135: Chapter 135 Determining the Direction

After distributing the food to the wounded, Zhang Ming wiped his hands on his apron, turned to Zhou An, and said, "Boss, the food in the dining room upstairs has also been served. Eat while it's hot."

"Okay."

Zhou An nodded and looked at Ivy and Sheila beside him.

"Let's go. Let's eat upstairs first."

Ivy shook her head, showing great tact, and respectfully took half a step back. "Sir, my sisters' injuries have just stabilized and they still need care. I'll stay down here to accompany them."

Zhou An didn't force her. He nodded and took the uneasy Sheila into the elevator.

...

Arriving at the spacious and bright dining room on the second floor of the fortress, they found the huge solid wood dining table already piled high with a sumptuous spread of beast meat and spiritual fruit platters.

Just as they sat down, the dining room's automatic door slid open with a whoosh.

Luo Ning walked in like a whirlwind.

She clumsily pulled out a chair and plopped down. Without even washing her hands, she picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a large piece of dripping roast meat, stuffed it into her mouth, and mumbled indistinctly, "I'm starving to death... Those orcs are so poor. The armor plates we stripped from their warship are all low-grade alloy. Only their energy core was barely acceptable..."

As she spoke, Luo Ning looked up and saw Sheila standing uneasily by the dining table, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes.

Not only Luo Ning, but also Shen Xingyue, Muzi, and Lin Qing—who had just settled Xiao Kong—all cast puzzled glances at the Winged girl standing to the side, not daring to sit. Then, they all looked at Zhou An in unison.

In this team, although everyone was usually very casual with each other, they would never easily allow an outsider to eat at the same table.

Feeling everyone's gaze, Sheila was so nervous her breathing almost stopped.

She was well aware of her current identity: a servant who had signed a subservient contract.

According to the rules outside, servants were absolutely not qualified to dine at the same table as their masters; being able to eat leftovers was already a monumental blessing.

Zhou An pulled over a tissue to wipe his hands, pointed to the empty seat opposite him, and spoke in a casual tone:

"Let me formally introduce her to everyone. This is Sheila, of the Winged Race. Starting today, she is a new member of our team, serving as our dedicated combat specialist."

As soon as he said this, the dining room fell silent for a brief moment.

Immediately after, "Clap clap clap!"

Warm applause suddenly erupted. Luo Ning swallowed the roast meat in her mouth and was the first to start clapping, enthusiastically pulling out the chair next to her. "Oh, you should have said so earlier! Come, come, Sister Sheila, sit here!"

"Welcome aboard!"

Muzi also waved her hand excitedly.

Lin Qing smiled gently, scooped a bowl of steaming spiritual mushroom soup, and placed it gently in front of Sheila.

Zhang Ming also grinned and picked up a large shrimp, placing it directly onto Sheila's plate. "You're too thin, little girl. Eat more meat to build up your strength!"

Sheila sat stiffly in the soft chair, looking at the food piled high like a small mountain before her, her mind buzzing.

She looked around at everyone at the table in utter disbelief.

No one questioned why she joined, nor was there any of that high-and-mighty contempt between different races, let alone the oppressive hierarchy that veteran members usually imposed on newcomers.

What shocked Sheila the most was that not a single person present raised even half a word of doubt regarding this sudden decision of Zhou An's. They had absolute trust in Zhou An—as long as it was someone the boss brought back, they would accept them without reservation.

"What are you dazing off for? Is it not to your liking?"

Zhou An glanced at her.

"No... no, thank you, everyone..."

Sheila's eyes welled up. She quickly lowered her head, shoveling the food into her mouth in large gulps, though her tears unhelpfully splattered into her rice.

This long-lost warmth made her feel as though all the fear she had endured when signing that contract had completely vanished.

After a few rounds of drinks.

Zhou An put down his chopsticks, flipped his wrist, and took out the last five-source power core.

He casually tossed it to Shen Xingyue.

"Xingyue, this is yours. Upgrade your vehicle level to LV5 over the next couple of days."

Looking at the precious five-source power core before her, Shen Xingyue paused slightly as she pushed up her glasses, not taking it immediately.

She turned to look at Sheila, who was burying her face in her food. "Boss, using this core on me right now doesn't maximize our returns. Since Sheila is already our dedicated combat specialist, if we give this core to her to let her break through to LV5 first, our team's top-tier combat power will instantly level up."

Hearing that Shen Xingyue actually wanted to yield such a precious promotion resource to her, Sheila was so shocked her chopsticks clattered onto the table, and she waved her hands repeatedly. "No, no! Dr. Shen, this is yours..."

"Alright, stop pushing it back and forth."

Zhou An interrupted their back-and-forth. "You are medical and R&D personnel, which is more important than pure combat power. Keep this core with peace of mind."

Then, Zhou An looked at Sheila and added:

"As for her Tier 5 core... what's the rush? When we run into some blind fools, we can just slay an LV5 one and we'll have it."

