Skott quickly took the standee, tucking it away as if he had just acquired a priceless treasure.
Even though in the near future he would pay various ridiculous prices for this gift—such as his starskiff breaking down in a desolate star zone for three days, interstellar flights being rerouted seventeen times due to 'sporadic spatial turbulence,' and ground vehicles causing a multi-car pileup on the central ring road of a negotiation city—at this moment, he firmly believed it was all worth it!
This was, after all, a lucky charm personally bestowed by Noble Bai!
The fact that Skott had accepted a gift from Bai Luan was also seen by other IPC employees; not knowing the truth, a hint of envy couldn't help but flash in their eyes.
How does this damn guy get all the good luck?
"I really didn't expect you to be willing to step in on this matter."
Lingsha looked at Bai Luan and said with a smile:
"I spent a long time on the way here thinking of what to say, but now I have no use for those words."
"This time, there are no high-sounding reasons like considering the big picture or maintaining peace."
Bai Luan spread his hands, his smile innocent yet carrying a hint of the cunning of a successful prankster.
"It's purely out of a small personal... interest of mine."
As for whether that interest was watching Skott suffer or finding a suitable home for that standee, only he knew.
At this time, Yanqing took a step forward and thanked Bai Luan:
"Many thanks to Mr. Bai Luan for his righteous intervention! If not for your mediation, that IPC employee likely wouldn't have yielded so easily, sparing us a pointless dispute. I will keep this kindness in mind."
Uh... actually, there's no need to be so formal. The purpose of giving the standee was just to mess with Skott.
However, he couldn't explain that in front of Skott, so he decided to wait a while before clarifying things with Yanqing.
"Alright, let's set the small talk aside for now."
Bai Luan clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to the main topic.
"The priority is to clearly inspect the details of this batch of IPC cargo. Since the other party has already yielded, let's proceed with the inspection quickly."
"I'll take care of inspecting the cargo."
Lingsha stepped forward toward the containers holding the IPC goods. Under the operation of the IPC employees, the container doors opened up and down, revealing the products inside.
A suit of mecha, extremely similar in physique to a Borisin, stood tall within the container.
"This is the IPC's 'cargo'?"
Lingsha walked up and knocked on the mecha's metal shell.
Skott acted like he was watching a bratty relative get close to his precious collectible figure; he was unhappy but couldn't say much, so he could only speak up:
"Listen closely, I will file a lawsuit for compensation for any damage caused by the inspection..."
Just then, Bai Luan felt an invisible data command being input into the mecha inside the container.
Playing these tricks in front of me?
Bai Luan stood his ground and began to reverse-hack based on that command sent from an unknown source.
A spark of electricity flashed across the mecha inside the container. For some reason, the airtight restraints limiting its movement disengaged, and steam billowed out.
Its joints unfolded, a dangerous red light flashed across its tactical visor, and it slowly rose.
"Shut it down!"
Yanqing had already sensed something was wrong. He drew his blade and shielded Lingsha.
However, the situation had exceeded Skott's expectations. He didn't know why the mecha had suddenly activated either. The fear made him instinctively back away, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground.
It stepped out of the container, its wolf-like head opening its jaws to reveal an energy cannon device, which began charging as it aimed at Lingsha.
Seeing the energy cannon about to fire, Stelle, who had been standing next to Bai Luan, rushed out. She leapt agilely, raising her baseball bat high.
"BAM!!!"
Stelle's baseball bat slammed directly into the mecha's head, causing it to stagger and interrupting the energy cannon's charge.
The mecha, its charge interrupted, immediately changed targets. It raised its sharp bionic claws, preparing to strike at Stelle while she was still in mid-air with nowhere to maneuver.
Yanqing and Dan Heng acted simultaneously, attacking the mecha's leg joints from both sides to paralyze it, while March 7th fired several arrows at other moving joints, using Six-Phased Ice to slow the mecha's movements.
At that moment, Stelle landed steadily, rushed toward the mecha with her baseball bat, and swung another blow toward its energy core.
Stelle's strike directly destroyed several important components, causing the mecha's internal programs to report constant errors. After a final, desperate swing of its claws, the mecha slumped to the ground, brown sparks flickering all over its body.
As the mecha collapsed, the crisis was resolved.
Stelle poked the downed mecha with her baseball bat, then nodded to March 7th, who was still holding her bowstring taut and ready to fire again.
"It's over."
March 7th breathed a sigh of relief and put away her bow and arrows.
The artisans immediately stepped forward, crouching in front of the paralyzed mecha to begin their inspection.
March 7th frowned, hands on her hips, looking at Skott with an unpleasant expression.
"You were going to leave this kind of thing at the Luofu docks for several days? That's way too dangerous!"
Facing March 7th's accusation, Skott waved his hands repeatedly, shifting the blame:
"This... this really isn't our fault! You must have accidentally triggered the 'cargo's' defense protocols just now!"
Dan Heng looked at Skott and reminded him in a flat tone:
"Things have already come to this; it would be better to stop dodging responsibility."
Hearing this, Skott began to explain frantically, his voice carrying a hint of desperation.
This really had nothing to do with him.
"I really don't know how this thing started moving... I can swear to the Amber Lord!"
Stelle crossed her arms and said:
"Who's going to believe an oath you make to yourself?"
"Oh, my dear lady! You still remember that joke at a time like this!"
At this time, Bai Luan also completed his reverse-hack, which went unnoticed by anyone.
He hadn't been doing nothing earlier; rather, through some subtle means, he had woven a small procedural restriction into this batch of IPC mecha—they were not allowed to take a life.
Under this restriction, the most these mecha could do was injure someone.
It wasn't that Bai Luan couldn't change the restriction to 'no harming people,' but that would be too obvious and might alert the enemy. Adding this kind of limit was enough.
Yanqing called a halt to the pointless argument and had Cloud knights to escort Skott to the Sky-Faring Commission.
There, the IPC employees would be properly dealt with. After a period of busywork, Yanqing and Lingsha finally had everything settled.
Once everything was arranged, Lingsha invited everyone to the Alchemy Commission as a gesture of thanks.
There, Lingsha spoke of her past. It was clear she had some grievances regarding Jing Yuan's decision to exile her master back then.
Just as they finished discussing the historical issues, Yunli arrived. As soon as Yanqing and Yunli met, the atmosphere immediately became tense.
Seeing that the two were about to start a fight in the Alchemy Commission, Lingsha suggested they take their frustration out on the Abominations of Abundance left behind in the Alchemy Commission Delve.
Bai Luan had been watching the drama all along, observing Yanqing and Yunli as they competed, striking the Abominations of Abundance with their swords.
He stroked his chin, a smile of pure amusement on his face, and sighed rhythmically in a voice only he could hear:
"Old and new rivals on the Xianzhou stage,"
"Elder General's stress is hard to gauge,"
"Stelle, look at this drama..."
He paused, and like a magic trick, he pulled a bucket of popcorn—still smelling of butter—from his pocket and held it out to Stelle, his tone full of sincere invitation:
"—Want some popcorn first?"
...