In one of the changing rooms.
Arlan walked out together with Zeig.
Outside, Welt, March 7th, Dan Heng, and the others were waiting respectively.
When they saw Zeig come out, Welt pressed a hand to his forehead and said:
"Zeig, why do you keep denying those are your underwear? I really did take them from your room."
Zeig followed behind Arlan with a look of utter despair on his face—clearly, he had been forced to put on the red underwear.
Hearing Welt's voice, he raised his head and said with utmost seriousness:
"Mr. Welt… I… did… not… lie."
Welt: "…"
"Who else could possibly afford to wear this outfit… I'm a loser for life… I'm so humiliated I could die."
Welt: "…"
"Whether these underwear are real or not… don't I know best?"
Welt: "…"
"Please, stop hounding me. If I had the means, who wouldn't want to be a tall, rich, handsome guy…"
Seeing Zeig plop down on the ground right there and start sobbing like a resentful woman, March 7th stepped forward, frowning:
"Alright, alright, we're all losers here, and yet you tried to secretly defect from our group! Even if I agreed, Dan Heng wouldn't!"
"Is he even a loser? I always thought he was just the brooding type." Zeig's crying instantly stopped.
Dan Heng: "…"
Seeing the timing was about right, Arlan said to Zeig:
"Mr. Zeig, um… you probably haven't eaten yet, right? This is fried rice I made myself. I hope you don't mind."
With that, he took out a portion of fried rice and handed it to Zeig.
"?"
Zeig sniffed the boxed meal, then stared suspiciously at Arlan:
"It wasn't dropped on the floor, was it? Or wait—is this Asta getting revenge on me for Peppy, so she had you poison it?"
"No, no, it's really something I cooked myself." Arlan hurriedly waved his hands and stammered out an explanation.
"Ohhh~ Cooked by hand! I get it now—definitely something wrong with it!" Zeig's expression turned menacing. He pulled a silver needle from his pocket and stabbed it into the fried rice.
Shwa—!!
Under Arlan's gaze, the silver needle slowly began to turn black.
"Holy crap, it really is poisoned!" Zeig shouted, holding up the blackened needle.
In an instant, the atmosphere became extremely tense!
"???" Even March 7th held her breath!
The head of the space station's security division had openly tried to poison the Astral Express's quasi-Elation Aeon!
Arlan's eyes nearly popped out of his head. For a moment he was completely at a loss, frantically saying:
"How—how is that possible?! I—I really made it myself! Miss likes it too. I—I just wanted to thank Mr. Zeig. You saved Herta Space Station last time—how could I possibly poison you?!"
Zeig held the fried rice box in one hand and the still-blackening silver needle in the other. His eyes narrowed slightly:
"I never imagined a simple bowl of fried rice could be this deadly!"
"Fine then. If even the heavens won't allow it, I'll meet my end with dignity!!"
Immediately after, Zeig opened his mouth wide and—without chewing—poured the entire portion of fried rice straight down his throat like he was force-feeding livestock!
His throat kept working as he swallowed.
The scene left everyone stunned.
When Zeig had started eating, Welt had already reached out to stop him, but he never expected Zeig to be so fast—he really did dump it all in his mouth.
With loud gulping sounds, the entire box of fried rice was devoured clean.
March 7th's pink-blue eyes widened as she shouted:
"Wait—you're drinking the fried rice like water! You didn't even chew—can you actually swallow it like that?!"
Zeig wiped his mouth, then turned the empty box upside down. Not a single grain of rice fell out.
This shocked Arlan even more!
He quickly urged:
"Ze—Zeig, Mr. Zeig, you'd better come with me to see a doctor. I don't know why there would be poison in the rice either. But don't worry—I'll definitely investigate this thoroughly. For now, let's get you checked out first. Please come with me quickly, hurry…"
As he spoke, he tried to support Zeig and lead him away.
But Dan Heng calmly said:
"Actually, a silver needle turning black doesn't necessarily mean the food was poisoned. That's just an exaggerated trope commonly used in movies and TV shows."
"Hahahaha! Even if it is poisoned, so what? Zeig will make the heavens cough cough cough cough…"
Clearly, he had choked.
Arlan hurriedly patted his back.
Meanwhile, March 7th ran to his feet, picked up the silver needle that had fallen earlier, and examined it closely in her hand:
"Huh? This silver needle is still turning black. It's obviously not a problem with the fried rice."
"Let me see." Welt took the needle and narrowed his eyes.
After a moment, he said:
"This… is a specially made prop, right? Look—it turns black for a while, then returns to normal."
March 7th turned back to Zeig and asked:
"Where did you buy this silver needle?"
Zeig answered:
"From a wrap-party crew. Everything was half price. I've still got hanging cloth and fake rocks too."
With that, he pulled a long strip of white cloth from his pocket.
It looked exactly like the kind used in ancient costume dramas for hanging oneself from a beam.
March 7th furrowed her delicate brows in disgust:
"This thing is so ominous—put it away already!"
"What's there to fear? It's just a prop from a drama crew. No one actually died with it." Zeig reluctantly stuffed the white cloth back into his pocket.
Arlan let out a sigh of relief:
"Good thing it was all just props. Mr. Zeig, as long as you're okay."
It had to be said—Arlan was genuinely moved.
Even after claiming the fried rice was poisoned, Zeig had still eaten every last bit without hesitation.
This was the greatest recognition of Arlan's sincerity.
"Speaking of which, when is that visiting guest actually arriving at the space station?" Zeig looked around.
Right now the entire space station's corridors had been cleaned spotless. It really did feel like an inspection from higher-ups was coming.
"Oh… still a while." Arlan replied.
"Still a while… how long exactly? I've seen you all busy for ages already. Is the other party really that noble?" Zeig asked curiously.
Back when the Elation Aeon was here running that crazy voting event, the space station hadn't gone to this level of preparation.
"Uh… probably about five more hours?"
"…"
Upon hearing Arlan's answer, Zeig immediately walked into a nearby lab, sat down, and started playing Minesweeper on their computer.
"…"
Welt had only come down to deliver the red underwear. Now that Zeig was already wearing it under Arlan's supervision, he had no reason to stay and left.
Dan Heng and March 7th sat down at the workstations on either side of Zeig and continued using the computers.
March 7th propped her chin on one hand, boredly holding the mouse and playing some simple browser mini-games—ones so basic they only required clicking.
Without March 7th dragging him into games, Dan Heng went back to reading some materials.
Meanwhile, the computer right in the middle suddenly started making noise.
A voice came through:
"Nugu XX! Get your ass out here!" A man riding a cloud of smoke stepped into a sacred site.
March 7th and Dan Heng: "?"
…
"Hurry, hurry—go to my house and grab my Sharp 5! Just find my mom—she charges it for me every day, she knows where it is, quick!"
…
"I fucking swear—!"
…
"Not only do I have myself here, I also have my animal friends! burp"
"Roar!"
…
March 7th and Dan Heng both turned to look at Zeig's computer.
"What the hell are you watching?" March 7th asked.
"The love-hate saga between traditionalists and reformers—it's really good! Since we're waiting for the guest anyway, I figure we can watch a few episodes!"
"…"
…