Seeing Zhou An's nonchalant attitude, Shen Xingyue didn't act coy anymore. She reached out and stored the five-source power core into her system space.

"Understood, Boss. I'll go upgrade in a bit."

Countdown and Commitment

After the dinner, everyone dispersed.

"Luo Ning, take Sheila to the lab. First, do a full-body scan of her skeletal and wing exertion models, and then reshape her fighter jet. I wanted Sheila to look for you earlier, but you weren't around."

Zhou An wiped his mouth, stood up, and made the arrangements.

"No problem, leave it to me. I guarantee I'll make her something fierce!"

Luo Ning excitedly grabbed Sheila's wrist and swept her away like a newly bought doll.

...

Inside the small meeting room on the second floor of the fortress, the lighting was soft.

Zhou An projected a simple holographic sand table of the current regional airspace in the center of the conference table.

"There are less than two days left before the defense event ends."

Zhou An crossed his hands on the table and looked calmly at Ivy.

"Once the event ends, ownership of this island will be locked completely, and I will pilot the fortress to leave this airspace."

Ivy's heart tightened slightly. She knew that Zhou An was giving her an ultimatum.

"These two days are the final rest period for you and your people."

"You must find a way to contact your White Feather Guild headquarters and get their exact coordinates. In two days, I will personally escort you there. If you can't get in touch by then..."

Zhou An paused. "Then I can only dump you on a relatively safe, uninhabited desert island to fend for yourselves. I can't go around fighting with a dozen burdens in tow, understand?"

"I understand! Sir, two days is more than enough!"

Ivy took a deep breath, her eyes turning extremely resolute. "I will keep watch by the guild's emergency channel. As long as the guild leader and the others have temporarily escaped their pursuers, I will definitely get the coordinates!"

Zhou An nodded and waved his hand. "Go on, hurry."

The night grew deep.

Except for the occasional sound of machinery operating from the bottom floor of the fortress, the entire base fell into a peaceful silence.

Inside the luxurious master bedroom on the second floor of the fortress, the lights were dimmed to an extremely cozy warm orange.

The bathroom door was pushed open, and accompanied by a wave of warm steam, Luo Ning walked out wearing a silk camisole nightgown.

While wiping her wet hair with a towel, she very naturally slid into the soft blankets, letting out a long sigh of relief like a lazy cat.

Zhou An put down the tablet in his hand, lay down, and reached out with both hands from behind to gently embrace Luo Ning's soft body in his arms.

The sweet scent of body wash lingered at his nose, mixing with Luo Ning's unique body fragrance, instantly relaxing Zhou An's nerves.

"Done with your work?"

Zhou An rested his chin on the crook of her neck and asked softly.

"Mm-hmm, I just finished running all of Sister Sheila's previous data and made the design draft while I was at it."

Luo Ning snuggled into Zhou An's arms to find a comfortable position, then suddenly turned her head. A trace of slyness flashed in her quirky eyes as she reached out and gently pinched Zhou An's waist. "My, my, Boss has really reaped a bumper harvest lately. Not only did you pick up several gorgeous Winged beauties for free, but that young and fresh one even signed a subservient contract directly, meaning her very life is yours. Is someone secretly overjoyed right now?"

Hearing these words, which were thick with jealousy yet clearly meant as playful teasing, Zhou An couldn't help but chuckle. He grabbed Luo Ning's mischievous little hand and kissed her fair cheek.

"Cut it out. Ten winged ones combined can't compare to our Chief Luo."

Zhou An teased with a smile.

"At least you're sensible," Luo Ning snorted proudly, but the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably.

After joking around, Luo Ning's expression turned serious as she brought up official business:

"Regarding Sheila's vehicle, I carefully evaluated her [Wind Gods Sting] talent and that LV3 wind-attribute core."

Luo Ning tapped a few times in the air, bringing up a mechanical design draft emitting a faint blue glow. "If we follow conventional thinking and just patch together a micro-fighter jet for her that pursues speed, it would be an absolute waste of God's given talent. Although a fighter jet is fast, its defense and firepower are lacking, which doesn't fit our needs."

"So, your idea is?"

"I plan to completely discard the concept of traditional vehicles."

"And transform it into a vehicle similar to my mecha. It can be used as a flying vehicle normally, and transform into a mecha during combat. Combined with AI automatic control integration, this will ensure the maximum exertion of individual combat capability."

Luo Ning gestured excitedly, "Push her speed and evasion capabilities to the absolute limit. Concentrate all of that 30% absolute penetration talent on individual cold weapons and long-range heavy weapons. She doesn't need to trade fire with the enemy's fleet; she just needs to tear through the opponent's shields like a ghost and cut off the commander's head!"

After listening to Luo Ning's concept, Zhou An nodded.

"Exactly my thoughts. I had her sign the contract precisely to fill the gap in our team's high-altitude individual assault capabilities."

Zhou An tightened his arms around Luo Ning, a hint of anticipation in his voice. "Go ahead and do it. You can use any high-grade materials in the fortress. I want to see just how sharp this individual blade you forge will be."