Suddenly, huge dark clouds surged across the clear sky, almost completely blocking out the sunlight. The world that had just seen dawn turned pitch-black once again.
The enormous roar of engines sent waves of air sweeping across the entire planet Jarilo, waking people from their sleep one after another.
Trembling, they pushed open their doors. When they clearly saw the giant warships in the sky, terror and helplessness appeared on every face.
With a rough count, there were no fewer than seventeen giant warships landing on Jarilo itself. From the shadow in the sky that still hadn't dispersed, it was clear there were even more warships prowling just outside the planet.
"My god, could it be the end of the world…"
"End your damn mouth!" The wife, hearing her husband mutter these words, without hesitation swung her thick, powerful arm and gave him his favorite heavy slap.
She smacked his cheek until it swelled high and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth before she finally stopped.
Then the wife grabbed her husband's head in anger, forcing it to turn toward the city of Ideal Town standing firm in the night sky, and the glowing Belobog.
"Look carefully. We have the protection of the Preservation Aeon, and Lord Emiya and his family shielding us from the wind and rain. No matter how many enemies come, we don't need to be afraid!"
With this hoarse roar from the wife, the passion of the other villagers was ignited as well. They all began loudly echoing her words.
"Yes, Lord Emiya is invincible, Lord Zoe's army is invincible!"
"And Lord Gepard, Lady Bronya, and the Supreme Guardian!"
"And Dr. Vah and Lady Natasha!"
"And Lord Svarog, Lord Svarog is unstoppable!"
"To have lived this happy for so long was something I never even dared dream of. Even if I die now, what's there to fear? Tomorrow I'll join the Silvermane Guards and go fight the enemy!"
"Yeah right, you've already been rejected by the Silvermane Guards eighteen times. Tomorrow it's still up to me!"
The roars passed from village to village, and everyone's hearts became more united than ever. Anyone with even a bit of strength picked up their sharpest weapon at home and voluntarily marched to protect Ideal Town.
"Hey, these people really are worth it!" Welt stood in the air, looking at the people united in shared hatred of the enemy, his face full of praise and envy.
'If the people of my homeland had been this united, how could Honkai have eroded and destroyed us for so long!'
"Welt, stop staring blankly and get on the train. We still have to pick up Zoe and the others!"
Himeko stood on the train and waved to Welt. Behind her, the other passengers were all fully armed, mentally prepared to fight the Interastral Peace Corporation at any moment.
On the IPC side, besides the four senior cadres from the Pioneering Department who had originally gone out with Topaz, there were also sixteen combat unit captains recruited from nearby star systems.
These captains were not only powerful themselves, each of them commanded at least two fully armed warships.
With just one order from Topaz, they would, without hesitation, launch a devastating attack on all of Jarilo.
"Topaz, why are we stopping on a grassland so far from the city? Are we actually afraid of that group of natives?"
James, one of the senior cadres of the Pioneering Department, was tall and burly like a black bear. Right now he stood ramrod-straight in front of Topaz, making the already petite Topaz look like a little child by comparison.
"Stay away from me, or I'll put you in solitary on the warship."
Topaz pointed her small hand toward a sofa at the side. James immediately sat down obediently. But the look in his eyes, and those of the other cadres watching Topaz, could by no means be called friendly.
The Market Expansion Department and Topaz's Strategic Investment Department had always been mortal rivals. Although they were forced to obey Topaz's orders this time, they were still playing their own little games in their hearts.
If Topaz made even the slightest blunder in handling matters, the four senior cadres from Market Expansion would absolutely be the first to stab her in the back.
Topaz knew all this perfectly well. As one of the company's rare moderates, she inwardly despised the Market Expansion Department's love of plundering and seizing by force, so she had no intention of showing them a pleasant face from the start.
"First of all, we're here to collect a debt, not to start a war!" Speaking this, Topaz swept her eyes around the room with disdain.
"And showing off and swaggering is something weaklings do. Our company's position doesn't need such stupid ways to prove itself."
"Those scum killed the advance team and even uploaded their memories to the cosmic network. Don't tell me you plan to be lovey-dovey with them!" James's fists bulged with veins.
"Do you have proof?" Topaz rolled her eyes, a sneer full of mockery curling at the corner of her mouth.
"Don't talk about proof they killed the advance team, you can't even get proof they uploaded the memories to the Internet. How impressive you are!"
As she said this, Topaz even raised her small hand and gave the Pioneering Department crowd a round of applause.
"You're asking for death!"
James flew into a rage, raising his huge fists to charge at Topaz, only to be held back by the refined man beside him.
This man's name was Howard, the only one among the four Pioneering Department cadres who held the same rank as Topaz.
Don't be fooled by Howard's kindly smile and his pretentious gold-rimmed glasses. His ruthless methods were among the top in the entire Pioneering Department. He was truly the kind of man who could kill an entire family while smiling.
James was Howard's direct subordinate and thug. The other two were just there to make up the numbers, because wiping out a planet required at least four senior cadres on site to survey and vote.
"All right, both of you say a little less." Howard pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and said with a smile, "Miss Topaz is the overall commander of this mission. We'll all listen to her."
"Yes!" Hearing Howard speak, the other three answered in unison.
"Good that you know who to listen to. When we go out later, don't run your mouths and lose the company's face."
Topaz smoothed her hair and clothes, took her cute little partner Numby, and led the way out of the warship. "The person in charge of Jarilo and the Astral Express have arrived. Let's go out too!"
Inside the Astral Express, ever since Emiya's family had boarded, the tense atmosphere had instantly vanished.
Aside from Emiya, the other three girls were all dressed in casual clothes. The hands that should have been gripping weapons were instead holding a big pot full of red soup, plenty of ingredients, and even a box of cola.
"You guys… what are you doing?" Himeko asked, black lines all over her face.
"Those people came too fast. We didn't get to eat hotpot yet, so we brought it onto the train for everyone to eat together!" Zoe said while beckoning everyone to hurry to the kitchen.
Everyone present, except Himeko, seemed used to this. Seeing Zoe's invitation, they didn't refuse and happily trotted after her.
"If you don't like hotpot, then have some pancakes to fill your stomach?" Emiya offered his proudest pancakes.
"Eat my ass!" Himeko felt like her head was about to explode. The company people had stormed in full of menace, by the look of it something huge was happening.
'What on earth are these people doing!'
"Don't worry. At worst, when our heads roll we'll just leave a big scar on the bowl. Then we can accompany Acheron and die carefree…"
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