A monster from the IPC made landfall on Jarilo-VI.
Unspeakable, man-eating capitalists closed in on Belobog.
Despicable negative Trailblazers entered the planet's atmosphere.
Oswaldo signed the IPC–Belobog 700-year maintenance fixed-asset cost contract.
The lovely Market Development Department supervisor today re-confirmed Jarilo-VI's standing within the interastral credit system.
The friendly and enthusiastic investors, after leaving behind a dozen-some starships, reluctantly parted from their good friend Belobog.
After all, if they didn't leave soon, it wouldn't be just a dozen-some starships left behind.
Oswaldo hauled the fleet back through the night, taking along Bryce, who had been sealed by Yue'er with Six-Phased Ice.
Finding a scapegoat is the innate skill of every leader. The Jarilo-VI project had failed, the IPC had shelled out maintenance costs—generating surplus operational expenditure—and Bryce had to shoulder at least 80%, no, over 90% of the responsibility.
If he could, Oswaldo would have liked to dump the entire blame onto him, but that was obviously impossible.
"Yo~ I really didn't expect things to develop to this extent."
The reality-suit vanished as Bronita dissolved, reverting to those Ryza-thighs and a smoking-hot figure; Topaz gazed up at the sky and sighed with feeling.
She'd more or less guessed Caelus's method for countering the Jarilo-VI debt—she just hadn't expected he would actually dare to turn around and demand maintenance fees from the IPC.
From the moment Yue'er appeared and made her move, things had gradually deviated from Topaz's expectations; having chatted with Asta, she knew Caelus had some connection to Madam Herta.
But she never imagined Madam Herta's true body would actually show up in person!
And that was one thing.
Madam Herta fusing with the hacker girl named Bronie, the glance of Nous, a new Emanator of Erudition, the Authority of Understanding and Reconstruction that could maximize a Genius's knowledge, conjuring a fleet with a wave of the hand...
It was just fucking absurd!
It was like the second before, you'd been watching Peppa Pig, clearly knowing from memory that Peppa would say next in the cartoon: "This is my little brother George."
Yet the next second you saw Peppa say: "This is my little brother, GG Bond!"
And then, Peppa and GG Bond fused into the Second Senior Brother fresh from completing the journey to fetch the scriptures.
Of course, the more setbacks Oswaldo suffered, the happier Topaz and the Strategic Investment Department supervisor Diamond became.
"Caelus, the boss asked me to pass a message to you."
The next day.
Having reported yesterday's dream-like, absurd experience in detail to her direct superior Diamond, Topaz found Caelus in the villa manor, reading posts on the Aether Front official website.
"Oh, does the Imperial Army have any orders?"
Caelus didn't shift his gaze from the phone screen.
Regarding Ruan Mei's fusion request, Caelus indicated it was no problem, but the fusion partner needed some thought—Dragon Ball had never shown a case of opposite-sex fusion.
If a man and a woman used the earrings to fuse, would the MANTIS be male or female?
Or perhaps, the legendary futanari?
Caelus hadn't tried this playstyle yet; emotionally he wanted to give it a go, while reason told him to hold fast to his integrity.
At least for a few days.
"Imperial Army?"
Topaz blinked, but had already mastered the skill of automatically skipping over words she didn't understand coming from Star Rail's mouth:
"Orders would be putting it too strongly, of course."
Topaz chuckled with one hand on her hip, the gold-thread embroidery on her cuffs shimmering faintly in the sunlight.
"What Mister Diamond means is, this time he owes you a favor."
Topaz leaned forward, letting Numby hop down from her shoulder to dodge a sneak attack from Stelle.
Oswaldo couldn't shrug off the blame so easily; Diamond, capitalizing on Oswaldo's blunder this time, could fiercely suppress him in the board directorship election.
In fact, Diamond hadn't expected Caelus could make Oswaldo take such a massive tumble—summoning a full three Geniuses!
Although neither Screwllum nor Ruan Mei had intervened in the Jarilo-VI project, within the details of Topaz's report Diamond discovered some very alarming details.
These two seemed to owe Caelus favors; Madam Ruan Mei's attitude toward Caelus was especially particular—so long as Caelus spoke up, they presumably wouldn't mind getting involved.
That was terrifying!
His connections were, to one degree or another, absurd!
"In addition, on behalf of the Strategic Investment Department's department head [Diamond], I invite you to become a P43-level honorary member of our department."
