"Do you know who I am?"
Seeing that Asta still hadn't recognized him at this point, Su Ran couldn't help but feel like teasing the wealthy lady he'd always wanted to poach.
"I don't! But you should know who Lady Herta is, right?"
And of course, Asta had no reason to be polite to this unfamiliar man.
"To be honest, my talent could absolutely crush five Hertas."
"Lady Herta could beat a hundred of you!"
Hearing him insult her idol, Asta immediately shot back.
Lady Herta was a world-renowned inventor across the entire universe.
What right did this man have to claim he surpassed five Lady Hertas?
But as she spoke—and thought about it the anger on Asta's face slowly shifted into embarrassment.
Someone who could surpass Lady Herta…
In her memory, there was exactly one such person.
And that was someone Lady Herta herself had openly acknowledged.
"Y-You are… Mr. Su Ran?"
Asta's tone instantly did a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
From stern and cold to cautious, gentle, and respectful.
The drastic change left the surrounding researchers stunned.
They began whispering among themselves.
"Who is Su Ran?"
"I've never heard that name. Is he some famous scientist?"
Clearly, researchers of insufficient rank—far removed from Herta herself—had no right to even hear that name.
Even Asta normally wouldn't mention Su Ran, the newly inducted genius of the Genius Society, to people like them.
"I remember telling you I'm a very handsome guy, didn't I?
Is my face really not handsome enough?"
If there had been a mirror nearby, Su Ran would've seriously considered checking his reflection.
"Well… um…"
Asta felt extremely awkward now.
The colder and harsher she'd been earlier, the more awkward this moment became.
She'd walked straight into a minefield.
"That's really heartbreaking. I thought the moment I arrived, you'd recognize me at a glance—
just like when we first met, when you sensed my uniqueness immediately."
Su Ran clutched his chest, wearing a deeply wounded expression.
Watching this, even Yelan couldn't help but shout internally:
What a drama queen!
His flair for theatrics was as strong as ever.
On the other hand, Ningguang quietly let out a sigh of relief.
She'd genuinely thought that her first visit to a space station on another world would end with her being arrested.
From how things looked now, Su Ran's name still carried considerable weight.
"I'm terribly sorry. I… I might not have been fully awake today and failed to recognize you right away."
Asta felt miserable.
How could she have imagined that—without any warning Su Ran would just appear directly at Herta Space Station?
Normally, wouldn't he first hijack one of Lady Herta's puppets and send a notice?
If she'd known in advance, she could've prepared properly and welcomed such a distinguished guest.
Not confront him with drawn weapons.
As for trespassing?
How could the great Mr. Su Ran visiting Lady Herta's space station possibly be called trespassing?
"It's fine, little Asta~ I'll just complain about you to Herta."
Su Ran patted Asta's head soothingly.
Though that last sentence alone was enough to make one's vision go dark.
Was that comfort… or a threat?
Asta didn't know.
But she did know one thing: obedience was the correct answer.
As for punishment? That was fine too.
"I know I was wrong."
Just like Lady Herta, this genius had a very… unique personality.
The more you argued, the more excited he became.
Better to submit directly—it usually worked out better.
In Asta's eyes,he was just like Herta.
A good person!
"Knowing your mistakes and correcting them is a great virtue.
You're still young—there's still room for correction.
If it were Herta, though, even if she begged me, I wouldn't forgive her."
Asta listened to Su Ran's lecture in utter humiliation.
And this was happening in front of so many researchers.
She wanted to die.
Yet she still had to stand straight and take it.
"Mr. Su Ran… may I ask what arrangements bring you to Herta Space Station this time?"
She could only change the topic to ease the awkwardness.
Preferably by getting assigned some tasks.
Anything was better than this.
"Oh, I'm just bringing my rich benefactor here to broaden her horizons."
There was no need to specify which one was the "rich benefactor".
Asta recognized her instantly.
White hair, red eyes, long pale legs, beautiful—and among the three, only Ningguang carried the unmistakable aura of wealth and authority.
As for the other two, Asta didn't recognize them at all and assumed they were Su Ran's entourage.
"Hello, my name is Asta. I'm the station master of Herta Space Station."
Asta stepped forward and extended her right hand to Ningguang.
"…I'm Ningguang, station master of Su Ran's space station."
Ningguang shook her hand in return.
At the same time, she was shocked by how young Asta was.
In her eyes, this girl looked about the same age as Keqing.
Yet she'd already encountered such an extraordinary fate.
"Asta, take Ningguang on a tour of Herta Space Station and explain the station's management methods to her."
Su Ran casually assigned Asta a task—
completely at home, as if this were his own place.
Hearing she had work to do, Asta felt immediate relief.
"Understood. I'll explain everything in detail."
Her swift agreement surprised Ningguang.
Normally, this kind of thing involved trade secrets, operational systems, corporate culture—
even between close partners, people wouldn't casually share such information.
At least, Ningguang would never reveal her own business secrets to Keqing.
To her, this Miss Asta seemed… almost too naive.
What Ningguang didn't know was that Asta simply didn't care.
Because the most important thing about Herta Space Station wasn't how it was run—
it was the name Herta itself.
Did any so-called secrets here outweigh a single word from Lady Herta?
More importantly, this place wasn't a business.
There were no commercial secrets.
At most, there were technological ones.
And in front of Su Ran, those "secrets" were worth nothing.
If anything, having their research published by a genius like him would be a blessing from heaven.
Kneeling down to thank him would be perfectly normal.
"Yelan, you come along too. Ningguang is my rich benefactor— it'd be weird if she didn't have at least one attendant."
Being officially labeled as Ningguang's attendant, Yelan accepted the arrangement with pleasure.
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