"Though I would very much like to begin negotiations now," Topaz admitted, offering a slight, professional shrug, "this is indeed not the right ti."
She gestured vaguely towards the sky. "My survey vessel has not yet arrived, and my team mbers haven't assembled. also, I've been unexpectedly absent from my post for quite so ti; if I don't return promptly, it might cause unnecessary panic among my crew."
Topaz then turned to Cocolia, her expression softening into a polite, practiced smile. The sheer, overwhelming power Leon had just displayed was more than enough to convince her that maintaining a friendly relationship with Belobog—and especially with the faction he was clearly aligned with—was an exceptionally wise choice.
"So, why don't we exchange contact information first? You all should have personal terminals, correct?" Topaz looked expectantly at the Supre Guardian.
"We do," Cocolia nodded, retrieving her device and exchanging communication codes with the IPC manager.
Seven hundred years ago, before the Stellaron crisis, Belobog had been a star-faring civilization. Devices like mobile phones were hardly unfamiliar relics. However, under the relentless assault of the Eternal Freeze, most of the planet's advanced infrastructure was either frozen solid or damaged beyond repair. Now, only a select few still possessed such technology.
" too, too! I want to add you!" Stelle's hand shot into the air, waving enthusiastically. She had a good feeling about Topaz; she didn't seem like a bad person at all, and making a new friend couldn't possibly hurt.
March 7th leaned in eagerly beside her. " too!"
"Of course. It would be my pleasure," Topaz replied, a light, genuine chuckle escaping her lips. She felt a pang of envy watching them. The relaxed, harmonious atmosphere among the Astral Express crew was a rare and precious thing, sothing seldom found within the rigid, high-stakes environnt of the Interstellar Peace Corporation.
After Topaz had finished adding the mbers of the Astral Express to her contacts, Leon spoke gently. "Alright then, I'll send you back first. Once your team is in place, we can discuss things further."
He waved his hand casually, and the space before him rippled like the surface of a placid lake disturbed by a stone.
Clutching Numby, Topaz stepped through the shimring portal. The world around her dissolved and reford in an instant. The sterile, recycled air of the new landscape was replaced by the familiar scent and furnishings of her personal quarters aboard her ship.
Topaz stood still for a long mont, letting out a soft, controlled breath.
Truly... an impressive display of ability.
Instantaneous spatial teleportation across vast distances, reviving an entire frozen world with a re flick of his hand... either one of these feats would be world-shaking if possessed by a single individual. Yet Leon seed to command them both with startling ease.
She absolutely had to report these findings to her superiors.
'Huh... what's this?'
As her thoughts settled, Topaz noticed sothing cool and solid resting in the palm of her hand. It was a small mory card. Without a second thought, she inserted it into her portable terminal.
The screen lit up. A progress bar flashed across it, loading the data in a blink. Her eyes scanned the contents, and her pupils constricted.
'This is…'
The footage on the mory card was crystal clear. It perfectly recorded the mont the Amber Lord, the Aeon of Preservation, had cast its gaze upon the Trailblazers, Stelle and Caelus.
The value of this recording was... imasurable.
With this footage as obvious proof, she could not only mobilize a greater pool of resources from the Interstellar Peace Corporation for the Belobog project, but it would also serve as an incredibly weighty bargaining chip in the headquarters' internal evaluation system.
If these negotiations went smoothly... a promotion from P45 to P46 might not be out of reach.
A genuine, unrestrained smile curled Topaz's lips.
'Leon... he's quite a good person, isn't he?'Though it was their first eting, she had felt an inexplicable, natural warmth from him, a sense of goodwill directed squarely at her.'Could it be... he likes ?'A faint blush ward her cheeks before she shook her head, laughing softly at herself.'Ha, I'm probably just overthinking things.'
"You agree, don't you, Numby?" she murmured, burying her face in the Warp Trotter's soft, fluffy body and taking a deep, comforting breath.
It must be said, Topaz's intuition was correct. Leon did indeed have a very good impression of her.
After all... in his mories of another life, he had firmly believed Topaz would be the core of his follow-up attack team. He had poured his resources into pulling for her, not stopping until he'd unlocked her second Eidolon and secured her signature Light Cone.
Of course, his investnt back then wasn't solely for her combat strength. That E2S1 Topaz had been a constant companion, carrying him from Version 1.4 all the way to 3.3 of the ga. It was only after obtaining Black Swan and the free E1 Acheron that his beloved follow-up team had been reluctantly retired.
