Seeing Black Swan, Stelle's eyes sparkled.
"Whoa~ Since when did Godfather bring a new godmother onto the Express? Mommy Himeko, I didn't even know about this!"
Aside from Stelle, as soon as Black Swan appeared, everyone's attention fell on Lucian once again, almost as if they were silently asking, 'Is she another one of your women?'
Himeko merely maintained her elegant smile, showing no sign of misunderstanding, since she knew that whenever Lucian spoke to his own women, his tone would become noticeably gentler and more indulgent than the commanding manner he used with others.
It was a subtle difference, but one that was easy enough to notice if someone paid close attention. Judging from that, the woman named Black Swan had probably been brought here by Lucian specifically to serve as their guide.
"Stelle, don't say things like that. Ms. Black Swan is our guest."
Himeko nodded politely toward Black Swan, who returned the gesture with an equally graceful smile.
It was then that Black Swan's attention was drawn to someone else—March 7th.
As she looked at March, Black Swan immediately sensed something unusual about her, for there was a peculiar purity to the memories surrounding the girl, so clean and untainted that they naturally attracted the attention of a Memokeeper like herself.
'Oh my, there are actually such pure memories here... Why is she so pure?'
Needless to say, Black Swan's old habit had surfaced again.
"We're heading somewhere even Akivili has never been before this time, so we can't just spend the whole trip chilling and having fun," Lucian said, looking at everyone one by one to make sure they understood how serious he was. "We'll all have work to do, so you're gonna need to follow my arrangements."
"What kind of work?"
March asked curiously, blinking her eyes as she waited for his answer.
Lucian grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth.
"We're gonna be bandits and rob someone."
"Bandits?!" Stelle's eyes immediately lit up brighter than electric lights. "Awesome! Is it the kinda thing I'm thinking of—the kinda where you cover your face, carry a gun, kick down the door, and yell, 'IP, IC, IQ, hand over all your passwords!'"
Even though he had no idea what nonsense Stelle was talking about, Lucian approvingly reached out and rubbed her head, seemingly pretty happy with her enthusiasm.
"You're a quick learner! Yeah, that's basically it, kinda. But we're operating on a higher level. We're gonna rob an Emanator and steal something from an Aeon."
Rob an Emanator?
Steal from an Aeon?
Could words like 'rob' and 'steal' really apply to beings like them?
In Welt, Dan Heng, and March's ears, the sheer absurdity of hearing those words spoken so casually made the entire situation feel even more ridiculous.
"Become bandits? Lucian, that doesn't sound safe at all."
Welt had no idea what was going through Lucian's mind as he questioned him, his expression carrying a hint of helplessness.
"Rob them! Rob the hell outta them!" Stelle raised her hand enthusiastically, looking as though she could hardly wait to get started. "My godfather's gotta have a reason for doing this, so I'll be the one to kick down the door!"
As soon as she heard that they would be fighting an Emanator, Stelle became more excited than anyone else. For her, the more outrageous the opponent, the more interesting the situation seemed to become.
It was only natural.
Having a godfather this absurd, there was little wonder that her courage had been raised to such ridiculous levels. After spending so much time around someone who casually talked about robbing Emanators and stealing from Aeons, even the most dangerous situations had begun to seem far less intimidating to her.
By now, Stelle feared neither Heaven nor Earth.
Himeko pondered for a moment before asking Lucian.
"Who exactly are we going to rob in Amphoreus?"
Welt Yang: ?
Dan Heng: ?
March 7th: ?
Was that really the question Himeko was supposed to be asking?
From their understanding, the kind and well-mannered Himeko they knew should have been trying to persuade Lucian not to become a bandit. Yet instead of questioning the idea itself, she had gone straight to asking who they were going to rob.
Himeko had clearly changed—she was no longer the kind Himeko they knew.
"We're gonna rob the first seat of the Genius Society and take his most precious treasure," Lucian explained with a smile. "I'll explain the details along the way, but right now, I gotta go recruit two accomplices, so you guys head out first."
Since a genius was already managing the Scepter, Lucian also needed to find two geniuses to take over its operation. More importantly, he could not write code himself, so he needed expert programmers who could actually operate the Scepter and handle its complex systems.
And the best candidates were naturally Herta and Screwllum.
After explaining everything, Lucian did not wait for anyone to react before his figure vanished from the car as silently as a ghost, leaving the entire group staring at one another in confusion for a moment.
Stelle immediately moved over beside Black Swan, her eyes practically sparkling with curiosity, and asked her with glittering eyes.
"Black Swan, what exactly is your relationship with my godfather?"
What else could their relationship be?
It was the relationship between conqueror and conquered.
Black Swan had to admit that she was extremely interested in the terrifying will buried deep within Lucian's memories. However, she did not dare to investigate it directly, so she had simply changed her approach.
If force did not work, couldn't she achieve the same result through gentleness?
By remaining at Lucian's side and patiently wearing him down, she believed that sooner or later, she would obtain his permission to uncover the secret hidden within him.
As long as she managed to complete this one job, it would be enough to count as a hundred years, perhaps even a thousand years, worth of achievements!
"Relationship? He asked me to live together with you all, so what do you think our relationship is?"
