Chapter 194: Why Rob When You Can Just Cling to a Rich Lady's Leg?
"Alright, this is all I can give you for now."
She pulled out twelve spare puppets from her desk drawer and threw them to Caelus and Stelle, waving her small hand as if an adult busy with work was shooing away mischievous children:
"Now go take the puppets and play elsewhere; I don't have time for you anymore."
"Let me inspect the goods first."
Caelus walked over to two of the puppets, lifted their black skirts, and checked their anthropomorphic details.
"..."
Herta immediately put on an expression of disgust. She watched as Stelle also ran towards the puppets to inspect them, even sticking her head under a skirt.
Even if Caelus treated the puppets as Holy Grails behind her back, Herta wouldn't particularly care, but doing such a thing in front of her felt like a provocation, instantly igniting her anger.
"You two, two, two..."
"Two, two, two what?"
Caelus looked at Herta.
This old woman is really cute.
At such an old age, she couldn't even swear, clearly a research-obsessed shut-in busy with experiments every day, who hadn't developed the good habit of sending entire family trees to heaven.
Even if Herta learned C-language and the 'Family Tree Ascension Art,' it wouldn't matter, since Caelus and Stelle's family trees currently consisted only of themselves.
"You two nobodies! Nobodies! Nobodies!"
"Thank you for your reward, Lady Herta."
Hearing this, Stelle immediately poked her head out from under a puppet's skirt, her golden eyes squinting with an expression of enjoyment.
Herta: "?"
Is this one crazy?
Why is she happy after being insulted?
Herta tried to understand.
Herta could not understand.
Terrifying.
Herta chased the two "gray-hairs" out of her office.
"Big harvest, big harvest!"
Stelle, having been kicked out, didn't mind Herta's rough actions one bit, gleefully hugging the puppet next to her.
"I wonder what Herta City is like."
It would be one thing not to know, but now that he knew a place like Herta City existed, Caelus would definitely choose to go there!
Caelus hadn't expected Herta to possess over 110,000 puppets, with the number constantly growing.
Among them, the standard Herta, or Herta puppets from her maiden period, numbered only about twenty to thirty thousand; the rest were of other types.
If the standard type was called "Little Herta," then Herta puppets with the physique of a four or five-year-old would be "Young Herta."
Miniature Hertas, ranging from egg-sized to soda can-sized, were "Tiny Herta," or "Micro-Herta."
The smallest Hertas, from keyboard cap-sized to fingertip-sized, could be called "Nano-Herta."
Micro-Hertas and Nano-Hertas could assist in both cooking and experiments.
Being small, they used less material, and production was naturally higher.
There were also various other special Herta models.
Unfortunately, the space station only had the standard "Little Hertas."
So, Caelus decided to take a few "Little Hertas" from the space station first, and then, when Herta had time, she would take him to Herta City to pick other types of puppets.
"Caelus, let's head back to the train." Stelle hugged two Hertas with her left hand and three with her right.
"Wait, there's one more important thing."
"What?" Stelle tilted her head in confusion.
"Ugh!"
Every man's dream is to lie in the arms of a beautiful, rich woman and hear her say, "You've worked hard enough, now cry it out. I'll take care of you from now on."
Especially when this beautiful, rich woman is cosmic-level!
At Herta Space Station, Caelus and Stelle each led six Herta puppets, becoming a spectacular sight that left the staff members who saw them dumbfounded.
Naturally, frantic photo-taking and short essays posted online stirred up a thousand waves, causing the entire space station to boil with excitement, as the "anti-fans" wailed and screamed.
"Damn it, Caelus, someone's slandering us!"
Stelle, having completed tasks as a "tool person," and also being in the space station's Hater Fan Club, now saw a post someone had made in the group chat.
[The Unspeakable Stellaron Monsters Have Stolen Our Esteemed Lady Herta!]
"A straight body fears no crooked shadow; ignore them."
Having assisted Herta in research for a long time, although there was no sunrise or sunset inside the space station, divided by time periods, it was now off-duty time.
It didn't take long for Caelus to find Sister Asta's room and gently knock on the door.
"Sister Asta, open the door, I've brought you gifts."
"Is that Caelus? One moment, I'm coming!"
