Time flew by, and seven years passed.
Most of the Strange Objects in Herta Space Station's storage zone were like that broken piece of wood. After Ms. Herta brought them back, they were forgotten, becoming exhibits without catalog numbers.
Ms. Herta had recently been researching other subjects and had been away from the Space Station for a long time.
She forbade researchers from touching uncataloged Strange Objects. After all, most Strange Objects had unique properties, and the researchers aboard the Space Station would choose all sorts of bizarre subjects to study in pursuit of a paper.
If they conducted unauthorized research without understanding a Strange Object's properties, they could end up destroying the entire Space Station.
These strict regulations meant the researchers could only drool over the uncataloged Strange Objects, then fight tooth and nail to apply for cataloged ones to use in their research.
Countless researchers were rather unhappy with this rule.
But there was no denying that this very rule was why the Space Station had never suffered a major accident since its construction.
Still, perhaps it was best not to speak too soon.
Only when shrill alarms rang throughout the Space Station did everyone realize it had been invaded.
And while Ms. Herta was away, no less!
The Space Station currently had only one young acting station director, Asta.
She immediately evacuated the Space Station's researchers, sending them to take shelter.
The Space Station's defenses were too weak. The enemy was clearly after the Strange Objects in the storage zone, which were also the most valuable things aboard!
But to Asta, the most valuable thing aboard the Space Station was its people.
The dead could not be brought back. If the Strange Objects were lost, she could simply buy them back.
Besides, staying here with their meager