Black Swan smiled gracefully before turning away, her hips swaying naturally as she walked over to provide Pom-Pom with the coordinates for Amphoreus.
"Another big milk cow, huh? Mommy Himeko's got some serious competition now..."
Stelle scratched her head and muttered helplessly as she watched Black Swan leave, her expression carrying a mixture of resignation and curiosity.
March watched Black Swan's departing figure, unable to shake the feeling that the other woman had been observing her just now.
'What am I even thinking about? Ms. Black Swan was personally recommended by Lucian, so she must be a good person.'
Deciding not to dwell on the matter any further, March hurried back to organize her clothes and camera, already looking forward to taking plenty of pictures once they reached the so-called Amphoreus.
Likewise, the others paid little attention to Black Swan's behavior and simply went about their own business.
===
Meanwhile, at Herta Space Station, Asta was busy directing work throughout the station as usual.
When she had just come out of Herta's office and was hurrying toward the central control room, someone suddenly appeared directly in front of her.
As a result, Asta had no time to react before she ran straight into him, her forehead colliding squarely with his chest.
"Ouch!"
"Careful."
Lucian had only just appeared and had yet to do anything when a beautiful girl had already thrown herself into his arms.
'Is the lucky pervert trait acting up again?'
Lucian instinctively reached out and caught Asta by the back and lower waist, preventing her from losing her balance and falling.
At the same time, the faint, fragrant scent of shower gel immediately entered his nose, while his hands felt the softness of the young woman's body in his arms—the sensation was unexpectedly pleasant.
Only then did Lucian get a proper look at her and realize that the pink-haired beauty he had caught was Asta.
"Are you okay?"
Lucian asked gently, his voice carrying a hint of concern.
Hearing the familiar-sounding voice, Asta quickly raised her head, only for a handsome face that was almost breathtaking to come into view.
"Mr. Lucian, you're back..."
Asta rubbed her sore nose from the impact and unconsciously broke into a smile.
"Does it hurt? Let me take a look."
Lucian gently took Asta's hand with his left hand and moved it aside, then lightly touched the tip of her nose with his right hand. He followed that by using a small amount of Abundance power, and in an instant, the soreness disappeared completely.
"...It doesn't hurt anymore."
Asta's cheeks flushed faintly.
She had grown up without ever having a member of the opposite sex touch the tip of her nose, and the strange, ticklish sensation made her feel somewhat flustered. For a moment, she did not even know where she should look.
"Good, then I can rest easy."
Lucian spoke with a smile.
Asta immediately turned her head away and took two deep breaths. Only by doing that could she maintain her composure in front of Lucian and keep herself from behaving awkwardly.
"Mr. Lucian, did you come looking for Madam Herta? Her true body isn't on the space station but at her private residence right now. I can help you contact her if you want."
"No need. Just give me the address of her place. I'll pay her a personal visit."
Lucian had suddenly realized something.
Despite knowing Herta for such a long time, he still had no idea where her private residence was, since they had always contacted her through Herta Space Station.
They were old friends, after all, so dropping by for a visit was perfectly reasonable, right?
"I can tell you, but you should still make an appointment beforehand. Madam Herta has set up a lot of defensive systems at her residence. I'm worried you might get hurt by accident."
Asta tried to persuade Lucian, clearly concerned about what might happen if he went there unannounced.
Lucian reached over and rubbed her head with a smile.
"Don't worry, those little tricks of hers can't hurt me, so there's no need to worry."
Seeing how confident he was, Asta decided not to say anything more and simply gave him the coordinates leading to Herta's private residence, a place located near the edge of this part of the galaxy and hidden so thoroughly that ordinary people would have no chance of finding it.
Even among those who knew her, only a handful of people were aware of the location of her home.
"Thanks, Asta. I'll get going first."
Lucian waved goodbye, activated Absolute Hit, and teleported himself directly to Herta's home.
Just like that, the man who had been standing in front of Asta vanished without warning, leaving her standing there in a daze for quite some time.
A faint sense of disappointment settled in her heart as she realized that she had not even had the chance to say everything she wanted to say.
'Hahh, there were still things I wanted to talk to him about, but I guess I'll have to wait until next time...'
Asta patted her cheeks to calm herself down before returning to her busy work.
===
Somewhere in the vast expanse of space near the edge of the galaxy stood a luxurious mansion in the form of a tower, an extravagant structure suspended directly in the emptiness of outer space.
Building a mansion in such a location was certainly in keeping with the style of a member of the Genius Society.
For someone like Herta, even a residence could hardly be ordinary, and the sheer extravagance of the structure was enough to reflect the status of its owner.
In fact, this was not merely a mansion, either, but also a gigantic laboratory filled with all manner of advanced equipment. Every corner of the enormous structure contained traces of technology far beyond what ordinary people could hope to understand.
And the entire place belonged to Herta, serving as both her private residence and her personal territory.
At this moment, Herta was taking a bath in the bathroom, looking completely at ease as she enjoyed this rare moment of leisure. Behind her, a small Herta doll was diligently helping her scrub her back, with both of its hands equipped with bath mitts.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho... Madam Herta is a peerless gem. Madam Herta is an unrivalled genius. Madam Herta is an inimitable beauty."
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]