Upon hearing the question, Ms. Emerald’s expression remained unchanged; she was calm and quite willing to enlighten him.
“The answer might be simpler than you think: Credit Points, the most beloved thing by people, the only recognized constant value currency in the interstellar space. The IPC has the ability to ensure it never devalues.
With every world that joins the Credit System’s territory, the cause of universal peace will add another brick, until all foreign exchange, capital, and trade are unified under a single currency system.
By then, the development of all planets will be accounted for, with clear entries; all concepts can be defined, valued, exchanged, and circulated, and its core is Preservation’s ‘Credit’.”
“Then, the IPC will be able to manipulate everything.”
Old Audi’s tone seemed a bit listless.
But Ms. Emerald smiled faintly and retorted:
“We just want to establish eternal ‘Preservation’. So you must also understand—a universe does not need two ‘orders’.”
Old Audi fell silent, but after a few seconds, he let out his characteristic laugh again.
“Ho ho ho ho, alright, alright! You’ve convinced me. If my guess isn’t wrong, the plan you mentioned earlier should be related to the shares that were spun off, right?”
Ms. Emerald’s lips curved upward; she didn’t answer directly, but instead looked towards the door and spoke in a calm tone.
“Topaz…”
“Hmm?”
Seeing this, Old Audi also turned his gaze to the conference room door.
The door slowly opened, and three figures appeared: one male and two females.
It was Topaz, Himeko, and Welt.
As the three approached, Ms. Emerald spoke with a professional smile:
“Thank you for coming, Ms. Himeko… and Mr. Welt here.”
Then, Ms. Emerald looked at Old Audi again.
“Mr. Audi, allow me to introduce you—these two are future shareholders of Penacony, Ms. Himeko of the Astral Express, and Mr. Welt.”
Subsequently, the people in the conference room began a new round of negotiations.
— — — —
On the other side, on The Opaline… Firefly, with the help of Silver Wolf, also arrived on the deck of this luxurious airship.
“The process of sneaking in was even easier than I thought. The Family’s security is still as full of loopholes.”
Firefly pondered, quite satisfied with the current situation.
Meanwhile… a Family member nearby silently turned around and lowered his head… He seemed to have heard something incredible just now? But it wasn’t important; he wouldn’t believe that someone who could sneak in silently was as harmless as her appearance suggested.
Besides, for such a small monthly wage, why risk his life?
Since no one else noticed, he would just pretend he saw nothing… Firefly seemed to notice something and turned to look at him… Immediately, the Family member buried his head even lower.
After a long while, when the Family member slowly raised his head, Firefly had already disappeared… Just as he was wondering whether to secretly report it, his eyes suddenly glazed over for a moment, then he scratched his head, looking a bit confused.
“What was I going to do just now?”
And after this Family member left, Jiang Lin’s figure appeared in his original spot.
Yes, his deal with Aventurine was complete.
Jiang Lin looked at his surroundings. If he remembered correctly, this place would soon belong to the Astral Express.
He thought for a moment, and for some reason, a sudden surge of ambition filled his heart.
“I’ll be the captain from now on!”
And what Jiang Lin still didn’t know was that the mask he had taken from Herta once again formed a smile.
After saying this, Jiang Lin silently admired his future territory.
But he quickly grew bored; he felt he shouldn’t waste time here.
So, Jiang Lin sent messages to March 7th and the others in the group chat.
“Jiang Lin: Where are you?”
“Dan Heng: Shared location with you.”
After getting their location, which was quite close, Jiang Lin was about to head over when he heard the voice of a tall female tourist nearby.
“Hey, did you see him? There’s a gray-haired person over there.”
And opposite her, a short Pipisi person warned:
“Don’t look around, drink your wine! That person looks mentally unstable.”
Hearing this conversation, Jiang Lin, who was already planning to find them, became even more interested. He absolutely had to go see what was going on.
He hadn’t walked two steps when he saw Stelle and March 7th.
“Chirp chirp… chirp chirp… Origami bird, little chirpy.”
“You, you fellow, hurry up and come down!”
Stelle was engaged in her usual abstract antics, while March 7th at this moment wished she could burrow into the ground.
She deeply regretted not running off with Dan Heng.
And when Jiang Lin saw this scene, he stopped his approach and unconsciously took two steps back.
But Herta’s mask, once again, showed a smile without anyone knowing.
— — — —
On the other side, the people in the conference room also concluded their negotiations.
In Ms. Emerald’s room,
“Old Audi agreed, so this hurdle is over, right? What about the remaining few Family heads…”
Topaz said, looking thoughtful.
“They will also recognize the situation. When the last question was asked, Old Audi represented more than just the Clover Family.”
Ms. Emerald stood with one hand on her hip, quite confident.
“When would be a good time for the formal meeting with the Family? I’ll arrange it.”
“I’ll leave it to you. You can handle the upcoming negotiations and handover; I won’t be participating.”
Ms. Emerald smiled faintly, naturally pushing all the upcoming work onto Topaz.
“Ah? Ms. Emerald, this…”
Topaz was a little incredulous.
“This case was originally taken on by Aventurine, and you are his designated project partner. If that child hadn’t played too recklessly, I wouldn’t have been pushed to the forefront.
I came today to help you remove the most stubborn obstacle. I believe you can bring this deal to a good close, Xiao Yelina.”
Topaz seemed encouraged, and she confidently assured:
“Of course, no problem at all. And please rest assured, Diamond.”
“Rest assured, Diamond always trusts us. I’ll put in a good word for you; getting back to P45 won’t be an issue.”
With that, Ms. Emerald began to survey the luxurious airship.
“The Opaline, what a magnificent ship. Now that business is done, I should attend to my little hobby.”
“You want to open House of the Golden Touch on this ship too?”
“After all, opportunities like this are rare. Look at the guests on this ship; we’re sure to find many valuable treasures from them.
That’s how it is; a pawnshop can’t open without its proprietress. See you later, Topaz.”
Topaz nodded, then seemed to remember something and spoke up.
“Oh, Ms. Emerald, Aventurine said he wants to treat us, so the three of us can have a good get-together.”
Ms. Emerald smiled faintly: “Alright, let me know when…”