March 7th was happy about Himeko's high profile; it felt like the Express Crew was being recognized by everyone.
However, she also knew that Himeko's fame was mainly due to the Astral Express. As the inheritor of the Trailblaze faction and the one who restored the Express, she naturally had a high degree of recognition.
As for her strength and other aspects, while Himeko was a consideration, she wasn't exactly top-tier.
Just as in the original story, where Topaz, knowing the influence of the Astral Express Crew, still had the authority to apply for a special operation against them, the "nice guy" reputation of the crew was only effective when there were no conflicts of interest.
Once those top-tier factions really wanted to do something, they wouldn't pay much mind to the Express Crew. Just like the man before them, Sunday.
Although his etiquette was impeccable and his tone sincere, anyone sensitive to the atmosphere would quickly notice the indifference in his eyes and the hidden air of superiority, making him difficult to approach.
Even while praising the Express Crew, he likely didn't truly hold their strength in high regard.
But Su Mo was different.
When he received the invitation from the Genius Society and met with Nous, his fame had already spread throughout the galaxy, rivaling that of the renowned Herta.
After the battle on the Xianzhou, as the one who had personally created an Aeon, his name had soared to the level of Zandar, or perhaps even beyond.
With such an achievement to his name, Su Mo's fame had long surpassed Himeko's.
In the eyes of many top factions, his status had reached the level of an Emanator, and even among Emanators, he was the most special type, the closest to an Aeon.
Logically, anyone who wasn't completely cut off from the world should have heard of Su Mo. To prevent any disrespect towards the Arbiter of Myriad Transformations, the Xianzhou Luofu had publicly announced his identity and warned everyone. Making a move against him was tantamount to declaring war on the Xianzhou Alliance.
But according to Sunday's earlier explanation, he had been busy with family affairs and hadn't been keeping up with the news.
Considering that his so-called family affairs were likely conducted within the dreamscape, almost completely isolated from reality, March 7th could finally accept his ignorance.
"What is it? Has this gentleman, or perhaps the rest of the Express Crew, saved another world or blazed a trail to a new one?" Sunday asked politely, a bit puzzled by March 7th's hesitant demeanor. For the news, this might be a big story, but for a Trailblaze faction, it wasn't anything special.
"Something like that!" March 7th scratched her cheek and gave a reluctant nod. Su Mo had indeed saved a small world. Not to mention Belobog, the Xianzhou Luofu should count as a small world, right?
No, if you included the scope of curing the mara-struck, the domain he had saved even encompassed the entire Xianzhou Alliance.
However, since Su Mo didn't intend to make a fuss, she suppressed her urge to show off and kept quiet.
If she considered herself an outsider, she would naturally have to defend her friend's reputation. But she considered herself an in... ahem, one of them.
If she went into too much detail about Su Mo's achievements, it would feel like she was boasting about herself, which was a bit too embarrassing.
"Very well! I will be sure to catch up on all of your great deeds when I have the time." Seeing that March 7th didn't want to say more, Sunday, who wasn't particularly interested anyway, offered a polite social pleasantry.
He then raised his head slightly and saw a flamboyant, hard-to-ignore figure in the distance. His eyes narrowed, and he immediately spoke.
"My apologies, another distinguished guest, just like yourselves, has arrived. Please excuse me, as I must go and receive them. I hope you don't mind."
Hearing this, Himeko and the others naturally wouldn't be so tactless as to interfere. "Not at all, Mr. Sunday. Please go ahead. We wouldn't want to disturb your work."
After a couple of polite exchanges, Sunday prepared to leave. Compared to the Astral Express Crew, he was more interested in the lavishly dressed man in the distance.
In fact, for Penacony, that man was the truly important guest. The entity he represented was far more to be feared than the scattered Trailblaze faction.
However, before he could leave, he saw the man, as flamboyant as a peacock, his eyes flashing as he walked straight towards them.
As expected, he's here for me.
A thousand thoughts flashed through Sunday's mind in an instant, but he had already prepared countermeasures for such situations.
"Mr. Aventurine, the IPC didn't send you here to play house—"
He had intended to overwhelm the other with a preemptive strike. But to his surprise, Aventurine walked right past him, completely ignoring him, and came to stand before the Astral Express Crew.
What's going on?
