Yaoqing was practically turning into a cyber-Xianzhou now.
It must be said, the IPC, older than the Alliance, had reached the pinnacle of commercial strategy, so daunting it was awe-inspiring.
----------------------------------
"Is everything progressing smoothly? Being watched by The Family's 'Hound' can't feel good, can it?"
"Hehe, I'm just putting on the kind of show they love under the spotlight. I do this often."
Hearing Aventurine's response, Topaz smiled slightly, crossing her left leg over her right, drawing a seductive outline.
"The cornerstone has already been sent into Penacony. All that's left is confirmation. Toppling The Family from within isn't an easy task."
As she quietly listened to what had happened to Aventurine recently, Topaz suddenly spoke: "Diamond entrusted this to you. You can't mess it up."
"…Of course. My profits will speak for themselves."
"Yeah, you always win. This time won't be any different." Topaz lowered her leg, the red imprint left behind on her fair thigh especially eye-catching.
"Oh right, something interesting, I actually picked up a IPC fugitive on the way to Penacony,"
Aventurine chuckled, as if the person he mentioned wasn't a wanted fugitive, but a close brother to drink with.
"A fugitive?" Topaz raised an eyebrow. Being listed as a company fugitive, now that's no small matter.
In fact, being listed as a fugitive by the IPC is a testament to one's strength. For an organization of that scale to issue a wanted notice instead of directly capturing them, that alone shows the danger.
The simplest example would be the Stellaron Hunter's famous throughout the cosmos.
None of them are easy to deal with.
"Enough about me, how's it going on your side?" Aventurine asked.
"What else? Just the usual. Someone capable of flipping the chessboard, of course the IPC's making moves. Otherwise, I'd already be in Penacony's lobby under Hound surveillance."
Topaz lightly shook her head.
Originally, they were supposed to handle the Penacony matter together, but unexpected events happened.
Now, she's handling the business on Godzilla's end, ideally working toward forming an alliance between Godzilla and the IPC for mutual benefit.
Though it's really just the IPC trying to leverage Godzilla's power and influence to expand the market. As for her, she's just an employee, coasting through the motions.
As for forming an actual alliance with Godzilla… Topaz thought it was unlikely.
Even if Godzilla miraculously agreed to an alliance, his way of doing things isn't exactly by the book.
His intense strength and immense pressure would crush any obstacles before him.
"Enjoy your time in Penacony,"
Topaz said in the end, then ended the call.
Staring at the phone screen as it returned to the interface, Topaz was silent for a moment before slowly leaning back until she sank into the sofa.
"Hmm-chu?"
A soft creature crawled onto Topaz's thigh, lying between her legs, tilting its head in confusion, not understanding what was wrong.
"A gambler, wins everything, or loses it all. Let's wish him luck."
...
[Ratio: Don't die]
[Ratio: image.jpg]
Just after the call ended, a message came through, Ratio sent a caring text along with a long procurement list.
With a light chuckle, Aventurine looked up at the opulent building ahead, drenched in lights and shadows, layered luxury and grand elegance among the crowd.
"Of course I won't die. Win everything, or lose it all, I only win!"
...
Godzilla sat in his dream, watching the Sun rise.
A golden halo surrounded the dream-sun.
The Messenger had already left.
As a busy worker, she had more than one job to handle.
Who knows how many tasks the Messenger must complete every day for performance targets?
A thick tail swayed gently. In this dream, that overwhelming power made no sound, so as not to disturb Godzilla's thoughts.
Though most of his thoughts were about where to sleep next.
He felt it.
Godzilla blinked, and his swaying tail paused for two seconds before continuing.
What he sensed in the dream was, naturally, dream-related. He felt that far, far away, many dreams were intertwined,
A miracle that could only be born from that land.
...
Sunday, the head of the Oak family, one of the administrators of Penacony.
By rights, in Penacony, aside from the other three family heads and the Dream Master above all, he should be the god of this domain.
But a series of recent events forced him to think more cautiously.
"IPC, Galaxy Rangers, Stellaron, The Nameless..." His brows gradually furrowed. The current situation was like a grand carnival for Penacony.
Yet The Family hosting this carnival disliked chaos, especially chaos that could drag The Family into an abyss at any moment.
And Sunday disliked it too.
"The IPC's people can't be touched lightly, not for now."
"The Nameless..."
Sunday silently stared at two chess pieces laid out before him.
These represented the forces he currently couldn't act against directly.
If something happened to the IPC's envoy, the IPC would use it as an excuse to enter Penacony. At the very least, until this piece had fully served its purpose, it couldn't be touched.
As for the other one… that was the real headache.
The Nameless, especially that one.
