# Chapter 1799: The Real Southern Man Who Only Profits, Never Loses
Carl didn't lead his men to chase after them. Instead, he gritted his teeth and swallowed this bitter loss!
After all, under the current circumstances where the four domains had merged, he had no confidence in taking back his family foundation and the spirit medium!
Of course, that didn't mean he was just letting it go!
Holy Star naturally had its follow-up arrangements in place!
Over on Jiangnan's side, they smoothly returned to Jingdu City!
Although the process had been a bit difficult, compared to the gains, it wasn't much at all!
He originally wanted to find Xuexue and the others to share his joy, but everyone had gone out on missions, still busy relocating the populace and exterminating spirit beasts!
So he found Yang Jian and reported on the harvest situation!
Yang Jian was full of excitement. This could be considered winning one back against Holy Star!
Jiangnan grinned from ear to ear: (๑¯ิٹ¯ิ) "Now that communications are restored, WeChat should be out of a job too. We can get online, so I don't have to keep thinking about using fishing nets anymore!"
Qian Benying: ???
Fishing nets? What kind of weird stuff are you even thinking about, hey?!
Even Hairpin Wei let out a sigh of relief!
Yang Jian shook his head: "It's not that simple. We'll still have to work hard for a while. The communication cables have been mostly destroyed by the beast tide!"
"Even if we use satellite communications to restore the global satellite network, it'll take some time. We also have to prevent the possibility of Holy Star destroying it again!"
"No matter how you look at it, communication methods are humanity's weak point. Against alien technology, there's simply no way to compete!"
Hairpin Wei: (･᷄△.･᷅) Eh~
I've already been so exhausted these past few days, you know?
Jiangnan pulled out the Black Barrier Cube, weighing it in his hand as his eyes flickered. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
(๑◔ٹ◔ิ) "Alien technology? Heh, Brother Jian, mark out a piece of land for me. Let me see if I can come up with some way to deal with it!"
Yang Jian readily agreed!
Seeing Hairpin Wei with a troubled expression, Jiangnan rolled his eyes:
(๑ớ₃ờ)ھ "Here～ You've worked hard during this time. A gift for you!"
With that, he tossed the Dull Sack over!
Hairpin Wei hugged the Dull Sack, utterly confused. What the heck is this?
(•︠～.•︡)?
(づ袋ど)
I'm getting a gift too? Why is this sack moving?
Curiously, she untied the opening, and Broken-Brow Wei, looking like a bloody gourd, roared as she charged out!
(｀҉益´҉メ҉) "Jiangnan! I'll fight you to the—"
Before she could finish her sentence, four Transcendents stood around her with their arms crossed, forming a circle. A blast of cold air came over, freezing her into a solid block of ice!
Broken-Brow Wei's face was full of despair:
(メ҉꒦ິ҉益҉.꒦ີ҉) She had truly fallen into a den of thieves. Her life was over here!
Hairpin Wei was ecstatic. It was Dao Heaven Seven Broken-Brow Wei!
If she absorbed her, she'd definitely get a huge power boost, no question!
Bigger and stronger, creating new glory—wasn't that a dream come true?
She excitedly pounced over, grabbing Jiangnan's face to give him a kiss!
─=≡Σ(((つ•̀3•́)つ
But she slammed straight into the Spatial Barrier!
(￢～￢) "Go, go, go! Absorb her quick, and see if you get any useful information. No kissing for you!"
"Just follow Boss Nan, and the future looks bright, got it?!"
Hairpin Wei nodded repeatedly and obediently let out an "Mm," then picked up the ice block and ran off to absorb it!
Jiangnan raised an eyebrow: (๑◔◡◔ิ๑) "So... I worked so hard. Aren't you going to reward me with, say, 10 billion pocket money as a hardship allowance or something?"
He needed 100 million skill points to max out the Logic Program Writing skill.
Given the current situation, it really wasn't convenient to set up a street stall anymore. Everyone was busy with missions—who would come to patronize his business?
He thought Yang Jian would refuse, but surprisingly, Yang Jian raised an eyebrow:
୧(･᷄～･᷅) "What do you need money for? There are several banks in Jingdu that no one's watching anymore. Just go to the vaults and grab yourself a few billion or so..."
