Sylvia studied the invitation Topaz had sent her and rubbed her chin.
"I can understand how the Family found out, but how did Topaz hear about it this fast? Did the Family leak it on purpose?"
"Probably. The Family doesn't have anyone firmly in charge right now, and with Miss Jade showing up in person, they must be under a lot of pressure."
Robin sighed. She and Sylvia had both expected something like this before they made their decision, but now that it had actually happened, Robin still felt as though she'd dragged Sylvia into the mess. She didn't like that feeling at all.
She didn't want what existed between her and Sylvia to end up looking like some kind of business deal.
Sylvia noticed the unease on Robin's face and reached out to pinch her soft cheek.
"Quit looking so worried. Cheer up. Didn't we already know this might happen?"
"Mmh—"
Robin tilted her head, contentedly leaning into Sylvia's touch.
"I wonder how the Family plans to deal with Miss Jade."
Sylvia had met Jade once, yesterday after everything had ended. She'd seen her when the IPC representatives came over to greet the Astral Express.
Topaz gave off an impression of sharp competence and beauty. Jade was different. Just standing in front of her was enough to make Sylvia feel the danger rolling off her.
It was as though Jade couldn't even be bothered to hide what she was.
She practically announced to everyone around her, 'Don't provoke me unless you want to be swallowed whole.'
The Ten Stonehearts really were a colorful bunch.
Sylvia had expected the IPC's senior members to have strong personalities because of what she remembered from the game, but seeing several of these businesspeople in person and finding every one of them so distinctive was still pretty fun.
It made her curious about Topaz's other seven colleagues.
Robin thought for a moment before saying, "My guess is Penacony will end up with several parties holding shares. There's no way the Family can send the IPC away without paying some kind of price."
The Family had already tried to pull Sylvia in before, which would've indirectly brought the Astral Express into Penacony as well. Looking at how every side was moving now, Robin suspected things would still end with three parties jointly holding Penacony.
For Robin, that was one of the easier outcomes to accept.
The Family had caused such a huge disaster, and even the Nameless who'd once fought for this place hadn't met good ends. Robin simply couldn't place that much trust in the Family as it existed now.
"That's not bad either. Better than letting one side control everything."
Sylvia, meanwhile, thought of the swarm.
There couldn't be better watchdogs, and as their queen, she didn't have to worry about them betraying her.
"Yeah."
Robin nodded too.
"Then let's go. We'll see what the Family and the IPC plan to do next."
Sylvia raised her phone with a little wave, then left the residence with Robin.
--+--
Topaz had arranged to meet them aboard an IPC ship docked outside Penacony.
Yet Topaz herself had actually driven over to pick them up. That was some first-class treatment.
After following Topaz aboard, Sylvia sat down in a lounge and looked around. Judging by the layout, it didn't seem like this room belonged to Topaz alone.
Jade and Aventurine were nowhere to be seen, though. They were probably off negotiating with the Family.
"Try this. It's a Pier Point specialty. The flavor's pretty interesting."
Topaz handed Sylvia a stemmed glass filled with amber liquid. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary alcoholic drink.
"Isn't Pier Point the IPC headquarters? That place has local specialties?"
Sylvia had never been to Pier Point, but from the images she'd seen online, the planet had been rebuilt almost from the ground up. Whether something from there counted as a local specialty or a high-tech specialty was hard to say.
"Of course. It's the Intelligentsia Guild's newest blended drink, the 1,327th-generation specialty. It's offered as a holiday benefit to employees at P45 and above."
Topaz briefly explained where the drink came from.
Well...
An IPC benefit available only to employees above P45 did, in a sense, qualify as a Pier Point specialty.
Sylvia took a sip with an odd expression, then raised her brows in surprise.
She could clearly taste several layers blended together, yet the overall flavor was unexpectedly crisp, with a long finish. After one sip, Sylvia even felt as though the Amber Lord had swung a hammer straight into her brain and knocked her wide awake.
"..."
Sylvia lowered her eyes to the amber drink.
"Is there a little power of Preservation mixed into this?"
"You could taste that? You're not used to it?"
Topaz stared at Sylvia with open curiosity. She herself walked the Path of Preservation, and even she'd failed to notice it the first time she tried the drink.
