[Herta] Space Station, surveillance room
"Where's the Stellaron?"
Kafka vaguely sensed something was wrong. The journey had been far too quiet. The closer they got to the space station's core area, the more Voidrangers they should have encountered.
Especially that corridor they had passed through-it had been clean and tidy, as though someone had just cleaned it.
"The simpler the trick, the harder it is to see through. Watch closely."
After Silver Wolf worked her magic, the Curio in the surveillance room was successfully cracked. Just as the two were about to pass through the holographic image displayed on the light screen, an extremely languid voice interrupted them.
"You've made a mess of the surveillance room. Hopefully Herta won't hold me responsible when she gets back."
A man appeared behind them without a sound. Kafka immediately drew her gun and fired, but the bullets had no effect on him.
"Pretty good reflexes."
"Kafka, you need this!" Silver Wolf pulled out the Rating Gun and aimed it at Ye Yan.
"Curio number 752. It rates living beings within its field of view. Ever played with it?"
Silver Wolf pressed the gun against Ye Yan's forehead and even gave him a wink.
"The genius hacker's rating test!"
The moment she finished speaking, the strange gun's closed eye suddenly opened. It rolled around for a moment, then stared at Ye Yan with ill intent.
After rolling around a few more times, its eye suddenly widened in terror. "8 points! Unable to determine! 8 points! Unable to determine!" Utterly exhausted, the eye closed its lid.
"Two results?" Silver Wolf patted the Rating Gun, whose eye was tightly shut. "Boring." She tossed it to Ye Yan.
"Aren't you curious about what it bases its ratings on?"
"Hilarious. Who'd be interested in the Curios Herta collects?"
Seeing this, Kafka instantly realized who the man before her was. "Ah... you're that friend of Silver Wolf's, a Pathstrider of [Eternity]."
"That's right." Ye Yan greeted Kafka. As the saying went, when you were out in the world, your identity was whatever you made it.
He couldn't ruin passersby's impression of [Eternity]. He might even be able to sweet-talk her into joining his Path.
"She's Kafka, the one I told you about. He's Ye Yan, the one I mentioned to you."
Silver Wolf told each of them the other's name.
"I've heard a great deal about you, Ms. Kafka. This should be our first meeting. Before this, I'd only seen you on wanted posters."
"I, on the other hand, have never seen you before, Mr. Ye Yan."
Kafka returned his greeting with a smile. The final outcome of Elio's script would not be wrong. Now that they had found the Stellaron, and Ye Yan had appeared at this very moment, there were only two possibilities.
Either an enemy or an ally.
Judging by Silver Wolf's relationship with him, it was most likely the latter.
She reckoned that, aside from that encounter with Screwllum, he had also played no small part in Silver Wolf joining the Stellaron Hunters.
"That's normal. I don't want to be too famous."
"Why don't you two go inside to chat?"
Watching the two exchange pleasantries, Silver Wolf pointed at the holographic image on the light screen.
They entered a new space, where the Stellaron sat right before their eyes. To Herta, a Stellaron was no ordinary collectible, so naturally, it had its own independent security system protecting it.
"Can you get it out?" Ye Yan asked Silver Wolf before Kafka could.
"Of course. When it comes to hacking, even the genius Herta is no match for me."
"All right, all right. Remember to tell her to keep her gaming account secure," Ye Yan whispered to Kafka.
"I can hear you."
"Hehe~ Get the vessel ready first."
Silver Wolf performed another flurry of operations. The Stellaron's protective barrier was removed, and a gray-haired girl appeared before the three of them.
"Great, it's the Stellaron spirit."
"Pfft~" Silver Wolf couldn't hold back a laugh when she heard that.
"Why not call her Little Grey Hair?"
"All right, all right. She has a name: Stelle." Kafka took out the Stellaron and approached the gray-haired girl, Stelle.
"How much... does she still remember?"
"At least she'll remember you."
Kafka chuckled softly and held up the girl, whose eyes were tightly shut. Slowly bringing the Stellaron in her hand toward the girl's chest, she spoke into her ear in a voice as soft as fine jade:
"Time to wake up."
The Stellaron shone with dazzling golden light and successfully entered Stelle's body.
Kafka gazed gently at Stelle, who had yet to awaken. She said nothing more, quietly waiting for her to wake up.
"Although the shining Stellaron was stuffed into Stelle's body, it's Kafka I see glowing with maternal love."
"I think so too." Silver Wolf nodded. "So, is that little Herta good at games?" She was checking whether Ye Yan had found someone new to team up with.
"Then the Genius Society could rename itself the Gaming Society."
Ye Yan had never seen those geniuses play games. Every day, Herta did little more than research this and that, occasionally simulating the scenario of asking Nous a question.
"Looks like you haven't been gaming with that little Herta. Good." Silver Wolf felt relieved. With Herta's personality, how could Ye Yan possibly get along happily with her? She had been overthinking it.
"Forget Herta for now. She's not important. Let me ask you something." Ye Yan leaned closer, his expression amiable.
"Can you tell me... why you sent five Doomsday Beasts here? Kid, are you trying to destroy this place?"
He didn't even dare imagine the sight of those five Doomsday Beasts blasting waves of light at Stelle in unison.
"What are you talking about?"
Silver Wolf tried to get through it by playing cute. She didn't know anything~
Thinking of herself that way was so sappy. Time to come clean!
"You know how it is. The script didn't give clear instructions, and I was worried something unexpected might happen, so I got a few extra."
"Think about it... when we run dungeons and progress the story, we always bring our best-built team to make sure nothing goes wrong, right?"
"Besides, occasionally raising the difficulty for the Astral Express can temper their resolve and teach them to face challenges head-on! It can even improve their character builds."
After hearing Silver Wolf's explanation, Ye Yan really couldn't find anything to refute.
"Besides, with a Pathstrider like you here, someone on par with an Emanator, I thought even five Doomsday Beasts were too few."
"Now that's what I like to hear." Ye Yan felt gratified.
Heh, she's grown up.
"So you didn't kill all five Doomsday Beasts, did you?!" Silver Wolf countered, turning the tables in an instant.
"Of course not. I have plenty of respect for you Stellaron Hunters. It's [Finality], after all. Besides, aren't you overestimating me? I'm just an ordinary milk tea shop owner."
Ye Yan deflected. He didn't want to draw too much attention and bring a heap of trouble down on himself. He just wanted to slack off.
"I see what you're doing. You're playing the pig to eat the tiger." Silver Wolf exposed Ye Yan's excuse without hesitation. "An Emanator can't take out a measly five Doomsday Beasts? I don't believe it."
Ye Yan said nothing more. He looked at Stelle, who had yet to awaken, his head tilted slightly as he pondered something.
He rubbed his face and said to Silver Wolf:
"When we have time later, I'll play some more games with you."
"Really?!" Silver Wolf turned to Ye Yan, indescribable excitement in her eyes. She pulled out the phone she used specifically for gaming. "Let's start a match right now!"
"Sure."
After an unknown amount of time, the girl opened her eyes. Her consciousness was hazy, and all she could see was the purple-haired woman before her, gazing at her gently, giving her a warm, familiar feeling.
"Kaf... ka?" She spoke the woman's name.
"Wonderful. You still remember me."
There was a rare hint of joy and relief in Kafka's voice.
"Go engage. I'll one-shot them with a basic attack."
"Coming, coming!"
Two more unfamiliar voices. She shifted her gaze slightly to the left, only to witness a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.
She saw:
The silver-haired girl other than Kafka... was playing a game with a trash can covered in muscles.