At that moment in Qlipoth Fort, in a spacious meeting room, the atmosphere was especially tense.
Everyone had a sheet of paper filled with black text in front of them.
"Lady Cocolia, Lady Bronya, is what's written here true? Could it be they're just trying to scam us for a fortune!?"
The speaker was a noble.
"If this were entertainment, I wouldn't have gathered you all here."
Bronya's expression was grim, and her words put a definitive end to any doubts about the matter's authenticity.
-----------------------------------
Everyone fell silent at that moment.
Suddenly, someone's eyes lit up.
"How about we report this to the Honored Deity?" But they were cut off before they could finish.
"If even this kind of matter needs to be reported to the Honored Deity, then what use are we?"
What followed was an argument as noisy as a marketplace.
"Wow, what are they arguing about?"
Standing at the doorway, Serval scratched her head in confusion.
If they could hear it through such a well-soundproofed door, this must be a big deal.
"I'm coming in."
…
Meanwhile, on the Xianzhou Luofu.
Having just returned to the Luofu, Yukong did not rest. Instead, she went straight to the General's Mansion, accompanied by Tingyun and Ji Yi. Yanqing, being a guard under the general's command, considered returning to the mansion no different from returning home.
Looking at the two standing in a line before him, clearly confused, Jing Yuan nodded thoughtfully.
He appeared calm, but inside, waves of shock were surging.
After a moment, he spoke.
"This time, it was a failure in reconnaissance. Ji Yi, you've worked hard. I'll have someone prepare a list of rewards for you later, in recognition of your service in saving everyone."
"Glad to serve the Luofu!"
Hearing Jing Yuan personally commend him, Ji Yi was visibly thrilled.
As a lower-ranking officer in the Cloud Knights, it was rare for him to even meet General Jing Yuan unless it was a major festival—let alone receive such praise!
Jing Yuan smiled slightly, "You've earned it. You've worked hard all the way here. Take a good rest—I've approved three months of paid leave for you."
"Yes, sir!"
Once Ji Yi had left, Yukong couldn't wait to ask, "Well?"
Faced with the confused and bewildered expressions of the others, Jing Yuan nodded gravely.
"There is indeed such a tendency. Both Ji Yi and Yanqing's entire demeanor has changed."
Still feeling lost, Yanqing finally couldn't hold back and asked, "General, what exactly is going on? Is there something wrong with us?"
Jing Yuan chuckled softly: "Not something wrong—rather, something very right."
He cast his gaze at the unusually well-behaved Tingyun at his side.
This cunning little fox was usually never this quiet—it seemed she'd guessed something based on his attitude.
Without hiding anything, he directly explained what might be present on Godzilla.
When they heard that Godzilla could suppress Mara, both of them were stunned.
Especially Tingyun—she never would've imagined that the usually lazy Godzilla, who only showed a dominant side when something serious happened, would possess such an earth-shaking ability.
Whether or not it could eliminate Mara, the mere fact that it could suppress it was enough to shock the entire universe!
That was the blessing of the Aeon of Abundance!
Immediately, a sense of unease filled her.
Was this kind of knowledge something she was even allowed to know?
Although she understood that Jing Yuan must have had his reasons for telling her this—and Yukong didn't stop him either—such a shocking revelation was not something a "little fox" like her could easily handle!
Seeing the usually sly and clever Tingyun looking so flustered, Yukong couldn't help but laugh out loud.
It was rare to see Tingyun like this.
There was, of course, a reason for revealing this to the two of them.
Yanqing was someone Jing Yuan was grooming heavily, so he would naturally have him interact with Godzilla. As for Tingyun…
At that moment, Jing Yuan's expression turned solemn, his gaze burning as he looked at the still-bewildered Tingyun, trying to make sense of the general's intention.
"Miss Tingyun, I have an important task to entrust to you. Would you be willing to accept it?"
Taking a deep breath, Tingyun nodded despite not understanding.
"I would like to appoint you as the Luofu's cultural exchange ambassador to Jarilo."
"Huh?"
This sudden change made Tingyun's brain freeze for two seconds. Very quickly, her clever mind regained control and sorted out everything that had just happened.
"So the General actually wanted me to get along with Godzilla? You should've just said so earlier! I was scared out of my wits just now! Besides, I've always had a good relationship with Godzilla, no need for the General to worry!"
Tingyun pouted discontentedly at Yukong—teaming up with the General to launch a mental assault on her? Yukong, you're bad!
"General, is it really okay to just tell me something this big so casually?"
Compared to Tingyun's calm acceptance, Yanqing was a bit at a loss.
He was still a child—was something this big really something he should know?
Seeing Yanqing showing his childish side, Jing Yuan let out a chuckle.
"Precisely because it's you. The future Sword Champion must not be troubled by Mara."
"Besides that..." Jing Yuan looked at Yukong. Knowing what he was about to ask, Yukong shook her head and said,
"Unfortunately, I haven't found any trace of Godzilla along the way. Even if there are more Godzilla's out there, I'm afraid the one on Jarilo might be the only one we can reach for a long time."
After learning about the existence of Godzilla, Jing Yuan had Yukong keep an extra eye out on her return trip, and he mobilized his own intelligence network to search the universe.
But so far, there had been no news.
"According to Mr. Welt from the Astral Express, Godzilla should belong to a species. No one knows where such a wondrous race could be."
Through Cocolia, Yukong had managed to join the group chat of the Express Crew. To prevent the Xianzhou from developing any unrealistic ideas about Godzilla, Welt had shared some information about it.
The theory that Godzilla belonged to a species was Yukong's own deduction.
"Hmm? Cocolia?" Just as she was about to ask Welt for more information, Yukong suddenly froze.
She opened Cocolia's message, and her expression darkened.
"What is it?" Jing Yuan asked in surprise.
"It's the IPC. Topaz from the debt department has shown up on Jarilo to collect a loan that the IPC gave to Jarilo seven hundred years ago."
"Seven hundred years..." Jing Yuan was so shocked by the number that his usually half-closed eyes opened wide. He started calculating how much debt could accumulate over seven centuries…
Hiss~ Even selling ten Yanqing's wouldn't be enough to pay it back.
"Why would someone from the IPC show up—could it be because of us?" Tingyun immediately thought of how they had entered Jarilo while being chased by the swarm.
It wasn't hard to guess. That path hadn't seen swarm activity in centuries, and they walked it once and suddenly there was trouble. Of course the company would pay attention.
"Seven hundred years of interest—compound interest even if it were just one coin—that's still an astronomical number. This is bad."
Tingyun frowned tightly.
Even she had never seen a sum of money that large.
And it just had to be Jarilo—where Godzilla and her friends were. Standing by and doing nothing? She couldn't accept that.
Jing Yuan pondered for a moment. "Yukong, have them use our name for now, try to stall for time. Miss Tingyun, the situation is urgent. I have to trouble you to make another trip. Yanqing, you go with her."
Without hesitation, Jing Yuan packed Yanqing off as well.
An opportunity to build rapport like this couldn't be missed.
...
In the middle of the heated debate, Bronya suddenly heard a "ding" from her pocket.