The sudden, overwhelming appearance of the Interastral Peace Corporation's heavily armed warships quickly caught the attention of Planet Gokan's native population.
After formally establishing communication and confirming their orbital positions, the IPC fleet began its rapid, highly organized descent into the atmosphere.
Above the main capital city of the planet's newly formed Federal Government, the sky turned dark and oppressive. There were so many massive dreadnoughts and cruisers that simply looking up felt physically suffocating. The geometric, amber-accented fleet loomed over the ruined city like a man-made storm cloud, entirely blotting out the natural light of the sun.
The newly established native government had certainly been expecting the IPC's arrival eventually. They knew it was only a matter of time before the monolithic corporation realized their bureaucratic personnel stationed on the planet had gone completely silent. A diplomatic or military visit to investigate the lost investment was only natural.
Still, seeing the sheer, absurd scale of it—hundreds of warships hovering just over the capital city alone, not even counting the massive armada still stationed in high orbit—they hadn't expected such an overwhelming, apocalyptic show of force.
"The Interastral Peace Corporation… truly a cosmic behemoth."
Marco, one of the former resistance leaders and now the first democratically elected President of the new Federal Government, gazed up at the colossal fleet with a heavy hint of awe and dread. Compared to this sheer mechanical might, their earlier bloody conflict with the Abundance seemed almost trivial.
"What do you guys think?" he asked, turning to his two closest comrades. "Between the entire IPC and that Yuki on the Astral Express… which one holds more actual weight?"
Philo scratched his grimy head at the impossible question, then answered bluntly.
"I'd definitely say Lord Yuki."
"He cut down a literal Emanator of Abundance with a single, casual sword strike. That's way beyond mortal strength, that's god-like. I don't care how many ships the IPC has; they can't match that."
Yelena, the more level-headed and pragmatic of the three, shook her head with a sigh.
"No doubt Lord Yuki's personal power is awe-inspiring. But the IPC has Emanators of their own, and not just one or two. One absurdly powerful person versus a multi-galactic superpower with limitless resources? There's really no comparison in the long run."
The "Heavenly Deity" they were reverently referring to was, of course, Yuki.
His impossible feat of cleanly severing the true body of Shuhu, an Emanator of Abundance, with a single strike had rapidly spread across every corner of Planet Gokan. The freed natives had since universally revered him as a literal deity, addressing him with the highest possible honor—the "Heavenly Deity."
As the three leaders continued their quiet, tense discussion, a sleek, highly customized command ship from the IPC fleet descended directly onto the plaza before them, distinct in its opulent design from the standard military cruisers.
They straightened their posture, nervously focusing their attention.
It was obvious—whoever stepped off this specific ship would be the high-ranking executive leading the negotiations. They quietly speculated on exactly what kind of ruthless corporate figure the IPC would send to a warzone.
Before they could guess for long, the ship's massive pneumatic hatch hissed open. A perfectly synchronized stream of figures filed out, each clad in gleaming, high-tech black armor, heavy energy weapons held firmly across their chests.
From their elite gear alone, it was obvious: these were elite IPC security personnel—the corporation's frontline corporate enforcers.
They lined up flawlessly on either side of the boarding ramp, standing at rigid attention as they awaited the arrival of their superior. Marco and the other two watched the intimidating display, silently noting just how grand and disciplined the corporation's presence was.
Less than a minute later, a lone figure finally emerged from the ship's luxurious interior.
Elegant and impeccably poised, her high heels clicked briskly and rhythmically against the metal deck as she walked down the ramp. When she stepped fully into the planetary sunlight, her striking appearance became clear.
She was a woman of mesmerizing beauty, radiating an intense air of mature grace and absolute authority.
Her figure was impeccable, dressed elegantly in a tailored, flowing gown of deep black, midnight blue, and pristine white. Her pale pink hair was tucked neatly beneath a dark, stylish hat lined with blue fabric. Around her pale, graceful neck hung a circular, glowing jade necklace. Her slender hands, sheathed in immaculate black silk gloves, were adorned with expensive jade bracelets, and a complex jade ornament cinched her waist, making her look as lithe as a willow branch.
Her complexion was fair and luminous, her expression cool, composed, and brimming with absolute corporate confidence. Those sharp, gray-blue eyes seemed to pierce straight through a person's skull to read their deepest thoughts and financial debts.
Despite her breathtaking, commanding presence, Marco and the others dared not stare for long. They kept their gazes lowered respectfully as they stepped forward to greet her.
