[The Corporation's Special Debt Collection Team is worthy of being the most notoriously ruthless group in the entire sea of stars. Just a day or two after you tossed the branch manager's consciousness into the recycle bin, you witnessed chaotic fluctuations at the edge of the Jarilo system.]
[Countless massive starships emerged from the Imaginary Domain, each emblazoned with the insignias of the "Interastral Peace Corporation" and "The Preservation," announcing their identity to any who were fortunate enough to glimpse a corner of this fleet.]
[As a starship designer, although you cannot analyze their construction methods at first glance, you can clearly understand the function of the modules upon them.]
[On each of these behemoths, not a single slot designed by the starship architects has been wasted; all are fitted with the most suitable modules. Every starship is standardized yet exquisite, like a perfect work of art.]
[But they are no useless vases... On these works of art, you can clearly see giant cannons mounted on their bows, identical to the main cannon module of the Star Destroyer that was sold at the same Universal Fine Goods auction where you and Asta acquired this research vessel.]
[You once studied the details of that Star Destroyer in the auction catalog. It was said that the bow cannon required an immense amount of energy to charge, but once fully charged, it could fire an extremely powerful thermal current. This current could heat a planet's atmosphere and detonate its core, an act that would completely destroy the planet's crustal structure.]
[Finally, a relatively small shockwave would blow the planet to pieces. The scattered planetary fragments would become cold junk in the cosmos, with not a single trace of life remaining.]
[Such a fleet clearly demonstrates the formidable military power of the Interastral Peace Corporation. This is indeed an enemy that New Belobog cannot possibly confront. Your assessment was not wrong in the slightest.]
[The fleet of behemoths arrived menacingly. A communication link was established with your research vessel, and the figures of several Corporation employees appeared before you as photonic projections.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new scene emerged:
Ron stood in the meeting room of his research vessel, facing several Corporation employees.
Among them, a woman dressed in a sharp, professional manner stood out. She had gray hair with a single streak of bright red, and a plump Trotter by her side. A corner of her mouth was curled up, revealing an aggressive smile directed at Ron.
The employees behind her, along with the Dimensional Trotter, raised their personal terminals and began clattering away, calculating the debt. She, however, strode briskly toward Ron, shook his hand with a phantom arm made of photons, and spoke simply:
"I'm Topaz, from the Interastral Peace Corporation's Strategic Investment Department, leader of the Special Debt Collection Team... I'm sure you're well aware of my purpose here. The Corporation has an account to settle with you and your planet."
The scene on the light screen faded, replaced by new text:
[Through your conversation with her, you learn that this spirited woman is one of the Interastral Peace Corporation's "Ten Stonehearts," her cornerstone being the "Topaz of Requisition." The Corporation and she are fully aware of everything that has transpired around Jarilo-VI. There is no escaping their calculations.]
[The planet's value is recalculated by the Special Debt Collection Team. Every last scrap of potential profit is meticulously extracted and converted into cold, hard numbers, adding more weight to their side of the scale.]
[They have calculated the exact value of Jarilo-VI for you and informed you just how precious the branch fleet you destroyed was... Topaz demands that the only way for you and Jarilo-VI to clear your debt is to forfeit everything to the Interastral Peace Corporation. This is the definitive conclusion reached by the Special Debt Collection Team's assessment.]
[Before that, however, you must hand over the employee data you confiscated—the consciousness data of that branch manager also has value. The Corporation will not stand by and watch something of value be carelessly destroyed, completely deleted from your databank without a single byte remaining.]
[During your negotiations with Topaz, you become keenly aware of one fact—this woman is constantly exuding her presence, clearly telling you that the Corporation and she are standing right before you, announcing their existence.]
[The oppressive feeling of this behemoth forces you to make a choice regarding the debt... You now understand why the Special Debt Collection Team has a flawless business record, able to perfectly collect every debt owed to the IPC from any faction in the sea of stars. It is an achievement befitting their capabilities.]
[But... what does it matter?]
[Others might panic and fear the Special Debt Collection Team's methods, but you will not... You calmly instruct the databank to restore the branch manager's consciousness data from the recycle bin and amicably hand it over to Topaz.]
