On Embezzling Funds, We're Professionals

The Shadow Realm are vast, and the various territories rarely interact with each other.

After defeating Viscount Frandy, Xu Nan and Yu Tuo Sang enjoyed a long period of peaceful development.

During this time, this strange Plane Funnel gradually stabilized. Xu Nan had someone estimate that the time flow was about 71 times that of Earth.

He worked hard in Yu Tuo Sang for a week, and many things finally started to look promising.

Of course, Xu Nan wasn't working for free.

After defeating the Shadow Realm army, Xu Nan asked Sherry for an advance payment of Titanium Mi Alloy.

Although Sherry was extremely reluctant, she still opened the resource library and let Xu Nan choose whatever he wanted, but she stood at the exit to keep a close watch.

Xu Nan merely sneered at this. The girl, though quite capable, is still a greenhorn.

He used the magically enhanced "Sturdy Mage Hand" to pick up a large pile of Titanium Mi Alloy and toss it onto a professional magic scale.

The magic scale showed exactly one ton of weight.

Sherry immediately sensed something was wrong. "So much Titanium Mi Alloy? How come it's only one ton? Is the magic scale malfunctioning?"

Xu Nan shrugged. "Then you can choose another one!"

They switched to a different magic scale, but it still showed one ton.

Now it was the clerk's turn to be confused. But despite her confusion, she still had basic common sense: what Xu Nan wanted to take was clearly far more than a ton!

She glared at Xu Nan: "Where's old Jikes?"

Xu Nan yawned. "I don't know, I think he's still looking for his reading glasses."

"Meow!" While playing, the Chalk Cat almost knocked open the treasure chest, revealing a corner of its reading glasses. Fortunately, Xu Nan reacted quickly and pressed it back in.

"Look, this is a magic scale made by your own Yu Tuo Sang. It can't be lying, can it?"

Xu Nan smiled.

Sherry snorted coldly and had no choice but to let go.

Xu Nan was allowed to leave with more than ten tons of Titanium Mi Alloy.

Next, he used the same method, exchanging his pitiful contribution points for a small amount of rare materials such as fine gold and mithril, and he was able to take away alchemical materials that appeared to have far more value than he had imagined.

Sherry couldn't sit still any longer.

Xu Nan patted her shoulder and comforted her, "You Yu Tuo Sang have been drifting in the time-space turbulence for so long, you must be very cold, right?"

Sherry thought for a moment, "It's very cold..."

"That settles it. Now that you've arrived in Lin Sphere, the temperature is significantly higher. Surely you understand the basic principle of thermal expansion and contraction?"

Xu Nan countered with a question.

Sherry hesitated, "But... will it swell that much?"

Xu Nan smiled and deactivated [Arcane - Mass Manipulation], nodding. "The world has changed, and so have the laws. You need to be adaptable. Alright, go help Bard' new patent protection tax, and those beastmen's Breathing Tax..."

Sherry stormed off in a huff.

Xu Nan found an opportunity and ran to Yu Tuo Sang's resource area. Using his city lord privileges, he went into the portals that were flashing with strange lights.

Soon, when he returned from the portals, he was laden with spoils.

"We need to go to Lost Paradise and buy a few more super-large capacity storage devices."

"This time, everyone really wasn't exaggerating."

"When it comes to lining one's own pockets, we really are professionals..."

Xu Nan was overjoyed as he looked at the warehouse full of alchemical materials.

The story begins a few days ago.

After defeating Frandy, Xu Nan posted a thank-you message on the Lost Paradise forum, and also took tens of thousands of Constant Gold Coin to thank the brothers who replied.

Xu Nan also gave money to those who advertised, treating everyone equally.

Of course, Xu Nan gave that honest man an extra red envelope, 6666 Constant Gold Coin.

Such a thing is extremely rare among the stingy Ron Sorcerer. Xu Nan's ID instantly became a famous figure on the forum, and overnight many people clicked on his avatar to follow him.

Of course, most of the notes on Rao are: the money-giving boy.

Xu Nan didn't take it seriously.

Yu Tuo Sang was undoubtedly a wealthy city, but the Wizard King had clearly outsmarted himself.

Xu Nan was very troubled by the fact that he was like a professional manager in a listed company, but he didn't have any original shares and could only receive a salary, but couldn't share in the capitalists' wealth.

So he quickly posted on the forum, hoping that his fellow countrymen could offer some help.

Given Xu Nan's popularity, many people responded immediately.

Apart from the honest guy who replied, "Those in positions of power should fulfill their duties; don't let corruption ruin your life!", everyone else offered Xu Nan advice and suggestions.

Xu Nan was amazed by the sheer audacity and greed of the crowd, but unfortunately Yu Tuo Sang's rules and regulations were quite comprehensive, and Xu Nan couldn't find a single applicable one even after reading through them for a while.

Xu Nan benefited greatly from a reply from one of his forum members:

[What's all this fuss about? When it comes to lining their own pockets, we Ron Sorcerer are definitely professionals. Haven't you seen how sought-after the positions at the various Alchemy Heart in Lost Paradise are? After every low-level warlock event, aren't the prizes all divided up among the staff? Otherwise, why do you think those low-level Alchemy Heart are vying for the right to host events?]

