Three hundred silver coins!
Lin Luoluo's heart pounded.
What did three hundred silver coins mean?
For an ordinary person living in the Underground City, that was nearly a whole year's wages, earned without eating or drinking a thing!
And now, this huge sum had landed in her hands so easily.
That was how Contract Spirit Masters were treated. Even a First Tier Contract Spirit Master, the lowest rank, already stood above countless ordinary people and enjoyed resources they could scarcely imagine.
The female employee behind the counter looked at Lin Luoluo's youthful face, where her excitement was plain to see, and felt a complicated mix of emotions.
She had once dreamed of becoming a Contract Spirit Master herself. Unfortunately, her mental strength had been the lowest possible, and she had failed to summon even the lowest-grade Contract Spirit, cutting that path off entirely.
But when she thought of her son, who was nearly ready to graduate from junior high, boundless hope flared in her eyes once more.
Her son was different!
His mental strength had tested at D-rank, and his future was boundless.
As long as she signed him up for a few more spirit refinement classes and raised his mental strength,
If the disabled girl in front of her, who had contracted a Slime, could get a 3S rating, wouldn't her son get 5 S's when his time came?
Yes, he certainly would!
The woman seemed to have made up her mind about something and had already pulled out her phone.
"Hello, Sister Wang, it's me. Didn't you say last time that you were planning to sign your son up for that advanced spirit refinement class?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I want to sign up for a spot too... Money... isn't a problem!"
Lin Luoluo and Bai Chen were still caught up in the unexpected delight of receiving three hundred silver coins.
"Xiao Bai, we have money! We have three hundred silver coins!" Lin Luoluo clutched the card and spoke excitedly to Bai Chen.
"Mm-hmm, Luoluo is the best!" Bai Chen was genuinely happy too.
With this huge sum, their straitened life was freed from its constraints in an instant.
Without the slightest hesitation, they headed straight for the busiest food market in the Underground City.
For the first time, Lin Luoluo spent lavishly. With a grand wave of her hand at the butcher's stall, she bought a large piece of fresh pork belly and a whole cleaned chicken.
In the past, she would never have dared dream of doing such a thing.
Bai Chen, meanwhile, used his tentacles to pick up plump, juicy fruits one after another. Apples, oranges—whatever he saw, he bought without holding back.
Before long, the girl and the Slime left the market in high spirits, laden with bags of ingredients.
Next, they ducked into a clothing store.
"Boss, this one and this one too. Please wrap them both up."
Lin Luoluo watched Bai Chen point at several pieces of clothing with his tentacle and tugged at him, a little embarrassed.
"Xiao Bai, that's enough, enough. We only need to buy some for Chuchu. I don't need any..."
"That won't do." Bai Chen gently patted the back of her hand with a tentacle. "You need new clothes too."
At Bai Chen's insistence, Lin Luoluo not only bought several practical new outfits each for herself and Lin Chuchu, but was also forced to accept several pieces she would never have picked out herself.
At that moment.
On the way home, Bai Chen extended five or six tentacles, each with a large bag hanging from it, and crawled along at a leisurely pace.
Sitting atop his head, Lin Luoluo's cheeks were slightly flushed as she complained with a hint of coquettish annoyance:
"Xiao Bai, why did you have to make me buy clothes like those? It's so embarrassing!"
Remembering what had just happened in the clothing store, Lin Luoluo had begun to wonder whether Bai Chen was really a proper Contract Spirit.
She even wondered if Xiao Bai might actually be a human who had transformed!
Just now, in the clothing store.
Besides picking out a black, form-fitting outfit that Lin Luoluo could wear comfortably both in daily life and in battle, Bai Chen had actually picked out two sets of lightweight sleepwear and a beautifully cut dress for her.
One set of sleepwear was a silk camisole style, while the other was trimmed with lace. Just looking at them made her blush and her heart race.
The dress was very short too.
Because of her legs, Lin Luoluo had never worn short skirts before. Even when she wore a skirt, it always reached her ankles.
That was why Lin Luoluo was so shy.
Bai Chen, however, was perfectly calm about it, and even a little dissatisfied.
In the Underground City, people didn't ask much of their clothes. Basically, anything wearable would do.
So there really weren't many clothes that suited Bai Chen's tastes and could bring out a young girl's beauty.
In the clothing store just now, Bai Chen had even quickly sketched a JK uniform design on a piece of paper and handed it to the dumbfounded owner.
He had then paid a dozen or so silver coins to have the store custom-make it.
"Xiao Luoluo, you're so pretty. If you don't wear some pretty clothes, that lovely face and figure of yours will go to waste."
Bai Chen spoke as if it were only natural.
Looking at Lin Luoluo's petite, perfectly proportioned figure and her soft white hair, he automatically pictured her in all sorts of cute little dresses.
Lolita, for example.
Unfortunately, even if he could draw a design for clothes that complicated, he probably wouldn't find suitable materials in an Underground City clothing store.
It would have to wait!
Once they could enter the Upper City someday, Bai Chen would definitely find the best clothing store and have them make the most magnificent Lolita dress for Lin Luoluo to wear!
Amid the girl and the Slime's playful bickering, they finally returned to the familiar, shabby little alley.
Stopping in front of their weather-beaten door, Bai Chen extended another thin tentacle and knocked gently.
"Knock, knock, knock."
An irrepressible smile spread across Lin Luoluo's face.
"Chuchu will be so happy when she sees we bought new clothes and all this delicious food!"
Remembering how Lin Chuchu had looked at the meat with such longing last night, Bai Chen chimed in:
"Yes, yes, she'll be jumping for joy."
But more than ten seconds passed after Bai Chen knocked, and there was still no response from inside.
The smile on Lin Luoluo's face froze for a moment.
Bai Chen knocked on the door again, harder this time.
The result was the same.
A bad feeling welled up in both of them.
The color drained from Lin Luoluo's face in an instant, and her voice trembled.
"Oh no, Chuchu's illness... It couldn't have flared up again, could it?!"
Hearing that, Bai Chen hesitated no longer.
He curled up his thickest tentacle, aimed at the lock, and struck with all his might!
Crack!
The flimsy lock snapped.
He then wrapped a tentacle around the door and forcibly tore the whole thing from its frame.
Bang!
He tossed the heavy door aside, bringing the scene inside fully into view.
Lin Chuchu, slender and pale as a porcelain doll, lay motionless on the cold floor.
Beside her was an overturned chair. A cup of water on the table had also tipped over, and water was spreading across the floor.