The one striking the Er Kang pose to stop her was a striking young woman in professional attire.
Her shoulder-length hair — white streaked with red highlights — caught the sunlight in scattered glints. Her uniform in red-and-black panels highlighted a figure so assertive that the buttons of her blouse looked like they were fighting for their lives. The department badge of the IPC hung from one bare shoulder.
What drew the eye most, however, was the young woman's pert, firm rear, and her Reisa-style hotpants — the kind that inspired dissertations with titles like A Discovery of a New Continent in the World of Thighs: The Perfect Leg.
The red satin thigh band pressing softly into her full, lush thigh only accentuated the contrast, a provocative interplay against snow-white skin.
"Hello everyone, first time meeting!"
The young woman wore a capable, unfailingly polite smile:
"My name is Topaz. I'm an Investment Specialist with the Interastral Peace Corporation. I'm here on Jarilo-VI for some special business."
"My colleagues here… aren't great with people. Please don't take it to heart."
After warmly introducing herself to everyone, Topaz glanced over to see the gray-haired girl in the black qipao — composed and unhurried — pull the top half of her body out of a garbage can, then discover Numby and crouch down to exchange a series of mutual "hmph!"s with it.
Topaz's cheek gave a small, involuntary twitch.
Okay. That was genuinely unhinged.
She turned back to her employees with a professional smile, her voice dropping to a sharp murmur:
"You two — apologize. Now."
"Pull up the pinned file in the main group chat immediately. Review the updated Employee Conduct Guidelines for Jarilo-VI Deployment. Any team or individual found in violation of those regulations will be subject to the following penalties: full team deduction of 60% of annual bonuses, individual deduction of 90%."
"Ninety percent?!"
The two IPC employees went white as sheets — paler than a ghost dragging itself out of a graveyard at midnight — wearing the expression of men who'd just been told their daughters, wives, and mothers were all being sold off to the Crimson Court.
"YES SIR!!!"
The two employees snapped to attention, downloaded the file at the speed of light, and began committing it to memory. Their bodies trembled visibly.
"Those two are really strange," White Seele remarked, blinking.
"They're like dogs."
Stelle hadn't meant it as a personal attack — it was just that an image had surfaced in her subconscious, unbidden.
A golden sunset over blurring yellow sands. Atop a mud-brick city wall, a couple embraced and laughed, looking down at a monkey spirit with a thunderclap face and a golden headband, iron staff slung over his shoulder — walking westward without a backward glance, his gait defeated and forlorn.
The line came out on its own.
"President Topaz, please don't — don't do this, President Topaz."
The memory of his corporate drone days hit Caelus like a freight train, and he immediately stepped forward, hands outstretched in the universal gesture of intercession — like someone trying to stop a teacher from slapping themselves.
"There's no need for that. It was just a misunderstanding."
In that instant, Caelus felt the quality of the two employees' gazes toward him undergo a rapid, fundamental transformation — as if they were witnessing a descending angel, or beholding a second mother and father.
If Topaz hadn't been standing right there, Caelus had absolutely no doubt these two would have prostrated themselves before him.
"Topaz is just fine."
"Since this gentleman has spoken up for you — we'll let it go this time. But don't let it happen again!"
Topaz cut her eyes at the employees and let the words land.
"Ever since we arrived, we've constantly heard the locals talking about what the Nameless did — how you rescued people from disaster, pulled civilization back from the brink. Everything Belobog has become today, all of you played a part in…"
"That's right, it was all thanks to us!"
Before Topaz could even finish, Stelle leapt in, hands on hips, modesty nowhere to be found.
"Hey — can you be a little humble in front of company?!"
March 7th's soft fist tapped Stelle lightly on the back.
"Ha ha~ I love a straightforward personality!"
A breezy laugh and the courteous small talk, and Topaz allowed herself a quiet internal exhale.
As a senior executive in the Strategic Investment Division, leading the Special Debt Investigation Squad — you didn't get to be one of the Ten Stonehearts at this age without a certain set of tools.
Topaz was, by nature, a kind person — a rare species by IPC standards. Even so, when it came to work, she typically employed a set of standard operating procedures.
The simple version: play good cop and bad cop.
In the early stages of a project, she'd deliberately bring along a few dim-witted employees — the type who would swagger around, look down on the locals of whatever backward civilization they'd arrived in, and resort to heavy-handed enforcement.
Then she'd come in with thunder and lightning, strip them of their performance bonuses and part of their pay, venting all the accumulated resentment and frustration the locals had built up — while simultaneously playing the good-cop role, projecting a persona of genuine goodwill. And she'd saved herself a chunk of payroll in the process.
Three birds, one stone.
It was the most standard move in the Debt Investigation Squad's playbook.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Topaz's personal morality — it was simply what her position required of her.
Compared to the IPC colleagues who viewed entire planets and their populations as nothing more than resources or inventory, Topaz genuinely wanted to help civilizations in crisis.
She'd expected Jarilo to be just another routine job — and then…
Thank goodness she'd made that detour to the Herta Space Station to visit Asta first.
She'd learned that the person behind the Grand Guardian of Belobog — the gray-haired young man standing before her now — was Caelus.
The title of Nameless meant little to Topaz on its own. But being friends with Asta, and on good terms with Lady Herta and Lady Ruan Mei — that demanded ten parts of her attention. Or rather, nine.
The moment her conversation with Asta ended, she had immediately drafted the Employee Conduct Guidelines for Jarilo-VI Deployment, sent them to the project group chat, and made for Jarilo at full speed.