Getting back to the point, this kind of thing requires a lot of skill. Making a quick buck and running is banditry, not in line with our artistic principles. We need to plunder discreetly and stealthily, leaving no trace, and even making people think you're incredibly honest – that's the highest level.

For example, when I was working in the Eastern Kingdom, it was a very lucrative job that was watched by countless eyes...

This person was probably drunk, because he actually wrote a lengthy 5,000-word essay, revealing all his embezzlement techniques.

Xu Nan benefited greatly from the post. Although the post was quickly closed, he still learned about Ron Sorcerer's second-tier arcane arts from the practical examples section, including an arcane art called "Quality Manipulation"!

This secret method may seem useless, but it is very suitable for Xu Nan's current situation.

It can manipulate the mass of a group of objects in a short period of time, but not actually change it; it only tampers with the virtual data.

For example, the Titanium Mi Alloy that Xu Nan took away was listed as one ton, but actually weighed sixteen tons. This is already enough to meet the needs of the Cloud Ascending Ship!

In addition, Xu Nan also discovered the mystery of Yu Tuo Sang's resources through consulting materials and careful observation.

The resource zone of this Floating City hides countless sub-dimensions, similar to the Farming Garden of the Cloud Ascending Ship, which belongs to the folded space.

Xu Nan, using his city lord privileges, infiltrated and discovered that most of these sub-planes were populated by hardworking alchemy robots mining for Yu Tuo Sang. Every so often, the most important mineral deposits would be transported in batches to Yu Tuo Sang's resource zone for safekeeping.

The sheer power of the Arcane Empire is evident in its ability to cramm so many sub-dimensions into a single city.

However, this discovery also made it easier for Xu Nan to embezzle the supplies.

As long as one uses their authority as the city lord to travel to those secondary planes and collect finished ores and gems directly, the alchemy robots and mechanical guards will not do anything.

In just seven short months, Xu Nan amassed countless treasures; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so hardworking and dutiful as the Ghost City Lord!

"That old man, Wizard King, ripped me off like that, so it's not unreasonable for me to take a cut. But if I think about it carefully, if that Amber Girl is Junyi Ge, and all this wealth ends up in his hands, wouldn't I be poaching my brother's girlfriend?"

Xu Nan suddenly felt something was amiss.

So he opened his phone and asked Lü Junyi directly:

"Have you resolved things on your end? I have a question for you."

[Lü Junyi: You better come back and collect my corpse! I'm about to be killed by Wen Xin. It's all nonsense! I don't have a wife! Your so-called Princess of the Arcane Empire, I did dream about her, but the Princess in my dream wasn't named Serena, her name was Vanessa!]

Xu Nan: "Vanessa? That name sounds familiar. Never mind, just answer my question first. If you die, it's not unreasonable for me to get a share of your inheritance, is it?"

[Lü Junyi:??? Now you're eyeing my few terabytes of resources? Fine, for my sake, if I die, they're all yours!]

Xu Nan gave a thumbs up. "So loyal."

The matter between Lü Junyi and Amber Girl is still far from settled, so what I'm doing isn't considered poaching. Besides, even if it were true, Lü Junyi would be done for anyway, so I might as well just inherit his estate ahead of time!

Xu Nan hid all the treasures with a clear conscience.

At that moment, something suddenly occurred to him, and he quickly typed:

"Vanessa? I think she was the last Princess of the Arcane Empire! How many women have you been dreaming about?"

Xu Nan was shocked, feeling as if she had discovered some unspeakable secret.

Lü Junyi remained silent for a long time.

"I think I remember now..."

Xu Nan's heart skipped a beat. "Two? You've taken both Princess of the Arcane Empire? What kind of dream is that?"

[Lü Junyi: (frightened) It seems there are three...]

Dead silence.

Xu Nan cheerfully sent a waving emoji:

"Don't worry, I'll plant a loquat tree for you later."

In the afternoon, Xu Nan and Qin Lele arranged to meet at the North City Head.

Xu Nan promised to help her farm [Ancient Shadow Essence] later.

To gain access to the Shadow Realm, one must either sign a contract with a Shadowwalker or cast spells using the Ancient Shadow Essence.

To prevent the Flying Thief from falling into prostitution again, Xu Nan felt it was best to help her resolve this issue.

Before Qin Lele could even arrive, Sherry stormed over in a huff!

"Look what you've done!"

"The orcs I finally managed to persuade to settle here have all moved away because of that damn Breathing Tax you levied."

"The Bard have also started to protest collectively because of your charging royalties for the patents of your adventure stories."

"And another thing, you actually sold the Bloodthirsty Demon Sword's fear of blood as information to those adventurers in the Lyles Plain!"

Sherry's face was flushed, and her chest was heaving violently; she looked furious.

"Aaaaaah... Is there any city lord in this world more incompetent than you?"

At this moment, a passing Flying Thief raised his hand:

"I know a dungeon lord who just loiters around outside, completely unconcerned about the development of his territory. He's clearly even less competent than me..."

...!