Jiangnan's eyes nearly popped out of his head:
Σ(°Д° "Just... just grab it?"
Yang Jian spread his hands: ʅ(･´‸･｀)ʃ "Otherwise? The circulation of currency is built on a stable social system!"
"Right now, with the global spirit calamity, the system is basically paralyzed and collapsed. To put it bluntly, it's the end times. What can money still buy? It's just paper."
"It might still be somewhat useful at the moment, but not much. It has little purchasing power. Why do they say 'gold in troubled times'? That's the reasoning!"
Though unwilling to admit it, in this era, it was gradually shifting toward a barter-based transaction model. If you thought it had value, then it had value!
Spirit pearls and such were gradually becoming something people recognized!
Maybe once social order stabilized, things would slowly return to normal, but definitely not now!
Jiangnan's expression suddenly froze, and a scream like a groundhog echoed over Jingdu's skies!
˚‧º·(˚˃̣̣̥᷄口˂̣̣̥᷅)‧º·˚ Ahhhh!
My precious money!
All those dollars in the Black Gold Card, the huge piles of cash in the Alternate Dimension—all worthless now?!
He hadn't even gotten married yet, and his wife-fund was already worthless!
Jiangnan wiped his tears and walked out angrily:
(ง꒦ິ益꒦ີ)ว "I'm going to rob a bank right now!"
Never in his wildest dreams did Jiangnan think that one day, under orders from above, he would go rob a bank completely legitimately!
He made a round of various bank vaults, and Jiangnan didn't even know how many tons of money he'd looted!
Seeing it before used to bring him joy, but now he couldn't feel the happiness of being rich at all!
After robbing the banks, Jiangnan found an abandoned large factory!
Just as he was about to open his Alternate Dimension, he turned around and saw Qian Benying following closely behind him, staring intently, not leaving his side for an inch!
(￢_￢) "Why are you always following me? As an employee, you don't need to be this attentive in protecting the boss, do you?"
Qian Benying glared: (งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง "Who likes following you? Here—"
As she spoke, she stretched out her little hand in front of Jiangnan!
Jiangnan scratched his head, pulled a White Rabbit creamy candy from his pocket, and placed it in her hand!
Qian Benying: !!!
She got so mad that she ate the candy right away and said bluntly:
(｡･ˇ口ˇ･) "Are you treating me like a little kid?! Who wants candy? The Dimension Pearl! I want the Dimension Pearl, okay?!"
"The payment you promised!"
Jiangnan was stunned: (·•᷄ࡇ•᷅) "What Dimension Pearl? When did I ever say I'd give you the Dimension Pearl as payment?"
Qian Benying's eyes were already spitting fire:
O(☄皿☄)O "How can you say that? Don't try to weasel out of it! You took it out and showed it to me before!"
Jiangnan: (･᷄ὢ･᷅) "Yeah, I just showed it to you to show off that I had it. I never said I was giving it to you, okay!"
"You're the one who misunderstood, right?"
Qian Benying's expression froze solid. Thinking back carefully, he really hadn't said a single word about it. He'd just raised an eyebrow. It was all her own imagination!
She worked for him for nothing?
[From Qian Benying: Resentment +1003!]
(◦`口´◦) "Jiang! Nan! You tricked me again! I'll fight you to the death!"
With that, she rushed up, grabbed Jiangnan by the neck, and started shaking him crazily. Her eyes were red, and she looked like she was about to cry.
Jiangnan quickly said:
(๑ớ₃ờ)ھ "Don't cry, don't cry. I was just joking around. How could I not give it to you? Why are you acting like such a kid, about to cry at the drop of a hat?"
Qian Benying jabbed Jiangnan in the stomach angrily:
(๑ᵒ̴̶̷̥́～ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀) "You're always playing tricks on me to have fun! Hmph! Give it to me now!"
Jiangnan, with a solemn expression, spread out the Vendor Cloth on the ground, pulled out a Small Stool, and sat down beside it!
Then he placed the Dimension Pearl solemnly on top!
(•̆₃•̆) "I'll give it to you, but you have to pay me with money to buy it!"
Qian Benying ground her teeth: "That's the same thing, isn't it? I really should just strangle you!"
