Rewards

"I've long heard that this is a place where rats like to hang out. Seeing it for myself today, it's true—I could smell the stench you people give off from a mile away."

From the tail end of the gang that had abruptly barged in, a man in a black suit slowly stepped forward. His merciless, provocative words immediately ignited the anger of many patrons inside Haisha Bar.

"Oh? What's with those expressions? Do you think I said something wrong?" The man in black raised an eyebrow, looking at the nearest scavengers with utter contempt.

Alcohol already makes people hot-headed, and combined with the man's blatant dehumanization, two or three of the scavengers instantly turned red-eyed, grabbing their glasses and preparing to hurl them at him.

At this moment, the irony in the man's eyes grew thicker, tinged with disdain. He didn't care about their attack at all; in fact, this was exactly what he wanted.

As long as the bottles were thrown, it would mean Haisha Bar had initiated the violence, and then...

The dozen or so gang subordinates he brought with him were not to be trifled with.

It was clear that several Kalleva gang members had already aimed their dark gun barrels at the scavenger who had picked up the bottle, just waiting for him to take the bait.

The bottle was just about to be thrown.

Suddenly, a burly figure flashed by, grabbing the scavenger's wrist before the bottle could descend.

"Leave this to me." A deep, soothing voice followed.

The burly man who stopped the scavenger was none other than Brian, the owner of Haisha Bar, whom Liao Ji and the others had been standing near earlier.

He had completely shed his lecherous demeanor toward Irin, and his tipsy expression had vanished entirely.

Brian's authority was clearly high; the impulsive scavenger immediately calmed down and put away the bottle, feeling a lingering sense of fear. If he had let his temper get the better of him and thrown that bottle, he likely would have been carried out of here horizontally today.

"Everyone who isn't involved, please leave. Haisha Bar is closing early." Brian's booming voice echoed through the bar. Most of the patrons let out a long sigh of relief and hurried to escape this place of trouble.

If it were anyone else causing a scene, they might have put up a token resistance, but this was Kalleva—the largest gang that held absolute sway over the Black Cave Settlement. Even if they were called rats, they had to swallow their pride; after all, compared to saving face, their lives were more important.

As for the Kalleva gang, the man in black who led them merely snorted, a flash of regret crossing his eyes, but he did not stop them.

The number of people in the bar was rapidly dwindling. Liao Ji glanced at the girl beside him.

Irin remained motionless, staring nervously at the standoff between the gang and Brian at the entrance. Seeing the girl's intense focus, Liao Ji suspected that she had subconsciously filtered out the option of leaving.

After all, judging by how enthusiastically Irin had introduced this bar to him earlier, the girl likely considered this place her second home.

Fine.

Liao Ji didn't say anything more about it and turned his attention back to the scene.

"This is Viper's territory. Even though I'm not one of your Kalleva people, there's a basic rule that gang leaders shouldn't stir up trouble in each other's territory, right?"

Brian spoke calmly, trying to use reason and rules to suppress the man, but all he got in return was the man's mocking laughter.

"Yeah, that's right. But there's one exception: Viper is dead."

"You must be Brian, the leader of the rats here, right? To save us both some time, I'll be blunt. The idiot who used to protect you is gone because he was stupid, and now I am the new master of this area. So... you catch my drift?"

The man held up a hand and gestured at Brian. In the Black Cave Settlement, with the exception of a very small number of merchants backed by outside forces, almost all local shops were required to pay protection money to gangs, and Kalleva was the most rampant of them all.

"Haisha Bar has already paid for this month," Brian said in a low voice.

But the man shook his head: "You paid Viper, not me."

After a few seconds of silence, Brian gave a look to his subordinates. One of them immediately walked into the depths of the bar, and in less than half a minute, returned carrying a box.

"Take it and leave." Brian took the box and tossed it to the man's subordinate.

Irin breathed a slight sigh of relief at this sight. She felt Brian's forbearance was the right move; although they had to pay an extra month of protection money, at least it bought them safety from armed conflict.

But Liao Ji, standing beside the girl, shook his head inwardly. He felt that things weren't over yet. The black-clad leader had made such a grand entrance; he surely wanted more than just this.

The man merely glanced at the money box and held up three fingers toward Brian.

"What does that mean?"

"Your money isn't enough. I don't know what standard Viper set for you, but with me, if it's just a small box like this, you'll need to give me at least three more just like it."

As soon as the man in black said this, it was Brian's subordinates behind him who couldn't hold back anymore.

Judging by the man's words, he was demanding four times the protection money. What kind of concept was that? One box contained about five thousand Ash Coins; if they accepted this, they would have to hand over a full twenty thousand Ash Coins every month!

Haisha Bar's monthly revenue wasn't even twenty thousand, let alone the profit—most of the time they didn't even clear ten thousand. This wasn't just robbery; this was nakedly demanding their lives!

The members of Haisha Bar were immediately filled with righteous indignation. While cursing, some of the more radical ones even pulled out their weapons.

The tension in the bar soared, and the situation was on the verge of spiraling out of control.

"Put your guns down, all of you!" Brian's roar once again suppressed the situation.

Seeing that several of his men were still fuming and hadn't lowered their weapons, Brian emphasized his tone, biting out each word: "Put the guns down."

"But, Boss..."

"Is my word no longer good enough? Put them down!"

