As the potion went down his throat, it dissolved instantly in his stomach acid, and a surge of replenishing energy began flowing from his stomach throughout his body.
Lu Qiming carefully gauged its effects. As expected of a top-tier potion, it restored about ten points of his Magic Power per minute. He had over 180 points, so it would take about twenty minutes to fully recover.
With these potions, as long as he had enough stamina, he could keep Musou activated without any trouble.
And with stamina recovery and healing potions whose effects were just as good as the Mana Recovery Potion, he felt even more confident about completing his mission on the expedition.
"I'll take all these potions. How much are they?"
"Adventurer, a bottle of Top-tier Mana Recovery Potion costs 150,000 Valis. The stamina and healing potions are 100,000 Valis each. How many bottles of each would you like?"
Lu Qiming calculated how much Valis he had left. Aside from the million Valis he'd had on the first day, the remaining eighty million had all gone to Aili and the Strongman Adventurer Party. He hadn't kept a single coin for himself.
"Adventurer?"
The Pallum attendant looked at Lu Qiming in confusion. He'd seemed like money was no object just moments ago, so why had he suddenly gone quiet?
"Uh, give me three bottles of the Top-tier Mana Recovery Potion, and two each of the stamina recovery and healing potions."
"Certainly."
The Pallum attendant took seven potions from the tray and handed them to Lu Qiming, then smiled at him.
"Here. That'll be one million Valis." (Including the bottle he just drank, in case anyone wants to nitpick.)
Lu Qiming took one hundred Valis coins from the small pouch at his waist and handed them to her. Then he turned and hurried out of the potion shop. He had to run!
He'd originally planned to buy a few hundred bottles of each, but he'd forgotten to return all the Valis he'd earned yesterday to Big Sis Tiya. And he couldn't exactly run back and ask her to give it to him again.
Still, these potions would be enough. His Magic Power already recovered quickly, and with these potions, he'd be more than set!
Outside Babel Tower.
Lu Qiming glanced up at the sun, estimated the time, and headed straight for the Hostess of Fertility. He was truly broke now, so he might as well go mooch a meal from the Loki Familia.
An hour later, following directions from passersby, Lu Qiming arrived at the Hostess of Fertility.
"Thank you. Not only did you give me money, you even went out of your way to escort me to my destination."
"Not at all! You're too kind, sir."
A shifty-eyed man bowed obsequiously, forcing a smile despite his trembling legs.
"All right, you can go. You're welcome to try robbing me again next time."
If you live long enough.
Lu Qiming smiled and pushed open the door of the Hostess of Fertility. On his way there, he'd been cornered in an alley by that man and his companions. Maybe it was because his sixteen-year-old face looked too harmless.
He'd learned that they were adventurers who made their living robbing ordinary people. When they came across an attractive boy or girl, they didn't just rob them—they also assaulted them, then sold them to the Pleasure District in Orario.
There was nothing more to say. One punch, one exploding head. Using Divine Judgment on them would have been an insult to the skill.
Meanwhile, after getting Lu Qiming's permission, the sleazy man turned and ran toward a nearby alley, cursing him as he went. The guy was so powerful, so why pretend to be some harmless ordinary person?
When he'd first spotted Lu Qiming, he'd thought he could rob him and have some fun, too. He hadn't expected the harmless little lamb to suddenly shed its wool and throw a punch at his companions from a distance. In an instant, everyone but him had been blown into a mess of bloody flesh.
Thinking of his companions' heads bursting like fireworks made the sleazy man shudder.
Then he noticed something was wrong with his body. A strange energy was surging inside him.
"Bastard! You said you'd let me go!"
Bang!
His head exploded, blood and flesh flying everywhere. His headless body toppled helplessly into the nearby sewer.
Inside the Hostess of Fertility, Lu Qiming heard the system's notification. When his mission count went up by one, he grinned and walked toward the noisiest table nearby.
"Hey, Finn, I'm here."
"You're here. Sit down. I'll introduce you to everyone."
Lu Qiming nodded and sat beside Riveria, who greeted him with a smile.
Tiona leaned in close and sniffed him like a puppy.
"Blood. Human blood, too. Qiming, did you kill someone just now?"
Tiona looked at Lu Qiming curiously.
"Yeah. I ran into a few scumbag adventurers on the way here and dealt with them."
Lu Qiming briefly explained what had happened to Finn and the others.
"Qiming, next time something like that happens, bring me along! I want in!"
After hearing his story, Tiona waved her little fists. She hated adventurers like that. They could make a living hunting monsters, but instead they preyed on people. It was unforgivable!
"I don't think there'll be many chances, unless we bring that girl over there."
As time passed, his name would spread throughout Orario. Once that happened, scumbags like those would run the moment they saw him. Why would they ever approach him? Besides, Tiona was already a famous adventurer.
But the elf beside them, who looked so gentle and timid, like she was just begging to be bullied, might still attract their attention.
"Yoshi! Lefiya, you're coming with us next time!"
Tiona threw her arms around the timid elf and laughed.
"All right, stop fooling around."
Finn spoke up to stop Tiona. Their top priority now was tomorrow's expedition. Still, he had no intention of objecting to clearing out the scumbags of Orario.
He just wouldn't take part himself. As captain of the Loki Familia, getting involved would be tantamount to declaring war on the Familias behind those scumbag adventurers. But there was no problem with Tiona and Lu Qiming going after them.
Lu Qiming hadn't joined a Familia yet, and he was one of the strongest adventurers in Orario. Even if those Familias found out, there wasn't much they could do about him. And the gods wouldn't get involved, either.
Not unless the gods behind those Familias planned to return to the Divine Realm.
Just then, Loki stood up and raised her glass.
"Everyone, tonight is our send-off feast for the Dungeon expedition. Enough talk about all that—drink up!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's drink!"
The group put the earlier incident behind them and started celebrating.
An hour later, everyone was thoroughly drunk. Tiona and Loki were especially bad. As the night went on, they kept grabbing at the chests of the women present, kneading them with jealous expressions.
They shouted that it wasn't fair, while Tiona hugged her older sister and complained that even though they were twins, her sister's breasts were so big, while hers were as flat as a stretch of ground ravaged by Dungeon monsters.
In the end, Finn had to stop the two drunken troublemakers. After Tione apologized to Lu Qiming, the group agreed on a time to meet the next morning and left the Hostess of Fertility.
Lu Qiming also returned to Big Sis Tiya's tea shop, where he chatted with the four lovely young women again.
Before you continue