Derick continued to control clone number two, heading in the direction Stellie, March 7th, and the others had gone.
However, he didn't dare get too close, worried about being caught. So, after Derick controlled clone number two to follow for a distance, he discovered something.
Although his scythe was out of sight, he could still sense it. He had a feeling when it was stolen, but after a certain distance separated them, the connection between them grew weaker and weaker.
This feeling made Derick aware that he could summon it back at any time.
Simultaneously, after the scythe was a certain distance away from him, it would also return to his side. Derick estimated the scythe's range; it was roughly the size of the entire Herta Space Station. Within this distance, Derick could lend the scythe to others for use at any time.
Since he could retrieve it at any time, Derick wasn't in a hurry for now. He would wait until there were more people around before revealing himself, lest Dan Heng send him flying into space with a single strike of Cloud-Piercer.
Derick began to explore the surroundings, and at this moment, he discovered that a few more wandering Voidrangers had appeared behind clone number two.
Well, more who want to follow me, right? Then come on.
Seeing their movements, Derick didn't hesitate and brought them along.
Various ways of goofing off...
In the monitoring room, the researchers who had seen Derick's number two clone disappear from the monitors had just regained a bit of their sanity.
"It's best if it dies inside the space station later, so we don't have to worry about it," the researchers muttered under their breath.
However, they had barely relaxed when Derick's number two clone reappeared on the surveillance screens. And when it appeared on the monitor, it had even more Voidrangers behind it, and it wasn't letting those Voidrangers cause any destruction to the surroundings.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Seeing this situation, the researchers let out a collective wail of despair.
The door to the control room opened, and a girl with pink hair walked in, tilting her head and asking quizzically, "What's going on with you all? Why are you making such noises? Did you encounter a strong enemy?"
Seeing this girl, the researchers quieted their wails.
"It's like this..." a researcher said while showing the surveillance footage to Asta, the director of the Herta Space Station.
Asta curiously stepped forward and leaned in to look at the screen.
Watching the dark figure on the screen leading a troop of Antimatter Legion around without causing destruction, Asta's eyes revealed a puzzled expression.
"What is this situation?"
"We don't know," the researchers shook their heads in unison.
"Well then, it seems we should find a way to capture it and study it thoroughly," Asta said, her tone full of curiosity.
"This time, I definitely won't let these guys who invaded the space station leave smoothly."
She clenched her fists, thinking to herself.
Subsequently, she continued to contact other personnel in the space station, to prevent these Antimatter Legion forces from successfully escaping.
Derick still didn't know that Asta was already preparing to surround and intercept him at this moment.
If he had known, he would have immediately rushed over to throw himself into the net.
I've been wandering around here for so long, and I'm waiting for you guys to come and catch me.
However, although Derick didn't know these things, it was coming soon.
The number of Voidrangers following behind Derick was increasing.
There were even two Tramplers, Voidrangers who acted as vanguard cavalry, among them.
These two were very strong, and on the surface, they didn't look weaker than Derick's number two clone. They wanted to compare strength with Derick's number two clone, but after being thoroughly beaten by Derick's number two clone, they also behaved themselves.
They quietly followed behind Derick's number two clone.
This group from the Antimatter Legion wandered around and finally bumped into people from the Herta Space Station.
Seeing others appear again, Derick was still a little surprised, afraid that it would be a group of researchers with no strength to even truss a chicken.
But fortunately, those who appeared were not ordinary researchers, but people who had specifically come to find them, these Antimatter Legion members.
At the head was a short, white-haired youth.
Asta's guard girl, the head of Herta Space Station's Defense Section—Arlan.
"Before I transmigrated, how long was Arlan a warehouse keeper in the warehouse? Apart from the newbie Trailblazer period, after I pulled that 'urban district welder', I haven't seen him. I didn't expect to actually meet him here looking like this."
Derick looked at Arlan, thinking to himself.
At the same time, looking at Arlan's youthful height, he thought that if he weren't a bit taller now, his height might have been comparable to Kafka's.
As for now, his height was a bit taller than Arlan's.
"Grow a bit more, a bit more, I can still grow a bit more."
Derick thought to himself at this moment.
Arlan picked up his weapon, looking at the bare-handed, pitch-black humanoid monster and the Antimatter Legion members behind it.
And at this moment, after seeing living people, the Antimatter Legion members couldn't suppress their desire to destroy. The two Tramplers were already charging up, preparing to attack the Defense Section and the members behind Arlan.
