Honkai Star Rail: I am Godzilla, domineering and rampant.

"Don't need invitation letters anymore?!"

The moment Topaz finished speaking, both Qingque and Bailu's eyes lit up.

--------------------------

The confrontation between The IPC and The Family is not something the Astral Express will intervene in.

The Nameless may draw their blades to help when witnessing injustice, but as long as this power struggle doesn't involve innocents, they won't interfere.

"Speaking of which, what will happen to Robin?" March 7th asked worriedly. "The Family won't pin what Sunday did on Robin, right?"

Robin is Sunday's sister, after all. If The Family really insists on labeling her as his accomplice to downplay Sunday's role, it wouldn't be surprising!

She didn't believe for a second that The Family didn't see what Sunday was doing in Penacony!

Those people are shrewder than ghosts!

"Robin doesn't need to worry. She's safe for now, still preparing for the Charmony Festival..."

Nodding, Aventurine added, "Miss Robin has a great reputation across the universe. If The Family really plans to push someone out to attract fire, she would never be the choice."

Unless, of course, they want to be torn apart by Robin's fans.

"Phew, then I'm relieved. Still, I wonder how Miss Robin is feeling after all this upheaval."

Knowing Robin was safe, March 7th let out a breath of relief, though she still sighed at her twisted fate.

"Everyone, you'd best prepare yourselves. I think it won't be long before The Family sends someone to contact you for negotiations. As for their goal... well, I don't need to explain it, right?"

Just as Aventurine finished speaking, a few members of the Hound Family appeared in the distance.

Among them was a man in a suit who looked sharp and calculating.

"Hounds and Alfalfa Families... looks like this time it's the Old Oti from the Alfalfa Family. Hope you all have a pleasant negotiation."

Recalling the Old Oti from the Alfalfa Family, Aventurine smiled slightly.

"This sort of thing is fine with me and Welt. Dan Heng, take March and Stelle around, and try to calm down the frightened tourists."

According to Aventurine and the Garden of Recollection, Penacony's true master is Godzilla.

Easing the anxiety of the guests was the least they could do.

"Okay, Himeko, Uncle Yang, be careful."

"If the negotiations fall through, I'll have my big bro beat them up."

March 7th looked speechlessly at Stelle's serious face and pulled her away by the shoulder.

"Let's go, this has nothing to do with us."

"Er... that was kinda scary."

Just then, the Alfalfa Family representative being protected by the Hounds spoke up hesitantly, "The Patriarch specifically requested that this young lady be invited as well..."

There was no need to explain. Himeko and Welt knew exactly what was going on. Shaking her head, Himeko replied with a smile, "She's not feeling well, so it's not convenient to disturb Mr. Oti."

Hearing this, the man knew he had no chance of taking Stelle back. The Old Oti had made it clear: not a single bad impression could be left, not even a harsh word.

Under those conditions, any excuse would be enough to dismiss him.

He shook his head silently, fine, the responsibility wasn't his anyway.

...

March 7th tugged Stelle along at a jog, not relaxing until they were out of sight.

"Hmph! When they needed our help before, all they did was make things difficult and lie. Now they want help and come crawling back? Pfft."

She stuck out her pink tongue and mocked in their direction.

Dan Heng looked that way and said, "There's still a power struggle between The Family and The IPC. Himeko wants us out of it, but we can use this time to investigate what the guests think of Penacony now."

To Dan Heng, it didn't matter who won, Family or IPC. As long as the trailblazers kept pushing forward, that was enough.

"You're right! Come on, let's see how everyone's doing."

Hearing this, March 7th's interest immediately perked up, and she dashed off excitedly. After a short distance, she turned back and waved at them.

"Hurry up!"

...

"Hoh hoh hoh, the Nameless of the Astral Express are indeed extraordinary. On behalf of The Family, I extend our highest gratitude for your assistance."

Oti Alfalfa's distinct laugh echoed in the hall of The Radiant Feldspar.

Himeko and Welt sat on the adjacent sofa.

Originally, such a reception should have taken place at the Morning Dew Pavilion, but recent disruptions had rendered the airship out of service.

Moreover, the Pavilion was a key dream stronghold of the Oak Family. Since this meeting was arranged privately by Oti, it was held aboard this airship.

Of course, with the Alfalfa Family's capabilities, getting the airship airborne again was a simple task.

A flicker of emotion passed through the Old Oti's eyes.

The airship had been struck down once, who could say it wouldn't be shot down again if it flew too high?

"Mr. Oti flatters us. This event wasn't solely handled by the Astral Express. Many others contributed greatly. We wouldn't dare claim all the credit," Himeko replied with a smile.

