Winter Executor, starting with a system of wronged individuals.

The young master patted Su Ming on the shoulder, then turned and disappeared from the training ground at the speed of an executive officer, as if afraid of being left behind again.

Su Ming's lips twitched slightly. Was it really necessary? His partner's little boat really could capsize so easily.

"We meet again, hermit."

The captain's voice was calm and even as he casually picked up a spear from the weapon rack beside him and slowly walked towards Su Ming.

Chapter 039 Before the Meeting Begins

Don't come over here!

This was Su Ming's truest thought. He had just escaped the temptation of Sandone's white silk stockings, only to fall into the training plan of a battle maniac.

It hurts, it hurts too much.

It was more comfortable being with Columbia; I didn't have to think about so many strange things.

"You like using swords?"

The captain suddenly spoke up, but his eyes, hidden behind the armor, were impossible to catch, let alone discern his emotions.

Su Ming raised the unusually ornate Oath of the Past. He wasn't picky about weapons; this sword was already the best one he could use.

We can't really let him fight with salted fish and an abacus, or he'll just make his opponent laugh to death.

"As expected of you, you have such keen insight. I admire you for being able to see that."

Su Ming unleashed a smooth, standard combo of flattery, leaving the captain somewhat speechless.

"Hey, it's getting late. How about I treat you to lunch?"

Su Ming chuckled and hooked his arm around the captain's shoulder, saying nonchalantly, "I can cook too, how so?"

The captain silently raised his head, but still couldn't see anything inside the dark helmet, which was quite eerie and made Su Ming's smile freeze.

These executives are all so weird!

"I'll lend this kid to you for now," a cold female voice rang out. The woman had appeared outside the training ground at some point, and she looked at Su Ming with a scrutinizing gaze.

"can."

The captain nodded slightly. He could guess that this was the Queen's order, since the kingdom the Hermit was going to was originally Mondstadt, which was under the Lady's jurisdiction.

The woman nodded slightly, then turned to look at Su Ming. "Let's go," she said without saying more or explaining why.

Su Ming didn't care; at least following Rosalin was better than the armored man.

This was actually the first time he had met Rosalyn. The woman was not as crazy and violent as he had imagined; she was just as indifferent as snow.

She stood quietly on the snowfield, as if she were part of the snowfield itself, cold and lonely.

"The Hermit."

Rosalind suddenly stopped and said softly, "Do you know what Mondstadt means to me?"

Her voice was calm, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself.

It was like a long-extinguished flame of anger, buried beneath ice shards.

"Hometown?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow. Although he never paid attention to backstory, he did know something about the lady, who was a villain who appeared frequently in the early stages.

“Homeland,” Rosalyn repeated softly, then smiled and said calmly, “I have no homeland.”

“Hermit, you should know why I’ve come.”

A fiery light seemed to ignite deep within Rosalind's eyes. "Her Majesty the Queen will send you as a scout for Mondstadt, to infiltrate the city before the plan begins."

"what's the plan?"

Although Su Ming knew that the goal was to seize the power of the gods, he still pretended to know nothing at this moment.

“You will know in a few days,” Rosalind said calmly, placing a red crystal butterfly in Su Ming’s palm. “This is my Flame Butterfly. It can lead you to the Mondstadt encampment and open the door to the hideout.”

Su Ming caught the Flame Butterfly. The fiery butterfly, which was still full of life a moment ago, transformed into a crimson butterfly key with a very special appearance, presumably used to open special doors.

Item Name: Hideout Key

Category: props

Quality: white

Effect: Opens a certain door

Note: The key is specially designed and can be destroyed at any time.

Note 2: Have you ever heard the sound of a butterfly's wings breaking?

Su Ming was somewhat surprised, not expecting that a key could have a panel, but Piero's fishing rod was just an ordinary fishing rod.

Rosalyn gazed intently at Su Ming and said in a deep voice, "I don't want to know about your past, but you must understand that everyone here has a different past, but they all move towards the same goal."

The past cannot be changed, but the future can be taken into our own hands.

All she wanted to do was to go towards that dream future and see the scenery of her dreams with her own eyes.

“If you’re worried that I won’t be able to complete the mission,” Su Ming calmly looked at the scenery at the end of the snowfield, which should be the Teyvat continent he knew well, “that might disappoint you. As a hermit, I know better than anyone else how to hide.”

Su Ming waved casually at Rosalyn and disappeared from the spot the next moment, as if he had never been there.

A cold glint flashed in Rosalind's eyes, but she quickly concealed it, only a slight smile appearing on her lips. "A hermit, huh?"

"An interesting guy."

She was no longer worried about Mondstadt's advance arrangements; Her Majesty's dispatch of the hermit to bring up the initial point of the plan was naturally significant.

Moreover, the executors of the Fools are all people with secrets, and these secrets make them even more powerful.

Thus, one day in the future, they will finally seize all power.

