I, on the Starry Sky Railway, change everything

The female corpsmen on the Black Tower space station also turned their big eyes on the smart terminal.

Then everyone noticed that the group owner [anonymous] had posted an announcement.

"Given the growing fan base and the booming development of light novel creation, the prize money for the writing contest should be increased accordingly. This time, we are adding 20 million credits to respond to everyone's enthusiasm."

"How many, how many?"

"The group owner is so generous!"

The chat interface started flooding with messages again, faster than usual.

But Estelle couldn't keep a close eye on things, and she secretly glanced at the person next to her, feeling guilty.

"I wasn't peeking, you can use your phone without worry."

Hua Yi focused intently on arranging the young heiress's pink hair, inhaling the fragrance of the girl's hair.

"I won't pry into a girl's privacy, and I know nothing about what's in the group chat."

Chapter 262 Estella's Heart-stirring Beauty

What? They've already mentioned chat groups, and you still say you know nothing about them.

Estelle wrinkled her nose playfully, trying to control her expression and make a token protest, but she couldn't keep it up and became soft and gentle again, rubbing her head against her lover.

Even punching my chest with my little fists won't work; it would make me feel incredibly guilty, since Hua Yi is the one spoiling me right now.

Upon entering Cripper Castle, perhaps the warmest and most comfortable building in the entire Belleburg, Estelle, already dressed in her winter clothes, changed into a sleeveless blouse with ruffles, a dark skirt with a mysterious, starry circular pattern, and small bows adorning her legs and ankles.

This outfit isn't warm at all, but it's very pretty.

Especially the leg rings on her fair thighs, which seem to extend from her short skirt, complement each other with the color of her skin. They are neither as cute as lace nor as wild as leather leg rings, but a compromise between the two, which corresponds to Miss Estelle's identity as the station chief. They are cute yet mature.

Especially the way the leg rings encircled the flesh; although the girl's legs were slender, the flesh on both sides of the leg rings could be slightly squeezed out after the leg rings were tightened, and that curve was the most captivating.

Hua Yi didn't read the chat messages in the fan group, so he could only admire his wife.

Look with your eyes, look carefully, look boldly.

Touch and kiss, hug and cuddle.

It's only natural for lovers to be very close.

Estella neither dodges nor avoids, and even actively cooperates.

So, how can you still enjoy spending time with your sweetheart while keeping an eye on your fan base?

Her eyes sparkled, revealing her quirky and mischievous nature.

"Hey~"

Holding the smart terminal firmly in his hand, he used a little force in his legs to prop himself up from the bed, shifted his body, and then fell onto Hua Yi.

The stationmaster, who was once very capable at the Black Tower Space Station, always able to handle complex matters with ease, allocate huge sums of money, and deal with various forces, now seemed to have no energy left, lazily lying on his lover.

Entering Koala Mode, Hua Yi becomes the tree.

Her head was resting on his chest, and the smart device was placed beside her. Perfect!

From this angle, even if he occasionally glances at the terminal screen and can't keep staring at Hua Yi's handsome face, he still can't peek at the content of the fan group.

As the group owner, you must protect the sense of shame of your group members.

If the male protagonist himself saw those chat logs, such as "Wow, the female protagonist in this novel seems to be a strong character. Could she have even more aggressive methods of seduction than wall slamming and forceful kissing? I also want to do that to Lord Hua Yi," or "In a room that no detector can find, is Lord Hua Yi and my secret base," they would be embarrassed.

Only when Hua Yi is not around can one speak freely and let their imagination run wild, sketching out all sorts of scenarios.

By maintaining the koala pose, Estella can detect the slightest movement from her lover.

Take a quick look at the light novels uploaded by Bellberg Girls.

It really is just a little bit.

The nights spent with Hua Yi are precious; we can't let our attention wander to other things.

Yes, the plot is novel, and the various settings about the Eternal City are refreshing. Sometimes, familiar environments lack appeal, while places you've never been to naturally have a filter on your eyes.

Just like traveling.

Start from a place you are familiar with, and go to a place that others are familiar with.

Based on her extensive reading experience, Estádio roughly determined that Belloberg's light novels should achieve good rankings and win more prize money in the competition, perhaps totaling tens of millions of credits.

This should alleviate Cripperburg's financial difficulties in the short term, and the essay contest can continue to be held later.

In addition, Winter City can also profit from future interstellar trade.

