On the way back, after exchanging contact information, the exhausted Topaz finally took her leave. Between cohabiting with Fuli and Fu Hua for the night, tossing and turning for most of it, and the draining exertion of their "multi-person physical activities," she was thoroughly worn out.
However, the primary objective of her trip had been achieved. Knowing that the agonizing feedback loop from her Topaz of Debt Retrieval had finally been resolved, the executive's steps were noticeably lighter as she walked away, a cheerful hum escaping her cherry lips.
Left alone, the two cousins exchanged a glance and headed back to the Hyperion's encampment, chatting and laughing along the way.
The entrance to their courtyard was, as usual, packed with a massive, winding line of people. The atmosphere was incredibly bustling and noisy. It wasn't just the area in front of the Enhancement Fusion Furnace that was packed shoulder-to-shoulder; the weapons exhibition hall on the other side was equally deafening.
Floating beside every single visitor was a miniature, action-figure-sized fairy Kallen, diligently and responsibly explaining the performance specs and prices of the various equipment.
The reason they hadn't deployed their mascot Ruan Mei Creations for this was due to a unanimous vote by the entire Hyperion crew. They all agreed that as long as those little critters made adorable "Moyomo!" and "Kyaa!" noises, that was perfectly fine. Forcing them to speak human language and do dirty corporate sales pitches was an absolute crime against cuteness!
"Not bad, not bad at all," Fuli said, looking at the absolutely overflowing crowds with the immense satisfaction of a proud father.
A massive, multi-dimensional platform like the Wardance Ceremony was the perfect opportunity to violently shove the Hyperion's brand name down the universe's throat!
"It truly is impressive," Fu Hua murmured, feeling a twinge of awe.
When it came to personal cultivation and growing stronger, she had plenty of methods. But when it came to expanding and managing an organization...
Five hundred years ago, Mount Taixuan had also attempted an expansion. At its peak, their total population had surged to eight times its original size, and their reputation echoed like thunder even across the Western continents.
It was just that... the ending hadn't been very pretty.
"Come on, cousin, hurry up!"
Snapped out of her reminiscing, the girl was pulled by the hand by her younger cousin as they walked into the main hall together.
Fuli glanced around the room, curious. "Bianka isn't here?"
"Sis went back to the Schicksal camp next door! She said she needed to check on the Valkyrie squad HQ sent over. Nom!"
Sprawled lazily on the sofa scrolling through short videos on her phone, Kiana kicked her bare feet in the air. She lazily tossed a massive cluster of grapes into her mouth, then pulled out the completely bare stem and tossed it into the trash.
"She was just worried I was going to assassinate her in her sleep," Mei said calmly, leisurely turning the page of her book. "I have to admit, she ran away at the perfect time."
Considering the Third Eruption had only recently concluded, and the looming need to discuss how to handle the shadow-organization known as World Serpent, Schicksal was treating this Wardance with extreme importance.
Every major branch across the globe, including the Far East Branch, had sent representatives and trainee Valkyrie squads. The ones in charge of overseeing the entire operation were none other than the Horsemen of Death and Famine from the Four Knights of the Apocalypse.
And conveniently enough, their encampment was located right next to the Hyperion's.
Factor in the Anti-Entropy camp on the other side—where Mobius was currently stationed—and the Hyperion was perfectly sandwiched between two ultra-massive organizations. If you rounded up, it basically looked like they were all here specifically to wait on Fuli hand and foot!
Fu Hua blinked, confused. "Mei, what do you mean Durandal ran away at the perfect time?"
"It means that if she dared to stay the night, this vicious woman Raiden Mei would have absolutely murdered her in her sleep."
Having just finished the financial reports for the past few days, the Great Bronya stretched lazily. Poof! With a soft puff of smoke, she reverted back to her child-like form and immediately drilled her way into Fuli's arms.
"Big brother, Bronya needs to decompress. Play games with me."
"Alright, alright. What are we playing?"
"The newest release from the Schicksal Overseer's gaming studio: Sekiro: Sakura Dies 108 Times. Ranked mode. I already made an appointment with the Savior of Light. The three of us are going to queue up against a team of randoms."
"Deal! Cousin, you come too!"
Fuli naturally hugged his little sister, calling out to the idle Fu Hua to join them as they sat down in front of a massive LCD screen that took up an entire third of the wall.
The invincible gaming trio was back in action!
On the other side of the room, Kiana—who was evidently entirely incapable of stomaching the sight of a certain someone happily holding Bronya while having the Taixuan Immortal right beside him—grumpily started picking a fight. "I thought you went out to find us a house. Did you actually find one?"
Fuli knew that staying out all night would definitely result in the girls "caring" (interrogating) him. That was why, yesterday afternoon, amidst planning their strategy, he had already sent a summary of the situation to the Hyperion family group chat.
The problem was, a fiercely jealous white cat obviously wasn't going to care about logic.
Furthermore, he hadn't yet reported the late-night battle with the Fragmentum Chimera. So, while expertly manipulating his game character, the boy gave them a general rundown of his experience sealing the High-Cloud Quintet.
