Herta Space Station.
Under the gaze of Welt and Sunday, Herta shuttled before several shattered mirrors.
"First Mirror, input the coordinates; you're responsible for the spatial jump."
"Second Mirror, prepare for thought refraction. There's still a distance from the Astral Express to the celestial body Amphoreus; you need to launch me over—"
"Third Mirror, you're in charge of generating the data spirit body..."
After confirming the data, Herta prepared to set off.
Although they didn't quite understand, Welt and Sunday, who were quietly discussing, still had expressions of relief.
"With Ms. Herta here, there shouldn't be any problems."
"As long as we can establish contact with those two, everything afterwards will be easy to solve." Welt pushed up his glasses.
"Yes, I hope there's news of my sister, Robin." Sunday also nodded expressionlessly.
Currently, there was a high probability that Robin's disappearance was related to Amphoreus.
But Sunday still hoped the guess wasn't true; otherwise, Robin might have already met with misfortune...
"Alright, let's get ready to go, First Mirror." Herta spread her hands.
Welt stepped forward: "Safe travels, Ms. Herta."
"I hope you have a successful trip, and find news of my sister, Robin."
After the two saw her off, Herta's consciousness sank directly into the mirror.
Left behind, Welt and Sunday looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh at the same time, their gazes sincere.
"It seems all we can do now is wait here."
"Let's do that for now. Everything depends on Ms. Herta this time. This Genius is truly different from how she appears—I mean, she's quite kind-hearted..."
...
"Huh?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"What are you giving me to drink? Why is it white and has a weird smell?"
The perspective shifted to Amphoreus, Xu Qiong Bath Palace.
Also Herta's destination.
At this moment, she was slumped on a sofa to one side of Xu Qiong, swirling a goblet filled with white liquid, her face full of confusion.
"You didn't poison this, did you? Is this how you treat a guest?"
Sitting next to her, Xu Qiong was watching the honkai: star rail livestream, his face also full of helplessness:
"This is a specialty goat milk from Kremnos City. If you don't like it, I can change it to pomegranate juice for you."
"Besides, the great Ms. Herta..." Xu Qiong paused, asking curiously, "Aren't you a mental data spirit body? How can you still consume things?"
"Don't worry about that. Lady Herta has her own ways."
Herta's tone rose as she set down the goblet: "By the way, I came here with a mission. Two young men are still waiting outside."
"I left in a hurry last time and didn't get to ask you what the situation is in Amphoreus now."
A look of contemplation appeared on Xu Qiong's face.
He had a lot on his plate; he probably wouldn't have time.
In the mobile phone livestream room, after Anaxa and Castorice appeared, the result became one-sided.
After promising that Castorice would bring back the spark of "death" and return to the Golden Age, the scene was met with a mountain-shaking roar of cheers.
Lygus also took the opportunity to announce, in the names of Kephale and Talanton, that the topic of this Citizens Assembly would be changed to "Suspending the Journey of Chasing the Fire."
With that, the first debate ended, concluding with a victory for Senate.
Although it wasn't time to vote yet, Guinaifen and the others were still dumbfounded; after all, they had actually lost.
Xu Qiong didn't want to miss the subsequent content: "I'm quite busy here. How about letting Cyrene take you on a tour?"
"Hmm?"
Herta turned her head and saw Cyrene gently placing her hand over her heart: "Ms. Herta, without your participation, Amphoreus wouldn't have welcomed such a beautiful victory."
"If there's anywhere you'd like to visit, I can take you there."
Herta blinked: "Can that little pink-haired girl next to you freely turn into a big pink-haired girl now?"
"No, to be more accurate now, she should be called a Demiurge, right?"
This silenced both of them.
Herta simply crossed her arms and rose leisurely: "Forget it, I'm done teasing you."
"Do you have contact with that little girl named Robin?"
"Robin?" Xu Qiong seemed to glance in a certain direction. "She's right here with me. Do you want to see her?"
"Ha? She really is with you."
Herta didn't bother explaining that her brother, Sunday, was outside worried sick.
Anyway, since she was confirmed to be with Xu Qiong, she was absolutely safe.
As for that kid outside, let him worry for a bit; being sarcastic towards Lady Herta always requires paying a price.
"Alright, that's that then. I'll just look around here."
"I'll have to go back and give a reply in a bit."
Before leaving, Herta added a reminder: "You'd better hurry up too. I don't know if there's a risk of the ruse being exposed after deeper contact."
Xu Qiong smiled: "Thanks for the reminder. I'll keep things under control."
Subsequently, Cyrene also smiled and waved, leaving with her.
Coming back to his senses, Xu Qiong felt that Herta was right.
However, he was strictly following the main storyline, trying to ensure synchronization between the inside and outside... uh, they should be synchronized.
At least close enough.
So, when it was time for the Astral Express Crew and other factions to discover things, they should be allowed to discover them!
"I wonder how the other Amphoreus is doing?"
Xu Qiong opened his phone to check the messages in the Chrysos Heirs group.
It turned out there was no key content at all; it was completely flooded by Castorice's animation videos.
[Anaxa: Read.]
[Phainon: Liked.]
[Mydei: Same here.]
[Lord Sai Feier: Wuwu~ The Woju Princess is so touching! Little Die, Little Die, let me hug you, I'll warm your hands!]
[Castorice: Lord Sai Feier, could you please not just run into my room whenever you want?]
[Castorice: And Polyxia, you seem to have scared her.]
[Aglaea: Sefaria, why do I see you lurking in this group every time? Don't you have your own things to do?]
[Aglaea: Forget it, Sefaria. When I get back, I'll drag you over to help. Your Big Sister Tribbie and the others are having a bit of trouble keeping up.]
[Lord Sai Feier: Ah? No way, Seamstress, don't come over here—!]
[Tiresias: Pfft~]
[Hyacine: Butterfly-bao's animation is truly exquisite and detailed. I've heard you tell stories about Aidelia before, but it's far less moving than the short film.]
[Hysilens: It's not just once or twice. Isn't the Duke of Destiny the same?]
Everyone had a serious discussion in the group, but they only reached one common conclusion.
That is, Xu Qiong knows every single one of them present very, very, very well!
Xu Qiong browsed his phone and waited quietly for a while.
Finally, not long after.
...
Herta Space Station, Lead Researcher's Office.
Asta fiddled with her phone and contacted Xu Qiong's official honkai: star rail account using a business account!
Actually, she had been preparing for a while to see if she could find a way to contact the Producer and start a business collaboration.
But after the livestream ended, Asta didn't want to wait a single moment longer.
It wasn't mainly about the money; it was that she wanted to know so badly how the game's story would develop next.
Who told Xu Qiong to leave so many cliffhangers at once?
[Herta Space Station (Business Account): Hello, Producer. Does honkai: star rail currently have any interest in a collaboration?]
[Ding-dong!]
A message immediately popped up on Xu Qiong's end.
"Oh? It's finally here?"