March 7th took many photos of Stelle, in which Stelle could be seen squeezing into all sorts of strange places.
No matter how one looked at them, those places shouldn't have hidden anything valuable, yet she always managed to pull out shiny trinkets from them.
This was probably where Xiu often found himself perplexed—he completely failed to understand Stelle's treasure-hunting logic, and even less why this universe always loved to stuff 'treasures' into all sorts of nooks and crannies, as if specifically waiting for her to bestow her presence.
Other gold-panning teams also tried to imitate Stelle's approach, specifically going to dig through these nooks and crannies.
Although some teams did make a small profit this way, more of them lost their shirts.
The only one who could consistently do this and still profit was Stelle.
She and trash cans shared an inexplicable bond.
She... must be the Queen of Trash Cans (confirmed).
Of the trio, Stelle was the happiest to arrive here.
As early as on the Space Station, when she heard 882 explain the rules of the Interstellar Gold Panner, she had shown a surprised expression, as if saying, "What do you mean I get paid for digging through trash cans?"
March 7th's photos faithfully recorded all of this; many shots were even happily blurred due to the protagonist's overly fast movements, leaving only a cheerful afterimage.
Happily blurred.
Besides Stelle, March 7th took many atmospheric photos on Beta Star.
As for Dan Heng, he silently traversed the ruins, trying to piece together the past of this planet's old civilization from the direction of energy pipelines and even fragments of residents' daily utensils, before the war happened.
Some of his research findings now quietly rested in Beta Star's newly built museum, becoming a cornerstone for the new civilization to understand Beta Star's history.
They also left their mark of exploration on Beta Star—the Anchor Points.
After happily admiring Stelle's photos, Xiu also finished tallying the supplies Stelle brought back. With this latest haul, the point gap between Stelle's team and the second-place team once again widened by a tiny bit.
It's estimated that no one will be able to surpass the Galactic Bat Hero's record for the next few decades.
However, Stelle only exchanged a portion of the supplies for Credit Points; the rest were exchanged for points here and stored.
Although Stelle said that this was "saving money here, "
Bai Luan knew that it was merely an excuse to help the new civilization on Beta Star.
Perhaps for Stelle, leaving behind the legend of the Galactic Bat Hero in the Interstellar Gold Rush activity on Beta Star was far more interesting than Credit Points.
Stelle said with a lingering reluctance:
"These days have been really fun, but unfortunately, we have to go."
Hearing this, Bai Luan cast an inquiring glance at Dan Heng.
Dan Heng immediately explained:
"We recently received a text message from Ms. Himeko, reminding us that the Penacony grand event is about to begin, and we should pay attention to our travel arrangements."
"Simply put—"
March 7th took over, translating in her unique way.
"It's a reminder that we should go back to the train! If the train departs and someone isn't there, everyone has to wait for him. At that point, you'd better pray you have a legitimate reason for being late, otherwise..."
March 7th stated the serious consequences with a solemn expression:
"Not only will Pom-Pom nag you relentlessly, but you'll also feel very guilty."
"I see. Well then, I wish you a safe journey."
Bai Luan understood.
"Speaking of which, I also received an invitation to Penacony. Perhaps we'll meet again there."
"Eh?! You're going too?"
March 7th blinked.
"But then again, given your status, it would be strange if you didn't receive an invitation."
At this moment, Bai Luan's phone rang; his previously booked flight had arrived.
"My flight has arrived; I'll be leaving first."
Bai Luan waved goodbye to his companions, then boarded the flight leaving Beta Star... After a period of travel, Bai Luan arrived at the Space Station platform.
The moment the spacecraft stabilized, Bai Luan stood up from his seat and stretched.
He was home.
Bai Luan walked out of the spacecraft, then froze in place.
He saw a familiar figure standing below the Space Station platform.
Herta, at this moment, was looking up at him.
To be honest, the moment he saw Herta, Bai Luan was very touched.
But the emotion quickly faded.
Because Bai Luan realized that Herta might not be there to pick him up.
Logically speaking, the one coming to pick him up should have been a Herta Puppet.
But this time, standing on the Space Station platform was the genuine Herta herself.
Herta herself coming to pick him up... this was not a scene that would normally occur.
Now that Herta was standing on the platform, it meant... something might have happened during his absence... Could it be... could it be... that the gold and gears DLC he secretly developed had been discovered by Herta?
As this thought emerged, Bai Luan felt a pang of despair.
No, no, no... he couldn't be so pessimistic yet.
Given Herta's personality, if she had discovered the DLC he made, she should have immediately pulled him back to work on the Simulated Universe Project.
Bai Luan, with a trembling heart, walked down from the spacecraft.
Herta's reason for being here was simple.
She was here to pick up Bai Luan, it was that simple.
After the previous incident, which made her realize that if Bai Luan wanted to leave, other geniuses would be scrambling to get him, she decided to raise Bai Luan's priority with her.
Look, the effect of this small change was quite significant; the emotion that appeared on her assistant's face the moment he saw her couldn't be faked.
But... why did that emotion fade so quickly?
And what was with that expression?
Bai Luan walked down from the spacecraft and came to Herta's side.
Herta was the first to speak:
"What's with that expression? Why do you look so scared?"
"Things like picking people up are usually done by a Herta Puppet. Your presence here likely means something happened to the Space Station."
"Heh, you think quite a lot. With this genius here, what could happen to the Space Station?"
"Like the kitchen exploding."
"..."
Herta reached out and pulled Bai Luan's face.
"I've noticed that every time you go out, you get a little bolder. Every time you come back and see me, you like to crack a little joke."
Bai Luan let her pull, saying:
"One must grow after going out, right? Otherwise, if I was like this before going out, and still like this after going out, wouldn't I have gone out for nothing?"
Herta smiled at his words and withdrew her hand.
"Normally, when I get off the spacecraft, I turn my head and see you. Today, this genius just wanted to see your perspective."
Bai Luan was stunned, then asked:
"So you really just came to pick me up?"
"Otherwise?"
Bai Luan breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling unburdened.
That's great, the simulated universe DLC he secretly made wasn't exposed.
"Ms. Herta, how do you feel?"
"Seeing you makes me quite happy."
Oh, my goodness, what a heartwarming answer.
He felt a warmth in his corpse.
After saying this, Herta turned and left the platform, with Bai Luan following behind her.
"Why did you take so long this time?"
Bai Luan recalled what he had done these past few days.
Bringing down an organization that spanned an entire planet.
Dismantling over twenty million bombs.
Implanting the Spark code into Ailu, removing the negative effects of the Entropy Machina, helping Somatic move past its past, preparing gifts for two Galaxy Ranger... Hmm, it seems there's nothing Herta would be interested in.
"Ms. Herta, you know me; I like to be thorough with my work, so I took a little more time."
"Is that so?"
Herta turned her head and glanced at Bai Luan.
"I think you were slacking off more."
"Uh..."
Bai Luan coughed lightly, a little embarrassed.
"Slacking off... I did slack off for a little while."
Bai Luan extended his right hand, using his thumb and forefinger to show a tiny distance, his tone certain.
"But only a tiny bit."