Robin left first.
Only Mei and Sylvia remained at the scene.
Since there wasn't much else to do and Firefly was nowhere to be found, they decided not to linger. They made their way out of the dreamscape and returned to the Astral Express.
"Welcome back! Passenger Sylvia, Passenger Mei."
Pom-Pom was currently busy directing two small bugs to clean the carriage—the little critters were working tirelessly.
It was quite a sight: these bugs, each over a meter tall, had rags, buckets, brooms, and mops strapped to their limbs.
On top of that, they were carrying Pom-Pom around as the conductor meticulously inspected every corner of the train.
Sylvia had originally meant for these two little guys to stay on the train to keep Pom-Pom safe and perhaps bring a bit of liveliness to keep the conductor company.
But looking at them now... it seemed they had completely been reduced to Pom-Pom's manual labor force.
Sylvia looked at Pom-Pom, whose height now matched her own thanks to being perched on the bug's back. After walking over to the sofa and sitting down, she asked curiously:
"How are things on Himeko's end? Belobog should be fine, right?"
"Everything went smoothly! Himeko said it was all thanks to you, Sylvia!"
"That's a relief."
Sylvia stretched lazily. As long as there were no problems, it was fine.
Come to think of it, the IPC's pick for the Penacony mission must be decided by now, right? Who would it be? Would it still be Aventurine in charge, as in the original story, or would they swap him out for Topaz?
Speaking of which... she still hadn't officially met Topaz in the real world.
Sylvia couldn't help but recall the game, specifically that pair of thick, succulent thighs tightly cinched by Topaz's shorts. And that daring design—shorts that featured a large, wide-open cutout on the side. It was honestly quite seductive.
Given how much business she'd funneled Topaz's way, she wondered if she'd be allowed to touch them.
Sylvia reminisced about the holographic projections of Topaz she'd seen, and impractical fantasies began to bubble up in her mind.
"So, Passenger Sylvia, is there a reason you've returned to the train now?"
Pom-Pom hopped off the bug and let the two little fellows go take a break. The conductor walked over to Sylvia, looking at her with concern.
"There is a bit of a reason—we need to leave Penacony for a while."
"Eh? So soon? This Conductor hasn't encountered such a fast-paced journey in ages!"
"Well... since we're leaving halfway through, the Charmony Festival hasn't actually started yet anyway." Sylvia shrugged. "We're heading here... It's a territory I acquired a while ago. It's still in the development phase, and Ruan Mei invited me to meet her there."
Sylvia pulled out her phone, sent the star chart coordinates to the conductor, and briefly explained the situation.
"Understood! This Conductor will go prepare for departure right away!"
Pom-Pom trotted off happily, phone in hand.
Meanwhile, Sylvia tapped into the Astral Express group chat, which was already showing 99+ notifications.
She'd been so busy in the dreamscape lately that she hadn't paid much attention to the group's messages. Opening it now, she realized that Stelle and March 7th had already caught that Warp Trotter Aether Spirit.
Stelle had even asked Sylvia for Bella's data so she could create a super-invincible Aether Spirit to sweep the tournament.
Naturally, that was shot down by March 7th, who insisted that no "dirty tricks" were allowed.
Of course, the main reason was that Sylvia hadn't been checking her messages at the time and hadn't responded to Stelle's pleas.
Sylvia wasn't even sure how far along their game tournament had progressed. She had a faint memory of Silver Wolf running off to join in as well.
Sylvia flipped through the chat history one message at a time. Just then, Mei walked over with an iced drink and handed it to her.
"Drink something."
"Thanks~"
Since Pom-Pom was still on the train, the two just sat close together, refraining from doing anything too out of line. Soon, the Astral Express completed its departure preparations. Pom-Pom returned to the carriage and announced the next destination.
--+--
Meanwhile, on another shipping lane.
Ruan Mei, who was conducting research alone on her spaceship, received a notification from her AI.
She had less than three system days until she reached her destination, and the AI reminded her to manage her research time carefully to avoid any mishaps when the warp concluded.
"Hmm? Almost there? Perfect... these experimental subjects are just about ready to mature."
Ruan Mei pulled herself out of her work and glanced around her laboratory. In various culture dishes, all sorts of biological specimens were developing quietly.