The best way to handle cunning old foxes like him was to redirect their words against them, especially when your own interests weren't involved.

"This beautiful lady must be the navigator of the Astral Express? A pleasure to meet you."

Old Oti chuckled at Himeko's words, then said, "The Family recognizes the contributions of the Astral Express to Penacony. The Family will not let those who have made contributions leave empty-handed. Everyone who has contributed to Penacony will receive The Family's friendship!"

With that, Old Oti downed the liquid in his hand, whether it was alcohol or juice.

"The Family's gratitude for everyone's help with Penacony is heartfelt, however..." Old Oti said with a smiling face, "I wonder if the Navigator lady could perhaps put in a word with Godzilla on The Family's behalf, and return Penacony to The Family?"

"Well, even setting aside the fact that we don't know what Mr. Oti is referring to, even if we did know, we wouldn't be able to help Mr. Oti in this regard.

You must know of Godzilla's immense power, the Astral Express has no say in this matter. Let alone asking Godzilla to evaluate pros and cons by human values,"

Himeko replied with feigned gravity.

Old Oti still wore that smiling face.

He never really expected to retrieve ownership of Penacony from Godzilla just by asking Himeko for help.

After The Family lost control of Penacony, they had tried countless plans they knew of and had prepared, but without exception, none of them succeeded, they couldn't even stir up the slightest ripple.

He brought it up now mainly because...

Merchants pursue profit. Any chance to maximize profit naturally can't be missed, especially in a place where even strangers don't need to sleep anymore.

And the only known connections Godzilla has are that planet called Jarilo-VI, the Astral Express, and the Xianzhou Luofu.

Jarilo is out of the question. As far as he knows, only a handful of people on the Luofu have any connection to Godzilla, so asking them for help is clearly impossible.

That leaves only the Astral Express, which is still currently on Penacony.

"Hohoho, Ms. Himeko is right, Old Oti was being foolish."

Oti looked at the two and continued, "Since The Family can't regain control of Penacony, then let me propose something else."

"Please go on."

"The Family wishes to obtain the management rights to Penacony from Godzilla. From now on, Godzilla remains the de facto controller of Penacony, while The Family handles all operational matters. Profits will be split evenly. Of course, the Astral Express crew can also benefit from this."

Old Oti stroked his beard and smiled.

"The Astral Express still stands by its original stance. However, if Mr. Oti only wishes to acquire the management rights from Godzilla, we can pass that message along, we just can't guarantee the outcome."

"Hohoho, having the Navigator lady say that is enough. Old Oti will wait here for good news. Oh right, Old Oti has prepared a gift for the Astral Express, though it's still in the works. No matter the outcome, the Alfalfa family will always remember the favor."

...

After chatting a while longer, Himeko and Welt took their leave.

Watching their departing figures, Old Oti shook his head: "That Oak Family's brat really left The Family with a huge problem."

Once they were away from any Family members, Welt couldn't help but say, "Even profit sharing with no say in control Old Oti truly is someone who has thrived in the business world for ten entire Amber Eras."

One must admit, for him to proactively make such an offer before the other family heads arrive, it shows the depth of his's calculations.

It must be noted Penacony now isn't a situation where The IPC exploited The Family's oversight to wedge in. The true power over the Dreamscape lies with Godzilla.

The Family has no need to confront the IPC more aggressively. Without Godzilla's approval, anyone trying to do business here is simply asking for trouble.

In such circumstances, Old Oti is offering: The Family handles all the trouble; you just wait and collect money.

He even opens with a fifty-fifty split, the man's still sharp despite his age.

"Old Oti's idea isn't bad. But it's not quite as appealing as what the IPC offered," Himeko chuckled and continued the conversation.

Forty-five percent of the profits, fifteen percent of which is gifted to the Express, and they would even nominate a crew member as a shareholder of the Penacony Group.

By comparison, Old Oti's terms fall short.

But that's expected. Old Oti doesn't have the same kind of relationship with Godzilla that the IPC does.

Although the IPC has no direct connection to Godzilla... let's not forget we have Director Topaz!

Director Topaz is connected to Godzilla, so doesn't that mean the IPC is connected to Godzilla?

We're all on the same side, why fight to the death? Wouldn't it be perfect to just make money together?

"What's your opinion? Do you think it's better for the IPC or The Family to run the business in Penacony?" Welt asked.

Himeko thought for a moment, then said, "If I had to choose, I'd say the IPC is better. Though we both know what kind of organization it is, at least they don't cause chaos when it comes to business, right?"

After all, the IPC is founded on the belief in Preservation. Even if lower-level employees wanted to stir up trouble, it would be tied to credit scores, at least there's no worry that, like the Oak Family, an entire family is composed of followers of Order trying to drag all living beings of Penacony into the Dream of Order.

