"Uh… I may need to report this to my superiors. Miss Bronya, and you two from the Astral Express, please excuse me. I must take my leave. If my superiors provide any instructions, I will inform you via message at the earliest opportunity."
As Topaz left, she also took a photo of the contract on the desk with her phone. She then departed from Qlipoth Fort in a great hurry. Honestly, even back on Punklorde, Stelle had never seen Topaz look so flustered.
"Um… Although I still don't quite understand what that Honkai Impact 3rd is, it seems that Belobog has gained a moment to breathe… For that, I must thank you all."
Bronya gave Stelle and March a very solemn, slight bow, expressing her gratitude.
"There's no need to be so formal. We're friends, and isn't it normal for friends to help each other out?"
Stelle said to Bronya with a gentle smile.
"Yes, thank you, my friends."
Bronya placed her left hand over her chest and smiled.
"That's more like it! Speaking of which, Bronya, we really do want to help you. Why don't you take a look at this contract first?"
March 7th remembered the purpose of their trip. Before they left, Dan Heng had specifically instructed her to have Bronya carefully look over the contract's contents before making a final decision. After that, Wende had teleported them directly here.
Since Dan Heng had said so, he must have had his reasons. March promptly reminded Bronya about the contract.
"I see…"
Bronya looked down at the contract on her desk. The single sheet of paper looked so light and thin. Could it be that… the hope for Belobog's salvation rested upon this thin piece of paper?
"Yes, I will. Thank you for your trouble."
Hope flickered in Bronya's gray eyes. She gave the two a solemn nod, then picked up the contract and began to read it carefully, word by word.
Seeing Bronya's serious expression, the two of them didn't make a sound to disturb her, simply standing quietly by her side.
Of course, this was probably not the best time to be playing games on their phones with the sound off.
Five minutes later, Bronya looked at the contract before her, her eyes filled with confusion.
Logically speaking, she didn't get it. If she signed this contract, although Belobog could directly avoid the issue of becoming a vassal to the Corporation, what would the Astral Express gain? The pitiful interest rate seemed absurd even to someone like her who wasn't an expert in economics. It was as good as no interest at all… It was truly hard to imagine…
"Don't worry. Since Wende and Mr. Yang let us bring this contract to you, there must be a good reason for it."
Seeming to notice the doubt and confusion in Bronya's eyes, Stelle spoke to her with earnest sincerity.
"I'm sorry… I still can't make this decision myself. Please give me some time. I need to… discuss it with the others."
In the end, Bronya did not make the decision alone. Even though the contract contained nothing disadvantageous for Belobog, she still couldn't decide so easily.
After all, Belobog didn't belong to her alone… But this time, she hoped the great hall wouldn't be as clamorous as a noisy market street, right?
After hearing Bronya's stance, Stelle and March were very understanding. Wende had mentioned this was a possibility. After all, she was the leader of a planet, not a dictator like Cocolia.
And so, the two used a Realm-Restricting Anchor to teleport directly back to miHoYo Planet and reported what had happened to the others.
Wende wasn't the least bit surprised by any of it—not by Topaz's or Bronya's reactions, nor by the Interastral Peace Corporation's persistent desire to cooperate with Honkai Impact 3rd.
Now, all they had to do was wait… So, should he plant potatoes on that plot of land, or corn? Maybe corn? After all, if he brought Kiana and the others over to shoot a movie, he could use all that corn to make some buttered popcorn to eat while watching.
That's right. Having connected to the universal network, Wende had now fully grasped just how popular Honkai Impact 3rd was across the cosmos!
Among the vast ocean of games in the universe, Honkai Impact 3rd had somehow become an instant hit after a simple launch, without any extra promotion. This was something Wende had never expected.
It had become so popular that some companies were even giving it free exposure, leveraging its traffic to make a profit.
Right now, Honkai Impact 3rd was sitting at the very top of the universal game charts, leaving the second-place Aetherium Wars in the dust by a massive margin. It was truly leagues ahead!
But one thing Wende hadn't anticipated was that, although the story of Honkai had many protagonists, Kiana was now well on her way to becoming a character of cosmic idol-level fame…
Perhaps this was the benefit of being the poster girl?
Thinking of this, Wende couldn't help but glance at little March 7th.
Well, it's true, March is also very cute, but in the Honkai world, she doesn't seem to be as popular as me ( )
Just what was going on?
And so, with a wire in his brain suddenly getting crossed, Wende had a thought.
Could he bring the three little ones over to the Star Rail world and have them debut as an idol group? They could even shoot a movie or something. His company had more than enough funds, and… it seemed like it could do pretty much anything, right?
"Hmm… I should probably ask the three little ones and their guardians if they'd agree when I get back."
Wende stroked his chin, muttering to himself thoughtfully.
---o---
Interastral Peace Corporation Headquarters, Pier Point.
A meeting that only personnel of P46 rank and above could attend was quietly convened in a conference room at the very top of the Corporation's megastructure.
The main topic of this meeting was to discuss matters concerning the Astral Express.
Normally, the Astral Express wouldn't warrant such a high-level mobilization, but the information transmitted from Topaz was one piece of crucial intelligence after another. Thus, this special meeting was held on short notice.
Multiple department heads were present at the meeting, as well as a member of the Board of Directors, showing just how much importance they placed on the Astral Express this time.
The board member presiding over the meeting was a respected elder, Director Zaitian from the Traditional Projects Department.
Just as people began to wonder why a director who seemed to have nothing to do with the meeting's subject matter—a video game and the Astral Express—was chosen to preside, a new storm was quietly brewing across the entire universe.