The meeting ended.
Only Lu Jiayun and Grace, who had not spoken a single word, remained in the enormous conference room.
Grace now looked much younger than before.
Her white hair had turned black again.
Only after the other two projections had vanished completely did she finally speak:
"What are you planning to do? Send someone to RUN Company Headquarters to find that thing? As far as I know, both Abucado and the Imperial Sequence people have members there now. Did you send the former?"
Lu Jiayun answered without any hesitation.
"It wasn't me.
"But the people who went looking for that Secret Substitute Cube before were theirs too. Those useless fools weren't thorough enough, though. They actually let a weak native human escape with the Secret Substitute Cube.
"This time, I won't trust them."
"So?"
"So? Naturally, I'll send someone I trust to the RUN Company. Grace, you've... changed?"
Grace played with a lock of her hair, unconcerned by Lu Jiayun's confusion.
"I'm Grace. Has anything changed?"
He looked at the young, beautiful woman in the projection, who looked just as she had when they first met.
Lu Jiayun opened his mouth, but could not say anything.
"Lu Jiayun, I believe you can succeed."
"We can succeed!"
Lu Jiayun felt irritated for no apparent reason.
"Mm. By the way, I have some things to attend to lately. If there's another meeting, just remember to have someone under you with a Time Flow Synchronization Module contact me. I'll still attend."
"What do you mean? You're entering the Wasteland? You... you're going to the next station?!"
Grace's movements paused. Her eyes never met Lu Jiayun's.
"This is something I have to do if I want to become the new mayor of the Nation on the Ship. You should understand."
"..."
Grace