"Hm? Who are you?" Gazing at the purple-haired man before her, Kafka slightly furrowed her brows. If she remembered correctly, this guy should be from the "Tavern," right?
According to Elio's original script, he should have been in Penacony by now. In Elio's script, this person had played quite a few significant roles.
But since the script had already become invalid, it wasn't surprising that he was still remaining on Jarilo-VI at this time.
"Masked Fool? Sampo Koski? Were you hiding in that snow mound just now because you wanted to ambush us?"
Kafka sized up the man before her and asked with great interest. Even Silver Wolf grew somewhat curious. She extended her right hand, and a lightsaber instantly condensed from her wrist, pointing at Old Sampo alongside Kafka's long sword.
"No no no! Don't attack! Ladies of the Stellaron Hunters, I'm a good guy! I'm a good guy!"
Seeing that the other party seemed serious, Sampo immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Though his strength was quite decent—and with that small prop containing Causality power that Yun Fan had once given him—he could still have at least a fifty percent chance of winning even against both of them at once.
But... the items given by that lord had limited uses. Something meant to save his life—he wouldn't use it lightly unless it was truly critical.
Moreover, fundamentally speaking, he had no conflicts of interest with the Stellaron Hunters. There was no need for them to clash.
Thinking this, Sampo put on a full-faced apologetic smile. "Ahem, ladies, I merely noticed some activity over here and thought there might be some treasure, so I sneaked over to take a look."
"In truth, I had no intention of ambushing either of you ladies—please don't take offense, haha."
Hearing Sampo's words, the two did not reply. They simply continued smiling at him. Only when Sampo began to feel a slight chill in his heart did Kafka slowly turn her head and give Silver Wolf a slight nod.
"Mm." Silver Wolf nodded back in acknowledgment. After exchanging signals, Kafka slowly withdrew the purple long blade pointed at Sampo.
Seeing Kafka's action, Old Sampo—who had felt his heart rise to his throat—finally breathed a sigh of relief. But just as he was about to open his mouth to thank her, Kafka suddenly drew a pair of dual-wielded submachine guns from behind her.
And Silver Wolf likewise withdrew her lightsaber, instead condensing a miniature laser cannon.
Old Sampo: '...??!!'
Some time later, in Belobog—the city once known as humanity's final line of defense...
"This is Belobog, Jarilo's former final line of defense. We're currently in the main urban district. That area used to be the Iron Guard Restricted Zone, but after the Stellaron crisis was resolved, it became..."
On the streets of Belobog's main urban district, a peculiar sight drew particular attention.
Two women who clearly weren't ordinary people strolled leisurely down the main street. Ahead and to their right, a purple-haired man with a bruised and swollen face was leading the way with a fawning smile, introducing Belobog's history and architecture to the pair.
The two women listened with great interest, their eyes sparkling. They occasionally smiled and nodded or paused to look around.
This scene, falling into the eyes of passersby, nearly made their back teeth grind to pieces—especially those who recognized "Uncle Cold Legs" Old Sampo. They now wished they could rush forward, kick him aside, and take his place.
Anyone with eyes could see that these two stunningly beautiful women were absolutely not locals of Belobog.
Ever since Jarilo-VI's star rail had reconnected, Belobog had once again linked with the cosmos. The residents who had lived on this isolated planet could now learn about information beyond Jarilo.
They had also come to know of colossal existences such as the Xianzhou Alliance, the Interastral Peace Corporation, the Family of Harmony, and more.
Of course, they had also learned about the astronomical debt Beloborg carried—a figure so enormous that even selling the entire planet wouldn't be enough to repay it.
Just as they despaired, the Interastral Peace Corporation officially announced cooperation with Jarilo.
Not only did the Corporation waive Belobog's original debts, but it also promised unlimited resource and technological support for the next ten Amber Eras, opened trade ports, and helped Jarilo rapidly reintegrate into the interstellar era.
With the opening of trade ports, countless visitors from beyond the stars flooded into Jarilo-VI and into Belobog.
Xianzhou natives, IPC employees, Vidyadhara, Pepeshi...
In these short few months, Belobog's residents had truly broadened their horizons.
This was also why they could instantly tell that Silver Wolf and Kafka were not native Belobog residents.
'Damn it! Why isn't the person beside those two ladies me? If I could latch onto someone like that, wouldn't I be able to skip decades of struggle?'
This was the most common and intense thought in the minds of everyone present at that moment.
Their attention was now entirely on Kafka and Silver Wolf. As for the bruised and swollen Sampo... they didn't bother thinking too deeply about where the injuries on his face had come from. Surely it couldn't have been those two ladies who beat him up?
How was that possible? Those two ladies didn't seem like the violent type at all. It must have been that guy Sampo who fell and hurt himself!
Feeling the almost tangible resentful gazes around him, Old Sampo inwardly groaned in misery.
He was a thousand times unwilling—ten thousand times unwilling—to act as their tour guide. But these two ladies wouldn't allow otherwise! If he refused, he feared he really would be beaten to death by them!
...…
"So that's how things are... No problem. Just carry out the arrangements according to my instructions. As for the Interastral Peace Corporation side, I'll handle the negotiations."
After listening to Gepard's report, Bronya pondered for a moment before signaling Gepard to proceed exactly as she had instructed. She would deal with the Corporation herself.
"Yes, Political Officer Bronya."
Gepard saluted Bronya, then hurried off to carry out Political Officer Bronya's orders.
Once Gepard had left, Bronya rubbed her brow in some frustration and downed several gulps of tea from the cup on her desk.
"As expected, those guys from the Interastral Peace Corporation can't be trusted. But that makes sense. Waiving debts, providing resources, opening channels—if they truly had no interest at all in participating in Belobog's politics, that would actually be more worrying."
"Tch. If Mother hadn't gone into secluded cultivation after gaining some insight and breaking through, would they even have the chance to strut around here?"