"Situation has changed. You know Lucian, right? He is the leader of Jarilo-VI. Herta and Screwllum, as well as Ruan Mei, are also on good terms with him, probably close friends. I think there's investment value here."
Immediately after leaving the Qlipoth Fort, Jade promptly contacted Diamond, reporting everything she had learned on Jarilo-VI.
[Jade, you're a veteran at this kind of thing, so I trust your judgment. A friend of three geniuses is definitely valuable. Dig deeper—whatever you need, money or manpower, you're in charge. I just want results.]
"Of course. I won't let you down."
[Director! T-There's a planet for you outside!]
Before Diamond could respond to Jade, his subordinate's voice suddenly came through—it sounded urgent and panicked.
[A planet for me? What nonsense are you spouting?]
[I'm not lying! A planet just appeared next to Pier Point, and there are even words inscribed on it!]
*Beep!*
As soon as the subordinate finished speaking, the call was disconnected.
Jade was left completely confused, having no idea what was going on over there, so she had no choice but to contact her colleague to find out.
===
Pier Point, Interastral Peace Corporation Headquarters.
At this moment, an unknown planet suddenly appeared out of nowhere in space, frighteningly close to Pier Point.
Countless IPC staff stood frozen on the ground, staring up in shock at the planet's sudden appearance.
"It looks like there's writing on it... Thanks?"
"It says, 'Thanks to the Strategic Investment Department for the gift of cooperation. Wishing Diamond ten thousand credits income per month —Jarilo-VI, Lucian.'"
"Ten thousand credits per month? What a vicious wish! Are they trying to pick a fight?"
"It's clearly a thank-you letter."
"Thank-you letter, my ass—who sends a whole planet as a thank you? Ten thousand credits for a department head is awful!"
"Insane... I've never seen a thank you at this level before. I'm keeping this memory for life!"
"Lucian... that name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?"
"Do you have Alzheimer's disease or something? HQ sent out a notice a few days ago, telling us to keep an eye on someone named Lucian. He's the guy Madam Herta's been looking for."
"Oh, right, I forgot about that."
"No wonder—definitely worthy of being Madam Herta's friend."
Just like that, the entire IPC staff broke into a noisy commotion, all gazing up at the unprecedented sight above.
Diamond stood by the top-floor window of the headquarters building, staring at the ridiculous 'thank you planet' with twitching lips.
Jade had just finished her report, and Lucian had already sent a planet over as a thank you?
How much time had passed?
How did Lucian even get a planet to Pier Point?
Jarilo-VI was millions of light-years away from Pier Point—even with continuous warping, it should've been impossible to arrive this fast.
'Hmm, that man really does have some value, just as Jade said... Does he think Jade only recognized his connections to the three geniuses and not his abilities, so he sent this planet to show off?'
Diamond guessed Lucian's intentions but didn't care.
He was an Emanator, so the only ones he took seriously were other Emanators.
He couldn't help but have a gut feeling that Lucian was actually an Emanator as well—but regardless of whether he was or not, from a business perspective, Lucian was definitely worth the investment.
In the next moment, Diamond sent Jade a message.
[Diamond: Double the resources for Jarilo-VI. Lucian is worth it. Also, send gifts to the three geniuses.]
Done with the message, Diamond ordered someone to clean up the 'thank you planet.'
Naturally, the rest of the department heads also heard about it, and each had their own thoughts.
===
Jarilo-VI, Belobog.
When Jade received Diamond's message, she finally learned what had happened at the IPC headquarters.
As soon as she found out, a chill suddenly ran down her back.
Lucian had just said he had important things to do, and then, out of nowhere, an unknown planet appeared beside Pier Point.
'What kind of ability is this? He really does have hidden value... I need to put in more effort...'
Jade now found herself deeply intrigued by Lucian.
From their previous conversations, she had oddly felt he was just a normal person—different from all those other geniuses—yet this 'thank you planet' proved he was anything but ordinary.
Maybe she could even recruit him into the IPC?
===
Qlipoth Fort, Command Room.
Herta had just finished installing her best-created network defense, and now all of Belobog's network was super secure—even ordinary hackers stood no chance.
