——Even though by now, plenty of factions already know that Qing Lan joined Qiu Tu's team during the "Heavenly God Trial".

But Qing Lan still hasn't officially betrayed the "Fog Hidden Association", so no one knows what their real relationship is.

Or rather... in outsiders' eyes, Qing Lan isn't actually loyal to Qiu Tu, she's just keeping her options open.

Plus, Qing Lan and Qiu Tu literally just met, and they're not even the same race, so from the outside, there's no way Qing Lan is one of Qiu Tu's core members.

In this situation, no matter how outsiders analyze it, they all think it's unlikely Qiu Tu would trust Qing Lan with anything important. So the surveillance on her is definitely a lot weaker.

Plus, Qing Lan is pretty strong, and keeping tabs on her is almost impossible, so most factions will probably just give up watching her altogether.

Thinking it over, Qing Lan really is the perfect choice to pass on intel. As long as—Qiu Tu is actually willing to trust her.

Thinking that, Qing Lan's big watery eyes couldn't help but glance deeply at Qiu Tu.

Honestly, up until today, Qing Lan's thoughts were basically the same as everyone else's.

She thought she was just something for Qiu Tu to use and toss away—a temporary cog. Forget being a trusted member, just being treated as a person was already lucky.

That's also why, after taking the payment and helping Qiu Tu through the roughest patch, she immediately started slacking off.

Who could've guessed, Qiu Tu actually treated her like a core member, and kept fulfilling his promises step by step.

And... he even dared to trust her with such an important Mission.

This kind of guts and trust, Qing Lan had never experienced in her whole life. If she wasn't still a little rational, she'd probably have that "a warrior dies for the one who truly understands them" kind of feeling bubbling up.

But what Qing Lan didn't know was... just as she was thinking all that, Qiu Tu's gaze was quietly resting right on top of her head.

Because, as Qing Lan was thinking, notifications kept popping up over her head: "Loyalty +1, +1, +3, +7"...

Qing Lan thinks Qiu Tu has guts, but actually... Qiu Tu's just cheating: with the direct display of the "Loyalty Game" mechanics, Qiu Tu has a handle on every change in Qing Lan's mood.

Besides, tonight's play was all interconnected.

Qiu Tu's plan from the start was: First, meet Qing Lan. Then, reveal his upcoming moves. Then, observe her Loyalty change.

Once he saw Qing Lan's Loyalty spike, and confirmed his read on her personality was right, only then would Qiu Tu move on to handing out the next Mission.

Actually, even giving the Mission was just a misdirect. Compared to the Mission itself, his real purpose was raising Qing Lan's Loyalty.

You gotta know, Qing Lan is the one Zhao Ji rated a 90—an absolute prodigy. In theory, that makes her a weakened version of Zhao Ji. As long as she doesn't crash and burn, a Heavenly God is pretty much guaranteed, and a Divine King is within reach. She'll 100% be a key aide in the future.

Investing in her now is a no-brainer. The return on investment will be insane.

As for letting Qing Lan pass the message to Shao Hua—that's actually just a side quest...

After all, while Qing Lan is a suitable messenger, it's not like she's the only option—Qiu Tu could get a message to Shao Hua in tons of ways.

It's just, he knows that if you want to win over a subordinate, to win a woman's heart, pure giving isn't enough. You have to make her put in effort too, nudge her to do more and more for you.

It's not just about sunk costs, it's about building habits.

This whole time, apart from always worrying about Zhao Ji, Qiu Tu's also taken time to carefully study Qing Lan.

As a "weakened Zhao Ji", even if Qing Lan's been held back by the "Fog Hidden Association", her strength shouldn't be this mediocre—seriously, it's way too low.

Remember, Zhao Ji once said Qing Lan was all Talent, basically never worked hard; so Qiu Tu figures maybe what's really stalling Qing Lan's growth is not just the "Fog Hidden Association", but her personality too.

——She's just way too lazy and totally over it.

So, giving her more tasks and upping her benefits should help boost her motivation.

With that, after briefing Qing Lan on what's next, Qiu Tu got up and walked her out of the villa.

Maybe because today Qiu Tu was really laying it on thick, Qing Lan was practically floating as she walked.

So when she got back to the villa she shares with Candle Dance, she couldn't hide the grin at the corners of her mouth.

Candle Dance and her have been total BFFs lately, so when she saw Qing Lan like that, she glanced up from the couch where she was watching TV, her slit pupils coolly staring, and she said,

"Well? Is Qiu Tu such a stud? Just one night and you're on cloud nine?"

Women might act all innocent outside, but in private, their banter can be even dirtier than men's.

So when Candle Dance said that, Qing Lan didn't even care—in fact, she looked smugly at Candle Dance and deliberately said, "Obviously! He handed me a few billion in one go. If it were you, you'd be thrilled too."

Candle Dance shot Qing Lan a look, "I hope by 'resources' you don't mean something else."

Qing Lan's smile was totally out of control as she replied, "Of course~~"

Hand on her waist, she said cutely, "I'm telling you, from today, whoever dares talk crap about Qiu Tu, I will NOT let her off!"

Seeing Qing Lan turn into such a bootlicker, Candle Dance was honestly kinda surprised.

She said, "Wow, talk about 'money shaping the soul'..."