"Eh..." Lying on the bed, Chu Lian let out a faint sigh. She had already done her best, yet things had somehow developed in an even worse direction than she had expected.
It was not just Yaya. Even Chu Chu and the others had pounced on her as though they had discovered something fun. If she had not grabbed Tina when the girl came looking for her and had Tina take her into the shadow plane to escape, she would probably still be trapped by them right now.
Although being fought over like that did feel rather nice, Chu Lian herself understood that if she failed to handle it properly, what had just happened could easily turn ugly.
Her leaving was the most effective way to ease the atmosphere. Without a target to fight over, the girls would simply treat the whole thing as playful teasing.
"Forget it. I should go see how the game is coming along. I haven't gone out at all these past few days. I'm about to lose track of everything that's happening." Chu Lian got up and looked around, only to discover that her shoes were nowhere to be found.
Thinking about it carefully, they had probably been accidentally knocked off back in the garden. Since her body could not get dirty anyway, she usually did not pay much attention to whether she was wearing shoes, so she had simply forgotten about them.
"Master, should we go talk them down, meow? They're almost fighting, meow." Having played the role of a "traitor" once already, Tina crouched by the window and cautiously peered outside. Seeing that nearly all the girls had gathered in the back garden, rolling up their sleeves and looking ready to brawl, all they were missing was an arena.
Although Cai Ya, Liu Yanran, Li Xiu'er, Nana, and Lux were weaker and would not accomplish much even if they joined in, the cheerful smiles on their faces made Tina terribly envious.
Unfortunately, while she was beside her master, unless Chu Lian gave her permission, the little catgirl could not run off no matter how much she wanted to.
"If you want to go, then go. Don't worry. They won't make things difficult for you." Chu Lian glanced at Tina's swaying tail and found it rather amusing, so she simply gave her permission to leave.
"Meow? Tina can actually leave Master's side, meow?" The little maid stared in disbelief. A master whose generosity was as small as her bust was actually being this magnanimous?
"Why do I have this feeling that you're thinking something incredibly rude?" Chu Lian was currently in a weakened state and could barely use any of her abilities, but that did not mean her intuition had disappeared.
That tiny catgirl had definitely been thinking something outrageously rude just now. And it had to be something Chu Lian cared about a great deal, otherwise Tina would not have kept it to herself.
"Absolutely not, meow! Tina absolutely wasn't thinking that Master's generosity is as small as her bust, meow!" Tina practically exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, loudly swearing that she had absolutely not done the thing she had just confessed to doing.
Chu Lian stared at her intently for a while without saying a word, and Tina quickly realized that she had just let the truth slip.
"Um... Tina's going to play with them now. Bye-bye, Master, meow!" Sensing that remaining here any longer might be dangerous, Tina did not dare say another word. She immediately leaped out the window and ran toward Chu Chu and the others.
"That Tina, honestly." Chu Lian shook her head with a soft laugh, with no intention of actually scolding her. Although Tina had not spent much time at her side these days and usually went off to help Li Mingxue, the little cat had clearly grown increasingly close to her.
Most likely, it was because Tina had genuinely started liking this place more and more, rather than simply being curious about it.
"Responsibility makes people grow." Chu Lian knew that Tina had always been working hard to earn her approval so that those cats could be brought over ahead of schedule.
After all, it had almost been a month already. According to their agreement, even if Tina had not yet completed what Chu Lian had asked of her, it was still about time to bring those cats in.
"I hope you can always stay this way, Tina." Chu Lian had seen Tina's growth with her own eyes, and in truth, she was quite pleased.
"No matter what you're thinking, I hope you can do what you truly want to do." Standing up, Chu Lian looked down at herself. She was still wearing the same white pajamas. Unlike the time she had first awakened with nothing underneath, however, she was now dressed quite securely.
After all, her first period had arrived, so she still needed to be careful. She did not want anyone discovering this secret...
On the fourth floor, several rooms at the innermost end had been merged into one enormous chamber. Science Girl had then used a little black technology to expand the interior space more than tenfold.
It was also fully equipped, with all manner of devices and an atmosphere of advanced science everywhere. At a glance, it looked like some futuristic research laboratory from a movie.
None of this equipment had been cheap. Practically all of Chu Lian's personal fortune had gone into purchasing the necessary materials.
