Rumors About Asta

At noon the next day, Lin Feng woke in his soft, comfortable bed and opened his bleary eyes.

"Ding, ding, ding." A constant stream of message notifications chimed from the Blue Sky Moon phone beside his bed, even busier than the night before.

"Don't these people in the group have work to do? Do they spend all day chatting?"

Despite grumbling to himself, curiosity got the better of Lin Feng. He picked up his phone and scrolled through the messages.

After reading them, he immediately understood what was going on. Rumors about Asta were spreading rapidly, gathering momentum like wildfire.

People were heatedly discussing the matter not only in the "Ms. Herta Solo Fan Association," but in several other groups as well.

Mars Robot: Talk is cheap. Show us some proof!

Watermelon Field Chara: Seen that mountain of packages in the reception hall? Every last one is addressed to our young station manager!

Unlicensed Spaceship Pilot: Well, damn. I was wondering why the budget was so tight. Turns out that's where all the money went!

Green Fatty Sea: What's in the packages?

Watermelon Field Chara: I only took a quick glance. Didn't dare look too closely. Anyway, it's all outrageously expensive stuff.

Mars Robot: Maybe she just bought it with her own money...

Watermelon Field Chara: Who besides Ms. Herta could afford that stuff?!

Watermelon Field Chara: I saw that Arlan from the Security Division acting all shifty at the front desk. If he hadn't looked so guilty, I wouldn't even have noticed.

Mars Robot: Huh... Now that you mention it, I think I've also caught Arlan looking all nervous while collecting some packages.

Watermelon Field Chara: See? It all adds up. I'm not making this up.

Green Fatty Sea: Sounds like you're just speculating. There's no solid proof, is there?

Unlicensed Spaceship Pilot: Lmao, people are still defending her? Everyone knows Arlan's a trusted lackey that little girl brought along.

Name Withheld: Uh... I've been lurking here forever, thinking some huge bombshell was coming, and this is it? Seriously? This?

Watermelon Field Chara: Just you wait. There's going to be big news on the space station in the next few days!

After skimming a few more messages, Lin Feng had a pretty good idea of what was happening.

Someone had accused Asta of lining her own pockets by misappropriating Herta Space Station's budget for personal spending.

Lin Feng found the allegation rather laughable. With Asta's staggering wealth, she had no reason to do anything of the sort.

Besides, Arlan had told him before that Asta had paid out of her own pocket for the vast majority of Herta Space Station's facilities.

Even when construction of Herta Space Station had first begun, the mysterious Ms. Herta had contributed nothing beyond the designs and plans.

Without the financial backing of Asta's family, Herta Space Station could never have been completed.

"That girl Asta... She must be in trouble right now."

"Since I don't know how to thank her, I might as well help her out a little..."

Murmuring to himself, Lin Feng had already settled on a plan.

He had accepted Asta's black card loaded with one billion Credits just yesterday. There was no way he could justify standing by while these rumors spread.

Besides, Asta was important to Lin Feng. Just like March 7th, she was one of his wings.

"Now that the rumors about Asta lining her pockets and embezzling public funds have spread, explanations probably won't clear things up."

"Rather than trying to patch things up after the damage is done, I should deal directly with the source of the rumors."

Lin Feng spoke slowly, his gaze sharpening as he considered the matter calmly.

After checking the various groups on his phone, Lin Feng was fairly certain that "Watermelon Field Chara" had started the rumors.

His most pressing task was to discover Watermelon Field Chara's real identity, then teach the rumormonger a proper lesson.

But he currently had no idea how to track down Watermelon Field Chara in an anonymous group.

After all, Herta Space Station was enormous, with hundreds of thousands of human employees.

Making a big show of the investigation would only alert his target. That would defeat the whole purpose.

He had never encountered this situation in his previous six path simulations. Presumably, the changes to the storyline this time had brought forward many events that would otherwise have happened in the future.

"In that case... I'll ask Arlan for information first. After all, according to the rumors, he's Asta's accomplice."

With his mind made up, Lin Feng got dressed and headed straight to the Herta Space Station Security Department to find Arlan.

A short while later, Arlan greeted Lin Feng's unexpected visit with both delight and curiosity.

By now, Lin Feng was practically his idol and mentor. Having him visit left Arlan feeling rather overwhelmed by the honor.

"Here's what happened. There are rumors about Asta..."

Lin Feng got straight to the point and told Arlan everything he had learned.

"Damn it! How could anyone be so vile?!"

"The young lady has done so much for the space station. Instead of being grateful, they're slandering her..."

"The crisis with the Doomsday Beast only just ended. With the outside threat gone, are troubles already brewing within?"

Arlan clenched both fists, his dark face filled with anger and indignation.

"Now's not the time to dwell on that. We need to catch whoever's spreading the rumors!"

"If the culprit personally retracts them, the rumors will fall apart on their own..."

"So, Arlan, do you know this person's real identity? The one who goes by Watermelon Field Chara."

With his arms folded across his chest and a calm expression on his face, Lin Feng spoke slowly.

Now that he had made up his mind, he would see this through. Asta's reputation was at stake, after all.

"Well... That group is completely anonymous. I don't know Watermelon Field Chara's real identity either."

"But there is someone in the group I know pretty well."

"With her insatiable appetite for gossip and her inexplicably extensive connections, she should be able to get to the bottom of it..."

After a moment's thought, Arlan's eyes lit up, and a pleased expression appeared on his face.

"Oh? Who?"

"Melon Farmer. She lives up to her name-a veteran gossip spectator."

"Oh... So it's her. That makes things interesting!"

Lin Feng nodded quietly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

Before he went to bed last night, Melon Farmer had been very active in the "Ms. Herta Solo Fan Association."

And despite being a woman herself, she had shown a keen interest in Himeko, leaving quite an impression on him.

"Where is she? I'll go find her now..."

"Well... There have been some developments on the space station today. Although the Antimatter Legion has retreated, traces of the Fragmentum have appeared inside the station."

"Right now, Melon Farmer-Pamela-and the members of her team seem to be trapped near the Special Analysis Room because of the Fragmentum."

Arlan explained slowly and earnestly, his expression grave.

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