"That's because we deserve it."
Michael replied calmly.
"Without us, more than half of the professions in the city wouldn't be able to perform at their best."
"Here's your order, Sir."
A waitress arrived, setting a tray on the table.
"Thank you."
Michael tapped his spatial ring to hers, transferring three Black iron-tier mist cores to her as payment.
"Dude, you should've tipped her and then use that chance to ask her to the party."
Dai Lui said after the waitress left.
"What the hell are you saying?"
Michael frowned.
"She has a fiancé."
"And she's not even my type."
Dai Lui shrugged.
"Well, she's mine."
"And I don't think her fiancé is doing any better than we are."
"I wouldn't be so sure."
"We've seen geniuses like Vivian, Qian Du and even Michael here. Who knows? Her fiancé could be one of them."
Xiao Hou said.
"Alright, alright."
Michael said, raising his hands.
"Let's drop it and eat before the food gets cold."
He cut off Dai Lui before he could respond further.
..
After teleporting to the administrative building, Zhou Zhou appeared outside Hui Teng's office.
Knock. Knock.
Respecting others' privacy, he chose not to teleport directly inside.
"Come in."
Hui Teng called.
Zhou Zhou turned the doorknob and entered.
"My lord."
Hui Teng and Caitlyn, who had been seated across from him, immediately stood and bowed.
"Keep up the good work, Caitlyn."
Zhou Zhou smiled at the 25 years old as she exited the office.
"Thank you, my lord."
Caitlyn smiled excitedly before closing the door behind her.
"How are things progressing?"
Zhou Zhou asked his deputy.
"Great."
Hui Teng replied.
"The trade deal with Mingguang City has been successfully completed."
"The Golden Thread Guild has begun exporting their textiles to several cities across the Aurora Kingdom."
"The city now receives 10% of the income tax from their profits."
"The Crucible Collective, led by Ashburn, has sold over 200 Sunsoars to Fish Spring Town."
"Due to the Train project going on, they couldn't accept the offer from Sunshine City."
"And just a few minutes ago, the first group of immigrants successfully passed the screening."
He reported while flipping through a document.
"That's quite a list of achievements."
"Looks like you were preparing to brief me."
Zhou Zhou said.
"I was planning to visit you after finalizing the report with Caitlyn."
Hui Teng revealed.
"Seems that won't be necessary anymore."
"Tell me about the immigrants."
Zhou Zhou said.
"The most important factor we evaluated was profession."
Hui Teng explained.
"Applicants with professions above Yellow gold-tier automatically passed the first two tests."
"Those below that level had to be under 40 years old to qualify for the third test."
"Anyone over 39 without at least a White platinum-tier profession was immediately disqualified."
"Following your instructions, I ensured every combat professional was disqualified."
"Finally, only those under 20 and without a profession were allowed to qualify for the third test.
"Once that was done, the number of applicants dropped from 160,378 to 12,833 people."
"Following the third test, only 8,639 remained."
"The rest were disqualified due to their criminal records or criminal association.
"None of them were worth taking a risk for."
He concluded.
"That's good."
Zhou Zhou said with a nod.
"This method of recruitment is far better than taking prisoners of war."
"Also, once they become citizens, ensure that anyone with less than 80% loyalty is sent back."
He instructed.
"Yes, my lord."
Hui Teng acknowledged.
"Take this."
Zhou Zhou transferred 50,000 Legendary-tier potential advancement potions to Hui Teng with a click of his spatial ring on his.
"Distribute these to any lifestyle professional who has reached their potential limit."
"Oh my god!"
Seeing the amount of potions in his spatial ring, Hui Teng was in disbelief.
"Leave out the soldiers when handing out the potions."
"I will handle their advancements."
Zhou Zhou said, snapping Hui Teng back to reality.
"Y-Yes, my lord."
Hui Teng stuttered, still in disbelief.
Without another word, Zhou Zhou teleported away after receiving Hui Teng's confirmation.
..
Reading as she walked, Theresa suddenly came to a stop at a river bank.
Before her stretched an endless river, its waters flowing beyond sight.
An inexplicable urge pulled her forward.
She took a step.
The moment her foot descended, a foothold appeared beneath it.
She took another step, and the foothold widened.
Step by step, it expanded, until a hundred steps later, she realized the footholds had formed a bridge, stretching endlessly across the river.
Tap!
At that moment, the book in her hands slipped and fell to the ground.
Its title read: Time, History, Truth.
!
Theresa's eyes snapped open.
She found herself seated on her couch.
"The visions are becoming more complex the further I advance."
She murmured.
Reaching for her topaz necklace, she held it gently in her hands.
Activating her Epic-tier divination skill, she divined her insight.
This time, the result came instantly.
"I'm glad I accepted the call to this city."
A faint smile appeared on her lips, satisfaction evident in her eyes.
"To the library."
With that, she got dressed and left her residence.
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