Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

space station.

After leaving the simulated universe to Screws, Black Tower turned off the monitoring screen and instead remotely controlled the puppet located near the main control module.

After glancing at the coordinates Himeko sent, he started walking in that direction.

When she arrived at her destination, the other party had already arrived, and the echoes of their discussions about her still lingered in the air.

"I've only been gone a few months, huh? The space station has become like this?" Black Tower's gaze lingered on the gray-haired girl.

"You're finally back, Xing. Let me introduce you. This is the true owner of the space station, Genius Club #83, Black Tower."

"Introduce me properly, why mention the club? I have so many extraordinary achievements, which one doesn't sound better than #83?"

"Pfft... Genius Club." Xing failed to suppress her laughter.

"Laugh all you want. Do you think I like the name that old devil Zandal came up with?"

The Black Tower's gaze seemed to pierce through the stars.

"The star core is now yours, right? Well then, I'll have to take a good look. Wow, amazing! To restrain this unactivated star core and save Azure Star from disaster, I built an entire space station."

"Now you're telling me someone returned to their original state, stuffed themselves into your body, and that solved everything? How did they do that?"

"Yes, this little guy's constitution is really strange." Himeko also showed some interest in investigating.

Hoshino glanced at Himeko, then at the Black Tower, and weakly protested, "Do you all really have to discuss me to my face?"

"So what? Let me tell you, kid, the star core inside you is my private property. It's raw material that I originally intended to research for an important project."

Black Tower didn't think there was anything wrong with his behavior and raised his chin as if it were perfectly normal.

"Now that the substance is in your body, there's good news and bad news. I'm telling you, listen."

"Good news: The star core has started up safely and is performing stably. This is a result I'm happy to see. Although it was achieved by someone else, I don't intend to take it back. It's yours now."

"Bad news: I've run out of research material, and the plan has been forced to be put on hold. I'm very unhappy, so I have to use you for some research."

Xing looked puzzled: "What kind of bad news is this?"

"ha?"

Black Tower looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Isn't my unhappiness the worst news? Do you know how important my plans are?"

"I really don't know."

"Listen, I originally intended to analyze the power of the star core in order to find the person who is most important to me."

"Normally, I might not bother arguing with you, but this is absolutely unacceptable unless you can return a star core that hasn't been activated yet."

"I understand. It's bad news for you, not for me."

Xing suddenly realized, then said with some difficulty:

"But I don't know why I woke up with this thing in my body. You can't just bully a newborn baby, can you?"

"Hmph, see for yourself."

With a flick of his wrist, Black Tower pulled out a surveillance video filled with static.

In the scene, a glamorous woman in a coat presses the star core into the body of a gray-haired girl.

There was also a girl with a single ponytail next to her, blowing bubble gum while operating something.

"Kafka the Star Core Hunter and... Silver Wolf?"

Himeko was stunned when she saw the two people's faces.

She truly hadn't expected that it was these two notorious fugitives, whose names resounded throughout the galaxy, who had implanted the star core into the star's body.

Black Tower casually waved away the video.

"Kid, I don't care what your relationship is with those two, and I'm even less interested in what Star Core Hunters do."

"The ownership of the star core within your body belongs to me, and it is only right and legal for me to take it back."

"But since the perfect Black Tower lady is kind-hearted, I allow you to take it around, but you can't refuse when I need to study you."

Xing scratched his head, and found that this logic was damnably reasonable.

Himeko pondered for a moment, then asked softly, "Black Tower, can I take that to mean you're allowing her to choose to come with us?"

"Of course, it's convenient for you to go back to the space station anyway," Black Tower snorted arrogantly.

"May I ask, who is the person you're looking for using the Star Core?" Xing asked curiously.

"What's it to you?"

"How can it not concern you? What if I and Himeko got on the train and happened to run into each other on the way?"

"Kid, do you know how vast this universe is, or how difficult it is to find someone?"

Black Tower seemed to have heard the funniest thing in the world, and retorted without any politeness:

"Even a genius like me has no clue, so you, a newborn child, should probably give up. But—"

Black Tower suddenly drew out the last syllable of his voice and looked Star up and down again.

"But what?" Xing felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze.

"However, you can do one more thing for me: come to my office immediately."

"...I'm telling you, you wouldn't be lusting after me and trying to take advantage of me, would you? I have no interest in dolls..."

"??!"

Black Tower was taken aback at first, then a kind smile appeared on his face.

Do you know what diamonds are?

"I know," Xing answered honestly.

A massive hammer suddenly appeared in Black Tower's hand, followed by a large purple diamond flying straight at Star's face.

"You've never seen such a big diamond before, have you? It's yours!!"

"Ah oh ho ...

In the main control module, a bizarre and astonishing scene is unfolding.

The doll of Lady Black Tower, wielding a large hammer, was chasing after a gray-haired girl and pounding on her, causing her to scream.

No one dared to stop it.

Himeko watched the two chasing and fleeing, and sighed helplessly.

Before long, Black Tower returned to its original position with Star in its arms and threw her to the ground.

"Even if a newborn child is outspoken, there's a limit. Stop making jokes like that in the future. This genius is only interested in you for research purposes."

"Ouch... that was really ruthless. You're definitely the worst person I've ever met!" Xing rubbed her butt and got up.

"You should be thanking your lucky stars that you can still stand and talk to me. Terrible? Once you meet the other members of the Genius Club, you'll know how accommodating I am to you."

Black Tower put away his hammer and gave a cold snort.

"Some geniuses sell you out, and you still have to thank them with tears in your eyes. Hey you, Himeko, right? When are you guys setting off?"

"It's not certain yet, let's wait a few days."

"Alright, kid, hurry up and get ready. Don't dawdle. You'll get your share of the benefits if you help me."

After saying that, Black Tower stood there silently for several seconds.

"Then tell me which way to the office! Seriously." Xing gritted her teeth.

The black tower did not react.

"Feed?"

"Hello, hello?"

"Hello, I'm currently unavailable and won't be able to contact you for a while," the Black Tower Doll replied with an emotionless auto-response.

"???"

Xing felt like she was surrounded by a bunch of questions.

"Go ahead, that's just Black Tower's personality. She's not actually a bad person. Just follow that passage to the end, and that's her private office," Himeko kindly reminded her.

"It's still Princess Himeko who cares about me the most..."