"Putting the posture a bit too low?"
Hearing Topaz's words, our Lady Jade smiled faintly. She slowly shifted her gaze toward the window, drifting along with the passing crowds and vehicles. Only when her eyes fell upon the towering skyscrapers rising one after another did she finally speak.
"Topaz, what do you think of Belobog now—or rather, of Jarilo now?"
"Huh? Jarilo as it is now?"
At those words, Topaz was slightly stunned. Her gaze followed Jade's line of sight outward.
It had been fully half a year since Topaz last came to Belobog under the pretext of debt collection. In that half-year, Belobog had transformed from its former identity as a city of ice and snow, humanity's last bastion, into a true interstellar city. Everywhere was a scene of thriving prosperity.
"Jarilo now... should be considered pretty good, right?"
After hesitating for a moment, Topaz gave what she considered a fairly objective evaluation. After all, the girl was quite well-traveled—there were far too many civilized planets in the galaxy, and not many could truly catch her eye.
"Pretty good? Indeed, that's a fair assessment. But don't forget, Little Topaz—even with the company's resource support, turning a near-abandoned city into what it is today in just half a year can still be considered a miracle."
"Could it be..."
Hearing this, Topaz seemed to understand something. "Jade-jie, do you mean..."
"Mm, that's right."
Jade gently nodded. Her gaze softened as she looked at the girl beside her and reached out to lightly stroke her cheek.
"This is an investment—and a personal one at that. The resources aiding Belobog—or rather, Jarilo—will come from our personal funds, not in the company's name."
"And beyond that..."
Jade's eyes narrowed slightly. Then, somewhat warily, she looked toward the northeast direction at that moment—the direction of the Supreme Guardian's residence.
Just when they had arrived at the Political Officer's residence earlier, our Lady Jade had clearly felt a powerful force sweep over them.
Perhaps Topaz hadn't noticed anything, but as an older member of the 'Ten Stonehearts' who had carried her Cornerstone for many years, Jade's perception of power was far beyond ordinary people's. That was how she had captured that fleeting sensation of being observed.
Though it wasn't entirely clear, she could roughly determine that the other party's power was already near Emanator level—separated from true Emanator status by only a thin membrane. Once that membrane was broken, then it would be...
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Asdana star system... Penacony... Daydream Hotel...
"Um... Yun Fan, is Stelle going to be okay?"
In Stelle's room, March 7th looked at Stelle lying on the bed—her eyes now spiraling like mosquito coils—and her expression changed slightly as she asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, she's fine. The space I just opened was similar to a dream realm. Injuries sustained inside would translate into mental fatigue.
"So right now, she's just a bit tired. She'll be fine after sleeping it off."
Hearing Little March's words, Yun Fan casually spread his hands, indicating that Stelle was really okay.
"Oh, I see... that's good then..."
March 7th let out a small sigh of relief. She still trusted Yun Fan's words quite a bit.
"Uh... how about letting me treat Stelle?"
Gazing at Stelle—who was currently emitting mosquito-coil eyes—our kind-hearted Miss Firefly felt a little reluctant. After all, for the girl, she had known Stelle for quite some time already.
They even had a certain ambiguous relationship between them.
It was no exaggeration to say that if our Mr. Yun Fan hadn't appeared out of nowhere and forcefully inserted himself into Firefly's inner world, perhaps everything would have developed just as in the original plot, with the two of them ending up together.
"You treat her? Mm, that doesn't seem like too much of a problem."
Firefly's words made our Mr. Yun Fan pause slightly, but he quickly reacted.
Where would the girl have any real healing abilities? What she could do was merely use the authority of [Causality] to perform a rewind.
And once the girl used the authority of [Causality] to rewind, it would inevitably involve the person who had inflicted the damage—himself. If Stelle's 'injuries' had been caused by his true body, then our Firefly would be unable to rewind them.
But right now, Yun Fan was merely an energy clone with only Emanator-level strength. For Firefly—who was also at Emanator level and whose power of causality within her body was even stronger than this clone's—this was not too big an issue.
Our Miss Firefly nodded toward Yun Fan. After receiving his consent, she came to the bedside, gently placed her palm on Stelle's forehead, and murmured under her breath.
"All things are fated, all within causality..."
As the girl's words fell, a powerful surge of [Causality] force erupted from her delicate body and slowly poured into Stelle.
'This power... [Causality]. It's actually the power of [Causality] too—and this intensity...'
Sensing the aura and energy emanating from Firefly, our Sister Himeko was slightly stunned.
She hadn't expected that this Miss Firefly was also a Pathstrider of the [Causality] Path—and this power... might even surpass Yun Fan, the so-called 'number-one Emanator.'
'She couldn't possibly be the Aeon of [Causality], could she?'
The thought suddenly popped into Himeko's mind.
But soon, she shook her head, inwardly laughing at herself for what she was even thinking.
Earlier, this Miss Firefly had revealed that she was a Glamoth Iron Cavalry. When her life was about to reach its end, it was Yun Fan who had saved her.
So how could she possibly be the Aeon of [Causality]? The Aeon of [Causality], 'Samsara Sovereign'—his name was the same as Yun Fan's, the two were no different...
Thinking to this point, Himeko seemed to have spotted a blind spot. Her pupils widened slightly, and even the motion of holding her coffee slowed by half a beat.