Chapter 830: Wealthy Lady Alice / The Performance Begins

The stage had been damaged by the trolls, and after a chaotic half-day of repairs, it was finally restored just in time for the performance the next morning.

Stacia looked at her brand new stage with great satisfaction.

But her gaze kept drifting toward Alice, who was displaying an extremely elegant posture off to the side.

Watching the woman step out of the magical pumpkin carriage, looking like an elven princess straight out of a fairy tale, she couldn't help but feel a pang of inadequacy.

"Sigh... Sister Zhao, do you think I'll never be able to surpass that woman in terms of fame?"

Zhao Lin, who had at some point changed into an OL secretary outfit, adjusted her glasses and compared the two of them.

One was a super superstar, the other was just a magical girl idol.

When it came to audience appeal, the former would obviously have more.

"Sister Stacia is amazing too, I believe in you."

"Saying that is no different from directly telling me I'm inferior to her. Tsk, forget it, I'm definitely going to work hard regardless."

Stacia stretched lazily.

"Speaking of which, haven't you been a bit too unlucky lately? When we finished the repairs just now, a piece of the stage structure came loose and fell right toward your head."

"I-it's probably just pure bad luck, and besides, I came out of it just fine, didn't I? What's more... this is actually a good thing."

"A good thing?"

"Yeah, the more unlucky things I encounter now, the better my luck will be later, hehe."

"Hmm, is there such a saying? But being unlucky? Ew! No thanks, I don't want bad luck. Oh right, are you really not going to be a backup dancer? I think you're really pretty, you know. I can transform you into a magical girl."

"N-no, thanks..."

"Alright, that's a shame then. Whew~ I need to go do the final rehearsal. See you later~"

She completed her transformation and headed to the stage for her final rehearsal.

Meanwhile.

Backstage at the performance venue.

Alice, who had just finished her final rehearsal, returned to her resting room.

But the moment she pushed open the door, a familiar voice made her body stiffen.

"Your singing is quite good."

The source of the voice was Ye Qiyan.

"Mr. Altos? It's you, you scared me."

Alice patted her chest. Seeing the young man sitting in the shadows with a maid by his side, her fear gradually receded.

"Who else did you think it would be? Someone from Abukado?"

"...You already know about that. They did approach me, but those four people seemed to only be searching for some mysterious cube. They didn't make things difficult for me, nor did they ask me to do anything, Mr. Altos.

Not everyone in the Abukado organization is a madman like Barr. Some people are only there simply because they need a platform, so they stayed."

Alice was speaking up for the people of Abukado. She was somewhat afraid that Ye Qiyan would directly kill those four people.

After all, she knew very well that the Emperor's Order and Abukado were purely hostile toward each other.

"That's not important. What matters is, Miss Alice, I recall you still owe me a favor."

"Huh?"

Alice's mind flashed back to the time she was captured by a demonic monster covered in black feathers and brought before Ye Qiyan.

A blush crept across her face. Her beautiful eyes blinked, she bit her lip, and she fiddled with the hem of her skirt, as if she had made some kind of resolution.

"Sir, I..."

"So, do you have any Train Coins?"

"Huh?"

Alice was taken aback.

"Yes or no?"

"Y-yes, I do..."

"Four thousand Train Coins plus that favor, in exchange for me protecting you once during this upcoming period. A pretty good deal, wouldn't you say?"

Ye Qiyan said a number he thought was outrageously high.

He was even prepared for Alice to bargain.

This woman's combat ability was admittedly nothing impressive, but she seemed to be quite wealthy.

What surprised him, however, was that upon hearing this, a flicker of disappointment passed through Alice's eyes, and then she nodded without any hesitation.

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Altos. I don't know what's going to happen next, but having your protection is truly wonderful."

Alice smiled sweetly.

In response, she got a look of utter speechlessness from Ye Qiyan.

Did he undercharge?

Was this woman really that rich?

Four thousand Train Coins, seriously.

Even for him, at a station with relatively good harvests in the Wasteland, he wouldn't necessarily gain that much.

Then again, there was no point in asking for a higher number anyway.

He had said four thousand because it was Miatira's recommendation.

If he asked for more, it probably wouldn't be counted as [legitimate Train Coins] by the System for purchasing upgrade options.

"Sir?"

"Nothing. Best of luck with your performance this afternoon."

"Thank you. With you here, I'm sure it won't fail."

A payment of four thousand Train Coins was sent directly to Ye Qiyan's mailbox.

He withdrew it on the spot. He didn't mention that RUN Company had planned to kill her outright.

Because that wasn't going to happen anymore.

With four thousand Train Coins in hand, he naturally needed to work hard to make the most of them.

Collect the money, leave, all in one smooth motion.

Alice wanted to say something more, but the door to the resting room had already been closed by him.

"Next up, Stacia probably won't be a source of income."

Scrolling through his Friends List, Ye Qiyan abandoned the idea of contacting Stacia.

He didn't believe for a second that woman hadn't noticed something unusual going on here.

Because of the divinity Russell had exposed, she must have already known.

After all, this was the Emperor's Order, where everyone except him was a bit unhinged. Who among them hadn't claimed a few False God lives?

Oh.

Except Zhao Lin.

Ye Qiyan walked out from the backstage area. Thanks to the Justice Mark, he knew very well that Zhao Lin wasn't far from his current position.

She was sitting in the front row of the audience, gently swaying her upper body along with Stacia's cheerful singing.

Seeing Ye Qiyan approach, she waved at him and opened a sound-isolating Barrier beside herself in advance.

"Brother Qiyan, are you done with your business?"

Ye Qiyan sat down beside her with Lisette in tow. He looked Zhao Lin up and down, noticed the gauze bandage on her palm and the various small injuries across her body, and nodded.

"This time is different from last time."

"Yeah, last time there weren't many small misfortune incidents, so a big one came all at once at the end. But this time, hehe, Brother Qiyan, I feel like I'm not going to die~"

"Hard to say. What if a meteor falls from the sky and just happens to chase you down? Then you'd still be dead."

"That was the old me. Now... even if a meteor does come, I'll first try to see if I can shatter it."

Finally.

As time passed.

The audience began to enter.

The sides, the elevated areas, the back - all were positions occupied by RUN Company members.

The stage, the center, the front - those were the areas for Train Conductors from the Wasteland and the performers.

The venue was like an inverted pyramid without a pointed top.

The Train Conductors, like prisoners at the bottom of a courtroom, endured countless stares and hushed whispers.

As a unicorn appeared out of thin air carrying Alice in her pumpkin carriage, a soft, gentle melody slowly began to play.

A colossal Spirit Dragon materialized high in the sky.

The dragon spread its wings and soared.

At that moment, everyone - Train Conductors and native humans alike - felt the same soothing comfort, and their spirit recovery speed continued to increase.

The performance had begun.