Bronya's expression looked somewhat dazed as she forced a faint smile.
"Stelle, March, welcome back…"
"I'm sorry. I originally planned to warmly welcome the three of you, but that lady who calls herself the IPC emissary suddenly appeared and disrupted my plans and thoughts…"
Stelle: "Did Topaz threaten you with some conditions, saying she would do this and that to Belobog, blah blah blah?"
"This…" Bronya showed hesitation on her face.
March 7th widened her eyes: "She really threatened you?"
"I… I don't know how to describe it. The facts might be a bit different from what you think."
Bronya gave a bitter smile, gritted her teeth, and decided to tell them everything.
"Since it's you two, I have nothing to hide."
"To be honest, I don't have the energy to think about the Solwarm Festival anymore. Right now, I… I don't… I don't know…"
Stelle: "We even made it through the Stellaron disaster together. Don't lose your composure. Take your time and tell us."
Stelle's serious expression could also bring a lot of security to people.
Bronya picked up the tea beside her and drank it in large gulps, feeling much better in her dry throat.
After calming her chaotic heart slightly, her expression turned serious.
"Since you've already met her before, I don't need to explain her identity."
"When you first came to Belobog, you must have heard that piece of history, right? About the Legion's invasion more than seven hundred years ago."
"And the cold tide born from the Stellaron."
Stelle and March 7th looked at each other and nodded slightly.
Bronya continued slowly:
"Sigh, looking at it now, many major historical events were buried under the wind and snow back then."
"Those memories didn't even get passed down through the successive Supreme Guardians."
"Seven hundred years ago, after the Stellaron landed on Jarilo-VI, the outsiders who were originally staying in this world foresaw the approaching crisis and chose to leave one after another."
"Among these outsiders was a group of investors from the Interastral Peace Corporation. Before they left, they did one major thing."
"They found the city builders who insisted on guarding their homeland and provided them with a large sum of funds for disaster preparedness."
"It was thanks to that funding that Belobog was able to build such tall city walls."
"Even the initial research and development funds for the first batch of automatons were allocated from that money."
March 7th was stunned.
"So there was actually something like that. So… when Topaz said she came to discuss special business earlier, she was actually here to collect a debt from Belobog?"
"Yes." Bronya's face was full of helplessness.
"This is too outrageous! Why not come earlier or later, but pick exactly this time!"
March 7th had always been straightforward. How could she stay calm after hearing this?
"If we hadn't eliminated the Stellaron back then and the world was destroyed, wouldn't this debt have just gone bad? Isn't this obviously bullying people?"
Stelle subconsciously scratched her head.
She wanted to speak but stopped, stopped but wanted to speak.
The speculation she had when she met Topaz in the snowfield had ultimately become reality.
If she hadn't responded to that Interastral Peace Appliance advertisement back then, perhaps Belobog wouldn't have ended up with this debt.
Even if they had to take on the debt, it wouldn't have been this soon.
Sigh, no matter what, this matter had some causal connection with her.
Even if owing money and repaying it was only natural, she couldn't just stay out of it and allow the IPC to exercise necessary measures.
She had just seen how ruthless capitalists could be not long ago.
People all have two sides.
Who knows whether behind the other party's smiling face was a knife, or something else.
From beginning to end, she had never developed too much goodwill toward Topaz just because she seemed easy to talk to.
"How much is the debt amount? Bronya."
Stelle went straight to the key point.
She was thinking that perhaps she could use her connection with the Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce to temporarily transfer part of it to help cover the debt first.
As for the train's funds… she didn't have a say in that.
As for Herta…
She had no working capital at all.
She was happily enjoying being supported by rich lady Asta. Although with her genius identity, she did have the capital for it…
The next second, when she saw the string of numbers Bronya provided, Stelle's expression instantly froze.
The Trailblaze Stellaron essence had already been used up honestly.
The Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce couldn't help at all. The amount she helped them earn was, in comparison, nothing more than child's play.
Asking anyone wouldn't work, including the IPC itself.
March 7th's expression was no better; she looked completely dazed.
Seeing the reactions of the two, Bronya understood very well.
"I thought only I couldn't accurately read out this string of numbers. I didn't expect that even you two, who have traveled the stars and seen the greater world, would be equally shocked."
Stelle and the other could only remain speechless at those words, not even having the courage to count how many digits it actually consisted of.
"Before you came in, Topaz had already warned me."
"The IPC has granted her the authority to take coercive measures. If the debt is overdue for too long, it won't look good for either side."
Stelle rolled her eyes: "She still left you some dignity, because the truth is… only Belobog looks undignified."
March 7th: "I didn't expect things to develop in this direction. I originally thought—sigh."
She was too naive.
When the Luofu intervened in the debt dispute between the Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce and the IPC, she had already seen the true faces of capitalists.
Now encountering people from the IPC again, she had subconsciously thought they were here to do good and help Belobog.
Capitalists really do like and are good at gnawing on meat, big mouthfuls at a time.
Stelle: "Looks like we have to get involved again. Belobog alone probably can't handle this."
Bronya: "I don't know as much about the Interastral Peace Corporation as you do, but if the records in the classics are true…"
"That is a massive organization spanning the entire galaxy. Suppressing Belobog would be as easy as flipping their hand."
"So… I—"
"Alright, Bronya, you don't need to say the rest. I understand your difficulties. We won't sit by and do nothing about this matter."
Stelle rubbed her chin and pondered:
"We need to find a chance to probe Topaz and find out the bottom line of this matter."
"Thank you!"
Bronya seemed to see a glimmer of hope as she bowed.
"I'm really sorry for dragging you two into trouble again."
"While you two go find Topaz, I will also think about countermeasures. I wish you good luck."
"And, please be sure to stay safe."
Stelle waved her hand: "No need to say thanks again. After all, we've been through life-and-death situations together. Let's go, March. Time to find Topaz."
She had added Topaz's contact information before, which came in handy now.
"Aren't we going to tell Leon first?" March 7th subconsciously thought of the senior from the Astral Express crew.
"It's not to the point where we need to rely on Leon yet."
"That's true…"
Since it involved important matters, Stelle didn't delay and immediately contacted Topaz.
Unexpectedly, it was an artificial intelligence program that replied.
Fortunately, this AI was indeed intelligent and would reply with relevant information based on the questions.
For example, Topaz's current location.
"She's actually at the museum you said you once operated."
"That's not important. Let's go, before she changes locations again."
...
...