Since Herta wasn't here, the chances of him being discovered were at their lowest. Besides, she hadn't returned for half a year, so it was clear Herta was busy with other things.
I mean, is it possible that Herta could be busy for another half a year!?
He could have a six-month vacation!
Oh no... oh no...
He couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from turning up.
"By the way, what has Ms. Herta been doing on the Space Station these past six months?"
"For the first two months, Ms. Herta was advancing the Simulated Universe Project and brought back several important figures."
Important figures?
She must be referring to Screwllum and Ruan Mei.
Bai Luan nodded, then looked back at Asta.
"During that time, the Herta Space Station had very high expenses."
High enough for Asta to consider them high?
Then they must have been very high.
"Later, the Simulated Universe Project entered the construction phase, and Ms. Herta no longer needed to supervise it."
"So what did Ms. Herta do for the remaining four months?"
"She studied the curiosities on the Herta Space Station to pass the time."
Hmm, reasonable. The main purpose of the Herta Space Station was to house Ms. Herta's collections so she could take them out and play with them whenever she remembered them.
"Sunglasses that even nearsighted people can wear, an umbrella with a built-in cushioning field, an ultra-hard baseball bat, a revolver that secretly loads itself..."
With each curio Asta mentioned, Bai Luan's initially indifferent expression grew more serious, eventually turning almost ashen.
"Wait, don't read anymore."
Why were all the curiosities Herta picked ones he had made himself?
If this was a coincidence, it was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it?
And some of those curiosities were ones he had placed on the Herta Space Station a long time ago. Why was she revisiting them now?
"Station Master? What's wrong?"
"I... I'm fine. I just suddenly remembered I left some things at First University of Truth."
Bai Luan coughed twice and casually made up an excuse to brush it off.
It's fine, it's fine.
It must be because these curiosities were ones she hadn't seen before, so she took them out to study them.
Besides, Herta might not necessarily investigate where those curiosities came from, especially now, after the Herta Space Station had collected curiosities for hundreds of years.
It couldn't be that Herta, bored, discovered the curiosities he left behind, casually took them out to study, and then realized that while these odd curiosities had strange effects, the underlying scientific technology wasn't simple, could it?
Ms. Herta, that's the power of the System!
It's not my ability!
You can't attribute the power of the System to me being a genius, can you?
Haha...
Don't...
He worked hard to cultivate to level 80, wanting to come back and pretend to be level 90, but he returned to find that Herta now thought he should be level 110...
He spent half a day training his character's strength, only to return and find that the world level had increased!
What kind of situation was this... The wind sighs, the water is cold...
No, he couldn't be so pessimistic. What if Herta didn't come back for a long time?
After such a long rest, facing a more difficult life wouldn't be impossible.
Bai Luan found a way to reassure himself internally.
"Really? Station Master, I can help you call a delivery service to retrieve them."
Facing Asta's request, Bai Luan waved his hand casually and said:
"Forget it, they're not that important anyway."
"Then why was the Station Master's expression so..."
"I just realized it's embarrassing to check three times before leaving and still forget something."
Asta chuckled lightly:
"Haha, I didn't expect the Station Master to have such a careless side."
"The Station Master is just an ordinary person, after all."
Asta laughed at Bai Luan's words.
Her laughter contained the meaning of "You're kidding me."
"If the Station Master is back, Ms. Herta might also return soon."
"Haha..."
Bai Luan gave two dry laughs, short and hollow, filled with the prayer of "Please, no."
Asta looked at him with some confusion, finding the Station Master's reaction inexplicably strange.
Perhaps it was the fatigue of his journey?
"However, I'm very happy that you managed the Space Station so well while I was away. Now I can rest assured and step down as Station Master."
Asta's smile instantly froze, and her voice carried a hint of panic:
"Is the Station Master here this time... to say his final goodbyes to the Space Station?"
Bai Luan looked at Asta, a little speechless.
When did this young girl's imagination become so vivid?
"I'm just not being the Station Master anymore; I didn't say I was leaving. I've built the Herta Space Station my whole life; can't I retire and enjoy myself?"