"Hello. The three of us are the ruling leaders of the new Federal Government. I'm Marco, and these are my colleagues, Philo and Yelena." As the chief representative, Marco naturally took the lead in receiving the VIP.
Upon hearing their humble introductions, the woman gave a slight, elegant nod. Her sharp gaze swept over the three war-torn leaders before she spoke, her voice smooth as velvet but cold as a ledger.
"I am Jade, a senior officer of the Strategic Investment Department at the Interastral Peace Corporation."
"I have been officially dispatched by the company to investigate the total loss of contact with our personnel stationed here on Planet Gokan." Her tone was perfectly even as she introduced herself, getting straight to the brutal point.
Marco and the others were severely taken aback when they caught her name and title.
They hadn't expected someone of her astronomical stature to be sent by the IPC to a backwater planet like this.
Jade was a name they actually recognized from interstellar broadcasts—she was one of the legendary Ten Stonehearts. Within the massive hierarchy of the IPC's Strategic Investment Department, the Ten Stonehearts were second only to their boss, Diamond, the Emanator of Preservation.
In other words, she was a figure of immense, terrifying importance within the corporation. She held the power to buy or shatter entire solar systems on a whim.
Faced with an executive of such staggeringly high rank, Marco and his companions were incredibly careful not to show a single ounce of disrespect. They promptly and politely escorted Madam Jade to their most secure meeting room.
Once inside, they gave her a full, brutally honest account of exactly what had happened to the IPC personnel originally stationed on the planet—including their gruesome deaths at the hands of the invading cultists.
Jade listened silently, her gray-blue eyes narrowing in visible, genuine surprise.
She hadn't expected the fanatical followers of the Abundance to venture this far out into this specific galactic sector to invade a developing civilization, much less possess the sheer audacity to directly slaughter registered IPC employees.
For the corporation, that was nothing short of a direct, unforgivable affront to the Preservation.
Still, since this massive incident involved a major, universally recognized faction like the Denizens of Abundance, she didn't have the ultimate authority to declare a full-scale corporate war on her own. She quickly decided she would need to thoroughly compile a report on the matter for her superior—"Diamond"—and let the Emanator determine exactly how the IPC would proceed with their retaliation.
That said, Jade was nothing if not meticulously thorough. She wasn't about to take the word of three native rebels at face value. She needed to verify their wild claims using the corporation's own foolproof methods.
So, she politely but firmly requested that a captured high-ranking member of the Abundance be brought directly before her for interrogation.
Marco and the others had absolutely no reason to refuse. They quickly ordered their heavily armed guards to drag one of the surviving Abundance logistics leaders from the dungeons and present him to Jade.
Jade elegantly opened her sleek briefcase and took out a piece of glowing, emerald-green stone—her Cornerstone.
She placed her gloved hand lightly on its smooth surface, and the jade stone gave off a faint, pulsing, hypnotic glow. Only then did she begin her ruthless psychological questioning of the terrified prisoner.
After a thorough, agonizing round of interrogation, Jade confirmed that Marco and the others had been telling the absolute truth. She smoothly concluded the session, having extracted everything she needed.
Now that she had officially verified that the Abundance followers were solely responsible for the massacre of IPC staff, the IPC would naturally not hold the natives of Planet Gokan financially or legally accountable. After all, they were merely the victims of an illegal cosmic invasion.
"The people of Planet Gokan are truly impressive," Jade remarked, her smooth tone carrying a rare note of genuine corporate admiration. "To stand against the immortal horrors of the Abundance, completely turn the tide of a global war, and successfully reclaim your entire world. Remarkable."
The IPC was extremely well aware of the Abundance's terrifying military strength. Based on the Strategic Investment Department's previous risk assessment of Gokan's native population, they shouldn't have had the technological or physical means to resist the Abundance's vanguard at all. They should have been completely assimilated or wiped out in a week.
And yet, here they were—the proud liberators of their own planet, with over a hundred thousand Abundance prisoners currently rotting in their custody.
It made Jade seriously reconsider the planet's underlying strategic and financial value.
Marco and the others felt a bit embarrassed by her high praise. They didn't want to take credit for a miracle they didn't perform.
They quickly explained the full, impossible situation, recounting exactly how they had received overwhelming, divine help from the Nameless of the Astral Express crew.
It was only when Jade heard this detailed account that she finally understood exactly how a doomed planet had managed to miraculously reclaim its homeworld.