“Why can’t we run into some peerless powerhouse who can defeat the Doomsday Beast with a single blow?” “March, the personnel in the Support Zone have already been evacuated.
It’s highly unlikely anyone will show up.” “Sigh, in the end, we still have to handle this ourselves.” “…” After some chatter, the subsequent events unfolded as smoothly as a game cutscene.
From Himeko’s perspective, she had rushed to the Support Zone with the three youngsters in a hurry.
Just as they rounded a corner, they saw a battle-damaged Herta Puppet blocking the middle of the road, looking up with its small head, staring intently at the Doomsday Beast circling in the sky.
The Astral Express, which was originally parked at the platform, had already been driven to a safe zone by Pom-Pom—after all, Pom-Pom didn’t want the perfectly good train to be flattened by a single swipe from the Doomsday Beast’s claws.
At this time and place, anyone in this situation would raise their guard.
Himeko raised her hand to signal the three behind her to stop.
Carrying her toolbox, she walked over slowly and asked tentatively, “Is that you, Ms.
Herta?” Kazuki didn’t even turn his head, his eyes still glued to the Doomsday Beast overhead, as he gave a nonchalant reply, “Yeah, it’s me.” Himeko crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing slightly as she raised an eyebrow.
“Are you really Ms.
Herta?” Kazuki’s heart skipped a beat, and he felt a cold sweat breaking out.
While his mind raced to find a way out, his voice remained completely calm, and he even let out a snort.
“Of course it’s me.
In the entire Herta Space Station, who would dare to impersonate me?” Himeko opened her eyes again, a gentle smile playing on her lips, but the skepticism in her voice hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
“Then, Ms.
Herta, how did your puppet end up in such a state?” This intense back-and-forth was a dead ringer for the classic confrontation between Kami and L.
On the surface, Kazuki remained as steady as an old dog, but his brain was running at maximum speed, his IQ instantly maxed out.
He finally turned his head, waved his hand with feigned nonchalance, and muttered, “Just a personal preference.
It’s a modified piece of junk.” Himeko’s brow furrowed even deeper as she pressed further, “Then, Ms.
Herta, why aren’t you stepping in to deal with the Doomsday Beast and the Antimatter Legion?
You can’t just watch your own space station get torn apart, can you?” Kazuki abruptly turned his head to meet Himeko’s gaze.
His small face fell, and he immediately started playing dumb.
“This is just a ruined puppet shell with zero combat capability.
It can’t even compare to any random chore-doing puppet in the space station.
For this space station, we can only rely on you guys.” He was fully committed to lying down at lightspeed, with ‘I am useless, don’t look for me’ practically written all over his face, stopping just short of physically pushing Himeko away.
Hearing this, Himeko’s lips twitched violently, so embarrassed that she didn’t even know how to respond—she had never seen such a righteously slacking “Ms.
Herta.” In this awkward silence, Kazuki took a few steps with his short legs, bypassed Himeko, and walked forward.
As he passed by Dan Heng and March 7th, he smoothly drew their Destiny Cards without even pausing his steps, finally coming to a steady halt in front of Stelle.
Standing on his tiptoes and raising his short arm, he pointed at the 1.7-meter-tall Stelle and solemnly began painting a beautiful promise, “If you can deal with this Doomsday Beast, the kind and generous Ms.
Herta will give you a reward that you will be absolutely satisfied with.” He was playing a classic trick of getting something for nothing, clearly advancing Herta’s non-existent reward well ahead of time.
Stelle, who was singled out, froze on the spot.
She pointed a finger at her own face, her eyes wide with confusion.
Her naive face clearly screamed: “You want me to fight that Doomsday Beast?” It had to be said that Stelle, who had not yet been corrupted by trash cans and various other absurd behaviors, looked truly adorable with that pure yet foolish expression.
“Then we’ll head out first, Ms.
Herta.” Seeing this, Himeko massaged her temples in resignation.
Too lazy to expose him any further, she simply waved her hand and led the others toward the platform, waiting for Pom-Pom to drive the train back.
Along the way, March 7th clutched her bow, muttering from behind with disbelief written all over her face, “The more I think about it, the more off it feels.
She just left like that, not caring whether the space station lives or dies?
