[Wake up~ Wake up~]
A voice of indeterminate gender echoed in Stelle's ears. She seemed to be dreaming.
"Mmph..."
When she opened her eyes, Stelle was already in the Master Control Zone.
The scene felt familiar. Had this happened once before, or twice?
"This is... the space station?"
"Yo, you're awake."
Ye Yan's voice reached Stelle's ears. She turned around, and her still slightly foggy mind instantly cleared.
The Ye Yan before her was clearly that muscular trash can!
"What's wrong?" The muscular trash can looked at Stelle. "Is there something on my face?"
Stelle blinked, wondering if she had seen things.
Standing before her was clearly Ye Yan himself.
"As long as you're all right. The Antimatter Legion's threat has been dealt with. You can relax now."
Hearing that, Stelle let out a long breath, then puffed out her chest, raised her head, and planted her hands on her hips.
"Even the mighty Doomsday Beast was nothing but my defeated-"
"Uh..."
If she remembered correctly, the last thing Stelle had seen before losing consciousness was Ye Yan facing the Doomsday Beast alone.
At that thought, she scratched her head in embarrassment.
"Hehe~ I was talking nonsense before I'd fully woken up. Please don't mind me, sir."
He had gotten the Stellaron spirit so flustered that she was even using honorifics.
"Get some rest. I won't bother you anymore. Oh, right, let's exchange contact details so we can reach each other if anything comes up."
"Oh, okay."
Stelle and Ye Yan exchanged contact details, and Stelle even sent him a sticker.
"Come on, let's go find Himeko."
Stelle stared curiously at Ye Yan. "What happened to the Doomsday Beast?"
"The Doomsday Beast met its doomsday."
Ye Yan took out an Antimatter Engine. It had lost its luster and no longer ran.
Stelle recognized it. During the fight with the Doomsday Beast, it had fired lasers from above its head, while the engine in its chest had also fired waves of light.
"Can I take that to mean you killed the Doomsday Beast all by yourself?" Stelle asked.
"Play some more games when you have time. There's a skill called Execute you could look into. You brought the Doomsday Beast's health down to almost nothing, which gave me the chance to finish it off."
"I get it! You can bring skills from games into the real world!" Stelle marveled at her own brilliant mind.
"What I mean is... we were able to destroy the Doomsday Beast thanks to all of you holding on and fighting. Without you, I'm afraid dealing with it alone would have been quite difficult for me, too."
"And you, my friend. You're the real hero! You risked your life to block that beam and save your teammates, effectively holding the Doomsday Beast back."
Ye Yan's barrage of praise embarrassed Stelle again.
"Hehehe~ I never knew you thought I was so amazing!"
Watching Stelle grin foolishly, Ye Yan began smiling, too.
Smiles were contagious. Besides, Stelle was pretty to begin with.
"Don't worry. If we run into Voidrangers again, I'll definitely protect everyone!"
"Good, that's the spirit!" Ye Yan encouraged Stelle. A little more effort, and Qlipoth would be looking her way.
Along the way, Stelle asked Ye Yan plenty of questions, and he explained many basic concepts about Paths and Aeons.
"Oh, right, have you ever seen a metal trash can covered in muscles?"
"You've asked the right person. Did you know that's the true form of the Aeon of Permanence?"
At those words, Stelle froze.
"You mean the Aeon of Permanence... is a trash can?" Confusion covered her face.
Stelle recalled the trash can in her memories. It had been beside Kafka at the time.
Moreover, while she was blocking the Doomsday Beast's wave of light, she had seen that Aeon unleash a combo of slaps on the Aeon of Destruction.
"Of course. Aeons come in all shapes and sizes. Erudition is a heap of scrap metal, Voracity is an ancient beast, and Permanence is a trash can! Look at them. What a perfectly matched trio of Aeons!"
Stelle started. "Wait, aren't you an Eternity Walker? Is it really okay to bad-mouth your boss like that?"
"I'm just stating facts. The Elation faction even has the Mourning Actors. Sometimes you can't just keep praising. You need to slander a little, too."
Stelle nodded, only half understanding. "I see! That makes it easier to attract an Aeon's gaze!"
"That's you, all right, but this only works with Elation. You can insult that Aeon right now, saying Aha has no dignity and is just a clown playing to the crowd for laughs."
"Come on, repeat after me: Aha has no dignity!"
"Aha has no dignity!"
"Very spirited!" As a reward, Ye Yan handed Stelle a freshly chilled cup of milk tea.
Only upon seeing that cup of taro pearl milk tea did Stelle remember that Ye Yan seemed to run a milk tea shop.
