Starry Sky Railway: Start with some fireworks and have some fun

No, do most women experience being tied up in mid-air like a pig and forced to eat bread? Is she going crazy faster than the world is going crazy?

Looking at Hanabi's confused yet clear eyes, Dave felt a little itchy and directly pinched her little cheek.

"Little Firework, how did you dress yourself up so cutely! You've been through so much, yet your eyes are still so clear. I'm so envious! Hug you, you're so soft and fragrant. No wonder Qinglan likes to 'bully' you so much!"

Upon hearing the word "bully," Hanabi immediately put her hands together and said.

"Miss Dave, please, please don't tell anyone. This is my only request in this life!"

Seeing Hanabi's pleading expression, Dave smiled. "Alright, alright! So Hanabi is a rather traditional girl after all! I understand, I understand, I know what I'm talking about! I won't say anything nonsense. But the way you're acting doesn't seem like the Masked Fool at all! Sure enough! Any girl would be thrown into turmoil in this situation!"

Absolutely! After all, who wants their story of being tied up to spread around them? It's so embarrassing!

"Thank you, Sister Dave. As long as you don't tell anyone, you'll be my second parents!"

"That's an exaggeration, Little Firework! Here, your older sister will give you two glasses of wine. The alcohol content is relatively low, so don't worry."

Two glasses? Why are you giving me two glasses?

Dave nodded at Hanabi's head with a hint of helplessness. "The other cup is of course for Mr. Qinglan! You used to be quite clever!"

Hanabi was a little dissatisfied, but then she remembered that her embarrassing moments were being held against her! In the end, she could only smile passively and then took the two glasses of wine and walked to Qinglan's side.

"Here, have some wine. Drink it while it's hot!"

"Fireworks, they're supposed to be cold."

Qinglan's lips twitched slightly, but looking at the glass of wine, she was puzzled for a moment.

He then took a small sip, savoring the taste of the drink, and then looked at Hanabi with a strange expression.

Judging from its taste and color, this is definitely a genuine rose wine!

If you ask what the biggest use of rosé wine is, it's simple: it's an essential drink for candlelight dinners! Generally, no one except couples would order this kind of wine.

"what happened?"

"This wine..."

"Oh! This wine was a gift from Miss Dave to both of us. Strange, what's this taste like?"

Hanabi also took a small sip of the drink, but found that it tasted somewhat different from what she usually drank.

"Haven't you ever had this kind of wine before?"

"No! It's mostly wine. This flavor... is it made from flowers?"

"Ahem, actually I don't know either, but it's pretty good. Shall we have a drink?"

Hanabi didn't think too much about it, and simply picked up the glass of rose wine, clinking it against Aoran's glass...

Chapter 70 Gambler's Gold

After having breakfast with Hanabi, the two left the bar and walked back to the inn. Suddenly, Qinglan remembered something and picked up her phone to make arrangements.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

Hanabi noticed that Aoran was constantly fiddling with her phone, clearly chatting with someone via text. However, Hanabi couldn't imagine who Aoran could be chatting with so frequently besides herself.

"Oh, I should send a message to Kakawasha. I just remembered that he mentioned last time that the company's strategic investment department seems to be targeting Pinocone. I think it's either [Oppa] or [Dragon Crystal] that's carrying out the mission! I'll ask him to put in a good word for me. Maybe it'll be useful if I go to Pinocone."

"You're really well-prepared!"

However, just then, Qinglan's phone rang. Qinglan raised an eyebrow. This guy, Shajin, had actually sent him a video call.

After Qinglan answered the call, Sha Jin's face appeared directly in front of him.

"Oh, my friend, sometimes I wonder if fate arranged for us to be together."

"What do you mean?"

Sand Gold then smiled, slowly took off his sunglasses, and said in a playful tone.

"I originally thought that a business as big as Pinocone would only be handled by P46 level employees, but in this meeting, [Diamond] actually chose me!"

"You? You're the one in charge of the Pinoctone project for the company this time!"

Kakawasha's lips curled up slightly. "Isn't it amazing? Fate is so ingenious. The various forces in that place are intertwined, and it would be quite troublesome if you didn't know anyone there. But coincidentally, you're also going to Pinocchio. I'll have an ally when I acquire Pinocchio."

"Come on, I know nothing about the company's business. Just do your own job properly."

"Hey, hey, hey, weren't you just thinking about building a good relationship with the person in charge that the company sent to Pinocchio? My friend, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"You gambling addict, if you take me to the casino to win money, I'll definitely go with you, but I'd rather not go on a mission. Besides, since you're going to Pinocchio, there's no need for me to go out of my way to pull strings, right? And speaking of which, are you going to be in charge of such a big mission all by yourself?"

"There's another one, you should have heard of her. Her name is Topa, and she's also a member of the Strategic Investment Department. Recently, her business deal at Yalilo VI fell through, so I brought her over to work on this mission."

"Yaliluo VI? You guys even went to acquire that godforsaken place?"

Seeing Qinglan's expression, Shajin was taken aback. "You've actually heard of this place?"

"Where does that...friend from the tavern live?"

"I see, that makes sense. It should be easy to acquire a planet with such a backward civilization, so I don't know why Topa still failed! Sigh! I knew it! That idealist of hers always tries to find a balance between her work and the debt collectors. She got demoted this time!"

