"Dear brother, we've eaten our fill—time for us to head out, right?"
"Woof woof~!"
"?" Under the gazes of the crowd of staff members, Dan Heng, and March 7th, one person and one dog casually left on their own—heading in different directions.
"???"
"What are they doing? Heading back to sleep after eating?" March 7th asked curiously.
Dan Heng shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it."
At the entrance to one of the massive bays in the space station.
A staff member walked out from inside and immediately ran into Zeig.
He froze for a moment, then frowned and said:
"Mr. Zeig, I've told you many times already—until the upgrade costs for the Heavenly Father system are fully paid, we cannot allow you to take it away."
"Mm, I know. That's why I'm back at the space station to help out again, isn't it?" Zeig waved his hand with a smile, but his eyes kept staring at the enormous bay door behind the staff member.
The staff member followed Zeig's line of sight, glanced back at the door, then smiled at Zeig: "Don't waste your energy. Without authorization, you can't get in there."
After leaving Jarilo-VI, the Astral Express had returned to Herta Space Station once.
It was during that visit that Zeig had left the Heavenly Father here for maintenance and upgrades.
But this time, the space station wasn't covering the costs.
So once the work was finished and no credits were forthcoming, the staff here stubbornly refused to let Zeig take it—no IOUs accepted.
"Mr. Zeig, please have some self-respect. These past few days we've had to purchase materials and hire professionals for testing and evaluation—it's cost quite a bit." The staff member pushed up his glasses, his tone extremely firm.
"Hey, do I look like someone who skips out on debts? Once this whole thing is wrapped up, Herta will give me a huge pile of credits. Sir, just hand over the Heavenly Father first, and I swear I'll pay back every credit in full!" Zeig laughed.
"No can do. That's the rule."
"Come on, don't you know my character by now? If I say I'll pay, I'll definitely pay. Just let me take it for a spin first."
"Heh, Mr. Zeig. Precision is one of the principles I live by! Money first, goods second—everything must follow procedure. There is no such thing as advance delivery under my watch. Sir, you'd better abandon that hope."
With that, the staff member coldly walked away.
Zeig glanced back to confirm the man was gone, then sneaked over to the automatic door.
This door required corresponding authorization to open.
Clearly, Zeig didn't have it.
So he pulled out his phone from his pocket and called Asta.
Beep—beep—beep—
Beep!!
The call connected.
A familiar voice came from the other side.
"Woof woof~"
Beep—!!
The other party quickly hung up.
Zeig gave a slight smile.
In one of the cabins.
Peppy weaved past a group of staff members and arrived in front of Arlan.
"Hm?" Arlan felt something rubbing against his pant leg, so he looked down.
Seeing Peppy, he smiled gently:
"Peppy, hungry again? Hold on a sec—I'll go see if there's anything left to eat."
With that, he slowly walked away.
Peppy looked left and right. Once she confirmed no staff were watching, she leaped onto the control console.
Then… her soft pink paws began operating the screen.
Finally, a password prompt appeared.
She glanced around again. Seeing the staff all busy with their own tasks, she started pressing the password with her pink paws.
After the prompt showed success, another password field appeared.
This time, it was a pattern lock.
"Woof~"
Without hesitation, Peppy pressed her soft pink paw to the screen and drew a pattern.
After the prompt confirmed it was correct, yet another lock appeared—this one a facial recognition scan.
"Woof?" Peppy tilted her head, seemingly surprised there was another layer.
This layer required a face scan.
But surprisingly, it suddenly displayed "Password Correct" out of nowhere.
Peppy happily cheered.
All three passwords cleared, and finally an operation interface popped up.
Peppy's soft pink paws expertly typed on the control panel.
Soon, Zeig's information panel was pulled up.
"Woof woof~" Peppy was very pleased.
She directly opened his identity permissions and maxed them out!
Although the permission level added via this console still couldn't surpass Herta or Asta's, it was enough to access the bay door.
After finishing, Peppy let out a tired huff: "Woof~"
Then she closed the operation page, restored everything to normal, and jumped down from the console.
When she looked up, she froze at the sight before her.
"Woof?" She let out a startled bark.
A group of staff members stood in front of her, arms crossed, silently staring.
In the very middle stood Asta, eyes narrowed.
Beside her, Arlan was sweating profusely—the scene he had just witnessed was horrifying.
"Peppy, you… you can operate equipment too?" Arlan asked nervously.
"Woof…"
Asta took a few steps forward, approaching Peppy, and narrowed her eyes as she said:
"Well, well, a thief in the house! Peppy, I never imagined—you're actually this capable?"
"…"
…
At the bay door, Zeig was still waiting anxiously, pacing back and forth.
"Huh? What's taking so long? Has General Peppy not finished yet?" He scratched his head, feeling like too much time had passed.
So he pulled out his phone again and called Asta once more.
Beep—beep—beep—
This time, the call was immediately hung up.
"???"
Zeig's eyebrow twitched—he suddenly had a bad feeling.
Without delay, he dashed toward the corridor, wanting to leave as quickly as possible.
But he ran straight into Asta, who was walking slowly toward him. Arlan stood at her side, looking nervously at Zeig.
And Peppy was being held in Asta's hand, pitifully looking toward Zeig.
"Woof~ Woof woof…"
Zeig sighed and comforted her:
"General Peppy, you did your best—please don't say that about yourself."
"Woof…"
Himeko walked out from behind Asta with a sour expression, staring at Zeig helplessly:
"Zeig, I heard some staff members mention before that you and Peppy became sworn brothers… I never thought it was all for the Heavenly Father."
"Heh, Teacher Himeko, wanting to reclaim the Heavenly Father is one thing—but my friendship with General Peppy is something else entirely."
Zeig clasped his hands behind his back and spoke earnestly:
"General Peppy and I hit it off instantly. The bond between us—how could you people possibly…"
…
A few minutes later.
Asta carried Peppy in one hand, while Himeko dragged Zeig along, slowly walking down the corridor.
Himeko looked at Asta and suddenly realized:
"So that's it—he actually commissioned the space station to add a flight system to the Heavenly Father?"
"Mm. When he came here with March, he said, 'What's the difference between a mech that can't fly and a cockroach with its butt sealed shut?' So the Heavenly Father was left here." Asta explained while holding Peppy.
She continued:
"Now the Heavenly Father is fully upgraded. I was planning to let him take it only after this whole matter is settled—I'd cover the cost myself. But I never expected he'd actually conspire with Peppy!"
"See? I told you we couldn't trust them." Himeko dragged Zeig along, forcing a faint smile.
"Hmph. In any case, taking the Heavenly Father early is impossible!" Asta declared firmly while holding Peppy.
…
Soon after.
A disciplinary notice appeared on the space station's screens.
A video of one person and one dog being tossed into trash cans was attached below, causing quite a stir.
…
"Both of them are dogs!!…"
…