Pulling the Stellaron out from the ruins, Levi looked at the dull, lusterless surface of the Stellaron.
His gaze sharpened, and he used all his strength to crush it.
The fragments that burst out quickly vanished without a trace.
After dealing with the Stellaron, Levi began clearing out the Honkai beasts in the city.
He spread his palm, red lasers sweeping back and forth among the Honkai beasts.
Every time one was hit, another Honkai beast lost its life.
Levi landed in front of Bronya and looked at her. As their eyes met, Seele stepped forward and blocked Bronya behind her.
"What do you want to do?"
Seele stared at him warily. Compared to the others, who only saw that he had saved them and saved Belobog, she had clearly heard that guy call him "one of us."
Seeing the caution in Seele's eyes, Levi sighed again.
"I'm here to apologize to you on that person's behalf. For this matter, I'll provide Belobog with appropriate compensation."
"Compensation? With what?!"
At the word "compensation," Seele suddenly became emotional. She pointed at the people killed by Sirin nearby and said, "Can you bring back to life those people who died because of that person?!"
Looking at the bodies on the ground, Levi sighed once more.
In just this short span of time, he had lost count of how many times he'd sighed already.
"I can't."
If his authority were that of the Herrscher of Death, he might barely be able to try reviving them.
But his authority was that of the Herrscher of Flame, which had absolutely nothing to do with life.
The only connection it had to life was probably harvesting it.
Reviving the dead was basically impossible.
"Then what kind of compensation is that supposed to be?!"
Faced with Seele venting her emotions, no one spoke up to stop her.
"Compensation, a future."
Seele let out a cold laugh. "What, if we don't accept it, are you saying we won't have a future?"
"If you don't accept it, you really won't have a future, but not because of me."
Levi looked around. With Belobog in its current state, facing the company's massive debt, there was basically no future to speak of.
It could only become one of the company's subsidiary planets, undergoing environmental transformation.
If it succeeded, the planet would continue to exist, and all future generations would join the company upon adulthood and become company employees.
If it failed, the company would abandon the planet, relocate the population elsewhere, and all future generations would still join the company as employees once they came of age.
He could have simply walked away, but to clean up after Kiana and because of the kindness in his heart, he chose to stay.
Bronya frowned deeply. Just as she was about to ask why Belobog would have no future, Topaz walked over from the distance, smiling as she looked at Levi. "I think I just heard someone talking about whether there's a future or not."
'You kid, so you know quite a lot.'
Her sharp gaze locked onto Levi.
There weren't many people in the company who knew about Belobog's debt.
After all, that debt was from several hundred years ago.
Within the company, it had almost been marked as a dead account.
If the company hadn't recently discovered that Belobog might still have surviving life and dug up this old debt, she probably wouldn't have come to Jarilo at all.
Topaz maintained her smile, only pausing slightly as she passed Levi.
In the end, she stopped in front of Bronya and Seele, the two locals.
Turning back toward Levi, she countered, "As long as there are still people alive, how could there be no future?"
"Well said!"
Seeing Seele immediately treat Topaz as someone on her side because of a single sentence, Levi rubbed his forehead, looking rather helpless.
Hot-headed kids never think about why someone would speak up for them.
Looking at Topaz, Levi spoke up to introduce her.
"Let me introduce her. The one next to you is Topaz, a senior executive in the company's Strategic Investment Department. She leads the Special Debt Inspection Team, commonly known as debt collectors."
"Take a guess why she came to Belobog."
The people around them all distanced themselves from Topaz.
"Don't make me sound like some kind of villain. No matter how you look at it, my job is completely legal and compliant."
Topaz set Numby down on the ground. The moment Numby touched the ground, it ran straight toward Levi, making Topaz grit her teeth.
But given the situation, it obviously wasn't appropriate to dwell on that.
Topaz could only glare at Numby and Levi.
"But Belobog doesn't owe any debt…"
Hearing this, Topaz began explaining the situation to Bronya, who had spoken up.
Hundreds of years ago, when the Stellaron fell and the cold wave swept across the planet, in order to establish humanity's final spark, Belobog, the first Supreme Guardian borrowed an astronomical sum of money from the company.
Now, hundreds of years later, it was time to repay the debt.
After hearing this, Bronya fell silent.
Given Belobog's current condition, no matter how one looked at it, there was no ability to repay the debt.
Topaz then offered her solution.
Hand over the planet beneath their feet to the company's management.
That way, the debt would be completely wiped out, and the company would also invest funds into environmental reconstruction of Jarilo-VI.
For the people of Belobog, this was practically a huge win.
"This isn't some trap you two cooked up together, is it?!"
Seele looked at Levi and Topaz suspiciously.
Ignoring Seele's words...
Belobog's debt had very clear records and evidence within the company.
Topaz looked at Bronya, waiting for her answer.
She could tell that this young girl had the authority to make decisions for the city.
But Bronya didn't rush to answer Topaz. Instead, she looked up at Levi, wanting to hear how he planned to give them a future.
Holding Numby, Levi raised an eyebrow at Topaz. "I'll pay Belobog's debt."
He then handed her a card. "Whatever the amount is, just swipe it yourself."
Why did that line sound so familiar? It felt like he'd heard it somewhere before.
Taking the card and looking at the design on it, Topaz raised her head and stared at Levi in shock.
"You actually have this? How come I've never heard of you in the company?"
"That just means you're ignorant… Hurry up and swipe it. And while you're at it, swipe the environmental reconstruction costs for Belobog too. Use the best options, make it one hundred percent successful."
Money really was powerful. After swiping the card, Topaz behaved herself.
She stood off to the side holding Numby, quietly watching the snow fall.
"I can only do this much."
Levi looked at Bronya and Seele. "If you're still not satisfied, I can call her over and let you beat her up."
Seele looked eager to try, but Bronya shook her head and declined his "kind offer."
Levi's gaze shifted to Topaz. "When you have time, come to the Luofu. I'll treat you to milk soda."
Dan Heng, "Milk soda?"
March 7th, "Milk soda?"
Stelle, "Milk… soda?"
March 7th and Stelle stared at each other.
March 7th, "Have you ever had that stuff?"
Stelle, "Nope. I only shouted it because you did."
The two of them then turned in unison to look at Dan Heng, since he was the first one to say it.
Dan Heng was silent for a moment, as if recalling the taste.
"I haven't had it, but it just feels kind of familiar."
Levi laughed loudly. "Familiar is right, it's a Xianzhou specialty. Come to the Luofu sometime and I'll give each of you a cup!"
"My treat!"
"What a generous boss!"
Looking at Levi, March 7th's eyes sparkled. 'Rich and strong, where do you even find a man like this?!'
———
Herta, who had also descended to Belobog, picked up a device from the ground and looked at the words on it with a strange expression.
"Mr. Cold Feet Tracker?"
'What kind of nonsense is this?!'