A flicker of doubt crossed Sunday's mind.
According to the front desk staff, Aventurine had actively requested a meeting with him, and his attitude had been extremely humble, as if he were trying to plot something from a position of weakness.
Sunday knew Aventurine's mindset all too well and understood why he was acting so weak. As the master of Penacony, on his home turf, he had an absolute advantage.
Even though Aventurine was one of the IPC's Ten Stonehearts and could borrow the power of the Emanator of Preservation, he couldn't even enter the dreamscape without his permission, let alone carry out any plots.
Whatever schemes he had, he would have to pay a price that satisfied Sunday before being allowed into the dreamscape.
By simply holding this leverage, he could force Aventurine to bow his head. He probably wouldn't even refuse if asked to strip naked and run through the streets.
But if the situation was as he thought, then Aventurine should be acting extremely weak right now. So why did he dare to ignore him so brazenly?
Before he could figure it out, something even more surprising happened.
In front of everyone in the lobby, and in front of several of his own subordinates, Aventurine actually bowed deeply to the Astral Express Crew.
"Hiss!"
Sunday was stunned. Even if the man had suddenly lost his mind and was trying to posture to bargain with him, he wouldn't devalue himself like this, would he?
As one of the Ten Stonehearts, he only showed such respect to his superior, Diamond, the Emanator of Preservation. The Astral Express Crew didn't even have an Emanator. Was it really necessary for him to act like this?
Just as confused as he was were the gray-haired and pink-haired girls next to Su Mo.
"And you are?" Stelle blinked, puzzled. Why did someone suddenly come over and bow?
"I am Aventurine, a senior manager of the Strategic Investment Department of the Interastral Peace Corporation. It is an honor to meet you, Lord Su Mo, and the members of the Express Crew." Aventurine pressed his hat to his chest and introduced himself as he stood up.
"Strategic Investment Department?" Hearing this name, Stelle and March 7th exchanged a glance.
"I think I remember... that Miss Topaz who was with Lord Su Mo last time seemed to be from the Strategic Investment Department!" March 7th slapped her forehead, recalling.
"Indeed. Ms. Topaz is a colleague of mine," Aventurine added with a smile.
"Oh, oh! That girl who rides the pig! I remember she seemed really rich. Her pig looked very strong, too. A formidable opponent." Stelle also remembered, recalling the appearance of the golden Trotter, her eyes burning with the fighting spirit of someone who had met their match.
"It's not a pig, it's a Warp Trotter!" March 7th couldn't help but correct her ridiculous and embarrassing statement. "And why a formidable opponent? What are you planning to do to the pig—I mean, the Warp Trotter!"
Hearing her description, even someone as composed as Aventurine couldn't hold it in and almost choked.
"You must be referring to Ms. Topaz's pet, Numby! Ms. Topaz is indeed financially independent, but compared to Lord Su Mo, she still has a long way to go!" He skillfully steered the conversation back to Su Mo.
"Lord Su Mo?"
It was only then that Sunday finally understood the source of Aventurine's unusual attitude. He immediately turned back to look at Su Mo, carefully observing the attitude of the Express Crew, and only then did he realize that Su Mo was the one in charge.
However, there was still something he didn't understand. Even if Su Mo was the leader of the Express Crew, he didn't deserve such respect from Aventurine, did he?
After all, the Express Crew wasn't a unified organization like the IPC or The Family. The difference between a nominal representative and the one with real power was too great.
"So, you were all trying to tell me about this gentleman earlier? Please forgive my rudeness. I have been completely out of touch with the outside world these past few days and nearly overlooked the presence of such a distinguished guest." Sunday immediately said cautiously and politely. At this moment, the appearance of too many important figures was not a good thing for him.
"Oh?" Hearing Sunday's apology and realizing that this head of the Oak Family truly didn't know Su Mo, Aventurine let out a short, flippant scoff.
"You're still the head of the Oak Family with such poor awareness? It's a good thing The Family didn't put you in charge of public relations, otherwise you would have been dismissed for a major blunder by now, and I wouldn't have to deal with a troublesome fellow like you!"
Hearing Aventurine's blatant mockery, Sunday frowned slightly. This guy was acting all weak just a moment ago, as if I could make any demand I wanted. How did his personality change so quickly after seeing Su Mo? He even dares to mock me?