Arlan assumed a defensive posture.
Then, at this very moment, Derick controlled his clone to make its move.
Clenching both fists, he punched out simultaneously at the two Tramplers that were charging up.
One punch for each, accurately interrupting their charge-up. Because the two Tramplers' charge-up was interrupted, their accumulated energy exploded. The two Tramplers didn't even get to attack before they were killed by Derick.
Moreover, this violent explosion even affected the Voidrangers behind them.
The Voidrangers also suffered heavy losses.
Derick's number two clone wasn't without losses. He had taken the brunt of this explosion at close range, and both his arms were blown off, looking extremely miserable.
Seeing this situation, Arlan was completely stunned.
Never heard of a mole existing within the Antimatter Legion? What's the deal with this pitch-black monster? It led the Antimatter Legion, and then when it encountered us, it directly turned around and wiped out the Antimatter Legion.
Even if it wanted to surrender and show us its loyalty, it wouldn't do it like this!
Arlan looked completely dumbfounded.
He had been the head of Herta Space Station's Defense Section for quite some time. If not well-versed, he at least had a general understanding of various scenarios.
But this current situation, he truly hadn't expected.
"You guys go deal with those Voidrangers. This one, I'll keep an eye on it," Arlan thought for a moment and said to the Defense Section members behind him.
The Defense Section personnel reluctantly went to deal with the Voidrangers.
Fortunately, those Voidrangers, currently suffering from the explosion, were even more dazed than they were. With almost no resistance, they were dealt with by the Defense Section members.
Now, only Derick's number two clone remained here.
"How should this be handled?" Arlan wasn't sure now either.
Especially after discovering that the pitch-black monster before him, whose arms had been blown off just now, had already recovered.
This recovery ability...
Arlan thought to himself.
And at this moment, Derick controlled clone number two to come behind Arlan, crossing its arms in front of its chest, assuming a posture of waiting for his command.
Come on, hurry up, quickly get me to the lab. You guys definitely can't experiment on me much, then you can report it to Herta. When even Herta can't study me, then it should be Ruan Mei's turn to take over.
Ruan Mei's movements are so mysterious. To contact her, this is the only way.
Seeing Derick's clone being so cooperative, Arlan's expression became even more silent.
He really wanted to say, "Bro, do you want to fight me? If we fight a bit, I'll know what to do next." But Derick controlled his clone to stand motionless, just silently watching Arlan.
Arlan scratched his head.
"How should this be handled?" a nearby Defense Section researcher asked.
"I... I don't know either." Arlan scratched his head. "Let's wait for the Director and the others to come before deciding."
It was better to leave such matters to the professionals; he shouldn't get involved.
"Yes."
The researchers nodded in unison.
But they all still looked at Derick's number two clone with wary eyes.
Its behavior was truly too strange.
Just then, the entire space station experienced a violent tremor. Arlan's footing faltered, and several of the Defense Section researchers beside him even fell directly.
At the same time, Derick sensed that the scythe of his number two clone was currently engaged in a fierce confrontation, seemingly clashing head-on with some powerful enemy.
This situation, are they fighting the Doomsday Beast?
Derick thought.
Thinking about the plot in the game, several people fought the Doomsday Beast, and at the last moment, Stellie took a full-force attack from the Doomsday Beast.
Thinking of this, Derick instantly perked up.
How could those few attacks just now demonstrate my clone's immortality? I have to pull off a real stunt!
In the current space station, apart from Herta—that malignant tumor—what else can demonstrate my body's immortality?
Feeling the vibrations intensify, Derick no longer hesitated, controlling his number two clone to immediately run towards where the Doomsday Beast was.
Seeing the monster, which had been waiting obediently, immediately run towards that direction after feeling the vibrations, Arlan instantly perked up.
So you were waiting for this moment to run, huh? Perfect, I'll catch you.
Derick controlled clone number two, running in front, with Arlan chasing behind. And behind Arlan, those Defense Section researchers were still panting and following.
But after a while, these researchers couldn't keep up with Arlan and Derick's movements and were gradually left behind.
Only Derick's number two clone and Arlan remained in the chase.
One chasing, one fleeing, they arrived at the platform.
A huge Doomsday Beast appeared on the platform.
