After having dinner with Sylvia, Kafka left under the cover of night.
Sylvia had actually invited Kafka to stay at her place for the night, but Kafka declined.
She mentioned there were still preparations for a mission to take care of, so she wouldn't have much time to spend with her over the next couple of days.
After Kafka left, Sylvia was still mulling over how to legitimately get to the Herta Space Station when an email arrived in her inbox—sender listed as "Lady Asta, Lead Researcher of the Herta Space Station."
The email stated that Madam Herta, owner of the space station, wished to invite Sylvia aboard.
She was, it said, very interested in how Sylvia managed to subdue a Heliobus and harness its power single-handedly.
"…A scam?"
That was Sylvia's first reaction after reading the email.
Come on.
Didn't Sylvia know what kind of person Herta was?
Calling her arrogant was putting it mildly.
Would she really care about something like this?
If you're going to make up an excuse, at least make it believable.
Using Heliobus energy—even the Xianzhou Luofu does that themselves.
They've got one sealed away in the Artisanship Commission, for heaven's sake.
Someone like Herta wouldn't be impressed by something so minor.
The only unusual thing about Sylvia was her ability to channel Heliobus power through her own body.
But that's about it.
How could a Heliobus compare to the power of a Path?
The only reason Sylvia relied on Heliobus as her main means of attack was because her power of Permanence wasn't strong enough yet.
Path energy was far more convenient to use.
However—
Clearly, Sylvia, who knew little about academic research, hadn't realized just what her displayed abilities represented.
A Heliobus's power allowed it to freely manipulate energy forms with almost no loss in efficiency.
Sylvia's emergence was equivalent to achieving personal, willful control over energy transformation.
The Xianzhou ships suppressed Heliobi in furnaces and basically used them as firewood.
Sylvia, on the other hand, was playing with energy like it was putty. It was precisely this detail in Sylvia's dossier that caught Herta's attention and sparked her interest.
That, and the small vial Sylvia had used to deal with the out-of-control Heliobus power released by Phantylia.
Herta's intuition told her that little vial might be one of the key elements. but Sylvia clearly had no idea how absurd the abilities she'd displayed really were.
Anyway.
Thinking she'd received a scam email, Sylvia promptly reported it to The Blue's anti-fraud center.
Pretending to be Asta of the Herta Space Station while on The Blue?
Sylvia could only say whoever sent that had some nerve.
That pink-haired, secretly sharp Asta wasn't someone you just messed with.
--+--
Meanwhile, high above in the space station.
It didn't take long before Asta received a message from the surface of The Blue.
"Oh dear…"
Asta had prepared several response strategies for scenarios like Sylvia refusing, making demands, and so on.
But she hadn't considered what to do if her invitation email was mistaken for a scam operation.
To put it bluntly, an invitation from the Herta Space Station—whether accepted or declined—had never been treated as fraudulent before.
No one had ever reacted like Sylvia.
If Madam Herta found out, she'd probably whack her with a hammer.
Asta sighed helplessly.
Fortunately, the issue wasn't too hard to resolve.
The official email address Asta used was naturally verified with the authorities on The Blue.
After communicating with Asta, the ground staff sent a message to Sylvia confirming the email's authenticity.
Sylvia had already set her phone aside and was about to rest for a bit when she received the verification notice from the anti-fraud center.
"…It's real?"
Sylvia tilted her head, thoroughly puzzled.
Herta would be interested in something this trivial?
Now she really had to go check it out.
Or was it the Fullbottle she'd noticed?
Sylvia wasn't completely in the dark—a small Fullbottle that absorbed the better part of an Emanator's power.
She hadn't made any attempt to hide what she'd done at the time, so it was entirely possible that the incident had been included in the intelligence Herta reviewed.
Maybe she was interested in the Fullbottle?
But Sylvia still felt that, given Herta's capabilities, something like a Fullbottle shouldn't really catch her eye.
"But the scheduled time… four days from now. Could it clash with Kafka and the others' operation?"
Although Sylvia didn't have the exact timing yet, she knew it would be around four or five days from now.
She had a feeling she might run right into Kafka and Silver Wolf when she boarded the space station.
--+--
Later that evening, Acheron arrived at Sylvia's side as usual, stepping through the portal.
While washing up, Sylvia brought up what had happened that day.
Acheron didn't pay much mind to the invitation from Herta Space Station, but she focused on something else instead.
"…You plan to perform a ritual with a puppet?"
It sounded like a simple question, but the slight constriction of Acheron's pupils betrayed her inner shock.
She knew Sylvia's ability allowed her to gain certain powers after performing a ritual.
But… with a puppet… wasn't that a bit…
Acheron opened her mouth, but for a moment couldn't find the right words.
Even now, Acheron still didn't know what that earlier ritual had meant—she hadn't found any records of a similar traditional ceremony.
But she had at least, or rather, she'd guessed through Sylvia's relationship with the Stellaron Hunters that the ritual likely indicated a certain level of intimacy.
Of course, Acheron could also understand why Sylvia had never explicitly explained it.
Back then, the situation had felt more like a casual favor.
A ritual with no special meaning and no extraordinary power, acknowledged by neither party, naturally held no binding force.
So Acheron didn't really mind.
But that was one thing.
While Acheron didn't care about Sylvia's methods of gaining strength, when the subject became a puppet…
Acheron felt as if something were stuck in her throat. Her typically expressionless face actually grew complicated.
"Don't make me sound like some kind of pervert!"
Under Acheron's gaze, Sylvia's expression stiffened.
"I'm just testing it out, alright? Testing! It's not like I actually have feelings for a puppet."
"…"
Acheron really wanted to say that most normal people probably wouldn't even consider "testing it out."
But considering Sylvia might get flustered and angry—and possibly skip her massage and care session today—
Acheron chose to nod against her better judgment.
"Mhm, that makes sense."
"…"
"But if Herta is interested in your Fullbottle, you'd better not let her study it."
Acheron changed the topic very abruptly, lest Sylvia work herself into a blush.
--+--
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.