In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

Having figured this out, Pan Feng's resistance immediately weakened considerably.

She's just straightforward, not stupid; some things only require a hint.

After a few days, she gradually got used to sparring with Xu Shi, and sometimes she would even take the initiative to ask for things. Although underhanded tactics might seem like an unfair victory, a good cat is one that catches mice.

As the saying goes, "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime." If you don't suffer now, you'll definitely suffer later.

For example, right now, she came running over excitedly, "Master, Master, are you free now? Come train with me!"

"No."

Xu Shi immediately refused, pointing behind her, "Don't rush, let your sister come first... Oh no, what are you doing here? Have you finished what I told you to do?"

"Uh-huh."

Pan Ling nodded repeatedly, walked past her hot-blooded but silly older sister, and came to the bad master seriously, saying, "I have already confirmed with Sister Xingchuan, and she brought back a total of about 100,000 Poseidon Ore."

"so much?"

Xu Shi was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this.

The foolish apprentice nodded. "Yes, you didn't see it at the time, but there were quite a lot of minerals that split off when the sea god died."

"walk slowly."

Xu Shi nodded slightly. "What about the Papacy and the Royal Family? What's the situation with them?"

“I can’t confirm the exact number, but based on the recording equipment at the time, the number they collected is estimated to be more than ours. I estimated it using your analysis model, and it’s about two-fifths more?”

Pan Ling continued, "The Vatican should have more, but the royal family won't have much less either."

"go on."

Xu Shi said calmly.

“My father sent people to investigate in the main city, but there is no trace of these ores in the city yet. It seems that either they are still researching them, or they simply do not want the public to know about their existence.”

"As for what they call it internally, they call it the Sea God Stone."

"Well done."

Xu Shi smiled with satisfaction. His silly apprentice was quite capable. Look at him now, acting like a little adult, all organized and logical. How wonderful.

"Should I try dressing her in an office lady outfit sometime? It seems like it would suit her quite well..." he suddenly thought to himself, without any particular reason.

Pan Ling, in particular, is not petite. In some ways, she is similar to Su Lin, with a sophisticated urban style. The impression she gave him just now was that of a slightly strong woman.

As for Pan Feng, she naturally looks more and more like her master, so she should also wear a combat suit...

Ahem, that’s too far off topic.

"Go and call your teacher's wife, Jiang."

Xu Shi gently shook his head and gave this instruction.

"Come on, come on."

Jiang Chengcheng, this adorable little cat, doesn't need to be called at all; she always appears when you need her, as if by telepathy.

"My dear husband, you seem so relaxed. It must feel good to be surrounded by beautiful girls, right?"

Seeing the state of the room, she couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"Come, come, sit here."

Xu Shi pretended not to hear, and simply patted his leg, "Madam, you've worked hard, shall I give you a massage too?"

"No, I don't want that. A kiss would be better."

Jiang Chengcheng snorted, but her body betrayed her by sitting down, and then she pecked Xu Shi twice on the cheek. "We'll talk about the rest tonight."

Doing it in public will set a bad example for children.

She's already been corrupted... Pan Ling can't read Xu Shi's mind, but she can still sneak a peek at her master's wife's mind. Realizing what the other person was thinking, she quickly patted her face to make her cheeks, which were about to turn red from embarrassment, look more natural.

"Okay."

Xu Shi certainly wouldn't refuse, "But judging from your expression... have you gotten any results from your research?"

"OK."

Jiang Chengcheng nodded. "I analyzed the structure of the Poseidon Stone carefully, and the result wasn't actually that good."

"Although it looks beautiful, the 'Rust Mist' content of the Poseidon Stone is actually not as high as imagined, and it is inferior to the ore from the 'Forsaken' mine... Even the best part can only be slightly better, around 0.5%."

She casually set the data record aside and began to speak in detail.

"Is the classification system for this thing very strict?"

Xu Shi pressed for an answer.

"correct."

Jiang Chengcheng took out samples to show him, "You can even tell just by looking at them, right? This deep blue one has the highest content, the lighter ones are inferior... This whitish one is almost indistinguishable from ordinary crystal, the 'rust mist' content is almost zero."

"My personal analysis is that although they are all pieces of the sea god's body, the sea god was huge, so the sea god stones formed from different parts would definitely not be exactly the same, and the main body parts would definitely be of higher quality."

Xu Shi agreed with this statement. After all, he had been inside the sea god's body and had a more intuitive understanding of this point. The main body of the sea god had a complete ecosystem, while the tentacles only sprayed dirty things and grew sharp spikes. Of course, this cannot be generalized.

"So that means this stuff can't be used as a tonic, right? It's not even effective as a synthetic material?"

"Of course, you don't think you can just swallow it whole, do you?"

Jiang Chengcheng smiled. "You can't directly absorb 'Rust Mist,' you have to convert it... Its conductivity is also average. I tried adding it to weapons, but the results weren't good. I guess it's related to the unique properties of the Sea God itself; this isn't just ordinary 'Rust Mist' ore."

"The only outstanding feature is its malleability. It is easier to polish than it looks. If it is just about destroying and extracting rust mist, it does have some value."

