Having successfully passed the responsibility onto someone else, Topaz felt lighter than ever. After regrouping with Gepard, she continued on to Qlipoth Fort.
Inside the fortress, Bronya was busy with paperwork. Belobog was in the midst of rebuilding, and there were countless tasks to complete—she barely had time to rest. Apart from handling administrative duties, she was also waiting for Topaz's arrival.
"Supreme Guardian, I have brought the representatives from the company."
Looking at Gepard and Topaz standing before her, Bronya nodded. "Very well, Gepard, you may leave."
"Understood!"
For some reason, Gepard felt a strange sense of déjà vu—Bronya's tone seemed oddly familiar. If he thought about it carefully, the last time she spoke this way was when Pei Guang and the others first arrived.
However, unlike back then, Topaz didn't have the capability to stir up chaos in Qlipoth Fort.
After Gepard left, Topaz turned to Bronya and spoke. "Greetings. I am Topaz from the Strategic Investment Department of the Interastral Peace Corporation. I assume you are already aware of the purpose of my visit?"
Hearing this, Bronya nodded. "I would like to know—after seven hundred years, just how much debt does Belobog owe?"
Topaz could immediately sense an unusual level of confidence in Bronya's tone, as if she didn't consider this debt a big deal at all.
Of course, this was a misunderstanding: Bronya actually took this debt very seriously. However, with Seele's assistance, Belobog now had the ability to repay it. The weekly 20% revenue share from the Echo of War space amounted to astronomical figures, giving her full confidence in settling the company's claims.
Topaz smirked. "Mmm~ It's a lot. I'll send you the detailed statement. But, well… this matter isn't my responsibility anymore."
"Hmm?"
Since the company had marked the debt collection as completed on her part, she no longer needed to worry about it. Instead, someone from the Marketing Development Department would take over this task.
According to Topaz's estimations, even with Belobog's discovery of special construction materials, the higher-ups probably wouldn't get involved directly. Most likely, the job would be handled by a P45 or P46-level employee from Marketing Development.
After all, from their perspective, Belobog was just a small planet that had escaped doomsday by sheer luck, thanks to the Trailblazers.
Surely, controlling it would be easy, right?
If this were any other planet, Topaz might have agreed. She wouldn't believe any ordinary world could resist the corporation's grip. But this planet…
Topaz wasn't exaggerating—whoever took this job was doomed.
Meanwhile, Bronya received the debt statement from Topaz. The moment she saw the numbers, she fell into complete silence.
If the 20% revenue share from the Echo of War space was already an astronomical sum… then this debt was nearly fifty times that amount. In other words, Seele would need to farm Echo of War for an entire year just to pay it off.
Topaz carefully observed Bronya's reaction. She noticed that although Bronya furrowed her brows slightly upon seeing the figure, she wasn't overly troubled by it.
This only further solidified Topaz's belief—Belobog could definitely repay this debt.
Was this amount considered large?
Not really, at least not from Topaz's perspective. The Interastral Peace Corporation was a capitalist enterprise, but due to their faith in Qlipoth, they generally did not issue high-interest loans to war-torn planets.
When Belobog first took out its loans 280 years ago, the Strategic Investment Department estimated that, if the Antimatter Legion invasion could be resolved within 100 years, the remaining century would be enough to rebuild. Given Belobog's former economic level, they projected that it would take 80 years to fully repay the debt.
While the corporation did seek profit, their true objective was securing resources to offer as tribute to the Amber Lord, Qlipoth. To the company, money was just a number—as long as they could extract resources from planets, money itself wasn't important.
After all, the company already controlled the economies of most of the known universe. In a system like that, what value did money really hold?
Seven hundred years had passed. Even if the original loan had been issued at a standard interest rate, the accumulated debt had now grown to at least fifty times the principal.
Back when Belobog first took out the loan, it was estimated that, under normal circumstances, the planet could have repaid it within a hundred years. If Belobog had continued its development without outside assistance, then given the current growth rate, even five hundred years might not have been enough to pay it all back.
But that was assuming Pei Guang wasn't involved.
With Pei Guang's intervention, Belobog now had leverage. Thanks to the 20% revenue share he had secured for them, the debt could realistically be repaid in just one year. This realization made Bronya glance at Topaz.
Bronya spoke calmly. "It is indeed an astronomical figure. However, please convey a message—Belobog will repay this debt as quickly as possible."
Topaz raised her hand to stop her. "Wait, wait, wait~ This isn't my job anymore. I'm just here to invest in this planet. As for the debt collection, that'll be handled by the next department in line. What I do want to discuss is an investment opportunity—I've realized that this planet has great potential. Would you be interested in hearing my proposal?"
Bronya narrowed her eyes slightly. "Does Belobog even have the qualifications to negotiate investments with the company?"
Topaz smiled. "Of course! The spirit and determination of the people here tell me that you're worth partnering with."
As a member of the Strategic Investment Department, there was no way Topaz was going to let such a promising planet slip through her fingers. Before the Marketing Development Department arrived, she was determined to secure her foothold in Belobog.
Even if she couldn't fully control the business here, at the very least, she needed to leave a good impression on its people.
She knew exactly what kind of people worked in the Marketing Development Department: aggressive, domineering, and completely lacking in subtlety.
Their usual approach was to overwhelm a planet's economy using the company's financial resources, crush local markets, and force planets into dependency. They'd then negotiate with the local leadership from a position of absolute advantage, ensuring the planet became another corporate asset.
Compared to the planets that signed contracts with her department, the ones handled by the Marketing Development one lost their entire economic system and became fully absorbed into the company's control.
And they definitely wouldn't take a planet like Belobog seriously. A civilization that couldn't even leave its homeworld? They'd underestimate it for sure.
The thought alone made Topaz grin. Let them come. Let them try. I'll be watching from the sidelines when they fail spectacularly.
Of course, how did she know they would fail? It was simple—Marketing Development's entire strategy relied on financial dominance and systematic takeover.
But Belobog wasn't just any struggling planet.
Belobog had Pei Guang.