"Believe it or not, I've received the gaze of two Aeons!" Stelle raised her head and declared proudly.
"And?"
"Give me another cup!"
Stelle held out her hand to Ye Yan. She had barely been born, and she had already turned into a little scoundrel.
Ye Yan brought Stelle to Himeko. A Herta Puppet stood beside her.
Once he had delivered the target, Ye Yan made himself scarce. He didn't want to waste all his time here. Lying down on the Express was much more comfortable.
"Go on. Do what I told you. She's easy to talk to."
"How strange. My remote connection actually dropped just now. Could there be something wrong with the equipment?"
"She's here."
Himeko smiled and waved at the approaching Stelle.
"You're awake. I asked Little March and the others to stay near the Express and keep an eye on things."
"Let me introduce you. This is the space station's true owner, Genius Society #83, Herta."
"If you're introducing me, do it properly. Why bring up the Society? With all my extraordinary achievements, which one doesn't sound better than #83?"
"As a child, she solved the Solitary Wave Algorithm problem and the Spark Model Hypothesis; in her youth, she discovered the conversion method for Sigma Baryon; in middle age, she proposed the Herta Sequence and published a paper on rejuvenation. In old age, she achieved rejuvenation, repeatedly saved her homeworld from peril, and paid several visits to Aeons..."
"Ugh! Damn it, her spiel is attacking my brain!" Stelle clutched her head. She couldn't understand a word!
"Ha, this little one has quite a sense of humor."
Herta turned to Himeko. "Who taught her that?"
"Maybe... she was born humorous," Himeko explained.
"Miss Himeko has a point. Ma'am, I'd like to correct what you just said: first, I'm not a little one. Second, my name is Stelle. Third, you're really cute."
The Herta Puppet said, "Ha, compared to me, aren't you a little one? Just how old are you?"
"You can't judge people by appearances, Herta. This body of yours looks much younger than Stelle." Himeko looked at the Herta Puppet, who only came up to her arm, and spoke jokingly.
"Compared to how I looked as a child, it's barely a seventy-percent resemblance."
Herta pointed at herself. There were still differences between the puppet and her real body.
"Hey, is this one the same type as that March 7th of yours? Then..."
"Little one, can I do some research on you?" Herta had always been direct.
"How much?"
"This kid has quite a head for business. I rather like her." Herta grew increasingly interested in Stelle.
"Don't bully her too much." Watching them chat, Himeko found it rather entertaining.
"While I'm interested, I'm willing to accommodate anything."
"Do you understand now, Stelle? Herta wants you to stay on her space station."
"No!"
Stelle shook her head, recalling what Ye Yan had told her. To deal with a heartbreaker like Herta, she had to do the opposite. If Herta told her to go west, she would go east!
"Do you have any idea... just who is standing before you right now?"
"Listen up, little puppet. I've received the gaze of two Aeons!"
Stelle told Himeko and Herta what she had seen while drifting through the consciousness space.
"You're saying... a trash can beat up Nanook? And that trash can was actually the Aeon of Permanence?"
Herta pretended not to know. At a time like this, she ought to look very curious.
She hadn't expected Ye Yan to go so far as to dress himself up as a trash can to get this little one interested in Eternity.
"A trash can? The Aeon of Permanence is a trash can?"
Strange knowledge intruded into Himeko's mind. If what Stelle said was true, the Data Bank's information on the Aeon of Permanence needed updating.
But... could a trash can really become an Aeon?
Himeko remained skeptical and was just about to ask more when Stelle gave herself away.
"A faithful follower of Eternity told me that!"
All right, Himeko had no more questions now.
Nothing Ye Yan said about Eternity would be false. Himeko believed no one understood the Aeon of Permanence better than he did.
It seemed the Aeon of Permanence really was a trash can.
"Huh? Little puppet, what are you laughing at?"
"Ahem, I thought of something happy."
Herta fought back her laughter. This Stellaron spirit was far too entertaining.
Looking at Himeko again, Herta felt that her view of the world had collapsed. These days, even trash cans could become Aeons.
"Let's leave that aside. Stelle... you know you have another choice. There's an Astral Express parked at the platform. If you'd like, you can come with us."
"The Express has had plenty of dealings with Stellarons. What you're worried about is also what we're seeking answers to. Besides, we can always come back and let Herta do her research. She's brimming with interest right now."
"That's not bad. It would keep things somewhat fresh, too. When I don't need this kid, I won't have to worry about her."
"I choose to board the Express."
After a brief comparison, Stelle spoke without hesitation.
A mature, red-haired big sister of a navigator, or a petite, Lolita-style puppet.
By comparison, Stelle still preferred mature big sisters.