Chapter 340: Everyone's Gratitude

Cheng Shuili gave an explanation, and the two of them stared at the workbench together.

After several full minutes, the blazing light finally began to gradually contract and weaken. In the end, all the phenomena vanished completely, leaving only the ring still lying on the workbench.

The two stared silently at the brand‑new ring for a moment, and Su Rui suddenly shook her head and, without a word, went to start the car.

Fine.

It's not the first day she's done this.

Cheng Shuili pinched the altered silver ring in her hand; now the ring feels warm and smooth, and an orange‑yellow gem has formed on the silver band, still looking pretty.

The description changed as well, but not by much; it simply gave a brief account of the functions of the two items.

In short, the ring is fine after the upgrade.

Cheng Shuili curled the corner of her mouth and slipped the new Concealer's Ring onto her hand; the Abyssal Ring sits on her index finger, and she placed this one on her thumb.

The number of rings is few, they don't look out of place, and they're pretty cool.

Cheng Shuili is fairly satisfied with the reward given in the second week and hopes the upcoming rewards will be good too.

【Bountiful Monument】

【Description: A wondrous grand structure! Standing within a territory, it can greatly boost the fertility of surrounding land, accelerate crop growth cycles, and with a small chance cause beneficial mutations in crops. It requires periodic basic food input to keep running. It is an ancient symbol of abundance, engraved with long‑lost mysterious runes.】

Oh? Nice stuff!

Increasing fertility is already great, and it can also speed up crop growth and cause beneficial mutations!

A single item with so many functions—who can say it isn't magnificent?

Cheng Shuili didn't waste time, picked up the palm‑sized stone monument, and went to the territory to find Zhou Zhuxing.

When it comes to the best placement for this thing, Zhou Zhuxing surely knows better than she does.

The two quickly found a good spot; Cheng Shuili bent down, and the moment she placed the monument on the ground, the palm‑sized figurine swelled suddenly like a sponge soaked in water.

It kept expanding until it reached a person's height, then, as if finally satisfied, it stood quietly in the soil.

Zhou Zhuxing stepped back a pace, only then realizing and inhaling a breath of cool air.

Fortunately it was far enough; even a little closer and it would have been touched.

She thought, turned her head to glance at Lao Da. Lao Da… still wore a blank expression.

No wonder Lao Da.

Several faction members in the territory saw Cheng Shuili and gathered around on their own; when they saw the monument was set, Lao Da was about to leave, and they hurried forward saying, "Lao Da! Thanks to you, you told us to keep driving yesterday; otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the Mileage Ranking reward!"

With that opening, others also rushed forward, shouting in a chorus:

"Luckily we listened to Lao Da!"

"If it weren't for Lao Da, we wouldn't have gotten the reward!"

"Damn system is like that, afraid we take a little advantage, triple stays triple, and even canceled the supply crate!"

"Fortunately Lao Da is wise! Listening to Lao Da is never wrong!"

Cheng Shuili only realized today that she is a bit socially anxious.

After dealing with the members' thanks, she bolted back to her vehicle at light speed.

Not until she leaned against the sofa did Cheng Shuili finally relax and breathe out.

She is definitely not stage‑shy, and actually prefers crowds.

But with so many people gathered, each one looked at her with eager eyes, expressing gratitude...

Cheng Shuili covered her face; this experience was truly her first, and indeed she felt a bit flustered.

Next time it definitely won't happen like this!

After finishing the thought, Cheng Shuili realized there was a problem.

What were those people saying?

What Mileage Ranking? What triple?

Cheng Shuili paused, suddenly recalling the system's morning announcement opening, which mentioned yesterday afternoon's anomaly.

Cheng Shuili opened the faction group chat and saw a flood of thanks, with the reason explained clearly.

"Mileage driven yesterday afternoon was tripled and counted toward the Mileage Ranking."

Damn Jiang Tang didn't even mention this!!

Cheng Shuili opened Jiang Tang's private chat, "Hand over your snacks, please."

Jiang Tang didn't know what happened, but still obediently complied.

After sending the items, she only then realized Lao Da was probably punishing her, but why…

She could only ponder it alone, slowly.

Cheng Shuili was a bit flustered earlier, but now that she's calm, she feels only pleasure.

She steadied her mood and went to check the last item.

Eclipse Light Shield.

It's called a shield, but it's more like a necklace; the pendant is a small triangle, and by its name it's clearly a defensive item.

【Eclipse Light Shield】

【Description: A reverse‑triangle pendant forged from an unknown dark‑matter alloy, its surface rippling with waves. The wearer can actively trigger an absolute defensive barrier lasting 3 seconds, fully nullifying a single attack of any form, with a cooldown of 12 hours. If used at night, the cooldown shortens to 8 hours. Darkness is not void, but the quietest guardian.】

Any form?

Cheng Shuili was somewhat doubtful whether the description was exaggerated.

She hesitated a moment, then still put on the necklace.

Dark‑colored metal pressed against her skin, sending a strange warm‑cool sensation.

Just as she finished putting it on, Jiang Tang's private chat went crazy:

"Lao Da, I was wrong! I was chewing jerky and completely forgot about the triple mileage thing!"

"Next time I'll definitely memorize the system announcement word for word!"

"Can you save me a bag of chips? Just one bag!"

Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow and replied, "The chips are confiscated; also write an 800‑character self‑critique explaining why the important information was forgotten."

The other side instantly sent a string of crying‑emoji stickers.

Cheng Shuili laughed, closed the interface, stood up and stretched lazily.

Very well, you can now use today's allotted attempts.

Cheng Shuili thought, first she went to the workbench and performed the routine upgrade on the blueprint.

She has never wasted the once‑daily improvement chance, but she has never succeeded either…

The recent number of failures has become so high that Cheng Shuili began to suspect the workbench might be broken; otherwise, why has she never succeeded even once?

She sighed and took the Taotie Furnace out again.

Once the multifunctional Artisan Workshop is built, she can confidently construct other faction buildings in the territory.

The current faction warehouse is called a warehouse, but it's really just a drafty thatched shed.

The other facilities have no foundation left at all; Cheng Shuili, as the faction leader, must choose a site and rebuild them herself.

Cheng Shuili sighed and poured the basic materials into the Taotie Furnace.

Anyway, let's first transmute the items.

It is worth mentioning that the ratio of stone to wood is the same, while iron ingots are a bit more expensive, at one to five.

And finally this low‑level energy core…

Cheng Shuili cautiously added an energy stone, and the Taotie Furnace immediately indicated that it was sufficient.

Cheng Shuili: "......"

So what's the point of all this?

Just change the name, then?