“Strange. Why do I feel so uneasy?”
Little Herta sat in the pilot’s seat with a slight frown.
She had no idea Herta was right behind her.
She only felt an inexplicable prickling sensation, like the way a Human felt when getting goosebumps.
She promptly used the ship’s sensors to scan the surroundings.
Aside from Herta Space Station receding into the distance, the empty universe contained no ships that might be pursuers.
“It must be all in my head.”
Little Herta ultimately dismissed the uneasy feeling as psychological and activated the ship’s jump drive, preparing to select a jump route.
“Where should I go?”
Once she opened the route interface, a densely packed list of jump routes appeared on the screen.
She began considering the destination of her first stop.
“I suggest avoiding planets and factions controlled by the Interastral Peace Corporation.”
“Good suggestion. The Interastral Peace Corporation has dealings with Herta. Those people would definitely expose my whereabouts to curry favor with her. Major cosmic powers like the Xianzhou Alliance are out too. That leaves chaotic regions or planets cut off from the rest of the universe for some reason…”
Little Herta’s fingers flew across the ship’s control panel.
She eliminated the routes on the screen one after another until only one name remained:
“You’re the one, Jarilo-VI!”
In the end, Little Herta chose Jarilo-VI, which was still cut off from the universe because of the Stellaron.
The reason was simple.
Every faction connected to the wider universe knew of Herta, so even if she avoided factions affiliated with the Corporation, she would inevitably leave behind some clues.
Jarilo-VI was different.
It had already lost contact with the universe.
No ordinary person would ever imagine that she would visit an isolated planet.
Moreover, she knew that Sampo, a Masked Fool capable of interstellar travel despite the Stellaron’s presence, was on Jarilo-VI.
As long as she abandoned the ship there, found Sampo, and left Jarilo-VI through him, then…
Even if Herta somehow determined that she had gone to Jarilo-VI from among all those routes, she would never be able to track her down from the few clues left behind!
‘I’m so smart.
It’s just a shame I’m the only one here, so I can’t share this idea with anyone else.’
‘Wait.
If I’m the only one here, who gave me that suggestion just now?’
Just before initiating the jump, Little Herta finally realized something was wrong.
“Would you care to tell this ‘old~witch~’ why you chose that planet?”
Herta herself stood behind her, smiling pleasantly.
Her smile was exceptionally radiant, yet it somehow seemed to radiate an aura of death.
Without hesitation, thought, or delay, Little Herta slammed her hand down on the quantum jump device.
Blue light flashed, and then…
She was still standing exactly where she had been.
Activating the Quantum Tide detection function in her visor, she discovered that every quantum state within the ship’s vicinity had been fixed through observation.
In other words, her quantum jump had been blocked.
Once she confirmed this, Little Herta leaped out of the chair and prepared to flee.
Before she could take a single step, however, Herta waved her hand, and a transparent, glasslike cage descended over her.
Little Herta tapped the special force-field cage trapping her, then turned around with a strained smile.
“Um… Can we reconcile, Mom?”
“Oh? You’re not calling me an ‘old~witch~’ anymore?”
Herta asked with a smile.
“How could I ever call a genius Damselette like you—someone blessed with wisdom and beauty, youth and grace, magnanimity, a pure heart, and boundless kindness—such a thing?”
Little Herta took half a step back and leaned against the cage’s transparent force field, secretly tapping the barrier twice with the hands behind her back.
“Well said. It would be even better if you meant it.”
As though she hadn’t noticed Little Herta’s subtle movements, Herta maintained her “radiant” smile and said,
“I’ll give you two choices. Turn off the ‘Unreasonable Module’ yourself, or let me physically shut it down for you.”
With that, Herta gripped her key-shaped Staff and pointed it at Little Herta.
Her beautiful face, still “warm and radiant” a microsecond ago, instantly collapsed into bone-chilling fury.
Her beautiful eyes, normally filled with intelligence, now looked as though she wanted to swallow Little Herta alive.
“Um… Is there a third option?”
“What do you think?”
“Then before that, could the beautiful and kind you answer one question for me?”
Little Herta’s hands continued feeling around the cage barrier behind her.
From her brief contact with it, the barrier didn’t seem particularly sturdy.
“Ask.”
“Was this cage’s durability calibrated for the old me or the current me?”
“What?!”
In that momentary lapse, Little Herta got her answer.
She suddenly erupted into action, shattering the cage with one punch before leaping high toward Herta with her tiny fist raised.
Herta had no idea that Little Herta’s Stats had now increased by 2,350%.
This cage had been designed for her when her Stats had only increased by 250%.
‘Her body has grown stronger again?!’
The moment Little Herta shattered the cage, Herta understood the situation.
Faced with Little Herta charging toward her, she hurriedly erected a honeycomb-shaped protective barrier composed of hexagons.
Yet in the next instant, Little Herta didn’t throw the punch Herta expected.
Instead, she swung her clenched hand and tossed twenty empty packets of Qiaoqiao Snacks onto Herta’s defensive barrier.
“Bye-bye!”
As the packets obscured Herta’s view, Little Herta planted one foot on the barrier and sprang backward.
Crossing her arms protectively over her head, she shot toward the ship’s wall like an anti-air missile.
Boom—
The ship shook violently as Little Herta smashed straight through its metal wall and hurtled into the vacuum of space.
‘That little brat!’
Herta steadied herself aboard the shaking ship.
Air rapidly escaped through the breach into the vacuum, but she remained calm and tapped the floor with the key in her hand.
The next instant, she vanished and reappeared outside the ship, directly in Little Herta’s path.
As a genius, surviving or fighting in space posed no difficulty for her.
Little Herta, however, had no intention of fighting Herta in space.
The instant Herta appeared to block her way, Little Herta pulled a face at her and activated the quantum jump device in her hand.
She had already left the quantum-collapse anchoring field Herta had established around the ship!
This time, blue light symbolizing quantum energy flashed, and she vanished.
Herta Space Station.
The moment the ship stolen by Little Herta took off and fled Herta Space Station, Arlan immediately began organizing a pursuit.
★ ★ ★
T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!