Naturally, he omitted the part where he used his Cornerstone privilege to strong-arm Topaz into helping him. He had never intended to use it that way anyway, so he just spun it as Director Topaz being incredibly helpful and proactive about finding them a place. Given her status as the manufacturer of the Light Cones, it was a perfectly plausible excuse.
"So you actually scored a good deal," Kiana said, tilting her head as she watched them play from the sofa.
Fuli hadn't been the only one looking. Over the past few days, Kiana had also been checking out listings while wandering around, and the places she found were completely unhinged.
One apartment was the site of a tragic plumbing disaster: if you flushed the toilet in one bathroom, raw sewage would erupt from the other. Going to the bathroom there was literally a Shadow Game; the slowest person to finish would lose everything.
Another listing offered a "roommate situation with two girls." The broker enthusiastically promised that the two girls' ages added up to 50. Kiana had run over, full of anticipation, only to find a 49-year-old single mother and her 1-year-old baby.
"The estate is still pretty rundown right now. I'm planning to hire a construction crew to fix it up in a few days and buy some new furniture," Fuli said, resting his chin on top of Bronya's head and affectionately nuzzling her hair. "Also, I'm planning to stay there for the duration of the Wardance to squeeze every last drop of value out of that Fragmentum Chimera."
The Luofu was still quite far from the baseline Imaginary Tree, making travel back and forth relatively complicated. However, once a few more Great Eruptions occurred—spawning more Sequence Herrschers—the Luofu would likely surface completely and physically dock with Earth.
That was exactly why, in the alternate IF timelines, Fu Xuan and Qingque were able to commute straight from work to Fuli's house to engage in domestic, old-married-couple activities.
"Staying at the estate..."
Hearing this, Mei's expression shifted. She clearly had the idea of accompanying her boyfriend to the estate to rest, finally getting some long-overdue one-on-one time so they could do some mutually enjoyable, late-night activities as a solitary man and woman.
But then, the deafening noise from the weapons exhibition and the enhancement furnace drifted into her ears. Knowing that the workload here was too massive to abandon, she let out a mournful sigh, abandoning the chance for alone time.
"Recently, quite a few organizations have sent over partnership inquiries for the Hyperion. Bronya, you're on overtime tonight to handle them."
Operating entirely on the petty mindset of 'If I suffer, you all suffer,' the lightning swordswoman began systematically destroying everyone else's chances of getting Fuli alone. "Also, Kiana, the Abyss resets tonight. You're in charge of clearing it."
"You inherently evil Raiden Mei!" Kiana screeched.
"Fine..." Bronya muttered.
The two girls, who had exactly the same idea as Mei, watched in horror as their chance for alone time sprouted wings and flew away. Ultimately, they could only pull long faces and respond weakly.
Realizing that he had somehow been left entirely alone to guard an empty house, Fuli, who absolutely refused to embrace the bachelor life, rolled his eyes.
Just as he was about to say something, his phone—which he had casually tossed onto the coffee table upon entering—suddenly rang.
Caller ID: Ei.
When it came to his very first disciple, the boy was incredibly protective. He quickly swiped the answer button, and a video feed popped up. "Run into some trouble?"
"No," a graceful, melodious voice replied, sounding strikingly similar to Mei's.
On the screen, the aloof, elegant girl spoke obediently. "Someone wanted to invite Master to a meal, and asked me to pass along the message."
Hearing her call him "Master" made every pore on Fuli's body open up in sheer comfort.
"You mean the guy standing next to you?"
Fuli shifted his gaze to the tall, slender man standing beside Ei in the video feed. He wore elegant, modern-style Hanfu, gently fanning himself with a feather fan. His pink Foxian ears twitched softly, and a large, fluffy tail swayed behind him.
"That would be me," the Foxian man said, offering a gentle, seemingly harmless smile. "Hello there, little brother Fuli. I am the military physician and counselor to the Heaven-Smiting General. My name is Jiaoqiu."
His eyes were permanently crinkled into thin slits. This wasn't because he was pretending to be a scheming mastermind—he was completely blind.
If he wasn't, a man of his status wouldn't have completely ignored the Taixuan Immortal sitting right next to Fuli without so much as a nod of acknowledgment.
"You're—"
"Whoa! It's Uncle Wood! Long time no see!"
Before Fuli could finish his sentence, the loud, excited shouting of a white-haired furball echoed right next to his ear.
Hearing that incredibly familiar, ancient nickname, Jiaoqiu's Foxian ears twitched sharply, instinctively recalling the owner of the voice.
A moment later, he chuckled. "Ah, it's you, little miss. It certainly has been a while."
Tracing his finger along Bronya's delicate chin, Fuli asked, "An acquaintance?"
"Yeah!" Kiana cheered, gesturing wildly with her hands. "Fuli, do you remember the Qi-Severing Technique? The one I used way back in Nagazora City, inside the ME Corp tower, to seal the Honkai energy flowing inside Yuya?!"