The puppet stopped in its tracks, frozen in place, the abnormal light in its eyes extinguished, returning to standby mode.
Herta casually drew a complex optical screen in the air, her fingers rapidly operating, tracing the source of this outrageous attack.
A few seconds later, she snorted coldly, her tone carrying suppressed anger: "Running quite fast, aren't they..."
The opponent's anti-tracking methods were exceptionally clever, and seemed to be mixed with... another unpleasant interference.
Just then, March 7th suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, "Oh right! Stelle! Stelle is still in the simulated universe! It couldn't be affected in there too, could it...?"
Her words reminded everyone.
The simulated universe was Herta's pet project, and Stelle was still testing inside!
Himeko also looked worried and was about to speak when her communicator rang. Welt's calm but slightly urgent voice came through: "Himeko, I'm at the door. The situation inside seems to have stabilized? I'll go in and check on Stelle now."
Welt pushed open the heavy laboratory door and immediately saw Stelle standing beside the simulated universe access device.
She had her back to the door, and her figure, illuminated by the instrument's eerie blue light, exuded a melancholy entirely different from her usual lively demeanor.
"Stelle?"
Welt frowned slightly. That sense of incongruity made him slow his steps, his voice filled with concern, "Are you alright? The commotion outside didn't affect things in here, did it?"
Stelle slowly turned around.
When he saw her face clearly, Welt's heart tightened abruptly.
The girl's gray, shoulder-length hair was a bit disheveled. Most striking were her slightly reddened eyes and the extremely complex emotions contained within her golden pupils—sorrow, determination, and a heavy sense of 'warrior' that he was intimately familiar with.
Stelle's gaze focused on Welt, her expression unprecedentedly solemn, as if bearing the weight of the entire world.
She took a deep breath and, in a low, firm, almost oath-like tone, spoke gravely:
"Uncle Yang,"
She even clenched her fists tightly, pressing them against her chest, striking a pose that was ingrained in Welt's DNA, "Humanity will definitely defeat Honkai!"
"!!!"
This sentence exploded like a thunderclap in Welt's ears!
His pupils suddenly constricted, his muscles instantly tensed, and almost instinctively, a destructive gravitational field began to condense in his hand, a miniature pseudo-black hole nearly slipping out!
Years of combat memories and conditioned reflexes kept him on the highest level of alert regarding this sentence and everything it represented.
"You m—"
Welt forcibly suppressed the urge to strike, taking a swift stride forward, staring intently into Stelle's eyes, trying to find any trace of manipulation or disguise, his voice unprecedentedly serious, "What did you just say? Who taught you that sentence?!"
His voice even carried a hint of an almost imperceptible tremor; this was too bizarre, too illogical!
Stelle showed no sign of backing down in the face of Welt's approach. She still stared straight back at him, her eyes firm (even with a sense of mission she didn't fully understand herself), and repeated: "You... need not know!"
Welt: "..."
He looked at Stelle's 'I am enlightened, say no more' demeanor, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently, a vein throbbing faintly on his forehead.
(Inner thoughts:...Should I not have held back just now? Perhaps smashing her directly to clean up the house would have been the correct choice?)
[Perspective Shift: Astral Express]
Madam Herta comfortably leaned on the sofa,
The system puppet stood by, using emotionless electronic tones for a concise tactical debriefing: "Surface action: create data chaos, trigger large-scale anomalies in the Space Station, successfully forcing Herta's main consciousness to descend and intervene. Core strategic objective: targeted cognitive intervention on key target'Stelle,' creating an information gap and psychological shock. Execution efficiency: excellent."
It turned slightly towards Black Herta, data flowing in its inverted cross-shaped eyes: "Madam, if I may be curious, what information did you implant into target'Stelle' that could cause such... intense chain reactions?"
Black Herta waved her hand indifferently, as if merely tossing a pebble: "It's nothing major. Just let her... experience the story of the Paradise, as a 'first-hand participant,' in an immersive way."
She picked up the drink offered by the system and took a sip, "Of course, I had her 'play' the role of the Herrscher of Thunder, going through it completely from beginning to end."
(Note: This was Madam Herta utilizing her invasion of the simulated universe, combined with her past life memories, to weave a highly realistic and emotionally impactful conscious experience for Stelle.)
The system puppet was silent for a moment: "...Understood. Utilizing highly concentrated tragic narratives and role immersion to deliver high-intensity impact to the target's mind, inducing cognitive confusion and emotional resonance, thereby generating unpredictable behavioral deviations. A brilliant strategy."
Just then, Black Herta seemed to sense something. She put down her cup, elegantly stood up, walked to the observation window, and looked in a certain direction of the Space Station, a playful smile on her lips: "This won't do... if Herta just catches the cute little Silver Wolf like this, wouldn't this play be missing an important scapegoat... *cough*, an important character?"
[Perspective Shift: Herta Space Station, a relatively secluded maintenance area]
A faint light flashed, and Silver Wolf's virtual projection appeared here somewhat furtively.
She scratched her iconic blue-gray hair, a clear look of confusion on her face.
"Strange... was this area completely disconnected just now? I thought that old witch Herta's assets had mostly crashed from my previous attack..."
She mumbled, looking left and right, "Doesn't look like there's any damage? I was happy for nothing... And why is it so quiet?"
She had originally come with the intention of watching the show, wanting to observe her 'masterpiece' up close and perhaps find another opportunity to annoy Herta, to get revenge for her account being banned.
However, the silence here made her feel uneasy.
Just as she was about to bring up the operating interface and try to connect to the Space Station's main network again to investigate the situation, a cold voice sounded from behind her, carrying unconcealed anger:
"Did you apply a brightening agent to your guts? They're quite plump."
Silver Wolf's body instantly stiffened. She turned around extremely slowly, and when she saw the tall figure behind her, wearing a purple witchs hat and with eyes that seemed capable of freezing souls, the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
(Inner OS: What the [BLEEP]! The Herta?! Her actual body?! Nobody told me she was personally 'patrolling the mountains' today?!)
Silver Wolf subconsciously swallowed a non-existent gulp, forcing a dry smile onto her face, trying to bluff her way through, her feet subtly shifting backward: "Uh... hi? W-what a coincidence, Ms. Herta... Nice weather today, huh? I was just... passing by, yes, just passing by to take a look..."