Ninth class citizen

Chapter 369: Can Only Be Received, Not Returned
"What's going on?" Nan Rong looked at Jacob, the former violent and aggressive leader of the Fifth Column, now a steady and reliable elite butler:
"There has to be some kind of building, right? We can't just let so many people sit on the ground under the open sky."

“Your Majesty the President commands us to obey you in everything.” Jacob’s lips twitched slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.
“If this is your wish, then we have no objection.”

"Wait a minute." From his reply, Nan Rong had a bad feeling:

"Has His Majesty the President mentioned who will pay your salaries in the future?"

“You flatter me,” Jacob said politely. “From the first moment we met you, our allegiance has ceased to belong to the Heavenly Family, but to you, esteemed Ms. Nan. Therefore…”

He cautiously stopped speaking at the right moment, but Nan Rong had already understood.

Sure enough, after she thoroughly understood the "Theory of the Origin of the Universe," every premonition she had was not without reason and would be confirmed sooner or later.

“So Tianli won’t pay you a single penny,” she said through gritted teeth.

"Yes. Moreover, from the moment of handover, all costs, including those for personnel and ships, will be borne by you. In addition, there is the rental fee for this floating island."

Jacob was indeed a talented man; despite Nan Rong's increasingly unpleasant expression and the growing chill emanating from her, he still spoke fluently and without interruption:
"Of course, you have His Majesty the President's endorsement, so you can use a monthly settlement method—this is the list of fees you will need to pay at the beginning of next month."

Upon seeing the list presented to him by the dutiful butler Jacob, Nan Rong's pupils dilated in shock, and she almost burst into a tirade in front of her new subordinates.

She had thought that having witnessed Xiluoxinghua's money-making methods, she wouldn't be able to flinch even if mountains collapsed in front of her, but this bill still seriously exceeded her expectations.

The expenses for just over a hundred people amount to 1.5 million coons per month! Among them, the monthly salary of three of her old classmates reached 100,000 coons per month!

That's fine, but the biggest expense is still the floating islands and those ships.

For this floating island, which covers an area of ​​about 100 square kilometers, the annual airspace rental fee is an outrageous 360 million Cowens! That's 30 million Cowens per month!

In addition, the starport berth fee for a Class B high-energy warp drive reaches ten million cowans per month. The maintenance and upkeep costs for all ships, including the airships, total around five million cowans per month.

In other words, not counting future housing and living expenses, Nan Rong would have to pay out 46.5 million yuan in a month without doing anything!

Nan Rong kept a straight face, mentally cursing that incredibly boring demon king several times over, before finally managing to speak dryly:

"I personally live a frugal life and don't need so many people and ships. You can all return the way you came later—and this floating island, please return it as well."

“That won’t do.” Jacob said calmly, “His Majesty the President asked me to tell you that a leader who is not serious will not be authoritative. These are things you must get used to. And he believes that you can handle these small difficulties on your own.”

46.5 million Cowens a month is considered a minor difficulty.
Nan Rong was seething with hatred. But when it came to solutions, she actually did have one.

"Alright." She conjured up an ordinary brown paper bag out of thin air, reached inside, and the bag slowly inflated.

“Alright.” She handed the paper bag to Jacob. “This should last for a few months.”

Jacob glanced inside in confusion, then fell into a daze.

He naturally recognized what was inside. Pure, unblemished source energy crystals, used for cultivating extraordinary abilities or as a long-term power source, were the most sought-after hard currency in the universe. Each source energy crystal was the size of a pigeon egg, and different colors represented different source energy types. Even the most common elemental crystals were worth over a million couns each.

As for those mysterious blue and black source energy crystals, as well as colorless general-purpose crystals, their prices are all over ten million, and they are often available but not in the market.

This inexpensive kraft paper bag contained over a hundred energy crystals, with rare, high-grade ones making up more than a third of them.

If managed well, this bag of energy crystals alone would be enough to cover all expenses for more than a year.

A steward with money in hand feels more at ease.

Jacob raised his head with unwavering confidence: "Master, you can rest assured and entrust the construction of the floating island entirely to me. You can move into your new home in a week at most."

But his new master interrupted him softly.

“No need,” Nan Rong said. “I already have arrangements—everyone step back.”

Before anyone could react, Nan Rong lightly raised his hand, and everyone's feet moved to the edge of the floating island.

"Could this be spatial teleportation?" someone murmured. "But isn't that His Majesty the President's ability? How come Ms. Nan can do it too?"

No one answered him, because everyone was stunned by what they saw.

With a wave of his hand, Nan Rong conjured up a massive palace that suddenly appeared out of thin air on the floating island, covering an area of ​​almost a hundred kilometers!
The palace was entirely white, and from the moment it appeared, it emanated a chilling aura that made everyone standing in the square outside the gate shiver.

However, this was not the most surprising part. Because in the next second, the enormous snow-white palace transformed into a palace complex that combined garden style with artistic flair.

It has lost its ancient and austere feel and gained more of a lively atmosphere. The courtyard is now filled with flowers and lawns, and the outer ring has been transformed into a huge and clear sky lake.

The Myriad Transformations Ruyi Seal saved Nan Rong the money of building a new house, the only price being some special delicacies for that square little monster.

This was no big deal for Nan Rong. She readily tossed the numerous ingredients into the special food storage room within the complex and gave the little monster a few words of advice, telling him not to play tricks on her subordinates.

"I know, I know." The little monster held a large piece of fresh and succulent blue-spotted bighead carp belly meat and ate it happily. "Isn't it just that their bodies are too weak to withstand rubbing? Don't worry, I'll be careful."

At this point, Nan Rong had not fully understood what the little monster meant. Thinking that everything had been explained, she returned to the main building with peace of mind.

Jacob and his companions were astonished by the luxurious interior decoration of the building. Many of the furnishings and fixtures were made of materials they had never seen before, and were truly exquisite.

But they were well-trained and quickly regained their composure, getting into the zone according to their assigned tasks.

Nan Rong has received a notification from Patricia that the academy has arranged classes for her, and she will officially start work tomorrow.

Dear First-Class Citizens:

Recently, due to the temporary appearance of cosmic vortexes, the gates to different planes sometimes connect. For example, yesterday Xiao Hai was trapped in two other parallel planes and forced to listen to the protagonists of those worlds tell new stories all day until he was released this morning. So, he missed posting and asking for leave. It's really not entirely Xiao Hai's fault!