Though she appeared everywhere like a raccoon, carrying a bat without a care, definitely a reckless figure,
That was exactly what worried him most.
According to the rumors he had heard from the Xianzhou, this little raccoon… Miss Nameless is actually the true summoner who brought Godzilla to Xianzhou Luofu, defeated the Lord Ravager Phantylia first, and then blasted the Lord Ravager Zephyro to death.
He wasn't sure if there was a special connection between them.
But he didn't want to see a giant Emanator descend on Penacony, even if it could only vent its fury outside Penacony.
Unfortunately, Penacony now simply couldn't withstand the pursuit and siege of the Nameless.
Just as he was racking his brains for a way to stall the Nameless…
"You called for me."
That despondent voice snapped Sunday out of his thoughts.
He turned to see Gallagher, who had turned to The Family's side, come in.
But his timely arrival gave Sunday a new line of thought.
The brilliance of Harmony shone upon Penacony, and countless people bathed in Harmony's grace.
As long as one was in Penacony, in this promised land, nothing was impossible!
If the Watchmaker couldn't do it, then why couldn't a person like him bring hope!?
...
Astral Express.
"Treasure my butt, the Xianzhou really gave you this thing?"
Dressed like a cowboy, the shark teeth exposed when he spoke carried a bone-chilling menace, making one wonder about his identity.
But what truly caught the eye was… his wild and unrestrained way of speaking.
"The Galaxy Rangers have been missing for ages. I've proven I'm Nameless, what about you?"
...
"Galaxy Rangers? Haven't heard about them in a long time,"
Jing Yuan replied to the questions from the two little ones before him.
"Heh, my dream used to be to become a Galaxy Ranger. Now? I can only wait for forced retirement."
Jing Yuan said helplessly.
"But where did all the Galaxy Rangers go? So many people just vanished."
Yunli asked curiously.
"That… no one can really say. Perhaps only the Galaxy Rangers themselves can explain what happened."
Jing Yuan shook his head, then added, "But as long as the arrows of the Hunt still flash, the Rangers' bow will one day be redrawn."
...
"The defenses on this Luofu are just as Lord Mok Tok said, extremely hollow. But this filthy beast skin is disgusting!"
A foxian looked around and, seeing that there were few Cloud Knights stationed at the port, couldn't help but speak.
As he spoke, he tugged at his clothes.
"If you don't want to get interrogated alone, behave yourself! No matter how lax Luofu's defenses are, the other two Xianzhou ships are still docked outside! If you screw up, I'll let you sleep in the beast pen!"
Mok Tok scolded coldly.
They were currently on Xianzhou Luofu, if anything went wrong, the enemy only had to shut the jade gate to trap them like dogs and send them to their deaths.
Don't even think about rescuing Lord Hoolay. At this rate, the next second a dozen Cloud Knights each swinging a blade could turn them into mincemeat!
"Yes!"
Seeing Mok Tok angry, the foxian who had spoken stopped in fright.
"Follow me. We need to rendezvous with the infiltrators inside Luofu. The Shackling Prison is not an easy place to break into. We must first scout the layout."
Looking around and seeing no one paying attention to them, Mok Tok quickly moved on.
After they left the port, a cute figure holding a small flag peeked out quietly from behind a stone lion and muttered, "Tail, are you sure it's them?"
"Don't worry, my nose is sharp! No matter how well those guys hide, they can't escape the nose of me, Tail. But…"
Before he finished, Tail showed himself. He sniffed the air suspiciously and said, "Strange, there's a weird scent… not like the Xianzhou people, not like foxians, not like the Vidyadhara, more like that big guy's smell."
After all, he was a Heliobi who once been suppressed by Godzilla. Picking up a trace of Godzilla's scent was easy.
Still, no matter how faint your scent is, it's impossible to escape Tail's nose!
"Let's go! There's something off about the scent on those guys. They're not ordinary Borisin."
"Okay."
Huohuo nodded obediently. Though Tail often bullied her, he wouldn't lie about something this serious.
After all, if he wanted to scare her, he wouldn't need to go through so much trouble… but something still felt weird…
...
"The trap is set. Step one complete."
As Jing Yuan was telling the two little ones about the heroic tales of the Galaxy Rangers, he received the message. Hearing that the Borisin had stepped into the trap, he smiled slightly.
"The stage is set. Let's hope more show up this time."
"General, did something happen with the foxians?"
Hearing Jing Yuan's murmur, Yanqing immediately asked, eager to act.
"Yanqing is ready to charge and capture them for the general!"
"Hmph, with your sloppy moves, they'd be long gone."
Yunli snorted. She was referring to that chase back at the Alchemy Commission.
