Chapter 136

Chapter 7: Feeling Like Growing Up?

　Blonde Busty Girl Yuan Xiaoling was increasingly fond of those big business vehicles that could seat many people, allowing her to discuss matters directly with everyone together instead of relaying messages from car to car.

　If it weren’t for the fear of drawing too much attention, she would’ve wanted a stretch limo. But today’s arrangement was good enough as Luo Zou Cheng, Wu Bian, and Gu Hui were all able to fit in.

She brought Luo Zou Cheng because he usually handled more municipal communications.

She brought Wu Bian just in case—what if someone suddenly dragged in a fifth or sixth-tier Spiritual Energy Manipulator? It’d be good to have some warning, though the possibility was almost nil.

She brought Gu Hui on a whim, wanting to see what those guys were really thinking when they spoke so eloquently.

The group casually introduced themselves while sitting together in the vehicle.

“This is Miss Gu, right? I’ve heard much about you.”

“Uh, actually, I’m still a university student.”

“That’s fine. Our Miss Yuan is also a college girl, yet it hasn’t stopped her from becoming renowned.”

“…”

Though slightly exaggerated, the atmosphere remained harmonious.

The car gradually slowed down, eventually stopping in front of the Municipal Building. The group stepped out slowly and headed inside.

For events like this, Yuan Xiaoling never had a habit of arriving early, so now there were only a few minutes left before the hearing started, and the others who were supposed to arrive had already done so.

On the way, Luo Zou Cheng was stopped by someone who whispered, “Brother Lao Luo, why are you guys so late today? Is there any news you can share?”

Luo Zou Cheng quietly pulled his hand away, “Don’t ask, listen to Miss Yuan.”

The hallways were tricky to navigate, but with someone guiding them, they finally found the right place.

Others took their seats in the audience section, while Gu Hui specifically chose an independent spot with a desk, pulling out the paper and pen she had prepared earlier.

“Can I start speaking now?” Yuan Xiaoling asked politely.

The clerk who greeted her was about to nod but hesitated upon noticing Gu Hui sitting nearby.

“Who is this person?”

“She’s my secretary,” Yuan Xiaoling introduced, “responsible for taking meeting notes.”

“Ah, but we already have a recorder.”

Pointing at Xiao Su sitting at the recording station.

“Perfect,” Yuan Xiaoling said confidently, “you record yours, I’ll record mine; we both have bright futures ahead.”

“…”

In the end, the clerk didn’t dare say more because over a hundred people were watching from below, all of whom were his usual superiors.

Yuan Xiaoling signaled to Luo Zou Cheng to start playing the video.

“To cut a long story short, we’re launching a game soon and hope for maximum municipal support.”

She then began showcasing through the video.

“An open-world action game based on the geography of Tianhai City.”

After dropping that line, Yuan Xiaoling stood upright, calmly looking down at the crowd.

It took everyone about half a minute to react.

“What else?” A leader in the front row asked.

He had previously held an important position and was now temporarily serving as the head of the office, known as Director He.

Such a position change couldn’t be considered a demotion since Tianhai’s current priority was this.

“What else?” Yuan Xiaoling blinked innocently, looking at him.

“Details?” Director He asked.

“Director, this is a municipal hearing, not the E3 gaming expo,” Yuan Xiaoling pouted, “what else do you want to know?”

The entire hall fell silent for a moment.

It made sense, but maybe it didn’t.

At this point, someone beside him said, “Miss Yuan, if it’s just a game, regular approval should suffice.”

“Yes, exactly,” Director He agreed, “unless Miss Yuan’s game has benefits for the country and its people, or helps Tianhai City, feel free to elaborate so we can fully cooperate.”

Sigh, so it seems I must explain after all.

Yuan Xiaoling sighed, recalling how Luo Zou Cheng and Wu Bian had praised her game as achieving “three goals with one stone.”

“Firstly, we focus on Spiritual Energy Manipulators, giving the citizens of Tianhai some understanding of us. Understanding leads to goodwill, dispelling conspiracy theories and terror propaganda effortlessly.”

She clicked the mouse, changing the video on the screen to a darker style.

“The launch event is called ‘Phantom Shadows,’ which will recreate the crisis currently facing Tianhai City, offering citizens the best channel to understand what we’re doing.”