This was a terrifying war machine forged by the Antimatter Legion, based on the fragments of an ancient beast of twilight, and ignited by the myriad eons of silent fury from the war furnace. It played a significant role in the Antimatter Legion's invasions of worlds.
Derick had seen it; he felt that although its body was enormous, its strength should be somewhat inferior to the Titan of Discord, Nikador.
If Derick's main body were here, soloing the Doomsday Beast wouldn't be a big problem. But now, with only his number two clone present, he could only demonstrate his durability to everyone.
Below the Doomsday Beast, Stellie, Dan Heng, March 7th, and a red-haired, maturely beautiful woman were continuously attacking it.
Is... is that Himeko?
She, like the others, is even more beautiful than her in-game model.
Continuing to watch the battlefield, Stellie held a baseball bat in one hand and the scythe in the other. With both hands attacking, she charged at the forefront against the Doomsday Beast, continuously striking it.
And just at this moment, the Doomsday Beast swung its claws, sending Stellie flying. It used this action to hide the wind-up for accumulating energy. By the time everyone noticed, it was already too late. The energy condensed by the Doomsday Beast shot towards March 7th.
The energy was about to hit March 7th.
And at this moment, Stellie quickly rushed in front of March 7th, extending her hands to block.
Don't hurt March 7th!
Originally, the energy was supposed to hit Stellie.
But just then, another dark figure darted out, blocking beside Stellie.
This dark figure, why does it look so familiar?
Seeing Derick's number two clone, Stellie thought to herself.
And at that moment, she felt a huge force from the scythe she was holding. The dark monster had now grabbed onto the scythe and was pulling it towards itself.
Stellie then realized.
This dark monster was the owner of the scythe she had presumptuously snatched earlier.
It didn't die back then? It even chased me all the way here, and it's willing to withstand the Doomsday Beast's attack just to get this scythe?
Inky-bro, is this scythe that important to you?
Stellie thought, and then saw the Doomsday Beast's attack shatter the dark monster before her. However, this dark monster contained a lot of energy. After shattering it, the remaining energy was much less pressure for Stellie to bear.
She blocked the Doomsday Beast's attack with her baseball bat.
And at this moment, Himeko, Dan Heng, and March 7th seized the opportunity to attack the Doomsday Beast.
After some effort and time, and with Welt Yang also arriving, the group joined forces to defeat the Doomsday Beast.
After doing all this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Himeko asked everyone, "How is everyone? Are you all alright?"
"I'm fine," March 7th shook her head, then looked at Stellie. "But Stellie, she blocked the attack for me just now, is she okay?"
"I'm fine too." Stellie looked sadly at the scattered pieces of Derick's number two clone on the ground.
"It's just my good buddy here, it got killed by the Doomsday Beast. Later, can you help me find a place to bury it?"
No matter its purpose, at least this monster had appeared to help her resist the Doomsday Beast's attack. Now that it was dead, Stellie was also a bit sad.
She was unconventional, but also a kind person.
Arlan also rushed over by now. Seeing Derick's number two clone in pieces, and hearing that it was to protect the guests of Herta Space Station, he also shook his head and sighed.
This monster, although it's from the Antimatter Legion, how can its heart be so kind?
At this moment, hearing Stellie say she wanted to bury him, Derick immediately raised his still-hairy arm and tremblingly gave her a wave.
I'm not dead yet, don't rush to bury me!
Seeing this action, Stellie was greatly astonished.
And at this moment, other parts of Derick's number two clone began to converge towards the hand holding the scythe, gradually reassembling into a complete body.
"What's going on?" Stellie turned to ask the others.
Dan Heng, seeing this situation, couldn't help but tighten his grip on his spear, Cloud-Piercer.
"This thing, isn't it from the Antimatter Legion, but rather an Abomination of Abundance?"
Welt Yang observed carefully for a moment, then shook his head at Dan Heng. "Doesn't look like it. Its method of recovery doesn't use the energy of Abominations of Abundance. What it is exactly, we can't analyze yet."
"Is that so." Hearing Welt Yang's words, Dan Heng slightly lowered his attacking stance.
They continued to observe the recovery of Derick's number two clone.
And taking this opportunity, Himeko also introduced Stellie to Welt Yang.
Thus, the entire Astral Express crew had now formally met.
Arlan silently watched the recovery of Derick's number two clone from the side.
Asta also rushed over. Hearing everyone describe what Derick's number two clone had done, she didn't know how to react.
