"Xiboliyaya Ya, it's Jiang Yu."
Looking at the message Jiang Yu had sent, Siberian Duck had two replies to choose from.
"You're awake?"
"How did you get my number?"
At a time like this, the second reply was obviously the one to pick.
"I got it from March 7th."
"But that's not the point. I need your help right now."
"Help me, Miss Xiboliyaya Ya!"
After Siberian Duck replied, Jiang Yu sent three more messages in quick succession on the game screen.
"Huh?" Siberian Duck froze at the strangely familiar wording.
The chat started scrolling rapidly, too.
[Flowers Defy Words: Help me, Miss Stellaron!]
[Clara's Feet: That line sounds so familiar. Any ideas, Mr. Svarog?]
[Aha's Emanator: Clara: Those are all my lines!]
The two reply options this time were "What is it?" and "What's wrong?", so either one would do.
"As they say, even a hero can be brought low by a single penny..."
"Herta wants me to pay her three hundred million Credits before I can leave the space station."
Reading Jiang Yu's reply, Siberian Duck shook her head and sighed.
"Just as I thought. Little Fish is already saddled with massive debt at such a young age. And that's probably after Herta knocked a huge chunk off because he saved the space station."
[Little Fish Is Tiny and Sweet: My Little Fish! How's he supposed to pay off three hundred million?!]
[Little Fish's Sword: Hurry up and sell me to pay off Little Fish's debt!]
[Can't Take Any Angst: Bro, you're actually pretty nice.]
The two reply options this time were much the same, too.
The first was "I don't have any money!" and the second was "To be honest, I'm broke too..."
Siberian Duck chose the second.
Another message from Jiang Yu appeared on the game screen.
"It's all right. I've already got a plan."
"But I need your help."
"So please come right away!"
"I'll be waiting in the Master Control Zone."
With those messages from Jiang Yu, the conversation ended.
Two notifications followed.
"Achievement unlocked: Help me, Miss Stellaron!" "Mission accepted: Jiang Yu's Debt Settlement."
Next, she opened the mission screen. It was a gold Trailblaze Mission.
"Herta Space Station - Master Control Zone." "Jiang Yu's Debt Settlement." "Find Jiang Yu and hear his plan." "The battle between Herta Space Station and the Antimatter Legion has subsided for now, but your sunny friend hasn't resolved all his troubles yet. He seems to have run into a problem: having crashed into and damaged Herta Space Station earlier, he now owes the station a staggering three hundred million Credits in compensation after the battle. Yet neither you nor he has a penny to your name. Still, he seems to have found a solution and needs your help."
All of that information seemed fairly normal-until Siberian Duck saw the mission rewards and couldn't help exclaiming.
"Holy shit! How much?"
There, in the reward preview on the game screen, sat two hundred Stellar Jade.
A full two hundred Stellar Jade!
Usually, sixty or eighty Stellar Jade was already considered generous. But now, Jiang Yu was giving you two hundred outright!
Siberian Duck couldn't help rubbing her eyes, wondering whether she'd misread it.
And at that moment, the chat went wild.
[Tang Seng Washes His Hair with Rejoice: Holy crap! How much? Two hundred?]
[Is It Ao i: Is this the Xianzhou Warmheartedness Sword Immortal?]
[oasis: I hereby declare myself Little Fish's diehard fan forever!]
[Three Jacks and Two Jokers: You're still calling him Little Yu? Call him Big Bro Yu! No, call him Daddy Yu! He's our real dad!]
[Just Talking Shit: Daddy Yu, this little nobody bows before you!]
[Little Fish’s Dog: I'm Little Fish's dog! Little Fish loves us so much. He not only saves us, he gives us gems too!]
[China Jerk-Off Fan: I've wandered half my life, lamenting that I've never found a worthy lord. If you would have me, I wish to call you my adoptive father!]
Two hundred Stellar Jade for a single mission might not have packed quite the same punch as Dr. Ratio would later, but at this early stage of the game's launch, it was more than enough to make an impact.
Inside the game.
After receiving Jiang Yu's message, Stelle immediately headed for the Master Control Zone and found him beside an office on the second floor.
"You're here!"
Jiang Yu waved when he saw Stelle. The boy from the Xianzhou stood out conspicuously in Herta Space Station.
It wasn't just his striking white hair and distinctly Xianzhou-style clothing. More than anything, it was his energy, so different from everyone around him.
Come to think of it, everyone in the Astral Express Crew stood out in the space station.
There was no distinction between day and night inside Herta Space Station, only lights that shone constantly. The staff had no regular schedules. They might spend days immersed in their work, or sleep for long stretches at a time.
Tedious monotony defined the atmosphere of Herta Space Station. In such an unvarying life, even the magnificent stars lost their novelty after a while. Only their admiration for Ms. Herta kept a little spark of eager anticipation alive deep within the staff's hearts.
But most of the people Stelle saw looked exhausted.
Against that backdrop, energetic outsiders stood out all the more. Whether it was Silver Wolf, Kafka, or the Astral Express Crew, even someone as quiet as Dan Heng had a lively gleam in his eyes—let alone Jiang Yu, this Sunshine Kid.
Hearing Jiang Yu call out, Stelle waved back and jogged over.
"You said you already had a plan. What do you need me to do?"
Stelle looked at the boy before her. She liked him a great deal and was more than willing to help him.
In fact, most of the people she'd met since waking up had seemed pretty nice.
Jiang Yu took Stelle's hand, glanced around, then leaned into a conspiratorial whisper.
"Listen, I just took a look around the space station and asked a few of the staff what they thought of Asta, the lead researcher. And I found out something amazing!"
Stelle looked at Jiang Yu in confusion, trying to work out what any of this had to do with paying off his debt.
But Jiang Yu wasn't interested in playing guessing games. He continued.
"Herta Space Station only gets a fixed amount of funding for each period, but the staff told me Asta often buys really expensive things. Most of the time, the total price of her purchases exceeds that fixed budget. Someone even said she's planning to buy a Star Destroyer!"
Hearing Jiang Yu's account, Stelle's eyes widened.
"A Star Destroyer! That's so cool!"
"Right? Right!"
Stelle watched the Sunshine Kid nod smugly in front of her, as if he were the one buying the Star Destroyer. Then he planted his hands on his hips and said:
"Asta went out of her way to thank me personally for saving Arlan earlier. I figured the two of them might be close, so I asked Arlan about her, and I found out a huge secret! Asta is actually a rich heiress! And the even better news is that Herta just handed the decision about me over to Asta!"
Stelle thought for a moment and immediately understood what Jiang Yu meant. "So you want to..."
"Exactly! Since neither of us belongs to the Express or the space station, and we've got a great reputation here right now... let's go ask Asta for help together! With you there, our chances of success will shoot right up!"
Jiang Yu clasped both of Stelle's hands, lifted his head, and looked at her pleadingly.
What he really meant was, Please, let me borrow a little of your protagonist luck!
Before you continue