Starry Sky Railway: Opening Performance - Taixu Sword God

“No.” Luca said seriously.

“Miss Topa, I trust your goodwill very much.”

“We’ve talked, and I know very well whether you are trustworthy.”

"But... my original intention in participating in the competition was to let the world see Belloberg. If I were to cooperate with a company, I would feel that my actions would not be so pure."

“I believe in Miss Topa’s goodwill, but… whether Bellberg is ready to accept the company’s goodwill, and how he should accept it… I really don’t know, and I can’t make up my mind right now.”

"Hmm... okay." Toppa simply nodded after listening.

"...Thank you for your honesty, Luca."

"If you've changed your mind, feel free to contact me anytime~"

Chapter 987 It's no use cursing.

"Oh, right."

Toppa then asked:

"I heard you accepted the challenge from that contestant named Shuojin?"

"Huh? I just accepted it, and Miss Topa already knows?" Luca was shocked.

"Well, I'm the sponsor."

Toppa smiled.

"Take this as a warning from an outsider: be careful, that guy has a lot of underhanded tricks up his sleeve."

Luca nodded, very grateful.

"Thank you for reminding me, I will pay attention."

After Yan Huan bought some kebabs and returned, Luca said goodbye to Toppa and went back to the Jingfeng ship.

……

the next day.

Players lounge.

Luca stood in front of the tactics board, feeling a little nervous again.

Although winning means you can advance directly to the next round, losing means you're finished.

"Is the kind of underhanded tactic Miss Topa mentioned the one I'm thinking of?"

Luca looked at Yan Huan, who was eating rice.

"In my previous fighting career, I encountered those despicable boxers who liked to use underhanded tactics. There was one guy who would put laxatives in other people's drinks before the fight."

"Mr. Yan Huan, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"..."

Yan Huan stopped talking and couldn't help but recall.

"Do you know why Mao Sanmou played two matches in a row before?"

"Actually, there was another match between her two matches that belonged to someone else."

"But one of the contestants was beaten up with a sack while shopping in Luofu and is still hospitalized in Dandingsi."

"You be careful too. Don't get beaten up before the match even starts, or the other team will get a bye and you'll win right away."

"Huh?" Luca's eyes widened.

"This has already happened?!"

"What else can I do?" Yan Huan said helplessly.

"You're too naive about the Xianzhou people's competition."

At that moment, Camille rushed in from outside, shouting:

"Something terrible has happened!!"

"What's wrong? Is your engine oil expired?" Yan Huan asked.

"How could that be!" Camille stamped her feet in frustration.

"You guys should take a look at today's newspaper!"

"?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Huan stood up, opened the tactics board, and directly searched for the latest issue of the Luofu Sports Daily.

Special issue of the Starry Sky Martial Arts Ceremony.

The title is "The financial backer behind Luca's secret meeting with [Stone Heart Ten] is exposed."

[Recently, a concerned citizen inadvertently photographed "Iron Arm" Luca, a star competitor of the Starry Sky Martial Arts Ceremony, secretly meeting with Topa, a senior executive of the Strategic Investment Department of Interstellar Peace Company, in Golden Man Alley.]

[Experts speculate that the company's offer to Luca is a strategic move to resolve the 'Arillo VI issue'.]

The newspaper also included many photos of Luca and Topa together.

The following media commentary was quite scathing.

'Does taking company money qualify someone to call themselves a hero?'

A reporter from Yaoqing Sports angrily retorted:

"Let's be frank! Most of the star athletes in the martial arts ceremony have some advertising endorsement deals with the company."

'None of our options are as shameless and two-faced as Luca!'

'He cultivates a persona of an "anti-company hero" while siphoning off the company's ill-gotten gains, leaving a bunch of fools to idolize him!'

A reporter from Xianzhou Tiexue.net also provided the following information:

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Topa was the person in charge of Yalilo VI's debt problems, while Luca was a key member and henchman of Yalilo VI's underground illegal organization, [Earthfire].

'It's not hard to imagine that Toppa had contact with Luca while dealing with the debt problems of Arilo VI, and developed him into an inside agent for the company.'

Below that was a barrage of insults from the onlookers.

'That Luca is despicable! How dare he disrespect his home planet?!'

What is his player's lounge number?

'Only fools believe in these anti-company heroes; real heroes are the ones on the company's wanted list!'

"Using a false name to make easy money, ptooey!"

"Holy crap, you're actually an inside man in the company!" Yan Huan looked away from her phone, quickly backed away, and said in a panic:

"I didn't realize it was so well hidden."

"So you and that cameraman are colleagues. I was wondering why she insisted on reporting on you!"

"Mr. Executive Officer, please don't make things worse at a time like this. Don't you know what kind of person I am?" Luca sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

“I clearly refused Ms. Toppa’s invitation to collaborate, so how did I get accused of taking money?”

"You might as well just take the money."

Yan Huan sat back on the bed and continued looking at her phone.

"You wait, I'll also post something to scold you, maybe I can even ride the wave of popularity."

"..."

"Mr. Yan Huan, please stop stirring things up!" Camille said anxiously.

"Right now, a huge number of people are discussing the 'Luca's downfall, revealing he was a company lackey,' and it's causing quite a stir!"

Luca was completely baffled.

"...Putting aside the fact that the contents of this are all fabricated, I haven't even known Miss Topa for very long, so how did this get published in the newspaper?"

“There are multiple interviews involved,” Camille reminded.

"These news reports and interview transcripts were definitely not prepared on the spot; they were premeditated malicious reports!"

“But with so many media outlets… surely they can’t all know that I met with Miss Topa.” Luca thought of a possibility.

"It couldn't be Miss Topa..."

“No!” Camille immediately clarified.

"It has nothing to do with Miss Topa. The company has no reason to do such a thing."

"It seems this mastermind has prepared many versions of the report, just waiting for the right opportunity..."

“If you hadn’t gone to meet with Miss Topa, they might have chosen to report on something else.”

"Luca, who did you mess with? Why would anyone do something like this?"

"It's obvious who did it," Yan Huan said with a sigh after posting her rant against Luca and putting her phone away.

"But it's nothing serious. You can't bring someone down with words. Once the competition starts, you knock that kid out with one punch, and his points will be gone. Let's see how he tries to show off then."

"But with all that online criticism, even if I get a good ranking in the competition, I won't be able to promote Belloberg anymore..."

Luca was in a heavy mood.

Carmel quickly reassured her, "Uh... to be honest, there's not much that's particularly good at dealing with these online opinions."

"Miss Topa is also getting criticized online."

"And Mr. Yan Huan too, there are countless posts criticizing you for abusing your position to bribe your opponents and open backdoors for Luca."

"There are also many posts saying that you have no role at all and that it is all Luca's personal effort."

"I am used to it."

Yan Huan lay sprawled on the bed, sighing.

“I understood after I came back from Pinocchio.”

"No matter what you do, there will always be someone who criticizes you."