The crowd handed over their bank cards one by one, and An Junlie casually placed his card in front of Ling Yin. Ling Yin looked surprised, "You're coming too?"

Xiao Cheng clamored, "You're not one of us from Wolf's Den."

Zi Ye smiled, "It doesn't matter, he's also a shareholder in Mengya Group."

An Junlie looked at Zi Ye, "It's a good thing you didn't stop me from investing back then."

Zi Ye shot him a sidelong glance, and happened to catch him gazing at her with eyes full of affection. She quickly withdrew her gaze, coughed into her fist held near her lips, and unnaturally changed the subject, "Come, come, let's name the group."

Tang Wan laughed, "Aren't there exactly nine of us? Let's call it the Jiu Ren Group."

Xiao Hei grumbled, "That's not imposing enough! Karu's legion is called Overlord!"

Ling Yin offered, "I actually think Jiu Tian sounds quite good, but..." Before she could finish, Xiao Dou Ya zipped out of Dou Zai's nest, "Why call it Jiu Tian? Let's call it Jiu Ya, 'Ya' sounds the nicest."

Zi Ye poked its rear, flattening it slightly against the tabletop, then lifted it up with her hand and lectured, "You don't show up when there's work to be done, but you're quick enough to show up for naming ideas."

Xiao Dou Ya scratched its rear aggrievedly with a tiny sprout, pouting, "When there's physical work, that's your specialty, so you all do it. Naming is my specialty, so mine must be used!"

An Junlie wasn't particularly concerned about the name and said with a smile, "I have no objection."

Xiao Hei sighed, "Although Jiu Ya doesn't meet my standard for imposing and magnificent, if you all agree, I suppose I'll have to accept it."

Tang Wan chimed in, "I agree. This name isn't lofty or cool at all, but if you all are fine with it, I have nothing more to say."

Zi Ye silently wiped a bead of cold sweat.

She really wanted to object, but she was terrible at naming things. Having no alternative suggestion to present after opposing it would be a truly frustrating situation.

She shook her head in defeat, "I don't care what the name is."

Ling Yin looked sequentially to the left at Tang Wan, Zi Ye, and An Junlie, and to the right at Xie Er, Xiao Cheng, Xiao Hei, and Xiao Bai. She spread her hands, "I don't have an opinion either. The key thing is, didn't you all notice there are only eight people here? Where does the nine come from?"

Everyone turned to look at Zi Ye.

Zi Ye was the one who initially stated the team had nine members.

Zi Ye explained, "The ninth person is Mr. Bronan. He helped us solve many difficulties while we were developing the energy board. For example, the crucial unification of the recharge and circulation systems, the selection of metal for the rotor, and so on."

Xiao Bai clicked his tongue, "I thought you came up with all the solutions yourself."

Zi Ye replied, "I'm not that brilliant. What I did was gather all your problems and ask him about them together. The reason we managed to secure this much funding this time is also thanks to his help, which is why I reserved a share for him. I hope you all don't mind?"

Tang Wan said expectantly, "Zi Ye, why don't you introduce us to him?"

Zi Ye nodded, "No problem. I'll ask him. If he's willing, we can all go see him together then."

Ling Yin tapped the table, "Speaking of which, this name..."

Zi Ye made a funny face, "If nobody minds, let's stick with this name then."

The name was settled amidst the derailment of the discussion.

With the name decided, Ling Yin quickly shifted into work mode, "Do you all want to design the group logo yourselves, or should we hire professionals?"

Xiao Dou Ya tried to pop up again, but Zi Ye immediately clamped her hand over its mouth and grabbed its body, dragging it under the table, "Don't say a word, and don't even suggest you should design it."

The Mengya Group logo was originally designed by it. That single, trembling little sprout was considered a ridiculous piece of work by so many people! Even though it had now become the robot's symbol, thinking back on that incident still caused Zi Ye deep pain.

Undoubtedly, the Jiu Ya Group would grow as robustly as the Mengya Group, so the logo, and everything related, should be done professionally.

Unable to speak, Xiao Dou Ya bumped its head against her waist in extreme grievance, finally burying its face in her embrace to nuzzle, "You're mean."

Ling Yin, quick with her movements, found design firms, noted them down in her memo, and began drafting the company's organizational chart, listing the names of the eight people in the shareholder positions. As for President, Manager, and the like, they would all be externally hired. While posting recruitment notices, she asked, "The design department is the most critical. Zi Ye, who will be the chief designer director for the mechas?"

Zi Ye shook her head, "I don't know either."

Xiao Chi, Xiao Hong, and Xiao Lü were still in training and had a long way to go before they could lead the design department. In the virtual master training base, she had managed to recruit one assembler and one designer who had left the Star Federation after Karu's betrayal, but who were unwilling to follow Karu.

Their minds were currently unsettled, and they couldn't take on such a major responsibility.

Just then, Xiao Hei suddenly exclaimed, "I know a very capable designer!"

Everyone looked at him in unison, "Who?"

Da Hei replied, "You all know him too—Jiu Nian."

Zi Ye's face darkened instantly.

Tang Wan looked toward Zi Ye.

An Junlie also looked at Zi Ye, wearing a teasing, amused expression as if watching a good show.

The others looked confused, "Who is Jiu Nian?"

