The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 211 Fulfilling the Promise
Without saying a word, Su Ninglong transferred 200,000 star coins to Song Liu, with the note clearly stating that it was a voluntary gift.

[Su]: Come to Teacher Yang's courtyard, drink tea and chat. I also want to know what has happened recently.

Just waiting for the rich woman to show her mercy! Song Liu happily accepted the transfer in a second, in a great mood.

[Song Liu]: Thank you Su Su for taking care of me! Wait for me for ten minutes, I'll wash my face and change my clothes and come right away.

While waiting for someone, Su Ninglong casually logged into the Douli platform and glanced at the current affairs news section.

The headline push notification claimed that the military had deployed new interstellar warships, accompanied by grand images and a barrage of technical jargon.

She didn't know much about warships, and after looking at it for a long time, she still didn't quite understand what made the new ship so powerful.

She casually scrolled through the gossip section, and several headlines popped up: "Virtual Addiction! Teenagers' Addiction to Holographic Games Leads to Tragic Family Murder...", "Terrifying Celestial Phenomenon Reappears, Energy Fluctuations Point Directly to the Star Alliance," and "The Star Alliance Announces with High Confidence that It Has Successfully Developed a Prototype of the 'Key of Prophecy' Detection Device."

The title alone exudes an air of exaggeration and frivolity. The Key of Prophecy itself has the function of detecting the existence of each other's fragments, so why would you need a detection device? Unless, like her, you completely cover up the Key of Prophecy and put it in a dark place.

Su Ninglong immediately lost interest in opening it.

She closed the page and instead brought up the local logs built into the bracelet, carefully examining the private records and notifications accumulated over the past two months.

Over the past two months, Arya has called her twice and left several voice messages.

In the first message, Aria's tone was hesitant and uneasy: "Susu, do you have time now? We've been encountering something quite strange lately. Several children from nearby families, including several adults, have disappeared one after another, and we can't contact them at all. We've already reported it to the police, but they still haven't found them. There are no suspicious individuals, and the missing persons haven't left their homes much. Some parents reported their children missing to the police immediately afterward, but no spatial fluctuations were detected..."

A few days later, she sent another message, sounding slightly relieved, but the tension hadn't completely subsided.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were in seclusion. I went to see Lei Qingya. She came with her teacher and said this might be related to a special kind of mystical spirit... But even such a well-secured villa area isn't safe anymore, so I've temporarily moved to the vicinity of Zou's Bar. Remember to visit me sometime!"

Next came Xingyuan's periodic report, which clearly outlined the investment gains and losses over the past two months.

The projects they have invested in so far are all of the type that have slow returns but steady growth. Although they have all made a profit, they have not yet fully recovered their initial investment.

The projects they invested in were slow but steady in generating profits; they were profitable, but they still hadn't recouped their initial investment.

For example, the rental income from the real estate building under Suninglong's name for two months was only a fraction of the initial renovation and maintenance costs.

However, she wasn't in a hurry to use the money, so she didn't mind getting her money back slowly.

In any case, as long as a building isn't a shoddy construction and the location isn't bad, it's a genuine high-quality property. If all else fails, you can sell it to realize cash.

Ge Wei also sent the weekly project report on time, along with many progress photos of the deep pit renovation site.

Judging from the construction progress, as long as the current pace continues, it is entirely possible to complete the project within the contractually stipulated timeframe.

Most importantly, Suninglong has never had the habit of delaying payments for projects. They always settle accounts very quickly, so the construction team is confident in their payment and works very diligently without worrying about not getting paid after the work is completed.

As for Zou Shuyi, her godmother truly lives up to her reputation.

Knowing she was in seclusion, her contact information was clean and uncluttered, not a single unnecessary message was sent, showing complete trust and a willingness not to disturb her.

Su Ninglong glared at the interface, probably too busy with other beauties to care about her!

On the other hand, Assistant Yu seemed to have encountered some urgent matter, sending dozens of messages in succession, each one more urgent than the last, urgently requesting Su Ninglong to order another 100,000 "Disintegration Pointers" and 5,000 pairs of "Pure Heart Earrings".

After browsing through all the messages and thinking for a moment, Su Ninglong replied to Assistant Yu.

[Su]: Delivery in five days.

After her breakthrough in strength, the operating efficiency of the fish-lipped robots and gorilla-headed robots under her command also increased significantly, and the refining speed was much faster than before.

