"Siberian Duck, it's me, Nero."
Looking at the message Nero sent over, Siberian Duck here had two possible replies.
[You're awake?]
[How do you have my phone number?]
At a time like this, of course she chose the second option without hesitation.
[I asked March for it.]
[But that's not the main point. Right now, I need your help.]
[Help me, Miss Siberian Duck!]
After Siberian Duck replied, Nero sent three more messages in the game screen.
"Huh?" Seeing words that felt inexplicably familiar, Siberian Duck froze for a moment.
The chat barrage also started rolling quickly.
[Pom-Pom: Help me, Ms. Stellaron!]
[Clara's Foot: This line sounds so familiar… Mr. Svarog, do you have any clues?]
[Aha Messenger: Clara: He's using all my lines!]
This time, the two response options were "What is it?" and "What's wrong?", so choosing either one made no difference.
[As the saying goes, even a hero can be brought down by a single coin...]
[Herta wants me to compensate her three hundred million credits before I'm allowed to leave the space station.]
Seeing Nero's reply, Siberian Duck shook her head and sighed.
"As expected, Nero has to shoulder a massive debt at such a young age. And this is probably even after Herta lowered the amount a lot considering he saved the space station."
[Nero is small and fragrant: My Nero! How can you ever pay back three hundred million!]
[Nero's Sword: Hurry and sell me to earn money to help Nero repay his debt!]
[Can't Handle a Bit of a Knife: Bro, you're unusually kind, huh.]
The two reply options this time were similar.
The first was "I don't have money!" The second was "To be honest, I'm also short on funds..."
Siberian Duck chose the second one.
In the game screen, Nero's message popped up again.
[It's okay, I already have a solution.]
[But I need your help.]
[So please come immediately!]
[I'm waiting for you in the main control section.]
As Nero finished saying these lines, the dialogue ended.
Immediately after that came two notifications.
[Achievement unlocked: Help me, Ms. Stellaron!]
[Quest accepted: Nero's Debt Settlement.]
Next, the quest interface appeared, it was a golden Trailblaze Mission.
[Space Station 'Herta' – Main Control Section.]
[Nero's Debt Settlement.]
[Find Nero and hear his plan.]
[The battle between Herta Space Station and the Antimatter Legion has temporarily quieted, but your sun-like friend still hasn't resolved all his troubles. It seems he's run into difficulty. Because he crashed into Herta Space Station earlier, after the battle ended he must compensate the space station with a massive sum of three hundred million credits. But neither you nor he has a single penny. However, he seems to already have a way to solve the problem and needs your help.]
All of this information was still normal, until Siberian Duck saw the quest reward and couldn't help shouting in surprise.
"Holy crap! How much?!"
On the game screen, in the reward preview column, two hundred Stellar Jade lay quietly there.
A full two hundred Stellar Jade.
Normally, giving sixty or eighty Stellar Jade would already be considered a lot, but at this moment, Nero actually gave you two hundred directly.
Siberian Duck couldn't help rubbing her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things.
And the barrage also went insane at this moment.
[I Use Pantene: Damn! How much? Two hundred?!]
[Oui: Is this the sword immortal of the warm-hearted Xianzhou ancient path?]
[Oasis: I hereby declare I am forever Nero's die-hard fan!]
[Three Tips with Two Kings: Still calling him Nero? Call him Fish Bro! No, Fish Dad! This is a real father!]
[Nothing Better To Do: Fish Dad, your little follower kneels before you!]
[Nero's Dog: I am Nero's dog! Nero loves us too much, not only saving us, but giving us stones!]
[Who Are You: I've drifted half my life, only regretting not meeting a wise lord sooner. If you do not disdain me, I would like to pledge myself as your adopted son!]
A mission giving two hundred Stellar Jade, as compared to the later Doctor of Truth, the impact might seem weaker, but at the time of server launch, this was already overwhelmingly powerful.
———
[In the Game]
After receiving Nero's message, Stelle immediately rushed toward the main control section, and found Nero beside an office on the second floor.
"You're here!"
When Nero saw Stelle, he waved. Inside Herta Space Station, this youth from the Xianzhou was extremely eye-catching.
Not only because of his striking white hair and clothes full of Xianzhou flair, but mainly due to the energy around him that was different from everyone else's.
Thinking carefully, the Astral Express crew were all pretty noticeable inside the space station.
Inside Herta Space Station, there's no difference between day and night, only artificial lights staying lit forever. The staff here have no regular schedule; they might work for several days straight, or sleep for a long continuous stretch.
Monotony and dullness form the main mood of Herta Space Station. In such repetitive living, even the magnificent starry sky loses its freshness after seeing it for too long. Only their worship of Lady Herta keeps a spark of passionate anticipation deep in the staff's hearts.
But most faces Stelle saw were tired.
Thus these energetic outsiders stood out far more in such an environment, Silver Wolf, Kafka, the crew members of the Express, even someone quiet like Dan Heng had a bright sharpness in his eyes. Not to mention Nero, this sunshine-flavored kid.
Hearing Nero call out, Stelle also waved and jogged over.
"You said you already have a solution. What do you need me to do?"
Stelle looked at the boy before her. She had a very good impression of him and was more than willing to help.
In fact, after waking up, Stelle felt that most of the people she met were quite nice.
Nero grabbed Stelle's hand, looked around left and right, then leaned in like he was telling a secret, "Let me tell you, just now I walked around the space station and asked around a bit about what the staff think of Asta, the Lead Researcher. And then, I got a very shocking piece of news!"
Stelle looked at Nero in confusion, starting to wonder what this had to do with solving his debt problem.
But Nero didn't want to play guessing games and continued, "The funding allocated to Herta Space Station within a set period is limited, but I heard the staff say Asta often buys very expensive things. Most of the time, the total cost of everything she buys exceeds the fixed funding quota. And someone said the station master is even planning to buy an Aeon-destroyer ship recently!"
Hearing Nero's explanation, Stelle widened her eyes.
"An Aeon-destroyer ship! That's so cool?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Stelle watched the sunshine-flavored kid proudly nodding in front of her as if he was the one buying the ship.
Soon, he even put his hands on his hips and said, "Asta personally thanked me earlier for saving Arlan. I think the two of them might know each other pretty well. So I went to ask Arlan, and ended up learning a big secret! Asta, she's actually a rich young lady! And the even better news is that Herta just handed the decision regarding me to Asta!"
Stelle thought for a moment, then instantly understood Nero's meaning, "So you want to..."
"That's right! Since we're not part of the Express nor the Space Station, our reputation inside the station is fantastic right now. So... let's go beg Asta together! With you here, the success rate will absolutely skyrocket!"
Nero grabbed both of Stelle's hands and looked up at her pitifully.
The subtext of this line was basically, 'Please, I want to borrow a bit of your protagonist halo!'
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