"Oh, it's so dark here!"
The boy's clear voice spread out, then after a brief pause, an empty echo came back.
As soon as the elevator arrived, Nero did not hesitate at all. Carrying Black Cutter on his shoulder, he stepped out directly.
The Herta Space Station was not like Belobog or the Xianzhou. If he casually left Black Cutter somewhere and only called it over when needed, this guy would probably smash the place apart.
To avoid ending up in debt to the space station again, he simply carried his beloved sword down with him.
A small person carrying a giant sword looked quite strange.
Stelle had originally stayed somewhat cautious. Seeing Nero rush out directly, she could only helplessly hurry after him.
A personality that feared neither heaven nor earth was truly rare. She had no choice but to follow along.
The two walked through the dark corridor. Nero strode forward while Stelle carefully watched the surroundings.
Suddenly, Stelle stopped and reached out to grab Nero. She looked at a robot ahead with vigilance.
The robot seemed wrapped in bandages, or perhaps that was simply its paint style. It appeared to sense the two approaching and slowly turned around in the endless darkness.
Small flashes of electricity jumped inside its damaged eye. A dim red light swept over them, making it look like a terrifying one-eyed monster.
The next moment, the little robot began twitching and let out a sharp, piercing alarm. The Seclusion Zone also seemed to be experiencing problems. Red lights filled the darkness like warning signals, and the elevator began rising on its own.
Although she had already experienced the Fyxestroll Garden incident, Stelle still prepared herself for battle.
Thinking about it, there was quite a difference between a heliobus haunting and a cyber haunting.
A heliobus haunting felt stranger.
A cyber haunting felt more frightening.
Stelle became tense, but Nero showed no reaction. He walked over and patted the twitching robot twice.
"Look, look! There's a fried rice robot down here too. Give me a plate of fried rice."
The little robot slowly stopped twitching. After its crimson eye flickered several times, it turned blue.
["Command accepted. Please wait."]
After saying that, the little fellow left.
At the same time, perhaps sensing that people had arrived, the Seclusion Zone's lighting system began returning to normal. Lights in the corners, along both sides of the walkways, and on the ceilings ahead all lit up.
A short while later, the little robot returned.
It really had brought Nero a plate of fried rice, along with a spoon.
The boy accepted it and took a bite.
"Ah, it's cold."
Stelle stared blankly at the scene.
Come to think of it, if it was a cyber haunting, there was really nothing to be afraid of with Nero around.
Thinking that, she walked over to Nero, looked at the plate of fried rice, then at the little robot.
"Ah... this isn't the same kind as the one upstairs. This one's a cold fried rice robot."
"What a cold joke."
Nero narrowed his eyes and casually tossed the fried rice to Black Cutter.
"You can eat it."
Black Cutter, "..."
Although Black Cutter was a sword, it really could eat food. It even behaved fairly normally. Once food touched it, the food disappeared, which counted as Black Cutter eating it.
Even though doing this provided no combat benefits whatsoever, it could at least let Black Cutter taste the flavor.
This was also why Black Cutter always remained spotless and looked brand new.
But for some things, it's actually better not to know the reason... right?
["Hiss hiss, Miss Herta, open the zone."]
The cold fried rice robot floating in front of Stelle and Nero suddenly spoke.
["Hiss hiss. Used to receive interdimensional species. Galactic visitors."]
["High-risk restricted area. Hiss hiss. Service personnel: inorganic lifeforms. Hiss hiss."]
["Authorization granted to: Miss Ruan Mei. Miss Herta: Whatever, as long as she's happy. Hiss hiss."]
["Receiving, hiss hiss, visitor: Stelle. What would you like to search for?"]
Listening to the little thing speak, Nero revealed a thoughtful expression.
Back when he played through the story, he thought all the "hiss hiss" sounds were because it was malfunctioning.
'Turns out it was actually a verbal habit?!'
While he was distracted, Stelle searched for a map.
[Basement Level 1: Transfer Hub.]
[Basement Level 2: Shuttle Cars, Culture Pods, Dangerous Curio Containment.]
After providing the layout of the Seclusion Zone facilities, the little fellow added, ["Corridor. Dangerous."]
Stelle then curiously checked the visitor records.
[Miss Ruan Mei. Hiss hiss. Interdimensional species. Hiss hiss. No others currently.]
"I feel like I just got insulted.", Stelle twitched her mouth and muttered to herself.
"Are we interdimensional species? Oh, wait. We're using Ruan Mei's access permission, so it's probably identifying Ruan Mei on its end.
"Forget it. Let's go find the culture pods."
The Stellaron baby seemed to act on whatever idea came to mind. The two found a nearby elevator and prepared to head farther down.
There were no lights inside the enclosed elevator.
Darkness covered everything around them, creating a heavy and uncomfortable feeling, almost as if it were hard to breathe.
After descending further, the outer wall seemed to change into a transparent material.
They could see the starry sky and the blue planet nearby. Light from a star also shone in, making the place a little less dark.
They waited inside the elevator for quite a while before it finally stopped and slowly opened.
What appeared before them was a completely enclosed, dim passageway.
Scenes like this often appeared in sci-fi horror movies, making it feel as though an alien creature might burst through a wall at any moment.
At the far end of the corridor, through the glass, they could see a massive space below.
And hanging from the ceiling ahead was a huge egg.
Looking at that thing and the vast area beyond the glass, a strong sense of danger crawled up Stelle's spine to the back of her head.
She silently clenched her fists.
The two quickly left the area and headed down the corridor to the right.
After a hatch opened, they entered a place that looked like a laboratory.
There were many empty workstations here, along with various high-tech displays and screens filled with dense amounts of data.
Stelle searched through the computers and found a recipe book and a recording.
Ruan Mei appeared in the recording. Standing beside a computer, she murmured, "The spark of the Phase Flame was very interesting. Unfortunately, before the research was complete, it disappeared. I have begun a new attempt."
"The two samples this time are growing well. I added my personal preferences into the concept. I'm not sure what results this will produce."
"They possess two emotional traits at the same time: cute, weak, sensitive, and prone to crying; fierce, manipulative, domineering, and confident."
"Interestingly, they also possess a tendency."
"They miss their creator and develop a kind of strange emotion toward them, something that exists as naturally as a baby toward its mother, life toward food, or one person toward another..."
While the two were watching the recording, they seemed to hear a cat's meow coming from somewhere.
[🙇🏻 You Can Support the Story Through P@treon—AmbitiousTranslator. It also has 40+ Chapters of all the novels and fanfics. Thanks for reading~]