Sparkle, Be Good and Listen!

Lin Hai gripped the Lucky Star tightly, and the space around him rippled.

The next moment, he and Sparkle had returned from that lava hell to their own warm and bright living room.

Familiar furniture, soft lighting, and tranquil air.

The previous bloodshed and fighting were kept out of reach, as if it were just a nightmare.

Lin Hai carefully placed the Sparkle on the soft sofa.

He gently examined the wounds on her shoulder and back.

Although not fatal, it was still shocking.

Lin Hai frowned slightly, went to the next room, took out a first-aid kit, and carefully cleaned the dirt and scabs around the wound with sterile cotton swabs.

Every movement was focused and gentle, as if afraid of hurting Sparkle in the slightest.

As the cooling ointment was applied, Sparkle took a soft breath, but a happy smile spread across her face.

"Does it still hurt?" Lin Hai asked in a low voice.

Sparkle shook her head, her eyes curving into crescents, and suddenly leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"With you here, it doesn't hurt anymore." Her tone was slightly coquettish, and she looked at him longingly. "Now... can you pamper me properly?"

Lin Hai gently tapped her forehead with his finger, his tone firm and unwavering.

"No, the most important thing now is to recover." He pulled a thin blanket over her. "Once you're better, you can do whatever you want."

Instead of getting Sparkle at being rejected, Hanabi felt a warm glow inside.

But she still wouldn't give up, tugging at Lin Hai's sleeve like a child begging for candy. "Then... can I kiss you one more time? Just one, as a consolation prize."

Looking at her expectant eyes, Lin Hai smiled helplessly yet affectionately, leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her smooth forehead.

"Is that alright now? Be a good girl and listen to me."

Sparkle was finally satisfied, a blush spreading across her face.

She picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and selected an old romance movie—"The Butterfly Lovers."

As the melodious music began, Sparkle was deeply captivated by the poignant and steadfast emotions of the characters in the play, watching with complete absorption.

Especially when she saw the scene of the butterfly transformation, her eyes sparkled, and a thought suddenly occurred to her:

When she arrives in Penacony, she plans to form a theater troupe to bring such moving stories to the stage.

At this moment, Lin Hai brought over freshly brewed hot tea, and the refreshing aroma of the tea filled the air.

He handed a glass to Sparkle and then sat down next to her.

The two stood side by side, sipping warm tea as they watched a love story that transcended life and death on the screen.

Outside the window are the neon lights of the city; inside, there is the aroma of tea, a movie, and the sound of each other's breathing.

The smoke of war has cleared, and peace and tranquility prevail.

Belobog, old houses in the Upper District.

As most people participated in the construction of the new city, many old houses were abandoned.

Topaz repurposed one of the rooms into a temporary office and installed a data terminal there.

She was sitting in her chair, preparing to compile a report on changes in the social structure of Belobog, when an encrypted file suddenly popped up.

Topaz took a closer look and immediately became serious.

This is not a typical encrypted file.

The label above it indicates that it is marked with the high priority of Interastral Peace Corporation.

Big event!

The moment Topaz entered the verification password and the file contents unfolded, her pupils suddenly contracted.

It was a freshly printed interstellar wanted poster, and the face on the poster was none other than the mysterious and unpredictable Lin Hai, whom she had met briefly in Kliperburg not long ago!

"How... is this possible?"

Topaz muttered to himself unconsciously.

His face was filled with astonishment and disbelief.

She repeatedly checked the information on the arrest warrant, especially the location of the incident.

An extreme planet codenamed "Molten Inferno".

Huge questions filled her mind:

Lin Hai should have been in charge of things in Belobog, so why did he suddenly appear on a distant, dangerous planet with a completely different environment?

Could it be that he has mastered some kind of spatial teleportation technology, or... an even more unbelievable ability to create clones?

What puzzled Topaz even more was that the additional information in the arrest warrant clearly stated that Lin Hai had a fierce conflict with the company while protecting a woman named Sparkle.

"Sparkle... how did she get involved with Lin Hai? And their relationship seems to be quite unusual?"

Topaz's brows furrowed tightly; her intuition told her that the waters of Belobog were much deeper than she had imagined.

Lin Hai was far more complex and dangerous than she had anticipated.

The situation was urgent, Topaz immediately established a dedicated encrypted communication channel with the Aventurine.

After the signal was connected, Topaz got straight to the point, his tone serious:

"Aventurine, I just received a warrant from headquarters. The person you're looking for is that mysterious man I met in Belobog, Lin Hai."

The voice of Aventurine came from the other end of the communication, different from its usual cynical attitude, but with a suppressed gloom:

"That's right, it's him. Topaz, this guy... is very troublesome. His power and hostility towards the company are beyond what conventional assessment models can demonstrate."

"What does the company plan to do with him?" Topaz pressed.

Aventurine's response was cold and direct. "He has caused significant damage to company assets and seriously challenged the company's authority. The company's stance is clear: we will not let him off the hook. The appropriate removal procedures have been initiated."

Topaz's heart sank slightly. She thought of the people of Belobog who had just seen hope, "Then... what about Belobog? How will the company treat this planet?"

Aventurine was silent for a moment, then spoke again, his tone carrying an almost cruel calm:

"For planets where debts cannot be recovered normally and where there are high-risk threats, the company's standard procedure... will most likely result in an outcome that no one wants to see."

Topaz understood the subtext of those words.

Forced debt collection, possibly even involving physical intervention!

The thought of war possibly breaking out on this nascent, thawing ice field silenced Topaz.

As a company employee, she understood the company's rules; but as someone who had witnessed Belobog's transformation firsthand, she felt a sense of powerlessness.

Topaz sighed softly, changed the subject, and asked a more practical question:

When will you arrive here?

"Headquarters has dispatched reinforcements, larger in scale and better equipped. My advance team will arrive in your star system soon," Aventurine replied.

"More people... that's better," Topaz said, his tone complicated.

She both hoped for reinforcements to control the dangerous Lin Hai and worried that the arrival of large-scale force would completely destroy Belobog's hopes.

Just as the communication was about to end, Topaz glanced inadvertently at the sky outside the window.

A bright, incredibly fast streak of light, like a comet tearing through the night sky, streaked across the Belobog sky.

Its trajectory and energy characteristics are quite different from those of the company's spacecraft that Topaz is familiar with.

What is that?

A thought struck her.

Topaz immediately cut off communication, grabbed his equipment, and went to track the mysterious light's location himself.