'Herta?'
'Screwllum?'
'Ruan Mei?'
As soon as Jade walked into the Supreme Guardian's office, she was stunned, frozen in place.
'What's going on?'
'Why are three members of the Genius Society here?'
'Even the always-aloof Herta is present...'
Jade naturally recognized the members of the Genius Society, especially these three—they were particularly famous among the other geniuses.
Herta needed no introduction—she was an Emanator of Erudition, and even the IPC sometimes had to cater to her moods.
Screwllum had single-handedly convinced the IPC to abandon its hostility and take the initiative to make peace.
Ruan Mei, an expert in the field of biology, had been described by the IPC as 'a very low-key person possessing extraordinary perception and the ability to integrate information, easily capturing the microscopic details of reality, weaving them into a torrent of data in her mind, and using that to make deductions and predictions.'
'I didn't come to the wrong place, didn't I...'
Jade could hardly believe her eyes as she looked around her surroundings.
'I'm not wrong—this is the previous office...'
If that were the case, why would three geniuses gather in such a poor place out of nowhere?
Could they be here to investigate the Stellaron on this planet?
They couldn't possibly be here to back Jarilo-VI, right?
Or maybe... the Stellaron on Jarilo-VI was actually being handled by these three?
If so, that would explain everything.
As Jade was still in shock, processing the scene before her, a young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, standing beside Herta.
He was so handsome that it was hard to describe.
In simple terms, just one look and Arita from the Traditional Project Department would definitely want to sign him as a galactic idol—such was Jade's first impression of the young man.
"You... You're with the IPC, right?" Herta, spotting Jade, asked with raised eyebrows.
"Madam Herta, I didn't expect to see you here." Jade quickly put on a polite smile and responded gracefully, as if her previous shock had never existed.
As Screwllum and Ruan Mei noticed her, she greeted each of them respectfully before asking what troubled her.
"Did the three of you come here to conduct experiments? Do you need any assistance from the IPC?"
"Ms. Jade, I came here to visit the hometown of a future friend—there are no experiments planned." Screwllum answered politely.
"Same for me." Ruan Mei followed with a flat voice and expression.
"Oh, you go do your thing. Don't mind us." Herta said casually while waving her hand nonchalantly, then reached out her hand toward the young man before her. "Alright, Lucian, give me the chip. Looks like you've got things to discuss with the IPC, so I'll do you a favor and install the firewall for you."
Lucian casually reached into his back pocket and placed the chip in Herta's hand.
"Ew, gross!"
Herta scoffed and shot him a look of utter disgust, then, not bothering with him anymore, quickly walked away with the chip, with Screwllum following her to help with the installation.
Ruan Mei, on the other hand, looked around and found a sofa to sit on.
Meanwhile, after hearing the three's responses, Jade immediately latched onto the keywords 'friend' and 'Lucian.'
One should know that being friends with the members of the Genius Society was no simple matter, and the way Herta interacted with that young man so casually—it seemed they got along quite well.
In an instant, Jade's business instincts told her—this place was no ordinary place, and that young man was also no ordinary person!
Could he be the friend of Herta from the rumor spreading in the IPC—Lucian?
As Jade gazed at Lucian with a calculating eye, Cocolia seemed to regain her sense of security upon seeing his return, visibly relaxing. Now that her sense of safety soared, when she looked at Jade, she actually found Jade's viper-like presence kind of cute.
As Herta and Screwllum's figures disappeared, Lucian looked over at Jade—his eyes scanned her body up and down.
It was his first time meeting her in person, so he definitely had to get a good look.
Long, pink-purple hair, a strikingly beautiful face.
D-cup breasts, excellent.
S-tier legs, excellent.
An S-tier body as well, excellent.
Her looks went without saying, also S-tier, excellent.
A bonus for knowing how to step on people in high heels—plus 0.2 points.
Jade's score was 9.2 out of 10.
Any woman who could get more than 9 points from Lucian was undoubtedly a rare beauty, so Jade truly made the cut.
