I'm playing Honkai Impact 3

Page 891

"The civilization I represent, having foreseen this inescapable future, has exhausted all its wisdom in seeking a way out of this predicament."

"But unless we can modify the laws of physics, or break through the closed system of a single universe and find other universes, the future of heat death is irreversible."

"That's very far away."

Jade knuckles lightly tapped the arm.

Should she judge the civilization of Chuppe as far-sighted or as overly pessimistic?

However, as a businesswoman and an executive of the Interstellar Peace Corporation, she still asked a more important question.

"Have you found it?"

"found it."

"Through the statistical analysis of massive amounts of experimental data, we have discovered that native intelligent life forms that have not been modified by any external force, especially those with rich emotional activities, such as teenage girls in their teens who are full of fantasies, possess special potential in their souls."

Cupid's tone was very endearing.

“Every miracle brought by a magical girl, when collected, transformed, and amplified through our technological means, can effectively slow down the process of the universe sliding towards heat death on a macroscopic scale.”

"A very moving declaration of salvation."

Jade was not swayed in the slightest by those inflammatory words, and asked calmly with a smile.

"Then, please allow me to ask a more practical question: what price did these girls, who created miracles that defy the laws of physics, pay?"

"Or rather, how is the equal exchange you speak of manifested in their lives?"

"The source of the miracle is the distortion of the Soul Gem, a process that fills the soul with despair and bursts forth at the apex where despair and hope intertwine."

Cupid spoke casually, as if describing the light that comes with the rising sun.

"If there is any price to pay, it is that magical girls will transform into witches in the process."

"Ha, concealing and avoiding the most crucial information that a contract should contain—that can hardly be called a sincere spirit of transaction."

Emerald chuckled softly.

"Incubators never lie."

Cupid's eyes were sincere. "All the contracted parties participated voluntarily."

"Yes, guided voluntariness is a pretty good business tactic."

The jadeite nodded in approval.

As a trader, Kewpie wasn't exactly sincere.

However, from a purely business logic perspective, Kewpie's behavior is perfectly reasonable.

The company has used similar tactics many times when expanding into new markets.

Take, for example, those purchase agreements or service contracts that are hundreds of pages long, filled with obscure technical jargon and vague clauses.

How many consumers would actually read it word for word?

Once the customer checks the "I have read and agree" box, the funds are transferred. How can they back out later?

Sorry, but the iron fist of the legal department of Interstellar Peace Corporation will show you what the spirit of contract truly means.

Essentially, it was no different from what Cupid did, only the cost wasn't as severe.

“A twisted soul? As collateral, it is certainly heavy enough.”

Emerald's gaze turned toward Sakura Kyoko, who was confronting Hanabi and Sora Hanabi.

"It's among the top collections I own."

In a sense, the operating principle of her Ciyu Pawnbroking is the same.

She never minded if guests redeemed their mortgages after fulfilling their wishes.

They will only thoughtfully paint a more enticing picture for them, suggesting that with just a little extra investment, they can climb higher peaks and reach more dazzling stars.

As for what uncontrollable abyss those extra costs will lead their lives into?

That's outside the scope of what she informed us about before the sale.

Her difference with Kewpie lies only in her target audience.

Kewpie's target audience is young girls who are full of imagination and rich in emotions.

The target audience for jade is people controlled by desire, greedy people who are willing to gamble everything, regardless of gender.

The Holy Grail really did summon a very "like-minded" Heroic Spirit for her.

“Ms. Emerald, as expected of a senior executive of Interstellar Peace Corporation, I am very pleased to have your understanding and consensus.”

Cupid nuzzled Emerald's wrist affectionately, like a cat trying to please its owner.

"So, shall we cooperate?"

"cooperate?"

Emerald let out a light, intrigued chuckle, just as she was about to ask Cupid about the specifics of this "cooperation."

A spaceship with a rugged design and a huge, ferocious wolf claw mark printed on its side pierced through the clouds and came into view.

Jade could tell at a glance that this was by no means a starship from any mainstream or high-end brand in the Milky Way market; it was more like a cheap, shoddy product modified using primitive methods by some border civilization.

Creations of this caliber should not appear at a top-tier event like Pinocchio.

and so……

The spaceship bearing the mark of wolf claws hovered directly above the rooftop of the building where Emerald was located, with a gangway extending down.

Two gray-haired young men and women, who appeared to be related by blood, strode down the steps.

Emerald's gaze, however, bypassed them and locked onto the gray wolf behind them, which walked with the gait of a guard, was about 3.5 heads tall, and wore an orange hat.

