Wonderland Space, the hot spring bathhouse.
Nolan and Stelle cuddled for quite a while. She seemed rather curious about this kind of thing. After being guided at first and gradually getting her body used to it, she soon began hugging him more proactively.
Only after nearly two hours did the two finally stop.
After finishing dinner, Nolan spoke with Ningguang about developing business in Belobog. Ningguang did not hesitate much before agreeing.
The main reason was that the Sweet Flower Merchant Association had already summarized a mature development model.
They would send a team familiar with the chamber's operations to the new location.
Those people would recruit local staff and establish a branch there.
If the products being sold could be produced locally, factories would be built on-site to stimulate local development. If they could not be produced locally, the chamber's logistics department would transport them directly.
On Teyvat, elemental technology was advancing rapidly. Cargo aircraft and massive freight ships had already been successfully developed, so transporting goods between different nations was not difficult.
As for transporting supplies between Teyvat and Jarilo, that was temporarily impossible. Even with Xianyun and the others working hard to develop a star-sea vessel powered by an adeptal formation array.
At present, it could only travel within a stellar system. The main issue was that certain technical problems with the jump engine had not yet been solved.
Without the ability to instantly travel dozens or even hundreds of light-years, even a vessel capable of reaching light speed held little commercial value in the vastness of the universe.
Nolan had heard Tingyun mention that for Xianzhou ships like the Luofu, if the jump engine operated at just ten percent power, the jump distance would already be measured in tens of thousands of light-years.
But the most impressive of all was still the Astral Express. As long as there were silver rails and sufficient fuel, it could travel from one end of the universe to the other in an instant.
Such was the miraculous power of the Paths.
Although Teyvat could not yet transport materials to Jarilo on a large scale, Nolan could easily send some technical personnel and supplies there during the early stages.
Later on, the goal would naturally be to train local talent, allowing Jarilo to develop sustainably in the long term.
After all, the Sweet Flower Merchant Association coming here to make money was only secondary. Helping the people here was the real objective.
After continuing to discuss Jarilo and Belobog with Ningguang, and even planning to take her there for a visit someday, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Nahida, and Sserkal soon came looking for him.
They reported that after the Akasha System and the Metafield Space were fused into the Akasha Interconnected Network, tests conducted in Teyvat, the Herta Space Station, and even aboard the Xianzhou Luofu with Tingyun bringing deep-dive equipment had all succeeded. Logging in worked perfectly.
Therefore, they now wanted Nolan to bring them to the Sea of Quanta for testing. If there were no problems there, they could officially relaunch the Metafield Space across all dimensions of the universe.
Or rather, it should now be called the Akasha Metafield.
"No problem. Let's go there now."
Nolan nodded and led them down into the Sea of Quanta, where the constantly shifting projections aroused their curiosity.
Equally fascinating was the golden world bubble before them.
Over the past few days, Nolan had already stacked this world bubble fifty times, meaning fifty world bubbles had been fused together.
The internal space was now larger than an ordinary stellar system. The thickness of the world membrane was such that aside from beings at the Emanator level, almost no one could forcibly break their way inside.
"Before entering the world bubble, let's run a test here first."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata took out a device similar to an Akasha Terminal.
In fact, it was indeed an Akasha Terminal, but with Sserkal's help, a deep-dive function for entering the Akasha Metafield had been added.
Rukkhadevata placed the terminal by her ear and attempted to log into the Akasha Metafield, testing various functions. Everything worked perfectly.
Nahida, Sserkal, and even Nolan each took out their own terminals to try as well. They discovered there was no difference from normal usage.
After testing for a while longer, Nolan teleported Rukkhadevata and the others into the world bubble.
On the Assembled Continent within, the living beings had already noticed that their world had undergone a major change.
Every so often, a brand new continent would appear and merge with the existing land.
Because of this phenomenon, a wave of exploration had swept across the continent. Some nations that had previously been at war had even temporarily halted their conflicts.
After all, wars were usually fought over land and resources.
