Herta Space Station, Containment Zone.
This had originally been the place where scholars researched curios. Now, however, it stood deserted, as though it had been looted.
In the empty corridor, amid flickering lights, two figures — one tall and one short — suddenly appeared.
"So many Voidranger corpses. Silver Wolf, are you sure we teleported to the right spot?" asked the taller figure.
She had violet-red hair and matching eyes. She wore a white long-sleeved blouse beneath a black jacket patterned with spiderweb designs.
On her lower body, she wore tight black shorts, from which violet-red pantyhose extended, perfectly outlining the graceful curves of her legs.
Her asymmetrical black leather boots lent her an unexpectedly refined, urban elegance.
"Twenty minutes ago, the Antimatter Legion invaded this place. That's how the 'script' goes — shouldn't be wrong.
"But the station's people seem fairly capable. They cleaned things up pretty quickly."
The shorter figure blew a bubble with her gum — pop — and spoke with mild surprise.
She had silver-gray hair tied into a spiral ponytail and wore visor-like goggles resembling a display screen. Her black cropped jacket hung loosely open, revealing a black-and-white asymmetrical sports bra underneath.
Below her pale abdomen, she wore low-rise black fishnet shorts and sported trendy sneakers, giving off a distinctly modern vibe.
"These Voidrangers don't have any obvious external wounds. Feels like their consciousness was erased in an instant. Does the space station really have someone that powerful? Or was it Herta?"
The urban-elegant woman glanced at the fallen Voidrangers, her violet-red eyes flashing with surprise.
"The 'script' says Herta and her collaborators aren't on the station right now. Shouldn't be her.
"But Elio suddenly called and told us to act earlier than planned. Otherwise, the risk of being discovered would rise significantly. Maybe he was referring to the one who wiped out the Voidrangers."
The silver-haired girl speculated.
"In that case, why wasn't it written in the 'script'? Does someone truly exist that even Elio can't predict?" Kafka frowned slightly, puzzled.
"Don't overthink it. Let's just get the Stellaron first." Though she found it strange as well, Silver Wolf hadn't forgotten their mission.
"Right. Let's move." Kafka nodded lightly.
The two walked down the corridor toward their destination — Herta's collection room. At that very moment, a large number of Voidrangers suddenly appeared, surrounding them.
These Voidrangers resembled armored soldiers, but in truth they were mindless monsters. Wielding blades in both hands, they slashed toward the two women.
"So there are still some left…"
Kafka looked up at the Voidrangers while continuing to walk forward, making no move to retaliate.
The "script" had stated that they would be attacked by Voidrangers upon entering the station. As expected, it happened.
Just as the blades were about to touch them, the Voidrangers' bodies suddenly flickered with colorful pixel-like blocks.
Then, like matching three identical icons in a match-three game, they vanished instantly amid flashing visual effects.
"Such a convenient ability," Kafka remarked, glancing at Silver Wolf. "No matter how many times I see it, it still feels unbelievable."
"Aether Editing" — a mysterious technique that allowed reality to be modified like computer code.
Silver Wolf chewed her gum and blew another bubble — pop — then said casually:
"I hacked into the station and checked Herta's Curio catalog. I also marked our position. Judging by the distance, we'll have to pass through a few more rooms to reach where the Stellaron is."
"Can't we just teleport directly there?" Kafka asked curiously.
"The defense systems there are pretty complex. Teleporting in would require processing a lot more 'data.' By the time I finish that, we'd already have walked there."
Silver Wolf shook her head.
Even though "Aether Editing" allowed her to modify reality, it wasn't something that could arbitrarily rewrite everything.
The reason she could so easily teleport away the Voidrangers was simply because they were weaker than her.
When facing beings or objects stronger than herself, using "Aether Editing" to modify them would become far more troublesome and time-consuming.
For example, to teleport a Voidranger to some random location in outer space, she only needed to use "Aether" — a hypothetical medium capable of interfering with reality — to edit a "random teleportation command."
Then she would run the program, allowing "Aether" to begin altering reality, and finally apply the result to the Voidranger.
Since the Voidranger was weaker than her, it had little ability to resist Aether's modifications.
But teleporting herself and Kafka directly into Herta's Curio Storage Room would take much longer, because certain advanced defense systems could interfere with Aether's operation.
In that case, she would have to treat it like hacking into a computer system — spending extra time analyzing the defensive protocols before using Aether to perform a more precise teleportation.
"Alright then." Kafka nodded.
However, after only a few steps, more Voidrangers appeared ahead, blocking their path again. Left with no choice, Kafka sighed softly and drew her twin pistols.
"Then I suppose I'll contribute a little too."
The moment her words fell, her guns erupted with rapid-fire bursts — tat-tat-tat — spewing what seemed like endless bullets. In less than a minute, the Voidrangers in front of them were reduced to fragments.
For the two of them, such Voidrangers were hardly worth mentioning. They quickly cleared the area, and before long, arrived at Herta's Collection Room.
"Can you open it?" Kafka asked, looking at the tightly sealed door.
"Hmph. As long as it's electronic, there's no door I can't open!" Silver Wolf swiped her hand through the air, summoning a holographic keyboard, and swiftly tapped a few keys.
With a sharp click, the sealed door to the collection room unlocked and slid open automatically. Inside, display cases lined both sides of the chamber.
A baseball bat. A yellow pistol with eyes. Unidentified ore. And a Stellaron radiating golden light.
Kafka and Silver Wolf were immediately drawn to it.
Meanwhile, Nolan had been fighting in outer space. To prevent the aftermath of the battle from damaging anything nearby, he had directly dragged several Doomsday Beasts and the warships into the Void StarSea.
The disparity in strength was simply too great. Unsurprisingly, he dealt with them effortlessly.
After returning from the Void StarSea, Nolan extended his spiritual sense once more to check if any Voidrangers had been overlooked.
He discovered that some were indeed scattered across various sections — likely those that had teleported in at the very instant he dragged the warships and Doomsday Beasts into the Void StarSea.
However, it wasn't a major issue. Everyone had already retreated to the Master Control Zone, where the Security Department was concentrated in defense. With their forces gathered, these remaining Voidrangers posed little threat.
"Hm? Who are they? What are they doing in Herta's Collection Room?"
As his spiritual sense swept across the Containment Zone, Nolan detected something unusual.
(End of Chapter)
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