Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 613: A King’s bail out.

In walked the King of the Glacis!.

He didn’t just walk; he processed. He was not a towering figure, but his presence was towering. He was draped in robes that looked like woven starlight and frost. Behind him followed a retinue of guards whose armor clanked with the sound of old, expensive money.

They looked like they had come for a fight!

The council members, who had been lounging in their various orbital offices, suddenly "materialized" their full-body holograms into the room out of sheer respect_ or fear.

"Your Highness," Melvin stammered, standing up. "Sovereign of the Seas... to what do we owe this unexpected honor?"

The King didn’t answer immediately. He clasped his hands behind his back and paced the chamber, his eyes scanning the high ceilings and the cold walls. Finally, his gaze landed on Sunshine. He offered a microscopic nod_ a secret signal between two people who had already had a conversation on a serious matter.

"I heard," the King said, his voice echoing like a glacier cracking, "that you had convened this little gathering to condemn the very people who saved my kingdom from total collapse."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Condemn?" Melvin squeaked. "Who said anything about condemning? We were just... reviewing... procedural anomalies."

The King narrowed his eyes, a frost-blue glow flickering in his pupils. "Do you take me for a fool Melvin? Procedural anomalies in the tribunal chamber? Clearly, you all have something else in mind."

"That is not what it appears to be, your highness. We just wanted to know what happened in your kingdom." Melvin smiled like a well taught diplomat. "As you know, our people picked up arms, which they should not have done."

The King scoffed. "And you are saying that this is not a trial? I happened to be standing outside those doors for a few minutes, and I have very sensitive ears. It sounded remarkably like a trial. It sounded like you were calling my saviors criminals. I understand the desire of the repairman council to remain neutral in all circumstances but putting your own people on trial for saving lives is stupidity. Or is it that your council wanted my species wiped out?"

"It is not a trial." Melvin ground out.

Nine, unable to help himself and clearly sensing a shift in the wind, chirped up. "It is a trial, Your Highness! They were talking about branding us as criminals! They were going to_"

Vortan shot Nine a look that could have sliced off all of his legs. Nine immediately ceased running his mouth and he lowered his head.

Commander Melvin cleared a massive lump in his throat. The repairman council existed because they were on good terms with all planets and their rulers. Moreover, Glacis was a good business partner. They needed to tread carefully until they realized what the old foggy was up to. "Your Highness, there has been a massive, galaxy-sized misunderstanding. We aren’t here to punish them. We are gathered to... to commend them! Yes! To celebrate their bravery and survival!"

The red-skinned alien looked like he wanted to protest. "But the code_ "

"Codes can be amended!" Melvin barked, glaring at the screen. "We are an adaptive organization, are we not? Besides, there was no war, just an earthquake under the Levias Sea that caused a disturbance. Our people were caught off guard; it was not like they planned what happened."

The King smiled, though it wasn’t a warm expression. It was the smile of a person that had cornered someone. "I am glad to hear it. Because these two did more than ’survive.’ They stood their ground when our ’systems’ failed. They slew beasts that would have torn my world apart. My people do not forget such debts. In a way, I owe the universal repairmen group as well."

He gestured to his entourage. Two guards stepped forward, carrying ornate chests made of polished obsidian. They set them down in front of Sunshine and Nine with a heavy thud.

"For your service to the Glacian Crown," the King announced, "I reward you each with 50,000,000 galaxy coins."

The chamber went dead quiet. Even the hum of the computers seemed to drop an octave in shock.

Nine’s knees actually gave out. He slid into a sitting position on the floor, staring at the chest. "Fifty... fifty million? Sunshine, that’s... that’s enough to buy me a hive. A big one! With all the required furniture! Hyrnn could have a garden! We could grow real plants and harvest our own honey! My children will not need to go out and start their own hives."

The council members were gasping. Fifty million was a fortune_ the kind of money that changed the political landscape of a very small planet.

"This is ridiculous." The female alien in a white veil commented. "Melvin, tell me..." Her voice was cut off. Someone was wise enough to disconnect her communication system.

But the King wasn’t done. He turned his chilling gaze back to Commander Melvin.

"Now," the King said smoothly. "This is the part where you reward them as well, I think. After all, my territory has been a ’great supporter’ of the Universal Repairmen from the days of my great great great great great ancestor. With all the ways in which you benefit from us, it would have been a ’huge blow’ to your operations if we had... fallen. Wouldn’t it?"

The threat was thinly veiled in gold and silk. Melvin, realizing that they had much to lose if they lost the Glacian goodwill, nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Of course! Absolutely!" Melvin turned to Sunshine and Nine, forcing a beaming, paternal smile that looked incredibly painful. "In light of your extraordinary... uh... initiative, you are both hereby promoted one full rank. Furthermore, you will each be credited with 10,000 merit coins and 500,000 gold coins."

Sunshine felt a giddy, bubbling sensation in her chest. "What?"

She looked at the King. When she had sent that frantic, long-shot message for help, she’d hoped for a character witness. She hadn’t expected him to show up with a private army and a mountain of cash. He had bailed her out and even got her rewards.

The system chimed, updating her statics.

Repairman: [Sunshine Raine]

Points: [10,798,000]

Gender: [Female]

Planet: [Private]

Level: 6[0/5000]

Class: [Expert]

Repair success rate: [82%]

Expertise: [Ice stitching, light moon, robot legs, weapons, all household appliances, Emotion engines, gravity regulators, Cultural Atmospheric Generators.]

Favorite tool: [Hammer]

Weakness: [Very cost conscious but tenacious]

Speed: [Fast]

Intelligence: [90/100]

Worlds visited: [6]

She did not even recognize some of the things mentioned in the expertise area. Sunshine was more concerned with her repair success rate that had gone down.

Could the King get the council to raise it as well or was that being too greedy as she had been promoted to a whole new class effortlessly?