If they had one thing in common, it was the traces of draconic features they carried—draconic traits she had concocted by imitating the image of the Permanence.
Some had horns, some had tails, some had specific eye structures, and so on.
"I can test their efficacy on that planet."
These creatures, specifically bred to mimic Dragonborn, were actually manifesting the power of the Permanence out of thin air during the development of their draconic traits.
Ruan Mei wasn't entirely sure what effect this power would have as a variable on these artificial creations.
Although she had pushed this power to the limit, it remained highly unstable and difficult to predict. It was even more challenging than her experiments with Propagation.
After all, regarding the Permanence, there were no Emanator remains for her to clone; she was building it purely from nothing. Obtaining initial results was, at the very least, within her expectations.
However, she needed more samples to determine the relationship between their power and their physical manifestations.
Perhaps... even questioning whether these traits could exist on other Paths was a hypothesis worth spending time on.
"...It was a bit rushed. Once we arrive, I should build a larger laboratory."
Ruan Mei had already decided to turn Sylvia's territory into a testing ground for the Permanence. She had to consider the risk of those Scions of Long in the universe discovering her work.
Sylvia's place was perfect: remote, devoid of resources, and rarely visited. Plus, since Sylvia herself counted as half-Dragonborn, she surely wouldn't start a fight.
Ruan Mei pondered her upcoming plans and set down her tools. She stretched in her chair, then picked up a plate of pastries nearby and began to nibble on them in small bites.
--+--
Belobog.
On the snow-covered plains, Topaz walked alone with Numby, a young Ice Bear Cub visible not far away. Topaz was on the phone with someone:
"Understood. I have no objections. I actually thought I'd be demoted this time."
"Your merits outweigh your mistakes. This is Diamond's decision as well as... the assignment for the person in charge of this Penacony incident."
The voice on the other end paused before continuing:
"In view of the intelligence regarding the previous Penacony situation, Diamond has decided that Topaz will continue to be in charge of the upcoming Penacony mission."
"Um... wait? I'm in charge? I understand."
Topaz was stunned for a moment. Could such a major task really fall to her? Her merits outweighed her mistakes, that was true, but the IPC was a cutthroat environment.
Even a minor flaw would be blown out of proportion by competitors, let alone the "total loss" scenario presented by the Jarilo-VI handling.
Wasn't Diamond afraid that this would give other departments an excuse to attack them?
At the very least, it should have been Jade, who was one rank higher than her, in charge—with Topaz assisting through her connection with Sylvia. That would have been a more reasonable arrangement.
But unfortunately, the person delivering the news had no intention of explaining, or rather, Diamond hadn't provided any detailed reasoning when making the decision.
After the audio conference ended and everyone else had logged off, two people disabled their voice modulators, revealing their original tones.
"Topaz, don't doubt why you were chosen. Your ability is clear for all to see. I have some projects on my plate that need wrapping up, but don't worry. Aventurine and I will both assist you."
"Lady Jade! You haven't left yet?" Topaz was pleasantly surprised. Usually, after a conference call, everyone would log off immediately; it was rare for anyone to stay behind.
She spent most of her time in the field, and it had been a long time since she'd had a proper chat with Jade, the mentor who had helped her climb the ranks.
"Of course. I heard you seemed a bit unsure of yourself. A senior has to encourage their junior, after all~ Don't worry, Little Jelena. Penacony isn't a problem one person can solve alone. If you run into trouble, I will come to support you immediately."
Lady Jade's reassurance was comforting to Topaz. However, the Penacony case was no small matter.
It was a money pit that had been accumulating debt for so many Amber Eras that the IPC couldn't ignore the interests involved.
"I had thought the Penacony case would at least be handled by Opal or Obsidian, or perhaps you, Lady Jade."
Within the Ten Stonehearts, they weren't all at the same rank. Most were at P45, but a few were P46. In Topaz's estimation, Penacony required a P46 to take the lead.
"We don't need such formal tones... Never mind. Something big just happened on Penacony recently. Diamond decided that we need to use some unconventional means for this case, and in this situation, it's not convenient for a P46 to show up immediately."
