Jade summoned an Interastral Peace Corporation employee.
"Bring the gift I prepared."
The employee quickly ran to the back and returned with a book, handing it to Clara.
Jade walked up to Clara and handed her the book.
"Here, Clara, this is a gift from your big sister."
Clara accepted the book, and when she saw the title, she was overjoyed—she had searched for this book on her shopping app for a long time but couldn't find it.
"Thank you, big sister. Clara really likes it."
Jade smiled gently.
"As long as you like it."
Jade glanced at Topaz, who was already negotiating with Ye Yun.
After thinking for a moment, Jade said, "Clara, can you take me to see where you live?"
Clara agreed and led Jade toward the Mechanical Settlement.
Seeing this, Himeko also followed.
She had heard of Jade's name before—one of the Ten Stonehearts was no ordinary figure.
Half an hour later, Clara brought Jade to the Mechanical Settlement.
Upon arriving, they saw Svarog waiting for them.
"Welcome home, Clara."
The robot "Family" also greeted her.
"Welcome home, Clara."
Clara happily waved her hand.
"Mr. Svarog, Family, Clara's back. This is a big sister Clara knows, her name is Jade."
Jade looked curiously at the two robots before her.
These two were quite interesting—they had actually developed their own "personalities."
"Hello."
Svarog scanned Jade up and down.
"Welcome to the Mechanical Settlement."
After greeting her, Svarog turned to Clara.
"Clara, go rest in your room. I'll have food prepared."
Clara smiled happily and agreed.
She then took Jade to her room.
Clara also called in Family and introduced it proudly, like a child reporting good news to a parent.
Jade listened attentively, surprised by Clara's outstanding mechanical talent.
She had only studied for a few days and was already capable of creating machine soldiers.
Just then, a loud alarm suddenly rang out across the settlement, piercing the air.
Clara and Himeko rushed outside and saw Svarog organizing the machine soldiers to head to the perimeter.
Clara quickly asked, "Mr. Svarog, what's going on?"
Svarog replied, "A large hostile force has been detected invading the settlement. I'm organizing a defense."
Using her binoculars, Himeko looked toward the edge of the settlement and frowned.
"The Antimatter Legion!"
Jade also frowned upon hearing this.
"What are they doing here?"
After thinking for a moment, Himeko quickly realized the reason.
"These must be the Antimatter Legion that were frozen by the Stellaron earlier. Now that the Stellaron has been sealed and with Stelle's recent strike, they've been released."
Jade sighed. "This planet really can't catch a break. Just got rid of the Stellaron, and now this."
The two quickly joined the battle.
Clara also picked up a small, homemade pistol and started shooting.
There were simply too many Antimatter Legion soldiers this time, and the machine soldiers were steadily pushed back.
Even with Svarog, Himeko, and Jade anchoring the defense, the tide couldn't be turned.
Before long, a breach was forced open, and a swarm of Voidrangers poured into the settlement.
At that moment, the light on Family's head suddenly turned red.
"Combat Mode: Activated!"
Suddenly, Family shot forward.
Upon landing, it punched clean through the chest of a Voidranger, instantly killing it.
More enemies swarmed in, and Family swept them away with a spinning kick.
Agile and powerful, Family tore through the Voidrangers like a storm.
Himeko was shocked by Family's prowess—wasn't it supposed to be a medical robot? How did it have such terrifying combat abilities?
Clara had indeed built it following the blueprints. The only possible variable Himeko could think of… was the materials Ye Yun had provided.
With Family's addition, the defense line barely held.
Soon, reinforcements arrived.
Stelle and the others rode snowmobiles in, leading a large force of Silvermane Guards.
Stelle jumped off her snowmobile and drew the Judgment of Shamash, ready to strike, when March 7th quickly stopped her.
"Careful! Don't use that move again."
Stelle nodded and charged into the enemy ranks with her weapon.