Finally, with expressions of deep resentment, everyone from Haisha Bar lowered their guns. After this, Brian said in an extremely calm voice:

"Wood, bring three more boxes."

Clap, clap, clap.

The man in black, who had been watching the entire scene, began to clap. Even he had to admire Brian's restraint, though to the people of Haisha Bar, the applause sounded incredibly mocking.

Irin clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

The girl's inner thoughts were actually the same as the vast majority of people in the bar: she was hot-headed and wanted to fight these overbearing gangsters to the death.

But perhaps because of the half-day she had spent with Liao Ji, Irin's reason quickly told her that Brian's approach was actually the most correct one.

The other side had clearly come prepared; no one knew if there were ambushes waiting outside the bar. If a fight really broke out, the unprepared Haisha Bar would inevitably be the losing side. By then, it wouldn't be a matter of how much protection money they collected, but rather the other side openly seizing the place for themselves.

Of course, there was another way to win right now.

That was her.

Herself.

She had become a Corrupted, and her previous experience dealing with Kobolds in the Relic Cave had given Irin a full understanding of her now-transformed, powerful combat capabilities.

If she joined the fight, Irin felt they would definitely win, but... then what? The opponents were not the clumsy Kobolds with nothing but brute force from before, and she couldn't guarantee she could protect everyone else amidst a hail of bullets. Even if they won, the casualties would be immense. Irin knew very well that the brothers in her Haisha Bar were no longer just scavengers; they had families, wives, and children. If they lost their lives here, what would happen to their families? And what about the subsequent retaliation from Kalleva?

As for the final reason, the one that made Irin give up completely, it was...

Liao Ji.

The young man beside her had absolutely nothing to do with this. She couldn't drag Liao Ji into this incident just because of her own impulsiveness. Theoretically, she was the young man's bodyguard; how could a bodyguard disregard their employer's safety and instead actively create enemies for them?

Moreover, given the current "contract" situation, it was less like the young man was her "employer" and more like he was her "master."

Based on her understanding of Liao Ji, Irin was certain that even if she wanted to stand up for Haisha Bar, the young man would immediately strip her of control over her own body.

Thinking of this, the girl subconsciously looked in Liao Ji's direction.

And to Irin's surprise.

She happened to lock eyes with the young man. It turned out that he had been staring at her the entire time.

"You..." Irin was speechless.

"You performed well, Miss Irin. I thought you were just going to lose your head and charge in."

Liao Ji's praise here was sincere.

He had prepared two contingency plans. If the girl hadn't communicated with him at all and had ignored him to charge in on her own, Liao Ji would have restrained Irin without hesitation and considered changing how he interacted with her afterward.

As his only Corrupted combat asset, Liao Ji's requirements for the girl were simple and singular: she had to put him in the first tier of her priorities from the bottom of her heart and recognize her position as a "subordinate."

Liao Ji could tolerate Irin's various shortcomings and bad habits in daily life, but he could not tolerate someone who didn't keep him in mind—a subordinate who disregarded their "boss."

Fortunately.

The unpleasant scene did not occur. Liao Ji didn't need Irin to explain much; that one glance the girl gave him when she turned back already said enough. For Liao Ji, that was enough.

After all, by any calculation, they had only been together for less than half a day.

It seems the efficiency of my favor-building earlier was quite high.

After muttering this to himself in his heart.

Liao Ji took the initiative to speak. He had mentioned earlier that he had prepared two plans, and now was the time for the second one.

"Miss Irin, in light of your improved performance, I think I should reward you."

"So."

"Whatever you want to do, go ahead and do it."

W-what!

Irin's expression turned to shock; she couldn't believe her ears. Because the impression Liao Ji had given her before was always that of someone very calculating and extremely cautious—in their scavenger slang, a "Voldemort." Yet now, the guy had suddenly transformed from a scheming mastermind into a hot-blooded warrior?

Seeming to read the girl's mind.

Liao Ji said, slightly speechless: "I just hate trouble. But if trouble comes knocking on my door, I don't mind turning them into experience points. As it happens, I'm quite short on those."

E-experience points?

What does that mean?

Irin's brain couldn't process the term, but it was quickly pushed to the back of her mind by the girl's excitement. She felt a heat rising through her body—a sense of satisfaction after being stifled for so long, finally being able to let it all out. Irin still had one last concern.

"But, but they have guns, and there are so many of them. I'm afraid the others will..."

"Miss Irin, they do have a lot of guns, but don't forget what you have. You possess the legendary 'Legacy,' after all." Liao Ji interrupted the girl directly.

The young man's words seemed to have a magical quality, giving Irin unparalleled confidence and dispelling her final worries.

The dormant Corrupt Calamity power within the girl began to stir, and waves of power belonging to a Corrupted surged forth like a tide.

A faint dark red began to flash in the girl's eyes, and the contract crest on the back of her neck glowed with a ghostly light.

"I understand!!"

Previously, both the gangsters and the bar patrons had their attention focused on the hall at the entrance, so they hadn't noticed that there were two "outsiders" still present in the back.

But as Irin began to walk step by step, the crisp clack-clack of her high heels against the floor sounded exceptionally loud in the empty bar, instantly drawing the gaze of everyone present.

Watching the girl's back as she became the center of attention, Liao Ji, standing behind her, didn't forget to add one last instruction.

"Oh, right. Remember, if you can kill them, try not to leave any survivors."