Chapter 106

Chapter 107: Who Is More Ruthless?

Typing on the light-brain, Qian Qi answered with a casual “Oh,” then asked, curious: “How did you do it? Did you give him a big whack to the back of the head and smash him?”

The System fell silent, then huffed: “Yes. Gave him a big whack. Beat him to death.”

She nodded with approval: “Good thinking. The dungeon was cleared. Someone might have gone in and rescued him, which would cause trouble.”

The System wriggled, pleased: “Hmph. Naturally.”

It rolled around on the bed, happy she didn’t scold it for meddling. It also liked that her heart wasn’t snow white. This world was like a demon cave. If she wasn’t tough, endless problems and death would wait to catch the weak version of her. Her mix of kindness and hardness would let her survive here without being too miserable or too cruel.

The System was happy, but as Qian Qi kept typing to fool Chen Tong, she felt a bit of regret.

It was a pity. She had wanted to leave the wounded Li Hai Sheng in the dungeon so his blood would draw magibeasts. Magibeasts would come one after another, wearing him down a little at a time. Just when he thought he was safe, new danger would appear. Cold, hungry, and desperate, he would finally die in their jaws. Or he would have to watch his own flesh get eaten piece by piece until only a lonely skeleton was left.

[Tsk. That scene would have been beautiful… oh wait, I mean, pitiful.]

She shook her head, disappointed, and kept messaging Chen Tong.

Sea King Great Sage said: “Do you know why the Three-headed Thunder Lion’s Lightning Horns are so expensive?”

Chen Tong (Not Grieving) said: “Why?”

Sea King Great Sage said: “Because I hid all the thunder lions inside First Cloud Mountain Dungeon. I only pulled off their horns. If they don’t die, the dungeon will never spawn new thunder lions.”

Sea King Great Sage said: “The dungeon is a dark canyon thousands of meters deep. Find where I hid them? Dream on.”

Chen Tong stared at the chat, shocked. This Li Hai Sheng was this cunning?

He paced, torn. As a magibeast student, he knew the Three-headed Thunder Lion hadn’t appeared on the market yet. If First Cloud Mountain Dungeon was the only place with them, he might be forced to buy the horns from Li Hai Sheng.

“Darn it, next time I can’t hire such a sharp awakener,” he thought, frowning. “He dared to ask sky-high prices. The last one who tricked me out of money was that rotten Qian Qi.”

At the name Qian Qi, he felt love and hate. He loved that she had things that could change his family’s place in the world. He hated how cheap she was, always bringing him endless humiliation, and always openly taking his money.

He made up his mind: “I’ll buy all the Lightning Horns.”

Sea King Great Sage said: “Transfer the money. I’ll pack them and ship them.”

With that, Qian Qi logged off. She opened the real estate market, saw local prices had gone up more than a hundred times, and cheerfully put the cheap houses she had bought earlier into the Auction tab. Fixed prices were boring. She liked highest bidder wins.

News that First Cloud Mountain Dungeon was cleared soon caught the top people’s attention.

In a Dungeon Association meeting room, several higher-ups sat in wooden chairs, heatedly arguing about the real rank of First Cloud Mountain and its first conqueror.

One said: “It’s definitely C rank or higher. We sent two C rank Awakening Warriors in before. Neither ever came back.”

Another added: “It’s been over twenty years. No one knows how strong the magibeasts inside have grown.”

A third asked: “If it’s really C rank, what level of awakener could clear it alone?”

Someone guessed: “B rank.”

Another replied: “All B ranks in the country are on file. We reached out. No one claims it.”

A third mused: “The A ranks are well known. If one of them cleared a dungeon, they’d tell us. Since no one did, there’s only one answer left.”

They all looked toward the white-robed elder at the head of the table. “President, what do you think?”

He folded his hands: “Likely a new B rank awakener. What about the onsite surveillance?”

A staffer said: “Some footage from the day before and after was deleted. We’re trying to restore it, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Deleted footage means the person came prepared and didn’t want to expose their identity,” the elder murmured, eyes narrowed.

Just then, a higher-up checked his messages, shot to his feet, and blurted: “Someone says you need a parachute to enter First Cloud Mountain Dungeon.”

“What?” the others stared. “What does that mean?”

He pulled up the Dungeon Forum and projected it on the table: “Looks like people have already gone in, but they haven’t come back out.”

When a dungeon is cleared, before the boss refreshes you can go in and out freely. If people went in and didn’t return, there were only two answers.

Either they died.

Or they couldn’t get back to the entrance.

The white-robed elder studied the projection and asked: “Who is this ‘My Ex Took the Cash and Ran’?”

The higher-ups looked. That user was the one warning people to bring parachutes.

Someone whispered: “President, do you think it’s him? Only someone who has been inside would know. This warning proves he’s the one who cleared it.”

Another disagreed: “Not necessarily. Could be for attention. Failing to reach the entrance doesn’t have to mean high altitude. It could be, um, spatial transfer?”

A third snorted: “Spatial transfer is too far-fetched. High altitude is more likely.”

The President ignored the debate and asked his secretary: “Can we identify the user?”

The secretary typed and shook her head: “Burner account. No real-name. No location.”

“Contact the nearby military,” the elder said as he stood and left the room. “Have them send in a flight team. Try it and we’ll know.”

Qian Qi went back to the orphanage and entered the backyard dungeon. Since every known dungeon had its own name, she named this one the Vegetable Garden Dungeon.

With the thunder lion warning mural gone, she easily killed the new thunder lion boss again and picked up another Strength buff and a Lightning Horn. This time she didn’t punch its head. She blew Poison Miasma at it until it passed out, rolled up her sleeves, and used the D-rank telescoping blade she looted from Li Hai Sheng to stab the thunder lion’s heart and end its life.

Back on the plains, she tended the healthy tomatoes and green onions, then left the dungeon and went to find Kid A.

She spread her arms, proud: “Look. I’m squeaky clean this time. Not a speck of grime on me.”

Kid A gave her a look: “Isn’t that what any nineteen-year-old adult should already do? You just managed it now, and you’re proud?”

Qian Qi went quiet.

She decided not to make pork dumplings tonight. She would make Chinese toon buns, the thing Kid A hated most.