Zi Ye sighed.

Of course, she knew Jiu Nian was qualified for this important role.

But Jiu Nian was the chief mecha designer for Mengya Group. Could she poach him? Mengya and Jiu Ya—one was the palm, the other the back of the hand, both equally precious. Could she show favoritism?

After struggling internally for a while, she finally said, "Ling Yin, you can try to flirt with him a little. I won't guarantee success, and I won't help either. Whether you succeed depends entirely on you."

It was still unknown if Jiu Nian would be willing to become the director at Jiu Ya. If he agreed, she'd probably have to compensate Black Beard by giving him someone else in return. Ultimately, she needed to find a design director who could truly shoulder the responsibility.

Perhaps she should ask Li Chunyue?

Li Chunyue might not be willing to become a designer himself, but he knew the people in this industry far better than she did, and introducing one or two capable individuals shouldn't be a problem.

Zi Ye stood up, "You all chat amongst yourselves for a bit. I'm going to ask someone."

Tang Wan watched her leave, propping her chin, "Actually, I also know an incredibly talented designer, but I know for a fact he absolutely won't come."

Xiao Bai asked, "Who? How do you know he definitely won't come? Let's try! Maybe he'll agree seeing how imposing we eight major shareholders are."

Tang Wan murmured, "Brother Tang Wen."

Xiao Bai looked momentarily stunned.

An Junlie patted his shoulder, "He really can't come." Even if his heart desperately wanted to, he absolutely wouldn't allow it.

In An Junlie's eyes, Tang Wen was a scoundrel destined to cause trouble for Zi Ye. With him around, how could An Junlie let Tang Wen succeed!

Zi Ye contacted Li Chunyue, who quickly recommended a candidate, "You know him—Cang Yun Lang."

Zi Ye's mind spun for a moment, recalling that man who was always talking about marriage. She asked doubtfully, "With his slovenly appearance, can he handle it?"

Li Chunyue replied, "If you knew his real name, you wouldn't think he wasn't capable."

Zi Ye wondered, "Who is he?"

Li Chunyue continued, "Do you know which mecha group has the best-selling mechas?"

Zi Ye blurted out, "Vajra Group!"

Li Chunyue nodded, "Vajra Group has over fifty mecha designers. He ranks sixth. Oh, I almost forgot—his name is Yun Lan."

Zi Ye froze.

Li Chunyue added, "You should seriously consider it. He mentioned to me recently that he feels his position at Vajra Group is stagnating and that reaching the top spot is basically impossible. He's thinking about seeking a new path."

Zi Ye felt a bit nervous, "But our group hasn't even been officially established yet."

Li Chunyue said gently, "You will certainly have the ability to manage it well; I trust you. When you first entered the forum, the Mengya Group didn't even exist, and yet in just a few years, it became the leading robot corporation in the galaxy."

Zi Ye replied sheepishly, "If I successfully sweet-talk him into joining, I'll definitely treat you to a meal."

Li Chunyue laughed, "Great, I'll hold you to that."

Zi Ye exchanged a few more casual words about daily life with Li Chunyue and ended the Ultra-Com call, then hurried upstairs with Xiao Dou Ya tagging along. Ling Yin and the other six were still sitting, preparing to discuss the next steps. Seeing her rush, they quickly called out to her, "Aren't you staying?"

Zi Ye called back without turning her head, "I'm going to recruit a designer to be our pillar first."

Hearing this, Ling Yin also stood up, "Then I'll go discuss the group's visual design with the design firm first. Oh, right, Commander An, do you know anyone suitable to be the President or Manager of the mecha group? Help us recruit someone?"

An Junlie nodded, "I'll give it a try."

Xiao Hei quickly stood up again, "What about us? Who should we recruit?"

Ling Yin held little hope that any of them would bring back suitable candidates. She casually sent them the preliminary group organizational chart, "Anyone on here that seems appropriate, just try to recruit them."

Xiao Bai leaned over to look and the two of them started whispering in their hometown dialect from the Garbage Star.

Xie Er listened, utterly bewildered. Just as he was about to interrupt them, his peripheral vision caught the entry for 'Metal Analyst.' He knew many Metal Analysts! He pointed at the screen, "I'll take responsibility for this one," and promptly left.

A moment later, only Xiao Hei, Xiao Bai, and Xiao Cheng remained at the conference table, murmuring amongst themselves about how to complete their assigned tasks.

Zi Ye returned to her room and brought up the forum interface.

She hadn't been around for a long time. Every day, old members left and new ones joined the forum; many no longer knew who 'Mengya Ya' was.

She was happy to be left undisturbed. She navigated to the administration section and saw that Cang Yun Lang's nickname was lit up. She immediately sent an email: "Free to chat?"

One minute later, Cang Yun Lang appeared in the discussion group and casually pulled her into a private channel, calling out cheerfully, "Ya Ya? Little Mengya Ya girl, long time no see. I'm so touched that you looked for me right after logging in."

Zi Ye's face darkened. Cang Yun Lang's personality truly hadn't changed at all; even his opening line was so cringe-worthy. Indeed, designers, they were all such oddballs.

She was no longer the Mengya Ya of the past. Facing his joking demeanor, she replied without batting an eye, "Yes. Interested in working with me in the future?"