After receiving the Shicksal species' promise to provide prop support, Lucius and Kiana were sent back to Earth.
Because her body had undergone strange changes again, Kiana decided to go home and rest first.
Lucius, meanwhile, went to the St. Freya Academy City complex, which had already been substantially constructed.
Utilizing the wonder-construction technology from the future Fire Moth, plus having the super AI Prometheus coordinating everything.
After more than half a year had passed, the full form of the St. Freya Academy City complex had risen from the sea.
The foundation had been essentially laid, and buildings were rising from the city complex at an astonishing rate.
Lucius came to the largest building complex in the city—a campus primarily in European style.
—St. Freya Academy (Unfinished Version)
Although the campus wasn't yet completed, various facilities were already being prepared, and some of the scholars recruited from around the world had already arrived.
Among them was Professor Einstein from Caltech, as well as her excellent student Himeko.
Walking along the path to the library, Lucius held his communicator, reviewing the progress reports on Himeko's studies that Professor Einstein had sent.
To his pleasant surprise, Himeko seemed to have considerable talent in interstellar navigation dynamics, and was also studying with extreme diligence.
One could even say, diligent to an extreme degree.
When Lucius entered the library and saw Himeko, he nearly thought he had encountered a female ghost escaped from a horror film set.
Himeko's red hair was disheveled, her eyes were filled with heavy bloodshot veins, and the dark circles around her eyes looked as if they'd been painted with ink.
Anyone who saw her would sigh—truly she had an otherworldly aura!
At this moment she sat before a table piled high with books and notes, holding a syringe filled with pale blue liquid, about to inject it into herself.
Seeing this, Lucius snatched it away in one motion. After seeing the label, he froze.
"Adrenaline?"
"What are you injecting yourself with this for?"
"To stay awake..."
Having had the adrenaline taken from her hand, Himeko yawned as she answered.
Then she vigorously shook her head, grabbed a thermos from beside her, and upon opening it, a strong coffee aroma wafted out.
Himeko drank it all in one gulp, then continued hunching over the desk flipping through books.
Lucius put away the adrenaline and said with a sigh:
"You've become a bit too obsessed with studying. How long has it been since you slept?"
Himeko flipped through her book and replied casually:
"Three days? Or four? Can't remember. Doesn't matter—what matters is studying!"
"I love studying. Studying makes me happy!"
After hearing Himeko's answer, Lucius looked at her and found those bloodshot eyes filled with fanaticism—she clearly wasn't being insincere.
"My dream was to explore the stars. That's what I applied to study—interstellar navigation dynamics."
"But unfortunately, my old man was inhuman. The moment I entered the school gates, he threw me into Fire Moth."
"I originally thought my life would just be like that. I never expected my dream would actually be realized in this way."
Speaking of this, Himeko stopped flipping through the book and said to Lucius with great sincerity:
"Director, thank you very much. Whatever your purposes may be, I'm grateful you've given me a chance to make up for my regret, even if this is just a film."
Hearing Himeko's words, Lucius smiled too.
"Since you're grateful, shouldn't you express your sincerity?"
Himeko froze for a moment, as if not expecting Lucius to respond this way. But she still smiled and said: "Then what kind of thanks would you like, Director?"
Lucius crooked a finger at her.
"Too many eyes and ears here. Come closer so I can whisper."
Seeing Lucius being so mysterious, Himeko's curiosity was piqued. She couldn't help leaning closer to Lucius.
When she got close, Himeko suddenly felt a slight sting at her neck, and then the scene before her eyes began to darken.
Thud!
Himeko collapsed onto the table.
Lucius dragged her back to Himeko's residence at St. Freya and casually tossed her onto the sofa.
Only after finishing all this did Lucius sigh.
"You're studying a bit too extremely. If you die from overwork, how am I supposed to continue the plot?"
After tossing Himeko back to her residence, Lucius had originally intended to make a detour to the research district to visit Teacher Big V.
But before he could set out, he received a message from Mei.
[Father, there have been some complications with the land acquisition in Nagazora City. Could you come over?]
...
Ryusuke's life had been far from ideal lately.
Ever since the negative news broke last time, his image in the eyes of United Government citizens had plummeted.
To prevent his political life from ending, he could only accept Lucius's suggestion and come to the Far East to participate in the film shoot.
He hoped the film would explode in popularity, allowing him to gain massive fame to salvage his political life.
Initially, he was extremely reluctant.
After all, as a member of both the United Government and Fire Moth, he absolutely belonged to that smallest handful of people at the very top of human society's pyramid.
How could someone of his status be labeled an actor?!
After receiving the script Lucius provided, Ryusuke had to admit that the character named Ryusuke Murata in the script was too much to his taste.
One could even say it was practically a copy of himself.
"A villain with great ideals—surely the audience will fall in love with such a charismatic character, right?"
In his affection for the character, Ryusuke also developed a favorable impression of Welt, the character who served as Ryusuke Murata's nemesis.
He then became curious about what kind of person the actor playing Welt, one of the protagonists, might be.
But since they could share the stage with such an important figure as himself, they must surely also be a person of extraordinary status.
"Is it one of those old friends I know, or a veteran star with tremendous fame?"
Whichever it was, Ryusuke hoped the other party's fame was as great as possible—that way he could ride on their popularity.
Then Lucius brought Joachim to meet him.
"Hello, Uncle. I'm Joachim, the actor playing Welt."
Although the child named Joachim was quite polite, Ryusuke still felt he was about to explode with anger.