[Before that, however, according to your own plan, you speak to her:]
["Before I use Jarilo-VI to repay the debt and hand it over to the Corporation, I actually have a small question for your side—"]
["Doesn't the Market Development Department gather intelligence on a target market before trying to open it? Although this might seem trivial, as the de facto controller of Jarilo-VI, I have had an audience with Nous, The Erudition... and more than once."]
["Ms. Herta and I have a new cooperative project that is about to go live. I don't mind sharing some of my disposable research findings with the Corporation... Before joining the Genius Society, I'm just a freelance scholar, am I not?"]
[You see a flicker of genuine shock cross Topaz's aggressively confident face for the first time. She steps aside and quickly makes several interstellar calls. Her subordinates immediately begin searching on their personal terminals at her instruction. A few moments later, she walks back to you.]
[This time, a hint of an apology hangs on her face—]
["My apologies, Mr. Ron... I just did a quick check with the HR manager of the Market Development Department. It turns out that fellow was just a temporary worker, not officially on the company's payroll..."]
[As she speaks, she casually deletes the branch manager's consciousness data she had just received from you. "This debt dispute may have deeper reasons. We believe the fault does not lie with you, but is a tragedy caused by this temporary worker's unauthorized actions." ]
["Perhaps we should recalculate this debt... But let's set that minor issue aside for now. As a team leader in the Strategic Investment Department, I am quite interested in your abilities, Mr. Ron. I wonder if you have any intention of collaborating with the Corporation?"]
"Truly worthy of an IPC specialist... so flexible. For the sake of profit, her attitude did a complete one-eighty..."
Reading the text, Ron couldn't help but feel a bit impressed.
"But who is this woman? She definitely doesn't look like a generic NPC... She seems a bit familiar, but I don't remember this character in the game."
Ron scratched his head, trying to jog his memory.
"Could she be a character that hasn't been released yet... No, wait, I think she was on a Light Cone—is she an unreleased character that's been leaked?"
Unable to recall any solid information about her, Ron gave up and tapped the screen to let the simulation continue.
[The Corporation's profit calculations are infinitesimally precise—for anyone to prove their worth, they must first add value to the Corporation.]
[And you have easily proven your value to Topaz... The potential value of collaborating with you is unimaginable, far exceeding that of a single planet like Jarilo-VI.]
[The Corporation is indeed greedy, but when collaborating with others for the sake of even greater value, they are also incredibly generous—]
[Topaz proposed a simple agreement with you, establishing a cooperative channel between you and the Genius Society, which is sponsored by the IPC. It also stipulated that after your joint project with Herta bears fruit, you will sell your portion of the results to the Interastral Peace Corporation...]
[They will acquire these results at an extremely high premium. When you saw the sample invoice Topaz showed you, you couldn't even count how many zeros were in the credit amount at first glance.]
[You and Topaz had a very pleasant conversation and quickly reached a consensus, signing this friendly cooperation agreement... Because of this agreement, the debt between Jarilo-VI and the Corporation "miraculously" changed from an astronomical figure to a few hundred thousand credits, an amount that is virtually nothing on a civilizational scale.]
[Topaz was very satisfied with your cooperation. In order not to disturb the people of Jarilo-VI, she soon led the fleet of behemoths out of the planet's orbit, quickly departing the Jarilo system and restoring its quiet tranquility.]
Seeing this, Ron nodded in satisfaction.
The Corporation was just as he had thought. As long as one could prove their value, the company didn't mind being provoked. So long as the profit they brought in exceeded the loss, the Corporation would never bare its fangs.
"That crisis was resolved without any real danger... With this cooperation agreement, New Belobog's future development is more or less secured..."
Ron muttered to himself, but he had no intention of changing New Belobog's current development path.
Although he had reached an agreement with the Corporation, and Jarilo-VI now had a channel for material supplies, it didn't mean they were safe.
The IPC would not provide protection for Jarilo-VI just because of this agreement. If an actual invasion by the Antimatter Legion were to occur, there was no way the IPC would dispatch a planet-destroying fleet like they did for a debt collection.
