Reflected in Bryce's eyes were fluttering pink-blue butterflies, and the girl who stepped out with an adorable, catwalk-like sashay amid the purple ice petals.
Anyone who laid eyes on that pair of beautiful feet would inevitably form the thought: 'First, second, and last—I'm not a foot fetishist; I merely wish to lie stark naked upon the ground like that enlightened Buddha, and let this most perfect work of the Creator forcefully trample every last corner of my body.'
The girl's every frown and smile were the very embodiment of playful cuteness; in the hearts of the two squad leaders behind Bryce, a warmth as though soaked through by sunlight welled up.
When she mischievously blinked, one's heartbeat would involuntarily quicken half a beat, as if the entire world had been recolored by her cuteness.
Yet, facing this girl who made even the very air turn light and lively, Bryce's expression at this moment was unusually grave.
Bryce's fingertips rubbed against his frozen cufflink, and he let out a soft laugh:
"You... want to keep me here?"
A mercury-like radiance burst forth from his silver garment and silver hair, flowing as though it were a tangible substance.
It was not a gentle halo, but rather like ten million fine, dense silver needles, carrying an uncomfortably sharp texture.
Pela felt her skin prickle faintly, as if standing in the biting winter wind, her cheeks scraped by countless tiny ice crystals.
"Aren't you taking things a bit for granted?"
The Ten Stonehearts of the Strategic Investment Department possessed the Power of the Cornerstone bestowed by the Preservation Emanator, Diamond. That the Market Development Department could stand in opposition to the Strategic Investment Department—and even faintly hold the upper hand over the Investment Department—was enough to demonstrate the Market Development Department's strength.
Some of the Market Development Department's senior cadres might not measure up to the Ten Stonehearts who held the Cornerstones, but the gap was hardly great.
Certain cadres, aided by other means, could fully rival them—and in overall strength even surpass them—'overall strength' here including technological creations, such as the star-destroyer fleets under their command.
"I'm just doing a little of my duty as host... What kind of ability is this? So glaring! Just like a giant super lightbulb."
Bryce's silhouette flickered in and out amid the intense silver light, his outline turning blurred and dangerous—like a sharp silver blade, its edge poised right before the eyeball, making Caelus instinctively narrow his eyes.
"Honestly, it's kind of cool, pal!"
"If you were a bit younger, you might've made it into the gacha pool—no wait, there seem to be uncle-type characters in the gacha pool; Gallagher's an uncle type—still not right, let me think... I think the fan works mentioned that that guy's lore says he's supposedly only 13 years old."
"Hey~ buddy, can you turn the brightness down a notch?"
With his faintly American way of speaking, Caelus—if you threw a red-and-blue skintight suit on him right now—would be the perfect cosplay of that super-annoying Spider-Man.
As for words like 'gacha pool' in his speech, no one in the palace except Bryce paid them any mind—it was perfectly normal for Star Rail to short-circuit and spout things of unclear meaning.
To seriously ponder them, you'd have to tune your mind into the same 'beautiful' state as theirs—and then you'd have already lost.
"Is Brother Caelus feeling uncomfortable?"
Seeing Caelus raise his head and shield his eyes with a blocking motion, Yue'er asked with concern; she lightly lifted her slender fingers and gave a snap.
A thin layer of ice mist spread through the palace; the minute ice-crystal particles sliced the silver radiance Bryce emitted into countless shards of light, breaking it apart.
The ice crystals did not vanish; instead, they formed a light-bending refractive film.
An ominous premonition spread through Bryce's heart.
The ten million strands of silver radiance were refracted again and again by this film, their directions altered, until at last they converged into a single dazzling beam of light.
Six-Phased Ice condensed into a mirror; its surface was crystal-clear yet not smooth, marked by uneven undulations, further compressing the already-converged dazzling beam.
The principle was much like using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight and roast ants.
Bryce's pupils abruptly contracted; in that hair's-breadth instant, his never-neglected combat instinct sounded a shrill alarm—forcibly cutting off the Imaginary energy surging within his body.
Heedless of his image, he instinctively rolled to the side; the beam grazed past his shoulder, tearing open a slit in his silver garment like a sharp sword.
The glass behind him looked perfectly intact, but on closer inspection one could discover a hole less than a centimeter in diameter, its inner rim incomparably smooth—the matter had been directly vaporized.
Catching a glimpse of that tiny hole—and beyond the glass, in the blue sky, the cloud layers slowly parting left and right under the blowing wind—cold sweat slid down Bryce's forehead.
"It can actually refract my light..."
That was no ordinary ice!
Bryce rose from the ground, doing his best not to cut a sorry figure.
But this one small maneuver made him understand the gulf between himself and the cute girl before him.
And along with that—the terror of nearly suffering a grievous wound, and the humiliation of being humbled in this weak, feeble civilization—a surge of fury welled up in Bryce's chest, but he reined his emotions in.
So this was why that little girl from the Strategic Investment Department had given up the Jarilo-VI project?
"It seems all of you are dead set on challenging the IPC's authority."
Bryce said coldly:
"Hijacking starships belonging to the IPC, unlawfully detaining employees and guards, and even daring to lay hands on a senior cadre... Do you all realize the consequences of this?"
