Chapter 439, One for Each, On Me
Shanaila lowered her head even further, her face and neck flushed as if with blood.
She thought to herself that with such a large merchant guild and good looks,
she wasn't any worse than a Guild's Deputy Steward.
Blushing, she lifted her head, "Yes."
However, after this announcement, the two maids' expressions remained calm.
As if they had long known about this matter, showing no surprise, only a sense of inevitability.
"Should we prepare a room for Sister Shanaila?" Minnie asked.
Shanaila immediately waved her hand, "No need, I'll stay next door. You can come over to my place anytime."
After saying this, she lowered her head again, feeling a little awkward.
Andviel curiously looked at Minnie, "You also knew about Master and Sister Shanaila?"
"Yes, while cleaning Master's bedroom, I found the corset I gifted Sister Shanaila under his pillow," Minnie replied and then asked in return, "How did you know?"
"I recognized it from the sounds at night."
"Alright, alright, you're both impressive, stop talking about it and finish your meal. I've prepared gifts for you; we'll look at them together later," Shanaila couldn't take it anymore and immediately interrupted them from discussing how they found out.
Finding her corset under the pillow was already embarrassing enough.
Let alone recognizing it from sounds.
Wu Heng also smiled and said, "Stop teasing her. Let's eat first. If the gifts aren't good tonight, Shanaila won't be allowed to leave."
Minnie and Andviel also laughed and chimed in with a couple of sentences.
They continued their meal.
After finishing dinner.
In the living room, Shanaila brought out two gifts, formally presenting them to the two maids.
Although they were just jewelry, their craftsmanship and materials showed they were certainly valuable.
It seemed she had prepared these gifts long in advance, just waiting for this day to announce her status.
The two maids were delighted to receive the gifts.
After all, this was the first time someone other than Wu Heng had given them gifts, and such fine ones at that.
By this time, Shanaila wasn't as shy as before.
When asked how she and Wu Heng got together, she recounted the story of how he had saved her from pirates.
They developed mutual feelings afterward.
Minnie exclaimed, "Wow, your story is like something out of a book! Sister Shanaila, you're so lucky. Not like me and Sister Andviel, who were bought back."
Hearing this, Shanaila also felt that her experience with Wu Heng.
Truly resembled a knight and princess story.
Except their romantic journey wasn't as complicated; they got along well and naturally came together.
Thinking about it, she felt a sweet happiness and looked tenderly at the smiling man sitting beside her.
"Sister Shanaila, are you staying tonight?" Minnie asked.
"This… I'll stay…"
Wu Heng interrupted, "You're not going back tonight."
Shanaila could only quietly agree, "Then I'll stay."
"Oh, I'll prepare an extra quilt so you don't catch cold at night."
"Thank you, Minnie."
The two maids went upstairs to prepare new bedding.
Normally one quilt would suffice, but it never hurt to be prepared.
Wu Heng turned to Shanaila, "See, they've already treated you as family."
Shanaila stood up and lightly slapped him, "Did you tell them beforehand?"
"Of course not."
Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Shanaila asked suspiciously, "Was it that obvious?"
"Alright, from now on, it's out in the open. Don't overthink it," Wu Heng said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
Shanaila relaxed and leaned gently against him.
Wu Heng remembered something and asked, "When will the caravan return?"
"It'll take some time. Why, are you in a hurry?"
"Not exactly." Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "I want to custom-make some precise metal parts. Do you have any channels to make that happen?"
Shanaila looked at him, "Depends on what you need. Weapon parts are easy to customize, and if the quantity is large, we can arrange mass production. If it's for peculiar machinery, it's more complicated, but as long as the payment is sufficient, it's not a problem."
Wu Heng considered this and continued, "For instance, if I have a device that requires many parts for assembly, but I don't want the manufacturers to know the full specifications or final design, what's the best way to handle that?"
Shanaila answered directly, "Simple, split the production across multiple locations. If it's that critical, hire your own blacksmiths and machinists."
"Oh, that makes sense." Wu Heng took a sip of tea.
Shanaila curiously asked, "Do you need precise equipment made? I can recommend our wood elf factories, but if you hand over complete blueprints, they'll definitely keep backups. Without your own production capabilities, it's hard to avoid."
Wu Heng shook his head, "It's just an idea. I haven't even drawn up the blueprints yet."
Shanaila thought he was researching machinery blueprints and rolled her eyes. "You're a mage; shouldn't you focus on leveling up? If I had known, I would've set my level at 18 to motivate you."
"Motivation works now too. Maybe have a baby with me or try something new," Wu Heng teased.
Shanaila twisted her body and scolded, "Stop saying such things. What if someone hears?"
They whispered downstairs for a while.
