Ragunna, Montelli Quarter.
"The Montelli family will cherish the friendship of every ally."
"The Black Shores feel the same."
After a brief handshake, Carlotta put away the contract and gave a polite smile to Aalto, the representative of the Black Shores standing across from her:
"After the corresponding technology has been verified, the remaining payment will be transferred to the Black Shores in batches. If nothing goes wrong, this will be a long-term cooperation."
"Good. As long as the Montelli family obtains authorization from other regions, the Black Shores can provide technical support to bring Quick Tone to any region."
After seeing Aalto off, Carlotta could no longer suppress the smile on her face and excitedly stomped her feet on the spot.
She had succeeded. She had really succeeded.
What started as a spur-of-the-moment Quick Tone application had unexpectedly become a craze across all of Rinascita in just ten short days, even driving up sales of Montelli's private terminals in return.
While the entire Montelli family was busy counting money, Carlotta, with her unique vision, recognized the value of Quick Tone and made an even bolder decision — to promote Quick Tone to the world!
When the time comes, heaven and earth align. The Montelli family originally lacked the technical capability to achieve this, but at just the right moment, the Black Shores organization took the initiative to approach them.
The recovering Black Shores was short on funds, while the wealthy Montelli family needed technology. The two sides hit it off immediately.
Next came pilot experiments in places outside Rinascita, obtaining authorization from local central beacons, and pushing Quick Tone to even farther regions.
If successful, Rinascita would completely bid farewell to isolation in the future, and communication with other regions would no longer require letters.
"Zani—"
Carlotta made a call, the corners of her mouth curving upward:
"Prepare yourself. We are setting off immediately. Destination — Huanglong, Jinzhou!"
...
Jinzhou, a new day.
"Little Cart, are you awake yet?"
Noah gently knocked on the guest room door. A sleepy, soft, and sweet murmur came from inside:
"Not yet… let me sleep a little longer…"
Hearing this, Noah scratched his head. It seemed Cartethyia slept even more soundly at his house than at her own.
It was probably because she had been on a long boat ride the previous day.
Without thinking too much, Noah took a step forward. A pure white light halo flashed beneath his feet, and he instantly arrived at the Mianloong Chamber on Mt. Firmament.
"You're here?" Jué opened Its dragon eyes, imposing without anger.
"I'm here." Noah nodded. "I came on behalf of Cartethyia to retrieve the separated consciousness of Imperator."
"Good."
Jué responded and pushed out a cyan light orb, which landed perfectly in Noah's palm.
"To conserve energy, Imperator's consciousness has fallen into slumber. Honored guest, I thank you once again for saving Rinascita and my old friend."
"It was just a small matter. By the way, what did you two talk about yesterday? May I ask?"
"Reminiscing, asking about the positions of our respective Resonators, and requesting whether I could help It restore Its full strength."
As It spoke, Jué gently shook Its head, Its gaze dimming:
"Unfortunately, the results above were not pleasant. In the end, It borrowed a bit of the power of Time from me. At a critical moment, it can support It in using Its full-strength power, but only for half a day."
The old horse received a half-day full-strength experience card.
"Sounds pretty good. Then I'll take my leave. Goodbye."
"Please wait. I have a necessary warning to give you."
Jué's gaze sharpened. Its massive dragon eyes fixed on Noah:
"Those who bear heavenly fate will continue forward alone even if only they remain, but sometimes, please also trust that your companions can become your support."
"Don't speak in riddles. Say it directly."
"Mm… I have seen that Imperator will face a deadly tribulation in the future. You alone cannot save It. You will need the help of the Black Shores and the people of Rinascita."
Hearing this, Noah thought for a moment, then his expression darkened — wasn't this just the main quest storyline of the great decisive battle in Rinascita?
He had wondered what it was.
"Small problem. I will resolve this matter in advance. Leviathan will not have the chance to summon the Parade of Heaven."