But now, countless unexplored new continents were appearing.
Naturally, everyone was drawn toward them. Meanwhile, those righteous individuals who cultivated the Power of the Accursed Moon were steadily growing stronger.
Compared to war, they preferred peace and generally did not provoke conflicts. As a result, the entire continent was gradually stabilizing.
The main reason was that new continents kept appearing frequently. Resources were everywhere, practically endless.
Under such circumstances, there was simply no need to wage war.
With the situation stabilizing, it became the perfect time for trade and commerce. It was an ideal opportunity for the Sweet Flower Merchant Association to expand here.
Ningguang had already begun making arrangements.
Because of the large population and vast territory, a continuous stream of development teams needed to be sent in to establish branches.
So some time ago, Nolan had frequently transported large groups of people and supplies into the world bubble. By now, many branches on the Assembled Continent had already begun operating steadily.
With the help of elemental technology, development could proceed rapidly even in a primitive society, let alone one backed by Teyvat's elemental industrial system.
Resources, food, and various materials were all abundant.
In particular, the Abyss Realm had already been transformed into an agricultural space. The crops grown there had even been improved by Sucrose. A single harvest produced more food than the entirety of Teyvat could consume.
Exporting it to the world bubble was practically perfect.
After all, many people here were still struggling to find enough to eat, so a Merchant Association capable of selling large quantities of grain was extremely popular.
Next, the Sweet Flower Merchant Association would also begin selling Akasha Terminals here. When the Akasha Metafield appeared, it would surely bring major changes to this world.
At this moment, Rukkhadevata and the others had already confirmed that the Akasha Metafield could be freely accessed even inside the world bubble.
In the future, the market within the Sea of Quanta would become the private garden monopolized by the Sweet Flower Merchant Association.
It was not impossible for it to grow into an organization even more powerful than the Interastral Peace Corporation. It would simply take some time.
After confirming that the Akasha Metafield could be freely accessed within the Sea of Quanta, Nolan and the others returned to the Wonderland Space, preparing to officially open the Akasha Metafield to the universe.
After all, the process was quite simple. They only needed to grant login permissions.
Once that was done, newly manufactured Akasha Terminals with deep-dive capabilities, as well as older deep-dive devices that had previously logged into the Metafield Space, would all be able to connect.
As for why the login permissions for the deep-dive devices from Sserkal's era were also being opened, the main purpose was to use the former popularity of the Metafield Space to attract people from interstellar society to log into the Akasha Metafield.
Although many Amber Eras had already passed since Sserkal's time, the brief appearance of the Metafield Space had still left a deep impression on interstellar society.
While chatting with Asta, Nolan had heard that even now there were still people using the Metafield Space as a pretext for scams.
The technology for manufacturing deep-dive devices had also remained preserved on the Interastral Peace Network. As long as news spread that the Metafield Space had truly reappeared,
someone would inevitably try to verify it using a deep-dive device. And once it was truly confirmed, it might trigger another wave of Metafield Space enthusiasm.
Even if it only attracted a small portion of curious people, given the scale of interstellar society, that would still mean numbers counted in the hundreds of millions.
With such a user base, making money inside the Akasha Metafield would become easy no matter what kind of projects were launched there. After all, it was the work of a Genius, and therefore possessed a certain degree of monopoly.
Even an organization as powerful as the Interastral Peace Corporation would find it difficult to replicate. Lower-tier substitutes would have absolutely no competitiveness.
While Nolan's thoughts raced, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Nahida, and Sserkal together sent an update announcement to all terminals, stating that the Akasha Internet would be upgraded to the Akasha Metafield.
Afterward, Nolan also used the Waypoint to notify Silver Wolf, asking her to spread news of the Metafield Space's restart widely across the Interastral Peace Network.
Once that was done, Nolan had no more work to handle. He wrapped his arms around Stelle and went to Lumine's room, where everyone continued their affectionate dual cultivation together.