On the other side, Su Ming returned to the training ground once again. He had just used the blank to refresh the mark. It was still necessary to maintain a profound image in front of the lady, otherwise he would most likely end up like the young master in Liyue.

Su Ming didn't want to be treated like a clown by Rosalin, so maintaining his high-class image was a must.

He sighed softly, pondering whether to agree to Sandone's cooperation. Although he might lose his dignity, the white stockings were really nice to touch—oops, I mean, really easy for that guy to discover the existence of his own system. He had to think of a way to fool him.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. If an ordinary person without the "eye of God" can master all sorts of outrageous skills, any normal person would be suspicious.

Columbia doesn't actively pry into his past, Sandone chooses to observe secretly, Dotole directly breaks in through the window in the middle of the night, the young master enjoys fine food, Pantalone protects his little treasure, Arecino is indifferent and aloof, and the skirmisher chooses the riddle. It can be said that everyone's approach to Su Ming is completely different.

Su Ming's feelings were still very profound. These days, he had gained a deeper understanding of his fellow executives, which allowed him to truly feel the souls of these characters.

This made him even more eager for the meeting to be held. Perhaps soon, the Ice Queen would begin her plan to seize the power of the gods, and the executives would travel to various countries to fulfill their respective duties.

The days that followed passed in a series of similar routines.

He routinely teases Sandonne, watches the sunset with Columbia, drinks at taverns, and fights with the young master every day on the training ground, while also receiving the captain's inhumane training.

It was a bittersweet experience, and he could clearly feel his strength gradually increasing, with significant progress in both weapon control and physical agility.

And so, finally, this day arrived.

Chapter 040 Please, let's take the test!

It is soft and elastic; you can feel the soft flesh slightly indented when you apply a little pressure.

The feel is perfect and comfortable; there's no white silk stocking that's more perfect.

"Hey, that's enough already."

Sandoni glared at Su Ming and said with dissatisfaction, "How can you use her calves as a pillow like that? Is that appropriate?"

She was the esteemed seventh seat of the Fools' Order, the noble Puppet Master! How could she have fallen to such a state?

At this moment, Sandone was lying on the soft bed, her right leg, covered in 60D white stockings, was draped over Su Ming's legs like a pillow, and Su Ming would occasionally pinch it.

Su Ming was focused on assembling mechanical parts when he heard Sandonne's complaint. He then calmly pulled a bag of cucumber-flavored potato chips from his pocket and tossed it to her.

Sandonne caught the potato chips as nimbly as a kitten and started crunching them down, while her white-stockinged legs remained obediently placed on Su Ming's lap, allowing him to play with them as he pleased.

She couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Two months had passed since her first meeting with the hermit. During this time, in order to obtain the mechanical knowledge and delicious food possessed by the hermit, she went from initially saying, "You can only touch it once! If you touch it for even a second longer, I'll chop your hand off," to now saying, "I want to eat potato chips, can I touch it?"

Unbeknownst to her, her dignity and persona had been shattered, and the aloof image of the once genius mechanic no longer mattered to Su Ming.

The question is, can anyone really resist potato chips?

How can there be such a wonderful snack in the world, made with inexpensive potatoes? It's simply perfect!

"There's a meeting the Queen is calling this afternoon, don't forget to go," Sandoni said, licking the potato chip crumbs off his fingers.

This guy is notorious for having no sense of time; apart from Columbia, no one can get Su Ming to do anything.

"Well, I see."

Su Ming installed the last mechanical gear into the component, and soon a smooth running sound could be heard, and the gear assembly began to operate smoothly.

"Are you done?" Sandonne immediately sat up, pulled her right leg back, and moved closer to Su Ming. "It's time to test the steam engine I made earlier."

She put on a pitiful expression, which would be incredibly devastating to a normal person, but Su Ming was already used to the puppet girl's face and had no reaction at all.

"Please beg me."

Su Ming chuckled and snatched a few potato chips from the bag of chips in Sandone's hand.

Sandoni was so anxious she was about to cry. She quickly hid the potato chips in her clothes and pleaded, "Please, let's do the test!"

"I'm just kidding you. We just tested it a few days ago," Su Ming recalled that they had tested it a few days ago and there were almost no problems except for overheating.

Sandone was indeed a genius. Using only the physics and chemistry that Su Ming had barely memorized, he broke through the long-standing constraints and successfully increased production efficiency by nearly three times.

Su Ming acknowledged this point; Sandone was indeed very capable and reliable, and most importantly, the white silk felt really smooth to the touch.

Regarding Sandone's favorability rating, it only reached level six after two months, proving that raising favorability is more difficult than expected.

The items obtained from the affinity chests are still exquisite gears of varying sizes, only the item descriptions have changed.

Item Name: Ingenious Gear Assembly (?)

Category: Special props

Quality: purple

Passive Skill [Mechanical? ?]: Current Progress (6/10)

Passive Skill 2 [Mechanical Affinity]: Increases the precision of manipulating mechanical creations, enabling skilled creation of machines.