However, the number of criminals sent in requesting sealing has been increasing recently, so Su Ninglong had to report to her superiors and ask them to stop sending people in. The existing gorilla-headed robots are almost all stuck in the police station dealing with backlogged tasks and can't come back to help at all.

"Susu, we're here." Sally was the first to rush into the courtyard, opening her arms to give her a firm hug.

The cool, fine scales suddenly clung to Su Ninglong's neck, raising goosebumps on her skin.

"I miss you so much! How did you manage to stay in the workshop for two whole months... Oh right, look at my shop's recent sales figures." As she spoke, she excitedly pulled out the light screen on her wristband and shared the sales data with Su Ninglong. "Sales have tripled, tripled! We've made a fortune, it must be Su the God of Wealth blessing me."

Su Ninglong: "..." What kind of superstitious ideas are these?

"How could there be such a sudden increase?"

"I don't know!" Sally hadn't investigated, and her family couldn't possibly know either. They were just a group of Greenscale people who were focused on their work, and even those who had learned the technology weren't smart enough to take the initiative to find out the details.

"You didn't know? Those candid photos of you in the comments section got posted on Douban and Jiahua platforms." Song Liu's voice came from the doorway. He was wearing a well-tailored suit today, but his shirt was casually unbuttoned, revealing the faint outline of his chest muscles. "How about it, don't I look handsome?"

Su Ninglong couldn't help but recall when she first met him. This man always tried to force a bit of roguishness, but he was always suppressed by the upright scholarly air he brought from the Song family, which made him seem out of place.

Su Ninglong didn't answer whether he was handsome or not, but instead asked jokingly, "When will Song Hu arrive?"

"My cousin is coming too?" Upon hearing this, Song Liu hurriedly buttoned up a button and subconsciously glanced towards the door. Although the Song family gave him a great deal of freedom, they never relaxed their standards of etiquette and manners; family members were required to maintain a basic level of proper attire when out in public.

If Song Hu saw him acting so nonchalantly, he would definitely receive a "deeply memorable" reprimand.

Sally looked puzzled and asked, "Brother Song is such a gentle and refined person, why are you so afraid of him?"

"Sister Su is usually very kind to us, but look at everyone in the school, who isn't afraid of her?"

Sally nodded, unable to refute it. Those few clueless people in the school had all left, and no one dared to challenge Su Ninglong's authority. She even seemed to be showing signs of replacing Yun Fei.

Su Ninglong accepted this assessment quite readily. She was awesome in her past life, so she certainly wouldn't be a pushover in this one.

"Ahem, well then I'll start reporting the latest 'news' to Sister Su." Song Liu chuckled as she unfolded the light screen, then cleared her throat in a mock manner. "Let's start with a less important appetizer: after Little Phoebe switched to the Star Alliance, she got on the good side of a bunch of powerful and influential young masters, and now she's following them around, flattering them every day. She's actually living a pretty comfortable life."

Su Ninglong was both amused and exasperated: "So he was the sixth-ranking member in the Star Alliance, but switched to being a sycophant in the Star Glory Alliance?" Why give up being the sixth-ranking member and insist on being a subservient one? Has he lost his mind? Sally, who was munching on a crumbly sesame seed cake next to her, was so startled by the revelation that she dropped half the cake back into her paper bag without even noticing.

She looked at Su Ninglong with a complicated expression, her words far too precise and venomous.

"Blame it on the fact that no one at our school gave him the opportunity to unleash his 'rainbow-praise talent'," Su Ninglong added bluntly. Actually, she had been quite merciful to Xiao Feibi, not really looking for an opportunity to kill her, mainly thanks to the strict laws of today's society.

When she was a child, killing an adult in self-defense was considered self-defense, but if she were to deliberately kill Phoebe now, it would be premeditated murder, and she would definitely be imprisoned and convicted.

It doesn't seem worthwhile to ask her to spend time and effort cleaning up a lump of dirt.

"Haha, brilliant!" Song Liu gave her a thumbs up. He genuinely thought Su Ninglong was magnanimous; most people would feel a little annoyed to hear that someone they dislike was living such a comfortable life.

To be honest, Phoebe isn't even qualified to be an enemy, but his ability to be disgusting is truly top-notch.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing about Phoebe's family. Her father was arrested for extortion and fraud, and during interrogation, he implicated an accomplice named Hunter. But strangely, the Star Police searched the entire Gemini region but couldn't find him; it's as if he got wind of it beforehand and escaped." Intergalactic arrests are complicated and costly, so for now, we can only notify other star systems to keep an eye out for this fugitive.

