Shen Xiao enjoyed making friends, and this presented an opportunity for him. He just needed to poach a few. While he couldn't sway prodigies, even recruiting a few ordinary ones would be profitable.
Although the number of lottery tickets he received was still vastly different from the Empress's, it wouldn't be a small amount. Having them around created value. Consider the value of getting 0.01 lottery tickets from friends each day, or 1 or 5 tickets?
By recruiting more geniuses, he could give them tickets one by one during gatherings and missions. That would be a qualitative leap from quantitative accumulation—giving fifty, sixty, or even a hundred tickets at once, wouldn't that be better?
Each small contribution would speed up the process; otherwise, relying on those E-level talents would be incredibly difficult—they wouldn't even be able to accumulate 100 lottery tickets after a year of hard work. Before, it was a matter of insufficient strength, but this time was different.
"I have the strength; making those geniuses marvel is nothing."
"Recruiting a few geniuses is a feasible plan."
"It's a perfect opportunity, and I can do it while I'm at it."
"Then let's hurry and try to seduce a few during this mission."
Lu Zihao, watching his boss deep in thought, felt a chill run down his spine. What is your boss plotting now? Remembering how Shen Xiao only fell silent upon hearing the word 'genius', could it be… his boss wants to eliminate a few?
"We have no grudges against each other; surely not. But it's possible… His family also started in business; he understands the principle that fewer competitors mean greater strength. It's like a competition. Why do you get second place? Not because you're strong, but because there are only two participants. Similarly, fewer geniuses of your generation makes you appear stronger, doesn't it?"
"This boss is ruthless. Is this really the boss I know? Surely not... But I like this mentality..."
Ding!
[Gained favorability with Lu Zihao, lottery ticket +1!]
…
"Over here! Over here!"
"Qingyue, quickly use your ability to stop it!"
"Ah! Lu Zihao, you idiot! With your skills, you're a first-grade? You can't even catch a mouse!"
Shen Xiao and his group had just arrived at the outer edge of the Xingtai Mountains when they found an ear-mouse. White fur, red eyes, about the size of a rabbit, with rabbit ears and an extremely long tail, which allowed it to fly briefly. This caused great trouble for the three of them trying to capture it.
While the three were trying to capture it, Shen Xiao watched without intervening. His strength was increasing rapidly, and he possessed three elemental abilities; dealing with this small beast was just a matter of a flick of his finger. So he wanted to take this opportunity to train the three of them.
Seeing the ear-mouse trying to escape, Lao Jiang controlled A Piao to fly over and block its path. Although it was a spirit and couldn't be stopped, the ear-mouse was unaware of this and controlled its ears to condense an energy wave attack.
The attack missed, frightening the mouse, which spun around and ran back. Su Qiao seized this opportunity. She pounced, her palm touching the ear-mouse, simultaneously using her ability. A magnetic effect formed between her and the ear-mouse.
The ear-mouse, which had been dodging and running away, suddenly levitated and flew towards Su Qiao. Su Qiao was ruthless; as the ear-mouse was pulled towards her, she grabbed it tightly. Foul-smelling saliva dripped onto her face, but she didn't care. Even as the animal tore her clothes, she showed no sign of letting go.
"Lu Zihao, hurry up and hit its head! Hit it! Hit it now!"
"Bang!" Lu Zihao accidentally hit Su Qiao on the head with his stick.
"Lu Zihao, where are you hitting it?!"
"Oops, oops! Stand still, you're moving around so much I can't aim properly."
"I'm so fed up with having a teammate like you!"
Su Qiao, hit by the stick, felt a bit dizzy and let go, causing the ear-mouse to run away. Lu Qingyue, however, found an opportunity. A water gun bullet burst forth, piercing the ear-mouse's head. Its body twitched a few times on the ground and fell silent.
Not bad, the Empress's judgment is still good. Finding the perfect angle of attack, attacking when the ear-mouse was in the air, at which point it couldn't dodge. The Empress's combat talent was still quite strong; even without a complete transformation, she still possessed keen judgment.
…
"Lu Zihao, you're having so much trouble dealing with a rat, and you still claim to have single-handedly fought a fourth-tier beast?"
"You still say that? If you hadn't moved around so much just now, things wouldn't be like this."
"My strength isn't even at the first rank. Do you think I have a lot of spiritual energy or just a lot of strength?"
"It's because you keep causing trouble that it's so complicated. Catching an ear-mouse took you half a day."
"I'm causing trouble? I only managed to catch it; the main credit is mine. You're saying I'm causing trouble..."
Lu Zihao and Su Qiao started arguing again, one complaining about the other's constant interference, the other spouting a bunch of fallacies. This argument left Lu Qingyue unsure whether to intervene or ignore it.
"Ignore them both, finish them off and put the ear-mouse away."
Following Shen Xiao's instructions, Lu Qingyue began to dispose of the ear-mouse's corpse. Shen Xiao's teaching was very meticulous, and she found it very useful. She finished dealing with this, but the two people over there were still arguing, so she didn't disturb them.
Lu Qingyue took the water bottle from her waist, thought for a moment, and decided to give it to Shen Xiao first.
"Shen Xiao, you've been working hard all day, have some water."
"Thank you." Shen Xiao took a small sip; it was slightly sweet, probably because it had been spiked.
"Sorry, Shen Xiao, we're a bit weak and let you down."
"It's alright, everyone has a rough start. With more practice, you'll get the hang of it. Take that water gun attack you just used, for example, it was pretty good. Your aim was decisive, and the power has increased significantly compared to the previous few days."
Being praised by Shen Xiao made her inexplicably happy: "Just lucky, I didn't expect it to hit."
Ding!
[Gained favorability with Lu Qingyue, lottery ticket +100!]
Seeing Shen Xiao's constant smile, Lu Qingyue asked curiously: "What's making you happy?"
"Nothing, just seeing you happy makes me happy."
Yes, when you're happy, I get something in return, how could I not be happy?
…
Lu Zihao had been arguing with Su Qiao for a long time, and his mouth was dry, so he decided to stop. If I can't afford to mess with you, I'll avoid you.
"Boss, it's getting dark. Let's rest first. Dealing with one today has already exceeded our expectations."
Shen Xiao glanced at the sky and nodded in agreement: "We can rest first."
As it gets darker, visibility will be reduced, making captures more difficult. We just arrived today to familiarize ourselves with the environment. Having already dealt with one, we'll have some experience. Summarizing and reflecting on our experiences will make subsequent captures much easier.
Besides, he's not focused on the mission right now. 10,000 consecutive draws are already way too much; he'll use his rest time to do those.
I feel like my strength has taken a qualitative leap this time with these draws. The Empress is indeed the Empress; she's shown me a whole new world. Let's see what kind of rewards