"Ugh." Dan Heng fell down.
Herta, hands on her hips, placed her hammer on the ground and looked at the fallen Dan Heng with a smug smile. "Hmph, making me put in so much effort."
"Damn it, if I had a thousand times more sensitivity..." Dan Heng, lying on the ground, shouted unwillingly.
Herta stepped over Dan Heng's body and continued moving towards her target.
Then, a second obstacle appeared.
It was Stelle!
Holding her Flame Lance, she stood firmly in the middle of the corridor, calmly watching Herta, a flicker of flame seemingly sparking in her eyes. She stood there like an unbreakable wall, exuding a heavy pressure.
Having witnessed the Preservation Aeon, Klipper, in person in the Simulated Universe today, her understanding of the power of preservation had deepened.
Although Klipper looked like a braised lion's head… that wasn't the point. The point was that Stelle had become stronger.
Especially in situations like this, where she needed to protect others, Stelle was confident that no one could pass her.
"Stop, Herta. No matter how many puppets you have, it's useless," Stelle said calmly, the air around her heating up and distorting as sparks began to appear.
Herta looked at the fierce-looking Stelle and revealed a confident smile. She suddenly pulled out a secret device prepared just for this situation.
"--!!" Stelle was shocked and quickly raised her huge Flame Lance in front of her like a sturdy shield.
After all, it was a device made by a member of the Genius Society; it should not be underestimated.
And then, she saw Herta take out a large briefcase.
Click.
The briefcase opened.
Inside was a whole case full of Stellar Jade.
The beautiful, colorful glow illuminated the entire corridor.
"Gulp..." Stelle heard herself swallow.
"This... is just a down payment." Herta smiled, elegantly extending her palm, showing just how heavy the contents of the briefcase were.
"You want to bribe me with money? This is an insult to me!"
That's what Stelle wanted to say.
But there was just too much of it.
"Pleasure doing business."
Herta and Stelle shook hands.
Then Stelle hopped away, carrying the briefcase with her.
After all, this chest of Stellar Jade needed to be protected too!
Even Klipper, seeing such an act of preservation, would probably have no objections.
"Hehehe... No one can stop Herta." Herta chuckled proudly.
Then, she finally reached Gu Tang's room door again.
"Sorry to bother you; I'm here to violate you," Herta laughed as she opened the door.
As the true owner of the Space Station, Herta's authority was limitless; a locked door was nothing to her.
However, what greeted her was an empty room.
"Huh?"
Herta was stunned.
She looked around and then noticed a small note on the table.
Herta picked up the note and read it.
**[Actually, the Express Crew is having a party today. We even invited Asta and Alan. Guess who wasn't invited?]**
**[Oh, by the way, Gu Tang is staying overnight on the train today. We're pulling an all-nighter gaming session, so don't wait up.]**
**[With the utmost respect, yours truly—Stelle]**
"..." Herta gritted her teeth and crumpled the note into a ball.
She grabbed her hammer, deciding to go and take that case of Stellar Jade back.
At this moment, her phone buzzed a few times.
Herta took out her phone and saw a picture sent by Stelle.
In the center of the photo was Gu Tang with a calm expression, making a V sign with his hands.
To his left was March 7th, smiling brightly with her hand on Gu Tang's shoulder, winking at the camera.
To his right was a smug Stelle, holding Gu Tang's waist and sticking her tongue out playfully at the camera.
Behind them was the dining car of the train, with a long table filled with all sorts of delicious food and soda.
Crack—!
Herta, in a fit of anger, crushed her phone directly.
---
---
**Gu Tang had a new invention.**
"An intelligence detector—" he lifted the device, dragging out the words like a certain cat-type parenting robot.
The so-called intelligence detector was actually a high-tech eyepiece worn over the right eye, with a semi-transparent display screen in front.
Simply look at a target, press the switch, and it would detect the target's intelligence. By the way, it could also increase the wearer's intelligence by 2 points.
"Very well, let's try it out." Gu Tang put on the detector.
First was March 7th.
"Hmm, March 7th's intelligence is 37, about what I expected," Gu Tang nodded.
Next was Dan Heng.
"Wow, Dan Heng's intelligence is actually 86. He's quite smart." Gu Tang looked at Dan Heng and marveled.
Noticing Gu Tang's gaze, Dan Heng looked over. "What's up, buddy?"
Swish!
Dan Heng's intelligence immediately dropped to around 15.
Gu Tang then tested it around the Space Station.
Sure enough, the staff who could work on Herta's Space Station were all quite intelligent.
Especially Asta; her intelligence was a whopping 97, the highest number Gu Tang had seen so far.
"Huh? I wonder what Herta's intelligence is?" Gu Tang suddenly thought.
So, he eagerly rushed into Herta's office.
Herta was standing in front of the Simulated Universe, concentrating on the data.
Without any greeting, Gu Tang began the detection.
And then, the numbers that popped up shocked Gu Tang.
"100,000... 150,000... 300,000... and still rising!" His eyes widened in surprise.
Bang!
The detector couldn't handle such high intelligence and exploded.
Fortunately, it was Gu Tang. Otherwise, an explosion near the eyes could be very dangerous.
"Hmph, that's all it can handle?" Herta immediately understood what Gu Tang had done.
She confidently patted her chest. "I can transform three more times, raising my intelligence dozens of times over."
"So strong! And transforming sounds really cool!" Gu Tang, for once, felt a tiny bit of respect for Herta.
"Pretty cool, right? If you want to see my three-stage transformation, come to my room tonight. I'll let you see it all," Herta winked teasingly.
The little bit of respect Gu Tang had for Herta disappeared.
"Herta, every time I want to give you a bit of respect, you start talking..." Gu Tang sighed.
Herta glanced at the time. "Oh, it's already this late. Ruan Mei is visiting the Space Station today. Come on, I'll take you to see her."
"Why?" Gu Tang was puzzled.
"Ruan Mei said she's very interested in you," Herta explained.
"If she's interested in me, shouldn't she come to see me?" Gu Tang shrugged.
Herta thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "You know, you make a good point... Alright, I'll bring her to you."
"Okay, I'll be waiting for you both in the research lab," Gu Tang nodded and left Herta's office.
Herta then began to think about something: "Ruan Mei is really bad at social interactions; what if they end up clashing..."
But soon, she dismissed such thoughts. "Not my problem."