Ling Qingyu continued teasing Astrid for a while before deciding she would simply ambush Kate at her office. With Athena's assistance, finding the exact location wasn't difficult at all—after all, Athena had practically dug through Kate's entire family history earlier. Tracking down her office was trivial.
That evening, Astrid said goodbye and reaffird her decision to travel the world with Ling Qingyu.
Their protagonist was delighted. Her mood soared straight to cloud nine.
However, Ling Qingyu would never have foreseen that while she managed to stop Astrid from falling further into the abyss because of William, her own actions would eventually lead Astrid to et her true soulmate.
The encounter would happen in the eastern part of the world, near Ling Qingyu's Phoenix Continent, not far from Province N. What began as an ordinary sightseeing trip—visiting temples and ancient heritage sites—would lead Astrid to et the man who would beco her future spouse.
Naturally, when they first t, the man's status was nowhere near Astrid's in terms of wealth or experience.
But he possessed sothing rare.
An unstoppable zeal to improve his life.
A hidden ambition that seed impossible but undeniable.
An outrageous inner confidence—the kind that believed nothing in the world could stop him.
Those qualities were what captivated Astrid.
Later on, Ling Qingyu could only watch in frustration as Astrid fell deeper in love with him, even supporting him materially and emotionally.
In the following years, Astrid's judgnt proved correct. The man rose from running a small studio to building a colossal enterprise—one that would eventually grow powerful enough to rival Ling Qingyu's own forces.
Even with all her "cheats," a direct clash would not be sothing Ling Qingyu would take lightly. She might still win, but the losses would be painful.
Fortunately, both sides eventually realized they were actually connected through Astrid and ended up cooperating instead.
Only then did Ling Qingyu realize sothing amusing:
Back then, she had invested heavily for Astrid's sake—spending money like water because wealth ant almost nothing to her.
And what a return that investnt produced.
To Ling Qingyu, those early favors had been trivial. But to others, they were colossal. With that initial support, Astrid and her lover—who seed almost more like the true protagonist of a story than Ling Qingyu herself—achieved trendous breakthroughs that later aided Ling Qingyu's grand ambitions.
They expanded into fields like:
Aerospace
Agriculture
Heavy industry
Logistics
And many others
Compared to Ling Qingyu's massive network stretching across nurous sectors, their influence was still smaller—but it remained formidable.
Barely formidable enough, in Ling Qingyu's eyes, to save her dignity as the embodint of Miss System. Otherwise, she would feel embarrassed to even show her face.
The most outrageous part?
That man eventually built a private military complex operating in the dangerous regions of the Southern Bush, staffed with military android soldiers as their foundation.
Yes.
Android soldiers. And females at that. Damn!
The exact technology Ling Qingyu had been dreaming of—so much that she had ordered Athena and Elena to collaborate on developing them.
She had absolutely no idea how Astrid and that guy managed to obtain such advanced technology first.
It felt like a real-life novel plot:
An ordinary man rising to power with a queen by his side.
anwhile, Ling Qingyu was left struggling between two emotions:
Wanting to cry because her closest sister had gotten married.
And deeply regretting that the world tour she planned was the very thing that brought them together in the first place.
For now, Ling Qingyu had no idea about the future. Else, she would have not advised Astrid at all.
Thud.
Ling Qingyu closed the SUV door and glanced around. Pedestrians hurried past, most of them busy with their own lives. So eyes briefly swept over her—just a split second—before continuing on their way.
No one had ti to admire a goddess.
Poor citizens, she thought. Working more than eight hours a day just to cover daily expenses—slaves under another na for the corporations. Ling Qingyu sighed inwardly at the thought.
However, her pride as a "goddess" didn't last long.
A sudden retching sound echoed in her ears.
Ling Qingyu glanced around in confusion, but there was no one nearby who looked sick. After a mont, realization struck.
It had to be Miss System.
Embarrassed and unable to retaliate, Ling Qingyu simply pretended she hadn't heard anything. She gestured for the girls who had driven her there to go wander around and enjoy the day.
Then she slowly walked toward her destination, hands tucked into the pockets of her erald-green windbreaker.
Of course, the girls had no intention of playing around. Instead, they parked the vehicle sowhere close and sat at the nearest café to keep watch over their boss. Even if Ling Qingyu didn't mind relaxing, they did. Their sense of responsibility wouldn't allow them to stray far.
In truth, the reason Ling Qingyu could move around so freely without worrying much about safety was because of the talismans.
She had recently received excellent news: Athena had successfully replicated them and could begin mass production.
As for how the complex arrays and formations inside the talismans worked without spiritual power, both Tang Ziyi and her daughter had discovered an alternative energy source to activate them.
Regardless of the details, the results were reassuring.
With the talismans, Ling Qingyu no longer feared assassination attempts or accidents. She knew she could survive at least three fatal threats thanks to their protective chanism.
And that wasn't all.
The clothes she wore were made from a special fabric capable of withstanding enormous kinetic impacts.
As long as vulnerable areas—like her head or exposed skin—weren't targeted directly, the talisman wouldn't even need to activate.
Her clothing alone could handle the threat just fine.Furthermore, the ancient bracelet on Ling Qingyu's wrist contained a spatial storage filled with countless pieces of equipnt—ammunition, weapons, and protective devices.
At a mont's notice, she could instantly transform into sothing akin to a special forces operative. With a "liquid exoskeleton skin," helt, kevlar vest, weapons in hand, and full logistical support, Ling Qingyu alone could theoretically engage an entire battalion.
If all of her Spirit Fox guards were present as well, the situation beca even more absurd— a hundred Astarte-like Amazonian heroes rampaging with invulnerability.
She herself would function like a Forward Operating Base, coordinating with Athena's central systems to suppress any threat. The missiles, armored vehicles, and drones stored within her resources certainly weren't decorative.
In short, it was no wonder her two trusted "tiger generals" were constantly irritated with her. Despite possessing overwhelming layers of protection, Ling Qingyu still carried a trait both Xiao Yue and Tang Ziyi found exasperating:
Her obsession with absolute control over her safety and her deep fear of death.
Layer upon layer of defenses, advanced equipnt, and higher-dinsional support ant that Ling Qingyu alone could practically function as a walking army group, capable of toppling nurous regis if she truly wished.
If Elena's existence and Athena's outrageous perks were included into the equation, both figured Superpower like Country A might not be spared from direct violent toppling of head of state.
Yet, given Ling Qingyu's shalessness and narcissistic tendencies, Xiao Yue and Tang Ziyi eventually gave up trying to argue with her. They simply allowed her to do as she pleased.
All the fanfare she created wherever she went—the security convoys, the elite entourage—existed because Ling Qingyu was afraid before.
Now, the sheer scale of that security did serve a purpose. The visible show of force deterred unnecessary trouble and discouraged low-level criminals from even thinking about causing problems.
And besides, even though the talismans existed, Ling Qingyu had no intention of reducing the protection from the Spirit Fox guards.
So advantages were ant to remain hidden trump cards. The additional cheats rely polished and enhanced her original protection system.
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