"Opal actually refused? It's within expectations and also reasonable."
Jade was not too surprised by Opal's refusal. In fact, if Opal had agreed without saying a word, that would have been strange.
"Opal refused. Then the others probably won't want to get involved either."
The name Ten Stonehearts might sound a bit cold-blooded, but in reality, they were still flesh-and-blood humans.
Since they were human, they had the seven emotions and six desires, and they had their own selfish motives. The Ten Stonehearts were no exception.
Under normal circumstances, as long as they did not violate any matters of principle and maintained a united stance on certain specific issues, the Ten Stonehearts organization was quite "loose" on ordinary days.
"It seems the next matters can only rely on Aventurine himself. At this point, I'm afraid I can't provide much help either."
A dark glint flashed in Jade's eyes. Her vermilion lips pressed together lightly as she silently dialed Aventurine's number.
'Beep… beep… beep…'
"Hmm?"
Busy tones came from the other end of the phone, as if the signal was being interfered with. The call could not connect.
Jade frowned slightly and pulled out another person's phone number from her contacts.
'Ring… ring…'
"Hello, Sister Jade. What's the matter?"
Outside the Xianzhou Luofu, Topaz, who was about to instruct her subordinates to dock at the Zhuming Port, suddenly received Jade's call. She quickly stopped what she was doing and put the phone to her ear.
"Little Topaz, can you receive calls normally…"
Hearing Topaz's voice on the other end, Jade's beautiful dark brows furrowed even deeper.
Since Topaz's call could connect, it meant something had gone wrong on Aventurine's side, or rather, something had happened in Penacony or the Asdena star system where he currently was.
"Sister Jade, has something gone wrong?"
Topaz was not a dull person. The moment she heard Jade's words, she roughly understood the situation. Someone's call could not get through, and that person was most likely Aventurine.
"Yes, Aventurine has lost contact with us. This means something must have happened on Penacony's side. I can't confirm it completely."
"As expected, it's Aventurine…"
Just as Topaz had anticipated, something had indeed gone wrong on Aventurine's side. In fact, it would be strange if nothing happened there. With so many Emanators involved, Aventurine was truly having a hard time…
In their original plan, it should have ended with Aventurine's "disappearance," allowing the Corporation to pressure Penacony and regain control of this former border prison.
But judging from the current situation, this plan could basically be declared bankrupt.
Heh, with at least five Emanators contending, even if the Family ultimately fell into defeat, this territory should not be divided by the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Unless the Corporation's Preservation Emanator was willing to step forward, only then might they get a share of the spoils.
"Sigh~ We can't provide him with any more help. The rest will have to depend on Aventurine himself. Never mind, let's not talk about this anymore. Little Jelena, how is the situation on your side? Those Borisin from a couple of days ago…"
Jade sighed helplessly and tiredly rubbed her brow. They could not help Aventurine anymore and could only hope the child could handle it himself.
"We have already detained the Borisin. So far, we haven't been able to pry any useful information from their mouths. We can only pin our hopes on the Xianzhou side next."
"Mm." Jade nodded slightly. Her gaze shifted as a mechanical Borisin figure slowly emerged in her mind. Thinking of this, she lowered her voice.
"Topaz, you must be careful with that thing. All along, I have felt that researching them was a mistake, but adhering to the principle of profit above all else, the Corporation still researched and created them on a large scale. Here I must entrust you with one thing: you must keep them under strict supervision."
"Understood, Sister Jade."
Topaz naturally knew what Jade meant by "that thing." Upon hearing this, she nodded solemnly and patted her chest in guarantee—though Jade naturally could not see it…
"Mm, then I'm relieved. That's all for now."
Jade smiled and nodded, then hung up the phone. Her gaze turned to the side.
At this moment, Miss Jade was sitting in her luxurious cosmic yacht. Beside her was a huge transparent window. Looking at the countless planets streaking past outside, an indescribable emotion welled up in her heart.
"The last remaining orphan of the Kigania… Aventurine—no, Kakavasha… I hope you can survive this conflict."
...…
"So Aventurine has lost contact. Does that mean our plan has failed?"
After hanging up the call with Jade, Topaz's heart sank slightly. Although she usually did not like that guy Aventurine very much, she would still feel regret and pity if something really happened to him.
"After putting in so much effort, we ended up with nothing. It really is a bit depressing."
Topaz shook her head helplessly. She took out the "Topaz Cornerstone" from her bosom. After several days of recovery, the power within the cornerstone was basically fully restored. The topaz-colored gem emitted a brilliant luster under the light.
Yes, this was the real Topaz Cornerstone. The one Aventurine carried was a counterfeit made through special means. The same went for the Jade Cornerstone.
In other words, among the three cornerstones Aventurine carried, only the Aventurine Cornerstone was genuine.
This really was "three chips, two counterfeits."
The Corporation was no fool. On the contrary, they were extremely shrewd. There was probably no organization in the entire galaxy more cunning than the Interastral Peace Corporation.
How could they truly bet such a huge stake in a single gamble? It was not worth it, and the risk was far too great.
If the Penacony plan succeeded, at most they would only lose the Aventurine Cornerstone. But if it failed, both the Jade Cornerstone and Topaz Cornerstone would fall into the Family's hands—a price they could not afford.