"While I am still unaware of Mr. Su Mo's identity and circumstances, Mr. Aventurine, aren't you being a bit too talkative? If you want to mock me, you can say as much as you like during the negotiations!" he said in a calm tone, issuing a veiled threat.
With his strong personality and desire for control, he would not allow Aventurine to provoke him like this. Only when he was sure he could control the other party would he agree to their demands. If Aventurine continued like this, he might just reject his request to enter the dreamscape.
"Eek! So scary! I feel like there are hidden meanings in their words!" Realizing the tense atmosphere between the two, March 7th subconsciously moved closer to Su Mo and secretly held onto his arm.
Seeing this, Stelle tilted her head and simply pressed herself against him. The two exchanged a tacit glance without saying a word.
At this moment, facing Sunday's threat, Aventurine, uncharacteristically, didn't back down at all.
"Ha! You dare to test me with such things in front of Lord Su Mo? Tsk, tsk..." Aventurine shook his head flippantly, a hint of pity in his eyes. "It seems you weren't pretending. You really don't know who Lord Su Mo is."
Seeing his unexpected assertiveness, Sunday's heart skipped a beat. He finally realized that Su Mo's identity might be beyond his expectations. The boy with the chicken wings no longer met Aventurine's gaze, but instead looked at Su Mo with a little more caution.
"Could it be that Your Excellency Su Mo is an Aeon's Emanator?" In his understanding, only an Emanator deserved such treatment. In fact, even a rogue Emanator didn't deserve this treatment; generally, only Emanators from the IPC or the Xianzhou Alliance held such status.
"Nope!" Just as Aventurine was about to answer, a long-unheard girlish voice came from not far away.
"Ah! It's Miss Topaz!" March 7th followed the voice and, seeing the girl she had met once before, immediately waved in pleasant surprise.
Topaz immediately walked over with two squads of disciplined IPC subordinates. Seeing her imposing manner, Stelle blinked, a little surprised.
"Wow, so impressive! I always thought she was an accountant's maid before!"
When she was around Su Mo, Topaz always seemed like a bullied maid, which was why Stelle had the impression of a "girl who rides a pig." It was only now that they finally saw the might of one of the Ten Stonehearts.
"Finally!" Seeing Topaz, Aventurine couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The moment he saw Su Mo, he had immediately notified his colleague to come and pay her respects.
Although he could have approached Su Mo himself, and perhaps even built some goodwill, for the sake of the IPC's development, it was undoubtedly safer to let Topaz, who had already dealt with Su Mo, handle the communication.
Topaz and Su Mo's cooperation had been before Ruan Mei's ascension to godhood. Although it wasn't exactly helping in a time of need, it was an old acquaintance from before his complete rise to prominence.
Considering Diamond's original reason for sending Topaz to win him over, there was some affection between the two sides. Having Topaz here was better than a stranger like himself trying to build a relationship.
Although this Lord Su Mo gave him a strangely familiar and close feeling, for the sake of the bigger picture, he didn't take this opportunity to ask his questions.
Topaz came over with a happy expression, bowed to Su Mo, and greeted Stelle, March 7th, and the others before turning to Sunday, who was waiting on the side.
"Mr. Sunday seems to have misunderstood Lord Su Mo's importance!" Unlike Aventurine, who was used to hiding behind a flippant attitude, Topaz's expression was serious and direct.
"I'm all ears." Realizing something was wrong, Sunday said with rare sincerity.
"The specific details are difficult to explain in a short time, and Lord Su Mo's great achievements cannot be explained in a few words either. Please investigate for yourself later, Mr. Sunday. I have no reason to enlighten a rival." Topaz gave a sharp smile, glanced at Su Mo, and said, "The only thing I can tell you is that Lord Su Mo's importance far exceeds your estimation. In fact, if Lord Su Mo were to say the word, our company would be willing to unconditionally give up our claim to Penacony's sovereignty."
After dropping a bombshell that left Sunday utterly stunned, Topaz followed up with a warning. "So, whatever tricks you want to play, you'd better steer clear of Lord Su Mo... otherwise, you wouldn't want to make enemies of both the Interastral Peace Corporation and the Xianzhou Alliance at the same time, would you?"