Everyone's Gratitude

Cheng Shuili explained the situation, and the two of them stared at the workstation together.

After a full few minutes, the intense light finally began to subside and dim. Eventually, all the strange phenomena vanished completely, leaving only the ring lying on the workstation.

The two stared at the brand-new ring in silence for a moment, then Su Rui suddenly shook her head and went to drive without a word.

Alright then.

It was not her first day acting like that.

Cheng Shuili picked up the transformed silver ring. The ring now had a warm, smooth texture, and an orange-yellow gemstone had condensed onto the silver band. It looked quite beautiful.

The description had also changed, though not by much; it simply detailed the functions of the two items.

In any case, the ring was now upgraded.

Cheng Shuili curled her lips into a smile and put the new Ring of the Hidden on her hand. Since the Abyss Ring was on her index finger, she wore this one on her thumb.

With so few rings, it didn't look out of place; it actually looked quite cool.

Cheng Shuili was satisfied with the second week's rewards, and she hoped the upcoming ones would be just as good.

【Monument of Abundance】

【Description: A miraculous and magnificent building! When placed within the territory, it can significantly increase the fertility of the surrounding soil, accelerate the growth cycle of crops, and has a small chance of causing beneficial mutations in crops. It requires regular input of basic food to maintain its operation. It is an ancient symbol of abundance, inscribed with mysterious runes that have long been lost.】

Oh? Good stuff!

Increasing fertility was already excellent, but it could also accelerate crop growth and even cause beneficial mutations!

With so many functions in one item, who could say it wasn't magnificent?

Cheng Shuili didn't waste any time. She picked up the palm-sized stone tablet and went to the territory to find Zhou Zhuxing.

If anyone knew the best place to put this, it was definitely Zhou Zhuxing.

The two quickly found a good spot. The moment Cheng Shuili bent down and placed the tablet on the ground, the palm-sized figurine suddenly expanded as if it were a sponge soaking up water.

It didn't stop until it reached the height of a person, at which point it seemed finally satisfied and stood quietly in the soil.

Zhou Zhuxing took a step back, only then catching her breath in realization.

It was a good thing she had stood far away; if she had been any closer, she would have been hit.

She thought this, then turned her head to look at their leader. Her leader... was still expressionless.

As expected of their leader.

There were quite a few faction members in the territory. Seeing Cheng Shuili, they wandered over on their own. Seeing that the tablet was set up and the leader was preparing to leave, they hurried forward and said: "Leader! Thanks to you, you told us to keep driving yesterday, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the Mileage Leaderboard reward!"

With that as a start, others stepped forward as well, calling out in a chaotic mix of voices:

"Good thing we listened to the leader!"

"If not for the leader, we wouldn't have gotten the reward!"

"That hateful system is just like that, afraid we'd take advantage of it. It tripled the mileage but canceled the supply crates!"

"Luckily, the leader is wise! Listening to the leader is always right!"

Cheng Shuili only learned today that she was actually a bit socially anxious.

After dealing with the members' gratitude, she returned to her vehicle at light speed as if fleeing.

Only when she leaned back on the sofa did Cheng Shuili finally let out a sigh of relief.

She certainly didn't have stage fright, and she usually preferred occasions with more people.

But with so many people crowding together, each with such fervent eyes expressing their gratitude...

Cheng Shuili covered her face. This was truly her first time experiencing this, and she was indeed quite flustered.

It definitely won't happen again next time!

After thinking this, Cheng Shuili realized there was a problem.

What were those people talking about?

What Mileage Leaderboard? What triple?

Cheng Shuili paused, suddenly remembering the opening of the system announcement from that morning, which mentioned an abnormality from yesterday afternoon.

Cheng Shuili opened the faction group chat and took a look. It was filled with expressions of gratitude, but the reason was stated clearly.

"The mileage driven yesterday afternoon was tripled for the Mileage Leaderboard."

That hateful Jiang Tang didn't even mention this!!

Cheng Shuili opened a private chat with Jiang Tang: "Hand over some of your snacks."

Although Jiang Tang didn't know what had happened, she obeyed obediently.

Only after sending the items did she realize that the leader was probably punishing her, and as for why...

She could only think about it slowly by herself.

Although Cheng Shuili had been flustered earlier, now that she had calmed down, all she could feel was pleasure.

She collected her thoughts and went to check the final item.

Light-Eroding Shield.

It was called a shield, but it looked more like a necklace. The pendant was a small triangle. Judging by the name, it was definitely a defensive item.

【Light-Eroding Shield】

【Description: An inverted triangular pendant forged from an unknown dark matter alloy, with ripples flowing across its surface. The wearer can actively activate an absolute defensive barrier that lasts for 3 seconds, completely negating one attack of any form. The cooldown is 12 hours. If used at night, the cooldown is shortened to 8 hours. Darkness is not emptiness, but the most silent guardian.】

Any form?

Cheng Shuili even doubted if the description was exaggerating.

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

The dark metal pressed against her skin, transmitting a strange, warm, cool sensation.

Just as she put it on, Jiang Tang's private messages started popping up frantically:

"Leader, I was wrong! I was gnawing on jerky and forgot about the triple mileage!"

"Next time I will recite the system announcement word for word!"

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

Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow and replied: "The chips are confiscated. Also, write an 800-word review explaining why you forgot such important information."

The other side immediately sent a string of crying emojis.

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

Very well, now she could use today's attempts.

Cheng Shuili thought, heading to the workstation to upgrade some blueprints as part of her routine.

She had never wasted her one improvement attempt per day, it was just that she had never succeeded...

The number of recent failures was so high that Cheng Shuili had started to suspect the workstation was broken; otherwise, how could she not have succeeded even once?

She sighed and took out the Taotie Furnace.

Once she built the Multifunctional Artisan Workshop, she could safely build other faction buildings in the territory.

The current faction warehouse was called a warehouse, but it was really just a drafty straw shed.

The other facilities didn't even have a foundation left, requiring Cheng Shuili, as the faction leader, to choose the sites and rebuild them herself.

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

Regardless, she should just exchange for the items first.

It was worth mentioning that the ratio for stone and wood was the same, while iron ingots were slightly more expensive, at one to five.

And this low-level energy core at the end...

Cheng Shuili tentatively added an energy stone, and the Taotie Furnace immediately indicated it was enough.

Cheng Shuili: "......"

So what was the point of all that?

Just to change the name?