"Inviting me to join the IPC?" Caelus was taken aback.
"Hng? Hng! Gurgle?"
The Stellaron spirit, who'd been playing chase with Numby while conducting an encrypted call, whipped her head around at these words, her face full of anticipation:
"What about me, what about me? Is there an offer for me?"
March 7th retorted mercilessly:
"The department head's eyes are sharp as can be! Apart from 'Trash Can Artist' and 'Humanoid Self-Propelled Demolition Office,' what else could you even write on your résumé?"
"Stelle, let's not daydream now, okay."
Her tone at the end carried a teasing note, like coaxing a child.
"They're looking for strategic investment, not strategic mischief-making—a kindergarten-diploma applicant like you had better just save it~"
Haxxor Bunny's fingers swiped rapidly across the holographic screen before her; on display was the Aether Front official website's compendium, marking the Aether Spirits already entered into the database, along with data on traits, skills, strength, capture locations, and so on.
As a hardcore player, joining the game was, naturally, all about going for the championship!
It was just that, thinking of the Aether coins Bronita had made for Star Rail, the corner of Haxxor Bunny's mouth twitched a little.
"You're all looking down on Baby here! What's wrong with a kindergarten diploma?"
Stelle planted both hands on her hips and argued righteously: "Caelus-cub is no different from me, is he."
"Heh."
Caelus, seated on the sofa, let out a light chuckle; deliberately taking his time to straighten his sleeve, he then, imitating the big shots from TV dramas, dashingly crossed his legs, lifted his chin slightly, and cleared his throat:
"Star Rail's collective wit measures one whole dan; Stelle alone runs two dou short."
With a speed too swift to cover one's ears, she pounced fiercely at that posturing fellow on the sofa!
"Hng!"
Letting out a muffled sound, Stelle lunged at that posturing fellow on the sofa, her limbs winding around like an octopus, pinning Caelus-cub down.
"Do you yield or not?! Hurry and say Baby is a Genius!"
Stelle hollered smugly while trying to ram Caelus's chin with her forehead.
"As the saying goes, a gentleman uses words, not fists—this is the conduct of a brute!"
The two grappled on the sofa.
"Scrub, shut it."
Stelle triumphantly declared that the final victory of this 'intellectual debate' belonged to her.
"..."
Topaz watched the two Gray-hairs roughhousing like a pair of kindergarteners, her brow twitching—mainly because Caelus's moves had no lower limit whatsoever.
Like, dude, aren't you two actual siblings?
Topaz saw Caelus bite down on a red cherry through the fabric; only after the two were fixed together in a twisted-cruller posture did she shake her head and say:
"Unfortunately, Stelle, Diamond didn't mention you."
"Tch..."
Her lip-smacking expression suddenly shifted as something occurred to her; Stelle grinned:
"Forget it, then I'll just have Caelus-cub go work to support me."
"Heh heh, we haven't even gone to Penacony yet, and you're already dreaming."
Caelus rested his chin on Stelle's soft, tender little face and looked up at Topaz:
"Thank Diamond for his goodwill on my behalf, but my ambitions don't lie with the IPC."
As for why Diamond invited him, that was simple.
Caelus was on good terms with three Geniuses, and his relationship with the fusion-Genius Bronita was even closer than close—perhaps Diamond could use Caelus as a thread to connect with them.
P44-level, only one rank below Topaz's current rank, was the highest level Diamond could personally offer.
"Won't you really reconsider? An honorary member needn't bear any duties or work; as long as you mainly don't harm the IPC's interests, the supervisors and higher-ups at every level never bother you, and the salary still gets paid."
Topaz flicked up the gold coin waltzing between her fingers.
How much was a P43's salary, after all?
In exchange for a possible chance to draw closer to a Genius—it couldn't be more worth it!
At these words, Stelle instantly let go of Caelus's body; Caelus flickered over before Topaz and grasped her hand:
"Actually, I've long considered myself one of the IPC's own!"
Star Rail wasn't short of money; Caelus was the prime controller of the maintenance costs the IPC paid Belobog, and from that enormous figure he set aside a portion as a private reserve fund.
The bulk went to developing Belobog's economy and technology, still repaid in the flesh by the Grand Guardian.
But free money handed over—why leave it on the table!
Topaz: "..."
Like, weren't you two just grappling with each other a moment ago?
How could you switch faces without so much as a hitch?
What a strange relationship.
