"Lady Herta's account has been frozen. This is her bill from last month."
Unlike Chen Li, who couldn't even begin to comprehend how outrageous the bill was, Herta's face remained utterly unfazed, even when confronted with a tab so high it broke through the sky.
Seeing Herta's calm and collected expression, Chen Li had to admit, this was perhaps the composure and grace of an older-generation Genius Society member.
Although the Interastral Peace Corporation had always been dedicated to fostering a good relationship with Herta, launching many collaborations that favored her and even willingly throwing in some freebies, the matter of the bill could not be ignored.
Besides, it wasn't as if Lady Herta couldn't solve this matter herself.
"Is that all? Just a bit of pocket change. It's on you, Asta," Herta said unhurriedly.
"Eh?"
Even though she had long been mentally prepared for Herta to dump this on her so decisively, Asta's facial expression still faltered slightly.
"Miss Asta, you see..."
"Just swipe it yourself." Asta sighed and handed her credit card to Topaz.
"Herta, don't tell me this entire space station runs solely on Asta's dime?" Chen Li commented, nibbling on a small pastry from the side. Herta was way too practiced at this.
"How could that be? Don't you dare slander me." The Herta puppet flatly denied Chen Li's assertion.
Although Herta hadn't spent a single credit on building the Herta Space Station—it was all Asta—she had put in a lot of effort too! For example... naming the station the "Herta" Space Station! It might have been her only contribution, but it was the most important one.
"Oh? Really~~?"
"Of course, it's true. Why would I lie to you?"
"Like I'd believe you. Sigh, I really envy you, Herta, for having such a capable assistant like Asta. When I've saved up enough Civilization Value, I'll definitely awaken the collective consciousness of a civilization as brilliant as Asta to be my assistant," Chen Li said with envy.
"Did you just... say something completely outrageous in a very casual tone?" Herta glanced at Chen Li.
"You're imagining things."
"By the way, Chen... ahem, Curio Forger, why did you stand me up this afternoon?" Herta asked curiously.
"I was doing something very important."
"What was it?"
"Fabricating a world," Chen Li said.
"Huh?"
"Mr. Curio Forger, excuse me, may I conduct a short interview with you? As payment, the Interastral Peace Corporation is willing to gift you multiple star-destroying warships, equivalent in value to the Miraculous Amber, as both a gift and samples for your research. The value of the amber itself will be calculated separately," Topaz asked Chen Li after swiping Asta's card and settling Herta's bill.
This decision had been made by the IPC after Topaz had urgently sent a communication, stating that she had met the 85th member of the Genius Society at the space station and relaying Chen Li's trade request.
The IPC was being so generous partly because this was their first contact with Chen Li, and partly because what he wanted wasn't actually that valuable.
That's right, star-destroying warships were indeed expensive, but warships that were about to be decommissioned were cheap. So cheap, in fact, that one would need to find a place and pay someone to scrap them. Although some eccentric rich people might collect them, a prerequisite for a collectible is a pristine appearance... but Chen Li didn't have that requirement.
His only requirement was: a long history and lots of stars destroyed.
"Of course you can, but I can't guarantee I'll answer everything," Chen Li nodded.
"In that case, may I ask if it's inconvenient to disclose your real name? I noticed that Lady Herta just avoided saying your name. Is it because your name carries some kind of memetic contagion?" Topaz asked after taking out a recording pen.
"Not at all. It's mainly because I'm planning to pull a huge stunt in this world, so it's inconvenient to reveal my name and face. I'm afraid someone might try to jump me," Chen Li said.
"..." Topaz took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing, "You mentioned the word 'fabricate' just now. May I ask if you have a close relationship with the Fictional Historians? And which Aeon do you follow?"
"Now that's worth talking about." Chen Li was instantly interested.
"How so?" Hearing this, not only Topaz, but also Herta and Asta leaned in with interest.
"I'm a self-taught Fictional Historian. I have abilities similar to theirs, but I don't know if they would acknowledge me."
"Didn't you gain abilities similar to the Fictional Historians by believing in the Aeon of Mystery? The title 'Curio Forger' sounds subtly similar to 'fictional history'," Topaz speculated boldly.
"Not at all. I hereby solemnly declare that although I am a Fictional Historian, I have always believed that HooH the Equilibrium is the Aeon who has contributed the most to this universe. Without the Aeon of Equilibrium, it would be like a wife cake without a wife, or the Herta Space Station without Herta—utterly tasteless!" Chen Li proclaimed.
"I have a feeling you're mocking me, and I have proof," Herta said, narrowing her eyes.
"Five Star Stones, and you'll forget this mockery."