Sister Asta's somewhat boisterous voice came from behind the room door, which was soon pulled open a crack, and the pink-haired girl stepped out.
As soon as she stepped out, Sister Asta's eyes immediately widened.
"Just come to play, why bring gifts...!!!"
"This, this is!"
Sister Asta first stared blankly at the twelve Herta puppets behind Caelus and Stelle, then her eyes lit up.
"These are our spoils of war."
Under Sister Asta's surprised gaze, Caelus pushed two Herta puppets towards her.
"Here, as promised, these two puppets are for you."
"Really? Really?! Both for me? Caelus, I love you to death!"
They had only agreed on one before, but Caelus unexpectedly gave her two. Sister Asta excitedly took the long-coveted Herta puppets and hugged them tightly.
At this moment, completely abandoning her lady-like image, the pink-haired girl chuckled mischievously, rubbing her face against the puppet girls in her arms:
"Hehe, Herta, my Herta puppets, so small, so fragrant..."
"Sister Asta, I also have some, these two are for you."
Hearing Sister Asta's "I love you to death," Stelle's eyes lit up, and she immediately pushed two Herta puppets forward as well.
"Really? Really?!"
Although the actual value of the puppets wasn't extremely high, genuine Herta puppets weren't something money could buy; they were priceless and unavailable on the market. Getting four at once felt like a dream.
Seeing the rich lady so happily appeased, Caelus nodded contentedly and friendly offered a reminder:
"Sister Asta, I suggest you wash these puppets before using them. They're spare puppets, and I don't know if they've been maintained."
"Use?"
Sister Asta blinked, somewhat bewildered.
How do you use a puppet?
Stelle looked pitifully at Sister Asta: Where's my love? Why aren't you saying you love me!
Damn Caelus!
Stelle angrily hammered Caelus with her head, then looked at the rich lady: "Speaking of which, Sister Asta, you really do admire Herta, don't you?"
Sister Asta smiled cheerfully and said, "Heh, for me, Lady Herta is a very important person. If Lady Herta hadn't brought me to the space station, as the only daughter in my family, I would probably already be inheriting the family fortune."
Stelle: "..."
Caelus: "..."
"I'm sorry, but it's really hard to empathize with that kind of trouble."
After chatting with Sister Asta for two hours, amidst laughter, the food was finished, and both hosts and guests were thoroughly entertained.
Caelus then planned to say goodbye and return to the train.
"Wait, limited edition Star Destroyers are currently on sale, and I just placed an order for some small gifts. Although they're nothing compared to Lady Herta's puppets, you absolutely must accept them."
"Billions of small gifts, huh."
Stelle looked at the small mountain of gifts being brought in by a space station transport vehicle and just thought, "This 'soft rice' smells so good!"
"Come visit again when you have time!" Sister Asta enthusiastically saw the two off.
After returning to her room, Sister Asta eagerly embraced the Herta puppets and threw herself onto the bed, rolling around on the large bed with gurgling sounds.
"Hehe, Lady Herta's puppets are so cute."
Suddenly, Sister Asta remembered what Caelus had told her.
"Spare puppets, huh? I'll have to take good care of them. And if I'm going to maintain them, well, taking their clothes off can't be helped, right!"
Astral Express, Observation Car.
Himeko sat comfortably on the sofa, crossing her beautiful legs, her fair hand stirring carefully ground and brewed coffee with a white porcelain spoon.
On a table not far from the sofa, metal parts were meticulously arranged on a linen tablecloth. Welt stood beside the table with a serious expression.
Just as he had calibrated the Star of Eden's energy trajectory back then, Old Yang's pupils behind his lenses narrowed into sharp arcs of light, his spine leaned slightly forward, and the creases of his shirt stretched taut over his shoulder blades like two tight strings. Even his breathing became so light it was almost imperceptible.
When a 0.1-millimeter error appeared in the interlocking joint of a 1:144 scale mecha shoulder armor, his brow would suddenly furrow, as grave as if witnessing a crack appear in a train car.
Welt's expression was grave and serious, his gaze focused, as he meticulously processed the parts with professional tools, each movement imbued with almost ritualistic concentration.
"LOL, Awoo~ We're back!"
First, the sound of a door being kicked open with a 'bang!', then a cheerful, somewhat cheeky voice echoed through the car.