You, a little kid, are worthy of playing Welt? What does Joachim know about what it means to be Welt?
This kind of Welt, this kind of nemesis—I absolutely refuse to acknowledge it!
But unfortunately, after he expressed his unwillingness, he heard Lucius say:
"If you won't act, there are plenty of people who will."
With those words, Ryusuke burned with fury, but his face could only maintain a smile.
Right now the power dynamic was against him—what could he do? He could only keep smiling, and then... wait for an opportunity to take revenge.
And after arriving in the Far East, he found the opportunity quickly presented itself.
With the political instincts cultivated over many years, upon seeing the St. Freya Academy City complex, he immediately sensed this place's potential, and thereby developed a deeper understanding of MEI Company behind the city complex.
The more he understood, the more he loved MEI Company.
Technology far beyond the era, incredibly abundant capital, endless enterprising spirit... the more he looked, the more he felt MEI Company had a brilliant future.
At the same time, a world-shaking idea arose in his heart.
—If he could influence, or even find a way to control MEI Company, his own future would surely be smooth sailing, right?
In normal times, this idea would of course be absurd. But now, he seemed to see an opportunity.
During this period, he discovered that MEI Company was massively acquiring real estate in Nagazora City, even willing to pay premium prices for it.
But this was understandable—backed by the soon-to-be-completed St. Freya Academy City complex, Nagazora City's future development would be limitless.
In the future it might even become a twin city like Nagazora City—New Nagazora City.
MEI Company having such enthusiasm for land acquisition in Nagazora City was thus quite reasonable.
And this was also Ryusuke's opportunity.
St. Freya Academy City complex, serving as New Nagazora City, was solely controlled by MEI Company. Outsiders had virtually no way to get involved.
But regarding Nagazora City itself, MEI Company's power was far too small—even the local business conglomerates could cause them considerable trouble.
Thus, a brilliant idea arose in Ryusuke's mind.
"I can't get my hands on St. Freya Academy City complex, but what if I acquire the land in Nagazora City first—what then for MEI Company?"
As long as he could take Nagazora City, he could disrupt MEI Company's vision.
At that point, MEI Company's plans would either fail, or they would have to cede benefits and compromise with him.
And as long as MEI Company compromised, he would have a way to tear open a gap in this enterprise, and then gradually turn from guest to host.
This was the confidence of Ryusuke—a man who had climbed from nothing to the pinnacle of power step by step.
"Hehe... just thinking about it fills me with irrepressible joy."
But having an idea wasn't enough. To accomplish this step, he needed a lot of money, as well as power.
Although he could be considered a high official in the United Government, wanting to take down Nagazora City's land could only be called a pipe dream.
So he needed helpers.
After ensuring his residence was secure, he had a communication session with the big shots he had gotten to know over the years.
"This is my assessment. The local business conglomerates in Nagazora are short-sighted and can't see Nagazora City's potential after St. Freya Academy City complex is established."
"Now is a heaven-sent opportunity. As long as we unite to take down Nagazora City's land, we'll gain returns of tens or hundreds of times in the future!"
After hearing Ryusuke's grand ambitions, one big shot asked: "Ryusuke, are you confident?"
To this, Ryusuke said with extreme confidence: "Mr. Nicholas, trust my judgment!"
Although some people expressed doubts about Ryusuke's plan, more were attracted by the profits involved.
Soon, these big shots standing at the pinnacle of human society's pyramid placed heavy bets on Ryusuke.
"Ryusuke, if the money we invest loses, you'd better be prepared to sell your body to repay the debt!"
...
When Lucius arrived at MEI Company's president's office, he found Mei holding a document, her face extremely worried.
"Father, our recent progress in acquiring land in Nagazora City has been greatly delayed."
"We're offering significant premiums, but the acquisition speed has actually slowed down."
"Besides that, there's a large company buying up land at even higher prices."
Hearing Mei's report, Lucius felt somewhat troubled.
Some of these people were simply waiting for higher prices, therefore choosing to keep the land in their hands and continue waiting.
Some simply saw the potential of St. Freya Academy City complex and wanted to invest. Others were simply chasing excessive profits.
But the result of their actions was causing MEI Company's land acquisition plan to be significantly delayed.
Thinking of the Honkai energy reactor about to be detonated in Nagazora City, Lucius felt these people were dancing on a graveyard.
Sigh... why was it so hard to save people?
"Don't worry, I already have a solution for this matter."
Mei asked curiously: "What does Father intend to do?"
Lucius showed a brilliant smile and said: "Of course, save them from dire straits."
After comforting Mei, Lucius sent a message to Vill-V.
[Teacher Big V, for the sake of all Nagazora City residents—activate the earthquake generator!]
...
Soon, a small incident occurred in Nagazora City, which had long enjoyed peace.
—An extremely weak earthquake occurred.
This earthquake was quite weak, not even causing much damage to buildings.
Initially, no one took this weak earthquake seriously.
After all, this land in the Far East was located on a seismic belt. Earthquakes were so common to the people of this land as to be routine.
But soon they discovered things were starting to feel wrong.
The earthquakes occurred every few days, and the intensity was gradually increasing.
This caused Nagazora City's residents to begin panicking.
Thus naturally, rumors began circulating in the city that Nagazora City was about to experience a major earthquake.
Until a certain news story appeared.
[Shocking! Expert Predicts Earthquakes Will Continue Intensifying—Nagazora City and Surrounding Areas at Risk of Sinking!]
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