It was still essential to have power held firmly in their own hands...
Ron thought this over and tapped the screen to continue the simulation.
...
Time flew by. Several more months passed. During this period, New Belobog continued to produce starships, and Ron constantly updated their designs, building up strength for the new civilization.
This stable period of development was a rare moment of leisure for the simulated Ron. Aside from his daily research tasks, for the first time, he could spare some time for social activities that served little purpose beyond clearing his mind...
For instance, he started taking time each day to scroll through his personal terminal and chat with his friends via text.
Unfortunately, he was a recluse and didn't know many people. Apart from the Astral Express crew, only Asta and Herta were available for idle chat, making his conversation partners rather fixed.
Although these useless social activities were mostly a waste of time, Ron still gleaned some interesting information from them.
For example, from his chats with the Express crew, Ron learned that after being approached by Kafka, the Star Rail Express had initially warped to the Xianzhou Luofu, just like in the original story. But after arriving, they witnessed some very strange situations...
For instance, Master Diviner Fu Xuan seemed to be arguing with General Jing Yuan of the Luofu over the ship's navigation routes.
The atmosphere within the Xianzhou was also very strange. It was said that the Alchemy Commission had been mysteriously sealed off, with rumors circulating that someone inside had made a forbidden breakthrough and was now under investigation by the Ten-Lords Commission.
The strangest thing was that shortly after they arrived, they heard the tolling of a great bell. They were told it was the Xianzhou Alliance's Yellow Bell system, used for leaving messages for other Xianzhou ships...
Not long after, the Xianzhou Yaoqing warped into the same system as the Luofu. The two ships were now traveling together, their destination unknown.
Shortly after that, the influence of the Stellaron began to manifest. The Ambrosial Arbor grew once more, and the Luofu was plunged into great internal turmoil.
Phantylia, the Lord Ravager, had been hiding within the Luofu all along, secretly sowing discord and creating Abominations of Abundance, mass-producing an Antimatter Legion to wage a drawn-out war within the Xianzhou Alliance.
This war lasted for over a year. A month or two ago, General Jing Yuan devised a clever plan to launch a surprise attack on the Scalegorge Waterscape. He and General Feixiao of the Yaoqing struck together, slaying the Lord Ravager Phantylia, who had usurped the body of the Ambrosial Arbor, with lightning speed, finally quelling the storm...
Reading the texts in the simulation, Ron scratched his head. He felt that the Phantylia the Xianzhou faced in this simulation was a bit too strong.
It took a year-long stalemate even with both Jing Yuan and Feixiao present? This Phantylia's strength completely eclipses her game counterpart, giving off the vibe of a true Emanator of both Destruction and Abundance...
But this was meaningless to Ron. No matter how strong Phantylia was, she couldn't possibly affect Jarilo-VI. Having just been defeated, she was probably hiding in some corner licking her wounds. Even if New Belobog were to face a Lord Ravager in the future, it was highly unlikely to be her.
She had just suffered a major defeat on the Luofu; she wouldn't have the energy to invade Jarilo-VI...
And even if she did, New Belobog didn't have an Ambrosial Arbor for her to possess. She would just be a small flame, completely unable to exert the full power of a Lord Ravager.
He was better off worrying about Herta. Over a year had passed, and Herta still hadn't sent an invitation. She didn't reply to his messages in the simulation either, as if she had vanished from the face of the earth.
Ron was beginning to suspect that something had gone wrong while Herta was preparing the project. After all, "Creating an Aeon" sounded rather abstract, and it was easy to imagine running into significant trouble...
But before any real worry could set in, new text popped up on the light screen:
[You have finished your daily procrastination. Closing the chat window with Stelle, you once again focus your energy on the desk before you, immersing yourself in research...]
[But the door to the laboratory suddenly opens.]
[The puppet Herta had left on the research vessel comes back online. She walks into the room, her eyes tinged with a hint of excitement:]
["I've finished debugging the Simulated Universe... So, wanna test it?"]