"Oh right, one more thing—the venue for the Interastral Showdown Gala has been confirmed as the planet Jarilo-VI; the procedures are all completed."
Topaz glanced at the status showing the submitted application had been fully approved:
"You can start preparing the venue over here to welcome the Galaxy-wide grand event."
"For matters like this, just discuss it with Bronya—I'm going to start devotedly raising my Aether Spirits."
Caelus's tone was brimming with the sense of mission of one about to throw himself into a great cause.
"Sure."
Topaz nodded with a smile: "I look forward to a showdown with you all in Aether Front—I won't go easy then, you know."
The tail of her voice lifted slightly, carrying a hint of challenge.
"That's my line to say."
Stelle fished out a classic red-and-white peaked cap and dashingly clapped it onto her gray hair; beneath the brim, blazing flames of war kindled in those golden eyes:
"I will definitely win."
"Not a bad spirit~ But spirit alone won't beat Numby, you know."
Topaz patted the little piggy bank lying quietly on her shoulder, blinking its round eyes; Numby obligingly let out a muffled 'squish,' as if echoing its master's words, looking adorable and unfathomable.
"I look forward to seeing both of you put on a splendid performance in the arena. I'll take my leave."
With her usual capable air of elite business, Topaz headed in the direction of Goethe Manor to discuss the Aether Front project with Bronya.
...
Stellaron Hunter base.
"Outrageous! Simply outrageous!"
Smack! Smack!
The girl slapped the table, her silver single-spiral ponytail cutting sharp arcs through the air with her fierce movements.
The deep-purple-haired beauty reclining against the broad chair-back curved her lips into a lazy smile:
"What's wrong? Got dragged down by your teammates again?"
"Last time your account got banned, you cried and made a fuss but weren't this angry."
"First of all, I never cried or made a fuss."
Silver Wolf rapped the table: "Second, even with these bot-tier teammates dragging me down, I can still carry them to a win."
"And finally."
Silver Wolf sat down, interlacing her fingers to prop up her chin, her tone graver than ever before.
"I've suffered an unprecedented bout of cyber-bullying!"
Hearing this, Blade, who had been resting with his eyes closed while holding his sword box, opened his eyes and put up a question mark.
The silver-gray-haired girl busy in the kitchen also stopped what she was doing and came out.
"With your abilities, who could possibly cyber-bully you?"
"I'm not joking!"
Silver Wolf spread her hands apart like an accordion:
"Wage-Worker, Slave, Demon King, and Little Yuan are all witnesses! That guy bypassed every security system I'd set up and stole my top-secret data without a trace—without triggering even a sliver of an alarm!"
"Gone, all of it gone, truly not a scrap left...Too far, this is going too far!"
A sob and a tremor had already crept into Silver Wolf's voice.
Those were the gorgeous photos of Seele she'd traded out of Caelus with all sorts of rewards and cry after cry of "Foster Father"!
All stolen away by an unknown hacker!
Not a single one left for her!
"The worst part is, she even deleted the data backups! Aaaargh! I'm gonna unalive them!"
"For real?"
Seeing this game-addicted girl, who cared about nothing but games, wear such a furious, agitated expression, the other three companions all grew serious.
"You didn't catch them? Any leads?"
"Mm."
Silver Wolf took a deep breath to compose her emotions, snapped her fingers, and a holographic projection instantly unfurled before everyone.
On an electronic-graffiti background, a giant rabbit silhouette—simple in line yet exuding craftiness—conspicuously held in its mouth a struggling silver-white little wolf.
"Pfft——"
Kafka couldn't help covering her mouth and laughing softly, her beautiful eyes full of interest. "Oh my, a...wolf-eating rabbit? Now this is truly fascinating."
"This is a provocation! A bla||tant provocation!"
Silver Wolf pointed at that "Haxxor Bunny Devours Silver Wolf" icon, so furious she nearly stamped her feet.
She was the invisible emperor of Punklorde, the super-hacker Silver Wolf worshipped by countless hackers—when had she ever suffered such an indignity?
"So, you plan to go to Jarilo-VI?"
Looking at the provocative line beneath the image—'Want your coll||ection back? Then defeat me at the Interastral Showdown Gala! Seele deserves only to be possessed by the strong!'—Kafka asked with a smile.
"That's right, I'm going there in person."
Silver Wolf clenched her fists, grinding her teeth.
A run-of-the-mill provocation she could've let slide, but since it dragged Seele into it, this matter was far from over!
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