This Ms.
Herta must be a total fraud!” Dan Heng gripped his spear, walking alongside her, and added in a lowered voice, “…Perhaps Ms.
Herta has her own deep reasons.” However, if even the simple-minded March 7th could sense that something was amiss, how could Dan Heng not know?
…
At the other end of the Support Zone.
Unlike the original plot, the reason this Doomsday Beast landed on the platform was not because of March 7th’s provocative shout of “Come down here!” It was because it had been relentlessly bombarded by the small starships of the Azure Star, leaving its wings pierced and injured, forcing it to make an emergency landing.
He withdrew his gaze and happily opened the Destiny Cards he had just snatched, but after skimming through them, his face instantly fell.
[Space Station Staff • Stelle] [Prisoner • Dan Shu] [Photographer • July 7th] Ah, this…
No way, is my luck really this terrible?
Could that guy named “Dan Shu” be Dan Heng who used the Transformation Dragon Technique 2.0 and underwent another scale-shedding reincarnation?
And what on earth is this “July 7th”!?
Without a second thought, Kazuki deleted all three useless cards, and while he was at it, he also cleared out Asta’s card, [Starry Sea Scholar].
He still understood the principle of preferring to go without rather than settle for less.
Rather than forming bonds with the people in these cards and finding himself unable to delete them in the end, it was better not to meet them from the very beginning.
Emotion makes one passionate, but reason makes one endure.
Keeping them would only waste card slots and get in the way.
Although deleting them brought a trace of inexplicable guilt, it was still better than having them drag him down when the time came.
At the exact moment Asta’s card dissolved completely into specks of light, the strand of pink hair amidst his white locks also gradually faded back to white, blending with the surrounding hair without leaving a single trace.
At the same time, the descent of the Doomsday Beast also meant that a new wave of general offensive by the Antimatter Legion had officially commenced.
In space, the fleet of Azure Star had clashed violently with the battleships of the Antimatter Legion.
The bursts of light from exploding artillery shone blindingly in the pitch-black universe.
The Herta Space Station, like a steel fortress anchored in space, stood steadily amidst the gunfire, occasionally firing its long-range main cannons to blast the incoming Void Ranger warships into pieces.
Kazuki found a cold metal bench to sit on.
Through the transparent dome above, he watched the magnificent yet tragic interstellar war unfolding outside.
With a single thought, he switched directly into the form of [Student Himeko], fully sharing his field of vision so that she, inside the card, could also witness this breathtaking scene with her own eyes.
The voice of [Student Himeko] immediately echoed in his mind, carrying an unmistakable brightness, “Thank you, really.
For letting me witness a brilliance I never even dared to imagine before, as well as the danger of an interstellar war like this.” She paused, then added with a smile, “When I was trapped inside the card, even the wind outside the window was fake.
Being able to see all this now is already a massive win.” Kazuki didn’t say anything.
No sound could travel through space, and even the surrounding environment was excessively quiet.
Only the dull thuds of impacts on the distant protective barrier sent slight tremors through the thick cabin walls.
In such a quiet environment, a person couldn’t help but let their mind wander to random thoughts.
He pointed toward a nearby starship that had just exploded, still drifting with tiny sparks.
His pale, slender finger slowly traced the trajectory of the gunfire, sliding toward the direction where the Antimatter Legion was gathered, as he spoke softly: “Did you know?” “Originally, they wouldn’t have died in this space at all.” “Just because of a few words of mine, they had to leave their home planet, plunge headfirst into this godforsaken mess of a war, and end up without even their bones remaining.” “You might not believe it, but I don’t have a single bit of connection to them, so I don’t feel sad at all, and there’s nothing to be upset about.” After listening, [Student Himeko] didn’t say a single word of comfort, nor did she argue about right or wrong.
She merely followed his gaze, watching the exploding gunfire outside, and said with a light chuckle, “There was never any need to feel sad about a stranger’s choice.
Their willingness to charge out in battleships wasn’t because of a few words from you; it’s because they have things in their own hearts they want to protect.” “If it were me, having the chance to charge out wholeheartedly for the people I want to protect and the things I want to guard, even if I end up dying in this starry sky, would still be ten thousand times better than being trapped in that fake school that never changes.”