Herta Space Station, Master Control Zone
After finishing their meal, Ye Yan and Herta returned here once more.
Sometimes, he really envied Herta.
Too lazy to move, she had filled the space station with her own puppets. She could go wherever she wanted by operating them remotely. It could hardly be easier.
So he had swiped a few more Herta Puppets and deployed them at the church's bases.
Herta herself had no objections.
"Ye Yan! Over here!"
A voice interrupted Ye Yan's thoughts. Looking up, he saw March 7th and Dan Heng waving at him nearby.
He walked over to them and was just about to explain when March 7th beat him to it.
"Himeko told us everything! I never thought you'd be an Emanator! No wonder you handled the Doomsday Beast so easily." March 7th planted her hands on her hips. With an Emanator-level companion, the Trailblaze journey ahead could hardly be easier!
"Glad you're back."
Dan Heng did not press him for details. Everyone had their own secrets. Even now, he had never seen Mr. Welt go all out. Ye Yan must have had a deeper reason for doing this.
"Oh... now that I look closely, you even found time to change into a new outfit!"
"Couldn't help it. The Doomsday Beast tore up my clothes. I wasn't about to wear the battle-damaged version." Ye Yan made up an excuse to brush it off.
His original outfit had been stained with Nanook's blood. He certainly could not keep it.
So Ye Yan had transferred all the brilliant golden blood on his clothes onto a trash can made of special materials and handed it over to Herta.
As for Stelle...
She still had not woken up, and Ye Yan felt a little bad for her.
Having drawn the gazes of two Aeons in succession, she would not recover anytime soon.
The poor Stellaron spirit had gone through so much less than one system hour after being born. She really had suffered.
"Ah, I'll treat her to a few more cups of milk tea later."
Meanwhile, Asta approached a Herta Puppet that had just come online.
"Ms. Herta."
Asta bowed deeply to Herta and briefly explained the attack on the space station, while her mind was still on Ye Yan and that novel.
If anyone knew Ye Yan best, it had to be Ms. Herta standing before her.
"Ah... that brat still hasn't woken up? Then I'm logging off. Contact me if anything comes up."
"Wait... Ms. Herta!"
Mustering her courage, Asta stopped Herta just as she was about to log off.
"Hmm?"
"You've worked with Mr. Ye Yan so many times. Has he ever told you about his past?" Asta was very curious now.
Herta rubbed her ears. "Ye Yan's... past?"
In a rare moment of hesitation, she paused, not having expected Asta to ask her this question.
Hmm... how am I supposed to describe an Aeon's past?
I'll just make something up to fob her off. Since Ye Yan publicly calls himself an Eternity Walker, I might as well give him a tragic background.
Perfect. Ye Yan told me about his love-hate relationship with Destruction. I'll use the Antimatter Legion as the starting point!
Herta's genius brain kicked into gear. After briefly organizing her words, she began telling Asta about Ye Yan's life.
"Ye Yan... his origins are unknown. I specifically investigated him and discovered that his home had long since been destroyed by the Antimatter Legion. He struggled his way through life to reach his current position."
"He does have a nimble mind. He has as many wild ideas as the Masked Fools and always gives me plenty of research ideas for the Simulated Universe.
"Why else would I work with him... you don't think I'm lusting after his body, do you?"
"In short, someone whose home was destroyed set out on the Path of Eternity, and now he's boarded the Astral Express. Even researching with him provides some amusement..."
The more Herta said, the more wrong it sounded. The story she had made up was a bit too far-fetched. Could someone really be connected to three Paths at once?
There was a place that the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection called the intersection of three Paths. It seemed to be called Amphoreus. She had heard Ye Yan mention it, too.
But that was not the point! The point was the character backstory Herta had just invented for Ye Yan! It was so ridiculous that she did not believe it herself.
But the words were already out, and there was no taking them back.
I'd better come clean with Asta...
Herta looked up, only to see Asta covering her face, looking as though everything had clicked and she was about to cry.
Herta: ?
Wait, she didn't actually believe that, did she?!
Herta was just about to say something when an invisible force forcibly severed her connection to every puppet on the space station.
Herta: ???
Seeing the Herta Puppet stand motionless, Asta assumed Herta had logged off again.
"I never imagined Mr. Ye Yan had such a tragic childhood." Asta's nose stung as she thought of how Ye Yan had fought the Doomsday Beast alone for the safety of the entire space station.
"That novel... could Mr. Ye Yan have written it himself?"
Another possibility occurred to Asta. After enduring countless hardships, Ye Yan could still speak of his childhood with a smile and write this novel in Elation's distinctive style to give readers a laugh.
Ye Yan's image grew even more impressive in Asta's mind.
Of course, Ye Yan himself knew nothing about this.
After giving Nanook a beating, Ye Yan felt particularly refreshed. He wondered whether tomorrow's Interastral Morning Post would mention it.
"Trash Can Monster Battles the Aeon of Destruction." That would definitely be entertaining!
Once the Masked Fools heard the news, they would probably immediately start questioning and mocking the Aeon of Destruction, then make hundreds upon thousands of fake Light Cones depicting a trash can beating Nanook senseless.
After giving March 7th a few cups of milk tea, Ye Yan had been planning to visit Stelle, but his phone rang at an inconvenient moment.
[System notification: Asta has sent you a friend request]
"Hm?"
Ye Yan frowned, remembering that he did not seem to have Asta's contact information. He barely had any contacts on the entire space station, only Herta.
Oh, right, Peppy counted as one. Peppy was also the reason he knew Arlan well.
Accepting Asta's friend request, Ye Yan was just about to ask what she needed.
[Asta: [Transfer: 1 billion]]
How much?
After seeing the transfer, Ye Yan first carefully reflected on whether he had done anything inhuman.
Hmm, apparently not.
Looks like this money is Asta's financial compensation for the Astral Express lending a hand this time.
Wait, then why didn't she transfer it to Himeko? She's the Astral Express's navigator. At most, I'm a guard.
[Asta: Please, you must accept it!]
Looking at Asta's message, Ye Yan was momentarily baffled.
After a second of internal struggle, he chose to accept the money.
A billion Credits had appeared in his account out of nowhere. Had this girl transferred that much to everyone on the Express?
Asta was a little black-bellied beneath her sweet exterior, but not much. To Ye Yan, she was simply a cute, innocent girl.
Why accept the money? Nobody complained about having too much money. Ye Yan was no upright Aeon. He had never heard of an Aeon of Justice in the universe.
But... he did not seem to spend much himself.
Ye Yan glanced at Stelle, who lay unconscious not far away.
He seemed to know who should get these billion Credits.