Chapter 21: Madam Herta Is Peerless! Madam Herta Is Brilliant...
Welt released a slow, measured breath, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. "Can it be deleted?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Nope. Can't be deleted," Leon replied, tapping his chin with a thoughtful hum. "Even if you try to wipe it, the file will just automatically restore itself. But hey, don't worry about it! My lips are sealed. I definitely won't go spreading it around casually."
"Is that so?" Welt's eyes narrowed into sharp slits behind his lenses. A heavy dose of suspicion laced his usually calm voice.
Had anyone else made that promise, the seasoned Trailblazer might have taken them at their word. But the young man standing in front of him was a prime suspect for being a Masked Fool.
"Whoa, what are you implying? What kind of talk is that!" Leon gasped, clutching his chest as if he had just taken a physical blow. He plastered on a deeply wounded expression. "Do you really not trust me, Mr. Yang? How absolutely heartbreaking! I never expected to be seen as such an untrustworthy scoundrel in your eyes!"
Welt watched the exaggerated theatrical performance with a completely deadpan expression. He opened his mouth to deliver a dry retort, but the sharp, rhythmic clicking of heels echoing down the corridor cut him off.
"I have only been gone for a few months. How on earth did my Space Station turn into this kind of mess?"
A voice rang out—youthful in pitch, yet dripping with an absolute, unquestionable authority.
Asta stepped into view, her usual bright demeanor tempered by a highly respectful posture. Walking right beside the lead researcher was an exquisite, life-sized ball-jointed puppet dressed in elegant purple and white attire.
Asta gestured politely toward the young man. "Madam Herta, this is Mr. Leon. He is the person I mentioned in my report—the one who can create Stellarons."
She then turned her attention back to Leon, offering a formal introduction. "Mr. Leon, this is the true master of our Space Station, Member 83 of the Genius Society, Madam Herta."
"If you are going to introduce me, do it properly. Why bother mentioning that boring society number?" The Herta puppet crossed her arms, her porcelain lips curling into a distinct pout of dissatisfaction. "I have countless outstanding achievements under my belt. Which one of them isn't infinitely more famous than a mere numerical designation?"
However, the genius quickly tossed that minor annoyance aside. The puppet stepped forward, her mechanical joints whirring softly as she circled Leon twice, examining him from head to toe with intense, predatory interest.
"But that is not important right now. I heard you created a Stellaron with your own bare hands? How exactly did you manage that?"
Her voice pitched up, practically vibrating with uncontrollable curiosity. "It is truly unbelievable. To safely contain that unactivated Stellaron and prevent Jarilo-VI from suffering a complete disaster, I specifically built this entire Space Station from the ground up."
"As it turns out, someone else took a completely different path and solved the problem directly using the bodies of two young people. That alone was surprising enough. But now, someone can actually hand-craft a Stellaron? Tell me quickly, how on earth did you do it?"
Herta was genuinely captivated by the prospect. Even with her vast, universe-spanning intellect, she had never encountered a single record of anyone forging a Stellaron from nothing. The very second she received Asta's emergency message, she had immediately uploaded her consciousness into the nearest dormant puppet and rushed straight to the scene.
While the living Stellaron host was certainly an interesting subject, a man who could manufacture the cosmic anomaly on a whim was infinitely more worthy of her precious time.
"Hey, what a cute little Herta!" Leon chirped, completely ignoring her barrage of scientific inquiries.
Instead of answering, he reached down, grabbed the Herta puppet by the waist, and hoisted her high into the air.
Asta's breath hitched. Her pupils contracted into tiny pinpricks of absolute horror.
'Oh my god! He just lifted Madam Herta into the air!'The sheer audacity of Leon's actions caught everyone completely off guard. Asta quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders trembling violently as she fought a losing battle against her own amusement.'Hold it in! Do not laugh! If you laugh, she will cut your funding!'Beside her, Welt coughed into his fist, his usually stoic expression cracking as the corners of his mouth twitched upward.'As expected of you, Leon. Only you would dare.'
The puppet possessed the delicate, petite figure of a young girl. With Leon holding her up toward the ceiling, the visual closely resembled a doting father playing with his beloved daughter. Had the puppet actually been a normal child, the scene would have been incredibly heartwarming.
But Herta was no child.
Despite the youthful, doll-like exterior, the consciousness piloting that mechanical shell was the legendary Herta herself. She had lived for an untold number of years, commanding respect across the galaxy. Yet, in all those decades, this was the very first time anyone had dared to give her a lift.
The genius was genuinely stunned for a full three seconds. Then, her legendary composure shattered into a million pieces.
