Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

"...Miss Estella, are you sure you didn't add a few extra zeros when you transferred the money?"

"No, it's just a day's allowance. It's a small gift, please accept it. I'll thank you properly after I've finished dealing with the trivial matters at the space station."

Estella smiled slightly, about to say something, when she noticed a notification coming from her terminal.

"I have important matters to attend to, please excuse me."

He left hastily without giving the two a chance to speak.

"..."

Qi Zhimu stared at the string of numbers on the screen and fell into a long silence.

If it were someone like Shi Xin doing this, he would know with his eyes closed that the other party wanted to use the evil power of money to make his stomach worse so that he could eat soft food.

But he had never met Esther before, and his face wasn't good enough to make a rich woman spend a billion dollars after just one meeting.

"Let me guess, did Aista transfer several hundred million to you?"

"Ten of them... her identity is probably more than just a station manager, isn't it?"

"I don't know, I only know that she often says one thing—"

March 7th cleared his throat, imitating Estelle's melancholy tone at some point in her life.

"Sigh... If I don't work hard and manage the space station well, I'll have to go back and inherit the family business..."

It must be said that her imitation was incredibly lifelike.

Qi Zhimu sensed a genuine sorrow in his voice, a sorrow that was not merely that of Ersai.

"Inheriting the family business is even harder to accept than managing the space station... I think I understand now."

Either you are a fanatical and loyal follower of genius.

Either inheriting the family business would cause her to lose something more important than wealth.

Hmm... it's mostly about freedom.

Money is valuable, but freedom is priceless.

He developed an iron stomach, only liking to eat the food he found himself, and his legs were too weak to kneel down, all for those two words.

"Sigh, I've accepted a billion from them, if I don't produce some tangible results, it would be against my principles."

"What principle?"

"The work I did for the space station doesn't meet the fee standard of one billion credits. In March, with your clearance on the space station, can you take me to a few sensitive areas?"

How sensitive?

"We need to visit the areas involving core defense works and power facilities in person to formulate the most suitable improvement plan."

Seeing his serious expression, March 7th couldn't help but glance at him.

"That's fine, but don't you have a bit too many skills...?"

"Is it a lot?"

"That's not all. Just those we know of now include people who are both cultured and skilled in martial arts, and now they even understand interstellar infrastructure."

"You've been through thick and thin for over a hundred years, you can do it too. Come on, after it's done, I'll treat you to my treasured wine, I guarantee you'll never want to leave."

"...Well, I'm probably not old enough to drink yet..." March 7th said, embarrassed.

At least Ji Zi and Uncle Yang both advised against her drinking it.

"Oh, it's alright, homemade wine has no alcohol content," Qi Zhimu assured, patting his chest.

"real?"

"Even pearls aren't that real; the raw material is plum blossoms from deep in the mountains."

"No wonder you always have a faint scent of plum blossoms about you; it seems you really like plum blossoms."

"The fragrance comes from the sachet at my waist. As for the plum blossoms... I wouldn't say I particularly like them, but I don't dislike them either."

To ensure the professionalism of the assessment, March 7 suggested that they first go to the Defense Section and ask Alan to guide them.

When the two arrived at the defense section, they found it empty.

Upon inquiry, it was learned that Alan was leading defense personnel to clear out the remaining virtual soldiers and investigate the rift space.

As luck would have it, when the two found Alan, he had just finished dealing with the last wandering spies near the power room.

"Miss March, Mr. Zhimu, did Miss Estella send you?"

"No……"

"Pretty much. What did Station Master Estella tell you?" Qi Zhimu subtly stopped March 7 from denying it.

Alan: "After collecting information about the damage to the space station from various sources, Miss proposed a post-disaster operation mechanism with the heads of the five departments."

"It also involves many other classified concepts, such as artifact re-containment teams, the establishment of safe zones, and damage assessment by the Interstellar Peace Corporation, etc..."

"My mission is to clean up the remnants of destruction, strengthen the disaster preparedness training of the defense department, and cope with future uncertain crises."

"Hmm, not bad."

Qi Zhimu nodded, then took out his phone and showed the transfer record.

"Station Chief Estella commissioned me to assess the space station's defense facilities and provide targeted guidance on improvement plans."

Because part of the transfer amount was displayed in a reduced format, Alan couldn't see the exact commission fee, but the account of the transferor was indeed Aistar's.

"Understood. Please follow me. However, there may still be some scattered enemy soldiers deeper inside, so please make sure you stay close behind me."

"It's alright, I love playing the destroyer pawn the most." Qi Zhimu slung the zhongruan over his shoulder.

"Count me in!" March 7th drew her longbow, full of confidence.

As the journey continued, Alan's expression gradually shifted from serious to questioning the meaning of life.

Whenever any remnants of the legion appeared, Qi Zhimu would annihilate them upon death.

Not only on March 7th, but he also had no room to make a move, as everything was taken care of by Qi Zhimu.

Taking advantage of Qi Zhimu's sudden appearance dozens of meters away like a ghost, Alan finally couldn't help but ask.

"Miss March, is there a deep-seated grudge between Mr. Zhi Mu and the Destruction Legion?"

"…this……"

After hesitating for a moment, recalling Qi Zhimu's tone when he talked about that past and his personality, March 7th decided to give a brief explanation.

"Zhi Mu's home was destroyed by the antimatter legion. For more details, you can ask him."

"..." Alan remained silent.

No need to ask anymore.

The simplest and most straightforward reason is the one that most easily incites hatred. He understands this very well and can empathize with Qi Zhimu.

……

Let's rewind a little.

On the other side, in the Black Tower office.

The Black Tower doll, which was originally in standby mode, suddenly lit up its eyes, indicating that the Black Tower itself was being remotely controlled.

She brought up the information control panel for the simulated universe and started working.

The damage to the space station? That's Estádio's problem.

Her only interest now is simulating the universe's first test.

In the midst of my busy work, a report from Estella popped up.

"Tsk...didn't I say you could handle it yourself?"

Black Tower rolled his eyes after glancing casually at the content.

It's all just trivial damage assessments and... um?

Heita's gaze lingered on a surveillance video, but what drew her attention was not the video content, but the title and the label below it.

The star core contained in the space station is now inside that gray-haired girl, and it almost exploded and destroyed the space station.

"Wow, that's interesting."

Black Tower casually clicked play, and the scene showed the train crew blocking the apocalyptic beast on the platform.

She didn't have the patience to watch it all, so she skipped ahead, stopping just before the star core was about to explode, and just missed the crucial scene that lasted less than two seconds—

That is, the face of Qi Zhimu was captured by the surveillance when he hit the head of the Doomsday Beast.