While Pei Guang was heading toward Svarog, Donatan had already brought his team to the Underworld. After ordering his people to lock down the entire lower district, he made his way to the mechanical settlement to find Svarog.
He came alone. Upon seeing a stranger appear, Clara immediately hid behind Svarog.
"Heh, seems the intel was right. An unbreakable bond between a large robot and a little girl… how heartwarming."
Donatan's words made Svarog's red optics flicker. According to its emotional analysis, it could determine this person's words were insincere. He didn't care at all about the bond between it and Clara—he had another agenda.
But Svarog didn't speak immediately. It had already noticed the emblem of the Interastral Peace Corporation on Donatan's chest. Upon recognizing it, Svarog directly asked, "You bear the insignia of the Interastral Peace Corporation. Why are you here?"
Although Topaz had been in the Underworld coordinating with Giovanni on the Aetherium Wars event, she had never met Svarog nor interacted with any automatons in the settlement. As such, Svarog had no knowledge of the company's activities.
Hearing Svarog's question, Donatan looked back at him and said, "Jarilo-VI—this planet beneath your feet—is about to become company property. No one can stop that outcome, not even the other factions of the galaxy. That's why I need your cooperation.
I need the support of all Belobog's automatons. If you don't help us peacefully take control of this planet, the company will resort to more aggressive methods to make it submit."
Donatan's tone was steeped in command. In his eyes, taking this planet was already a done deal. What's more, he had made preparations for Belobog's automatons and robots as well.
Svarog remained silent, but then its red optics began to pulse with light as it responded firmly, "Impossible. The company cannot occupy this planet. Doing so would bring losses the company cannot afford. It's not something they'll actually pursue."
Svarog's internal processors ran rapidly as it analyzed the situation. It drew from its database, particularly records of its link with Pei Guang's planet-destroying battleship. That warship could easily annihilate an unguarded planet—one without Path power protection.
Even if protected by a Path, the sheer destructive power it carried could wipe out all life on a planet's surface in an instant.
Based on its current data, if a war were to break out without restraint, the company might be able to destroy the battleship—but the price would be far too high. This battleship was specifically designed to annihilate planets and even stars, equipped with full defensive systems.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that even without its main cannon, it could obliterate most planets or crush a large-scale fleet.
But that wasn't even the scariest part. What made the battleship truly terrifying was its instantaneous warp capability. As long as it had enough energy, it could instantly jump to any location and could do so repeatedly.
If a real war broke out, the damage this single ship could inflict might outweigh the value of several hundred Belobogs.
Sure, the ship didn't belong to Belobog itself—but in some ways, Belobog belonged to Pei Guang. Based on Svarog's personality analysis of Pei Guang, it concluded that Pei Guang would never stand by and watch the planet fall into the company's hands.
Back when Jarilo-VI still had video games, Svarog's memory banks retained many of them. After the planet reconnected with the outside world, Svarog went out of its way to download and study a massive volume of gaming content—just to better understand Pei Guang's behavioral patterns.
In its memory banks, Svarog had records of how Pei Guang described this planet: "This is the starter village… the next new map… during the beginner's tutorial…"
Based on these key phrases, Svarog confirmed that in Pei Guang's eyes, this planet was the "starter village." For players, the starter village held extraordinary meaning—no matter how rundown it was, no player would willingly let the place they saved become someone else's property.
Analyzing vast amounts of player behavior data, Svarog concluded that Pei Guang would never allow Belobog's ownership to be transferred.
For a player, the starter village is an emotional attachment, especially one where the player acquired massive amounts of basic materials and rare items. It would naturally become the player's domain.
As long as they have the strength, no player would watch their starter village get invaded. Forced occupation, to a player, is no different from declaring war.
And with Pei Guang's level of military might, the company should never pick a fight with him. Such a conflict benefits neither the company nor the preservation of Belobog.
For this reason, Svarog decisively rejected: "The company cannot occupy Belobog. A Trailblazer's power is not something to provoke."
Hearing the word "Trailblazer," Donatan's eyes filled with disdain. "I'll admit, if one of the Nameless from the Trailblaze faction shows up, that would be a nuisance. But unfortunately, those Trailblazers are busy on the Xianzhou Luofu, and their next stop is Penacony. They have no time for a ruined planet like this.
Even if they had the time, are you sure they'd care enough to intervene on your behalf? Behind me stands the Interastral Peace Corporation—behind me stands the great Amber Lord."
Svarog: "Rejection. The Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth, does not take sides with the Interastral Peace Corporation."
Donatan: "Are you insulting the great Amber Lord?"
Svarog: "Rejection. I am simply analyzing based on existing data—Qlipoth does not care about the company."
Indeed, while the company does have Path of Preservation followers and Emanators, the Amber Lord itself doesn't care about the company. Qlipoth only concerns Themself with the preservation of the universe.
The company's actions don't affect that goal. Even if the company got in the way, it wouldn't matter—nothing interferes with Qlipoth's bricklaying.
That said, Qlipoth does care about those trash cans that emerged on the Path of Preservation, as they genuinely help fortify the Great Wall.
But thanks to Pei Guang's influence and Qlipoth's own understanding, the concept of the "Preservation Trash Can" has already been mastered. The Wall's strength has not only improved, it has reached its current maximum.
As long as they don't fight Pei Guang, the concept can be used forever. As the Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth doesn't concern Themself with the wars of this galaxy—They only want to lay bricks.
Plus, Pei Guang helped enhance the trash cans, reinforced Stelle's War-Flaming Lance, and even handed over a hammer. Why would Qlipoth fight him?
As for the company's efforts to hunt for trash cans? Qlipoth couldn't care less.
Svarog was telling the truth, but that truth enraged Donatan. As a senior executive of the company and a fanatical Qlipoth devotee, he could not tolerate anyone "insulting" Qlipoth.
Donatan: "You dare insult the great Amber Lord? Seems like you're forcing me to get rough."
Donatan pulled out a source code and explained, "The automatons you use were reverse-engineered from those left on this planet 700 years ago. Your engineers obviously haven't changed the core code—so using the original source code, I can take control of all your automatons. Svarog! You will pay for your words. Obey the company!"
Svarog: "?"
Svarog was baffled. While it had developed toward silicon-based life, it still operated under core directives—primarily, the protection of Belobog.
As for faith? Strictly speaking, it was a follower of Qlipoth too. After all, it followed the Path of Preservation. It was simply stating the facts—how was that an insult to the Aeon?
Clara, meanwhile, also sensed something was wrong. Despite her age, she had a deep understanding of automatons. She didn't quite grasp what source code was, but she could tell that the man in front of her was trying to forcibly control Svarog.
"You're not allowed to hurt Mr. Svarog!"
Clara stood in front of Svarog. The moment she did, not only did Svarog's optics flare red, but every automaton under his control in the lower district turned their gaze toward Donatan and his employees.