"Asta! Asta! Where are you?!"
On Herta Space Station, Herta immediately summoned Asta.
Having just woken up, Asta hadn't even had time to wash up before hurrying over to where Herta was.
"Where's Su Ran? Where is he?"
"...Mr. Su Ran isn't on the space station."
Asta could only answer honestly.
Besides, why was Herta looking for him so urgently?
Had Mr. Su Ran done something again that Herta had missed?
"Obviously. If he were here, I wouldn't be asking you—I would've gone straight to him."
Herta pulled out her phone and stared at her chat with Su Ran.
Several messages she had sent were clearly marked as read.
Yet there was no reply.
She was furious.
So furious she was practically stomping her feet.
The worst part?
He'd deliberately sent her a picture of a Light Cone first.
Just enough to bait her curiosity.
That scumbag!
Always dangling things in front of her.
"Hurry up and message him. Ask where he is. And prepare the fastest ship available!"
This time, she was personally going out.
Did he really think she was some harmless kitten he could tease whenever he pleased?
If Herta got angry, she could bite too!
"Okay..."
Asta took out her phone, greeted Su Ran, and casually asked for his current location.
"Mr. Su Ran is on the Xianzhou Luofu."
Herta immediately transferred her consciousness into a puppet nearest to the docking platform and prepared to board a ship for the Luofu.
She swore she would teach that curiosity-provoking bastard a lesson.
He needed to understand the consequences of arousing Herta's curiosity and then ignoring her.
"Why does he reply to you but not to me? Are you two involved? Did you already give it to him?"
Herta eyed Asta suspiciously.
She was just a pink-haired little shorty.
Could it be that Su Ran liked younger girls?
No wonder he never seemed interested in meeting Herta's real body.
So he was into the younger type?
"Give Mr. Su Ran what?"
Asta looked confused.
Then she noticed Herta's expression.
And instantly understood.
"No! No! Of course not! How could I possibly dare get ahead of you, Lady Herta?"
She shook her head frantically.
With Lady Ruan Mei and Lady Herta around, where would she find the courage to cut in line?
"You didn't deny liking him. You only said you wouldn't dare get ahead of me. So you really are interested in him?"
Herta stroked her chin.
Truthfully, she didn't care much whether Asta and Su Ran had some kind of relationship.
It wasn't her business.
As long as it didn't interfere with her research.
Who cared how many women Su Ran had?
Just don't let it involve other members of the Genius Society.
Especially Ruan Mei.
"Lady Herta, I've never been disloyal to you!"
Asta quickly declared her loyalty.
"I know. But I don't care."
Herta checked her phone.
After reviewing recent expenditures and account balances, she said:
"Hurry up and transfer ten billion credits to him. He's almost spent everything."
Asta: "..."
The conversation had been nerve-racking.
But at least the ending wasn't bad.
It was wonderful that Lady Herta wasn't upset with her.
Herta: Reply to me!
Herta: Hurry up and answer! Where are you right now?
Herta: Believe it or not, I'll drag you back to Blue Star and lock you in a basement to work as a Stellaron laborer!
...
Herta: You're on the Luofu, right? I'm coming to drag you back to Blue Star right now!
"You seem pretty close with that Herta. Is this the Herta from the Genius Society?"
Jingliu glanced at Su Ran's chat history with Herta.
"Yep. Watching her rage helplessly is pretty entertaining."
Unfortunately, he'd missed the chance to witness Herta stomping her feet in person.
A shame, really.
"She said she's coming to the Luofu. Aren't you worried she'll show up and cause trouble?"
Even if a Genius Society member came to make trouble, the Luofu wouldn't dare stop them.
After all, these people were effectively untouchable.
Even the Xianzhou Alliance wasn't eager to provoke a member of the Genius Society.
And Herta was especially famous across the cosmos.
"I already revoked her authorization to use the teleportation network here. Even if she rushes over, it'll take her three days."
She'd have to travel the old-fashioned way by starship.
But Phantylia didn't have three days left.
After her avatar vanished without a trace, she had no choice but to accelerate her plans and merge with the Ambrosial Arbor.
The decisive battle was about to begin.
All he had to do was sit back and watch.
Everything would be resolved long before three days passed.
"..."
Jingliu was puzzled.
The Luofu's berth wasn't far from a stargate.
And Herta Space Station had one too.
Shouldn't she be able to arrive within a morning?
Then she remembered—
The stargate belonged to Su Ran.
The "teleportation device" he mentioned was probably that.
If he said three days, then he'd clearly made arrangements.
"Come on, Master Jingliu. Let's go find Jing Yuan and head to Scalegorge Waterscape to deal with Phantylia."
"I only taught you swordsmanship. And your skill has already surpassed mine. There's no need to call me your master."
Whenever Jingliu remembered that Su Ran had surpassed her in swordsmanship after such a short time, the title felt strange.
If he was already stronger than her, then calling her Master made even less sense.
Not to mention she still owed him for curing her mara.
"Then what should I call you? Ex-girlfriend?"
Su Ran couldn't resist teasing her.
A wave of cold air immediately spread outward.
"You're welcome to try."
Jingliu's gaze sharpened.
"Tsk. Before, you said I could take your body if I wanted. Now I can't even call you ex-girlfriend?"
Su Ran genuinely couldn't understand the drastic shift.
Was taking verbal advantage somehow worse than taking physical advantage?
"Those are two entirely different things."
Jingliu suppressed her killing intent and walked out first.
"Two different things? That's a bizarre value system. Someone hearing this would think your mara hasn't actually been cured."
Su Ran followed right behind her.
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