"Mr. Skott, please calm down first..."
"Calm down? You're telling me to calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?!"
Skott shouted in a breakdown, "I see it now. You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, are the worst kind of person! You say 'sure, sure, willing, willing' with your mouth, but in reality, you're just like a manipulative woman, stringing me along because you're greedy for the gifts I gave you."
Gepard shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Alas, actually, I was already planning to repay the money."
Skott: "And then?"
Gepard: "And then? Well, didn't I set up a little test for you? To see if you were truly sincere. But look, alas... it's a pity, you didn't pass my test."
Skott: "*** (standard company-accented profanity)"
Skott stomped his foot in anger, "I'm the creditor! The creditor! You owe me money! What's this nonsense about sincerity?!"
Gepard: "See, you're getting worked up again. Did I say I wouldn't repay? It's not about not repaying, but doing it reasonably, with a plan, scientifically, step by step. First repay a bit to pave the way for the rest..."
Skott pulled out a phone, "You're forcing my hand. I'm warning you, my people haven't just been wandering around this broken place for nothing these past few days. According to my subordinates' observations, those drone soldiers of yours are pretty crucial production assets, aren't they?"
"Their source code comes from a company seven hundred years ago. If you don't repay the money, I just need to lift a finger, and I can make all the drone soldiers in your entire city shut down!"
"How's that? Now you know how powerful I am, don't you?"
Stelle, standing nearby, scratched her head and suddenly interjected, "But if you shut down all their drone soldiers, wouldn't that make it even harder for them to repay you?"
Skott: "..."
Skott: "I don't care about your excuses! If I can't get this money back, I'm done for. If you don't pay, don't think you'll get out of this alive either! Pay up!"
Gepard: "...Alright, then give me some time. After all, such a large sum isn't something we can come up with all at once."
Skott: "How much time do you need?"
Gepard: "How much time do you have?"
"Three days! I'll give you three days to think it over! If you can't come up with something of equivalent value by then, you'll have to mortgage the entire planet to cover it!"
With that, Skott flung his hand and stormed out the door.
Two seconds later, Skott returned with a dark expression, walked up to Gepard, bent down, grabbed the gift box he had just delivered, and left again.
...
At the Great Guardian's dining hall.
Gepard gracefully poured fragrant red tea for the four members of the Astral Express crew, his movements skillful. Just as it was Cocolia's turn, the teapot ran dry.
Ignoring Cocolia's resentful glare, Gepard cleared his throat, "My apologies, everyone. You've just arrived, and we've already made you witness a farce."
"Watching a farce isn't a bad thing, is it?" Stelle casually remarked.
Everyone: ?
Stelle: "Hm? Did I say something wrong? Don't you all like watching farces?"
March 7th forcefully pressed Stelle's head onto her lap, covering her mouth, and smiled, "She's not great with words. Gepard, please continue."
Gepard: "...Anyway, you've seen the situation. Repaying a debt is only right and just. Dodging it might work for a while, but not forever. For now, all I can do is stall them."
"Belobog has only just resolved the Stellaron issue and is in the midst of rebuilding. But that amount... I can't even bring myself to say it out loud."
"If we poured all of Belobog's resources into it, we might be able to clear the debt, but that would ruin Belobog's development for the next few centuries."
"I know this is a bit much to ask, but... could you please help us out? Could you negotiate with the company representative on my behalf? If you can secure a win-win solution, I'd be endlessly grateful."
After saying this, Gepard stood up and gave a deep bow to everyone.
"...Don't worry. Belobog is, after all, a world we've connected with. We won't just stand by and do nothing."
After a brief silence, Welt, as the group's de facto leader, gave an affirmative response, "The company's opportunity to recover this bad debt is partly thanks to us. From that standpoint, we do have some leverage."
"While I can't guarantee success, we'll do our best to try."
"Thank you so much," Gepard said gratefully, "Please be extremely careful... Also, Cocolia, while the Astral Express crew is in Belobog, put all your original duties on hold. Your only responsibility is to ensure their safety."
"After all, the Interastral Peace Corporation's methods of negotiation likely go beyond just words."
Cocolia, expressionless: "...Fine."
...
"We came out to relax, but somehow we've ended up burdened with this heavy mission."
After leaving Qlipoth Fort, Stelle's mouth was noticeably quieter. She stole a glance at March 7th and sighed.
"We'll relax after this is resolved," Dan Heng said, "The crisis Belobog is facing this time is indeed significant. If things go wrong, everyone might end up like Master Gongshu, enslaved to a contract."
"That does sound dangerous," Stelle agreed.
Snap.
At that moment, Stelle felt her foot kick something. Curious, she bent down and saw an exquisite wallet.
"Whoa, am I this lucky today?"
Stelle picked up the wallet and opened it. Wow, it was filled with black cards, gold cards, diamond cards—the glow of wealth nearly blinded her.
"Whose wallet is this?" March 7th glanced at her and asked.
"Let me see..." Stelle rummaged through the wallet and soon found an ID card. The photo showed a charming silver-haired girl with a radiant smile, and the name read "Numby."
Stelle: ?
She wasn't unfamiliar with this face. Who didn't know the name of the famous list-topper? But Numby... wasn't that the Dimensional Piggy?
Could it be that in this world, Topaz was the pet, and Numby had risen to be the master?
The thought popped into her head but was quickly dismissed. She didn't dare imagine that scenario, fearing it might get censored.
"Everyone, there's a wallet here. It looks like it belongs to someone from the company," Stelle raised the wallet, hesitating, "Should I stay here and wait for the owner?"
As someone experienced, Stelle knew that one of the main characters of this storyline was Topaz. As long as she stayed put, she was sure to trigger a hidden plot.
"A company employee's?"
Welt took the wallet and briefly examined it. When he saw the ID card, his expression changed drastically, "This... this is actually Miss Numby?!"
"That's the Miss Numby who holds titles like 'Galactic Stock God,' 'Galactic Gambling God,' 'Galactic Lucky Star,' 'One of the Ten Most Beautiful Girls in the Galaxy'... (dozens of titles omitted)!"
"To think the company sent her this time? Truly terrifying."