To be safe, Wende first used his eyes to scan the space outside miHoYo Planet to see if any ships were parked there.
He wouldn't have known if he hadn't looked, but upon looking, he saw that there really was an interstellar vessel anchored outside miHoYo Planet. And the ship was indeed emblazoned with the logo of the Interastral Peace Corporation.
"Hmm… so it really was sent by the Interastral Peace Corporation. And there's an acquaintance on board, too."
Wende peered through the ship's porthole and saw Topaz standing at the main console, feeling a little puzzled.
What was she doing here all of a sudden? This location wasn't close to Punklorde. Could it be that the Corporation had dragged her back for overtime?
Thinking about the IPC's corporate culture, it wasn't impossible. But from the looks of it… she didn't seem to have been promoted. Did her boss just give her an empty promise?
A trace of pity flashed in Wende's eyes. After all, what kind of workhorse gets called back for overtime so quickly after completing a major business trip, without even getting time off for vacation?
Looking at Topaz petting Numby, Wende shook his head with a sigh and decided that his own company must never become like the Interastral Peace Corporation!
In fact, with a hands-off boss like Wende, perhaps future employees might end up working hard just to keep the company from going bankrupt? Who knows.
"Is that Miss Topaz? As a director of the Strategic Investment Department, what is she doing here?"
Dan Heng frowned, beginning to ponder the situation.
Wende, on the other hand, continued texting Topaz, but this time he used their private chat. After all, the two had added each other as friends back on the Express.
Wende (Quitting Games): Miss Topaz, are you in the Jarilo-VI system right now?
Topaz (On a Business Trip): Oh, it's Dr. Wende. I am indeed on a business trip near Jarilo-VI at the moment. What's the matter?
Topaz looked at the message from Wende with some confusion. How did he know she was here? Could it be that Jarilo-VI had sent a message to the Astral Express, asking them for help?
If that were the case, things would get a bit tricky…
Wende (Quitting Games): It's like this, I have a planet currently parked in the Jarilo-VI system, and I'm here too. I observed the Corporation's ship from the planet, so I wanted to confirm.
Wende didn't say that he had seen her directly, but it was close enough. What she thought about it wasn't important.
"A planet… parked near Jarilo-VI?"
The moment she saw Wende's message, Topaz felt her brain short-circuit. Could the word "parked" even be used to describe a planet?
But Wende's choice of words wasn't inaccurate. miHoYo Planet was indeed just temporarily parked here. The power of Order could move it to any star system with a sun, provided there was a reason for Wende to go there. For now, parking miHoYo Planet here was simply because it was quiet and less conspicuous.
Topaz (On a Business Trip): That planet that suddenly appeared near Jarilo-VI… it belongs to the Astral Express?
"Hmm…"
Looking at Topaz's message, Wende thought for a moment. It made sense. He was still a member of the Express crew, so it wasn't a stretch to say the planet belonged to the Express. Besides, he had already agreed with Himeko and Welt that miHoYo Planet would serve as a permanent docking point for the Express.
As for Pom-Pom, of course, there would be no objections.
There was no need to hide the planet's existence anymore. Now that things were confirmed, according to the series of friendly agreements previously signed between the Express and the Corporation, they were now in an alliance. Adding the Xianzhou to the mix, anyone who dared to mess with miHoYo Planet would inevitably provoke four major powers at once.
They were the Xianzhou Alliance, the Interastral Peace Corporation, the Astral Express, and Punklorde.
That's right. Although Punklorde was currently in a state of reconstruction, as the "home of hackers" in the universe, if the Astral Express needed help, Veyl would certainly not mind letting the hackers find some "system vulnerabilities" for the other party.
It was said that a while ago, without any intervention from the Corporation, Veyl had managed to unify the New and Old Districts of the Neon Metropolis, along with half of the Scrapyard region. Her methods were firm and her actions swift; it was no wonder she had directly become the de facto leader of Punklorde. It was even rumored that she had some backing from the Galaxy Rangers.
These four powers could actually be considered five. Wende himself was now a power in his own right. Although the Dragon told him to keep a low profile, he was indeed an Aeon completely unrestricted by any Path. If he really ran into any trouble…
First, he'd check if the other party's home had a sun. Then he'd just move their sun a little and see how many days they could last.
Thus, Wende chose to admit it generously.
Wende (Quitting Games): That's right. This is indeed the planet belonging to the Astral Express.
Hiss…
Topaz sucked in a sharp breath. It seemed the Astral Express had been hiding many things. But now that the Corporation and the Express were allies… Forget it, she would just report this to the Corporation. These matters were best left for the bigwigs to worry about. It was better to have one less problem than one more.
Topaz (On a Business Trip): I see. In that case, we won't disturb you any further. We shall meet again when fate allows.
After replying, Topaz decisively ordered the ship to depart from the vicinity of miHoYo Planet and head back towards Jarilo-VI.
"Okay, they're gone."
Wende watched the Corporation ship turn and leave, then shrugged.
"Wende, something's not right."
Dan Heng, who had been sitting to the side thinking for a long time, suddenly spoke up.
"What is it?"
Wende asked, puzzled by Dan Heng's grave expression.
"For the Corporation to appear here on such a large scale, and to have deployed Topaz from the Strategic Investment Department… it must be for Jarilo-VI."
Dan Heng stated his opinion.
"Before we went to Punklorde, when Topaz was traveling with us on the Express, she mentioned that her main job was debt collection. She also complained about being temporarily called over to handle the matter on Punklorde."
"In that case, the debt she was originally meant to collect was likely from Jarilo-VI. The only debt Belobog could owe would have been a loan taken out by the first Supreme Guardian to resist the Antimatter Legion after the Stellaron descended, or perhaps during the initial construction of Jarilo-VI. If that's really the case… nearly a thousand years have passed. This is likely a colossal sum that Belobog is incapable of repaying."
"Belobog might be in trouble."