'Little Ye Linna... so cute...' he thought with a private, nostalgic smile.
"Th-this is a miracle!"
All across Belobog, an uproar was building. Residents, miners, vagrants from the Underworld, and even the stoic Silvermane Guards—from the pristine Overworld to the rugged depths below—were all swept up in a wave of disbelief and euphoria.
They watched as the towering peaks of ice that had defined their horizon for centuries began to gradually lt. They felt, with their own skin, the omnipresent, bone-deep cold quietly receding for the first ti in living mory.
The barren, frozen land was being gently blanketed by a carpet of continuous, vibrant green.
"Thank the Amber Lord! Praise the Amber Lord!"
Cheers erupted, surging through the city streets like a tidal wave.
In the eyes of Belobog's populace, a miracle capable of warming an entire planet could only be the work of an Aeon—specifically, their patron Aeon of Preservation. As a world that had worshipped the Amber Lord for over seven hundred years, it was the only conclusion that made sense.
However, as these fervent cries of praise reached Cocolia's ears, they felt as grating as razor blades scraping against glass.
It was her benefactor, Leon, who had saved Belobog. Yet these uninford, ignorant people were attributing all the glory to the Aeon of Preservation, a being who had never once cast a direct glance their way!
A fierce, protective sense of injustice welled up in Cocolia's heart. She stord back towards Qlipoth Fort, her face a mask of cold fury.
Even if Leon himself didn't care about receiving the credit, she could not let this stand.
"Bronya, imdiately summon all high-ranking officials of Belobog." Her voice was low and resolute, edged with steel. "I want them to know—that which saved us was not the Preservation that never once glanced at us."
"It was our benefactor, the crew of the Astral Express..."
[Aha: Ahahaha! This is truly hilarious!]
[Aha: @Qlipoth, you big fool, what do you think of this?]
[Aha: "Preservation has never cast a single glance at us—"]
The Aeon of Elation was gleefully spamming the group chat, tagging Qlipoth repeatedly. The Lord of Amber remained, as always, utterly silent.
"Cocolia, don't be impulsive! That's the Amber Lord... an Aeon!" Herta quickly interjected, her holographic form looking sowhat uneasy. Even if Preservation hadn't been the one to save them, publicly denouncing an Aeon was far too risky.
"Yeah, yeah! Praise us all you want, but maybe let's not curse an Aeon..." March 7th was also startled by the Supre Guardian's intensity. Cursing an Aeon? That was a level of boldness she couldn't even comprehend.
[Aha: Curse away, it's fine! If that blockhead tries anything, I'll stop him~]
Aha, ever the agent of chaos, was enthusiastically fanning the flas.
Leon rely chuckled to himself. He understood. Qlipoth wouldn't care about any of this. That particular Aeon was singularly focused on building its cosmic walls; even the Interstellar Peace Corporation, the most prominent faction operating under its na, had never received so much as a sliver of its attention.
Besides, while Preservation had not actively cast its gaze upon them, its Path power had indeed protected Belobog. Without that passive, ambient protection, the planet would never have survived over seven hundred years of endless winter to begin with.
Soon, Cocolia's voice, amplified by the very power of the Path she was about to question, echoed clearly through every inch of Belobog's air.
"This is Qlipoth Fort. I am the Supre Guardian, Cocolia..."
The power of a Path encompasses all things; transmitting one's voice through the void was but a minuscule application of its true potential.
"As you can all see, our world has been saved. The ice and snow are gradually lting, and our arduous guardianship and long wait have finally ushered in a bright and hopeful outco."
Cocolia's voice was steady and powerful, reaching every corner of the Overworld and Underworld alike.
"However, I am very regretful to have to tell everyone here that what saved us was not the Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth."
"It was the Trailblazers, the Naless, who traveled from afar on the Astral Express!"
A collective gasp rippled through the populace, followed by a confused uproar. The ones who saved them weren't the Amber Lord they had worshipped for generations, but the Astral Express? The Naless? The Trailblazers who had arrived from beyond the sky?
"Yes," Cocolia's voice bood, cutting through the rising clamor. "Just a short while ago, I witnessed with my own eyes as one of the Naless displayed a great and wondrous power before , lting away Belobog's seven hundred years of ice and snow..."
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