No wonder Phoebe is trying to please others; it turns out her economic lifeline has been cut off.

“Hunter?” Su Ninglong pondered, “That name seems vaguely familiar.”

Before she could think it through, the courtyard gate was pushed open again, and Lian Xinyi led Shen Zhaoming, Lei Qingya, and Xuan Xi in.

Lei Qingya took the lead and strode up to Su Ninglong in a few steps. He grinned and pinched her cheek, saying, "You're finally out of seclusion. It feels like I haven't seen you in ages. I missed you so much."

"Oh, you just think of me as simple as that!" Su Ninglong smiled meaningfully, expressing her doubt.

"Hehe." Lei Qingya smiled sheepishly.

Although she can now independently create Disintegration Pointers, her speed and success rate are shockingly low.

If you want a sacred artifact that truly suits you, you'll have to rely on Su Ninglong.

So what I "miss so much" is, of course, the sacred artifact that Suninglong promised before.

Su Ninglong pointed to the three antique-looking boxes that had been prepared on the table.
"I've always remembered what I promised you. Before I went into seclusion to refine my natal magic weapon, I took care of yours as well."

Lei Qingya hugged Su Ninglong, "Ninglong, how can you be so good to me? If I were a man, I would definitely marry you."

"Hehe!" Lian Xinyi sat down without looking to the side. "The cost of changing your personality isn't high. You can become a man to propose to someone, and if you can't get the job, you can change back."

Lei Qingya: "Get the hell out of here."

Su Ninglong began to list the expenses, "I'll cover the material costs upfront. Sally's sacred artifact, 1.5 million; Shen Zhaoming's, 3 million; Lei Qingya's..."

She looked at Lei Qingya, who had a hopeful expression, and said, "Twenty million."

"Twenty-two million?" Sally gasped, her hands trembling as she held the box. It seemed she couldn't possibly pay the bill all at once with her own million-plus.

"I...I don't have that much money to spare right now..."

“It’s alright,” Su Ninglong said. “You can pay in installments. If you include the labor costs for me and my master, the actual value of this sacred artifact is at least 15 million. Thinking about it that way, isn’t the 1.5 million material cost particularly reasonable?”

She gave me a "you decide for yourself" look, adding, "Of course, you can also choose not to."

"Yes, of course I want it!" Sally immediately hugged the box even tighter, as if afraid it would be snatched away, then her face fell. "What I want to say is, are all you cultivators star-devouring monsters? Can't I really cultivate too? Earning money is so hard!"

“I also want to pay in installments.” Lei Qingya quickly replied. Although she was mentally prepared, the 20 million yuan material cost still made her heart tighten.

Generally, the more expensive the materials, the more difficult the refining process and the higher the value of the final product.

A sacred artifact crafted from materials worth twenty million would easily fetch ten times its original price at auction. Return it? Absolutely not; this is an absolute steal.

The ever-cautious Shen Zhaoming didn't immediately touch the box that belonged to him. Instead, he looked at Su Ninglong and asked earnestly, "May I open it and take a look first?"

“Of course,” Su Ninglong replied crisply. “If you’re not satisfied, I can find other materials and make you another one.”

This is clearly biased!

Shen Zhaoming gently opened the box in front of him, but before he could take a closer look, seven or eight heads suddenly crowded around him, all wanting to find out what was going on.

"Why is it so crowded all of a sudden?" Song Liu muttered to herself. Feeling someone else beside her, she instinctively turned her head to look and was immediately startled. "Brother!"

When did he quietly appear here?

Song Hu simply smiled and nodded slightly at him before turning his gaze back to the box.

Almost simultaneously, Xuanxi and Lei Qingya also noticed the other side and exclaimed in unison, "Teacher!"

Doug had arrived at some point and was standing to the side with his arms crossed.

He glanced sideways at the two surprised students. "What? Can't I come to this place?"

Xuanxi's face was filled with complex emotions, while Lei Qingya instantly showed sympathy.

She was deeply worried about the teacher's wallet.

Given Doug's nature of "collecting anything he finds useful," he absolutely couldn't resist acquiring a good artifact.

As for this "Master Su's" temper, it's well-known. You're not familiar with her? Then you'd better obediently wait in line. As for when you'll be waiting, that depends entirely on her mood.

Lei Qingya dared not speak the cruel truth aloud, and could only silently pray that his teacher could restrain himself this time. Otherwise, if he overspent, he would definitely make them do all sorts of tasks to earn extra money.