Buying His Life

The blue energy beam was about to strike Lister.

The next moment, his figure flashed out of thin air.

In Powell's eyes, Lister's figure seemed to have moved forward an inch in a moment of daze.

The energy beam passed right through his body, instead burning a large hole in the door of his shop and the shop opposite it.

In the past, when players argued with this "Dog Profiteer" over "super weapons," if they angered Powell, they would ultimately face his dual pistols.

Due to the special restrictions players place on NPCs, everyone can only passively resist the attacks of the "Dog Profiteer."

But Lister is different now; he has no such restrictions.

Calmly picking up the Time Crystal Bracers from the table and storing it in his Inventory to avoid damage during combat.

The next instant, several more beams of energy shot out, seemingly incredibly fast, but posing no threat to Lister whatsoever.

This time, he didn't use the Flash skill; he simply sidestepped at the perfect moment, and the beam of light grazed his nose and pierced through the shop next door.

Lister was too lazy to tease the other party any further.

He had already gripped the Black Leaf Laceration Blade in his hand, unleashing his full Killing Intent Wave, which focused on his opponent.

From Powell's perspective, the young man in front of him suddenly changed his demeanor.

A massive, chilling, almost tangible killing intent exploded from his body in an instant, and a huge Phantom wielding a knife seemed to appear in his eyes behind him.

Although the enormous Phantom looked exactly like Lister, its entire body was composed of gray mist, as if it were formed from endless souls and killing intent.

After staring for just a few more seconds, countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood appeared behind the Phantom, while beneath its feet lay countless souls screaming in despair.

At the same time, the fear in his heart had already been magnified to the extreme, and it began to sting deep in his soul.

Beneath this enormous Phantom, I felt as if I might become one of those corpses and seas of blood at any moment, one of those desperately screaming souls.

After Killing Intent Wave, Lister also sensed something different.

Previously, when the Killing Intent Wave were used over a large area on the resource planet, no abnormality was detected; it was only that the range had been greatly increased.

But this time, after focusing his killing intent entirely on a single target, a strange feeling arose within him.

He seemed to be able to sense that the other person's soul was so fragile, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

At the same time, under the pressure of his aura and his gaze, the other party temporarily lost his desire to attack due to fear.

Until he gently swung the blade forward.

The incredibly solid black light swept straight across Powell's chest, finally striking the outer wall of the shop before dissipating.

Attack: Deals 14012 points of damage, ignoring defense, and a total of 26313 points of true damage plus additional true damage.

He could unleash his killing intent and oppressive aura without restraint, but when he actually made a move, Lister deliberately restrained himself.

He had already made up his mind after meeting Powell, the person in charge of the mission.

This Dog Profiteer is like free equipment for him to forge labor; he can keep him for now.

Having been swindled by this Dog Profiteer so many times in his past life, he's determined to make him pay for it all in this life, squeezing him dry before he even gets to complain.

"Boom! Crash!"

The shop that had been slashed by the blade collapsed with a deafening roar.

Even though Lister controlled the force of his strike, the shop still couldn't withstand the final aftershocks of the black light.

At this moment, the empty path is deserted, and the people from other shops are scattering away.

They had all sensed the chilling pressure from that moment, being so close, and wisely left.

As for Powell, he was still gripping his two guns tightly, but he was lying on the ground, barely alive.

Having lost 80% of his health to Lister's single strike, he was barely holding on and quickly pulled out a potion to drink.

"Thump~ thump~ thump~!"

A series of orderly footsteps sounded from not far away.

Soon, a guard of nearly a hundred Yalan Civilization appeared before them.

Ordinary guards are generally around level 110, with combat strength between ED level.

As for the leader, this Yalan, he was also level 110, and his combat strength was C-rank.

He was scrutinizing the two people in front of him when he spoke in a serious tone.

"Stop!"

"What audacity! Daring to fight on the ruling planet!"

"It's that kid from this level of civilization. He tried to steal my credits and even smashed up my shop."

Under the influence of the recovery medication, Powell recovered quickly.

The knife wounds on his body have now healed, and his health has recovered to more than half.

"Sir, the owner of this shop is him, his name is Powell, and he's a Class C wanted criminal from the Level 3 civilization— the Arcane Civilization."

"The other is Lister Merrick, belonging to a Level 1 civilization."

The guard reported without any hesitation, and everyone present could hear what he said clearly.

The next moment, a large number of guards surrounded Lister.

