Bronya's brows furrowed deeply, her beautiful face now completely clouded with gloom.
A few days ago, the second batch of investment and technical support from the Interastral Peace Corporation had all been fully arranged and delivered. In addition, along with this second batch of resources came some employees from the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Although these people's ranks were not as high as those of Topaz or Aventurine—P45-level corporate bigshots—they were still considered a rare and elite group within the entire Interastral Peace Corporation.
And what was even more coincidental was that during these very days, her own mother had suddenly sensed something and thus went into seclusion to prepare for a breakthrough.
This gave those outsiders an opportunity to take advantage. Seizing the moment, that group of self-important high-level executives from the Interastral Peace Corporation began their encroachment on Belobog's economy and politics.
Even though Bronya had the heart to resist, at present, Belobog's foundation was still far too shallow.
Even with a large amount of material support, Belobog—which had only just escaped the catastrophe of destruction—was fundamentally unable to confront the colossal entity that was the Interastral Peace Corporation. In merely a few short days, the regimes of several cities had already fallen into the hands of those "executives."
"Continuing like this is no solution. Perhaps I can..."
After sitting in the Supreme Guardian's seat and pondering for a long time, Bronya finally thought of a method that could hardly be called a solution: "call for help"!
Ahem, although "calling for help" didn't sound very honorable, it was undeniably effective. In the face of results, everything else seemed less important.
With her thoughts settled, Bronya took out her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her contacts until she found the one labeled "Stelle."
"Found it." Without hesitation, Bronya dialed Stelle's number. Thanks to Jarilo-VI's convenient return to the interstellar era, the call connected quickly.
Far away, tens of thousands of light-years distant, in the Asdana star system where Penacony was located...
Himeko, March 7th, and Stelle were seated together around a small dining table in the Daydream Hotel.
At this moment, Stelle was recounting to the other two what had happened today in Aideen Park—the security officer named Gallagher, and the meaningful words he had spoken.
"If what Stelle said is true, then this security officer named Gallagher must know some secret unknown to others, and it's very likely closely tied to this Charmony Festival."
After listening to Stelle's narration, a trace of worry flashed in Himeko's eyes. After deliberating for a while, she finally spoke.
"Little March, Stelle, do you still remember the invitation letter the Express received?"
"Huh? Of course we remember. It's exactly because of that invitation letter that we came to Penacony. Himeko, are you saying there's something wrong with that invitation letter?"
March 7th reacted quickly, speaking with a face full of shock.
Himeko wouldn't mention the invitation letter for no reason, and now that she had brought it up, it meant the invitation letter should be connected to those so-called "under-currents beneath the calm."
"The invitation letter says, 'We sincerely invite the distinguished guests of the Family to visit Penacony and join the other guests in attending this grand banquet.'"
"'To behold all impossible things in the dream, seek the legacy of Penacony's Father [The Watchmaker], then answer one question...'"
At this point, Himeko slightly furrowed her brows, her gaze sweeping back and forth over March 7th and Stelle several times.
"Answer one question: Why does life slumber?"
Hearing this, March 7th and Stelle both looked utterly confused. If they remembered correctly, the invitation letter only mentioned inviting the guests to Penacony to attend the Charmony Festival together, and there didn't seem to be any mention of the latter half at all.
Seeing the expressions on March 7th's and Stelle's faces, Himeko also noticed their confusion.
The invitation letter sent by The Family was a "music box." As the spring wound, the music box would play harmonious melodies.
But when the music box reached the hands of the Express crew, some discordant notes had been mixed in.
After recording that segment of sound, Himeko astonishingly discovered that the frequency of the noise perfectly matched the gravitational waves during the Express's warp.
After a period of research, Himeko used the engine's spatial curvature as the key to successfully decipher the hidden text, which was this latter half.
"It's a bit complicated to explain. You just need to know that this is also part of the invitation letter's text."
"The method I used to decode it is a distress signal commonly used by the Nameless. This means that hidden within that invitation letter is a distress message from the Nameless."
March 7th and Stelle exchanged a glance, both seeing incredulity in each other's eyes. If Himeko's analysis was correct, that meant there were still other Nameless on Penacony.
Even more so, behind this Penacony Charmony Festival lurked some unknown conspiracy.
"Oh, right!"
March 7th, deep in thought, suddenly clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.
"Stelle, do you remember? Before we came to Penacony, Pom-Pom once said that during previous journeys, three Nameless had gotten off at Penacony. They were... uh, they were..."
As she spoke, March 7th—who had started so confidently—suddenly froze. The names of those three Nameless seemed right on the tip of her tongue, yet she just couldn't recall them no matter what.
Seeing this, Himeko helplessly pressed her forehead.
"They were Guard Tiernan, Mechanic Lagwood, and Surveyor Lazarina."
The one who spoke was Stelle. Incredibly, she had completely remembered the names and positions of the three Nameless.
At this, not only did March 7th stare wide-eyed in disbelief, but even Himeko couldn't help turning her head in surprise.
"That's right. Back then, these three Nameless got off at Penacony. At that time, Penacony was still the IPC's frontier prison. One could say it was during Penacony's darkest period that these three Nameless chose to stay."
"Long years have passed. We don't know if these Nameless are still alive, and whether the latter half of the secret text in this invitation letter was written by the Nameless."
Himeko's words entered the ears of everyone present. For a moment, whether it was the carefree Stelle or the lively and cheerful little March, both lowered their heads with heavy expressions.
Yes, long years had passed. Penacony had undergone earth-shaking changes, while those Nameless...
Just as the atmosphere at the scene became stifled and solemn, suddenly, a burst of abrupt phone ringing interrupted everyone's thoughts.
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring!
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring...!