Reaching into a pocket dimension, the puppet yanked out a massive, glittering diamond great hammer and swung it directly toward Leon's skull.
"Take this seriously, you insufferable Masked Fool!"
"I already told everyone I am not a Masked Fool! Why are you throwing baseless accusations at me again!" Leon complained loudly.
With casual grace, he raised one hand and effortlessly caught the descending head of the diamond hammer, stopping the lethal blow dead in its tracks. He even threw in a cheeky wink. "But thank you to our top donor, Madam Herta, for gifting this gorgeous diamond great hammer to the stream~"
"With idiotic actions like yours, you actually have the nerve to claim you are not a Masked Fool?" The puppet glared down at him, her synthetic eyes practically shooting lasers of pure disdain.
Did he seriously think anyone would believe that? What kind of normal, sane person would just walk up to her prized puppet and hoist it into the air without a single word of warning? This was exactly the brand of ridiculous, chaotic nonsense that a follower of Elation would pull!
"If you keep calling me that, I am going to refuse to cooperate with your research," Leon threatened, puffing out his chest in a display of feigned seriousness.
Herta paused, the annoyance draining from her face as genuine surprise took over. "Wait. You are actually willing to cooperate with my research?"
This development was entirely beyond her calculations. It was the very first time she had ever encountered a test subject who was actively volunteering to be studied without demanding exorbitant compensation first.
'As expected of a crazy Masked Fool.'
"Nope! Now I have changed my mind." Leon's expression flipped instantly. He sniffled, bringing a hand up to wipe away completely non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes. "I am so handsome, so kind, and so generous... yet I was brutally assaulted with a giant diamond hammer by you. Boohoo. I am just so pitiful."
"Your acting is atrociously exaggerated," Herta stated bluntly, planting her small hands on her hips. "Just state your conditions while I am still mildly interested in you."
"Beg me!" A wicked, handsome smirk curled at the corner of Leon's mouth.
"Fine. I am begging you." The puppet delivered the line with a completely flat, robotic monotone.
"Does that sound like the attitude of someone who is begging? As everyone knows, properly begging someone requires a bit of..."
Just as Leon was gearing up to list out a series of highly questionable and excessive demands, the air shimmered. He watched in silence as the Herta puppet casually pulled a second, identical diamond great hammer out of thin air.
"Go on. I am listening," the puppet said, hefting the new weapon with a cold, deadpan stare.
Herta hadn't spent her long life dealing with the galaxy's weirdos for nothing. She knew the golden rule: when facing a Masked Fool, you must never give them a single inch. If you did, you would inevitably become the punchline to their twisted, never-ending joke.
"My deeply wounded soul requires Madam Herta's sweet kisses and warm hugs to heal~" Leon hurriedly changed his tune, flashing a bright, innocent smile.
Asta's jaw practically hit the floor. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.
'Is this a public confession?! Or is this just another one of his sick jokes?!'
"Are you a lolicon?" Herta asked, her porcelain face freezing into a mask of pure judgment. "I suppose if you are that interested in my puppet, it is not like I cannot arrange it..."
She was already calculating the logistics in her head. She could just sever her neural connection, let the automated puppet hug and kiss the weirdo to satisfy his terms, and then simply upload her consciousness into a different spare body across the station.
"Hey, what kind of degenerate do you think I am? Of course I mean the real Herta!" Leon retorted indignantly, placing his hands on his hips to mirror her stance. "Kissing a chunk of metal and synthetic skin is so boring."
Herta fell completely silent. The gears in her brilliant mind turned for a brief moment before a knowing, arrogant smirk suddenly bloomed on the puppet's lips.
"I see... so you have finally been captivated by my boundless charm."
But before the genius could even finish her gloating sentence, the words died in her mechanical throat. She stared at the scene unfolding before her, utterly speechless.
Leon had somehow procured a massive, neon-glowing idol support board from his inventory. The brightly lit sign was densely packed with the most exaggerated, glittering words of praise imaginable.
Holding the glowing billboard high above his head like a crazed superfan at a concert, he shouted with burning passion and unhinged enthusiasm:
"Madam Herta is peerless! Madam Herta is brilliant! Madam Herta is a generational talent! Madam Herta is exceptionally gifted! Madam Herta is extremely clever! Madam Herta is elegant and unmatched! Madam Herta is eloquent! Madam Herta is absolutely ingenious! Madam Herta is both talented and beautiful! Madam Herta is stunningly gorgeous! Madam Herta is naturally beautiful! Madam Herta is a universal beauty! Madam Herta has a face like a blooming flower!"
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