Asta visibly relaxed, her tense shoulders dropping:
"That's good, Station Master."
Her gaze drifted to the boundless star sea outside the porthole:
"Ms. Herta found it boring and left. My abilities are limited, so I can't make this place interesting enough to attract her.
If even you leave... I'll have to experience that feeling of powerlessness again."
She turned her head, her gaze fixed directly on Bai Luan, with a nearly pleading persistence.
"Station Master, even if you no longer hold the responsibilities of Station Master and have entrusted them to me, please... don't completely leave the Space Station, okay?
At least... don't sever your connection with this place."
Bai Luan was silent for a moment.
The cold metal walls of the Space Station, the faint hum in the corridors, the perpetually twinkling starlight outside the window... countless fragmented memories and emotions surged into his heart.
"Even without the 'Station Master' identity,"
he spoke slowly, his voice carrying a sense of settled calm.
"The bond between me and the Herta Space Station has never truly been severed. My efforts have been poured into this place; it carries my past, and it also holds... the people and things I care about."
He paused, his gaze becoming distant.
"I might not reside here permanently in the future, but don't worry, I will remember this place."
Bai Luan thought for a moment, then said:
"If I don't come back for a very long time... I probably died out there."
"Eh! No! Station Master! Don't say such inauspicious things! Take it back! Quickly take it back!"
Seeing Asta's intense reaction, Bai Luan waved his hand helplessly and said:
"Alright, alright, I take it back."
"I'm thinking about whether to buy the Station Master an item to ward off evil, to remove the bad luck from what he just said..."
"It's not that serious!"
Bai Luan chuckled, picking up the suitcase at his feet.
"Alright, enough of this. In short... I'm back, just checking in with you. I'm leaving now."
Bai Luan carried his suitcase and left Asta's office.
Knowing that Herta was not currently on the Space Station, he didn't need to be so sneaky.
Asta watched Bai Luan's departing back and smiled.
After Bai Luan and Ms. Herta left the Herta Space Station one after another, good news finally arrived.
Asta took out her phone and sent a message to Herta.
Asta: Ms. Herta, Mr. Bai Luan has returned.
She then turned off her phone screen.
Ms. Herta's replies were usually not that quick.
But this time, it was faster than ever.
Ms. Herta: He's back?
Ms. Herta: Let me see.
Ms. Herta remotely controlled a Herta Puppet and began to inspect the Herta Space Station.
Bai Luan hummed a tune leisurely, pulling his suitcase, and walked towards his room, completely unaware that a Herta Puppet, which had been in standby mode behind him, turned its head and looked at him.
He really did come back.
Then she would go back and see.
This time, she would see if this guy had really learned anything or if he had been slacking off at that university.
Although from the rumors, her assistant had done many great things.
However... Herta wasn't sure if Bai Luan had been continuously improving or just pretending to be clumsy.
To say he wasn't a genius, yet the "little gadgets" he casually created in his early years and tossed into the pile of curiosities, when deeply analyzed, revealed a technological core so exquisite that even she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
To say he was a genius, some of the most basic things he genuinely learned from scratch, evidenced by the test he took a long time ago.
From every angle, there were inconsistencies; Bai Luan was always in a very contradictory superposition state.
In fact, Herta didn't care much about this.
Herta's thinking was very simple.
Since Bai Luan could help her solve problems like a genius, she would treat Bai Luan as a genius.
Herta didn't care about the meaningless question of whether Bai Luan was a genius and explaining the logical errors arising from the former conclusion.
What Herta cared about was the limits of Bai Luan as a genius and whether he had the potential to become a companion.
And there was one more point that couldn't be ignored.
Bai Luan was just too useful.
He could help with the things she wanted to do.
He could finish the things she didn't want to do.
Aside from research, he had learned almost all life skills within the first three years of coming to her home.
It was quite marvelous, actually.
When Bai Luan was trapped in the temporal turbulence for hundreds of years, Herta had tried to find someone who could replace Bai Luan, but throughout the entire universe, she couldn't find a second one.
Such a person was hard to find in the entire universe, and the only one just happened to appear right before her.
This undoubtedly proved once again—
Indeed, the entire world revolved around this genius