Chapter 72 Chapter 72: We, the 'Company,' Are Absolutely Fair and Honest with All Customers, Boss
Chapter 72: We, the 'Company,' Are Absolutely Fair and Honest with All Customers, Boss
The Interastral Peace Corporation—believe that as long as a civilization has developed to a certain extent and is aware that countless life-bearing planets exist in the vast universe, they have definitely heard of this colossal organization's name.
In terms of external propaganda, the Company is a mega-corporate conglomerate advocating for free trade; from an operational perspective, the Company is a business dictatorship that issues currency and monopolizes resources; considering its founding purpose, the Company is a selfless supporter dedicated to offering everything to the Aeon of Preservation.
When most interstellar citizens talk about the Company, they always mention its ubiquitous products and eye-catching logos: as if 'wherever there is trade, there is the Interastral Peace Corporation.'
In fact, almost all commercial activities in the galaxy are indeed built upon the Company's 'Credit' system. If interstellar trade were compared to a sports competition, then the Company is both the top athlete, the various sports events, the playing field, and the rules themselves.
Absolute dominance over wealth, coupled with never-ending expansion, has created a public image of the Interastral Peace Corporation as a conspiratorial dictator. However, the Company pays no mind to such lowly ambitions as 'covering the sky with one hand,' because its corporate spirit has remained unchanged since its inception:
To dedicate everything to the 'Amber Lord'—Qlipoth.
A cosmic commercial giant focused on developing trade, its true identity is an organization completely devoted to 'Preservation,' much like the 'City-Builders.' Such a contrast is somewhat hard to believe.
Moreover, according to all observational records, the Amber Lord has always strived to isolate interactions between worlds, yet the existence of the 'Company' promotes civilizational exchange and integration across the starry seas... Not only has the Amber Lord allowed such actions like a silent giant, but there are even Emanators within the 'Company' capable of borrowing the power of 'Preservation.' This behavior, running counter to the deity's apparent will, has not incurred any condemnation, which is truly thought-provoking.
Whether there are common points between the Paths of trade and 'Preservation' is debatable for now. But at least for Belobog at this moment, recovering from ruin, the arrival of the 'Company' is absolutely no less than timely assistance.
Fortunately, even today, the Aurum alloy produced on Jarilo-VI remains a rare and special energy source for the 'Company.' Its most valuable aspect is certainly not energy utilization efficiency, but its pollution-free conversion and appearance very close to amber.
And this person claiming to be a 'Company' trade representative not only brought them a mineral trade contract with favorable terms but even agreed to assist Jarilo-VI in restoring and developing its original ecosystem... This made Bronya, who isn't very knowledgeable about commercial trade, unable to help but suspect: could this guy be a scammer?
But no matter how much she thought about it, it seemed present-day Belobog had nothing that could attract interstellar fraudsters. Besides, even if such people did come, they couldn't stop them at all; wouldn't directly robbing be better?
The most important point was still that the other party had indeed brought a series of trade goods to Belobog—and among them, the most mysterious thing was undoubtedly this signal base station said to be able to establish communication across the entire galaxy. What was it called... a phone?
So, is this little square gadget really that magical?
After the preliminary negotiations with the Company envoy ended, Bronya cautiously held the small square block shoved into her hand by the other party, examining it repeatedly, but she couldn't figure out at all how to use this thing.
If only March 7th and the others hadn't left yet. Bronya remembered seeing them skillfully using this thing called a phone... As for Seele, forget it; she can't even operate the automatic doors in the Overworld.
Bronya casually put this thing away, preparing to continue handling various matters in Belobog. As the newly appointed 'Supreme Guardian,' present-day Belobog still had countless government affairs waiting for her decisions; she didn't even have time to entertain that important trade representative a bit longer.
But coincidentally at that moment, that 'Company' trade representative suddenly emerged from the meeting room behind, trotting over to Bronya's side.
"Um... aside from those formal matters of the 'Company,' I have some things I'd like to ask a bit about... How exactly was the Stellaron on this planet resolved?"
Judging solely by appearance, this was even a young girl whose height hadn't surpassed Bronya's. If the other party hadn't had ways to prove their identity, she would never have associated a young girl with a massive cosmic behemoth like the 'Company.'
Now, the girl changed her serious demeanor from the negotiations and somewhat cautiously leaned close to Bronya's ear, continuing softly: "I mean, when you defeated the Stellaron, there must have been some divine miracle bestowed by the Amber Lord or something like that, right?"
"Divine miracle...?"
Mentioning this immediately made Bronya subconsciously think of Kevin's strike back then that tore through the sky, as if heavenly fire descended upon the world.
If there was any divine miracle to speak of, probably nothing could compare to that.
Seeing Bronya's expression turn reminiscent, the girl immediately realized she had absolutely asked the right person and hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "For the 'Company,' following the traces of the Amber Lord takes priority over any transaction. If it's an object, the 'Company' can offer a high price for recovery; if it's a person, that's even better—they might even be able to join the 'Company' directly, with a status much higher than a small employee like me!"
Generally speaking, as long as one sufficiently aligns with a certain Path, treading that Path and becoming a Pathstrider isn't difficult. Great existences like 'Aeons' don't care whether they have gained a few more followers... But Pathstriders who have received an Aeon's attention are completely different.
The prerequisite for becoming an Emanator is first receiving an Aeon's attention. And even if one cannot become an Emanator, those who have felt an Aeon's gaze possess abilities completely unmatched by ordinary Pathstriders.
Especially for an indifferent Aeon like the Amber Lord, an entire Amber Era might not necessarily have even one person capable of attracting His attention. You must know there are countless civilizations in the universe, and each civilization has at least billions of people!
For fanatical faith organizations like the 'Company,' they spare no effort in following an Aeon's footsteps.
"This..."
After hearing the girl's words, Bronya paused slightly for a moment before finally speaking with some hesitation: "I'm actually not sure whether something you speak of exists in Belobog or if there are people who have received an Aeon's attention. That great existence is after all too far from us."
"But I can assure you: I will send people to investigate this matter. If there is any news, I will notify you immediately."
Bronya certainly couldn't do something like directly selling out Kevin, so she could only try to give the other party an ambiguous reply and then find an opportunity later to ask Kevin for his own opinion.
Strictly speaking, such behavior and thinking were of course not problematic. She just completely forgot one thing—the 'Company' that dominates the galaxy has far too many methods that her perspective, limited merely to Belobog, could never anticipate.
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