Lucian raised his phone and pointed it at Herta.
"Say what you just said again—I'll record a video for proof."
Upon hearing this, Herta was dumbfounded.
Now, she had to admit, this guy was really slick, always ready to take advantage of every situation, even though she had only said that casually.
"Haahh..." Herta let out a long, tired sigh.
Given that she had decided to be his friend, she had to see it through to the end, no matter what.
In any case, she was confident that when it came to network defense, there was no way she would be defeated by a mere Stellaron Hunter like Silver Wolf.
Of course, unless she just stood by and did nothing, then maybe Silver Wolf could break through, considering she had a mysterious helper behind her.
However, to avoid that, she planned to connect the firewall directly to her own phone later so she could respond at any time.
Regardless, she had already risked too much just to meet Nous, so she had to go all out.
"All right, you win." Herta gave in, then made her promise. "If the network defense system Herta builds for Lucian is easily breached by the Stellaron Hunters, Herta will work for Lucian for a hundred years free of charge. In the name of Member #83 of the Genius Society, Herta, this video is proof!"
Nodding, Lucian put his phone away and smiled in satisfaction.
Now he had picked up an exceptional employee for free, hadn't he?
He just needed to find a time to call Silver Wolf over.
"In that case, we're friends now." Lucian said with a smile. "Looking forward to working together."
"Alright, friend..." Herta rolled her eyes, then went straight to the point. "About meeting Droidhead, when are you going to help me?"
"When you're done with my business, I'll naturally help you meet your Droidhead." Lucian answered casually. "As for whether you can get THEIR attention, that depends on your own ability."
"Alright, that's fair. It's a deal then."
Herta nodded calmly, but inwardly, she sighed in relief.
She was not unreasonable and was well aware that beings like Aeons were impossible to predict. Even if she could attract THEIR attention, THEY might not be interested in a conversation.
Regardless, she was confident that as long as Lucian did not steal the spotlight like before, there was no way Nous would ignore her, who was THEIR own Emanator of Erudition.
"Here, take this as a little extra compensation." Herta handed over a golden, gleaming card to Lucian. "It's an advanced pass for the space station. It grants you the highest level of authority—you can go anywhere in the space station, open any door, and use any device."
Across the whole Herta Space Station, only Herta and the lead researcher, who was also the acting space station manager, Asta, had this level of access.
Now there was one more—Lucian.
As for the reason, Herta knew Lucian was not interested in anything the space station had to offer, since he had just turned down her offer to exchange resources for his help without batting an eye.
Simply put, this was just her way of showing her attitude—a willingness to make friends.
Lucian, of course, did not mind having another useful item, so he took the advanced pass without hesitation.
"Thanks." Lucian briefly examined the advanced pass, then casually pocketed it. "In that case, let me give you a gift too. Add me as a friend—I'll send you the gift."
Not waiting for Herta's reply, he added her contact as a friend and immediately transferred two hundred million credits without hesitation.
Seeing the notification of incoming credits on her phone, Herta paused for a second.
Two hundred million was not small.
Yes, someone like her did not really need money, but for someone to send two hundred million credits casually just like that, Lucian definitely was not ordinary.
"Tsk, tsk, you're pretty loaded, huh..." Herta remarked with raised eyebrows. "Don't tell me you stole these credits?"
"Ahaha, you saw through me?" Lucian laughed awkwardly. "Actually, I'm that hacker who stole two hundred billion credits from the IPC."
"Ha-Ha, funny, you think I'd believe that?" Herta gave a disdainful smile. "If you were really that good, would you still need me to create a firewall for you?"
It went without saying that Lucian was just talking nonsense in her eyes.
'Tell the truth, you don't believe it. Tell a lie, you take it seriously.' Lucian thought silently, feeling helpless.
"All right, hurry up." Herta said, grabbing Lucian's arm. "Let's go to your place now—I wanna see what kind of treasure needs my firewall."
In her mind, if someone needed a member of the Genius Society to set up a network defense, it had to be something as valuable as the IPC's main account, right?
Did Lucian have a great treasure that needed so much protection?
Now that she thought about it, she became even more curious.
"Okay, let's go."
Lucian prepared to use Absolute Hit to bring Herta to Jarilo-VI, but she suddenly stopped him.
