Stelle put on a proper, businesslike manner and asked the Little Secretary, "Is this dock rented by the merchant guild?"
"Yes," the Little Secretary nodded. "Just leasing the port alone has already left the guild deeply in debt to the company."
Stelle blinked, then glanced at Nero beside her.
Right... Nero runs a no-cost business. Even when he took land in Belobog, Bronya didn't charge him. Not only that, they reached a cooperation agreement, and Bronya was even grateful for the way it helped Belobog develop... she'd already sent Cocolia in.
Then Stelle looked back. Walking through Aurum Alley with Nero and Bailu, the place had been lively and bustling.
She suddenly recalled Aunt Gao's earlier question. It hadn't felt like much at the time, but now it seemed to connect to all this somehow.
"I think Aurum Alley looks pretty prosperous?"
The Little Secretary blinked, then shook her head at Stelle, looking drained. "The snack stalls are still doing alright, but other businesses... and the dock's operations... are already stretched to the limit."
"Mm…" Stelle nodded. "Then, do you have any ideas on how to improve the dock's revenue?"
Sushang nodded too. "As long as it improves, you should be able to make money and pay off the debt."
The Little Secretary sighed and said slowly, "'Increase revenue and reduce expenditure'... that's how you boost the dock's income. Right now, 'increasing revenue' is extremely difficult. Many shops in Aurum Alley refuse to work with the dock…"
Nero and Bailu stood to the side, listening to the grown-ups talk without saying anything.
Mostly because the two of them... one runs a business without capital, and the other heals people…
Setting aside the fact that Bailu had never dealt with anything like this, Nero's factory had gone too smoothly from the start.
He didn't even need to invest much capital, so there was no question of borrowing money or falling into debt. Even increasing revenue was handled by the company for him.
Sushang blinked. "Then what about reducing expenditure? Uh… what does that mean?"
"It means lowering costs. As you can see, the dock isn't fully open, and as for the workers…"
Nero nodded thoughtfully.
Got it... they don't really have anything left to cut.
Coincidentally, his own factory didn't have much to cut either.
In a way, their Fragmentum factory and the Aurum Alley merchant guild were in pretty similar situations right now.
Before the Little Secretary could finish, the sulking worker hurriedly spoke up, "Hey, hey, don't even think about laying people off!"
"Come on, the Little Secretary's trying to find a solution too. If you ask me, the order dispatching efficiency is a bit low right now. If we put some effort into that, we could definitely cut costs!" another worker said.
Stelle narrowed her eyes, then turned to look at Nero.
The most efficient method would still be to let Nero use his "Help me, Sister Topaz" ability.
But if they did that, the Aurum Alley event wouldn't be able to proceed, and they wouldn't get to see Scott bark like a dog.
Some strange thoughts crept into Stelle's mind. 'From those words and ideas, the Stellaron vessel sensed something indescribable... something called "malicious intent from the planners."'
It was as if choosing the simplest solution would cause her hair to fall out like crazy. Thinking of Nero's fan, that "Mediterranean General," who looked forty or fifty despite being young, she couldn't help but shiver.
No matter how dense or absurd she might be, as a fairly attractive girl, Stelle still cared about her appearance to some extent.
In mild horror, she quickly pulled her gaze back and gave up on the idea of asking Nero to step in.
Nero glanced at her, puzzled, not knowing what had gotten into her this time.
"I'll give it a try," Stelle said to the Little Secretary. "I've got experience."
The Little Secretary's eyes lit up, and she looked at Stelle gratefully. "If you're willing to try, that would be wonderful... thank you so much!"
One of the more ill-tempered workers remained pessimistic about Stelle. After all, even the guild leader couldn't solve this, and this girl was just a short-lived species…
But then he remembered Nero saying this short-lived girl had experience and had succeeded on other planets, and he couldn't help but feel a bit more confident.
It was like a voice in his heart was saying, if you don't trust that girl, do you not trust Nero?
As for whether Stelle, as a Stellaron vessel, could even be considered short-lived... putting that aside... under the influence of the Express crew, she was a very action-oriented person.
Since she'd decided to try, she would try.
'Let's go all in.'
Then, learning as she went, Stelle began to apply her unconventional ideas, updating the logic of cargo stacking... fitting more goods onto fewer ships. With her improvements, the new shipping method would bring considerable savings to the guild.
Of course, those were the results after the method had been running for a while. Right now, Stelle had only just used this eye-opening stacking method for the first time.
The power of the script was everywhere, but that didn't matter. Stelle only felt that she had accomplished something great. Beaming with excitement, she put her hands on her hips, lifted her chin, and began asking for credit. "Well? Hurry up and praise me!"
Bailu responded like she was coaxing a child.
Though from a height perspective it looked a bit odd, considering their ages, it somehow made sense…
Even the stricter worker couldn't help nodding, but still said, "The stacking efficiency has improved, sure... but if Crane Transport Logistics doesn't deliver the goods, we're still stuck waiting."
On the other side, the Little Secretary also nodded. "That's right… um, if it's not too much trouble, could you come with me to the Aurum Alley branch of Crane Transport Logistics?"
"Of course!" Sushang agreed. "But if it involves using my brain, I definitely won't be much help. So…" She shot Stelle a pleading look.
Noticing Sushang's gaze, the smug look on Stelle's face grew even more pronounced. Calm and self-assured, she said, "Looks like Aurum Alley's counting on me after all!"
Handling something like this alone wouldn't be a problem for Stelle. Nero turned to Bailu and said, "Then I'll take Bailu to buy some medicine jars first, and we'll meet up with you later."
No one objected.
By the time Nero, Bailu, and her medicine jars arrived at Crane Transport Logistics, everyone else was already discussing the difficulties they'd run into.
A man named Yuanfeng from Crane Transport Logistics shook his head and sighed, then said with a hint of anger, "The company has been loudly announcing that it's going to take over Aurum Alley and promising subsidies for the shops… I suspect they've quietly told businesses not to use dock logistics."
Stelle blinked blankly, listening to all the professional-sounding terms, her face practically saying, "My head's itchy... I feel like I'm about to grow a brain."
At that moment, Nero's startled shout rang out from behind, "What? The company's taking over Aurum Alley? The whole place?"
Everyone turned toward the voice, only to see Nero looking alarmed, his voice trembling,
"If the company steps in, will everyone still be able to run their shops normally? What if their involvement changes the taste of the food in Aurum Alley? When that happens, will I still be able to eat the most authentic flavors here?"
Eating with friends in Aurum Alley was one of Nero's favorite things to do. He genuinely loved the food here.
But considering how the company operated... especially with someone like Scott in charge... he couldn't help worrying about Aurum Alley's future.
If it were Topaz or Aventurine, he might feel more at ease, since he knew them. But something like this clearly didn't require the Stonehearts themselves to step in.
"If that happens, who's going to make up for all the authentic Aurum Alley food I won't get to eat in the future? No, absolutely not!"
As Nero spoke, his expression turned serious. His earlier spectator mindset gradually shifted.
Seeing the boy straighten slightly, the others watched as he declared in a serious yet overbearing tone, "He has to bark like a dog. Even if Qlipoth shows up, it won't matter. I said it!"
———
At the same time, far away in the deep reaches of space, the Amber Lord who was building walls paused slightly, very human-like as he raised a hand to scratch his massive, shifting head.
'Who's calling me?'