Yue'er, up on her bare tiptoes rubbing Brother Caelus's eyes, tilted her head at his words:
"Consequences? Yue'er doesn't know~"
"Mr. Bryce, do stop going on about all that pointless stuff—just hurry up and sign this debt contract, and then your work in coming to Jarilo-VI will be done."
Caelus pushed over the re-edited contract; its contents included Jarilo-VI's acknowledgment, its promise to repay the 648-quadrillion debt, and its demand that the IPC pay a 'teeny-tiny' few hundred quadrillion in asset-maintenance costs.
"Hurry and contact the IPC to wire the money—and the compensation for rashly attacking our satellite, send that over together."
"I admit, Miss Yue'er is indeed very strong."
Bryce knitted his brows.
"But surely you all don't believe that with Miss Yue'er alone, you can stand against the IPC?"
A mysterious existence approaching the level of an Emanator.
Bryce had never heard any intelligence about her; when investigating Jarilo-VI's background, there had not been the slightest scrap of information either.
Had he known beforehand, his methods would have been a touch more tactful—giving her a bit of face and making fuller preparations.
But now, it was no longer a question of how he carried out the project.
These people weren't joking—they actually wanted to collect a debt from the IPC?
"Do you know the last civilization that provoked the IPC? Their home planet is now the most resplendent diamond in the Seventh Mining District—literally."
After all, this girl was not a true Emanator!
Even a true Emanator who provoked the IPC's authority would face retaliation; it wasn't as though the IPC had never fought a Lord Ravager leading the Antimatter Legion.
"So? Are you going to hand us that diamond as compensation? How many credits is that planet worth?"
Caelus seemed to have utterly failed to grasp the plainly threatening words.
"...Heh."
Bryce let out a sneer: "Very well!"
The nature of this affair had already changed the moment Yue'er froze the IPC's employees and starships. Although it was Bryce who had first launched the attack on the Fourth Divine Key, that was the Market Development Department's consistent, ruthless style.
He had originally intended to disguise it as an accident, never expecting that a civilization like Belobog—one that couldn't even fly off its own planet—would be so tough, launching a counterattack outright without another word!
The conflict had already erupted, the IPC's authority had been challenged, and the room for negotiation was very small.
What's more, the other side had no intention of negotiating at all, still dreaming of collecting a debt from the IPC—truly oblivious to the danger they courted!
Bryce cast a probing glance at Yue'er, who was fastening a butterfly onto the gray-haired girl.
Would they really just let him send in his report?
He glanced again at Caelus; the gray-haired young man sat with one leg crossed over the other, his whole posture saying: if you can't cough up the compensation and the maintenance fees today, don't even think about leaving!
In a situation like this, there was no longer any need for hesitation.
For the sake of safeguarding the IPC's interests, Belobog had to be sanctioned!
With this thought, Bryce took out his communication terminal to contact his superior, the head of the Market Development Department, Oswaldo.
"Caelus, is this really going to be okay?"
Bronya was a little nervous.
She had a phone and could open her eyes to behold the Galaxy, so she knew just what a colossal behemoth the IPC was.
It was no exaggeration to say that, without Caelus's and Yue'er's help, the IPC could crush Belobog with the twitch of a finger.
Under normal circumstances, the IPC wouldn't do that.
After all, the IPC wasn't a band of robbers—look, even its full name carries the word 'Peace'; at the very least it wore a civilized skin, and would only employ various means of coercion and enticement.
Should a direct conflict break out, Bronya could think of no way to resist.
Even the power that had once defeated her mother... the Mother of Greed and Delusion, together with Yue'er—before the IPC, surely it still wouldn't be enough?
"Rest easy."
Caelus took hold of Rand-Duck's little hand.
"A debt repaid is the way of heaven and earth. This money is getting collected today—not even Louis Fleming could stop it, mark my words!"
Topaz, who had been following the whole situation via video relay in the conference room next door, heard Caelus's words; the corner of her mouth twitched faintly, and she shifted her gaze from Bryce—who was at that moment in communication with Oswaldo—onto Gray-hair.
Louis Fleming—he was none other than the founder of the IPC, one of only two immovable lifetime board members across fourteen thousand six hundred sessions of the board of directors!
Who had given Caelus such enormous courage?
The Aeon of Elation?
Forget Asta—even her Family wouldn't dare say such a thing.
In fact, two days earlier, after discussing it with Caelus, Topaz had tampered a bit with the intelligence on Caelus, in order to lure the Market Development Department's people smoothly into the trap.
It was nothing major—just concealing his patents and erasing his relationship with Asta.
Although the Market Development Department might not necessarily grant a junior like Asta any face, seeing that Caelus was connected to Asta, they might investigate a bit more—and possibly uncover more things.
After the concealment, Caelus was just an utterly ordinary Nameless with a smidgen of connections.
But if it truly came to a direct conflict with the IPC, Asta couldn't help Caelus.
Madam Herta and Madam Ruan Mei?
These two did have the qualifications—yet even now Topaz had no clear idea just what relationship the two Geniuses had with Caelus.
But would those two really pit themselves against the IPC for Caelus's sake?
Topaz gazed at the holographic video, frowning in thought; she let out a long breath, her expression both exhilarated and faintly anxious.
"It's been ages since I played for stakes this big."
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