Listening to Sand Gold's casual words, Qinglan spoke to herself.

"If you were in charge of the Yalilo VI, what would you do?"

"We can either forcefully collect debts, or bribe the people of Belloberg with benefits. We can encourage them to parade through the streets to put pressure on the Great Guardian there. If enough people agree, even if the rulers have a lot of influence, it will probably be useless!"

"As expected of you, very much in your style. You can use this trick at Pinocchio! That way I can take the opportunity to become different people and openly collect your money."

Upon hearing Qinglan's half-joking words, Shajin revealed a self-deprecating smile.

"Hahaha, Qinglan, if you want me bankrupt, just say so. Although I have money, I don't have enough to buy the whole of Pinocchio! Oh! Happy times never last long. I need to prepare for my trip to Pinocchio. Goodbye! I hope I can meet you in Pinocchio."

"Next time we meet, I might not have my own face anymore, and you won't be able to find me."

Hearing this, Sand Gold narrowed his eyes. "Want to...make a bet with me?"

"Hey, what did you say? Bad signal, hanging up!"

After Qinglan finished speaking, she quickly ended the call, while Shajin on the other end looked at the now-black phone screen and couldn't help but smile.

"Friend, fate is something you can't really break! But at least your presence means I'm not completely isolated and helpless in Pinocchio. Hahaha..."

At the same time, Hanabi looked at Aoran with a smile, "He's clearly a fool, so why are you so afraid to bet with him?"

"Guess how we met?"

"How did we meet?"

"On a planet called Gaim, social status, wealth, power, and women are all obtained through gambling."

When I first arrived there, I wanted to try out the local gambling customs, and I won countless rounds in one go.

"You have this level of skill?"

"Hehe, after all, I cheated back then!"

"As expected of you! And the result?"

Hanabi was curious and wanted to know how Qinglan met this gambler. However, after recalling the incident, Qinglan couldn't help but sigh.

"Then! This guy saw through my cheating method, but he didn't expose me. Instead, he made me play a bet with him, and if I lost, I would have to return the money I had won."

"So you lost?"

"Not only did he lose, but he suffered nine consecutive defeats. This guy seems to be a born gambler. The moment he steps onto the gambling table, the winner of the game is already decided."

"That's outrageous! But why would he share all the money he won with those people? Is he some kind of money-giving genius?"

Qinglan patted Huahuo's head. "At the time, he was going to that gambling star to make an acquisition. It's a place where gambling reigns supreme, and his act of betting against me and returning the money earned him a lot of connections in the area."

Finally… he used various means to get to the gambling king of that gambling star. The gambling king was the leader of that planet, and Kakawasha, who had originally come to pay his respects as a newcomer, instead challenged him to an unprecedented gamble in front of him, as a company envoy—a life-or-death game involving a revolver, a game that would determine both victory and defeat. And the stake was this gambling star.

"Is this...is this all possible?"

"That's right, this guy is a madman. He's even willing to risk his life for victory. During the bet, he constantly pressured his opponent with words. In the end, he broke the gambling king's mentality, causing him to surrender. Subsequently, this planet is now under the jurisdiction of the Interstellar Peace Corporation."

Then, Qinglan couldn't help but let out a long sigh, "This isn't the first time Kakawasha has risked his life like this. For him, every time the goddess favors him, she takes the lives of his loved ones."

Even now, he still gambles. If he wins, he continues; if he loses, he reunites with his family. That's why he was able to beat the gambling king. The gambling king, having been in that position for so long, couldn't afford to lose. If he lost, he would lose everything. After all, he didn't have the guts to risk his life on the gamble!

"Gold dust! What a madman!"

After learning about Sand Gold's past madness, Hanabi also couldn't understand the guy's thinking. "So, do we need to find him when we go to Pinocchio this time?"

"He has his own plans, so it's best not to bother him unless absolutely necessary. But what he said surprised me a bit. That a godforsaken planet like Yalilo VI actually escaped the company's acquisition. Anyway, it'll be a while before we reach Pinocchio, so why don't we go there to see some old friends? And drag him into this mess, since I need a scapegoat in the Pinocchio affair."

Hanabi's lips twitched slightly after hearing this; she already knew who Qinglan was referring to as her old friend.

"You went to all that trouble to ask him to take the blame for you? What if he doesn't come?"

"Don't you have his mask? He didn't care about this before. But the situation in the universe has been so turbulent lately. Although the crisis in the star core there has been resolved, the effects of the star core still exist, right? And this time he was acquired by the company. Although he was safe in the end, given his personality, I guess he will definitely find his own power to protect his homeland."

Hanabi nodded in agreement. "That's true. After all, Old Sangbo is different from us. He's a great philanthropist who wants to protect his hometown! In that case, let's set off! Where do we need to go and how long do we need to stay?"

"We'll drag him into the water and leave, probably in two or three days! Giovanni is still holding a competition there, right? We can catch up with the tail end! Once we get Sambo into the water, we can head straight to Pinocchio."

Chapter 71 Belloberg

The reason why Yalilo VI is constantly affected by the star core is that the climate here is always frigid and the ice and snow never melt. This is why Qinglan and Huahuo both describe this place as a godforsaken place.