At most, there'd be fluctuations in the credit point system, which the IPC's strength would quickly stabilize.

To put it plainly, she doesn't believe that the other family branches were completely unaware of the Oak Family's actions!

With a glance at each other, the two simultaneously understood what the other was thinking.

...

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! I must capture this unprecedented change in Penacony on film! This is absolute proof that I was part of it!"

A pair of Intellitrons struck a pose in front of the railing, speaking excitedly.

It was as if the earlier rumbling hadn't affected them at all.

Even March 7th was a bit dazed and cautiously approached, asking, "Um, excuse me, may I ask if you have any thoughts on the recent commotion in Penacony? Like, maybe it was dangerous or something..."

"Thoughts? My thoughts are, it was amazing!" the female Intellitron cheered.

"This is the first time I've experienced something so thrilling! It'll definitely be a hot topic when I go back!"

"Uh, haha, as long as you're happy."

March 7th twitched her lips, this was her first time encountering such a formidable opponent and she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Ahem, sorry to bother you, but do you know about the change in Penacony's leadership?"Dan Heng cleared his throat and asked bluntly.

"Of course." The male Intellitron nodded as if it were obvious. "It was front-page news on the Interasteral Peace Express! Every group chat is talking about it! As someone who personally experienced it, I'm a VIP in all those chats!"

"So, what do you think about it?" Dan Heng continued questioning.

"Thoughts? If I really had to say, I'd say the dreamscape has become safer?" The female Intellitron replied after a moment of thought.

"You don't feel uneasy?" March 7th blinked in confusion.

Even knowing that the dreamscape now belonged to Godzilla, why did these people have such bizarre opinions?!

"Uneasy? Not at all. To be honest, we were a little nervous during the upheaval and thought about leaving Penacony as soon as we got back to the real world. But that all went away after the IPC declared that Godzilla had claimed Penacony as part of his territory."

"Exactly. Godzilla hasn't been in the universe for long, but everything he's done has been positive, helping the Xianzhou defeat the Lord Ravager. Rumor has it that's not even the half of it!

And he's never been heard doing anything bad, just sleeping and eating in his own territory. If no one had discovered Godzilla, who knows where he'd still be sleeping? He wouldn't have time to care about all this."

"Yeah, and this time the IPC's announcement was jointly issued by Lady Herta and Mr. Screwllum, absolutely credible! Especially Ms. Screwllum."

The two Intellitrons waved their hands as they spoke.

"Uh, well... what she said makes so much sense, I don't even know how to argue."

March 7th leaned closer to her companions and whispered.

"Thanks for the information. Have a pleasant journey."

...

After asking around, the trio found that the attitude of those two Intellitrons wasn't uncommon in Penacony.

In fact, many people were only staying to travel around Penacony because Godzilla was there.

In their words:

"Godzilla is strong enough to defeat the Lord Ravager. With such a powerful being guarding Penacony, who would dare cause trouble? Isn't that way safer than when The Family was in charge?"

Especially after the pre-Festival chaos and The Family's reputation hitting rock bottom, people's trust in Godzilla had soared.

Most people had a clear understanding of themselves, and with the IPC's statement being jointly issued by several geniuses, who would still think it's just corporate PR at this point?

"Uh, people here really have strong mentalities."

March 7th twitched her lips, wondering if she was falling behind the times.

"At least it's a good thing. Penacony is stabilizing. What follows is the battle between the IPC and The Family. We don't need to get involved in that, just wait and watch."

Dan Heng said calmly.

...

Meanwhile, in the area of the dreamscape where Godzilla sleeps.

His sleeping place was unique, a massive island separated from the city.

In the dreamscape, anything is possible.

Since Godzilla took control of this territory, he shaped this island under his command.

If it weren't for his colossal body looming like a mountain and impossible to ignore, no one would even know that such a divine, monstrous being was hidden here.

At this moment, someone who wasn't supposed to be there arrived.

"Miss Robin?"

The ever-present Messenger girl noticed Robin approaching and gently leaped down to greet her.

"Ah, Miss Messenger, long time no see."

"Do you have business here, Miss Robin?" the Messenger asked, puzzled.

Shouldn't Robin be preparing for the Festival?

Now that Penacony had stabilized under Godzilla's control, holding the Festival was basically guaranteed.

Why had Robin come here?

"I have something I'd like to discuss with Mr. Godzilla." Robin said softly.

The Messenger nodded without saying more.

Her gaze flickered beneath her mask.

She remembered, wasn't Robin the younger sister of Mr. Sunday?

Could this visit be related to her brother?