[ Oh, so it's Old Oti himself! ]
[ No wonder the decor on the ship is so luxurious. ]
Topaz had a sudden realization.
[ Of course, Mr. Alfalfa's taste is impeccable. ]
[ Those who receive an invitation from the Alfalfa Family to board The Radiant Feldspar must be top-tier celebrities and distinguished guests of the universe. ]
[ Moving on to the introduction—The Radiant Feldspar has been cruising above the Dreamsea of Penacony for an entire Amber Era, but had to suspend its voyage due to the disturbances that occurred previously… ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
March 7th: "Top-tier celebrities and distinguished guests of the universe?"
March 7th: "Have we on the Astral Express finally become celebrities too?"
Stelle: "What do you mean by 'finally'?"
Stelle: "We've always been celebrities, haven't we?"
Himeko: "Haha, we can't really count as celebrities."
Himeko: "At most, we just have a good reputation."
Furina de Fontaine: "I'd say the Astral Express's status as distinguished guests is earned through hard work and real contributions."
Hu Tao: "Hehe, isn't that much better than those 'real' celebrities?"
Paimon: "Suddenly thought of a question."
Paimon: "Everyone on the Astral Express, and Acheron and the others, are actually the saviors of the guests on Penacony!"
Paimon: "And the guests going to Penacony are all wealthy or noble…"
Stelle: "YEAH!!"
Stelle: "Why didn't I think of that!"
Stelle: "Logically, those people should be paying me a rescue fee!"
Stelle: "With so many rich people on Penacony, IF THEY ALL PAID ME… TSK TSK TSK!!!"
Stelle: "I'd really be filthy rich!"
March 7th: "Uh… that's the logic, sure…"
March 7th: "But our Express crew has never cared about rewards, right?"
March 7th: "So this idea of yours… I guess it won't come true."
....
『 [ Disturbances? What an official-sounding term, quite an understatement. ]
[ Ah, sorry, please continue. ]
Topaz couldn't help but mutter.
[ Continue listening to the attendant's explanation. ]
[ …Ahem. Because of the disturbances that occurred in the Sweet Dream, The Radiant Feldspar had to suspend its voyage for a period of time. ]
[ Now, the unstable factors disrupting the dream have been eliminated. ]
[ But because of… ahem… special reasons, the Charmony Festival, originally planned to be held at the Penacony Grand Theater, has had to be temporarily postponed. ]
[ Therefore, Mr. Alfalfa proposed: Why not move the venue of the Charmony Festival to The Radiant Feldspar, and take this opportunity to announce the resumption of its voyage? ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Venti: "Interesting… is this him seizing the power of the Oak Family and asserting dominance?"
Diluc Ragnvindr: "Heh, I bet the head of the Alfalfa Family is laughing his head off right now."
Furina de Fontaine: "So the Charmony Festival was just postponed?"
Furina de Fontaine: "That's good!"
Furina de Fontaine: "Now I can see what the Charmony Festival actually looks like!"
Collei: "Will Miss Robin still go up and perform?"
March 7th: "She will, right?"
March 7th: "After all, that was the original plan; the Family shouldn't cancel it over something so taboo."
Lumine: "But… is Miss Robin in the right state to take the stage now?"
Paimon: "Hmm… we haven't even seen Miss Robin for a while."
Paimon: "She and Mr. Sunday both fell from the sky earlier."
Paimon: "What happened after? What exactly happened next?"
Silver Wolf: "Based on the properties of the dream, we can first rule out that they died from the fall."
Silver Wolf: "But falling from that height, it's inevitable they'd pass out for a while."
Stelle: "Don't worry."
Stelle: "With Robin's resilience, this won't be able to break her completely!"
Stelle: "I'm looking forward to her singing new songs at the Charmony Festival!"
Stelle: "I CAN'T WAIT TO CALL FOR HER!!"
March 7th: "YEAH, YEAH, ME TOO, ME TOO!!"
March 7th: "Now, if I don't hear Miss Robin sing for even a moment, I feel terrible!"
Robin: "Thank you all so much for your support!"
Robin: "I definitely won't let everyone down!"
....
『 [ It solves the Family's pressing problem and builds momentum for himself at the same time, killing two birds with one stone. ]
[ As expected of that legendary tycoon. ]
[ Thanks for the explanation, goodbye~ ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Amber: "It feels like Miss Topaz respects that head of the Alfalfa Family quite a bit."
Amber: "Looks like he really is a big deal!"
Aventurine: "Haha, he is a legendary tycoon who has dominated the business world for several Amber Eras."