Rios strolled calmly through the battlefield, surrounded by a tide of Voidrangers.
He glanced at them with disdain and stomped down hard.
"Wildfire Ignition!"
Flames erupted outward from Rios, incinerating all nearby enemies.
Welt and Dan Heng suddenly joined the battle from another direction.
They had just returned from collecting samples, only to find the settlement under attack.
Welt channeled energy into his Star of Eden, creating a small black hole that devoured the Legion.
Dan Heng dashed around the battlefield, heading straight for the front lines to assist.
On a nearby hilltop, Ye Yun stood watching the battlefield below.
Bronya stood beside him.
"What are these monsters?"
Topaz, who had come along as well, answered, "The Antimatter Legion. Minions of the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook."
With that, she ordered her company's personnel to join the fight.
After all, Planet Jarilo-VI was likely to become company property in the future—they couldn't let the Legion destroy it.
Thanks to everyone's combined efforts, the invading Antimatter Legion was completely wiped out.
Everyone regrouped.
Svarog looked at them and said, "Thank you all for helping the Mechanical Settlement."
The others said it was no big deal—just something they did in passing.
Bronya added, "Mr. Svarog, no need to thank us. We're family, after all."
Topaz said, "No need to thank me either. I was just protecting company property."
Everyone turned to look at Topaz in confusion.
"Company property?" Bronya asked, puzzled.
Topaz nodded and pulled up a contract on her phone.
"That's right—company property."
She handed the phone to Bronya.
"You're the one in charge here, right? Take a look."
Bronya took the phone, and after reading it, her expression turned grim.
"How could this be?"
Stelle peeked over curiously.
"Whoa! That many credits?! Wait—Bronya, you owe the company this much money?!"
Bronya shook her head.
"I had no idea… I've never heard of this before."
Topaz said, "Of course you haven't. This debt was taken on who-knows-how-many years ago."
Bronya stared at the string of zeroes on the contract, feeling a headache coming on.
***
Administrative District of Belobog—Inside Bronya's Office
After some negotiations, Bronya let Topaz go take a rest while she herself needed time to think.
Bronya was deeply troubled. She never expected Belobog to be burdened with such a massive debt.
Just when the people had finally started living good lives, hardship loomed once more.
Bronya thought it over and decided to ask Stelle and the others about how their company had handled similar situations in the past and what the outcomes were.
Meanwhile, on Topaz's side...
She brought her subordinates to the Mechanical Settlement, where she found Jade eating lunch.
Today's meal was provided by Ye Yun—sauerkraut and pork dumplings.
"Jade, I'm here."
Jade looked up from her dumplings and saw Topaz walking in through the main gate.
"Little Jelena, perfect timing! We just started eating. Want some?"
Topaz was a bit at a loss for words.
Jade, how can you be so chummy with the enemy? We just fought this morning!
Seeing this, Jade scooped a bowl of dumplings and handed it to Topaz.
"Come on, try it! These are really tasty. I was thinking of buying the recipe from Ye Yun.
I want to take it back and have our useless company chefs learn how real master chefs cook."
Topaz sniffed the dumplings—they did smell quite good.
More importantly, her stomach was already growling.
She glanced at Stelle devouring dumplings in the distance and sighed.
To be fair, it was our side that struck first...
And she had to admit, Stelle's sword strike earlier had been quite effective. The surviving Interastral Peace Corporation employees were now behaving themselves in Belobog, obedient as could be.
Topaz accepted the dumplings and started eating.
Not long after, Bronya arrived at the settlement and, naturally, saw Topaz and Jade eating together.
Bronya made her way to Stelle's table.
Stelle was seated with March 7th, Lumine, Amber, Eula, Hu Tao, Paimon, and Seele.
Stelle found it too tedious to eat one dumpling at a time, so she had skewered several onto her chopsticks and was eating them like kebabs.
She coughed twice to get the others' attention.
"Watch this awesome trick!"
