By the time Su Yan returned to the Master Control Zone, he had amassed an enormous amount of affection, and the colorless prisms converted for the shop had surpassed three hundred.
Taking shortcuts was truly efficient, and the harvest was exceedingly generous.
[Asta, Affection: 55]
*Very generous indeed…*
That exact number clearly showed just how grateful Asta was, even if she had not put it into words.
As for why she had not said anything yet…
[Affection unlocked: Herta, Affection: 5]
Su Yan shifted his gaze to the left, looking at the Herta puppet staring back at him with obvious intrigue.
*Not zero?
Is it because I solved a major problem for the Herta Space Station?*
Herta had no idea what Su Yan was thinking.
Her current interest was entirely focused on his peculiar Curio.
Whether it forcibly mashed two objects together or fused them on a deeper conceptual level, it was well worth researching.
Her curiosity had been thoroughly piqued.
“Brat, I want to buy your Curio.
Name your price!”
“First, I have a name—call me Su Yan!
Second, it’s not for sale!” Su Yan refused flatly.
How could an Aeon-grade item be measured in mere money?
Never mind Aeon-grade; even Emanator-level artifacts were priceless.
“Tch!
Fine, then rent it to me for a few days so I can study it.
Name your price!” Herta was reasonable enough; when outright purchase failed, she settled for second best.
“That works, but I have a few conditions,” Su Yan said.
“Speak…” Herta did not object, choosing to hear his terms first.
“My terms are simple: research is billed per session, one hundred million credits each time.”
After a moment of thought, Su Yan named a price that sounded steep on paper, yet would be trivial for the likes of Herta and Asta.
“Deal.
Asta, write that down,” Herta agreed readily.
One hundred million credits was not even a fraction of her monthly research budget.
“Understood, Madam Herta,” Asta replied.
“When do you plan to start?” Su Yan asked.
He had matters of his own to attend to, so asking ahead of time would prevent scheduling conflicts.
“Right now.” Herta was always swift and decisive, with zero tolerance for procrastination.
When curiosity struck, it had to be satisfied immediately.
“Asta, make the arrangements and bring him to my office.”
Asta immediately complied, swiping a hand to bring up a floating holo-screen and tapping away.
Meanwhile, Herta remained online, turning her gaze to the left.
The others followed her line of sight and saw two familiar figures walking over.
It was Stelle and March 7th.
March 7th rushed over to Dan Heng and Himeko, checking them up and down.
Once sure neither was injured, she planted her hands on her hips.
“Himeko, I can fight too!
Don’t leave me behind next time!”
From her tone, being left out of the action clearly rankled her.
“All right,” Himeko answered with a gentle smile.
Herta paid no mind to the Express crew’s little drama.
Her attention was drawn entirely to the other person: Stelle.
“My deduction was correct after all.
The Stellaron is inside your body.”
A strange glow lit up the puppet’s electronic eyes as the scanning systems gathered the exact data Herta wanted.
“Fascinating!
To contain an unactivated Stellaron, I had to build an entire space station…
Yet someone managed the exact same thing using a single flesh-and-blood body!
How did they pull it off?”
Herta made no attempt to lower her voice, and everyone nearby heard her clearly.
“A Stellaron?” Shocked by the sudden bombshell, March 7th’s lingering sulk vanished instantly, and she stared at Herta in disbelief.
Himeko, Dan Heng, and Asta, on the other hand, exchanged knowing looks before turning in unison toward Su Yan.
“Nothing to do with me!” Noticing their stares, Su Yan instantly guessed their thoughts and denied it on the spot.
Hearing this, the three looked away, choosing to trust him.
Herta, meanwhile, grew even more curious about Stelle, repeating almost the exact same pitch.
“Brat, help me run a few tests.
Name your terms!”
The familiar opening line gave everyone a sense of deja vu.
“First, don’t call me brat—my name is Stelle!
Second, what do you want to research?”
Stelle’s reply mirrored Su Yan’s so closely that it felt like a scene replay.
“You!
You and the Stellaron are currently in a symbiotic state.
Whether it poses any danger to you, whether the Stellaron might erupt, and whether it grants you special abilities—I’m curious about all of it,” Herta said.
Hearing this, Stelle looked at Su Yan, seeking his opinion.
“Su Yan, do you think I should agree?”
Among everyone present, she had known Su Yan the longest and trusted him the most.
“It’s not my place to decide for you.
You have to make your own choice…”
Stelle pondered for a moment, then turned to Herta with a serious expression.
“I don’t mind cooperating with your research, but you have to pay extra!!!”
She put immense emphasis on the word *extra*.
“…Fine,” Herta replied, sounding somewhat exasperated.
“I’ll be waiting in my office.”
With that, the light in the puppet’s eyes faded, and it walked over to stand quietly in a corner.
“Please follow this drone.
It will guide you both to Madam Herta’s office.”
Asta stepped in smoothly, guiding a small service bot in front of the two.
“Both of us?” Stelle asked, puzzled.
