Inside the borrowed (stolen) carriage of the Astral Express.
Madam Herta was languidly sinking into the soft sofa, her purplish-black eyes gazing at the vast and orderly Herta Space Station outside the panoramic window, her fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on the armrest.
The 30% repair progress made her a little restless.
Next, she definitely needed to earn repair progress... There were no ready-made tasks now, so it seemed she could only proactively create some 'fun' to get 'rewards' from Aha... But how could she create something interesting?
As she mused aimlessly, a subtle but unusually active data fluctuation, like a stone dropped into calm water, was keenly perceived by her.
Her consciousness extended along this fluctuation, instantly capturing the source—it was Silver Wolf!
That guy really couldn't swallow the insult of having her account banned and was launching a highly personalized attack on the Herta Space Station's data firewall.
Black Herta's heart curved into a knowing smile.
(Inner thoughts: Plan successful! The smokescreen worked, and this unlucky hacker was indeed pulled out to be a target.)
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her, and an ingenious (and immoral) idea emerged.
She immediately turned her head to look at the system puppet standing like a statue beside her: "System, where is'Star' now?"
Data streams flashed across the system puppet's inverted cross-shaped eyes: "Reporting, Ms. The target'Star' is currently undergoing testing in the 'simulated universe' project. Location locked."
"simulated universe..."
A cunning glint flashed in Black Herta's eyes. A plan quickly formed in her mind that could both 'add fuel' to Silver Wolf's attack, thoroughly prank Ms. Herta and the entire Space Station, and also give'Star' a'surprise' while she was testing in a'safe' environment.
"Very good... A rare opportunity."
[Perspective Shift: Herta Space Station, Master Control Zone]
Station Master Asta was rapidly reporting to Ms. Herta: "...Confirmed an unknown data attack. The source is extremely well-disguised, but the attack pattern highly matches the 'Silver Wolf' characteristics recorded in the database!"
Little Herta's face showed a cold smile: "Hmph, I didn't expect that little hacker would actually dare to attack us? Is she throwing a tantrum just because I banned a few of her accounts?"
Her slender fingers were already raised, ready to teach this presumptuous provocateur an unforgettable lesson.
However, just as she was about to launch a counterattack—
Buzz—!
The screens and projection devices throughout the entire Master Control Zone, and indeed all those connected to the public network, suddenly changed!
All data streams, monitoring images, and research interfaces vanished, replaced by a huge, cool, cyberpunk-style pixelated smiley face logo—Silver Wolf's exclusive LOGO—occupying every inch of the display area!
Immediately after, the broadcast speakers in all areas simultaneously blared a voice with a distinct electronic synthesized texture, full of mockery, accompanied by a playful (and to Herta, extremely annoying) tongue-sticking-out sound effect:
"Is that all? Just a roadside tower~"
A chorus of exclamations and commotion immediately erupted among the researchers in the Space Station.
This was practically an attack right in their faces!
Blatant provocation!
Himeko, standing nearby, frowned slightly and looked at Ms. Herta: "Are you alright?"
Little Herta's face had completely darkened, especially when she felt the guests from the Astral Express looking at her; the feeling of being humiliated intensified.
"Embarrassing..."
She didn't even use complex cracking procedures. She simply raised her hand and quickly drew a virtual interface in the air, her fingers flying as she operated it a few times—whoosh!
In just a few seconds, all the tampered screens and broadcasts instantly returned to normal. Silver Wolf's LOGO and voice vanished as if erased by an eraser.
Asta and the researchers had just let out a sigh of relief... when another anomaly occurred!
On the screens that had just returned to normal, the display switched again!
But this time, what appeared was no longer Silver Wolf's logo, but a yellow little monkey with dull eyes and an extremely 'wise' expression!
It sat on a small island piled with bananas, and to a highly addictive, simple, and endlessly looping melody, it began its 'performance':
"The sleeping banana monkey's love nest~"
"Eat bananas then sleep~"
"Happy and worry-free~"
"Sleeping banana monkey is so good~"
"Happy and content, no worries~"
Simple lyrics, a silly monkey image, combined with a brainwashing melody, spread like a virus through sight and sound!
"W-what is this?"
Some researchers couldn't help but laugh, but soon, they couldn't laugh anymore.
A strange power permeated with this hypnotic image and sound.
Some unconsciously hummed along, while others inadvertently added the 'jiao jiao' verbal tic when speaking.
"Reporting, Station Master! That... jiao jiao... the system seems to be..."
A technician tried to report, but his words turned into a flurry of 'jiao jiao'.
"My... my mind... jiao jiao... it feels like there's a monkey dancing!"
Another researcher clutched his head, his expression both pained and comical.
March 7th rushed over frantically, followed by Danheng, who had a solemn expression (though a closer look revealed his mouth twitching slightly).
"Sister Himeko! This is bad! Outside... jiao jiao... everyone is... jiao jiao..."
March 7th was stomping her feet in a hurry, her little face flushed red, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence.
Himeko frowned deeply, trying to analyze calmly: "This seems to be some kind of... meme..."
Her words stopped abruptly, and after a pause, she difficultly continued, "...jiao jiao... contamination."
Even she had fallen victim!
The entire Space Station instantly plunged into a cheerful yet incredibly bizarre atmosphere. The serious research facility seemed to have become a large-scale mental pollution site, making it hard to keep a straight face.
Asta suppressed the urge of monkeys and 'jiao jiao' circling in her mind, trying to maintain Order, while casting a pleading look at Ms. Herta: "Ms. Herta! This... this situation..."
However, little Herta, who had been silent until now, underwent an even more astonishing change.
The small puppet suddenly stood on tiptoes, her arms slightly raised, and began to spin in circles by herself!
At the same time, her originally emotionless electronic voice chanted in a strange tone:
"Spin... jiao jiao... spin... jiao jiao..."
"Ms. Herta?!" Asta exclaimed in horror, wanting to step forward.
Just then, a teleportation gate, emitting a faint purplish glow and with rippling edges, silently unfolded behind the spinning Herta Puppet.
A tall, mysterious woman stepped out from it.
She wore a wide purple witchs hat, beneath its brim was long brownish-gray hair, with a few strands falling beside her cheeks.
Her purple eyes were deep and sharp, scanning the chaotic scene before her with obvious displeasure.
Her attire was predominantly deep purple, adorned with mysterious patterns, and she held an ancient-looking long-handled magic staff in her hand.
Looking at the Space Station, where chaos reigned and monkey songs were everywhere, and her own puppet still spinning and chanting 'jiao jiao', Herta herself's face was so dark it could drip water.
Without any extra words, she slammed the staff in her hand heavily onto the ground!
Thump!
An invisible wave, centered on where the staff landed, instantly spread throughout the entire Space Station!
All the researchers contaminated by the'sleeping banana monkey' meme suddenly jolted, the monkeys and 'jiao jiao' in their minds instantly cleared, and they returned to normal.
The hypnotic image on the screens also disappeared, returning to the standby interface.
However... the spinning Herta Puppet was still there, stubbornly chanting: "Spin... jiao jiao..."
Herta herself walked forward with a dark expression, raised her hand, and unceremoniously smacked the beret.
"Slap!"