Minnie and Andviel came down from upstairs.
"The bed is ready," Minnie said.
Wu Heng gave her a thumbs up and, to Shanaila's surprise, scooped her up and carried her upstairs.
"What are you doing? It's still early."
"I haven't seen you in days. You might not miss me, but I miss you."
Shanaila leaned into his arms, murmuring, "You've completely ruined my image."
They returned to the room.
Minnie and Andviel cautiously crept up to the fourth floor.
They quietly listened to the sounds inside.
Hearing soft hums, they exchanged glances.
"Yes, that's the sound. It's definitely Shanaila."
"I knew it a long time ago."
...…
At dawn, Wu Heng opened his eyes and looked outside.
Shanaila, nestled in his arms, woke up too.
With crescent-shaped eyes, she gave him a light peck on the lips. "Awake so early?"
"Yeah, just a habit. You can sleep a bit longer; there's no rush to go back anymore," Wu Heng said, pulling her soft body closer.
Shanaila lived a more relaxed lifestyle.
Late nights and late mornings were common for her.
Completely different from his routine.
Shanaila shook her head, "That won't do. I can't appear too lazy in front of Minnie and the others."
Saying this, she gently got up and started dressing.
Wu Heng yawned and sat by her side, his hand lightly caressing her skin, massaging it slowly.
Shanaila blushed with embarrassment.
After the two finished dressing, they went downstairs for breakfast.
The three women had already planned their day.
Andviel would work at the Guild, while Shanaila and Minnie would head to Lighthouse Street to check the goods and pick up Andviel in the afternoon.
Their schedule was packed.
Wu Heng had no time to join them.
He could only say he'd provide the money, and the expenses would be on him.
After breakfast, the three women left the residence.
Wu Heng tidied up and headed to the zombie world.
He stepped out of the room.
He directly called for Qi Hancai.
The convoy was ready and set off toward the uncleared area.
Before long, they arrived at the location.
After confirming there were no unusual zombies.
The skeleton dogs lured the enemies as iron rains cleared the zombies.
When the horde was cleared.
The system notification appeared immediately.
[Level increased to 16, Intelligence +2, Perception +1, Charisma +1.]
He finally leveled up.
Reaching level 16 brought him closer to the goal of level 18.
Moreover, it seemed that starting from level 15, attribute points increased by 4 per level.
Unfortunately, no new talents were unlocked.
Soon, the battlefield was cleared.
The skeletons began cleaning the battlefield.
Wu Heng collected zombie cores and converted them into skeletons.
Once everything was completed, the convoy began the return trip.
Together with Qi Hancai, he walked into the waiting hall.
A survivor carrying a briefcase hurried over, saying, "Your Majesty, Sister Qi, these are the delivered blueprints."
So many?
Wu Heng opened the briefcase and glanced inside; it was filled with blueprints.
A quick look revealed more than just machine gun bullet blueprints; there was also a mechanical production line for making bullet heads and casings.
However, the sheer number of blueprints was astonishing.
Ordinary people would likely struggle to assemble a complete machine from these.
"Good, thank you for your hard work," Wu Heng said, closing the briefcase.
"It's my duty," the survivor smiled and left.
Qi Hancai looked at the briefcase and asked, "Should we make a backup? In case it's damaged, we won't have to argue with the provincial district."
"You're right, let's back it up and store it securely."
"Understood."
Given the current situation, these blueprints would be of limited use to ordinary shelters.
Who could manually craft so many parts?
Qi Hancai took the blueprints.
Wu Heng went to assign patrol tasks to intelligent skeletons.
...…
In another world, on a certain island.
Bang~!
The tavern door was kicked open.
Philipa entered with a green-feathered parrot on her shoulder, striding in with her crew.
Tilting her head, she glanced around the tavern and said, "Bartender, one woman for everyone in the tavern, charge it to me."
"Captain, we don't have that many."
"Damn it, go find some! Bring the pretty ones; I've got plenty of money," Philipa shouted.
The bartender looked at the owner and then went out to find people.
Inside the tavern, cheers erupted.
The generous Captain Philipa earned a thumbs-up from everyone.
Philipa waved dismissively, indicating it was no big deal, and swaggered to the bar, sitting next to a blond man with a wild hairstyle. "Boss Joachim, got any jobs lately? Count me in."
The man glanced at her, "You're not short on money; why go to sea?"
"Who's ever afraid of having too much money? Plus, sailing with you means I'll have bragging rights for future voyages," Philipa said, patting her chest.
"You've got it all planned out," the man snorted. "There's nothing for now. If something comes up, I'll take you along so you can see how we fight."
Philipa ordered a beer, took a sip, and continued, "Boss Joachim, everyone's talking about the Pirate King. Is it true?"