Standard galactic law enforcement requires no orders from the captain of the guard.

Even if Powell is a wanted criminal from an advanced civilization, he still belongs to an advanced civilization.

At least the Yalan Civilization had no right to judge, which is why Powell could open his shop here with peace of mind and even continue to do this kind of shady business without being punished.

In the Galactic Civilization, the level of civilization one belongs to is the primary criterion for determining guilt.

Of Yalan Civilization who had the authority to enforce the law, he was naturally the only one left.

Lister was well aware of this and did not retaliate against the guards; he simply revealed the information about his Federation Military District.

After the captain of the guard stepped forward to confirm, he immediately saluted him.

"Captain Lister! Your Excellency!"

The guards surrounding Lister instantly changed their attitude, also saluting him, before turning to surround Powell.

This enforcement of the law, which seemed like child's play, was actually being presented to him in a blatant and overt manner.

This is the survival rule of a low-level civilization.

"Are you all crazy?"

"I am a citizen of the Arcane Civilization, how dare you enforce the law against me?"

The guards looked somewhat nervous upon hearing his words, and their gazes mostly swept towards their captain.

Fortunately, the captain nodded again, which gave everyone the confidence to continue.

"Captain Lister, please feel free to contact us if our assistance is required for the mission."

This is the tragedy of a primitive civilization.

Although Lister's Arcane Army Group mission did not specify that he could command the Yalan Civilization.

But as if it were an unspoken rule, the captain would readily cooperate and accept his orders after seeing the mission.

"No need, we don't need you here."

"If anything happens later, don't come back. Go back."

"Yes!"

The captain of the guard immediately breathed a sigh of relief and led his men away, not wanting to stay a second longer.

Seeing that the surroundings had been cleared again, Lister walked step by step to stand in front of him.

Although he has not yet taken any action, Powell's fears have already resurfaced.

He was trembling all over, and only his words held a final struggle.

"I didn't expect you to be a captain in our Arcane Army Group, but according to regulations, you still don't have the authority to kill me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lister directly forwarded the mission from the Arcane Military District to the other party.

Powell's clamor of struggle immediately ceased, and his face showed no trace of any remaining hope.

Especially when you see words in the mission description that allow you to execute him directly.

I also have some understanding of Lister's behavior today.

However, amidst the despair in my heart, a glimmer of hope inexplicably arose.

After all, the other party could have killed him outright, but he's still alive, and even the guards of the Yalan Civilization have been sent away, so they probably don't intend to kill him.

As expected, the next moment, Lister slowly began to speak.

"The teleportation array costs 100,000 credits, and the mission reward for killing you is 10,000 credits."

"A total of 110,000 credits, plus the upgrade of my arm armor, shouldn't be too expensive to trade your life, right?"

"Or... do you want to compensate me more?"

Powell quickly spoke up.

"Not expensive! Not expensive!"

"How about 120,000 credits? I'll compensate you with an extra 10,000 credits."

"As for the arm armor, rest assured, I will definitely upgrade it to level twelve within three months."

Unfortunately, Lister did not agree, slowly shaking his head in refusal.

"If you hadn't made a move, 120,000 credits would still be enough."

"But right now! I feel really uncomfortable! I keep having this urge to just kill you!"

What do you suggest we do?

Having said that, he released another Killing Intent Wave from his body, and the powerful pressure of that killing intent made it difficult for Powell was still half-lying on the ground, to breathe.

Even though he felt in his heart that Lister probably wouldn't kill him, he still didn't dare to gamble with his life and quickly shouted loudly.

"Fifteen! Fifteen hundred thousand credits!"

But Lister in front of him still shook his head.

Amid his repeated pleas for mercy and escalating demands, a pile of potions was taken out and placed on the ground in front of him.

[Will's Strengthening Potion (Grade F): Slowly restores up to 10% of maximum stamina over a certain period of time.]

[Lucian's Low-Tier Holy Water (Tier E): Slowly restores 15% of his own health over one day.]

The Inventory, which were no longer of any use to Lister, so he took them all out.

He glanced silently at Powell, a smile appearing on his face.

Powell understood Lister's meaning the moment he saw the medicine.

His expression was complicated for a moment, but thankfully it was filled with a smile again the next instant.

"Buy it! I'll buy it all! Captain Lister, name your price!"

"150,000 credits to buy your own life, and these potions also cost 150,000 credits in total. You can't buy me the thought of killing you."

"That's your initial quote: 300,000 credits. What do you think?"