"Lord Lucian, she's—"
Cocolia was just about to tell Lucian about the IPC's intentions, but he suddenly raised a hand to stop her and took the initiative to explain himself.
"Interastral Peace Corporation, Strategic Investment Department, P46 senior manager, one of the Ten Stonehearts—Jade. Technically, Topaz should be the one collecting Jarilo-VI's bad debt, so why are you here?"
Lucian rattled off a string of information without missing a beat, causing Jade's mind to race for a fitting response.
As she had guessed, this Lucian evidently was really Herta's friend, but she couldn't help but wonder how he knew about Jarilo's bad debt.
One should know that she had only just received the notice herself from Diamond, and Lucian wasn't even with the IPC, so how did he know already?
Jade felt something was off with this man.
'Tch, this place is deeper than it looks...'
Thankfully, she hadn't acted impulsively and messed things up—just changing tactics would be enough to resolve things perfectly.
"I'm not here to collect debt." Jade quickly shifted gears, flashing an elegant smile. "I'm here on behalf of the IPC to offer congratulations—to celebrate you getting through the crisis."
At this point, she couldn't possibly miss it—Lucian was clearly Jarilo-VI's savior and true leader, but most important of all, he was friends with the three geniuses.
Never mind how strong he might be—his connections to the three geniuses alone were enough for the IPC to treat him with special care.
Besides, she herself was good at spotting value.
Her judgment now was that Lucian had hidden value, worth far more than Jarilo-VI's debt—someone worth investing in, winning over, making friends with, and one whose returns could explode in the future.
"But that's not what you said earlier, Ms. Jade." Cocolia, using Lucian's presence to back her up, suddenly chimed in boldly.
"Ms. Cocolia, you might've misunderstood." Jade kept smiling. "What I meant was, does Jarilo need the IPC to help with its development? If things are built up, the value goes up, right?"
Upon hearing this, Cocolia was at a loss for words as she realized that nothing too explicit had been said in their conversation just now.
Needless to say, that was the whole point of why Jade kept things subtle—it left room to maneuver if something unexpected, like now, happened.
"You said you came to offer congratulations... did you bring a gift?" Lucian asked with a calm smile.
"Of course, I've prepared one." Jade nodded softly. "It's just that there was a delay on the way, so it'll be delivered in a few days."
In truth, she hadn't prepared anything, so she'd have to hurry and get her department to fix that.
"I see..." Lucian nodded slowly. "So, Cocolia, what did you hear just now?"
"Well, Ms. Jade said something about signing a debt." Cocolia replied without hesitation.
"You misheard, Ms. Cocolia." Jade calmly shook her head. "It's a contract inviting Jarilo to rejoin the IPC's economic system, agreeing to erase the debt, and also send our people to help with its development."
As she spoke, she hurriedly tapped away at her phone behind her back, revising the contract sneakily.
Originally, the contract had called for Jarilo-VI to basically sell itself to pay off the debt, but she had no choice but to rewrite it right on the spot now.
Lucian, fully aware of what she was doing, was secretly delighted.
It was only natural.
Erasing the debt without hesitation and only asking them to join the IPC's economic system—it was clearly a gesture of goodwill.
Joining the IPC's economic system meant using credits as the main currency on Jarilo, which fit perfectly with what Lucian had been planning. Of course, he knew it was most likely because of the three geniuses that Jade had made such a decisive change.
Regardless, Lucian couldn't help but admire Jade's decisiveness—she truly had vision and courage.
In the end, after a brief talk, Jade signed a new contract with Jarilo-VI.
Jarilo-VI joined the IPC's economic system, the debt was wiped out, and both sides became friendly partners.
"Ms. Jade, please make yourself at home. I have something important to take care of, so I won't be accompanying you."
Done with the contract, Lucian said his goodbye, left Belobog, and headed straight into space to find a deserted planet where he could carve an inscription as a gift for the IPC.
It was obviously necessary.
Not only to make the IPC not think he was just mooching off them, but also to show his capability, so they wouldn't regard him as a powerless man who only relied on his relationship with the three geniuses.
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