However, the emergence of the Akasha Metafield was destined to plunge the galaxy into a sleepless night.
Pier Point, a planet extremely famous across the galaxy, because it served as the headquarters of the universally known Interastral Peace Corporation.
Within the corporation were seven major departments.
They were the Construction Materials Logistics Department, Market Expansion Department, Business Consolidation Department, Strategic Investment Department, Talent Incentive Department, Technology Research and Development Department, and the Traditional Projects Department.
The Construction Materials Logistics Department was responsible for transporting materials between planets. They even handled delivering materials to the Amber Lord, the Preservation Aeon Qlipoth.
In a certain sense, this department might be the most important within the corporation, because they were the ones closest to the Amber Lord.
Next was the Market Expansion Department. As the name suggested, its role was straightforward: expanding markets by continuously bringing newly discovered civilized planets into the galaxy's vast marketplace.
The main method was to design products capable of attracting attention and use them to open markets. As long as those new planets needed the products, they would naturally become corporate clients.
However, that only applied when opening a new market went smoothly. If the process proved difficult and various methods failed, the Market Expansion Department would not hesitate to resort to certain coercive measures.
Much of the darker reputation the Interastral Peace Corporation carried throughout the galaxy was blamed on this department.
The next one, the Business Consolidation Department, was responsible for ensuring that newly emerged business models could operate steadily and continue generating profit.
Following that was the Strategic Investment Department, which searched across the universe for investment opportunities. As long as there was profit to be made, their presence would appear there.
The Talent Incentive Department handled performance evaluations for all employees, along with salaries and benefits. The Technology Research and Development Department, naturally, was responsible for technical maintenance and research.
Finally, the Traditional Projects Department took over projects from the Market Expansion Department that had already lost their popularity, attempting to keep them profitable.
The responsibilities and authority of each department were clearly defined. This was likely one of the key reasons why the Interastral Peace Corporation had remained standing for so long.
At this moment, an emergency meeting was being held in a conference room belonging to the Strategic Investment Department.
The meeting room was spacious, with walls that seemed to be covered in some kind of expensive wood. At the center stood a large round table capable of seating more than a dozen people, simple yet dignified in design.
A careful count revealed eleven high-backed chairs around the table. Except for one empty seat, every chair was occupied, though some were merely pale blue holographic projections with flickering screens.
Starting from the empty chair and looking to the right, the first seat was occupied by a young man wearing a top hat, rather short in stature.
The second seat held a holographic projection of a red-haired woman. The third seat was occupied by a real person, also a woman, wearing a top hat with purple hair.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth seats belonged respectively to a coral-haired woman, a golden-haired man, and a white-haired gentleman. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth seats behind them were also holographic projections.
The short young man in the first seat to the right of the empty chair glanced around at the many colleagues present, then looked toward the vacant seat beside him and said:
"Diamond won't be coming. I'll be hosting the meeting."
"Why did you call us here so urgently? Opal, did something major happen?" The holographic projection in the eighth seat was a woman with gray-white shoulder-length hair, with a streak of red dye along the side.
She was not currently on Pier Point, so she could only attend the meeting through a hologram.
"No, wait, Topaz, something this big happened and you didn't even know about it?" The blond young man sitting in the fifth seat, named Aventurine, looked at the woman called Topaz in surprise.
"Sorry. I just finished work and haven't heard what happened yet," Topaz replied directly.
"Well, it's actually nothing that serious. The Interastral Peace Network just got mysteriously hacked two system hours ago," Aventurine shrugged and said casually.
"Have they found the culprit? Shouldn't this be handled by the Technology Research Department?" Topaz asked, puzzled.
After all, an attack on the Interastral Peace Network had nothing to do with the Strategic Investment Department.
At that moment, the purple-haired woman wearing the top hat spoke up:
"Don't listen to Aventurine explaining things halfway. Yes, the network was hacked, which is rare, but that's not the main point. The real issue is what that person pinned across all the major websites. You can check it yourself."
(End of Chapter)
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