It wasn't that Su Ning thought too highly of herself.
As a famously wealthy tycoon, and someone who, ever since appearing before the world, had never stopped stirring up trouble, she was practically a walking headline—a figure of endless public fascination.
Every move she made was watched by countless eyes, so news of her plan to support the Northeast spread quickly. At first, everyone's unified reaction was—
Impossible. Fake news.
But as the days went by, the Su camp never stepped forward to deny it. Instead, the Northeast side, busy as they were, kept responding with enthusiastic thanks.
It seemed... there might be some truth to it after all.
By the time reliable news broke that Su Ning had boarded her private jet and was officially heading to the Northeast, the three-out-of-ten credibility instantly jumped to five!
The Northeast was in the middle of a war right now!
This wasn't some joke.
Bullets had no eyes. Even if you were a big shot whose every move shook the nation, you were still flesh and blood—one wrong step and you'd lose your life.
Not long after this war began, both sides had already suffered countless casualties. Blood flowed like rivers, and there wasn't even time to bury or collect the dead. The weather was too hot—disease could easily break out.
The Japanese didn't care.
But the Northeast side couldn't just let it go. Yet they truly couldn't spare the manpower, so they decided to burn everything—friend and foe alike—reducing it all to ash.
Did it hurt?
It was utterly heartbreaking.
If anyone had previously held onto the idea that this was just a provocation or a demonstration, and that the war would stop soon—that notion was long gone by now.
This war would drag on for a long time.
Unless one side achieved total victory.
Given such danger, Su Ning was personally stepping into the fray. Even those with the deepest prejudice against her had to half-believe, half-doubt the words: "Miss Su may lack in minor matters of conduct, but she does not compromise on greater principles."
Her past deeds were dug up again and reinterpreted from new angles. Some said she'd actually saved quite a few people. Others scoffed, calling it mere coincidence, only to be rebutted—judge by actions, not intentions.
Everyone argued back and forth, unable to agree, until finally they settled into a wait-and-see stance.
After all, Su Ning's promised support was still just talk.
Nothing had materialized yet!
The clamor from the outside world didn't affect Su Ning in the slightest.
Words were useless.
Once the facts were laid out before everyone, naturally nobody would keep questioning the goodness of her heart.
This trip, Su Ning again took her private jet.
Among her personal attendants, however, there were now many unfamiliar faces—varied in appearance but all fairly good-looking, disciplined, tight-lipped, and quietly filling the spaces around her. This naturally stirred up resentment.
"Assistant Lin, I'm not trying to be petty or jealous of others' success, but these pretty boys are way too arrogant. When we brothers tried to talk to them, they ignored us completely. We all work under Miss Su—what gives them the right to look down on us?"
Someone came to Lin Sen, fuming with indignation.
Nothing else to it.
They had to present a united front.
Miss Su hadn't explained where these people came from, but everyone guessed: they're from overseas!
And the evidence? Several of them had mixed-race faces—clearly not pure Chinese—and their bearing, their every gesture, resembled that shadow-like Su One who always stayed by Miss Su's side. They might as well have been born from the same mother.
Hearing this, Lin Sen remained unmoved. Coldly, he said: "Capable people naturally carry an air of pride. You lot can't match them in any way—why should you expect them to think highly of you? Instead of wasting time gossiping, why not put that energy into improving yourselves?"
The man had nothing to say.
Though he didn't want to admit it... those good-looking pretty boys could definitely fight.
When they first arrived, they'd been tested.
Every single tester was utterly defeated.
Lin Sen had already reviewed the personnel again, weeding out those with ulterior motives, yet his own heart remained unsettled.
The skilled rise to the top—no mistake there.
The situation in the Northeast was dangerous, and Miss Su needed tighter protection now more than ever—that, too, was no mistake.
He had already started handpicking elite guards.
Then, one day, a group like this just appeared by Miss Su's side. Extraordinary abilities, handsome faces, and most important—unignorable—was Miss Su's trust in them.
He shouldn't have minded.
Different duties.
But perhaps it was a case of mourning for one's own kind. Lin Sen scoffed at his own weakness. Those words weren't just for others—they were for himself, too.
Only the most outstanding, the very best, deserved to work by Miss Su's side.
Su Ning had no idea about the minor turmoil going on among her subordinates. And if she'd known, she might have quibbled over one detail—"people" really deserved quotation marks.
That's right.
The newcomers weren't human.
To be precise, they were robots.
In truth, when the marketplace suddenly put out a bulk batch of robots for sale, she'd been a bit surprised. Frowning at the system, she said: "I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Could this be a warning that something in the Northeast really will endanger my life?"
"Then don't go," the system replied.
"But if I don't go, my image-redemption plan won't carry as much weight. And who knows—maybe I'm just overthinking it."
"Then go."
"I only have one life. What if something actually happens?"
The system: ...
Before it could fly into a rage, Su Ning made her decision—
Go.
Because she noticed that the rewards for non-story characters in the Northeast had started rising again. She panicked, thinking her procrastination had made people doubt whether her support was real, and gritted her teeth to take the risk.
"I need them to see my determination," Su Ning said with deep feeling. "Before, I had no choice. Now, I want to be a good person."
The system glanced at the rapidly climbing line graph and felt things might not be that simple. It thought about it, then swallowed its words.
"Then I wish you the best."
Su Ning's determination to be a good person was not to be underestimated, and she also valued her own life highly. So, not only did she buy all the robots in the batch, she also reinforced their weaponry.
Oh, and she didn't forget to upgrade Su One either—it was only fitting to maintain the dignity of the final line of defense.
…
Beiping wasn't far from the Northeast.
But flying the safest route according to the battle situation took a full two days. Finally, Su Ning and her party arrived.
It wasn't warm on the ground.
In fact, it was a bit cold.
Only then did Su Ning realize—it was only October, but back in her previous life, northerners were already bragging about having their heating on by this time. Which was actually a good thing. After all, when it's cold, you can add more clothes. When it's hot, you can't very well peel off your skin to cool down, can you?
The Northeast side showed genuine sincerity—the welcome party sent to pick them up alone numbers quite a few.
And they weren't just nobodies either.
Even so, when they saw the brand-new private jets, they couldn't help but click their tongues in awe.
"I've seen other people's planes, but how come none of them look this good?"
"Don't compare them like that. Either those planes were converted from military aircraft, or they were hand-me-downs retired from Europe. The best ones were only small planes that could fit a few people. These ones—huge, brand new, top quality—these might very well be custom-made."
"They're this wealthy—what they donate in grain and supplies shouldn't be too shabby, right?"
"Let's hope so."
So even with Su Ning's cool and aloof attitude, they were plenty enthusiastic.
The journey had been tiring, so no meetings or deliberations took place immediately. Su Ning stayed in a residence she'd acquired at some point, washed up briefly, and went to sleep.
Before going to bed, I took a glance at the line chart that was still climbing, and I wasn’t particularly anxious. I hadn’t gotten the news yet, right? After a good night’s sleep, it would probably all be fine...
