Herta let the other three leave first, leaving only Zeig in the office.
The latter's face was swollen from the beating, yet he was still excitedly saying:
"Lady Herta, have you thought it through? You're giving me a puppet?"
Herta was speechless: "What do you want this thing for? When I'm not online, it can't even move."
Zeig was delighted: "There's such a great feature!"
"..."
In the vast Herta office, even after three people left, it still felt noisy because of Zeig.
He alone could handle the clamor of the entire office.
"Zeig, as far as I know, this body of yours was made for you by the Stellaron Hunter, right?"
Herta silently examined him:
"Logically, you shouldn't have any memories, and even your emotions should be numb. Rather, compared to my puppets, you should be the one more like a puppet."
Zeig was already sitting in Herta's office chair, feet propped on the desk, sighing in admiration:
"Worthy of you, Watson—you've discovered another blind spot!"
Herta gently shook her head:
"Actually, many people have noticed, they just thought it wasn't important, so they didn't mention it."
"Then why do you mention it—are you trying to be special?"
...
A few minutes later.
Zeig sat on the floor, face bruised and swollen, smiling flatteringly:
"Haha, Lady Herta is really humorous—why call that silly March 7th for no reason."
"Bang——!!" March 7th walked out of the office, closing the door on her way out.
Herta speechlessly looked at Zeig on the floor:
"I'm a person with a slightly strong thirst for knowledge, but if you don't want to say, I won't ask."
She walked to Zeig, extended her hand, and pulled him up from the floor:
"Anyway, thank you very much for protecting the space station. I won't give you any thank-you fee—after all, you've already asked Asta for quite a bit."
Zeig explained:
"Actually, March told me to ask for all that. I mainly focus on helping others."
"Is that so? Doesn't matter." Herta waved her hand, handing over a card.
"This is a blank identity proof. Go find the relevant researcher to register it—after that, you won't be undocumented anymore."
Zeig examined the card, very curious:
"They have this ID system here too?"
Herta shook her head:
"This identity proof is provided by the Interastral Peace Corporation. Their business is very extensive—if you register an identity on it, it'll be much more convenient. Registering with this card, the guarantor will be me, and I'll bear the consequences of all your actions."
She stared at Zeig, continuing:
"You still have the card Asta gave you, right."
Zeig nodded, pulling it out from his pocket: "Yeah, what's up? You're not trying to get some kickback from me, are you."
As he spoke, he tightly clutched the bank card to his chest.
Cautiously staring at Herta.
Herta: "..."
"Go to psychiatry later—remember to ask the doctor for a higher dose."
"Without identity proof from the Interastral Peace Corporation, rashly using Asta's card will put you under strict monitoring. The owner of that card is still Asta. Meaning, no matter what you buy, she can check it. After registering, you can bind your own identity information."
Zeig was stunned.
"You're actually pretty nice—telling me all this."
He originally wanted to thank Herta for her thoughtfulness, but her next words dispelled the idea.
Herta flicked her hair, said very flirtatiously:
"Yeah, look, I've been so good to you—helping me with a small favor isn't too much, right?"
Zeig: "..."
After two seconds of silence, Zeig slowly backed away, turned his back, and opened the office door.
Just as he stepped out, he saw in the distant corridor a girl with pink-blue eyes sitting in a grand chair, silently watching him.
Upon seeing Zeig, she extended two fingers, pointed at her own eyes, then at Zeig, conveying 'I'll be watching you—no more messing around,' before watching him sheepishly retreat back in.
Zeig closed the office door, under Herta's gaze, slowly walked back to her desk, circled behind it.
Plopped down in the office chair, feet on the desk, seriously said:
"Why does it have to be me for the test—can't Arlan do it?"
It wasn't that he didn't want to help, but he feared abusing the Stelleron's power, exiting slacking mode again and again.
Eight hours of slacking experience—wasn't a lot, but wasn't little either.
A day only has so many hours.
For something like this, using real power was truly unnecessary.
Rather, Zeig was still scared even now.
He hadn't forgotten—at the start, the Antimatter Legion had come with a million troops.
Without Kafka and Silver Wolf, he didn't know how badly he'd have been wrecked.
If an Aeon came knocking now, or several more Emanators ganged up on him, not even ashes would remain.
"You seem very reluctant to act?" Herta arms folded, delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed. "I thought you quite liked showing off—didn't expect you to be so reserved in reality."
Zeig waved his hand, switching the position of his legs on the desk:
"Actually, I've always been a humble person— not only shy but very bashful. Everyone calls me the flower of the motherland."
Herta: "..."
"Besides." Zeig's gaze sharpened. "What benefit do I get from testing this thing?"
Herta lightly tapped her chin with slender fingers, pondering:
"Benefits, of course there are."
She took out her tablet, displaying various data.
"First, this test will be broadcast on all public screens in the space station—letting you show off a bit."
Zeig countered:
"The actual purpose of broadcasting on public screens is to showcase your research results, right."
Herta nodded, not denying:
"But it is a fact that it lets you act cool once."
Zeig laughed:
"What kind of benefit is that—I can act cool elsewhere too. Why specifically do Simulated Universe."
Herta changed tack:
"Then, consider it me owing you a favor?"
A favor?
Zeig sniffed, carefully considering the meaning of this phrase.
A favor sometimes is just empty words, sometimes it can change the ending of a story.
From Zeig's understanding, Herta is a genius who has even saved many planets on the brink of destruction.
Moreover, her real body's age seems truly grandmother-level, though she's undergone rejuvenation.
Someone like this shouldn't screw him over, right.
"By the way, this test sends your consciousness data into the Simulated Universe—it won't really put you in danger, so no need to worry about safety." Herta added.
"Hm?" Zeig raised an eyebrow.
Seeing Zeig still hesitating, Herta continued:
"Let me tell you one more thing—I only asked you, not others, because you have a Stellaron placed in you, and currently show no side effects. On this point, you're irreplaceable."
"If you perform well, giving you a puppet isn't a problem either."
"Ah?" Zeig's eyes lit up.
What? Did he hear right—giving a puppet?
"You're serious?!!!"
She was actually giving a puppet.
Herta nodded, noncommittal:
"Yes. However, the puppet can't be for you to mess around with—I'll talk to Himeko properly and let her keep it. The purpose of this puppet is, if you're truly at a dead end in the universe, my real body might log into that puppet to help you out."
"Good, I'll take this job!" Zeig agreed without hesitation.
Hey, just letting Teacher Himeko keep it—what's the big deal.
As the saying goes, no plan is perfect.
As long as he finds an opportunity.
"Heh heh heh heh heh...!!"
Herta frowned, very speechlessly looking at Zeig who was 'up to no good':
"Psychiatry isn't off yet—going now, you can still get your meds."
"I want the extra-large portion!" Zeig raised both hands and cheered.