As she was about to pounce, Jiangnan opened his Alternate Dimension and pulled out dozens of tons of cash!
"Use my money to buy it, then, okay?!"
Qian Benying froze: "Do you have some kind of illness? Do you have to go through this whole formal act?"
Jiangnan glared: (͡°͜ʖ͡°) "What do you know? Otherwise, just handing you the Dimension Pearl directly would make me feel like I'm losing out!"
"This way, I trade the Dimension Pearl for all this money, so I'm still making a profit! I, Jiangnan, always only profit, never lose!"
Qian Benying: (≖_≖)
He must be money laundering, right?
Turning the cash he robbed from the bank into legitimately obtained transaction money?
Just how deep is your obsession with setting up a street stall, hey?!
In the end, she went along with Jiangnan's wish and finally got the Dimension Pearl!
She breathed on it, polished it shiny on her skirt, and then stuffed it into her chest area!
Jiangnan: (･᷄ὢ･᷅) "Ooh ooh ooh～ You can use the girl's special treasure pouch now? You've come a long way!"
Qian Benying's face flushed red, and she glared at Jiangnan:
(⑉︶₃︶) "M-mind your own business!"
Jiangnan changed the subject: "I'm going to make a trip to the Void Sea later to kill some eels. Want to come with me?"
Qian Benying was stunned: "Are you addicted to hiring me? You want me to work for you again? The Void Sea is so dangerous. No way I'm going!"
"Besides, I already have this Dimension Pearl as a Dao Heaven skill. Not going, not going!"
Jiangnan rubbed his forehead:
(ﾉ)⇀‸↼) "Look at your ambition! What's so great about that Dimension Pearl? Space folding, space devouring, space confinement—trash-tier! I wouldn't give it a second look!"
But Qian Benying hugged it like a treasure:
(◦`~´◦) "Bull! Space folding and stuff—aren't they amazing? They're incredibly powerful, okay?!"
She'd been stuck with a bunch of garbage spirit skills, pieced together from here and there. When did she ever get the luxury of choosing?
Jiangnan's expression turned serious: "I'm not joking. The Void Sea is full of space-type spirit beasts. There might be even better ones!"
"Besides, there's spatial energy there. For a space-type, you might even be able to level up!"
"You'd better become Dao Heaven as soon as possible. Otherwise, in the battles ahead, a Star Glory-level space-type isn't going to have much of a future!"
Qian Benying's mouth twitched. You're one to talk!
You're only Star Glory Two peak yourself, you know?!
But she started to hesitate. Jiangnan casually pulled a silver bracelet from his pocket and tossed it to her!
"Here—this is the down payment!"
Qian Benying stared blankly at the silver bracelet in her hand. This thing was Source Armor, an extremely precious alien technology!
Jiangnan was giving one to me? Has he lost his mind?!
Was her combat power really that important for the Void Sea trip?
After carefully assessing it, Qian Benying's face darkened. Important my ass!
Jiangnan could take on ten of her by himself!
Suddenly snapping back to reality, a sweet smile spread across Qian Benying's face.
(∗❛ั▿❛ั)
Jiangnan didn't need her barely-useful combat power. He wanted to give her a hand, to help her raise her strength as quickly as possible.
Giving her the Source Armor was also a way to give her a better chance of surviving in the uncertain future that lay ahead, wasn't it?
Hmph～ you tsundere Nan, I can see right through your little schemes!
Jiangnan was always like this. He couldn't bring himself to say it outright, but he always looked out for you in his own way!
(︶.̮︶〃) "Fine, fine, fine. I'll go. Who can say no when Boss Jiang can't get by without his Benying-chan?"
Then she sidled up to Jiangnan:
(๑◔▿◔ิ) "Hey hey～ Do you like me? Giving me a bracelet? Can this count as a love token?"
Jiangnan glared: (▼ヘ▼ꐦ) "Get lost! I like you? As if! You Poop-Pants Sakura! Give it back if you don't want it!"
He reached out to snatch it, but Qian Benying giggled, slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, and dodged away!
Jiangnan said impatiently: "Go, go, go. Go somewhere else. I need to study this Black Barrier!"
If he could upgrade his skill to Grandmaster level, maybe he'd find a way to use the Black Barrier!