He waved his hand — not in refusal, but because no further words were needed.
After receiving the separated frequency of Imperator, Noah bid farewell once more and turned to leave Mt. Firmament.
He teleported home and picked up the letters left at the door by Lollo Logistics.
They were from Carlotta.
"Dear Tall Chestnut: The Montelli family has obtained sufficient high-tech from the Black Shores… Finally, there is one more thing. I have prepared a surprise for you. It is on the way."
"A surprise, on the way? And they got new technology from the Black Shores?"
While walking into the house, Noah silently read the letter sent by Carlotta, lost in thought.
Why didn't the Montelli family have high-tech? Because Little Potato wasn't good at it.
"Laureate, you're back!"
Cartethyia happened to walk out of the kitchen carrying two plates of green branch laurel salad. Her eyes were sparkling, as if hiding two twinkling little stars, full of joy:
"Perfect timing. I made breakfast. Come try my cooking!"
Seeing this, Noah didn't refuse. He handed over Imperator's separated consciousness to Little Cart, then took a bite of Cartethyia's cooking. His eyes brightened slightly:
"Surprisingly delicious. Little Cart, where did you get the green branch fruit and laurel?"
"Hehe, if it's good then eat more. I brought a whole box of green branch laurel, and some iris flower seeds. I plan to plant them in Jinzhou."
Receiving praise, Cartethyia was very pleased. She pushed her own plate toward Noah and brought out another from the kitchen:
"By the way, are there any powerful Overlord-class Tacet Discords in Jinzhou? Let's go hunt some Tacet Discords today!"
"I don't think there are any Overlord-class ones."
"Then Calamity-class is fine too. We can treat it as practice."
"There aren't any Calamity-class either."
"So only Common-class left?" Cartethyia secretly clicked her tongue. "Jinzhou is really so peaceful."
Actually, there weren't many Common-class ones left either. Noah felt a bit embarrassed.
With the Tacet Discord tracking ability from the panel, plus the flight and Shorekeeper teleportation abilities, his monster-hunting efficiency was now at least ten times higher than before.
"Since you've come to Jinzhou, Little Cart, just treat this as a vacation. I'll show you the local customs and culture of Jinzhou."
Noah waved his hand. Just as he was about to speak, a communication call came in:
"Good morning, Noah. This is Jinhsi."
A clear, ethereal voice sounded:
"To show our attention for Cartethyia, I have arranged for Huaxu Academy to give Cartethyia a full-body examination including Resonance abilities. If possible, could I trouble you to bring her there?"
"Alright."
...
Strong winds carried waves crashing against the deck of the merchant ship. In the distance, several seagulls flew across gloomy clouds, with faint rumbling thunder.
"Zani, the wind today is quite noisy."
Carlotta leaned against the railing on the second deck of the merchant ship. The strong wind blew her skirt and hair about. Despite the bad weather, she comfortably narrowed her eyes.
Zani beside her replied:
"Second Young Miss, I haven't seen you smile this happily in a long time."
"Have I? I'm clearly happy every day."
"No, the past few days you were always worried and working at high intensity, even more hardworking than me."
However—
Zani looked at Carlotta's radiant complexion and couldn't help touching her own dark circles.
They were clearly on a business trip for work. How was the Second Young Miss so full of energy? She even looked… unusually expectant?
This expression of impending happiness was last seen when a certain rich young lady welcomed her overseas lover returning home.
"Never mind. Let me first summarize our work arrangements for you."
Setting aside some thoughts unrelated to work, Zani began her report:
"First, we will disembark at Jinzhou's dock at dusk, organize our luggage, and send someone to Jinzhou City Hall to inquire about the procedures needed to promote Quick Tone …"
"Leave that matter to you, Zani. I have other important things to do."
Carlotta sneezed, rubbed her small nose, and a faint smile appeared on her face:
"When Tall Chestnut sees me, he will definitely be very surprised!"