The plot progressed very quickly. In no time, Stelle and Bailu on the screen gathered together again.
"Hello, nice to meet you for the first time. I'm Bailu. I heard Old Jing mention you before." Bailu smiled cheerfully as she extended her hand and said, "Thanks to you guys for rescuing Old Jing from the Abomination's hands. Otherwise I would have one less person to play with."
"I'm Stelle, a Nameless of the Astral Express. Nice to meet you…"
"Oh oh oh! Astral Express!" Upon hearing this term, Bailu's eyes widened at once as she laughed, "I've heard of it, I've heard of it. Oh right, can I call you Stelle? Stelle, since you're a Nameless, you must have seen many worlds, right?"
"What does the outside world look like? Magic? Castles? Giant dragons? Cyberpunk?"
[Bailu: …This young lady is not that childish! (angry)]
[Jing Yuan: Sigh… Bailu's identity is special. Many things are beyond her control, and she's often locked in the courtyard… At least in another universe, she didn't encounter such treatment.]
[Jingliu: What? Hahahahaha—]
[Blade: Jing Yuan, ahahahahaha—]
[Jing Yuan: …]
[Jing Yuan: 666]
[Stelle: Eh? That's not right. With this version of Bailu's strength, how could she possibly be locked up? She's the current Dragon Lord of the Xianzhou, right?]
[Tail: Blind student, you've discovered the key point]
[Lingsha: What the Trailblazer said makes sense. In the past when the Dragon Maiden was weak, the clan elders had the opportunity to pressure and control her. But if Lady Dragon Maiden possesses the strength of a Dragon Lord, no matter how bold the elders are, they would never dare to go this far.]
[March 7th: Could it be… that the Bailu here has some leverage in the Dragon Masters' hands? Damn it, I knew it. Even in another universe, the Dragon Masters still can't change their nature!]
[Dan Heng: …It does fit my consistent view of the Dragon Masters. I see that Miss Bailu's proficiency in Cloud Rhyme Technique is not below mine, and she's called Luofu First Fist. Her martial skills are surely extraordinary.]
[Dan Heng: To be able to trap such a person, the Dragon Masters in this universe must have received a huge buff, just like the previous Skott.]
[Dan Heng: It's hard to imagine what ruthless methods the Dragon Masters here used.]
[Sparkle: Sparkle is also very curious~ This universe is full of fun everywhere. If there's a chance, I really hope I can go in and play too, hehe~]
Stelle on the screen also held deep doubts about this, so she finally spoke up and asked the question that puzzled everyone:
"Since you're so curious about the outside world, why don't you go out and see it yourself? Is it because you don't want to?"
Upon hearing this, Bailu's originally excited little face instantly collapsed. She said with a pitiful expression, "I want to too, but… but…!"
"But I have no money!"
[Everyone: ???]
"I also want to go out and see, okay." Bailu looked sorrowful, "But a starship ticket for interstellar travel is too expensive. With my current salary, I'd probably have to save for decades to go out once!"
"Ah?" Stelle was stunned, "You-You run a martial arts hall, right? Aren't you Master Bailu, Luofu First? Earning money shouldn't be easy for you?"
Hearing this, a self-mocking smile appeared on Bailu's face: "Me running a martial arts hall? No no no, I'm just an employee. My boss is that group of Dragon Masters."
"When I opened the martial arts hall back then, I had no startup capital. At that time the Dragon Masters approached me and promised to co-operate the hall. They provided the money and I provided the labor."
"But I got tricked when signing the contract! It was a completely unequal overlord clause! I have to work twenty hours a day, no base salary, and only ten percent commission on additional students recruited…"
[Bailu: ???]
[Bailu: What does this mean? Credits? How could this young lady possibly lack that?!]
[Jing Yuan: Sigh… Although it's unexpected, it's also reasonable. You'll understand when you grow up.]
[Interastral Peace Corporation Official: In Xianzhou terms, this is called "greatly opening one's eyes." But can employees really be exploited like this? We can try learning from it.]
[Penacony Official: So scary, but fortunately we don't have this kind of thing here. In the beautiful dream, even Family employees can fully enjoy work… Those interested can dial the job hotline XXXXXX]
[Livestream reminder to user "Penacony Official": Please watch the livestream civilly and refrain from irrelevant advertisements~] [Luofu Dragon Masters Official: Slander! This is slander! You can say we're bad, but you absolutely cannot say we abuse. We have never shortchanged the Dragon Maiden materially at least!]
[Jing Yuan: Isn't this the ancestral teaching of the Xianzhou? You can't only remember the ancestral teaching when you don't have to spend money, right?]
[Topaz: What a terrifying enemy… To be honest, if the Dragon Masters here competed with me for a position, I might fall behind… As if! Can people who come up with this kind of contract even be called human? The working hours are longer than mine!]
[Aventurine: What's the use of long working hours? Without efficiency and results, it's just wasting time to move yourself (light smile).
[Topaz: @Aventurine? What do you mean? Are you being sarcastic toward me?]
[Aventurine: Hey hey hey, I'm just stating a correct principle. I didn't name anyone, right? Topaz, don't seat yourself in it.]
[Topaz: Yo, if someone likes to talk about principles, then where did that "intuition" come from during last time's stock operation? Aren't you clearly the one who least acknowledges principles? Want to look at the actual situation? Your reputation among subordinates isn't good.]
[Aventurine: Oh? You mean that "Superior Reputation Ranking" where you rank first? I'm saying, you didn't buy that ranking last time, did you?
[Topaz: First, that was an impartial evaluation list initiated by Lady Jade with no insider dealings. Second, I bought your X
[——Livestream system warning to user "Topaz": Please regulate your speech, discuss civilly. Even if you don't like it, please don't hurt others.
[Topaz: (emoji·angry)]
[Aventurine: (emoji·victory smile)]
[Jade: Children, stop fooling around. Don't think you can speak freely just because you're using private accounts. You still need to be careful online.]
[Topaz: Yes! Lady Jade!! (emoji·loyalty)]
"So miserable." Stelle twitched the corner of her mouth, looking troubled.
Not only her, but many people outside the screen were stunned when they saw these terms, even the Interastral Peace Corporation official account.
Only the "Market Development Department" appeared relatively normal. After all, they had issued similar contracts before. As the department in the company that practiced the other side of [Trailblaze], the purity of this contract still seemed a bit low in their eyes!
After all, a day has twenty-four hours.
It is said that the current Market Development Department was single-handedly built by the department head "Oswaldo Schneider." He was once a passenger on the Astral Express, but later got off after receiving some kind of stimulation and joined the company.
Upholding the Trailblaze spirit of the past, Oswaldo continuously "trailblazed" on the employees' bottom line, making employees believe that humans are born to be exploited, and ultimately became one of the board's reserves.
"According to a little red-masked person, Oswaldo once saw another universe's 'Penacony' in the Sea of Quanta and was inspired by it." —Message from a Masked Fool.