer in one hand, and sent a message using the Friends Circle Terminal with the other.

[Dad]: Silver Wolf is in trouble. Star wants to learn how to self-destruct his own Stellaron?

[Silver Wolf]: What?! What is she trying to do?! We went through so much trouble to stuff the Stellaron in, and she just wants it to explode? Is this also part of Acheron's plan? No, right? Never mind, you should ask her why she's learning this.

When Silver Wolf saw the message on the other end of the phone, his head buzzed for a moment.

"Why are you learning this?" Chen Li asked Xing.

"That way, if the Astral Express encounters any Stellaron blockage while it's on the road, they can throw me out, and then I can throw my Stellaron out to blast open a passage!"

"Do you think this is a prop race or a violent motorcycle race?" Chen Li was dumbfounded.

"Um... I'm very pleased that you've come to regard your Astral Express companions as family in such a short time, but do you want to reconsider this matter?" Himeko was admiring the creation of the Miraculous Item, almost spilled her coffee.

Good news: Xing treats the Astral Express Crew like family.

Bad news: She doesn't treat herself like a human being!

[Silver Wolf]: What? She thought this was a prop race or a violent motorcycle race?! Chen Li, it's all your fault!

[Dad]: What does this have to do with me?

[Silver Wolf]: If it weren't for you, would Xing have come into contact with so much messy stuff? You have to think of a way to help us! Consider it... consider it compensation for the day you played with me yesterday.

[Dad]:...

"Then why did you come to see me?" Chen Li asked patiently.

"I want you to help me create a Miraculous Item that can reclaim the energy of a Stellaron, or even regenerate one. I'll pay you. Just take whatever you want from me; I can work to pay off my debts," Xing said.

"..." Chen Li took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Although the stars have indeed brought me a lot of bad news, there's also good news, isn't there?

At least she knew that before she self-destructed her Stellaron, she would die if she asked me for help to solve the problem.

It's like your own child learning to carry an umbrella and hurry home when it rains—that's supposed to be comforting... what a load of rubbish!

"Don't say anything yet, I want to be alone." Chen Li picked up her phone again.

[Dad]: I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?

[Silver Wolf]: Good news!

[Dad]: The good news is that before Xingzhi self-destructs his Stellaron, he wants to think of a way to see if he can create some Miraculous Item artifacts, and I happen to be able to solve this problem.

[Silver Wolf]: That's good... Wait, what kind of good news is this? Why hasn't she given up on this idea yet?!

Silver Wolf began to recall the script Acheron had recently given him, wondering if there was a problem that Star couldn't solve by self-destructing its own Stellaron?

After thinking for a long time, I realized...

That's not the problem at all!

The script messes up the star's skill!

Could there be any worse news than this?

[Dad]: Well, here's the bad news. The bad news is that Star doesn't have the money to pay the fees, so I'm planning to have you Stellaron Hunters cover it.

[Silver Wolf]:???

As it turns out, yes.

[Dad]: Otherwise, I'll punch Xing until he kneels and drag him home...

[Silver Wolf]: Stop! It's just payment, right? Pay up! We'll pay!

Is there anything worse than a script being drastically altered?

Yes—the protagonist died.

What's even more heartbreaking than dying is turning into a cream puff.

[Dad]: So what kind of compensation do you plan to offer?

[Silver Wolf]: Let's discuss it, or you can take whatever you like.