— "I want Black Jade."
Shadow.Q, momentarily taken aback, quickly recovered and replied decisively, "We'll have it delivered to you by 8 AM tomorrow at the latest. Is the villa entrance okay? Or would you prefer near the karting track?"
She didn't ask what Rita needed Black Jade for, nor whether it was alive or dead, nor whether Rick and Black Jade were still in a contract, nor how Black Jade's existence now affected BS.
She simply said that Eclipse Vanguard would deliver Black Jade wherever Rita needed, no questions asked.
"Does this need to be reported to Eclipse Vanguard headquarters?" Rita asked.
"No need. As long as it's your request, Eclipse Vanguard will fully support it! Eclipse Vanguard is devoted to you..."
"Stop—!!! Enough, I get it! Good! Tomorrow at 8 AM! Karting track!" Rita's near-explosive reaction caused Shadow.Q's final sliver of uncertainty to evaporate. She felt like she understood Rita a bit more.
Nivalis often responded to players' messages online, and through her, Rita had dozens of nicknames: "My Rita," "My Master," "BS-Rita," "Rita," "The Mysterious One Most Desired by the Oak Owl," "The Defeated Balloon Manufacturer," "Teacher 101 Judge"...
Many of these nicknames, known only to Rita and her pets, were affectionate but quirky.
The most common nickname, though, was "That Damn Goose Who Loves to Compete."
Was Rita competitive?
Shadow.Q wasn't sure. She never saw Rita's competitive side because Rita was the strongest existence in BS. Even at her weakest in the beginning, she could walk alone in Lania Kaia and still have Eclipse Vanguard cooperating with her to exchange gold for gold.
But Shadow.Q did know one thing: Rita didn't bully the weak because of her strength.
She pursued power, but never made it her sole standard for acting or forming friendships. From the moment they first met to now, Shadow.Q had witnessed Rita's rise.
Rita's methods of operation had grown bolder and more aggressive, but her attitude towards herself hadn't changed.
When she first arrived at the villa, Rita joked with her. Now, when she returned, Rita still chatted casually with her. She came out to the villa's lightning net to meet her, instead of sitting inside and remotely activating the net, sending her a simple "enter."
Shadow.Q knew Rita could do that. She wouldn't mind if Rita did it. But that wasn't Rita.
As they entered the villa, Shadow.Q shared her feelings with Rita.
After hearing her, Rita and Nivalis suddenly stopped. They stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Shadow.Q felt a chill run through her. "What's going on?"
Rita slapped her thigh. "Ah!"
Nivalis did the same. "Ah!"
"I can't believe I didn't think of this!"
"Shadow.Q is indeed a leader! She's just better at doing these things than us!"
"Who would say that? We, who are all about combat, are still too pure! Also, why keep saying Shadow.Q Shadow.Q? Just call her Ms. Q!"
"Ms. Q doesn't do this in her office, does she? Cough, enter."
The pair, one human and one dragon, continued their banter as they entered the villa, barely noticing whether Shadow.Q was following.
Silently, B8017913, who had been lying on Nivalis's head, scanned Shadow.Q sympathetically from top to bottom. It seemed like it had heard the sound of a heart breaking.
Inside the villa, the coffee table was filled with drinks, desserts, and fruits.
Before getting down to business, Shadow.Q brought a gift from Eclipse Vanguard—100 items that could increase allocated attribute points.
There were skill crystals, food, gemstones, little figurines that granted attribute points after five minutes of use, and clothes that granted an attribute point after wearing them for a day...
These items were neatly arranged in a large box and presented to Rita.
Rita asked, "A trade?"
Shadow.Q replied, "It's a gift. You don't need to promise anything. It's given willingly by Eclipse Vanguard."
Rita accepted it. She deserved it.
This box of gifts was like the Legion Command from back in the day. The giver seemed not to ask for anything upfront, but was certain that the receiver would not take the gift for nothing.
When business began, Shadow.Q immediately had her subordinates send Rita the electronic map of the area.
Then, she marked out a large circle centered on Rita's villa on the tablet and asked, "Is this area sufficient?"
She almost included the The White Family estate, but Rita didn't feel the need for an extra ring. The White Family was also nearby, providing a nice buffer. Once the battle tower was built, if The White Family caused trouble, she could immediately neutralize them.
She pointed to several nearby villa districts and asked, "What about the players living here?"
Shadow.Q replied, "Eclipse Vanguard will compensate them generously. New homes, dungeon slots, equipment, magic potions, coins—compensation so good that they'll willingly move out. Every player who hears about the compensation will regret not being the one to move."
Talking business with Shadow.Q was comfortable. She was sharp, understanding Rita's intentions with just one word.
As Rita selected locations for the engineering and alchemy workshops, Shadow.Q quietly added, "You don't need to be so nice. You've done so much for BS. If you wanted them to move, they wouldn't refuse and couldn't refuse."
Rita froze, looking at Shadow.Q with an odd expression, but didn't speak, instead focusing on choosing the locations.
Shadow.Q turned to Nivalis and humbly asked, "...What does this mean?"
From the side, Nivalis, munching on fruit, said, "She's so nice because Eclipse Vanguard is covering the relocation fees. If you made her pay for them, let's see if she wouldn't come up with a reason to mess with Eclipse Vanguard."
Shadow.Q choked for a moment, then continued, "...Why not just handle the players who aren't moving voluntarily?"
Nivalis looked at her as though she were an idiot, "Doesn't that sound bad if you say it out loud?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Rita nodded slightly. Shadow.Q silently straightened up, crossing her legs and placing her hands on her knees, sitting more upright.
Nivalis rolled her eyes. She didn't mind too much, though.
She felt like she was witnessing the next in line to become the Defeated Balloon Manufacturer.
Finally, Rita selected the locations on the map, drawing two small circles. Both were near the villa, the engineering workshop at 3 o'clock and the alchemy workshop at 12 o'clock.
Regarding The Old Blacksmith's cooldown time, Rita reassured Shadow.Q that there was no need to worry.
Her Clock Reversal could be used once every hour, reducing the cooldown time by 50% each time.
With a 180-day cooldown, it would be reset in less than a day. By the time The Old Blacksmith was building one workshop, she might be able to use the skill again.
But Rita didn't explain this in detail; she simply reassured Shadow.Q:
"Once the engineering and alchemy workshops are built, I can summon The Old Blacksmith for you. You'll supervise the workshops and make sure The Old Blacksmith's needs are met. I'll summon him for free once, and then we can discuss further."
With such fairness, Shadow.Q naturally couldn't refuse.
Before she arrived, Eclipse Vanguard had already prepared to serve Rita without charge.
But this time, she was determined not to praise Rita anymore.