Aventurine: "Countless people learned their way of doing business from this legendary tycoon."
Aventurine: "But well… given the current situation."
Aventurine: "Even with his immense power, it's hard to change certain things now."
Stelle: "What the?"
Stelle: "Several Amber Eras?"
Stelle: "Good grief, this is another old monster!"
Fu Xuan: "Ahem… your words always make people feel uncomfortable."
Fu Xuan: "Who says living a long time makes one an 'old monster'?"
Paimon: "Uh… how much time is one Amber Era again?"
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "Approximately 76 to 240 years."
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "The situation depends on when Qlipoth brings down the hammer."
Hu Tao: "So that means this Old Oti is at least several hundred years old?"
Xiangling: "Seems like it."
Xiangling: "That really is a long life!"
Silver Wolf: "In the universe, long-lived species are not uncommon."
Silver Wolf: "Living for a few hundred years isn't anything strange."
Silver Wolf: "After all, there are plenty who have lived for thousands of years, and even tens of thousands."
Furina de Fontaine: "Phew… thinking about it that way, I'm still quite young!"
Charlotte: "Lady Furina… 500 years old isn't exactly young, is it??"
March 7th: "Huh???"
March 7th: "Miss Furina is 500 years old??"
March 7th: "You're also a long-lived species?!"
Furina de Fontaine: "Uh… I… I guess so?"
Neuvillette: "Lady Furina is the Archon of Fontaine, a noble god-like body with a long lifespan."
Stelle: "Good grief!"
Stelle: "And a local god at that!"
Stelle: "Wow!"
Stelle: "I didn't expect Miss Furina to have such a prominent identity!"
Stelle: "If we find Teyvat, wouldn't we be able to walk around sideways with that connection?"
Furina de Fontaine: "Ahaha… what god or not… It's all empty fame!"
Furina de Fontaine: "I'm still young, far from those other old seniors!!"
Boothill: " I didn't expect you guys' little… ahem, ordinary world to have some tricks up its sleeve."
Boothill: "Who is the longest-living person in your world?"
Paimon: "The longest-living person??"
Paimon: "Wouldn't that be… Morax?"
Paimon: "Seems like he's at least over 6,000 years old?"
Qingque: "Over 6,000 years old?!"
Qingque: "Good grief, that really is long-lived!"
Qingque: "The Reignbow Arbiter, He doesn't seem to be over 6, 000 years old, right?"
Qingque: "Living that long, aren't you afraid of the Mara-Struck?"
Zhongli: "Mara-Struck?"
Zhongli: "Could it be a different kind of erosion?"
Jing Yuan: "Erosion?"
Jing Yuan: "That term is quite fitting."
Jing Yuan: "Indeed, the so-called Mara-Struck can be considered a form of mental erosion."
Venti: "Tsk tsk tsk, looks like longevity comes with a price, no matter where you are?"
Nahida: "No… that might not be necessarily true."
Nahida: "Lumine is also a long-lived species; her exact age is unknown, but it's at least hundreds or thousands of years."
Nahida: "But her spirit hasn't eroded in the slightest; on the contrary, it has become even more robust."
Stelle: "?"
Stelle: "Lumine, sister, you're that old?!"
Lumine: "Uh… I… I don't remember either!"
Lumine: "M-maybe?"
March 7th: "Ah, this… at this age, she could be our great-great-great-grandmother, right?"
Zhongli: "But generally speaking, compared to her long lifespan, her current age is like an infant's."
Stelle: "Oh! Got it!"
Stelle: "EVEN THOUGH SHE'S HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD, WE'RE STILL PEERS!!"
Hu Tao: "Wait… what did I just hear?"
Hu Tao: "Lumine is hundreds or even thousands of years old???"
Hu Tao: "Are you guys joking?"
Venti: "Oh my… this is truly shocking!"
Nahida: "It might sound incredible, but Lumine is a Descender; she doesn't belong to our Teyvat continent."
Amber: "I-is that really the case?"
Amber: "I didn't expect the Honorary Knight to really not be from our Teyvat continent?"
Lumine: "I drifted here by accident."
Lumine: "My brother and I used to travel together through the stars."
Welt Yang: "To be able to travel the stars with your own abilities… it seems your true identities as siblings are quite extraordinary…"
Himeko: "Likewise, this Teyvat continent might not be as simple as we thought."
....
『 [ Oink... oink?]
There was still quite a while before the meeting started, a bored Topaz was playing with Numby.
But while playing, Topaz received a call from the IPC.