Though, based on speed alone, Yanqing would have cut down that monstrosity in moments.
"Heh, no rush. This is a big matter. I must consult with Generals Feixiao and Huaiyan. You two stay here for now. If I need your help, I'll let you know."
...
"Lord Mok Tok!"
Upon seeing Mok Tok, a fox-like man dressed as an artisan exclaimed excitedly,
"Is the plan finally going to happen?!"
The Borisin people had waited far too long for this day!
"Yes. Do you have what I asked for?" Mok Tok said in a deep voice.
"It's all here. The defenses of Luofu are currently very loose. The Ten-Lords Commission is short three judges, and the others have been sent off to carry out various missions, scattered all across Luofu. Now is the perfect time to carry out our grand plan!"
As he spoke, he presented a map. Mok Tok took it, examined it carefully, and nodded in satisfaction.
It was a detailed layout of the Shackling Prison, with annotations on the locations and functions of various mechanisms.
But...
"How do you know all this?"
Mok Tok looked up, suspiciously eyeing the seemingly insignificant Borisin.
Given that even Hoolay was imprisoned there, the level of security in The Shackling Prison was evident. Normally, this kind of detailed intel shouldn't be something an ordinary person could obtain.
"My lord Mok Tok, you may not know this, but some time ago, for some unknown reason, The Shackling Prison suddenly decided to plant some flowers and plants.
That was when I snuck in. I took advantage of the job to eavesdrop on their training sessions for new recruits a few times.
I even made sure to stay far away while doing it, but they surely never expected my ears to be sharper than those wretches'!"
Hearing his explanation, Mok Tok finally dropped his guard.
Of course, if Luofu had really noticed their movements, then every single Borisin planted there would've been rounded up into The Shackling Prison already.
...
There's no way they would be told secrets like this.
"No time to lose. Once we confirm there's truly nothing wrong with The Shackling Prison, we'll begin the operation! Delay brings change!"
As for the ship, they had taken care of that long ago.
While passing by a planet, they encountered a commercial vessel. Its crew had all gone down to trade goods, an opportunity from the heavens. How could they possibly let it slip?
As for the people on that ship... since they sensibly left the ship parked, the Borisins generously spared them.
...
A remote star system, there were countless places like this scattered throughout the universe.
Most of the time, this star system remained untouched. Even when the occasional ship passed by, it was always a company vessel.
"These Borisin bodies have already been pushed to their physical limits. If we push any further, they won't just go insane, they'll probably self-destruct before a fight even begins."
"Limits… I don't think so. Didn't we think the same about that previous sample? But the truth is, that sample displayed a state in Madam Ruan Mei's hands that we couldn't even activate. It should have been noticed by the team responsible for its medical analysis."
"Madam Ruan Mei? Yes, and you also know she's Madam Ruan Mei. Are you thinking of inviting her to join our experiment?! The IPC might agree, but Madam Ruan Mei won't. With her status and position, getting a few samples would be effortless for her. Stop entertaining impossible ideas and focus on completing the experiment."
The scholars conversed with one another. They were from the Intelligentsia Guild, working alongside the IPC to develop this project.
To the outside world, their academic knowledge was unquestioned. But even they seemed helpless when faced with a field only true geniuses could touch.
Like the rampaging Borisin on the experimental platform.
With powerful physical attributes enhanced by materials extracted from the samples and augmented with bioengineering, the eruption power of this Borisin was nearly 2.5 times that of his previous state!
Of course, the cost was tragic. His narrow skull had been shattered into pieces, leaving behind only a bloodthirsty instinct.
He could no longer distinguish friend from foe in a fight.
Even so, he was one of the lucky ones.
To survive both genetic and biological modifications and still be alive meant he had surpassed his fellow kin.
"Mr. Lanner?"
"Mr. Lanner, you're back. Do you have new samples this time?"
"Mr. Lanner, I still recommend that the IPC bring in Madam Ruan Mei to take over this project. That is, if they want to complete it faster."
Amid the scholars' chatter, Lanner maintained his constant smile.
"Dr. Astano, your suggestion is very tempting. But you should know that Madam Ruan Mei isn't someone the IPC can simply summon. That genius's research is far more demanding than ours."
In other words, unlike them, Madam Ruan Mei stood at the very pinnacle of the universe's intellectual elite. Even the IPC had to treat her with the utmost respect. There was no way they could get her.
Yet none of the scholars present had any objection to what Lanner said.
When it came to academic achievement, she truly stood far ahead of them. She had even gained the recognition of the Genius Society and was a member of the famed Genius Club. Her name echoed throughout the universe.
The day the IPC could summon someone like her at will would be the day they started suspecting the theory of leaking memory essence from Penacony was true.