Soon, Derick's number two clone completely recovered. Holding the scythe, it sat up cross-legged.
Stellie approached it and touched its hand.
"Hey, buddy, how's your recovery?"
Derick's number two clone couldn't speak, just arrogantly turned its head to one side.
At the same time, it tightly gripped the scythe in its hand.
Seeing it ignore her, Stellie scratched her head in annoyance.
"Why is it reacting like this?"
"Hey, are you sure this thing has normal human intelligence?" March 7th, hearing Stellie say this, immediately criticized.
A crisp sound of footsteps approached.
Everyone looked and saw a puppet figure walking towards them.
"What's this?" Stellie asked curiously.
"My name is Herta. Of course, what's in front of you now is just one of my puppets," the puppet figure introduced itself.
"Member eighty-three of the Genius Society, the true master of Herta Space Station, the human with the highest IQ on The Blue, Madam Herta," Himeko introduced Herta's identity to Stellie.
Stellie nodded, half-understanding.
She didn't quite understand what Himeko was saying.
"Those don't have much meaning." Herta didn't care about those so-called titles at all. Looking at Stellie, her eyes showed an interested expression.
A body made from a Stellaron, looks like it has great experimental value.
Then she turned her gaze to Derick's number two clone.
"You said this creature came with the Antimatter Legion?"
"Yes," Asta nodded, then recounted everything that had happened to Herta in detail.
"Is that so?" Herta's tone was filled with interest.
"Looks like its body can be studied a bit."
Hearing Herta's words, Derick immediately controlled his clone to stand up.
I was waiting for you to say that! Madam Herta, indeed your beauty and wisdom are unparalleled. You knew what I wanted most as soon as you arrived!
Stellie spoke up for Derick's number two clone at this moment, "I say, it protected the space station quite a bit just now, right? Leading the Voidrangers and not letting them destroy the space station. Even if resisting the Doomsday Beast's attack in the end doesn't count as protecting the space station, at least its earlier contributions were significant, right? Why do you still want to treat it as an experiment subject?"
After speaking, she even gave Derick's number two clone a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry, buddy, I've got your back."
Seeing Stellie's actions, Derick was touched, but his face showed a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
You really don't need to do this.
"This form of life has never appeared in the universe before. If it were to go outside, it would inevitably be caught and apprehended by other ill-intentioned people," Herta explained faintly.
Then, she also said to Stellie, "By the way, a body carrying a Stellaron, you are the only one in the entire universe. Not just it, you'd better be prepared to protect yourself and decide your own path."
The Herta puppet walked to the side.
"Ah, this..."
Stellie scratched her head.
March 7th quickly grabbed Stellie's shoulder and said to her, "You can come to our Astral Express! Follow us to explore the unknowns of the universe."
"Yes, we can still protect you," Himeko also affirmed with a nod from the side. She then glanced at Derick's number two clone, which was standing.
"Besides, as long as it doesn't show extreme aggression, we can take it along too."
Get on the train? Although I can experience many adventures on the train, what Derick needs most right now is Ruan Mei's experiments.
So, looking in the direction Herta had left, he quickly chased after her.
"This... Is it rushing to be experimented on?" Stellie said in shock.
"It seems... it really is," March 7th nodded.
"Whether it has intelligence or not, at least it has made such a choice," Welt Yang said slowly. "Let's go. At least Madam Herta won't treat it unfairly."
"Mm, alright." Stellie looked at Derick's number two clone regretfully, then mingled with March 7th and the others.
After all, Derick's number two clone had only taken an attack for her, and there had been no intellectual communication. Seeing its choice now, Stellie just felt a little regret.
"Buddy, goodbye. Hope I have a chance to see you next time I come to Herta Space Station," Stellie finally shouted to Derick's number two clone.
Hearing Stellie's voice, Derick controlled clone number two to follow Herta.
"Phew, it's finally over."
Seeing his number two clone enter Herta's lab, and knowing it would rest for a while before experiments began, Derick finally relaxed and closed off the second clone's perspective.
He stretched long and luxuriously.
Castorice's voice came.
"Derick, are you awake?"
"Not yet." Derick didn't want to open his eyes.
"I've been sealed by this bed. In my hometown, unless there's a kiss from a beautiful girl, this seal definitely can't be broken."
With his eyes closed, he spoke with utter shamelessness.
Then, Castorice gave a helpless smile, walked over, and played along with his 'shamelessness'.
_____
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