"Hey, how about the Black Tower Space Station signs an investment contract with Belloberg, providing various supplies on a long-term basis, and building a shipyard or something here?"

"I don't recall the space station being a business organization, and this kind of investment only benefits Belloberg unilaterally, without yielding equivalent returns."

"The Universal Applications Department is responsible for the corresponding business."

Hua Yi understood perfectly well that Estella, out of consideration for him, planned to invest a large sum of money in Belleberg, without expecting any return.

“Bronya and the others have been busy with something lately. If I’m not mistaken, you should prepare to use this as an excuse, or find another excuse, to transfer credits to Belloborg, and it won’t be through the official accounts.”

"Gu..."

"Once the reconstruction and recovery phase is over, Beloborg will naturally prosper. The planet's resources are not abundant, but they are more than enough to supply a city. Without the erosion of the rift and monster attacks, the city has a lot of room for development, not to mention that the cold waves will gradually normalize over time."

Interactions between forces are far more complex than those between individuals. If the Black Tower Space Station unilaterally provides various benefits to Belloberg, even if it maintains this relationship in the long run thanks to Hua Yi's influence, it will ultimately indebted to the space station's staff.

"Solving the survival crisis and ensuring the survival of the Beloborg people will complete the current stage of our goals. The development of Winter City still depends on the residents' own efforts."

"What about Interstellar Peace Corporation?"

“I will talk to Toppa.”

Upon hearing this, Aistar gave up on dwelling on it and, before Hua Yi and Toppa could reach a conclusion, she took it upon herself to resolve the debt.

Alright, alright, it's late at night, enough of this serious talk.

She casually sent a small red envelope containing 100,000 credits as a response to the compliments from her group members, said goodnight to everyone, turned off the terminal screen, placed it on her bedside table, and then focused intently on her work—

Ah, she took a big bite of Hua Yi's lips.

After conserving her energy for many days, the young woman was finally able to alleviate her lovesickness through practical actions.

She was full of confidence, feeling as if she had countless buffs on her body, to use a phrase from a game she had played before.

Stamina up, attack power up, launch an attack!

His every move exudes the demeanor of a master, demonstrating both skill and courage in advancing and retreating.

The pink, girlish heart is the hidden reserve energy, and the brave Estella is majestic and awe-inspiring.

He was handsome for no more than ten minutes.

The result was that it was so powerful that the Great Demon King Hua Yi used even stronger moves to prove what an invincible enemy is.

The stamina bar kept decreasing and didn't recover until it was completely empty.

Estella has fallen!

Being young is great; you can fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.

Chapter 263 Toppa Begins His Investigation

As the station's representative, Estádio can freely get close to Hua Yi. She is the station chief, and apart from the Black Tower, no one can assign work to the young heiress.

But Toppa, who represents Interstellar Peace Corporation, is not an option.

Even the director of the strategic investment department, one of the ten members of Stone Heart, who possesses the cornerstone [Demand for Yellow Jade] and can exert incredible protective power when necessary, still has to undergo performance evaluations and be judged for merits and demerits.

Topa's rank is P45, which exceeds that of 99% of the company's employees. Without considering the intervention of the train crew, she has enough power to mobilize a large number of mech units and firmly control Belob.

Given the size of the company, the value of a city is indeed limited. Compared to the funds invested back then, even if the entire Belleburg were sold, it would not be enough to repay the principal, let alone interest and penalties.

So when Toppa was taking a walk with Hua Yi, he used his hometown as an example.

According to normal procedures, if Yalilo-VI is unable to repay, the Interstellar Peace Corporation will further increase its investment, injecting a huge amount of credit points again to try to transform the planet's ecology and find a way to make the Lonely City Civilization develop back into a planetary civilization.

Only then can we talk about its value.

For the people of Beloborg, the Everlasting City is their only home and the most important place. But in the eyes of the colossal being that stretches across the starry sky, it only has development potential and requires further investment to generate profits. Otherwise, even if they mortgaged Winter City based on a contract from seven hundred years ago, it would not make much sense.

Investing involves risks, but this is within the company's plan; it's just another loss of money.

The behemoth can afford to lose credit points. What can make it act or give up is only the two sets of data obtained by multiplying the probability of success and expected gains, and the probability of failure and estimated losses.

Just as the busy lives of ordinary employees cannot compare to the numbers on reports from top management, the fate of a planet is often not affected by the emotions of its inhabitants.

