"Huh? Has something happened to the Xianzhou Luofu? Why are the port inspections suddenly so strict?"
The moment their vessel passed through the monumental archway of the Jade Gate, Yanqing's sharp instincts picked up on the unusual atmosphere.
Under normal circumstances, an official vessel like theirs would only require a routine security scan and basic registry verification. Now, however, dedicated security personnel equipped with high-grade spatial scanners were subjecting every incoming ship to rigorous, multi-layered inspections.
"Who knows?" Julian replied with an easy shrug. "You'll find out as soon as you meet with General Jing Yuan."
Julian naturally knew the real cause behind the heightened alert, but he wasn't about to blurt out state secrets in a public customs bay.
After transferring to a local Star Skiff at the dock, the group flew toward the central anchorage hub. From there, Yanqing would head directly to the Cloud Knights headquarters, while Julian's company office lay along the very same route.
"Then I'll take my leave first, everyone!" Yanqing offered a quick, polite salute before darting off, clearly anxious to discover what had thrown the Luofu into such a defensive posture.
Julian remained on the Star Skiff with Natasha and Himeko, continuing deeper into the territory.
Though the tight security at the perimeter had made the two women slightly tense, the sheer, unimaginable scale of the Luofu's interior quickly swept their anxieties away. The internal realm opened into a vast expanse where artificial stars hung high in the sky, and endless streams of Star Skiffs wove through defined air lanes. Below them, ancient, grand architectural complexes stretched all the way to the horizon.
Seeing such an extraordinary world with their own eyes made both women realize the true, staggering scale of a top-tier interstellar power.
By the time they arrived at Mirage Pavilion, where the headquarters of Arceus Studio was located, Cai Xing was already waiting at the platform, having received word of their arrival.
Stepping off the Skiff, Julian turned to his two guests with a warm, relaxed expression. "Feel free to explore the surrounding districts on your own. You can visit almost any public sector you see. If you run into guarded areas, just ask the sentries politely, but don't force your way in.
"If there's any field of study you'd like to dive into, go for it. I've transferred 200,000 credits to each of your personal accounts for now."
Seeing both Natasha and Himeko open their mouths to decline the gesture, Julian held up a hand with a chuckle. "Don't refuse. Think of it as a low-interest loan. Once you learn the ropes around the Luofu and pick up a suitable role, earning back that sum won't take long at all with your skill sets."
Understanding the logic behind his words, the two women smiled and accepted the funds.
"Thank you for your generous guidance, Julian," Natasha said, looking around the bustling pavilion. "Do you have any specific recommendations on where we should start?"
Julian realized he hadn't fully broken down the administrative structure of the Alliance for them yet. Opening his phone, he sent the full, high-resolution layout of the Luofu to their devices, walking them through the core divisions.
"This sector here is the Alchemy Commission," Julian explained, pointing to a sprawling district on the map. "If you want to study advanced medicine, pharmacology, or biological sciences, that's your best destination. Over here is the Artisans Commission, the hub for top engineers, master craftsmen, and applied technology. For learning state-of-the-art tech, it's unmatched. Then there's the Divination Commission..."
After giving them a thorough overview of the layout, Julian had Cai Xing arrange comfortable accommodations for the two before heading inside his executive suite.
Sinnoh's Blueprint
Back at his desk, Julian immediately pulled up the production progress for the fourth-generation Pokémon game and its companion animated series.
For the Sinnoh region, the franchise's built-in momentum was already massive, so he decided to drop the old strategy of airing the anime ahead of the game's release. Instead, he planned to launch the animated series shortly after the game hit the market.
Releasing the game first would heighten player anticipation, build an aura of mystery around the region's deep lore, and encourage fans to dive headfirst into exploring the digital wilderness. Better yet, impatient anime fans would gladly jump into playing the game just to satisfy their curiosity—a win-win strategy on every front.