She then stuffed all 8 dumplings from the chopsticks into her mouth at once, completely filling her cheeks.
The girls stared in disbelief, then burst into applause.
Hu Tao suddenly stood up to imitate her.
"The Head of the Hall will try too!"
The others joined in the fun, each trying to gobble down a string of dumplings.
Soon, the table had several "hamsters" furiously chewing away.
Bronya stepped up.
"Good afternoon, everyone."
Seeing Bronya, Seele moved her dishes to make space and called over a stoplight-colored robot to bring extra utensils.
Once Bronya sat down, Seele had already scooped some dumplings for her.
The dumplings were stored in a thermal container nearby—Ye Yun had made hundreds at once, so people could help themselves.
"Bronya, try this. It's really good."
Bronya forced a smile and took a bite.
Across from her, Hu Tao noticed Bronya seemed troubled and asked, "Bronya, is something bothering you?"
Bronya sighed and told everyone about Belobog's debt crisis.
March 7th was quick to respond.
"Bronya, you mustn't sign anything. So what if you owe money? Just work hard and pay it back."
Bronya nodded.
"Yes, but that means future generations in Belobog will live in hardship."
Seele patted her chest.
"No worries! We survived the Stellaron crisis—what's this compared to that?"
Bronya smiled, heartened.
True, the people of Belobog weren't afraid of hardship.
But… the company was demanding immediate repayment, and Belobog's credit was already exhausted.
Just then, Ye Yun walked over carrying Klee.
"Bronya, I actually have a way that might help clear that debt."
Bronya looked up anxiously.
"What is it?"
Ye Yun replied:
"I can contact someone for you. If she's willing, this whole debt problem will be nothing."
Stelle asked curiously:
"Who is it, Ye Yun? Do we know her?"
Ye Yun smiled.
"You and March both know her. The station master of Herta Space Station—Asta."
As soon as the name "Asta" was mentioned, both March 7th and Stelle immediately understood.
Of course! If Asta was willing to step in, this issue would be resolved in minutes.
"Right! Why didn't I think of that?" March 7th said, slapping her forehead.
Seeing their reactions, Bronya chose to trust Ye Yun's words.
She quickly made her decision.
"Ye Yun, could you please arrange a meeting with her?"
Ye Yun set Klee down and ruffled her hair.
"Klee, go play with big sis Himeko for a bit. Big brother Ye Yun has some business to take care of."
Klee nodded sweetly and ran off to find Himeko.
Ye Yun pulled out his phone and called Asta.
Soon, the call connected.
Asta: "Good afternoon, Ye Yun."
Yeyun: "Hey Asta, do you have a moment? I've got a friend who wants to discuss some business with you."
Asta: "Sure. Should I head over to your shop?"
Yeyun paused. He'd been planning to meet at his shop, but remembered there was no teleportation gate from the space station.
"I'll send you a location. If you've got time, drop by."
They ended the call.
Ye Yun turned to Bronya.
"She's agreed. She should be here soon."
Bronya gratefully responded, "Thank you, Ye Yun."
Yeyun smiled.
"No problem. Just start thinking about what kind of compensation you're ready to offer."
Bronya nodded and pulled Stelle and the others aside to discuss it.
Meanwhile, aboard the Herta Space Station...
Asta, accompanied by a team of guards, headed to the launch platform to board a starship bound for Jarilo-VI.
Just as Asta was about to board, Herta suddenly popped her head out from the side.
"You're going to see Ye Yun? Count me in."
Without waiting for a reply, Herta walked right into the starship.
Asta wasn't surprised at all—Madam Herta always did as she pleased.
Once inside, Asta found Herta already sitting on the couch, a bag of Stellar Jade casually dropped on the floor beside her.
Herta asked curiously:
"So why the sudden visit to Ye Yun?"
Asta replied:
"Ye Yun asked me. Said a friend of his wants to talk business."