Vivian Z: I apologize for leaving without a proper goodbye. But ever since I realized that you are in a relationship, my heart has not been at peace. Thoughts of… taking you away from your girlfriend have been lingering in my head, and that made me feel ashamed of myself. I know it's not right to hurt the person who saved my life and my honor. So, I think it's better if I leave for now. I thought about returning later when I've calmed down, but when Zhi Yan offered me sixty million credits, I changed my mind. That's 41% higher than what I initially invested in you. At the end of the day, I'm a businesswoman. I act when there's profit. It was a short friendship, but it was wholesome for me. You are… different from the men I've known before—strong, kind, and frustratingly humble. I won't forget you, my dear friend of Zhonggou. If fate permits, we will meet again. Goodbye.

For a few seconds, Lin Fang couldn't move. He just stared at the glowing screen in silence. The words felt personal. Regretful, yet practical. Originally, he didn't have many expectations from Vivian, but when he read the message, something stirred in him. His hand clutched the phone a bit tighter as he thought, "At the end of the day, she isn't different either. Love… my foot… That was all, nothing but an excuse… She never wanted to be a partner with me from the start. She only accepted my proposal because I saved her life. And the moment she sees a profit, she takes it and runs away."

Li Liu leaned closer, reading the message over his shoulder. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her expression mixed between discomfort and relief.

Zhi Yan watched from across the room, her posture calm as ever. "She's a smart businesswoman. She knows when to make deals. Instead of unnecessarily working for something she didn't have heart in, she chose to walk away when an opportunity arose."

But Lin Fang didn't respond immediately. He sighed deeply, placing his phone down on the desk as the weight of Vivian's message settled in his mind. The room was quiet for a moment—Li Liu beside him, Zhi Yan across from him, both waiting for him to speak.

Finally, Lin Fang looked up. "Zhi Yan," he began with a steady tone, "she said you actually paid her sixty million? Why?"

Li Liu gasped softly. "Sixty million?" She turned to her best friend, widening her eyes. "Yan Yan… is that true?"

Zhi Yan simply nodded, her expression calm as ever. "Well," she said, "we can't make her think she made a loss and later feel regret, right? And if I simply offered her the Money she invested in you, she wouldn't even accept it and just leave in disappointment. I'm sure you will feel bad about it, later on."

Lin Fang leaned back in his chair, exhaling through his nose. "I see." After a pause, he added, "Yan'er, listen. I made a deal with Vivian earlier—twenty percent equity for her at a seventy-million valuation, and thirty million as debt, which I planned to repay within a week."

He looked her straight in the eye. "Since you paid the money I took from her, I suppose I'll give you the same offer—twenty percent equity at seventy-million valuation and the remaining forty-six million I'll repay by the end of this week."

Li Liu blinked, stunned by how casually he was throwing around such figures, while Zhi Yan raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.

But then she shook her head lightly. "You don't have to," she replied. "I told you, you can give it back whenever you want. Moreover," she smiled faintly, "the additional money is given by me, not you. You don't have to bear that sixteen million extra. I just—"

Before she could finish, Lin Fang interrupted firmly, "Forty-nine percent equity direct offer for thirty-four million, and twenty-six million as a loan. Don't think only as my friend, think as a businesswoman too… If you aren't sure whether Fang Fang Pets can be valued that much, then, instead of equity, give me a fixed time and interest so that I can work harder to own up to my actions."

Zhi Yan froze mid-sentence, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to gauge his intent. For a brief second, silence filled the air again—Li Liu's gaze darting between the two of them like a spectator at a high-stakes poker match.

Then Zhi Yan's lips curved into a reluctant smile. "For the past few weeks, I managed your business, Gege. I know the potential of your business than yourself. 70 million credits valuation is far less than you think. Let's make a deal at 122.5 million valuation," she said with a small chuckle, crossing her arms.

"122.5?" Lin Fang leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His voice dropped a little, calm but serious. "Even after this, I still cannot reveal to you about my source because of a confidential contract spell."

Zhi Yan's smile softened. "That's fine with me," she said without hesitation. "Everyone has their secrets."

Li Liu, sitting beside them, could only stare—her eyes wide, her mouth slightly agape. "Wait, wait, wait… what just happened?!"

But before she could get another word in, Lin Fang extended his hand toward Zhi Yan. "Welcome, partner," he said with a small but genuine smile.

