『 After chatting with the two, Stelle approached the little secretary and decided to become a business consultant for Aurum Alley. Shortly after, the little secretary took the three of them to meet with the Chamber of Commerce President.
The President gave Stelle a test, which Stelle completed quickly. As a result, Stelle gained the President's recognition, and in return, he granted Stelle partial management authority over the Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce.
Stelle nodded and accepted, then began the days of carefully managing the Chamber of Commerce. Under Stelle's wise and mighty command, Aurum Alley's rent was actually going to be paid off, which started to make a certain "lone wolf" anxious.
A chess player once said that winning isn't always on the board; you can defeat your opponent outside the board as well.
As Stelle arrived at the pier as usual, the little secretary waved her hand at Stelle and smiled: "To reward you all for your recent efforts, the Chamber of Commerce has ordered some snacks from Auntie Gao. You all can take a break and continue preparing for the upcoming revival plan."
Stelle nodded and then went to Auntie Gao's snack stall.
Seeing Stelle arrive, Auntie Gao smiled and said that the little secretary had already given her a heads-up, telling Stelle to take a seat while she brought the snacks over immediately.
Soon, Auntie Gao enthusiastically packed a full bag of takeout for Stelle. The moment Stelle received the takeout, her phone received a message from Sushang in the group chat.
⚠︎, Aurum Alley Revival Project
" /Sushang: Stelle, do you remember the IPC representative we met at the pier before? "
" /Stelle: Don't really have an impression. Are you talking about the IPC sales rep? "
" /Sushang: The guy who made me bark like a dog in public. Remember now? "
" /Mingxi: I heard that there have been constant instances of cargo damage during transport recently. "
" /Mingxi: Could it be his doing? "
" /Sushang: That's him. We caught him red-handed, and now he's right here at the pier! "
" /Mingxi: Be there in a second. "
" /Stelle: Eating_melon.jpg " 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: Wow, seeing that Aurum Alley is about to pay off its debt and he's going to have to bark like a dog, you're resorting to dirty tricks?
〘Silver Wolf〙: And playing dirty while getting caught on the spot?
〘Market Development Dept Employee A〙: This department hereby declares that the above actions are all Skott's personal behavior. Please do not associate them with this department.
〘Skott〙: Such a quick cut-off.
〘Aventurine〙: Such skilled PR. You can tell they've done this plenty of times.
....
『 Stelle finished sending her message and immediately bolted toward the pier. Nothing can stop a melon-eater who wants to spectate drama, not even a fork in the dirt!
Seeing Stelle arrive, Sushang tilted her head and said, "You're just in time. Everyone is demanding an explanation from this guy from the IPC!"
"You say 'this guy from the IPC' the moment you open your mouth; that's very impolite."
"I'm not representing the IPC today. I'm just a tourist in Aurum Alley. You can call me Skott," Skott said, looking at Sushang. 』
『 ....』
〘Qingque〙: He doesn't even need the IPC to cut ties and issue a PR statement proactively; he considered that step himself. What kind of top-tier corporate drone is this?
〘Skott〙: What are you saying, what are you saying? I am a lone wolf!
〘Stelle〙: Oh, Mr. Lone Wolf, at the current repayment rate, you'll be barking like a dog on that platform very soon.
〘Skott〙: Hmph, a bet is a bet. Nothing more to say!
〘March 7th〙: If you call him a scoundrel, he honors his bets; if you say he isn't, he plays dirty. What exactly is he?
〘Skott〙: Hmph, a lone wolf is not understood by others.
....
『 "I'm just trying to mail a package, why are you all surrounding me?" Skott looked at Sushang and the others in front of him, puzzled.
"This guy's cargo is defective; it damages other customers' goods, forcing the pier to keep paying compensation…" Sushang looked at Skott indignantly.
"Do you want to explain the reason yourself?" Stelle asked, looking at Skott.
Then, Skott's punchable voice came through.
"Ha—? Speak up, I can't hear you clearly. Is this how you treat tourists in Aurum Alley?"