The Sinnoh region represented the mystical origins of the entire Pokémon universe. It was home not only to foundational mythologies featuring Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, but also to rich historical records detailing the early co-existence between humans and Pokémon.
Julian intended to craft this generation into a massive lore expansion that would allow players to truly understand the historical bedrock of the franchise.
To achieve this, he specifically directed his team to design brand-new gameplay loops centered around archaeology, ancient ruin exploration, and time-space rift combat encounters. With so many legendary entities tied to Sinnoh, he also scheduled a series of special, story-driven in-game events to give players a front-row seat to the region's ancient history.
Development was moving along smoothly. While the pace was slightly slower without Silver Wolf and Stephen around to assist with high-level code optimization, it was still well within acceptable parameters. Given how rapidly Arceus Studio had been churning out major releases, a steady, measured pace was actually preferable.
He planned to keep this steady momentum right up until they reached the generation featuring Mega Evolution. Once Mega Evolution entered the picture, it would keep the player base thrilled and engaged for a long time, allowing the team to shift its core focus toward building out the grand online ecosystem.
As for the animated side of the branch, since there was no tight deadline and storyboarding tools made visual production fast and seamless, Julian assigned his idle staff to work on animated feature films.
Rather than sticking strictly to the original cinematic scripts from Earth, he instructed the team to weave in the absolute best player highlights recorded during the live legendary questlines. Combining classic narrative arcs with widespread community memes and famous player moments created the ultimate love letter to the fans.
Julian didn't bother with a theatrical run, opting to release the movies directly on the digital platform for a modest streaming fee—far cheaper than a movie ticket. Between dynamic camera work and high-end visual effects, the cinematic adaptations possessed a level of dramatic flair that live gameplay simply couldn't match, ensuring fans would eagerly tune in.
Shadows over the Luofu
Once internal studio matters were settled, Julian reached out to Yukong to get an official update on the Luofu's situation.
Yukong made no attempt to hide the reality of the crisis.
She confirmed that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had begun staging coordinated disruptions across multiple sectors. Worse still, evidence suggested an unauthorized party had smuggled a live Stellaron onto the world-ship, triggering localized spatial rifts across several districts. That volatile situation was the exact reason why border security at the Jade Gate had been placed on total lockdown.
If the internal containment measures failed to stabilize the situation quickly, the High Commission was prepared to seal the Jade Gate entirely, isolating the ship from external traffic until the threat was thoroughly neutralized.
The news didn't surprise Julian. The events were unfolding just as they had in his memories of the original storyline, so he didn't waste energy worrying about it. With heavyweights like General Jing Yuan steering the ship, a harbinger like Phantylia wouldn't be allowed to tear the Luofu apart. Besides, with his own current combat capabilities matching those of a cosmic harbinger, a minor scheme like this was easily manageable.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
While ordinary citizens going about their daily lives in the commercial districts noticed little change, news of spatial rift outbreaks and Sanctus Medicus insurgencies had already spread among official personnel. A number of Cloud Knights and staff had even suffered mental strain from the spatial corruption, succumbing to the Mara-struck state. Prompted by these escalations, the High Commission officially ordered the total closure of the Jade Gate, locking down the ship to purge the internal threats.
Interestingly, the isolated backup server Julian had painstakingly set up remained untouched. Recognizing the importance of Arceus Studio's cultural reach, the Luofu high command granted Julian's company a dedicated, high-priority communication channel to the external galactic network, ensuring the game's online services remained fully operational despite the planetary quarantine.
It made complete sense when he thought about it. Not only did the Xianzhou Alliance hold a significant stake in Arceus Studio, but almost every local employee working in his offices had been vetted and recommended by official channels, all boasting squeaky-clean backgrounds. In many ways, the studio operated almost like a semi-official branch of the government.
Julian stared at his idle backup server setup and shook his head with a soft chuckle. Still, having a contingency plan was always better than being caught unprepared, so he closed the technical tab and turned his attention back to his work.
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