At this point, Director He asked, “Why use a game as the medium? Wouldn’t other methods work?”

Why, of course, because little Miss Lime graduated from broadcasting and had experience in game production, with a semi-finished product conveniently available, fulfilling her producer dreams.

This time, she truly became a beautiful female producer, with assets and looks, unafraid to show her face.

“Because the process of playing games gives people a sense of participation, and with participation comes immersion. Not only does it make acceptance easier, but it also makes them realize that Tianhai City’s crisis requires everyone’s joint efforts to overcome.” Yuan Xiaoling said seriously.

These lines were taught to her beforehand by Liu Yaohua, along with many others. Old Liu said, in such situations, repetitive phrases are key; whatever they ask, you answer accordingly—he thought of everything.

Director He wasn’t very familiar with games, so he turned to look at the younger man who had spoken earlier, responsible for this area.

“Miss Yuan, I’ve seen part of your game’s actual gameplay footage, and there are some issues, such as overly revealing clothing…”

Director He nodded, thinking young people were indeed professional, spouting terms he didn’t understand.

Yuan Xiaoling chuckled, “Our plan is to quickly dominate the entire market, without some advantages, how can we achieve that?”

Before the other party could respond, the blonde beauty cleared her throat and raised her voice, “Let me emphasize, this isn’t a commercial behavior, but a strategy to resolve Tianhai’s crisis and create a harmonious Spiritual Energy Manipulator society. Special problems require special treatment. Now, please continue.”

The young man in his thirties hesitated.

“Youth… teenagers…”

“Right, I have something else to say,” Yuan Xiaoling pretended not to hear, looking at most of the audience, “During the first spiritual energy eruption, there were only thousands of Spiritual Energy Manipulators worldwide. The second increased to tens of thousands, and after the third, even in Tianhai alone, the number of awakened manipulators approached four digits.”

Now talking about professional matters, the over a hundred people below clearly perked up.

“Nowadays, although we don’t have exact data, I’ve encountered many newly awakened individuals in my daily life. We have reason to believe that the fourth… or perhaps fifth spiritual energy eruption has already begun. How many Spiritual Energy Manipulators will Tianhai have then? Thousands? Or tens of thousands?”

Yuan Xiaoling waved her small hand, “Imagine this, after playing the game, these newly empowered individuals in their confusion period will feel reassured, knowing that Tianhai City has many people like them, with proper things to do—fighting monsters in the game and helping others, and fighting monsters in reality to protect Tianhai’s peace.”

At this point, Director He suddenly said, “You mentioned earlier that the immersion of the game would lead others to develop goodwill towards you, implying that once the effect reaches expectations, your influence will expand.”

If they like you, they’ll join you. Now, a group with only hundreds of Spiritual Energy Manipulators runs around making demands; imagine when it grows to thousands?

Yuan Xiaoling laughed, “I can pass it on to you. Does your department have a recruitment plan? Do you have the budget?”

Director He was slightly stunned and looked at Luo Xing and Li Li in the corner.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Luo Xing cautiously said, “No, and quite the opposite, each time we’re required to streamline and reduce expenditures.”

Li Li added, “Precisely because of dissatisfaction with this, the Four Squares Academy incident erupted a year ago, and Director Dai also ended up…”

Director He’s expression became complex.

That topic was untouchable; touching it would imply that you shared the same thoughts as Dai Hengzhu, possibly betraying humanity.

Finally, Yuan Xiaoling strode out of the building proudly.

The hearing wasn’t completely decided, but it was basically approved. Luo Zou Cheng stayed behind to discuss specific cooperation details, and Liu Yaohua would be sent over later.

“Amazing, Sister Lime,” Wu Bian gushed beside her, “a simple stratagem achieves three goals, leaving them speechless. Truly a master of ghostly strategies!”

Yuan Xiaoling maintained her cute little face.

Actually, she hadn’t thought that much at first. She just felt that her debut work shouldn’t be abruptly canceled—it would be unfortunate. At most, she thought that if the game succeeded, it could plant seeds of goodwill in strangers’ hearts, just in case anyone with powerful abilities awakens and doesn’t lean toward being enemies with her.