"We're going to open his package right now. There's definitely something fishy!" Sushang couldn't hold back.
"You'd better think clearly. If my stuff is broken, can you afford the compensation?" Skott sneered.
"We can afford it. Open it now," Stelle said, crossing her arms and looking at Skott.
"Ha—? Did I hear that right? She said she could afford it. Truly surprising." He even forced back a laugh at the end of that sentence. 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: So annoying, I want to shoot him with an arrow.
〘Hanabi〙: Don't worry, the more arrogant people are, the more entertainment they usually provide in the end.
....
『 "Stop being so sarcastic. We're opening it now!"
After saying that, Sushang and the workers placed Skott's package on the open ground of the pier. First, there was a wooden bookshelf; no problems there.
But when Stelle turned, she noticed a very quiet Entranced Ingenium: Golden Cloud Toad. She looked at it curiously; after all, she had seen plenty of these at the Divination Commission and the Scalegorge Waterscape, but this was the first time she'd seen one so quiet.
When Stelle realized this thing was too quiet and very suspicious, the Golden Cloud Toad, unsurprisingly, woke up right on cue.
It wasn't a threat to Stelle, but the fragile goods next to Stelle didn't think so… 』
『 ....』
〘Hanabi〙: Vase: Speak for me, speak for me! The local automaton is so rude!
....
『 Stelle decisively pulled out her baseball bat and took out the automaton in a few swift moves. Sushang pointed at Skott and said, "The result is obvious!"
"You tampered with this ingenium so that it caused damage to other goods on the freight skiff."
"Ha—? Speak up, I can't hear you clearly," Skott said, crossing his arms.
"Now that the evidence is conclusive, are you still going to deny it?" Stelle asked, looking at Skott, who wasn't panicking at all and was even acting righteous.
"Evidence is conclusive? Deny it?" Skott's voice was full of shock and sarcasm.
"Look carefully, this antique monster thing is not mine at all."
"Huh? What?!" Sushang said, surprised.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask the dock workers!" Skott said loudly to the workers behind him.
"Yes, it's… " It's true, this Golden Cloud Toad isn't Mr. Skott's," the timid worker nodded and said.
"Then why is this toad thing placed here?" Sushang asked, pointing to the toad that Stelle had beaten into scrap metal.
"Uh… ah…" The worker couldn't say anything for a moment. 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: Big brother, can you find someone with acting skills when you bribe people? This is way too fake; you can tell at a glance.
〘Skott〙: Little girl, what do you know? This kind is the cheapest, and as long as he insists that thing isn't mine, I can use it to turn black into white and white into black!
〘Stelle〙: You're actually proud of that?
....
『 "That's your own problem; it has nothing to do with me, right?" Skott said, spreading his hands.
"I should be the one asking, my vase was packaged perfectly fine, and it was almost smashed. What's that about?"
Skott began his counterattack.
"Check complete. Prepare for shipment," Stelle signaled the workers to load the cargo.
"Ha—? Did I hear that right?" Skott put his hands on his hips and looked at the crowd. "After pulling a stunt like this, it wouldn't be right if you didn't apologize to me."
"This… we have to apologize?" Sushang said, unwillingly.
"Ha—? If you don't apologize, it won't sound very good if word gets out," Skott said, reveling in his small victory.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Sushang spat out those words, full of reluctance.
"Doesn't matter, just consider it practice. One apology isn't enough, hahahahaha."
Then, Skott left, laughing loudly. 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: Even more infuriating! Arghhhhhhh!
〘Stelle〙: Laugh all you want, I'll make you bark like a dog sooner or later!
〘Skott〙: Oh my, I'm so scared, ahhahahahaha.
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: This is really infuriating.
〘Bronya Zaychik〙: Dummy Kiana, let go! Bronya's Homu doll is going to be ripped apart by you!
〘Zhao〙: If any company in New Eridu had an employee like this, they would definitely be heavily targeted by the Hollows.
....