A soft gasp suddenly came through the phone.
Sylvia couldn't help calling out, "Lead Researcher Asta? Are you alright?"
"Ah, I'm fine... Sorry you had to go through this. I'll upgrade your pass permissions to give you more freedom to move around the station."
As she spoke, Asta's fingers were already dancing across her console.
On the other end of the line, Sylvia smiled upon hearing her pass permissions had been elevated.
"It was nothing serious, Lead Researcher Asta, don't worry too much about it. We can discuss the details once I reach the Master Control Zone."
After saying that, Sylvia glanced around and continued, "But before that, could you help pinpoint my location? I'm not sure which way to go."
This damned place had no signs, and the little maintenance robots were almost all wrecked by the Antimatter Legion. Even if Sylvia saw a section name, she wouldn't recognize where she was.
"I'll send you the station map," Asta replied, operating her console while simultaneously locating Sylvia's position.
"Ms. Sylvia, you're currently in the Storage Zone of the station. There's a direct elevator to the Master Control Zone in the central area of this section, and that elevator is still operational."
"I've sent you both the map and a recommended route. However, please be careful—the Storage Zone is currently swarming with Antimatter Legion forces."
Just as Asta's voice faded, Sylvia heard a notification chime from her phone and saw the complete map had arrived.
"Received. I'll hang up now then. See you soon."
With the map in hand, Sylvia no longer needed to wander aimlessly. She was about to end the call when Asta called out to stop her.
"Please wait a moment, Ms. Sylvia—"
"What is it, Lead Researcher Asta?"
"I have a rather presumptuous request. I wonder if you'd be willing to hear me out."
Asta's tone shifted unavoidably as she said this. Hearing it, Sylvia could roughly guess what was coming.
"Go ahead."
"During the evacuation, Arlan, the head of the station's Security Department, became trapped in the Suppression Zone while covering others' retreat. Could I ask you to assist in rescuing him? I will prepare a suitable reward."
Sylvia didn't mind taking on a small side quest. In the story, Arlan was rescued by the three from the Express crew without much trouble anyway.
Besides, the peak combat strength of this Antimatter Legion wave was just a single Doomsday Beast. For Sylvia in her current state, that really wasn't much pressure.
"So, what's the reward?"
Asta let out a sigh of relief. "You can name it, Ms. Sylvia. I'll fulfill any request within my power."
Hearing that, Sylvia felt a strong urge to retort, 'Really, anything? Then marry me.'
But she held back.
"Alright, I'll take a look on my way."
"Thank you so much!"
"No problem. I'll hang up now; we'll talk later."
This time, the call ended smoothly.
Switching to her pass interface, Sylvia opened the details to check.
Map permissions, access permissions for most areas, including temporary elevator activation privileges—all were granted.
Though, of course, the elevator unlock was only for the one trip she'd be taking.
Just then, Sylvia passed through another bulkhead door. Looking up, she found herself in a large hall. But it didn't match any area of Herta Space Station she remembered.
The real Herta Space Station only resembled the game's version from the outside.
Once inside, apart from the general architectural style, nothing lined up with Sylvia's memories. She couldn't recognize where she was or which way to go.
Every corridor, every room felt at least ten times larger than in the game. And there were numerous interconnected passageways leading to places she'd never seen before.
That's why she'd asked Asta for a location fix—to confirm her actual location.
For now, Sylvia paused. Pulling up the digital map, she took a moment to successfully pinpoint her position.
And then she realized...
"Hmm... I seem to be quite close to the area where Curios are stored?"
Of course, the 'area' Sylvia referred to was the two Curio containment rooms accessible in the game.
According to the station map, this entire Storage Zone contained far more than just two containment chambers.
Built around the central elevator hub, the Storage Zone housed a significant number of Curio containment cells.
Sylvia could confirm this because her newly upgraded permissions even allowed her to view the contents of most containment cells.
In two cells relatively close to her, she saw items she recognized: Wing Glider, the Rating Pistol, and the Broken Blade...
Auntie Himeko's shattered greatsword...
'Let's go take a look.'
She'd felt quite moved by it in the game. Since she had the chance in reality, Sylvia really wanted to see it.
--+--
Meanwhile—
The elevator carrying Kafka resumed operation after Silver Wolf's repairs. Kafka looked at the communication screen that had materialized before her and asked curiously, "Did the explosion caused by the Antimatter Legion stop Sylvia's elevator too?"
"Don't know. Elio didn't mention it."
"Heh~ Darling, aren't you concerned about her?" Kafka chuckled softly, speaking to Silver Wolf as she waited for the elevator to reach its designated section.
"What's there to be concerned about? The script only says we'll witness it together at the Stellaron's location." Silver Wolf's indifferent voice came through.
Elio's script only covered important events. Besides, with Sylvia's skills, was there any need to worry?
"Darling, you know what I'm asking." Kafka pressed on, and Silver Wolf's tone suddenly turned a bit sulky.
"Don't ask me. I have zero interest in whatever that person wants to do with Herta's little figurine."
"Heh~ I hope dear Sylvia succeeds."
Events not mentioned in the script were inconsequential to them. Yet Kafka was uncharacteristically showing concern over such minor details.
Silver Wolf opened her mouth to remind her, but then suddenly realized she herself wasn't exactly unaffected by matters concerning Sylvia.
"So, do we need to engage the Legion?"
"If Elio didn't mention it, then it's not important."
"Understood~ Then from now on, I'll take over the operation."
"Received. So, can I have some fun this time?" Silver Wolf's bored voice came through, but Kafka merely shook her head slightly.
"Sorry, today's mission is very mundane. It's just about putting something in place... But you're free to seek out any amusement you like."
As she spoke, the elevator arrived at the designated compartment section. As the doors opened, the Voidrangers in the corridor beyond all turned to look at Kafka, who had appeared alone.
Kafka walked forward, drawing the twin pistols at her hips and firing at the Voidrangers lunging toward her.
Silver Wolf sighed. "Boring... Then I'll go find Sylvia to play with instead."
"Heh~ Have fun, dear."
Bang— Bang—
Accompanied by Kafka's soft well-wishes and the fire blazing from her gun muzzles, the several Voidrangers charging at her had their life force ripped away by the bullets, collapsing into lifeless husks.
--+--
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.