The sudden, unexpected "awoo" startled Himeko, causing her hand holding the coffee to jolt, and the momentary tremor made two drops of coffee splash out of the cup.
Fortunately, Himeko reacted quickly, preventing the brown liquid from landing on her white dress lining.
Himeko's leisurely smile subtly stiffened. She looked with a "nuclear-kindness" gaze at the two "gray-hairs" who boisterously burst out of the teleportation room.
The two "gray-hairs" strode with an arrogant gait, exuding a bold spirit as if they could drink mountains and rivers, their faces beaming with joy like fortunate Liangshan heroes who had just ambushed the Emperor for a rich haul at the foot of the mountain.
Himeko's eyebrow twitched. The "nuclear-kindness" faded from her charming face, replaced instantly by an expression of bewilderment.
"You two... what have you done?"
Old Yang, who was fully focused on assembling his model, flinched from Stelle's shout, causing a model part to drop to the floor. After bending down to pick it up, he turned towards the direction of the voice, his face also filled with astonishment and disbelief.
"What's going on? Did you rob the space station?"
Caelus and Stelle were covered in large and small bags of gifts. From the packaging alone, they all appeared to be high-end inter-galactic brands, worth a considerable sum.
But that wasn't the main point.
The main point was that both of them were wearing... well, let's provisionally call them "exoskeleton suits" or "armor" structures.
What made Himeko's expression strange was precisely that exoskeleton armor, which was constructed from several Herta puppets.
The Herta puppets' skin was undoubtedly as smooth and tender as a real girl's, and their puppet features were deliberately preserved at the joints so that people could recognize them as puppets at a glance.
The Herta puppets' elbow joints were twisted into positions beyond the limits of human flexibility. Stelle used hinge joints to snap several Herta puppets together, and their legs were also inverted, bent at a 180-degree angle as if broken by a normal person.
Welt looked at the scene and felt a sense of toothache.
Even for ordinary people, this sight was rather grotesque, let alone for him, a mecha enthusiast.
"What are you talking about, Old Yang, robbery? Petty robbery is nowhere near as quick to make money as clinging to a rich lady's leg!"
Unable to put her hands on her hips because Herta's puppet heads were hanging on her chest, Stelle proudly puffed out her chest. She had one Herta head on her small head and another below her chin, serving as a breastplate and helmet.
Dan Heng, walking out of the passenger car, seemed to doubt his method of opening the door after seeing this scene. He stared expressionlessly at Caelus and Stelle, took a step back, closed the door, and then opened it again.
Only after confirming that there was nothing wrong with his mind or eyes did he walk into the Observation Car.
Although he remained expressionless for now, his twitching eye corner revealed his inability to contain his emotions.
"That's right, that's right. Robbery is nowhere near as quick as clinging to a rich lady."
Slightly hampered in movement by the Herta puppet mecha, with fists like vegetable buds that would make Yoshikage Kira get an erection wrapped around his arms, Caelus swept his hand forward, and large bags of gifts appeared.
"Come, come, these are all gifts for everyone."
"Rich lady..."
Himeko took a sip of coffee to calm herself. "These things were all given to you by Sister Asta? Why did she suddenly send you so many gifts?"
"I think it's probably related to the Herta puppets,"
Dan Heng silently reached out and pointed at the Herta puppets on Caelus and Stelle.
"Hehe, these are the rewards we received for our hard work in testing."
Stelle's head was held a little higher, making her look utterly triumphant.
"What hard work are you talking about? I was the one carrying everything, and I was also helping with the mask research later. I want two-thirds of the puppets."
Caelus reached out to grab the Herta puppet on Stelle.
"Get away from me!"
Stelle, very possessively, stepped back a few paces, threatening Caelus: "Caelus, are you going to break the ancestral law of equal division?"
Stelle, retreating to the side of the table, casually placed a large bag of gifts on the sofa.
"We gave Sister Asta four Herta puppets, and these are her return gifts to us."
"Then what's with the Herta puppets on your bodies?" Himeko's gaze was quite subtle.
Stelle blinked her big eyes innocently and said:
"Because there were too many gifts, we couldn't carry them all, so we temporarily played 'fusion' like this, which allowed us to bring everything back at once!"
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