What a strange creature...

Were they summoned by two nameless guests?

"We meet again, Lady Emerald."

Qiong was the first to extend her hand in greeting.

He remembered that there was limited information about jade in the game, but through Toppa and Himeko, he had gained some understanding of jade.

Qiong had seen both sides of the jade before.

One time, Qiong went to Topa to discuss the cooperation between the company and the Diyuan Qiongyu Group, intending to ask her to help with the arrangements.

They happened to run into Toppa and Emerald chatting; it was the first time Kyū and Emerald had met.

From this, Qiong learned Toppa's former name: Yelena.

Little Yelena was brought up by Emerald in the company and is her direct junior colleague. Toppa has great respect for Emerald.

The second time was when I went to the Ciyu Pawnshop during a date with Ryuho and Mashiro.

Given its reputation for granting wishes through collateral, Qiong was also curious about the extent to which Jade could achieve such a feat.

So he made three small wishes: "to make Nanook bow down to me," "to make Xing the chairman of the company," and "to make Aha my maid."

The required collateral was very simple; all that was needed was Pam's tail.

Qiong immediately had Celia use her power of creation to create a one-to-one replica of Pam's tail.

Qiong admitted that Jade was indeed skilled.

It wasn't because she found a man named Nanuk to submit to Qiong, created a low-level position called 'Chairman' in the Strategic Investment Department, put Xing's name on it, and found a maid to temporarily change her name to Aha.

Instead, that night, Mari and Hotaru turned into succubi, and neither of them went to Origami University the next day. Sora fought the two of them for two days and two nights.

That was something Mari Makinami obtained by mortgaging some trinkets to Sumire.

"Mr. Qiong, Ms. Xing, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

Jadeite greets you with a smile.

There was no surprise at all that Starry Sky was the Master, after all, the Holy Grail was something that Starry Sky had brought out.

Is it not a given that he should participate?

Are you two planning to eliminate me from this game first?

Emerald glanced at Grey Wolf, who was holding a large sword and looked both menacing and comical, then elegantly raised the back of her hand, revealing a bright red Command Seal, and smiled as she spoke.

"Grey Wolf, be friendly. Lady Emerald is an old friend of ours."

Qiong slapped Grey Wolf on the shoulder as he grinned and brandished his big sword, then grinned at Emerald, revealing two rows of white teeth.

"Yes, boss!"

Grey Wolf immediately put away his fierce demeanor, gave a serious salute, and put away the greatsword he had found in the treasure trove.

"Since that's the case, the two of you have come to us of your own accord, could it be that you've decided to form an alliance?"

In the game of the Holy Grail War, temporarily setting aside disputes, joining forces to eliminate other competitors, and finally deciding the victor is also a viable strategy.

Emerald is happy to establish this temporary alliance with the Starry Sky Train Group, as it will help deepen their friendship.

But after summoning Lancer and her mysterious familiar, Cupid, Emerald's thoughts underwent a slight change.

The Heroic Spirits alone contain immeasurable value, but what about the Holy Grail itself?

She suddenly had a strong desire to own it.

"An alliance? Hmm, that sounds good."

Xing tapped his shoulder intermittently with a baseball bat.

"Is that little white creature your Heroic Spirit? It has a rather unique and rather cute appearance."

Qiong pointed to the emerald shoulder and asked a question she already knew the answer to.

"Do not."

Jade revealed a warm smile, choosing honesty:

"It is merely the familiar of my heroic spirit."

"Pyramid scheme operators?"

Xing blinked her big eyes and stared at Kyubey, who was a heartthrob. If March 7th were here, she would definitely scream and run over to hug him.

"A beast?"

Two names inexplicably popped into my head.

Cupid: "?"

Jade was also slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

"Miss Xing, do you recognize it?"

"Do we know each other? Or do we not know each other?"

Xing rested her chin on her hand, her brows furrowed, lost in thought.

Jade: "..."

This star is still in very good spirits.

PS:

Volume 1: Chapter 741 Please Sign a Contract with Me and Become a Magical Girl!

"Since this guy isn't a Heroic Spirit, but just a familiar, could you do me a small favor?"

With an innocent smile on her face, Qiong walked up to Emerald, her tone as if inviting her to afternoon tea.

"help?"

The slight surprise quickly disappeared, and a smile appeared on Emerald's lips.

"Of course, Mr. Qiong, what would you like me to help with?"

"It's nothing serious."