From the Second Eruption incident, Chen Li had obtained a total of 2,900 Star Stones. His current total had now broken the 10,000 mark! So he was feeling very generous. He could now afford to drink one bottle of Otaku Happy Water and throw another one away!
"Alright, no problem." For the sake of five Star Stones, Herta readily agreed.
"In that case, Mr. Curio Forger, are you a follower of the Aeon of Equilibrium? And are you one of the legendary Arbiters? Numby!"
Just as Topaz was focusing on the interview, her pet Numby suddenly rushed towards Chen Li, circling his feet. Its eyes were fixed on the Star Stone Chen Li had just taken out as it squealed with excitement.
"Don't worry about it, continue the interview." Chen Li picked up Numby, who was circling his feet obediently without daring to be disrespectful, and placed it on his lap.
After being picked up, Numby became almost excessively well-behaved, not daring to move an inch. And after Chen Li fed it one Star Stone, it began to nuzzle against him, becoming so affectionate that even its owner, Topaz, found it a bit outrageous. It was practically fawning.
"The little guy is pretty cute. If I punched it, it would probably cry for a long time, right?" Chen Li said, rubbing Numby's face. He was suddenly reminded of what the little sprite had once said about his family's dog, Wang Cai.
[Right? Right?!]
"Mr. Curio Forger, could you please not say such terrifying things with a straight face? Let's return to our previous topic..." Although Topaz had no clue why her pet was being so obsequious towards Chen Li, she felt this could be an opportunity.
Go, Numby! Use your cuteness tactic!
It was just... Topaz felt it was a bit strange for Numby to be so submissive and fawning while its owner was right there. It gave her a strange feeling of being cuckolded.
"We were talking about the Aeon of Equilibrium, weren't we? I will reiterate: I will forever support the great Aeon of Equilibrium, and I hope HooH will continue to balance the good and evil, the positive and negative, the destruction and creation of this world. And if any of the Arbiters under the Aeon of Equilibrium encounter any difficulties, they can come to me, and I will do my best to help them solve their problems," Chen Li said with a serious expression.
"Oh? In that case, Mr. Curio Forger, could you tell us why you hold the Aeon of Equilibrium in such high esteem? For example, did you witness the Aeon or were you saved by an Arbiter in your childhood?" Topaz instantly realized this was a major selling point.
"Hah, what childhood could he possibly have in this world? I think he's just worried that the things he's done and the Curios he's forged might make HooH go bald from fixing bugs, so he wants to cozy up to them first. That way, HooH's Arbiters won't take turns ambushing him," Herta scoffed from the side.
Putting everything else aside, just that one Curio Chen Li made that could revive others without side effects was game-breaking enough. The only reason Chen Li hadn't been smited by HooH after wandering around for so long was purely because the last fragment of the revival card was ridiculously hard to get, and no one had assembled a complete one yet.
Ten days. Herta would give it ten days!
Given the pace at which Chen Li caused trouble in this world, if he wasn't personally smited by HooH in ten days, it would only prove that the Aeon had a good temper! Either that, or HooH figured it couldn't kill Chen Li anyway, so it wouldn't even bother trying.
What else could happen? Was HooH supposed to give him an award? An award called the "Balance Breaker Award"!
Where there is one who maintains balance, there is one who breaks it... hiss... wait, that actually sounds really balanced!
Oh no, Chen Li has become the Innate Sacred Body of Equilibrium!
"How could that be? Don't you dare slander me. Come on, Topaz, let me spin you a yarn, tell you an interesting story about me and the Aeon of Equilibrium from my childhood... edit that last part out, thank you."
"...Please continue." Topaz gave a polite but awkward smile. Good thing this wasn't a live broadcast.
"I have been connected to Equilibrium since I was a child. At the age of three, I enjoyed playing with balance and caused a huge balance disas— I mean, at the age of three, I received the recognition of the Aeon of Equilibrium and was granted an item of Equilibrium. Look." As he spoke, Chen Li took out the [Scales of Merit].
Although the Scales of Merit had absolutely nothing to do with Equilibrium, it was a set of scales.
"Oh? And what is the effect of these scales? Could you tell us, sir?"
"When holding these scales, as long as you selflessly help others, you can obtain the Praise of High Morality. And the Praise of High Morality can then be used to do some... immoral things."
"???"
Hearing the effect of the scales, Topaz froze for a moment.
What does it mean, it can be used to do immoral things? Other than its shape, what did these scales have to do with Equilibrium at all?!
"Don't worry about whether this miraculous item sounds a bit problematic. Just tell me: I do very moral things, and the reward I get can be used to do some immoral things. Is this act itself balanced or not?!"
"Bal... balanced," Topaz said. After a moment's thought, it seemed to make sense.
Wasn't that balanced? That was perfectly balanced!
---o---