[ Hello? ]
[ …The Talent Motivation Department again? Internal review? Will it ever end? ]
[ … ]
[ I'm running a major project, I don't have time to bicker with you. ]
[ … ]
[ My handling of the Jarilo-VI case was approved by the senior management resolution. ]
[ The project logs and call records are all complete, can't you check them yourselves? ]
[ I really don't understand… You keep staring at this small case, making a mountain out of a molehill. What exactly is your intention? ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
March 7th: "Oh, it seems the Jarilo-VI incident has caused Miss Topaz quite a bit of trouble."
Stelle: "Probably being used by some people with ulterior motives in the company to make an issue out of it, right?"
Qingque: "Isn't the Talent Motivation Department a department that just makes empty promises?"
Qingque: "They care about this, too?"
Bronya Rand: "I'm really sorry to have made Miss Topaz so troubled."
Topaz: "Oh, these people are just looking for trouble."
Topaz: "Jarilo-VI isn't considered a particularly important location among the company's strategic investment sites."
Topaz: "Besides, my resolution was approved by the higher-ups, after all, the Astral Express vouched for it together."
Topaz: "But it's still unavoidable that some ill-intentioned people will keep biting at it."
Aventurine: "Hehe, it's probably the work of our old competitors from the Marketing Development Department."
Aventurine: "You know, they have this disgusting character."
Aventurine: "Same stuff as their master."
Stelle: "That's it, Oswald Schneider has really disgraced us, Nameless!"
Stelle: "I, on behalf of the Astral Express, announce the expulsion of Oswald from the status of a former Nameless!"
March 7th: "Seconded!"
March 7th: "Letting such a scumbag with a ruined reputation carry the identity of our Nameless is simply a disgrace!"
Dan Heng: "Not a Nameless, but a former Nameless."
Furina de Fontaine: "Suddenly, I feel like maybe the Express crew won't be able to avoid cleaning house in the future?"
Hu Tao: "That's a director of the company's Marketing Development Department!"
Hu Tao: "He's a big shot too. I'm afraid it won't be easy to clean up."
Boothill: "Heh, what big shot or not, as long as I find him, I guarantee every shot will love him to death!"
....
『 [ Tiresome conversation… just hang up, won't you? ]
[ In my opinion, you handled that project well. ]
[ Trading a small ice ball for a favor from the Astral Express—for the department, it's a guaranteed profit. ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Paimon: "Wow, Miss Jade has finally arrived!"
Paimon: "Miss Jade is so beautiful!"
Paimon: "She's a very intellectual and elegant big sister!!"
Jade: "Big sister?"
Jade: "Hehe, thanks for the compliment, Miss Paimon, your address reminds me of those children."
Lumine: "This aura… NO MISTAKE, IT'S A STRONG WOMAN!!"
Stelle: "I saw Miss Jade in Aventurine's memory before."
Stelle: "I didn't see much then."
Stelle: "Looking at her now, there really is an inexplicable aura."
March 7th: "Speaking of which, is a favor from our Astral Express that valuable?"
March 7th: "More important than a planet?"
Jade: "That goes without saying… the members of the Astral Express are no ordinary people."
Jade: "Which of the things you all did on Penacony wasn't an earth-shattering event?"
Aventurine: "Speaking of which, if it weren't for you all, the company wouldn't have found an opportunity to reclaim Penacony so easily."
Furina de Fontaine: "As expected of the Express crew, too awesome!"
Seele: "Yeah, truly awesome."
Seele: "If it weren't for them, our Belobog wouldn't see hope even now…"
....
『 [ It's been a long time, little Jelena. ]
[ I've been looking forward to working with you. ]
[ I didn't expect this day to come so soon. ]
[ Did you run into any trouble? ]
[ You can tell me anything, just like old times. ]
Jade gently caressed Topaz's cheek, her eyes full of tenderness. 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Amber: "Eh? Miss Jade's action just now was so gentle!"
Stelle: "Has a motherly feel!"
Hu Tao: "Wait, Jelena??"
Hu Tao: "Is this Miss Topaz's real name?"
Furina de Fontaine: "Looks like, just like Aventurine, Topaz is just a codename for the Ten Stonehearts?"
Furina de Fontaine: "By analogy, Miss Jade should be the same."
Xiangling: "Like Mr. Aventurine's real name, Miss Topaz's real name sounds very nice too."
Stelle: "Tsk, if I become one of the Ten Stonehearts, will I not have a real name either?"
Stelle: "What should I be called? Stellar Stone?"
Stelle: "No! Maybe I should be called Stellar Jade!"
March 7th: "Alright, stop daydreaming, just be your Nameless with peace of mind…"
....