She'd reshuffled the crew — swapping out the less cognitively gifted dark-side performers for a team of average-but-functional IPC employees.
En route to Jarilo, Topaz had activated the corporation's intelligence division and her own network of business contacts to dig deeper into Caelus.
And what she found made her breath catch.
Holy moly.
Lord Ravager Phantylia had attempted to overturn the Xianzhou Luofu — and a group of Nameless had helped Divine Foresight General Jing Yuan drive her out. The headline subject: the Nameless.
Moreover, the IPC's monitoring equipment had detected energy signatures at Emanator level from several individuals, and several more approaching that threshold — plus the appearance of a strange unknown life form on the Xianzhou, all of it seemingly connected to the Nameless.
Topaz had nearly choked reading that report.
What in the—
The network of connections around this Nameless called Caelus — and his twin sister (?) Stelle — was genuinely absurd.
She had immediately revised the mission conduct manual again, expanding it from a dozen clauses to over a hundred.
Among the additions: all employees were strictly prohibited from participating in, interfering with, or influencing the operations of local law enforcement in any form.
All staff must comply with the laws and regulations issued by the governing local authority. And so on, and so forth.
Of all the people to run into first — it had to be those brainless ones. From now on she was keeping them locked in the flyer. They were not to set foot outside.
"Any questions?"
Topaz noticed Caelus's brow had furrowed slightly, as if thinking something over.
"No, no, nothing. I just — seeing Miss Topaz's employees reminded me of some things from the past."
He waved a hand. Caelus offered a smile that was genuinely warm — the bright, comfortable kind:
"I was wondering — does Miss Topaz's team use a bottom-percentile elimination system?"
"Bottom-percentile elimination?"
Topaz blinked. She hadn't heard the term before, but as a senior executive, her managerial instincts allowed her to half-grasp its meaning before he even explained.
"It's a performance management system where employees who score in the lowest bracket of evaluations are let go…"
With a composed, gentlemanly smile, Caelus elaborated — while the two IPC employees watched with expressions cycling through 'witness an angel rip off its disguise to reveal a demon beneath' and 'discover that your gentle, devoted wife has been maintaining a soulmate friendship with a 108 fitness instructor' levels of dawning horror.
He's a devil.
This man is an absolute devil.
"I see — by applying just the right amount of pressure to activate employees' sense of crisis, and thereby stimulating their initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity."
Topaz's eyes lit up. She hadn't expected Caelus to come out with such genuinely constructive management insights.
"Fascinating! I'll be bringing this up with the executive team for discussion when I'm back. Thank you for the suggestion!"
Topaz extended a hand with heartfelt warmth.
"My pleasure. I once stood in the rain myself — so I know how to hold an umbrella for others."
Caelus shook her hand with equal politeness.
"Hss—"
March 7th sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide as she spun toward Caelus and grabbed his arm:
"Promise me — don't ever tell anyone out here that this idea came from you. I'm afraid the IPC's entire workforce will hunt you down, and they might even come after all the Nameless while they're at it!"
Some people had gone through seventy-five rounds of interviews just to land a spot at the IPC. If they then got culled by a bottom-percentile elimination system on top of that… the image was too bleak to contemplate.
Little Duck's expression was strange. Haxxor Bunny was looking at Caelus with the same eyes the IPC employees had — the unambiguous you are a devil stare.
"Everyone, please stop looking at me like that."
Caelus looked like a model student being singled out for praise by the teacher in front of the whole class — smiling with restrained, sheepish modesty.
The sight sent tremors through the two IPC employees' limbs, their bodies going cold.
If their colleagues ever found out it was because of them offending this man that he'd gone and proposed the bottom-percentile elimination system — the consequences were simply too horrifying to imagine.
After a bit more small talk and a brief exchange about Topaz's work, March 7th brightened:
"I can't believe Belobog has already established ties with the IPC this fast — they're even starting to negotiate a partnership. That was quick! Worthy of the… Grand Guardian!"
"Ha — the nature of this partnership might not be quite what you're imagining."
Outwardly keeping up the warm exchange, Topaz's mind was already running calculations.
How should the next steps proceed?
Or rather — should she run through the standard procedure at all?
She had taken this job, so backing out without cause wasn't an option.
"This is my contact information — we should exchange more sometime~ Oh, heads up in advance: I generally don't reply to messages when I'm working."
Topaz produced her phone.
Her plan was to make first contact with the Grand Guardian, probe Caelus's position — and if he stood firmly in Jarilo's corner, then…
"Sure! You have to teach me how to make the big money!"
Stelle whipped out her phone and added Topaz as a contact.
"Me too, me too!"
March 7th's hand shot up.
Caelus said nothing, just smiled.
Based on what he'd pieced together from fan-made videos, all he really remembered was that Topaz had come to Jarilo to collect a debt.
"I've got work to get to — I'll head off first. See you around!"
Topaz gave a wave and took her leave.
The group watched her go.
"So where do we explore next?"
Haxxor Bunny crossed her arms and looked over at Caelus.
No one in the group was particularly concerned — Haxxor Bunny included. They all assumed Topaz was just an IPC rep here to run business operations in newly-revived Belobog.
"We've been walking for a while. Let's take a break — and go see the Grand Guardian."
Caelus figured it was time to get a handle on the specifics of Belobog's debt situation.
He didn't expect it to have any particularly legitimate cause. After all, Jarilo had been sealed off for seven hundred years — did they even know there was a statute of limitations on debt collection?
On the way to Goethe Manor, Caelus received a message from Asta.
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