Unfortunately, if Toppa were to waive the debt of Yalilo-VI on her own, this debt, which is unimaginable for Belloberg and not particularly important within the company, would be enough to demote her and even become a reason for others to attack the Strategic Investment Department during departmental meetings.

Your managers seem to be letting their personal feelings affect their work and harm the company's interests. I have reason to suspect that this situation is not an isolated case in the entire investment department. Perhaps a special rectification campaign should be launched, focusing on reviewing the workplace atmosphere.

Belloberg's case could be so minor that it could be simply dismissed as a bad debt without further investigation.

It can also be very serious, serious enough to affect the rank of company executives, or even the latest evaluation of a department.

Every decision made by the company's top management can have a profound impact.

Fortunately, Hua Yi made a promise from the beginning that he would repay all the loans if there was no better solution.

The discussion will mainly focus on the penalty for breach of contract; it's not that complicated.

Vacation...

Estádio is probably already on vacation, but Toppa still has to work hard and conduct on-site inspections.

Early in the morning, the director sent a message to Hua Yi to say goodbye, and left Cripper Castle alone, taking the cable car to the lower area.

Using optical camouflage equipment jointly developed by the company and the Bo Shi Society to conceal himself, Toppa found a corner where he could act as an observer undisturbed.

"Auntie, didn't you say you wanted to run a food stall in the upper district for the rest of your life?"

"Fool, the people in the upper districts don't eat as much as the miners who work hard. Business is better underground now. Everyone is rushing to set up stalls and open shops in the lower districts. By evening, there won't be any good locations left, not even ordinary ones."

"Before... well, before the lockdown was issued, didn't the upper and lower levels communicate with each other? I didn't see so many people running to the lower level back then."

"That's because the miners are poor and have to save every penny. They can't afford to buy food or clothes. Now that Lord Hua Yi is cracking down on the sons of wealthy families who have broken the law, the confiscated Winter City Shields are being used to build up the lower districts. Some families and businesses that haven't committed any crimes are also donating money. In short, the underground is the best place to do business right now. Trust me, you won't go wrong."

"It's about contributing to the cause of conservation!"

"Yes, yes, yes~"

Toppa listened to the Belloberg people's animated conversation and observed their expressions.

Despite living in an urban area where the sky is directly overhead, they were heading towards the cramped and enclosed lower levels, yet their expressions were filled with excitement.

Because it was profitable, and because of the constant publicity from the authorities in Cripperburg, all residents who were willing to contribute were given ample material and honorary benefits.

The interconnected measures mitigate the impact of the lockdown, prevent a large influx of people from the lower to the upper classes, reduce the production of mineral deposits, and thus avoid a chain reaction.

Toppa understood that with Hua Yi's wealth, he could inject a large number of credits into Belloborg at any time, but resources would not be transferred from other planets out of thin air. Therefore, the reprimands carried out to maintain the dignity of the law were also a redistribution of resources, moving them from the warehouses of families and enterprises to the lower districts.

This is not a long-term solution; otherwise, it will cause panic among the middle class, leading them to stop consuming and investing, and live cautiously, which will trigger new economic problems.

Therefore, the resources that Astara brought, which comprise an entire transport ship, will be the investment for the next phase.

What next?

The market will then come alive, and output will exceed input. Without the threat of the star core, no matter how scarce the resources in the land are, they will be more than enough to support the consumption of a city.

Belleberg's expansion underground and the development of the lower levels have broadened its resource acquisition scope, and there's nothing wrong with this operating model, especially since it allows for online shopping from the stars.

By using a business-minded approach to understand the current situation in Winter City, Toppa increasingly appreciated Hua Yi's management skills.

She didn't need to sigh inwardly; the people on the cable car chatted about everything under the sun, and whenever they mentioned the savior, the Amber King's apostle, their praise was always overflowing.

Apostle of the Amber King...

If a company were to issue a protection order, it would be impossible to win over such genuine public sentiment through force alone.

The balance between respect from below to above and affection that isn't too distant needs to be carefully struck. Going too far would make the new High Guardian Bronya completely lose her presence, while being too casual would make it difficult to shoulder the expectations of the people who have just emerged from the mire for the future.

He is very good at understanding people's hearts and is willing to put himself in different people's shoes to solve problems.

Simple kindness may not be enough to succeed in the universe, but kindness coupled with corresponding abilities is truly dazzling.