She continued, "Or perhaps carrying it with you at all times might offer some help to the 'Ascended One'? Although the effect wouldn't be significant."

"That's it..."

Xu Shi was slightly disappointed upon hearing this; the old man's gold coins weren't very good.

But the next second, he realized something.

Its aesthetic appeal outweighs its practicality; it inherently possesses a certain hierarchy; it is highly malleable; it is non-renewable; and it has not yet become widespread among the general public…

"Ha ha ha ha!"

A moment later, he suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter, as if he had encountered something incredibly wonderful.

"what happened to you?"

Jiang Chengcheng was almost startled and hurriedly asked.

"Nothing, nothing."

Xu Shi shook his head, slammed the book shut, tore off a piece of paper, wrote something, crumpled it into three balls, and handed them to her.

"This is what we need to do next... Shall we choose one?"

I'm back! Everyone, please don't follow my example and stay up late or have irregular sleep schedules. It's really bad for your health...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 250 Xia Wuyou, I'm going to give you special education!

Everyone knew the subtext of Xu Shi's question, "What should we do next?"

This clearly shows they've already planned how to deal with the Imperials... but Jiang Chengcheng still couldn't quite grasp it for a moment.

Because she knew Xu Shi very well, if he wanted to do something, especially something like this prank, it would either be a series of interconnected schemes or a single, decisive move... but what kind of tricks could he possibly pull off with something like the Poseidon Stone?

She is good at engineering materials and weapons, but not so good at intricate matters. Even after she took a position, she basically just followed Xu Shi's orders and managed people by simply putting on a sour face. She didn't really have any special skills.

However, since Xu Shi had spoken, she naturally obeyed and casually picked a crumpled piece of paper.

When I opened it, I saw a small flower drawn on it.

"This is... a tulip?"

It took her a while to remember what kind of flower it was. That's how engineering students are... especially since Night City is a steel jungle with hardly any greenery, so it's not easy for them to even know its name.

But she certainly didn't understand the meaning behind it, and everyone else present was also completely baffled. What was this guy up to?

"Well..."

Xu Shi didn't mean to be mysterious; everyone present was one of his own, so there was nothing he couldn't explain.

Tulips naturally represent the tulip bubble, one of the three major bubble events in modern Europe. According to records, it was even the earliest bubble economy event in the past.

The situation at the time was that the novel flower tulips, which were introduced to the market, were snapped up by people in an unusual frenzy. After speculators entered the market, the price was driven up to an unprecedented peak. In the end, the bubble burst and the farce came to an end.

Fortunately, the authorities at the time intervened in time and solved the problem simply and brutally; otherwise, the mess would have dealt a heavy blow to the then-dominant maritime power.

What he needs to do now is to replicate this event.

It can only be said that the land of the Hualan Empire is too suitable for staging such a grand feast—a similar social structure, an imbalance of wealth... Under such circumstances, his original idea was to wage an economic war, after all, in the long run, turning the Hualan Empire upside down in this way would definitely be more effective than simply conquering it by force.

Especially when conquering by force, you have to consider many external factors, the most direct of which is Cheng Gujian.

Even if he were a powerful minister who usurped the throne and controlled everything, Xu Shi knew from their previous conversation that his stance was firm. Not to mention Xu Shi, an outsider, he harbored deep hostility towards the Papacy. If they were to openly and directly confront each other, Xu Shi had no doubt that the other party would intervene immediately.

As we all know, it is no exaggeration to say that an SS-class "Ascensionist" is worth a thousand troops. My grandfather Wen Shengkui's performance during the riot incident already proves this point. The fact is that if he hadn't been in charge, he could have easily suppressed the riots on his own, with at most a little help.

Including Xia Ke'an, the old lady certainly doesn't have the fighting power, but that's just because her expertise is not in the right field. How bad is her "foreseeing the future"? Without her help, it would have been impossible to achieve everything perfectly before.

The reason he only intervened in crucial areas was simply because his grandfather was indeed getting old. On the other hand, he probably also wanted to test his eldest grandson. If such matters could be resolved perfectly, he would have no more worries afterward.

So it seems that the riot Shen He started was a loss from the very beginning... But that's all in the past. It's not like I didn't win, right?

Thinking of this, Xu Shi couldn't help but chuckle.

Shen Qin had already been standing beside him, trying to kill Jiang Chengcheng, this wicked woman, with her eyes, and she had also noticed Xu Shi's changing expressions.

She didn't know what Xu Shi was thinking, but she was happy because her brother was happy; a good sister's happiness is very simple.

On the other hand, by extension, Cheng Gujian is also a tough nut to crack. Can you be sure that he displayed his full strength when he fought the Sea God? It's impossible... A power like "destruction" is terrifying, and even if he wins, it will definitely result in mutual destruction.

Xu Shi didn't want to suffer a lose-lose situation, as such a loss was no different from failure. There was also another problem that couldn't be ignored.

Even someone as powerful as Cheng Gujian is still locked in a standoff with the Holy See.

Of course, it's because the strength over there is not weak either, and there's a pope constantly pulling him along... The only one who can rival an SS is another SS.