After several days of back-and-forth with Acheron, right up until Sylvia was fully healed…
She still couldn't make Acheron understand that she was perfectly capable in all four limbs and didn't need such exaggerated and embarrassing caretaking.
The whole ordeal even left Sylvia wondering—was she actually the one with the problem?
Fortunately, that kind of life didn't last too long.
Thanks to Sylvia's own recovery ability and Bailu's prescribed medicine, in just a few days, she smoothly shook off the aftereffects of using the Hazard Trigger.
And the application for The Blue came through quite quickly too—maybe due to the Xianzhou's guarantee and the massive sum sitting in her account.
In short, it was practically a green light all the way. Sylvia's application was approved at almost the fastest speed you could find online.
So once her body was fully back in order, Sylvia boarded her assembled starship and headed straight for The Blue.
As for her friends, she did say her goodbyes, but since she could come back anytime, it was really just a casual mention. It didn't feel particularly significant.
This civilian-class starship did have warp capability, but it clearly couldn't compare to the Astral Express's powerful jump drives. Plus, its energy consumption couldn't handle long-distance jumps either.
So for most of the journey, Sylvia had to let the ship cruise slowly along the shipping lanes. After all, it was just a frame from a bygone era—both its materials and structure limited its performance.
If she really wanted a top-tier starship experience, Tingyun had once suggested Sylvia spend some money on a brand-new single-pilot model.
But Sylvia hadn't decided which one to buy yet.
As for Acheron…
Of course she didn't come along. But honestly, whether she tagged along or not didn't make much difference.
Because every day or two, whenever Acheron wanted to rest, she'd contact Sylvia and have her open a portal to go back and relax.
Whether that place was the Xianzhou or the starship didn't really matter to Acheron.
As long as it was by Sylvia's side, that was enough.
In the online game—
Silver Wolf and Sylvia were chatting while cooperating to clear a map.
"You're heading over pretty early. Planning to hang out on The Blue for a while?" Silver Wolf glanced curiously at her teammate.
Kafka's mission still had over half a month to go. Sylvia's trip from the Xianzhou to The Blue would only take a few days, so the rest of the time would probably just be sightseeing.
"Pretty much. Since there's nothing else going on, and I've been on the Xianzhou for so long, it's time to experience a different place."
Though the Sylvia of the past wasn't exactly the diligent type, right now her curiosity about this world outweighed her laziness.
At least until she'd experienced all those bizarre planets and civilizations, Sylvia would maintain a huge enthusiasm for traveling.
As she said that, Sylvia suddenly added, "But if I'm being honest, I'm planning to make contact with Herta Space Station ahead of time. I'm pretty curious about that place."
"Curious about what? Herta herself, or the Curios inside?"
For academics, Herta Space Station was practically a holy site. But for people like them who weren't into scholarship, the main draw was the Curios.
Still, given Sylvia's quirks, Silver Wolf considered that she might even have her eye on Herta.
"What if I said I'm curious about the Herta puppets inside?"
"…"
Silver Wolf stumbled in place, turning her head to stare at Sylvia in disbelief.
They were planning to cause some trouble at Herta Space Station, so of course they'd looked into some of its details.
Herta herself didn't permanently stay at the station, but she'd placed many puppets modeled after her own appearance there—to remotely manage the station's affairs or use its equipment for research.
As for where Herta actually was, nobody knew.
Right now, Silver Wolf was genuinely starting to wonder if there was something wrong with Sylvia's head.
What, were there no women on the space station? Station Manager Asta was young, rich, beautiful, and smart.
Instead of setting your sights on the manager, you're eyeing the puppets?
Silver Wolf was beginning to doubt whether Sylvia's preferences were normal.
"Pfft—"
Sylvia chuckled softly, then explained, "I'm just thinking about what method I could use to get into the space station openly and honestly."
"If you spilled your secrets, Herta would have you dragged in the very next day—tied up if she had to."
Silver Wolf couldn't resist a bit of sarcasm. Sylvia just rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going there to be a lab rat."
Sylvia thought it over carefully. To board the space station openly, one route was to become a researcher—but that path was obviously terrifyingly competitive.
As for the other route, making Herta take an interest… it was hard to say whether that would be simpler or more difficult.
Sylvia did have a few things in her possession that would definitely pique Herta's interest.
Like that storage card that could perfectly contain an active Stellaron.
Since it always had to hold the Stellaron and only had one slot, it was actually a bit of a hassle for Sylvia.
She knew the card was incredible, of course—after all, it could even hold a Stellaron.
But the problem was, Sylvia couldn't find anything more powerful than a Stellaron to put inside and carry around.
If she lent it to Herta for research… Herta would only be interested in the card, not Sylvia herself.
Sylvia thought about it—that didn't seem so bad.
It was definitely better than Herta being interested in Sylvia personally.
Though if it went that way, Sylvia probably wouldn't get to play with the Simulated Universe.
The reason the main character got pulled into testing the Simulated Universe was precisely because they had a Stellaron inside them, attracting the gaze of the Aeon of Destruction.
But then again, when she thought about it…
Sylvia had even stolen most of a Destruction Emanator's power.
Such an outrageous act should've been more than enough to attract Nanook's attention.
Though that attention probably wouldn't be friendly.
She still needed to figure out a way to experience the Simulated Universe.
And to steal a little Herta puppet.
Even though the Herta puppet wasn't the real Herta, the playable character in the game was also a puppet.
If she stole a Herta puppet and married it…
Even Sylvia herself felt that marrying a puppet was a bit perverted and abstract.
But hey, she might even snag some rewards out of it.
Mainly because with someone like Herta, Sylvia felt that even if she ascended to Emanator status right now, if Herta wasn't interested or if Sylvia's intellect wasn't on her level…
Herta probably still couldn't be bothered.
So when it came to raising Herta's favorability, Sylvia had never held out hope from the start.
She was just counting on stealing one Herta puppet.
So, with that in mind—
Sylvia turned her gaze toward Silver Wolf.
"Hey, Wolfie~ Do me a favor?"
"…Ew, don't call me in such a disgusting tone!"
Silver Wolf shuddered all over, nearly jumping on the spot as she glared at Sylvia.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.