Simply put, forming a good connection.

Unexpectedly, after Luo Zou Cheng and Wu Bian listened to the plan and exchanged ideas, they came up with several positive effects, making Lime think she was truly a genius.

As for debating with a crowd…

“That’s nothing. I can stand up there and talk to them like that because I have peak Fourth-tier combat power and almost all the Spiritual Energy Manipulators of Tianhai City under me.” Yuan Xiaoling said indifferently.

Repetitive phrases always make sense, depending on the weight of the speaker.

“You are truly wise and valiant,” Wu Bian said with modulation.

“Enough, it’s not that hard.”

Yuan Xiaoling thought, compared to today’s hearing, contemplating the weekly task was harder.

This morning’s update—

[“Ding dong, as the plot deepens, the two forces become distinct. The heroine shows her sharpness, and some have already joined her camp.

And as the great villainess, you naturally disdain associating with those people, firmly standing your ground, determined to oppose the heroine until the end.

Mission Requirement: Oppose the heroine. Rewards depend on completion status.”]

As usual, the mission description bears no resemblance to reality.

But from the description, it can be inferred that at this point in the previous timeline, Bai Ling had probably awakened her abilities and gained companions, feeling confident and full of spirit.

But what is she doing at this point in the current timeline?

Lime doesn’t know, better analyze the mission carefully.

“The requirement to oppose the heroine” is quite abstract, conceptual, and offers high freedom, so the reward is pending.

If it’s just to complete the mission, Yuan Xiaoling has many ways, like at 2 AM when Bai Ling is sleepy, saying “Dear, let’s sleep”—though Lime thinks she wouldn’t call her that, just an example. Bai Ling wants to sleep, and Lime flips aside, saying “No, I won’t, I want to play on my phone.”

This counts as opposing, completing the task, but the reward would definitely be low.

Based on Yuan Xiaoling’s experience, the level of mission completion largely depends on how much subjective initiative she uses during the task and how much she plays on Bai Ling.

For instance, in the case of “I won’t sleep,” if she just silently plays on her phone, the reward would be low. But if she not only plays herself but also turns on the external speakers and pinches Bai Ling’s bunny just as she’s about to fall asleep, waking her up, the reward would surely be higher.

Just a bit suicidal… anyway, act according to circumstances.

What is Bai Ling doing now, Lime wonders.

……

Bai Ling is reading a book.

She has always been someone who likes to read and learn. During the ambiguous period, she used to grab posts from the campus forum interpreting relationships. Now that she feels Yuan Xiaoling is getting married, she grabs this book, “A Few Things Every Bride Must Know,” and reads it.

Today, she reached the wedding dress section, where it says that whether modern wedding dresses or ancient-style wedding outfits, bigger chests look better.

Bai Ling scoffed, thinking this was nonsense, even though there were accompanying pictures, believing it was due to camera tricks.

Anyway, even if it were true, it didn’t matter to her how good she looked wearing it, as long as Yuan Xiaoling looked good. It’s Yuan Xiaoling dressing up beautifully for her to see, not the other way around.

Hmph, useless pose.

The distance from the municipal building to the beach hotel wasn’t particularly far, but the road wasn’t easy. After sitting in the long business car for half an hour, they finally arrived.

Yuan Xiaoling got out of the car and went straight to her bedroom.

“Bai Ling, I’m back. Everything went smoothly today.”

Opening the door, she saw Bai Ling holding a carton of dairy drink, having just gulped down a big sip.

“Hmm, smooth is good,” she said.

Yuan Xiaoling focused and saw, wow, it was Wei Ke Zi Papaya Milk.

“How did you suddenly start drinking this?” The blonde busty girl was curious, “I’ve never seen you drink it before.”

Isn’t this the thing rumored to help enlarge breasts? It tastes weird, not as good as chocolate flavor.

“I… grabbed it randomly from the fridge downstairs,” Bai Ling seemed slightly unnatural, “to quench thirst.”

Yuan Xiaoling was even more puzzled, “This doesn’t quench thirst.”

Too sweet, it makes you thirstier afterward.

Lime’s eyes twinkled, and she smirked, teasingly asking, “So, you wouldn’t happen to be… wanting to grow up?”