After much persuasion, Tingyun finally convinced Keqing that she absolutely could not casually strike up a conversation with those people.
Every one of them was someone capable of influencing the course of the entire universe.
Every one of them stood at the pinnacle of intelligent life.
"...They're really that incredible?"
Keqing scratched her head, feeling as though her brain simply couldn't keep up.
Chiyo, however, understood perfectly.
Tingyun wasn't exaggerating.
Any one of those people was a towering figure.
They weren't people from a small, backwater planet like theirs could casually approach.
Su Ran was different.
He was someone they already knew.
Talking with him naturally wasn't a problem.
The others, however...
were another matter entirely.
"The casual topics Geniuses discuss are things ordinary people like us may never touch in our entire lives."
"So let's not interrupt them."
Tingyun sighed.
Fortunately, she had happened to be present today.
Who could have guessed that Keqing would be so fearless?
Lady Herta's bad temper was famous throughout the universe.
Had Benefactor not been there...
there was no telling what might have happened to Keqing.
"Employees should conduct themselves like employees."
"Keqing."
"Your performance bonus for this month is revoked."
Ningguang immediately handed down the punishment.
This failure in management was also her responsibility.
After all, she was Keqing's superior now.
Failing to properly supervise a subordinate was no small matter.
"...I understand."
Upon hearing the punishment, Keqing actually relaxed.
It was only this month's performance bonus.
She could tell Ningguang, her former colleague, was still looking after her.
If things had truly been as serious as Tingyun described, termination would've been entirely possible.
Compared to that, losing one month's bonus was already lenient.
"Starting today, a new regulation is in effect."
"Any employee who receives three unsatisfactory performance evaluations..."
"...will be dismissed permanently."
Ningguang immediately added the new rule to the station's regulations.
She then distributed it to every employee aboard the station.
She was the station administrator.
She couldn't possibly ask Su Ran to personally handle every matter.
Otherwise, what was the point of her position?
Besides...there was someone watching closely from the sidelines.
Tingyun had never bothered hiding her ambitions.
She genuinely intended to replace Ningguang.
Faced with a competitor like that, Ningguang naturally had to display some authority of her own.
After all, Tingyun's professional abilities were already superior to hers.
Replacing Ningguang would be effortless.
She only needed to find an opportunity.
Although Su Ran clearly intended to cultivate Ningguang, that only meant she had even less room for complacency.
A decorative vase without ability would eventually be discarded.
Someone with genuine talent would not.
Everything Tingyun had demonstrated thus far far surpassed Ningguang's own capabilities.
In fact, Ningguang believed her greatest advantage was simply that Su Ran had met her first.
Given enough time, that advantage would gradually diminish.
On the surface, this severe warning was aimed at everyone.
In reality, it was also a message to Keqing.
Ningguang could protect her at most two more times.
Only because they already knew each other, and because Keqing had joined the station with Su Ran's approval, was she willing to give her another chance.
Had it been anyone else, she would never have been so lenient.
Naturally, Tingyun understood Ningguang's intentions.
She simply didn't care right now.
Nor did she have the energy to compete.
Even now, she still didn't know who had died on the Luofu.
Every time she remembered that she would soon be attending someone's funeral, her heart grew heavy.
She just didn't know whose funeral it would be.
After temporarily creating himself a physical body using the station's technology,
Su Ran returned to his office.
"Oh?"
"So it's about time?"
A message from Yukong arrived, filling him with anticipation.
Even so, he deliberately wore a sorrowful expression.
"I'm heading to the Luofu."
"Tingyun, you're coming with me."
"As for you, Chiyo..."
"Stay here for now."
"I'll take you back to Inazuma later."
As for everyone else, they could do as they pleased.
Screwllum and Ruan Mei had already disconnected.
Herta had returned to inspect the condition of Herta Space Station.
"...So soon?"
Tingyun suddenly became nervous.
She hadn't even recovered from her grief, and now she had to face reality?
"If we don't hurry..."
"...we'll be too late."
If they missed the funeral, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting afterward.
"Don't miss this place too much."
Ningguang, however, was perfectly happy to see her leave.
After all, no one wanted such a formidable rival constantly at their side.
Of course, losing one competitor didn't mean Ningguang was suddenly safe.
On the contrary, it meant she had to work even harder.
"...Very well."
"If Benefactor insists..."
"Then Tingyun can only return and face reality."
She had already prepared herself for the worst.
Before leaving, however, she shot Ningguang one fierce glare.
Her rival's advantages were simply too great.
Even fortune itself seemed to favor her.
Compared to Ningguang, Tingyun believed she wasn't inferior in the slightest.
If anything, she considered herself the better catch.
Ningguang looked as though she belonged to Yukong's generation.
How could she possibly compare to an adorable little Foxian beauty like herself?
Even if...her actual age was old enough to be Ningguang's ancestor.
"Benefactor..."
"I'm rather prone to spaceflight sickness, so..."
Unable to do anything about Ningguang, Tingyun turned to Su Ran instead.
After all, he was the one who truly mattered.
"Mhm."
"No need to take a starship."
"I have a faster method."
He wrapped an arm around Tingyun's slender waist.
Her face instantly turned bright red.
The next moment, Su Ran activated the teleportation device, transporting the two of them directly to the Xianzhou Luofu.
Watching one of her greatest rivals disappear, Ningguang's emotions became strangely complicated.
Logically, she should have been happy.
Yet losing someone as capable as Tingyun also felt like a tremendous loss.
After all, Tingyun's breadth of knowledge was genuinely extraordinary.
It far exceeded Ningguang's own.
Without decades upon decades of accumulated experience, she didn't believe she could ever catch up.
Fortunately, where experience was lacking, resources could compensate.
She had an excellent platform.
Surely...
she wouldn't fall too far behind.
"Ningguang..."
"The relationship between that fox lady and Su Ran..."
"...doesn't seem quite ordinary."
Keqing had finally noticed something.
Their interaction just now had been far too intimate.
"Mhm."
"I noticed."
"But so what?"
"If Su Ran could be won over by methods like that..."
"...then I can win him back using the very same methods."
Ningguang had seen through it long ago.
She simply hadn't been overly concerned.
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