Chapter 117: The Three-Person Dance of the Space Station

"Gu Tang has always wanted to return to his homeland. Though I reckon that universe is so far away even the Aeons couldn't reach it… But he's Gu Tang, after all. Who knows if he'll suddenly pull out some magical device, open a space-time tunnel, and go back," Herta muttered to herself.

"You can't accept that, can you?" Ruan Mei looked at Herta and said.

"Absolutely not… The universe would be too boring without him…" Herta gritted her teeth. "That's why I need chains. Friendship, love, family… It doesn't matter who. I want their emotions to turn into chains that bind Gu Tang firmly to this universe."

Ruan Mei furrowed her brows. "Haven't you thought about achieving that by yourself?"

Herta waved her hand dismissively. "I don't think someone like me would be to his liking. Don't worry; I'm not obsessed with that idea."

"I see. So that's why you helped him get along with Asta," Ruan Mei understood.

Herta nodded. "Exactly. I know Asta well; she's a good girl. Gu Tang is lucky to have her."

"And did you achieve your goal?" Ruan Mei asked, a bit curious.

Right now, she felt like she was following an exciting TV series.

"Ah... well…" Herta chuckled awkwardly. "You know, it's the first time I've grasped this feeling called love…"

Ruan Mei commented, "That sounds like something a robot heroine would say near the finale."

"Anyway, I think I was a bit too hasty… quite literally too hasty…" Herta scratched her head.

---

"It sounds like everything was heading in a good direction. How did your relationship turn sour again?" Stelle tilted her head, puzzled.

"Well…" Asta's face turned crimson as she looked down, twisting her hands in her lap, looking very shy.

"Just say it, Missy! Stop leaving me in suspense!" Stelle shook Asta's shoulders as she spoke.

Asta's body shook back and forth, and the small braid on the left side of her head swung back and forth as well. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you…"

Stelle stopped her movements.

Asta placed a hand on her chest, took a deep breath to calm herself, and slowly began, "Actually… because of some accident, Gu Tang and I ended up in bed together…"

"......Huh?" Stelle exclaimed in disbelief.

She took two or three steps back and looked at Asta. "So the pure and innocent look was just a disguise, huh, Asta…"

"Don't misunderstand! It was really an accident!" Asta quickly explained. "You know there are many strange artifacts collected in the space station by Herta. They come in all types, and there just happened to be… one that triggers desire… and we were the only ones there…"

---

"I meticulously arranged an 'accident' to rapidly develop their relationship," Herta explained to Ruan Mei. "Though due to the saying 'a fool remains a fool,' mental interference wouldn't work on him. But there's a bug here that I could exploit. While mental interference is ineffective, physical interference still works—at least it did on him at the time."

"As expected of you, coming up with such a mean-spirited plan," Ruan Mei couldn't help but say.

Herta glared at her. "What do you mean by that? Asta gets to be close to the one she likes, and Gu Tang gets to be close to a pretty girl. I'm practically a saint!"

"Then, how did it fail?" Ruan Mei asked calmly.

Herta clenched her fists.

If she weren't in a puppet body, veins would probably be bulging on her forehead.

"I underestimated Asta's level of tsundere… Even after something like that happened, she still didn't confess!" Herta said furiously. "And Gu Tang, too! He didn't notice Asta's feelings at all! He classified himself as a criminal and then distanced himself from Asta!"

---

"If Herta and I hadn't stopped him, Gu Tang almost went to turn himself in," Asta sighed. "Really, he's usually such an unconventional guy, but he takes some things so seriously."

Stelle finally understood why Gu Tang had previously acted with such guilt toward Asta, and why Asta hated that attitude.

"I think that's one of Gu Tang's good qualities… But, Asta, how do you feel about it?" Stelle asked.

"Me... how do I feel…" Asta shyly cupped her face. "I thought it was okay… If only he were a bit more gentle."

"…Then why don't you just confess?" Stelle asked the crucial question.

Asta pouted a bit shyly. "Confessing after something like that happened… wouldn't it feel like the heroine in a comic, like I've been conquered…"

"You… you idiot!" Stelle couldn't hold back any longer.

She put Asta in an armbar.

Asta's arms were mercilessly subjected to her brutality.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—! Stelle, why the sudden violence?!" Asta quickly patted Stelle's thigh, signaling her surrender.

"Because you guys are almost at the finish line, and you decide to run back to the start!" Stelle yelled directly.

"Hmph, well, wasn't it Gu Tang's fault for not noticing my feelings?" Asta continued to argue stubbornly.

But no matter how hard one's words were, ligaments were soft.

Stelle applied a bit more pressure.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—! It's my fault!" Asta immediately admitted.

Only then did Stelle let go, standing up in frustration. "How could such a minor issue take you two years to sort out? I'm impressed!"

"Well, there was no way to predict that sort of accident…" Asta stood up, rubbing her arms.

Stelle took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "And then? Why did Gu Tang leave the space station?"

---

"After that incident, Gu Tang realized one thing: he couldn't let me do whatever I wanted anymore," Herta pointed at herself. "So he left the space station to go train."

"Train?" Ruan Mei was puzzled.

"Yes, train," Herta nodded. "After all, the system doesn't give out attribute points, so he decided to go to various dangerous places in the universe to hone himself to compensate for this weakness."

"So, in other words, he decided to increase his strength to restrain you… That sounds quite inefficient," Ruan Mei slowly said.

After all, Herta was a member of the Genius Society, a bona fide wielder of Elation. Violence would be useless in most cases.

Herta rolled her eyes at Ruan Mei. "What are you talking about, you almost got killed by a finger poke."

"True, but how did he acquire such an extraordinary power?" Ruan Mei frowned.

Herta shook her head. "I don't know, but I heard he was quite aggressive during that time, beating up several well-known strongmen in the universe."