Chapter 14

Star arrived at the main control cabin section, and from afar she saw Jizi waiting for her in a corner.

Seeing Star arrive on time, Jizi was very pleased: "You're awake, I had Xiao San Yue and the others stay near the train to keep watch; the timing is about right, the person I'm waiting for should be arriving soon."

"I've only been gone a few months? Hmm? And the space station has turned out like this."

Before her words even finished, a slightly arrogant female voice suddenly sounded not far away.

Following the sound, what came into view was a pair of the girl's fair calves; but when the camera pulled back, one could see that the joints where her calves met her thighs were clearly ball-and-socket joints.

"Is that a puppet?" Jess outside the light curtain widened his eyes.

"Magnificent technique." Victor silently admired, "Although the city-state's technology can also achieve remote automation, the appearance and form are completely——" He trailed off, merely staring blankly up at this work that could be called perfect in both construction precision and outward appearance.

If you ignore the joints at where her limbs connect, she is practically identical to a human girl. A dark blue beret paired with the girl's gray long hair, with a purple lily flower among the hair adding a touch of elegance and bearing.

Beneath her black female tailcoat is a whole snowy puffy skirt, which instead reveals a few touches of dainty charm and cuteness that clash with this mistress's imposing aura.

"This is the true master of the space station, 【Genius Club】 #83, Black Tower."

After merely hearing Jizi's introduction, the girl dissatisfiedly lifted her purple eyes, giving Jizi a slightly reproachful look: "Just introduce me properly; why mention the club? I have so many extraordinary achievements—any of them would sound better than #83."

"Genius…… club."

After all, it is the most genius organization in the whole universe; Star had originally thought there would be a cooler organization name, but she never expected it to be this… down-to-earth, and she could hardly help laughing.

Black Tower swept her gaze over Star, snorted: "Go ahead and laugh if you want; that name was thought up by that old geezer Zandalar—do you think I like it? Besides, is this little brat now the star core?"

Jizi nodded silently.

"Hmph, then I'd better take a good look." A rare smile gradually spread across Black Tower's face.

——

"Uh… well… this… is Black Tower?" Jess rubbed the slightly immature stubble on his chin, looking at Victor in disbelief.

"It's probably not wrong, but I had imagined this Lady Black Tower to be more steady‑type." Victor also found it hard to imagine; the Black Tower lady spoken of by Esdese is, after all, "the embodiment of wisdom," one of the smartest humans in the whole universe, yet now she seems more like a somewhat childish little girl.

On the contrary, it suits this puppet's body extremely well.

"The puppet should merely be a tool for communication; perhaps the source of the puppet's voice is the true Black Tower lady herself."

"This voice sounds like it's only in its teens or early twenties, right?" Jess still couldn't believe it, "Such a young… embodiment of wisdom?"

"Otherwise, how could they be a genius?" Victor gave a wry smile.

The Black Tower in the light curtain had already begun to examine Star from all sides, up and down, left and right, while praising: "Truly divine, in order to restrain this inactive star core and let the azure planet avoid disaster, I built an entire space station……"

"Yet someone returned to simplicity, using just this little brat's body to get the job done——how did they manage that?"

Feeling Black Tower's gaze, which was like that of someone inspecting a lab rat, Star only felt a prickling on her back and broke out in a cold sweat involuntarily.

"Besides, the star core is quite stable inside her body." Jizi added.

"Yeah, this little brat's physique is really strange." Black Tower's curiosity grew even stronger.

Star wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Do you really have to discuss me to my face? And——I'm not a little brat." As she said this, Star's gaze flicked unfavorably toward Black Tower's petite frame.

Black Tower was quick-witted and instantly understood the implication. She raised her delicate brows and snorted coldly: "Compared to me, aren't you just a little brat? How old are you?"

"Besides, I completed my research on returning to youth long ago; the puppet you see now is about seventy percent similar to how I looked as a child."

These words struck like a thunderbolt, instantly exploding in Victor's mind.

"Returning to youth?! Is that really something human science can achieve? If, if…… cough cough……" Victor, rarely excited, clutched his chest and began to cough violently due to his frail body.

Fortunately, after the coughing his ashen‑white face finally showed a hint of color.

"Victor, you need to calm down; although that Black Tower lady can achieve returning to youth, she is after all a human from another world." Jess, not forgetting the untraversable light curtain separating them from the Black Tower lady, whispered reassuringly, "Her success doesn't mean we can do the same."

Victor firmly shook his head: "Jess, the meaning of science lies in exploring the impossible."

Jess let out a long sigh; he knew Victor's health had always been poor, and he had long yearned for a healthy, unblemished body. He understood Victor's obsession, and he did not intend to keep urging him on this matter.

Compared to Victor's obsession with pursuing health, he also harbored a bold idea in his heart.

Meanwhile, at the same moment in the undercity, Zaun.

This place is utterly a den of filth and vice, where drunken thugs lurk in the corners of the sewers, and the dark alleys are never lacking thugs who brandish knives to rob passersby. A river laced with neurotoxic poison runs through the whole city, leaving this land riddled with scars bearing the name of sin.

In a laboratory situated in an underground cavern, the door was slowly pushed open; first to come in was a pair of polished leather shoes, after which the shoes' owner brushed off the dust from his lapels and stepped slowly into the lab.

Singed rose slowly to greet him, for this distinguished guest could not be slighted.

The guest was none other than Silco.

Behind him followed several sturdy lackeys, carrying precious mechanical parts scavenged from the black markets all over Zaun.

"This is what you wanted." With a command from Silco, the lackeys tossed the found machinery into a corner of the laboratory at random. Cramped by this pile of metal junk, Singed's already modest laboratory felt even more confined.

Singed had helped him research the micro‑light potion, making him one of the key founders of his power; he would grant any request that wasn't excessive. However, after Singed saw the puppet called "Black Tower" in the light curtain, he began to scavenge nearly all precision machinery in the undercity.

His intentions, even without Silco spelling them out, could be guessed at roughly seven‑eighths.