Seeing Luo Shu's reaction, Kirika's face twitched slightly:
"You don't actually think you can use this to pressure me, do you?"
"Can't I?" Luo Shu asked with an amused smile.
Kirika fell silent at this. She truly hadn't expected Luo Shu to try negotiating terms at this moment.
"...Fine, you win. What do you want me to do?"
Surprised by how quickly Kirika conceded, Luo Shu paused before admitting:
"I haven't actually thought about it yet."
Kirika's head snapped up as she gave Luo Shu a sharp look. Her expression shifted before she sighed:
"Then we'll discuss it when you've decided."
She then added irritably, "When can we expect delivery of the hundred spatial rings?"
"You'll need to ask Mukuro and Mira about that. After all, it's their handiwork."
As he spoke, Luo Shu glanced at the still-giggling Mukuro Hoshimiya and then at Mira Tsubakihara, who was calmly drinking her tea, before turning back to Kirika with a meaningful look. His expression clearly indicated that while he was done being an obstacle, she'd now have to deal with the little demon.
Noticing Kirika's gaze, Mukuro tilted her head and asked:
"You want me to make a hundred of these rings?"
"Yes," Kirika nodded, then hesitated slightly as she looked at Mukuro.
She wasn't very familiar with Mukuro yet. Although they were both Familia members, there was no hierarchical relationship between them, which made her somewhat uncertain:
"Name your terms. I'll fulfil whatever requests I can."
However, the next moment—
"No way."
Mukuro stuck out her tongue:
"Making these is exhausting, and they're not even useful! They're just for storing things. What's the point?"
"Muku won't waste effort making meaningless stuff."
Hearing this, Kirika's face twitched violently. Before she could respond, Natsuki Minamiya, who had been silent until now, spoke up:
"See? This is what happens with natural-born Demigods – they never appreciate their blessings."
As she spoke, Natsuki raised her right hand, revealing the silver bracelet on her wrist.
This bracelet had been given to her by Luo Shu after she joined the Familia, providing direct access to her personal storage space within Luo Shu's Divine Kingdom.
In practical terms, this space was typically used for storage purposes.
"Listen carefully, little one."
"Did you think this ring's functionality was inferior to the bracelet Luo Shu gifted you?"
Mukuro Hoshimiya adjusted her embrace around Luo Shu, floating mid-air as she met Natsuki Minamiya's gaze:
"Isn't that the case?"
"Of course not." Natsuki Minamiya massaged her temples and sighed:
"Listen well. The storage bracelet function created by the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System is among the rarest of rarities in this world – an absolute exception."
"Even among Abyss Artefacts, items capable of providing stable storage space are extraordinarily scarce."
"Generally speaking, it would require an Alchemist of roughly Hero Rank collaborating with a spatial magician of equivalent level, utilising spatial-type treasures to craft a comparable item."
"To my knowledge, there's only one Alchemist in Europe who once successfully created a spatial ring, but that ring merely had a capacity of 10 cubic metres. After its creation, the Alchemist abandoned further production due to cost."
"Nevertheless, research into spatial storage artefacts never ceased, though it shifted underground."
At this point, Natsuki couldn't help but glance meaningfully at Lacus nearby.
Noticing this, Lacus sipped her teacup and chuckled:
"Research into spatial storage artefacts continues unabated. In fact, that Alchemist's success provided a research direction. Though for certain reasons, such studies have gone underground."
"Let me think... the latest achievement should be a 15-cubic-metre spatial bracelet developed internally by the Hell Sect, reportedly employing demonic technology at prohibitively high costs – nothing as effortless as your methods, Mukuro."
Lacus's expression turned slightly peculiar at the mention of "effortless".
For Mukuro Hoshimiya, the only challenging aspects of ring production were material composition.
The rings required specially crafted Alchemical materials, while internal space dimensions needed correspondingly sized alloy-sealed containers.
Yet both components could feasibly be mass-produced without excessive difficulty.
Regarding the alloy (the more material-intensive component), Tabane Shinonono's automated production lines at Copernicus presented no major issues.
As for creation itself, Mukuro simply needed to employ her Master of Seal and Unlock abilities, expending some Spiritual Power.
Only the Alchemical ring production – requiring Mira Tsubakihara's manual craftsmanship – bottlenecked output.
Upon reflection, the Familia did seem to possess legitimate spatial ring manufacturing technology.
"Eh... so these are actually that rare?"
Mukuro expressed mild surprise before clinging to Luo Shu, nuzzling his cheek:
"Big brother~ Mukuro wants a reward~~"
"Yes, yes, here's your reward." Luo Shu planted another kiss on Mukuro's cheek.
"Not enough! One isn't enough!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Luo Shu relented, playfully pretending to nibble Mukuro's cheek.
Witnessing this, Yukino Yukinoshita retreated several steps, muttering under her breath:
"Suddenly feeling rather nauseated..."
"My sentiments exactly."
Natsuki sighed, tapping her forehead with a fan before addressing Luo Shu:
"Alright, enough of that. Kirika, we can discuss the ring matter privately later."
"It's time we addressed the main issue!"
At that moment, Lacus turned to Tabane Shinonono and said:
"Doctor, we'll leave the mass production matter to you."
"Researching alchemical mass production? Sounds intriguing."
Tabane Shinonono stroked her chin, clearly aware that the ring's mass production was limited by Mira Tsubakihara's manual alchemy.
"We might need to use some of the organisation's public points. After all, to research alchemy properly, the user needs to become stronger, right?"
Hearing this, Lacus smiled at Mira Tsubakihara and nodded:
"Understood. I'll allocate public points to elevate Miss Mira to Demigod Rank."
The public points referred to those accumulated from Abyss Artefacts obtained by the SDS, totalling roughly 300,000 Points monthly.
Since these were accumulated through the SDS's years of organisational experience, Luo Shu naturally had no intention of monopolising them, instead allocating them for the SDS's use under Lacus's discretion.
Now, Lacus planned to use these points on Mira Tsubakihara to mass-produce spatial artefacts for the SDS members.
Thinking this, Luo Shu's expression turned slightly complicated.
'Is this using public resources to benefit our own people?'
'No, no, it should be considered mutually beneficial, right?'
Though point generation mainly stemmed from the Divine Pantheon's ability to convert influence into these seemingly omnipotent points, ultimately, the key factor was the Divine Kingdom's influence.
'Is this exploiting the system's loopholes?'
As Luo Shu's thoughts wandered, Lacus gave him an exasperated look, then exchanged glances with Natsuki Minamiya.
"Let's focus on the main issue. It's rare for everyone to gather like this."
Hearing this, Mira Tsubakihara—who wasn't part of the SDS's management and knew the least—couldn't help asking curiously:
"What exactly is this 'main issue'?"
Luo Shu glanced at her and smiled apologetically:
"Probably my promotion matter."
"Regarding the Demigod Rank Child of Apocalypse promotion."