"So fast? That corporate executive was impressive—she persuaded you that quickly?"
Seeing Su Ran return so soon, Herta was genuinely surprised.
In her view, that senior executive from the Strategic Investnt Departnt—Jade— was not lightweight.
Even when facing Su Ran, she shouldn't have collapsed this quickly.
So… did she succeed?
If so, that woman was definitely getting a promotion and a raise.
"Miss Jade's professional ability is quite strong," Asta added.
"She must have offered you quite a few conditions, right?"
Even Asta felt things ended too quickly.
After all, Jade ranked even higher than Topaz.
Topaz had lasted quite a while— there was no way Jade should have failed faster than her.
"Oh, not really," Su Ran replied casually.
"We chatted for a bit, and I found her kind of boring, so I ditched her."
If he were to score Jade, her looks and professional competence would definitely be maxed out.
But looks alone weren't enough.
A good shell needed an interesting soul to match.
Jade's overly polished professionalism made her… dull.
Too capable. Too rational.
Perfect for extracting, but terrible friend material.
So the conversation ended quickly.
"Wait—seriously? That was a higher-ranking executive than Topaz!"
Asta was shocked.
In her eyes, Jade's professional competence was top-tier.
There was no reason she'd be brushed off so quickly.
At the very least, there should've been so back-and-forth, ending in a narrow loss.
Instead, she lost faster than Topaz— and even earned the label boring.
Did that an Jade's professional ability was actually worse than Topaz's?
"Being higher-ranked doesn't matter," Su Ran said lazily.
"The company just doesn't know how to tailor their approach.
Ruan i's abilities are on par with Herta's— so tell , am I closer with Ruan i or with Herta?"
If ability alone were the deciding factor, Ruan i wouldn't still be unable to build a solid friendship with him.
Herta crossed her arms proudly.
"Obviously, I'm more interesting than Ruan i!"
Another win.
And the opponent was Ruan i again!
Winning on top of winning!
"Oh… I see," Asta murmured, finally understanding.
Topaz may not have succeeded, but at least she got the nickna 'Ranking-Buyer Girl'.
And while convincing Su Ran to cooperate with the Corporation was difficult, eting him personally wasn't.
Jade, on the other hand, didn't even get a proper chance to engage.
By comparison, Topaz really was the better choice.
At the very least, she didn't fail in the exact way the corporate higher-ups expected— that stronger business ability would automatically lead to progress.
After hearing Jade explain why she failed, Topaz couldn't help but laugh helplessly.
She'd thought it was her own incompetence.
Turns out, Su Ran was just that hard to deal with.
Even Jade—far more polished and capable—had no chance.
And because Jade was too rational, she was even less liked.
That realization made Topaz feel oddly… flattered.
Looking at it this way, she might actually have contributed the most.
And if she'd agreed to Herta's suggestion earlier— getting her eyes modified to red in advance—
maybe the deal would've already been settled.
There would've been no need for Jade to make a wasted trip to the Herta Space Station.
"Looks like we'll need you, Little Yelena, to handle him after all,"
Jade teased.
"A boring Jade just can't compete with a 'Ranking-Buyer Girl.'"
Even now, Jade couldn't resist teasing Topaz.
"But I really didn't buy any rankings…" Topaz said weakly.
"That nickna feels completely forced. There's no basis for it."
If she had actually bought rankings, that'd be one thing.
But if she uploaded footage of Su Ran creating a Propagation Emanator and then bought the trending spot—
Topaz shuddered at the thought.
The aftereffects of the Swarm still hadn't fully faded.
If people found out soone had revived a Propagation Emanator, it would cause total chaos.
"Alright, whether it's forced or not, you should still be glad," Jade said lightly.
"At least that genius was willing to talk to you.
He tested a bit and then dumped without hesitation."
This was the most complete failure Jade had ever experienced.
Still, it reassured her about Yelena's future.
In her view, if Yelena could secure Su Ran, then her career path would be completely unobstructed— possibly even reaching P47 or higher.
"Who knows," Jade added with a smile, "I might end up relying on you in the future."
Hearing that, Topaz felt incredibly embarrassed.
Thankfully, no one else was around— otherwise it would've been even worse.
"Please don't tease , Ms. Jade," Topaz replied.
"This is still just the beginning.
I really don't think I can easily handle a genius with such a strange personality."
Even so, her confidence had grown noticeably.
Now that it was confird Su Ran's impression of her wasn't bad, she felt ready to face him again.
"I'll be waiting for your good news," Jade said softly.
"Goodbye, Little Yelena."
"Goodbye, Ms. Jade."
After hanging up, Jade looked out over the balcony at the busy Swarm outside.
This trip hadn't been a total loss.
Though Su Ran had rejected her decisively, she now understood his personality far more clearly.
Conventional thods wouldn't work on him.
Comparely, he cared more about whether personalities matched.
A genius who leaned more toward emotion than pure rationality.
That alone contradicted the Corporation's usual understanding of Genius Society mbers.
And that wasn't all.
The information previously recorded by Topaz— that this genius had attempted to revive a Propagation Emanator—
had now been fully confird.
He hadn't just revived it.
He controlled it.
The Corporation's evaluation of him needed to rise yet again.
To bypass a Star God and directly create an Emanator—
Su Ran was already the closest being to a Star God.
No further proof was needed.
That Emanator was proof enough.
—------------------------------
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