P47

He lowered his eyes, letting his eyelashes block out some of the light.

Therefore, these two people, like Xuzhao, are also part of a certain Aeon, or rather... an avatar?

Whose could it be? Jingxing tightened his grip on Fu Xuan's hand slightly.

Fu Xuan sensed something, glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Please have a seat, both of you." The old man spoke first, smiling as he pushed his chair forward. "I am Louis Fleming. This is Dongfang Qixing. As you may already know, we are currently board members of the Interastral Peace Corporation."

Without exchanging pleasantries, Dongfang Qixing cut to the chase. "You two aren't from this world, are you?"

Jingxing was on high alert, ready to act at any moment.

"We understand your language, but nobody in this city speaks it," Dongfang Qixing continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had specifically asked the member of the support team who brought you to Pier Point, and she said you came from 'afar'..."

"So, how far is 'the distance'?" A hint of curiosity appeared in Dongfang Qixing's eyes.

Fu Xuan's fingers curled up on his knee.

"It's probably a place we can never reach now." Jingxing shrugged. He didn't sense any malice from Louis Fleming or Dongfang Qixing.

"So, it's not spatial distance, but time?" Dongfang Qixing, a hint of melancholy in his voice. "I understand."

"And what happened to the Interastral Peace Corporation back then?" Louis Fleming seemed more interested in this.

"Everyone in the world needs your business," Jingxing said aptly, "Even though it's still a 'company'."

Fleming laughed, a hearty laugh. He glanced at Dongfang Qixing, whose face remained expressionless as he simply sat down.

After sitting down, Dongfang Qixing pushed a booklet on the table to the middle, while Fleming put his hands on his stomach and leaned back, looking as if he were at home.

The two men, one like an accountant and the other like a manager, stood in the tent—but there were neither ledgers nor transactions taking place.

Fu Xuan sat down next to Jingxing, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. She was trying to divine their fate. Jingxing took Fu Xuan's hand and gently shook his head.

Although Jingxing Fu Xuan didn't know why Jingxing was doing this, she obediently stopped her calculations.

"Then," Dongfang Qixing asked, "What will be the outcome of the Swarm Disaster?"

"It will pass," Fu Xuan replied quickly. "The Ancestor of the Locust Calamity will fall. He ascended to godhood in solitude and hatred, and will eventually fall to the siege of the Aeon. But his descendants will not cease to exist. Until our time, the Swarm will still be wreaking havoc on the universe, though its influence will not be as great."

Dongfang Qixing nodded, accepting his words.

"Now it's my turn to ask you two." Jingxing raised his eyes, enduring the pain, "Who exactly are you two?"

Fleming laughed even harder.

"What we are is not important," he said. "What's important is what we need to do next—those insects are still wreaking havoc outside, and someone needs to hold this sky up and prevent the universe from heading towards its Finality. If you two are willing, would you be willing to help us?"

"What can we do to help?" Fu Xuan frowned.

"In our plans for Interastral Peace Corporation, we intend to establish a department called the Market Development Department," Fleming said. "Its responsibilities will be to travel between star systems, promote the Aeon of Preservation, and integrate newly discovered worlds into the company's controlled cosmic commercial system. But that's all for the future; right now, we need this department to travel the world and rescue those who need saving."

"Does that mean we have to put out fires everywhere?" Jingxing looked at Fu Xuan.

"That would be very busy." Fu Xuan shook his head slightly. "If it's just us..."

"Of course, we won't just keep the two of you busy," Fleming said. "We only need two people to be listed as leaders and go wherever you want to fight the Swarm Disaster."

"You are completely free to act," Dongfang Qixing added. "We will provide you with logistical support and intelligence gathering."

Jingxing and Fu Xuan exchanged a glance.

Along the way, they rescued people who were planting wooden stakes by the salt lake, miners in the canyon, and people who were hiding behind a mound of earth and offering them a piece of cloth. But they couldn't save everyone, because there were only two of them.

Now someone is telling them: You do what you want to do, and we'll take care of the rest.

"Okay." Jingxing agreed readily, but he didn't ask about the treatment or anything like that. Firstly, he was destined not to stay at this point in time, and secondly, he believed that P49 of Interastral Peace Corporation wouldn't do anything short-sighted.

"Let's simply sign a contract then." Fleming pulled a roster from the table. "We can offer you both the compensation of P47."

"Wow..." Fu Xuan exclaimed in a low voice. After all, in later generations, this would be the highest level of company setup, second only to a seven-member board of directors and a few department heads.

Jingxing picked up a pen and wrote his name.

He glanced at the dozen or so names at the top of the roster—he didn't recognize any of them.

Fu Xuan took the pen and wrote her name. She wrote more slowly than usual, paused after finishing, and looked up at Dongfang Qixing.

When they left the tent, the sun was already setting. As soon as the curtain was lifted, the wind outside, carrying the smell of lime, rushed in, making the lingering pain in Jingxing's eyes even more noticeable.

The factory area was wrapping up work; the shouts of workers, some long and some short, mingled with the sound of chisels breaking stones. Jingxing quite a distance before rubbing his eyes. The stinging pain slowly subsided, and the soreness disappeared.

Over at the quarry, Jenny was leading her men to unload the materials. She saw them come out from the tent, her hands still busy, and she just nodded at them as a greeting; Jingxing also raised his hand slightly.

"Those two, did you sense anything?" Fu Xuan asked.

"The spokesperson for the Aeon," Jingxing said, "Or perhaps someone on an even higher level."

"Huh?" Fu Xuan was taken aback. "Aren't Aeon just concepts? Do they have humanity too?"

"At least I know that Lord of Eternal Joy exists," Jingxing shrugged. "I've dealt with Him."

"It seems the Xianzhou has too many gaps in its records regarding the Aeon and history," Fu Xuan sighed. "If it weren't for this opportunity, we would never have imagined this."

On the way back to the hotel, the streetlights on both sides of the street were turned on one by one.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Fu Xuan asked. "Continue strolling around, or what?"

"Have them prepare the spaceship," Jingxing said. "Now that they've signed, they have to do something to cement our existence in this era."