Fortunately, the equipment itself had all been designed by the girls, so Chu Lian did not need to buy finished products. Otherwise, even if her assets were multiplied a hundredfold, she might still not have been able to afford everything inside.
Mom should already have reached an agreement with Fantasy Entertainment. After this, I'll be getting ten million huayuan in endorsement fees. But all of that money still has to be invested here. These are only basic facilities. The more advanced equipment will require even more materials, and rarer ones at that. Ten million probably won't even cover a fraction of it.
Walking through the corridor, Chu Lian thought about the research institute she had built and worried over her finances.
The only thing worth celebrating was that after spending so much money, her Item Points had also increased significantly. At the very least, they were no longer stuck at a pitiful few dozen and had instead stabilized at around eleven hundred.
Still, once the game is finished, after waiting a while I'll be able to make a lot of money. But who should I find to act as my representative? If I'm going to start a company, Dad's connections mean no one will investigate me, but I still need a public-facing representative.
Chu Lian had no intention of establishing her own corporate headquarters for now. It was not only because she had yet to find a suitable location, but more importantly because she simply did not have enough money or manpower to do it.
Thus, Chu Lian, who had always disliked relying on authority to achieve her goals, had no choice but to ask her damned old man to handle it. With him putting in a word to the relevant people, no matter how absurd the products her company sold might be, no one would come investigating her.
This was not the first time Chu Lian had benefited from such privileges, but it was certainly the most direct. Sure enough, having someone powerful backing you made things easier. Next time she caused some enormous disaster, she could just make Dad take the blame.
In any case, he was practically the guardian of Huaxia's cultivation world now. As long as what she did did not rise to the level of harming national interests, no matter how outrageous she became, he ought to be able to smooth things over, right?
But then, who exactly should she choose as this representative?
Chu Lian stood outside the research institute without going in. Instead, she bit lightly on one finger as she thought.
If Ayase were still here, then there was no question that she would be the most suitable person. But Ayase was not here now, and there truly were not many adults Chu Lian could think of who were appropriate for the role.
The best candidate was Li Mingxue, but the moment Chu Lian thought of her, she immediately felt that it was unrealistic. Mom might look idle right now, but she would probably become busy again before long. Giving her this role would not only create more trouble for her, it would also make it impossible to guarantee that she could keep doing it long-term.
If Albedo or Narberal were here, that would be perfect. Either of them would be very suitable for this sort of thing.
After thinking it over, Chu Lian concluded that the only truly suitable candidates she could think of were Albedo and Narberal from Overlord. Not only did they have excellent appearances, but more importantly, their mature and noble bearing made it easy for others to imagine all sorts of complicated backgrounds for them, which would be useful for muddying the waters.
"But both of them are beside Ainz. That makes things difficult..." Lost in thought, Chu Lian did not notice that the research institute's plain-looking door had already opened. Several girls, some dressed in magical robes, some in cheongsams, and some in white lab coats, were staring at their master in confusion, wondering what she was spacing out over.
"Master?" The busty mature woman in magical robes called out first. When Chu Lian failed to react, she exchanged looks with the others, then raised a hand covered in a black silk glove and waved it in front of Chu Lian's eyes. Still no response.
Seeing this, the long-haired girl in a lotus-patterned cheongsam immediately brightened. She quietly slipped behind Chu Lian, then wrapped both arms tightly around her, pressing Chu Lian into her embrace and letting the petite girl rest against a fullness no smaller than that of the robed woman.
"Ah?" Realizing she had been grabbed, Chu Lian instinctively began struggling. Her head rubbed against the girl's breasts, causing the sensitive young woman to flush bright red. Closing her eyes, she let out soft, breathy moans. "Mnh... ah... mm... Master..."
"Could you, you pervert, put Master down? And what's with those moans? Are you in heat? I just extracted some of Cornus' genes and cultivated a flower tentacle. I'm sure it'd be perfect for you, you depraved pervert." The bespectacled girl in the white lab coat immediately bristled when she saw what the cheongsam girl was doing, waving both hands in the air as though she wanted to throw her straight into it.
"Oh? Then come on... mmh... ah..." The cheongsam girl tried to respond defiantly, but Chu Lian's struggles only intensified, and so did her sensations. Before she could even finish speaking, the thghs exposed through the high slits of her cheongsam clamped tightly together. Clear liquid slowly trickled down and dripped onto the floor.
