At the scene of the [Interastral Tournament Festival], Stelle arrived with March 7th.
"In order to let the revitalized Jarilo-VI catch up with popular trends faster, the E-Sports Association specially chose this planet... Just say they still refuse to give up."
Stelle felt indifferent. The Company happened to help Jarilo-VI renovate the former testing grounds, and the main purpose this time was just to play games, so there was no malice.
"Two beautiful ladies! Welcome to my arena!"
A voice suddenly popped up behind Stelle. Without hesitation, she materialized her baseball bat and aimed it at the other person's face.
"Hiss... this lady, your vigilance is really strong..." Giovanni dodged in time. As expected of a Nameless of the Astral Express, her awareness of defense was strong.
"If I guessed correctly, you two are Stelle and March 7th, right?"
"Could it be that you two also heard about the [Interastral Tournament Festival] and want to come here to show off your skills?" Giovanni greeted politely.
March 7th whispered to Stelle right in front of Giovanni: "Hey, Stelle... look at his mask, it's pretty cool, right?"
"How do you know our names? Masked weirdo... hurry up and state your name!"
"Haha, look at me... what a faux pas!" Giovanni mocked himself. "Forgot to introduce myself—I am Giovanni di Giorgio da Epsilon."
"A small private merchant from Epsilon, and the full sponsor of this [Interastral Tournament Festival]."
"Thank you for your introduction, Mr. Giovanni di Gio... whatever whatever."
After a long-winded self-introduction, March 7th only caught the first few words.
"You sound like a powerful big shot... why would you appear here?"
"Why not show your true face? Can you take off the mask and let me see?"
"Hahaha, you are indeed humorous! But unfortunately, this mask concerns my life safety... let's leave some private space for each other, okay?"
"Besides, I suffered a minor injury a few days ago, and this mask was stuck on with great difficulty. Please look."
Giovanni specifically pointed out the damaged part of the mask; there were indeed traces of tape pasting.
"Next, let me answer Miss March's question... As you can see, the [Interastral Tournament Festival] is about to be held on this beautiful planet..."
"And as the full sponsor of this event, it is only logical for me to come to the competition venue to check the operation status."
"Furthermore, I also want to meet the players of the competition, and you two... doing business in this vast universe, one can never have too many friends. If you two are willing to honor me by calling me a friend, that would truly be my great honor!"
Hearing Giovanni's praise, March 7th looked at Stelle.
"Mmh... although this guy wears a mask and looks weird, and is a big shot... he seems to have no malice and is quite approachable. What do you think?"
"I think while standing."
"Aiya, be serious!"
"Cough cough..." Stelle's tone suddenly became pinched: "Cheers to our friendship!"
"Mmh, I also trust your judgment! Please take care of us, Mr. Giovanni."
What kind of bad person could someone wearing a mask be?
"Being able to make friends like you, today is the happiest day of my life." Giovanni clutched his chest, performing a very convincing act.
"Regarding the game Aetherium Wars, surely you already know the specific content. Then, regarding the [Interastral Tournament Festival] part, let me answer your doubts!"
"So... what is this place?"
The company debt issue was resolved too smoothly, resulting in the Express crew never having visited the newly restored area of Jarilo-VI.
"Here? This is the Old Weapon Testing Ground of Belobog... at least it was seven hundred years ago. In the process of repairing this place, we discovered many dust-laden Automaton assembly lines."
"Hundreds of years ago, the people of Belobog tested the performance of mechas in this field."
"As for now, under my sponsorship, the Company and the Aetherium Wars E-Sports Association transformed this place into the competition venue for the tournament... In other words, this is now my [Arena]."
"So that's it... Wait, is your project compliant?" Stelle questioned.
"Of course it's compliant! This project was personally approved by the President of the Belobog Architects and the Minister of Culture..."
"As for whether they obtained the approval of that Supreme Guardian, it is inconvenient for me to ask."
Despite saying so, Stelle felt something was wrong. After experiencing the [Release Guild] incident, her vigilance against strangers had risen directly by a notch.
"Hahaha, being too suspicious is not good for your health. Rest assured, you two, I am just keen on enjoying the happiness of the game, and even more want to see the players compete with each other and advance together for this."
"Besides this, I don't have any other thoughts! I can guarantee you... I swear on my reputation and this mask!"
...
Goethe Hotel. Adrian flipped through the virtual newspaper, browsing the weekly report regularly sent by the Church.
"[Deacon Screwlloyd has been missing for several days. A missing person notice has been issued. The Church has reason to suspect that the Antimatter Legion hijacked him, or it may be related to Duke Inferno Ifrit's declaration the day before yesterday...]"
"[Pontiff Blake and Pontiff Freesna have both lost contact. Knight Commander Bertnes is drunk and unconscious. The Church has fallen into the biggest crisis in history!]"
"[Imploring [Eternity] divine punishment upon the Annihilation Gang and the Antimatter Legion! To avenge the murder of Deacon Screwlloyd!]"
A series of messages flooded into Adrian's mind. The Acting Priestess has already defaulted to assuming Screwlloyd is gone?!
"By the way, the sponsor of this [Interastral Tournament Festival] seems to be a Masked Fool named Giovanni."
"Mmh, who knows what that masked man is planning?" Silver Wolf admitted she didn't like Masked Fools.
"Are you scared?"
"How is that possible? But this person's thoughts are hard to guess—what if he wants to entrap me, throw me to the Company, and watch me make a fool of myself?"
Silver Wolf suddenly remembered that Blake could also count as half a Masked Fool; heard he often ran to the [Tavern] as a guest.
"You never know what tricks a Masked Fool will pull for amusement..."
Halfway through speaking, Silver Wolf suddenly noticed the elements: [Never know], [Forever]...
"Tsk, is it [Eternity] making trouble in the dark again! Could it be this guy has contact with the Church?"
So, dealing with people wearing masks requires keeping an eye out, and those holding soap must also be guarded against.
"Sounds like... you know him well?"
Silver Wolf blew a bubble gum bubble: "He might be the most ostentatious Masked Fool in the universe—who hasn't heard of the Masked Tycoon of Epsilon? I'd find it strange if you said you didn't know him."
"But I'm not interested in him, too lazy to dig up his data. Stop talking about this, come have a tense and exciting round of [Aetherium Wars] with me quickly!"
Looking at Silver Wolf's incomparable anticipation, Adrian really couldn't bear to break this beautiful dream, but the other party was too enthusiastic...
No choice. Let Silver Wolf witness the horror of [Eternity]!
This game uses [Aether Copying] technology, right? Then a slight modification...
[Eternity Copying], Begin!