“Is someone else going too?”
“Me as well…” After offering a quick explanation to Stelle, Su Yan looked at the others.
“Stelle and I are going to help Herta with her research for a bit.
See you later.”
“See you later,” Himeko nodded.
She planned to use this downtime to contact Pom-Pom and share the news about their two potential new companions.
Once their conversation wrapped up, Asta spoke up in a timely manner.
“Mr.
Su Yan, could you please provide your social account handle and bank account number?
Stelle, yours as well, please.”
“…I don’t have either,” Su Yan answered honestly.
“Then I’ll set them up for you and send over the details shortly,” Asta said without questioning why.
“Thank you.”
Asta then looked toward Stelle.
“Same as Su Yan,” Stelle said.
Asta nodded, agreeing to handle both together.
With the conversation over, Su Yan and Stelle followed the small service bot toward Herta’s research office.
Passing several unfamiliar researchers along the way, Su Yan saw his colorless prism count climb steadily higher.
By the time they reached Herta’s office, the total had surpassed four hundred.
The Herta Space Station was truly teeming with people.
*…The Simulated Universe!*
Stepping into the office, Su Yan looked at the bizarrely structured machine at the far end of the room and the portraits lining the walls, a wave of familiarity washing over him.
There had been a time when he spent hours every day testing the Simulated Universe in this very room.
“You took your sweet time.
Hurry over…”
Herta’s impatient voice came from ahead.
Putting aside his thoughts, Su Yan walked toward the strange apparatus, while Stelle followed behind, looking around with curiosity.
“What do you need me to do?” Su Yan asked directly.
“Place that Curio of yours—the one that fuses Voidrangers—onto the platform in front of you.”
Herta pointed to the testing pedestal before the Simulated Universe.
As a machine capable of simulating a virtual cosmos, its analytical and scanning capabilities were among the best in the universe.
A single Simulated Universe could replace a dozen standard testing apparatuses, scanning every detail of people or objects to provide comprehensive analysis.
It was remarkably convenient.
Su Yan placed the Fusion Gun onto the platform without hesitation.
He then stepped aside, walking over to the puppet to watch the virtual display Herta was operating.
Stelle followed Su Yan, peering curiously over Herta’s shoulder at the screen.
On the display, normal streams of data flowed for barely a few seconds before crimson error windows began popping up, blanketing the screen in moments.
“Tch!” Herta clicked her tongue.
For an item to cause an outright crash in the Simulated Universe, it was definitely no ordinary Curio…
“What happened?” Stelle voiced the question on Su Yan’s mind.
“Cannot be analyzed,” Herta answered bluntly, hiding nothing.
“Your Curio’s tier is too high for the Simulated Universe to log its data…”
At this point, Herta felt it was downright absurd.
The Simulated Universe, built jointly by her and three other Geniuses, could record data on Emanators and even synthesize virtual Aeons, yet it could not scan a single Curio…
Could this Curio…
have something to do with the Aeons themselves?
Su Yan, on the other hand, found nothing strange about it.
The conceptual foundation he had given the Fusion Gun was that it could fuse even Aeons—an entirely absurd premise.
Herta’s research clearly had not reached the true essence of the Aeons yet, so it was only natural that the Simulated Universe failed to analyze it.
“Do you still plan to study it?” Su Yan asked.
“Of course,” Herta replied instantly.
“I’ll just have to gather data the old-fashioned way.
Pick up your Curio; I’ll study Stelle first.”
“All right.” Picking up the Fusion Gun, Su Yan walked to a corner of the room.
Rather than paying attention to Stelle and Herta’s conversation, he opened the newly updated system shop…
First came the distinct category sections, stocked with a wide variety of items, some of which were quite abstract.
After skimming through several categories, Su Yan filtered for the “Playable Characters” section, prioritizing familiar faces.
The items available in Asta’s section mostly revolved around astronomy and the stars, such as star charts.
Dan Heng’s section was currently filled with various books; March 7th’s featured cameras and gourmet treats; Himeko’s contained specialized knowledge and premium coffee…
As for Herta, her section was completely over the top:
*Aeon Encyclopedia*, *Metaverse Space Data*, *Imaginary Collapse Pulse Data*, *Aeon Material Supply Box*, *Curio Supply Box*…
Not a single item in her section was ordinary; every listing was astonishingly rare.
The more extraordinary a person’s desires were, the more incredible the items in their dedicated shop section became.
Only…
Why were most of them research files?
Were there no finished products?
And why were the files split up?
A single piece of technology was broken down into thirty individual fragments!
Silently complaining to himself, Su Yan held off on making any purchases for now.
Having already discovered a simple and efficient way to farm affection, he felt no urge to tackle the harder challenges just yet.
After all, he was here to have fun.
Glancing at his status list—[Herta, Affection: 7]—he looked away after a moment and continued browsing the new items, searching for anything uniquely bizarre or entertaining.
Meanwhile, Stelle began her test inside the Simulated Universe…