Were Emanators really that sensitive?
"It's fine. Drinking it just feels like getting smacked by a hammer made of amber."
It was a strange description, but not a negative one.
Weird, yes. Bad, no.
Sylvia found herself gaining a new respect for the Intelligentsia Guild. It must've taken some serious effort to come up with a drink this bizarre.
"That's definitely the first time I've heard anyone describe it that way. Then again, I think this is also the first time I've watched an Emanator from another faction drink it."
Seeing that Sylvia didn't look disgusted or uncomfortable, Topaz figured it was just one of Sylvia's peculiar metaphors. She smiled and sat beside her with her own glass.
Sylvia took another sip.
Still the same strange sensation.
And, unexpectedly, it was kind of addictive.
She took one more small sip before finally saying, "We should probably get to the point. Topaz, why did you suddenly ask to see me now? Unless I've got things wrong, the IPC should be busy arguing with the Family."
Sylvia had become an Emanator, but her manner toward Topaz hadn't changed.
That quietly relieved Topaz.
"Miss Jade is handling the negotiations. I'm actually on leave for the next few days."
Topaz had been responsible for entering Penacony early and looking for an opening. Once formal negotiations began, that naturally became Jade and Aventurine's job.
They couldn't exactly make Topaz do everything herself.
"But yes, there is something I wanted to ask you about."
Topaz set down her glass, her expression turning serious.
"The information came from the Family. I heard that you and Miss Robin registered as partners here on Penacony. Is that true?"
"...So the Family really did leak it."
Sylvia wasn't surprised.
The IPC might now be impossible to keep out of Penacony, but there was no way it could've built an intelligence network this deep in such a short time.
The Family had to have passed the information along on purpose.
"So it's true? You and Miss Robin didn't arrange it as some kind of political move?"
Topaz blinked, looking surprised. Or perhaps... she didn't quite know what expression to wear.
"Of course not. And Robin will be joining the Astral Express in the future."
"Oh. I see."
Topaz nodded in understanding.
Putting aside how much of Sylvia and Robin's relationship came from genuine feelings and how much came from practical interest, there was no way to prove any of that from the outside anyway.
What mattered more to Topaz was the second half of Sylvia's answer.
She intended to take Robin with her. Robin wouldn't be staying behind on Penacony.
It wouldn't happen immediately, but Sylvia's stance was clear enough.
As for whether Sylvia was lying… Topaz didn't see much reason for her to bother.
She might be an Emanator of Elation, but Sylvia's personality was nothing like Sparkle's.
"You only wanted to ask me that?"
Sylvia slowly sipped the IPC specialty and raised an eyebrow.
"That's hardly an 'only.' You're a major figure now."
Topaz shook her head helplessly.
She always felt that Sylvia didn't really understand what it meant to stand at the level of an Emanator.
To put it simply, if Sylvia were willing to join the Interastral Peace Corporation, she probably couldn't walk in and immediately receive a position equal to Diamond's. But she'd start at P46 at the very least, even if she knew absolutely nothing about the IPC's business.
And once Sylvia learned the job, she'd rise fast.
That was the status strength brought with it.
"If the Family deliberately spread the news, they're probably hoping to borrow your influence. If I remember right, you once made a verbal promise to the Family that you'd invest in Penacony?"
Sylvia's stance mattered a great deal.
If Sylvia firmly sided with the Family and refused to let the IPC establish a presence here, then after weighing the costs, the IPC certainly wouldn't offend three Emanators at once over something as small as Penacony.
That wasn't an exaggeration.
Sylvia alone was already difficult enough to account for. Add Acheron, the Emanator of Nihility, and the swarm aligned with Harmony, and the problem became even worse.
The latter two usually kept a low profile, but if Sylvia ever had to choose a side, they'd almost certainly stand with her.
Who in their right mind would provoke that?
Pick a fight with one, and three Emanators showed up.
Emanators weren't exactly growing on trees.
At that point, the smart move was to surrender early.
On the other hand, if Sylvia threw all her weight behind the IPC taking over Penacony, the Family was so shaken right now that it might simply give up resisting.
Sylvia took one look at Topaz's serious expression and understood what she was thinking.