Judging by Jade's tone, it seemed like some unexpected situation had occurred, leading to Diamond's change of heart. Topaz asked curiously:
"Something big? What happened?"
"It's... wait, something has come up. My apologies, let Aventurine explain the details to you. I must be going."
Jade, who had been about to continue, seemed to be interrupted by something, so she ended the call abruptly and left the chatroom.
Just then, another male voice joined the call at the right time:
"My, what a pity. I was quite looking forward to taking on this mission. But since Lady Jade said she wants me to assist you, I suppose I'll still get a chance to make an appearance."
"Aventurine, were you there the whole time?" Topaz was startled to hear his voice.
"That's a bit hurtful. We are colleagues, after all—am I not allowed to be here?" Aventurine's tone was strained.
We're all in the same little group, and Jade is basically our team leader. You were so excited to hear Jade's voice, but the moment it's me, it's 'Why are you still here?' You should at least try to be a bit more subtle with your double standards.
"Ha, is there something you need? You couldn't have just stayed to explain the situation to me."
"What could I possibly need? I'm just here to look out for an old colleague. After submitting two thankless reports back-to-back for the Separius and Jarilo-VI cases, I was worried you might get disciplined."
"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're trying to say. But at least... I did get rewarded for those two cases, didn't I?"
Topaz knew exactly what he was getting at. But she felt that Aventurine, a degenerate gambler who bet it all every day, had no room to talk. "I was just lucky this time to run into Sylvia. Not everyone in this universe is as easy to talk to as she is."
"I think, when it comes to betting on luck, you don't really have the standing to lecture me."
"Haha~ You're right. Let's get back to the case." Aventurine laughed and forcibly cut the topic short.
They'd had this back-and-forth many times since they were both promoted under Jade.
While the Ten Stonehearts were a collective, internal relations were always colored by the seniority of the P46 members.
Topaz didn't want to waste time. She had spent the last two days writing reports and surveying intelligence on Penacony—she'd even nearly gotten into a fight with the Express crew.
She truly hadn't had the time to follow the news. After all, she never imagined this assignment would fall on her.
"The Grand Theater of Penacony, that landmark full of symbolic meaning, was blown up in front of everyone."
"Huh?"
"And it is said that this incident is closely related to your new friend—the one who provided you with intelligence on Penacony."
Aventurine briefly explained the intelligence the IPC currently held.
"You mean Sylvia? She's going up against The Family all by herself?"
"She's not alone. According to intelligence, Sylvia somehow managed to get her hands on a second Astral Express recently."
"I know that, but the others from the Astral Express are still on Jarilo-VI," Topaz interrupted. She knew all about Sylvia's situation; she had heard plenty from Himeko. Even so, Sylvia was being incredibly bold.
"Well... regardless, Diamond putting you in charge is likely a move to get a foothold through Sylvia."
Topaz nodded slightly. If that was the case, it certainly made sense.
If Sylvia was deeply involved in Penacony's affairs, no one else was better suited to approach her than Topaz.
With Lady Jade assisting from the rear and Aventurine's "good luck" at play, utilizing Topaz's connection to extract more intelligence from Sylvia—that must be Diamond's plan.
"Oh, by the way, I heard... that Sylvia has a very ambiguous relationship with a gorgeous woman traveling with her. You're also a great beauty in our company, Topaz. The 'honey trap' tactic might just work."
"..."
Aventurine's off-the-cuff remark left Topaz speechless.
They were just talking business, and he started running his mouth again. How cheap. They were both people of status; was it really necessary to stoop to this level?
"I'm hanging up."
"Hey—"
Click.
Aventurine seemed to want to say more, but Topaz didn't give him the chance. She cut the communication immediately.
However... Topaz raised an eyebrow.
The person traveling with Sylvia was likely that Galaxy Ranger called Acheron, right?
The two of them had wiped out the Ever-Flame Mansion together; their strength should not be underestimated. Did they really have an ambiguous relationship?
If Sylvia was truly that kind of person... Topaz thought to herself, glancing down at her own full, shapely thighs.
Although she didn't intend to use a "honey trap," possessing a body that could attract Sylvia would certainly save a lot of trouble.
Not to mention, Topaz was quite confident in her own figure and her legs—otherwise, she wouldn't have been so generous about showing them off.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL