What, I'm Supposed to Put Up with This?!

"That was a bit too much commotion. We don't need you hidden support people anymore." Wang Hai saw that Jiu Ming was about to continue and quickly waved him off. "Damn, you don't have to protect the students that much. The number of hidden support people is a little ridiculous..."

"A hundred or so isn't that many..."

"Sure, and if we add a few more, we'll be over two hundred." Wang Hai gave a soft snort. "You don't have to protect the students this much."

To be honest, when the camp commander saw the headcount, he'd been stunned for a while. What was this? Were the people guarding the perimeter incompetent, or were there just too many experts?

The higher-ups had some idea how many hidden support people there were, sure, but they'd never expected that gathering everyone for an opportunity like this and taking a quick headcount would produce such a ridiculous number!

And that wasn't even counting everyone.

Given how little people could be trusted to behave themselves, the higher-ups would probably have to discuss some measures to address this. There was no way to stamp it out completely; ordinary people had endless ways of doing things. Block this avenue, and who knew what even more absurd approach might crop up later?

Better to guide than to block...

And as for Wang Hai's mockery... Jiu Ming's mouth twitched. They seemed to have found plenty of people themselves.

"So, the reward... in full?"

"Dream on. We agreed beforehand on a tenth." Wang Hai's eyes widened. How could he say that with a straight face?!

"Oh? A tenth it is, then."

Anyway, Jiu Ming nodded so quickly that Wang Hai sensed something was off. Huh? Why wasn't he arguing? That fast an agreement was enough to make anyone uneasy.

People were just like that...

Jiu Ming couldn't exactly tell him that, because he'd accepted the commission, he'd accidentally spent three hours twiddling his thumbs, while nearly three days had passed in another world. He'd even made himself almost completely transparent, then come back and gone straight to sleep, staying out cold until after noon the next day!

Actually, it had been nearly a whole day spent twiddling his thumbs. When you put it that way, he hardly deserved even a tenth of the reward. Right, right—but then he remembered how he'd farmed the Snake King's aggro in the snake pit and led all the Thunder Snakes back, indirectly saving a considerable number of students.

He wanted to ask the teachers from the other academies whether they could show their appreciation, too.

Enough! He'd already gotten the benefit; no need to push his luck. Plenty of people had gotten themselves killed by being too greedy. If Jiu Ming tried that, his solo fight with the Thunder Snake King—and the highly unusual move of stealing the treasure before killing the boss—would definitely be exposed.

Afterward, a whole crowd would be watching him. The enormous value of two thousand 'Origin' had already cranked up Jiu Ming's mental activity by a whole level... Think racing heartbeat!

That Lightning Bead was something else. Jiu Ming had no idea whether detonating it outright in a fit of sheer madness would unleash the power of a nuclear bomb. Judging by its value, probably...

Mm... Just as expected, the Thunder Snake King had been taken down. When the group that had teamed up to fight the boss was getting ready to celebrate and loot the body, they were dismayed to find the item they'd been looking for had vanished.

Experts had already reached a conclusion based on what some people had described: that thing was the essence of the entire mining area. Finding a second one in a single mine would take a truly enormous deposit.

Otherwise, finding even one was a matter of luck.

So they'd all braced themselves for a fierce battle, only for the entire boss fight to go so smoothly it was baffling!

With their numerical advantage, the Thunder Snake King had been brought down before it could hold out for long. The few experts who'd come along with the regular forces hadn't even had a chance to act.

Where was that promised last-ditch burst of power?

Where was the Thunder Snake King using that Super Energy Crystal to go berserk?

It hadn't even let out a peep before it died!

And what about the promised boss-drop rewards? Those were gone too, right? They'd nearly come to blows over it, but fortunately, another kind-hearted expert had appraised the injuries on the Thunder Snake King's head. The wounds were at least two days old, right around the time that group of students had been rescued.

Which meant—what the hell, how was that possible?! How had that xxx, whoever they were, survived?

No, the real question was how the Thunder Snake King had survived. Plenty of people had seen what happened back then. That ridiculously huge ball of lightning had been erased just like that, and whoever stole the treasure hadn't even bothered to finish off the Snake King, leaving it for them to deal with?

At least they'd secured a high-energy crystal mine like this, so it wasn't a total loss.

Five high-energy crystals worth twenty Origin Points. After getting them from Wang Hai, Jiu Ming promptly converted them into Origin. They were useless to him—he didn't need them as batteries. If they'd been Mental System high-energy crystals, they'd have been useful, but ordinary ones were no good.

Mental System crystals were practically priceless because they were so rare. And although Jiu Ming's high-energy crystal was worth a mere thirty Origin Points, it was still of quite decent quality. Even one like this would fetch at least ten thousand on the market...

Most of the crystals in circulation were ordinary quality; there weren't many high-grade ones. As for rare-grade crystals, the Mysterious Shop would probably identify them as High-grade Spirit Stones?

Maybe middle-grade ones.

As for the 'Lightning Bead' in Jiu Ming's hands, he'd simply gotten lucky. At any other time, even if he'd gotten his hands on it, he wouldn't have survived. He could've taken it, but he wouldn't have lived to enjoy it.

Sitting on the sofa, Jiu Ming propped up his chin and stared at the 'Lightning Bead' beside him. It was a perfectly round orb, a deep purple, with tiny, crystal-clear streaks of lightning flashing through it from time to time.

The moment he held it, Jiu Ming felt something strange. His sensitivity to some kind of energy around him had suddenly risen to an incredible level. For someone as clueless about 'magic' as he was, that was practically a miracle!

And the thing that had made it happen was the Super Energy Crystal in his hand.

Hmm. If some xxx-plane fantasy-world lightning Archmage or Magic God came here and saw what he had, would they bankrupt themselves, grovel, and act cute just to buy it from him?

@Pikachu, Lei Zhenzi...

He'd suddenly gotten his hands on something so ridiculously powerful. Even if he squandered it and had the Mysterious Shop 'break it down', he'd still have enough to live comfortably for more than a year.

"Well, maybe I could take this and pass myself off as a Level 5 in Academy City... No, Level 4 shouldn't be a problem... Sigh."

Whenever Academy City came up, Jiu Ming's lips curled slightly. He'd asked Panel-kun more than once, but the answer was always the same: the Mysterious Shop only provided a way to travel when he accepted a commission. Want to travel on his own?

Sure! Once he was strong enough to break through the Plane Barrier, he could do whatever he wanted!

Breaking through the Plane Barrier? He could just imagine how hard that would be: like an ordinary ant trying to bite through a diamond.

It was flat-out impossible, wasn't it?!

No matter how outrageous his ideas were, without the power to back them up, there was nothing he could do. If only his dad's surname were Long!

It was almost the end of the month. After stretching, Jiu Ming stood up. He couldn't just sit around. But handing valuable things straight over to the Mysterious Shop still felt like too much of a loss. The more valuable the item, the worse it felt. The best way was to...

"Hello? What? You're short on money again?"

Seeing the familiar jumble of characters, Wang Hai answered the phone without hesitation this time. Jiu Ming's intentions were simple: he went straight to asking for money.

"The hideouts I told you about? The crackdown swept them all up the day before it started. If you need money, go to Changhe Academy and find Old Li. Helping with their research could get you some decent benefits."

"Forget it! I'm not desperate enough to sell myself!" Jiu Ming spat the words out and hung up without another thought. On the other end, Wang Hai shrugged at Li Rui Ming, indicating there was nothing he could do.

Sigh, should he go hunting?

There seemed to be plenty of powerful Exotic Beasts worth a lot. As for doing business...

With a high-energy crystal that valuable in his hands, Jiu Ming just couldn't bring himself to trade little odds and ends with 'ordinary people' for the time being.

Come on, bring me a big customer!!!

Crack!

"..."

Well, that was fast. How miraculous!

No, wait!

Jiu Ming had been ready with a welcoming smile, but the corner of his eye twitched. What could he say? This person had shown up dripping with killing intent and the smell of blood. Hey, please don't tell me you're another enemy who calls themself Hollow, like last time!

As for unwelcome guests, the last Hollow had died in such an environmentally friendly way that Jiu Ming hadn't even taken the morgue Panel-kun offered.

He wondered if he'd be just as environmentally friendly when he died.

Unexpectedly, the visitor with that fierce aura was a Blonde Girl with hair down to her waist. She wore a long robe that looked like a Taoist gown. It would've been even better without the bloodlust and the smell of blood; then he could've admired her for quite a while...

The moment the girl entered, she locked onto the only breathing person in the living room. The words Jiu Ming had been about to say caught in his throat. Ah! This one looked like a real big shot, too. He took a quick look at his remaining Origin Points. His invincibility was guaranteed, and more than thirty seconds of protection would be plenty of time for him to taunt her a dozen times before strolling out of the Mysterious Shop for a while.

The Mysterious Shop didn't restrict that. Still, if there were a customer inside, he couldn't stay away for more than six hours. After that, he'd have to come back and face whoever was still inside. To leave the Mysterious Shop again, he'd have to see the customer off, in every sense of the phrase.

Six hours... He doubted many people had that kind of patience.

Anyway, she looked like another unfriendly visitor. Unlike the last one, who looked like neither parent had loved them, this one was easy on the eyes... and even more deadly!

For instance, as soon as the girl saw the Super Energy Crystal in Jiu Ming's hand, she raised her hand and fired off a bolt of light made from some kind of energy without a word.

Smack!

Jiu Ming caught the bolt, forcibly crushed it, then put his hand back down beside him, beneath the table...

The passive defense wouldn't break the Mysterious Shop's protection mechanism. Whew... His hand had gone numb!

With his hand beneath the table, Jiu Ming gave it a couple of quick shakes and let out a breath. That move had felt awfully familiar!

Murder and robbery, huh!

Actually, if he could, Jiu Ming would've preferred to say they could sit down and talk it out. Looks determined your fate; strength decides the outcome. If she'd been ugly and about as strong as him, Jiu Ming would've grabbed a weapon and gone straight for her. No hesitation—just attack?!

What, was he supposed to put up with this?