The Family and the IPC were probably both waiting for Sylvia to state her position.
"Well..."
Sylvia had actually taken some time to think about Penacony.
The first thing was simple.
Living in this universe required money.
Whether she wanted to keep developing her own star system or fund the Astral Express's travels, everything cost money. She couldn't spend the rest of her life relying on Silver Wolf to keep transferring credits into her account.
Sylvia had no intention of working for money, and she certainly wasn't going to sink low enough to become a bandit.
After thinking it over, the best option was obvious.
Sit back and let other people pay tribute.
Of course, even then, she had to choose the right target.
Penacony happened to be an excellent place to shake loose some credits.
First, its ability to generate profit was beyond question. It ranked among the best in the entire universe.
Second, Sylvia already controlled a swarm aligned with Harmony, which made them perfectly suited to keeping watch over the place for her. She didn't need to worry about the other two factions smiling to her face while secretly doing the opposite.
"Unless something unexpected happens, I'll probably invest. After all this work, I should get something out of it."
Sylvia smiled and set down her now-empty glass.
In her eyes, Aha's little trick really couldn't count as compensation.
Just imagining that every time she did anything with someone in the future, their first thought would be, 'An Emanator of Elation? Is she secretly planning something huge?' made Sylvia feel like her future was already turning bleak.
"But I won't support either the Family or the IPC taking Penacony for themselves."
As she spoke, Sylvia took the open bottle from Topaz and poured herself half a glass.
She didn't make Topaz refill it for her. They were friends, after all, and Sylvia wasn't going to start acting superior just because her status had changed.
Business, however, was another matter, and Sylvia had no intention of giving ground there.
"This is a land of freedom that three senior Nameless paid for with their lives. I can't support either of you owning it outright."
Topaz looked helpless, but also a little relieved.
At least Sylvia wasn't siding with either camp.
Before meeting her, Topaz had genuinely worried that Robin's presence would make Sylvia fully align herself with the Family.
Though...
If they traced the history back farther, the planet had originally belonged to the IPC.
The era of the three Nameless Sylvia spoke of even overlapped with that period.
But the same principle still applied.
Sylvia was an Emanator now.
That changed everything.
--+--
Their little drinking session didn't last long.
Topaz had work to handle, so they had to cut it short. Sylvia left the ship alone and happened to run into the Xianzhou delegation.
"Benefactor~ Did you come all this way just to see this little lady off?"
Tingyun drifted over on a fragrant breeze, acting exactly as she always did.
"Uh..."
Sylvia, who'd quite literally just walked off Topaz's ship, made an awkward face.
Wait.
The Xianzhou delegation was leaving?
Nobody had told her that.
Seeing Sylvia's embarrassment, Tingyun's smile grew even brighter and more teasing.
"Hehe~ I'm only joking. The old gentleman said you'd surely be busy these past few days, Benefactor, so they decided not to trouble you with news of our departure."
"You little fox. You're already bold enough to tease me?"
Sylvia glared at Tingyun and reached up to give her large ears a couple of squeezes.
Tingyun's tail curled behind her in embarrassment, but her voice remained as sweet and playful as ever.
"Oh~ This little lady wouldn't dare. I was only thinking that after we part today, who knows when we'll meet again? If you came to see me off, Benefactor, I'm afraid my heart might not let me leave."
While they were talking, Bailu squeezed in from the side. She looked restless, shy, and a little embarrassed.
"Teacher Sylvia... will you still come to the Luofu and teach me in the future?"
After asking, Bailu tilted her head back and stared at Sylvia with a pitiful little expression. If Sylvia hadn't known Bailu was already several centuries old, she might actually have fallen for that childlike act.
"Hm? Why're you asking that?"
Sylvia blinked and looked at Bailu in confusion. Bailu merely scratched her head, then glanced toward Huaiyan.
"I heard the Vidyadhara elders found out about what happened with you. They marched all the way to the Seat of Divine Foresight with banners..."
So that had happened?
Sylvia suddenly wanted to see Jing Yuan's headache for herself. Still amused, she reached over and rubbed Bailu's head.
"Did you forget something?"
"Huh? What did I forget?"
Bailu blinked blankly, completely unaware of the problem.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL