Clarence paused to think. He then said to Curtis, "I get it. You're paving the way for me, Grandpa. You've never been wrong about people. "If I stay by her side, even if something happens to the Gallaghers later, she'll have our backs." "That's right." Curtis patted his face. "You're smart, Clarence. I'm happy you figured that out. But you're missing something. Ms. Carver's goals go way beyond this place. Portfall is just somewhere she's passing through. "The key is to build a good relationship with her. Becoming her friend is our best bet. If we became her enemy, the Gallaghers would be wiped out in seconds." Clarence's eyes widened. "Is she that powerful?" Curtis nodded. "Based on what we've seen, we'd probably go down even faster. Think about it—Chauncey had run this Chamber of Commerce for years, yet why would it collapse in one day? "Ms. Carver knows how to set things up. She predicted every person and every move ahead of time, so everything ended up exactly how she wa
The moment Aria finished speaking, the audience burst into applause. The livestream chat went crazy too. One viewer typed, "The streamer nailed it! She didn't just explain how the rest of Farshya has changed; she also called out those foreign powers!" Another person said, "Agreed." Someone else added, "The streamer's not just patriotic—she showed everyone, online and offline, that Portfall and the rest of Farshya are one family. That was amazing!" The audience started calling out their questions. "Those photos were gorgeous! How did those mountains form?" "Is the beef bolognese from Northden really that different from what you get elsewhere?" "I want to travel around Farshya on my next vacation. Which cities should I visit?" Aria patiently answered each question. She knew that she couldn't easily change people's long-held beliefs, but the seeds were planted now, at least. Once they actually visited the rest of Farshya themselves, they'd understand. Meanwhile, Sherm had
Aria told the viewers, "As for the skyscrapers and trees, I'll show you on the projector. Once you see them, you'll realize Northden is nothing like what you imagined." Right as she finished speaking, viewers flooded into the stream. Aria was about to welcome them when the comments started flying. Someone with the username MeowSauce typed excitedly, "Ms. Carver, you're here!" Another user called RisingTide jumped in. "We're students from Portfall University! A classmate just saw you on their feed and told us. We searched and found you right away!" PigletSighs added their comment. "We finally get to hear you talk about other parts of Farshya again. It's been way too long since last time." Then DawnToDusk chimed in. "Keep going! There are like 15 of us heading over right now! It's way better hearing this in person!" Clearly, except for those first two people who looked down on the rest of Farshya, everyone else flooding in actually wanted to hear what Aria had to say. Aria
Investing in the stock market came with risks, so everyone should always invest with caution. When certain people managed to make money in an industry, everyone else would get jealous. After all, everybody wanted to make a profit. And that was how some people ended up as victims and lost money. Freya stood nearby, finally getting it. "Aria, are you saying that without you guys, Portfall's market would've crashed and the whole city would be in chaos?" "Exactly." Aria looked up. "Foreign investors wanted to control our market. They'd dangle the bait and wait for people to bite. When everyone saw the industrial and energy stocks climbing, they couldn't help themselves and threw their money in. "Then, when it crashed, that money was gone forever. Once people lose everything they worked for, everyone starts to feel resentful and angry." Freya's eyes went wide. She'd played the stock market for years but had never seen what Aria was describing. Still, she had to believe it—without
Aria didn't waste time. "Mr. Revelare, I need your help with something. This might be a national security issue." "National security?" Tobias dropped his casual tone. "Is someone making a move against Farshya?" "Pretty much." Aria lowered her voice. "You know about Farshya's drakonic fortune, right? Someone wants to steal it for themselves." Tobias' eyes sharpened after hearing this. "That's serious. Very few people know about Farshya's fortune. The government has never leaked anything about it." "That's not all." Aria frowned. "Angladus and Athara want to hit us from both sides. They're working with an arcane practitioner. The practitioner will help them take Portfall, and in return, he gets Farshya's drakonic fortune. "Based on what we've got so far, that practitioner is searching for a sacred relic in Portfall. If he finds it, Farshya's drakonic fortune disappears with it." Tobias' voice turned grave. He said, "I need to report this to the government authorities. If they
When the team leads saw Aria's message, they immediately dropped whatever they were doing to report in. "Boss, we're all here! We're ready for orders!" Aria checked the screen. The headcount matched, so everyone was present. She posted the situation on their channel. "This mission's huge. Each team lead will take five members and spread out to the barriers across Farshya. Guard them in secret. "If you spot any unknown personnel approaching, don't wait for permission—arrest them immediately. If they resist, grab them first and ask questions later!" The team leads immediately responded, "Yes, ma'am!" "I knew it had to be something big for Boss to gather us all together. Otherwise, she'd rather let us sit around doing nothing." "Finally, some real action! The last time was when we hunted down the Darkwarden at the border. I haven't seen that kind of operation in forever!" Aria read their messages and drifted into memories. She still remembered the Darkwarden clearly. Back