Zhi Yan looked at him for a moment—then chuckled lightly, shaking his hand. "Congratulations," she said, her tone playful yet proud. "Your company just became a Centaur. (a startup worth more than a hundred million credits)

Li Liu groaned softly, falling back on the couch. "Ugh… Only you, Yan Yan, can talk about millions like you're discussing grocery bills…"

Zhi Yan laughed lightly, but inwardly, she felt excited that she had stepped closer into Lin Fang's life now.

But in the next moment, her facial expression changed as Lin Fang got up. "Now that we are partners, I guess I will have to show my sincerity a bit. Wait a minute. Be right back…"

Amidst their curious gazes, Lin Fang walked to the master bedroom and shut the door behind him, and let out a long breath. For a second, he just stood there, listening to the muffled voices outside in the living room. The ladies are curious about what's happening.

"Open Inventory."

Lin Fang then reached into his inventory and, taking a deep breath, he started taking out blue rocks one after another and spread them on the bed.

Outside, the three women waited for the next couple of minutes. Lin Fang smoothed his shirt, then finally opened the door, "Come in…"

They stopped dead at the entrance.

"Holy—" Li Liu's voice was breathless. "Is that…"

"Mythril," finished Zhi Yan in surprise.

Xuenyi picked up a piece and looked at it closely. Her eyes momentarily glowed as a floating holographic screen appeared, visible just to her. "It's a Grade-1 Mythril." She said, putting back the stone onto the bed, "Where did you find…" Before Lin Fang got to answer, she said in realization. "It's the Stellar Rift, isn't it?"

Lin Fang shrugged, trying for casual. "Yeah, I mined them on that trip. I didn't weigh them yet, but by piece weight, this pile must be over a ton."

Zhi Yan's eyebrows climbed. "A ton? How many pieces?" she asked.

"163 pieces in total," Lin Fang said. He watched their faces — Li Liu's jaw drop, Xuenyi's restrained greed, Zhi Yan's quick calculation. He kept his mouth shut about the rest: the other four hundred pieces still tucked in the system's inventory. He trusted Zhi Yan and Li Liu; Xuenyi… not so much.

Xuenyi then made a small, delighted noise as she said. "The extraction efficiency of this grade-1 Mythril should be roughly seventy to seventy-five percent."

Lin Fang had already run the thought through his head a dozen times. He gave them the numbers plainly. "Conservative estimate: 720 kg pure mythril metal. With that much metal…" He pointed at the bed, doing the quick, rough math in his head as he continued. "Assuming a heavy full-plate armor set uses about fifty kilos, we could craft fifteen heavy armors. If we instead go for medium armor—twenty-five kilos each—we could make thirty sets. Swords? A battle-grade longsword runs three to five kilos, so we're talking one hundred fifty to two hundred and fifty swords. Or mix and match: armors for elite customers, swords and pieces for sale or commissions." He let out a smile as he added in the end, "And more importantly, Mythril is a natural conductor of mana. It doesn't need any spirit core, but if we could procure some, we could make some quality Earth Grade weapons."

Unlike the system, which grades the weapons from Common to Legendary, the world grades weapons differently. Plain weapons, Scientific weapons, Mana weapons, and Specialized weapons.

Plain weapons are typical traditional weapons that are made of various metals, but the users cannot use mana on them.

Mana weapons are those that can conduct mana through the blade and unleash the attacks.

Scientific weapons are typically firearms, missiles, and stuff.

Specialized weapons are basically a kind of scientific or mana weapons that are not only made with high-quality materials but also use a spirit core during the forge. They can not just conduct mana but also carry the skills of the monster that the spirit core carries.

These Specialized weapons are divided into four levels. Earth Grade, Sky Grade, Heaven Grade, and Universe Grade. Earth and Sky grades are typically man-made and made of either black titanium/mythril metals.

As for heaven grade, it needed Adamantium, the strongest known substance on Planet Terra, but most of heaven grade and Universe grade weapons/artifacts are just divine weapons that were wielded by Celestials or demon kings, predating human civilization.

And it is not a secret that even the weakest Earth-grade weapon would fetch a million credits. This is what Lin Fang is aiming for.

With a smile on his face, he said to Zhi Yan, "I'll leave the calculations to you, Partner. From nowonwards, these are yours to manage. Whether you find a reputable smithing house or a private master, I'll let you handle how to deal with these. You don't have to ask me up front for any permission. Just do whatever you need to do with them and inform me after you finish the project. What do you think?"

Zhi Yan's jaw almost dropped as her eyes scanned the mythril ores. "I never expected you to possess such a treasure, Gege… No wonder you were confident about repaying the money to Vivian in just a week. But as always, you were wrong about their potential…"

"Hmm?" Lin Fang raised his eyebrow, "Wrong?"

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