Ding dong.
The door automatically opened.
A lively female voice rang out immediately.
"Haro~"
A petite girl with long pink hair, wearing an oversized green military cap and a blue-and-white sailor uniform, had barely entered before cheerfully asking Luo Shu:
"How's it going~? Have Tifa-chan and Koko signed the contract yet?"
As she spoke, Meer scanned the room, spotting the dazed expressions of Tifa and Koko on the sofa, and immediately beamed:
"Oh my, looks like it's already done!"
"In that case, I can give Lacus the good news now."
Luo Shu, seated on the sofa, couldn't help but smile at seeing Meer back in her original appearance:
"You took off your disguise the moment Lacus left."
"Well, I need to be ready to impersonate her at any time."
Meer shrugged before walking straight over to Luo Shu and sitting down right beside him, her bright eyes fixed on him:
"So from now on, I'm your official girlfriend~"
The official girlfriend is Lacus Clyne, and with Lacus currently absent, Meer, her doppelganger, becomes Lacus Clyne; therefore, Meer equals official girlfriend.
Luo Shu felt as though a circuit in his brain had just disconnected.
Without any reservation, he reached out to pinch Meer's smooth cheek, giving it a playful squeeze before saying with a laugh:
"Yes, yes, what reward does my girlfriend, who just recruited three Familia members for me, want?"
"Reward?" At this word, Meer's gaze involuntarily drifted downward.
Luo Shu followed her line of sight and immediately facepalmed at this shameless woman: "Hey, hey, are you asking for a reward? Or are you trying to reward me?"
Meer clung to Luo Shu's arm and declared shamelessly:
"If the original has tried something, then this counterfeit has to try it too~ A perfect doppelganger must achieve one-to-one replication!"
'You're certainly replicating things perfectly...' Luo Shu felt his heart itch at this wicked woman's words, but considering two other girls were present, he restrained himself.
If secretly scratching Meer's palm twice as a hint to meet at 2 am counted as a restraint.
"Speaking of which, how many Familia candidates within the SDS are still under observation?"
To prevent Meer from provoking him further, Luo Shu abruptly steered the conversation towards business.
Meer showed no reaction to this. After all, she always tried to tease Luo Shu whenever they met. She wasn't afraid he wouldn't take the bait - what she feared was him not touching her at all.
But judging by his physical reactions, the chance of Luo Shu not touching her was minuscule, so she had nothing to worry about:
"Currently, we've identified 23 Familia candidates in total, including both SDS and non-SDS personnel."
"23 people?" Luo Shu was somewhat surprised by the number. While it seemed small, 23 completely trustworthy subordinates who could become Familia members was no insignificant figure.
When Liu Bang rebelled by slaying the white serpent, he only had a dozen followers.
Zhu Yuanzhang began with just 24 men under his command.
An organisation's strength is measured by how many people its leader can influence.
There are numerous examples worldwide of 20-odd people creating nations.
So finding 23 was already a pleasant surprise for Luo Shu.
"So we've found 23 and secured agreements with 3?"
Knowing the exact numbers put Luo Shu in excellent spirits.
Though only Origami Tobiichi, Tifa and Koko had been successfully recruited into the Familia from the 23, considering the search had only begun three weeks ago, this efficiency was impressive.
Meer chuckled at this: "To be precise, three more are nearly settled, but the rest are in Japan. These three happened to be at headquarters."
The SDS holds biannual departmental meetings, one around May 1st and the other around Christmas Eve.
As a Commerce Department executive for SDS Europe, Koko naturally qualified to attend.
Tifa, being a local intelligence operative in California, was easily transferred.
As for Origami Tobiichi, she was already training at headquarters.
"Originally, we thought you'd first contact those in Japan, but circumstances led to prioritising the American headquarters instead."
Meer sighed: "Isn't this what they call life's surprises?"
"Life's surprises?" The mention made Luo Shu somewhat rueful.
Because of Joan of Arc's prophecy to Kirika Tachibana about encountering potential in Japan, he'd been dug up by her.
Yet who could have guessed Joan was actually prophesying about someone else?
In a way, Luo Shu joining the SDS truly was one of life's surprises.
However, three people from Japan had already been successfully negotiated with. Luo Shu had to admit that the SDS's efficiency—no, instead, Meer's efficiency—was quite impressive...
After all, she had been handling almost the entire process.
"So there are still 17 people left to negotiate?" Luo Shu asked curiously.
Hearing this, Meer replied with a pleasant smile:
"Some are still hesitating, while others... well, we haven't found their pressure points yet."
"After all, without being able to explain the Familia or reveal any secrets, getting those girls to sign a lifelong contract requires breaking through many psychological barriers~"
Luo Shu understood. Indeed, persuading someone to stake their entire life without full disclosure would naturally take considerable effort.
This time, whether it was Origami Tobiichi or Koko, each had their own demands—the former wanted treatment for her parents, the latter sought support for her business.
Only after the SDS met their conditions did they gamble on themselves. No one would be foolish enough to sell themselves without any terms.
Even Tifa, who seemed detached and without desires, likely had her own reasons for agreeing to join the Familia—reasons Luo Shu couldn't yet discern.
Negotiations like these were bound to be time-consuming, so Luo Shu didn't hold high expectations for Meer's efficiency.
If Luo Shu handled it himself, he might be faster—but only on an individual basis.
Perhaps Luo Shu could convince one girl in a week, while the SDS's negotiators might take a month for just one.
However, Luo Shu was just one person, whereas the SDS could have dozens or even hundreds of negotiation experts conducting ideological work simultaneously.
In terms of individual efficiency, Luo Shu had an advantage, but overall efficiency still favoured the SDS's collective strength.
Faced with this efficiency gap, Luo Shu was naturally happy to be a hands-off leader.
"It feels like the way Familia members are recruited is about to be completely transformed..."
Looking back, his first Familia member, Utaha Kasumigaoka, had only been 'tricked' into joining after being chased by monsters together.
His second Familia member, Eriri, had been coaxed into joining through a joint effort with Utaha.
So how had it now become an assembly-line operation where he just needed to sign off on things?
Had the era of one-on-one conquests already passed?
Had he transitioned from small-scale farming with a hoe to large-scale industrial sowing?
Just as Luo Shu was feeling somewhat ambivalent, Koko, who had just finished processing the information, was the first to snap out of it. She then fixed Luo Shu with an equally ambivalent gaze.
In response, Luo Shu smiled and uttered the words that would change her life forever:
"Welcome to my Familia~"