Even Silver Wolf wouldn't be able to break in—except for the mysterious expert who had helped her, of course.
"Screwy, we'll stay here for now." Herta said with irritation in her voice. "If that hacker dares to show up, we'll take them down immediately! I'll cure them of their internet addiction!"
"Logic: If the enemy can break into IPC's network and even overpower our firewall, that's definitely a formidable hacker. Conclusion: I only have a fifty percent chance of winning, but I'll do my best."
Screwllum's expression didn't change at all as he responded, but his tone was resolute.
Just then, Lucian walked in, overhearing their conversation, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
'Another day of outsmarting geniuses.'
[DING! Script cooldown complete. You can now activate the script again.]
[Script: 1]
[Activate the script?]
Suddenly, the System's voice sounded in Lucian's head.
'No.'
Lucian immediately rejected.
Because the script was his trump card for showing off or staying alive, he would use it later when the time was right, since he already had a plan.
"Lucian, you came at the perfect time."
As soon as Herta saw Lucian walk in, she called out.
"Your firewall is ready. Now we just need to wait for the Stellaron Hunters to take the bait, so stay here. I don't want you slacking off."
Seeing her scolding look, Lucian smiled.
"What a shame, I was just about to introduce you to Nous." Lucian said casually and plopped down in a chair. "Alright, let's wait a little longer then."
In the next instant, the moment Herta heard 'Nous,' she immediately ran to Lucian and grabbed his arm with wide, almost crazed eyes.
"Wait for what?!" Herta pulled him up with force. "Hurry up! After I meet Droidhead, I can wait as long as you want!"
"Question: Are you two talking about meeting Nous of the Erudition?" Screwllum, seeming to have caught what they were talking about, asked with his pitch rising a few notches.
"Yes, you heard right, but you can't join us, Screwy—this is my chance."
Herta had worked hard for this day and naturally didn't want anyone else involved in case something went wrong. If Nous got distracted by someone else again, her efforts would all be in vain.
"Herta, is this the reason you befriended Mr. Lucian?" Screwllum asked again, looking enlightened.
"Yeah, so what?" Herta shot back, raising her chin.
"No, nothing. I just found the answer to a question I'd always been wondering—the reason you took the initiative to make friends." Screwllum replied, his tone held a hint of teasing. "In that case, I wish you both good luck."
He didn't ask for anything else because he knew his boundaries—and that was exactly one of the things Lucian appreciated about him.
"Screwllum, I'll introduce Nous to you next time if there's a chance."
Lucian joked, then left the city with Herta, just in case any sudden energy surges caused by Nous's appearance hurt bystanders.
In a vast clearing, Lucian placed Nous's hologram projector in front of him and turned it on.
"Hey, is this some kind of ritual?" Herta asked with a skeptical expression. "Why does it not work when I do it?"
"It's because only I can do this ritual." Lucian shrugged casually. "Besides, it'd be really dangerous if anyone else tried it."
He wasn't kidding—stripping an Aeon with Disarm was as risky as it gets.
Lucian said no more and fixed his gaze on the hologram of Nous, then thought silently.
'Disarm!'
In the next moment, a layer of Nous's outer shell fell off in the hologram.
"Huh? Is the projector broken?"
Herta was just about to check the device, but before she could, Lucian called out loudly.
"Nous, come out and see me!"
*Buzz—*
In the next moment, the Imaginary energy in the area surged wildly, and the temperature skyrocketed!
Unlike last time, however, Lucian and Herta did not enter the Path Space.
Instead, a colossal figure appeared in the sky—or more precisely, in the space just outside Jarilo-VI's atmosphere.
It was a massive robot head, shining with a dazzling red light that covered all of Jarilo-VI.
"No way..." Herta muttered, looking utterly stunned. "Droidhead's actually projecting THEMSELF this time...?"
No matter how she thought about it, her genius mind still couldn't comprehend why an Aeon would appear just because Lucian called THEM out.
What was even more ridiculous was that it was actually an Aeon's projection this time—something even rarer than an Aeon's gaze!
Even Zandar One Kuwabara, Nous's creator, probably hadn't received this kind of treatment!
What exactly did Nous see in Lucian?
===
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