She had actually reached climax right then and there. There was really no telling what anyone was supposed to say about that...
"Luoying! If you don't put me down right now, I'll take a picture of you like this and post it online! I'm sure plenty of people would be delighted to watch!" Chu Lian caught the strange scent and became rather angry. Did this girl even see her as her master? Always doing things like this... Did she have no sense of shame at all?
"Ah, ah, don't! I only act like this with Master, don't I?" Her legs were a little weak, but the thoroughly satisfied cheongsam girl still put Chu Lian down.
She herself was nearly 1.75 meters tall, and with eight-centimeter heels she stood at around 1.83 meters. Holding the petite Chu Lian in her arms required absolutely no effort.
Or perhaps it was only because she knew Chu Lian was currently weakened and unable to resist that she had managed to succeed?
Either way, a long-held wish of hers had finally come true. Although she had climaxed in front of her two sworn rivals because it had been too stimulating, at least it had still happened "together" with Master.
"Mo Li, why are you even arguing with her? Haven't you seen that her room is full of erotic doujinshi depicting herself with Master? For someone like her, maybe this is exactly what she wants." Liusu wore a look of disdain, as though Luoying's behavior was something utterly contemptible in her eyes.
"Tsk, tsk. Before criticizing me, perhaps you shouldn't ignore the fact that your books are full of fantasy novels about you and Master. Foot licking, kissing flower petals, riding on top, and all sorts of other things..." Liusu's words made Luoying narrow her eyes as she calmly retaliated.
"You!" Exposed on the spot, Liusu glared at her angrily, looking as though she might start a fight at any moment.
Chu Lian, who was standing beside Mo Li while the latter straightened her clothes, truly could not bear listening to their shameless conversation any longer. She interrupted them. "Enough, enough. You two, I came here to discuss something serious with all of you..."
Only after Chu Lian spoke did they quiet down. They watched the girl slowly walk forward, exchanged looks, then each gave a snort before following her.
Knowing they were behind her, Chu Lian relaxed slightly. These girls had been summoned by her, so their natural affection toward her had started at the maximum. On top of that, they were all extreme lesbians. To them, Chu Lian, as their master, seemed almost naturally destined to be the ideal partner they wished to pursue.
Every time Chu Lian came here, all kinds of jealous competition would break out. Over time, she had gotten used to it, and the girls themselves had developed an unspoken understanding. Each time, only one of them would get to take advantage, then someone else would get a turn next time.
At first, Chu Lian had still struggled. Later, when she discovered that resisting them not only made them sad but also affected their work efficiency, she simply began tacitly allowing it.
After all, she was not actually losing anything. On the surface, it looked as though they were taking advantage of her, but after everything was said and done, Chu Lian was the one benefiting more.
Although they all wanted to push her down, because she was their master they did not dare go too far. At most, Chu Lian would be hugged against someone like Luoying. Nothing beyond that had ever happened.
As for Chu Lian herself, she could enjoy all sorts of embraces and even use her own sense of touch to measure the girls' bust sizes. What could possibly be better?
Even Science Girl, who had the smallest bust among them, concealed an addictive softness. Chu Lian might look angry and proper on the outside, but inwardly she was enjoying herself immensely.
So generally speaking, as long as they did not go too far like Luoying and climax right in front of her, Chu Lian would not say much.
Luoying did not bother cleaning the wetness from the insides of her thighs. Even though her white stockings had become damp, she did not seem to care. Walking behind Chu Lian, she cautiously asked, "Master, are you angry?"
"You're overthinking it. How could I be angry with any of you? I'm just worried about money." Chu Lian shook her head, indicating that she truly was not angry.
And she really was worried. The equipment here was becoming more and more advanced, which naturally meant that the amount of money she had left was shrinking more and more.
If these girls understood finance, then perhaps they could make money grow on its own. Unfortunately, while each of them was an absolute genius in her own field, outside those specialties they were little different from ordinary people. Chu Lian could not count on them for that.
"We can't really help with financial matters for now." Liusu was helpless too. They were all the type who only knew how to spend money, loved spending money, and had no interest in making it. There was nothing they could do about Chu Lian's current troubles.
"That's why I came to all of you now. I want us to solve this problem..." Chu Lian walked onto a platform and came to a stop. Then she turned around and addressed the girls.