"Wait, I almost forgot something important."
Herta took out her phone and immediately started a video call with her 'bestie.'
[What's up? You're calling me at this hour—did something happen?]
On the other end came a gentle and mature-sounding voice of a woman—anyone could tell it belonged to a refined beauty.
"Guess who I just met? Droidhead!" Herta said with a somewhat proud voice. "More importantly, now I'll have a chance to see THEM often. Not just once, but many times. From now on, I should get a new title—'Audience of Nous'!"
[Hmm, that's impressive.]
Even though they might have seemed like they didn't get along, they were actually close friends.
Seeing Herta already using him as her trump card for bragging rights, Lucian wanted to laugh, but quickly held it in.
In the end, feeling bored of waiting for Herta, who was busy showing off to her bestie, Lucian stepped away to contact his partner in crime.
[Oh, it's you. Make it quick—I'm in the middle of a game.]
On Lucian's phone screen, Silver Wolf's face appeared, looking especially cute from this angle.
"In a few days, come find me. I'll help you beat Herta." Lucian stated calmly, sounding as if he were discussing something trivial.
[Beat who again? Herta? Give me the details.]
As soon as she heard about beating Herta, Silver Wolf instantly perked up—she even stopped playing her game and just went AFK.
Now, her big eyes stared straight at Lucian through the video call.
Soon, the two of them started conspiring, and Herta, still busy showing off, had no idea she was already being set up by a couple of schemers.
A few minutes later, Lucian ended his call, and Herta ended hers a few seconds after.
Herta put away her phone, then ordered the Fourth Mirror to notify every staff member of the space station to return to work.
"Done?" Lucian asked calmly, arms folded.
"Yeah, so how do we get to your place?" Herta asked back. "Using your spaceship?"
At this question, Lucian, under her curious gaze, took hold of her magic staff, wrapped his arm around her slender waist, and with a flash, activated Absolute Hit.
In the next instant, the two of them vanished—only to reappear at the Qlipoth Fort's entrance.
"What the..." Herta glanced around, feeling amazed once again. "You even have a spatial ability?"
Realizing that she had just been teleported, she couldn't help but wonder how this man could keep surprising her again and again.
Herta glanced at Lucian, and her eyes, filled with a mysterious glint, started to narrow.
'One moment he's stripping my clothes, the next he's bringing an Aeon, and now he's teleporting through space like it's nothing...'
'I thought he vanished before because of Droidhead, but it seems like it was his own ability, huh...'
'What an interesting person... Lucian... just what other secrets are you hiding? I'm getting more and more curious now...'
At the same time, seeing Herta gazing at him intensely, Lucian chuckled, then replied to her question casually.
"Wanna know? Try and find out."
===
Meanwhile, in the Stellaron Hunters' hideout, Silver Wolf had just ended her call with Lucian when a black cat walked over.
"Silver Wolf, who were you talking to?"
Stopping before her, the black cat actually spoke, its tone curious.
It was clearly no ordinary cat, for it was one of Elio's incarnations—the founder and leader of the Stellaron Hunters.
"Just that mysterious guy who helped me steal two hundred billion credits from the IPC that day." Silver Wolf replied casually, continuing to play her game.
"Oh? It's him?"
Suddenly, a tall and alluring purple-haired woman with red wine-colored hair tied in a messy ponytail, wearing a white dress shirt, a black jacket draped over her shoulders, and black high-waisted shorts with nylon tights, chimed in as she sat down next to Silver Wolf.
"Out of the two hundred billion, he took one hundred and twenty billion, but only you got all the bounty?"
"Kafka, having a high bounty just means I'm strong—it's not a bad thing." Silver Wolf responded calmly, looking nonchalant. "Anyway, there's already five billion on my bounty, what's another two hundred billion?"
"I just think it's a bit unfair for you, you know..." Kafka sighed softly, then gently smiled. "So, why did he call you?"
"Nothing serious." Silver Wolf, putting down her controller, replied with a shrug. "He said he wants me to come find him to help me beat Herta."
Upon hearing this, Kafka went silent.
Elio was also silent for a moment before speaking seriously.
"He is very strange... Ever since you started dealing with him, the script has started to blur."