Chapter 97

Chapter 98: After Careful Thought, I’m Going to Make a Decision That Breaks Tradition

According to the System, the fourth Thunder Lion boss found the remains of its kind while patrolling its territory and noticed they all died the same way. When Qian Qi chased it, it decided she was probably the lion slayer behind it all. Because of that, it left a warning in its den, so the fifth and sixth Thunder Lions bolted the moment they saw Qian Qi after reading the message carved on the stone wall.

Qian Qi shut off the Light-Brain and smashed the mural while cursing: “What’s the point of a Magibeast being this smart? It still can’t get a wife!” The System was baffled: “???” Then it protested: “Hey, insult the beast if you want, but don’t go after its body!”

Qian Qi pulled a long face and grumbled: “The worst part is, my fearsome name only spreads inside this Dungeon, and only among Thunder Lions. Once I leave, Thunder Lions in other Dungeons won’t even know who I am!” [I truly hope that in every Dungeon, any Thunder Lion who sees me will turn and run. No, better yet, I want them to panic just from seeing my portrait and get the runs.] [Now that would be real prestige.] [Humans would worship me and scramble to join the Qian Sect to bring me incense money!] The System was speechless again: “???”

She planted her fists on her hips and declared with a firm little face: “I’ve got it! After careful thought, I’m going to make a decision that breaks tradition!”

The System asked, wary now: “What are you trying to do?”

Qian Qi’s lips curled in a sly, shady smile as she drawled: “Hehe, what else could I do? I’m just so pure and innocent…”

With the System’s directions, Qian Qi quickly found the Thunder Lion boss and took it down in a flash.

While the Strength Buff was flowing into her, a question struck her, so she asked: “Hey, System baby, if a Dungeon boss dies to something nonhuman… like another Magibeast kills it, or it starves, or it eats a Magiplant and dies from poisoning, what happens then?” The System answered calmly: “After a cooldown, a new Dungeon boss respawns.”

She kept going: “Then if I put a bomb in the Dungeon boss’s belly and blow it up, do I still get the Dungeon reward?” The System replied: “Yes.”

She pushed one more step: “What if, I mean suppose, I put a bomb inside a Thunder Lion, then trigger it from outside the Dungeon with remote control so it dies. Would the Dungeon still count the reward for me?” The System froze: “???” It opened its mouth, then remembered it had no mouth, and popped up a (????) face on the panel.

“System?” Qian Qi rubbed her hands, eyes bright with hope.

After a long pause, the System muttered: “You can try.”

“You don’t actually know, do you?” She narrowed her eyes at it, full of doubt.

“How could I not!” the System snapped. “I mean, don’t ask me every single question. Learn to solve problems on your own!”

Qian Qi stared at it, suspicious: “Really?”

The System huffed: “Mm!”

“Fine then,” Qian Qi said, picking up the Lightning Horn reward. “So, have you picked an E level Dungeon for me to clear?”

“All set. Just waiting for you to transfer the money.”

Qian Qi snorted softly and sent over 2 million. The System immediately sent her the address and the Dungeon’s name.

“Huh? Xia City?” Qian Qi squinted at the address, then gave a sneaky little laugh: “What a coincidence.”

“Looks like before we head to the Dungeon, we should visit an old friend,” she said as she slung on her little backpack, hopped on a kids scooter, and zipped toward the Dungeon exit.

Xia City.

Xia City was a very lively place. It didn’t have as many Awakeners as Yan City, which even had an Awakener university, but it was home to lots of rich folks, and rich folks always had Awakener bodyguards.

Before entering the Dungeon, Qian Qi made a stop and wandered around like a jobless street punk. Outside a flower shop, she bent down and sniffed the roses and muttered: “That kid has been pretty well behaved lately. Why hasn’t he come to bother me? Mmm, smells great. When he stops making a fuss, I get nervous. Feels like something’s missing.” Then she admitted with a grin: “Thinking it over, I guess I miss the thrill.”

The System gave her a look that said it didn’t know what to do with this little weirdo, then glanced across the street at the Chen Group and said: “Maybe he hasn’t been that well behaved.”

“Oh?” Qian Qi’s eyes lit up. “You know something? Hurry and tell me.”

“I don’t want to talk,” the System said, chuckling dryly to settle an old score for the times she wouldn’t let it talk.

“Come on, don’t be so stingy,” Qian Qi said. She shamelessly got some coins from the flower shop owner and stuffed them into the System’s mouth.

The System resisted at first, but Qian Qi was too enthusiastic. In the end it primly smacked twice and swallowed. Then, like the village’s queen of gossip, it rattled off, excited: “The Hemostatic Formula and the Defense Fruit Cultivation Method you left on your Light-Brain were hacked and stolen by him. He’s been quietly buying Magiplant fruits and hiring small growers to plant Magiplants. By my count, he’s about to start making Hemostasis Potion.”

“Tsk tsk,” Qian Qi said, shaking her head. “He even hired a hacker. That’s so high end. But why bother? The best business tricks are usually the simplest and shameless ones. If he wanted Hemostasis Potion, he could have just hired someone to steal my Light-Brain. Why spend money on a hacker?” [I even made it easy for him on purpose. No boot password, no file encryption. What a waste of my kind heart.]

“This kid cares too much about his spotless image,” she sighed. “No, I need to teach him a lesson.”

She spun and walked into the building, found the main power switch for Chen Group on the 15th floor, flipped it off, and sprinted away.

“Hahahahaha!” Qian Qi ran like a bandit, laughing like one too.

The System groaned: “You are so childish.”

After she left, Chen Group fell into chaos, but the mess didn’t reach one particular office. There, Chen Tong had his whole body pressed against the floor to ceiling window, staring down at the small figure racing away.

It was her. No question about it.

“Qian Qi! How is she here?” He couldn’t hide his excitement. He was already planning to have her killed. He never expected to see her right at his doorstep.

Now that he had the recipe and the growing method, he didn’t need Qian Qi anymore. One seller of Hemostasis Potion and Defense Fruit in this world was enough, and that person would be him.

“See that? It’s her,” Chen Tong said, yanking over a D level Awakener and pointing out Qian Qi’s tiny shape below. “Kill her. When it’s done, I’ll transfer the remaining 20 million to your card.”

“No problem,” said the D level Awakener, Li Hai Sheng. He glanced down at Qian Qi, small as a soybean, and gave an evil little chuckle: “She’s just an ordinary person. Crushing her will be as easy as crushing an ant.”

“Do not get careless,” Chen Tong warned. “She might have a bunch of Defense Fruits. Each one can resist D level damage for ten minutes. You cannot let her swallow one.”

“Got it, got it,” Li Hai Sheng said, impatient, clearly thinking Chen Tong was making a big fuss over nothing.

“No. You don’t get it.” Seeing Li Hai Sheng shrug it off, Chen Tong snapped. He gripped the man’s shoulder and roared: “She’s a crafty one. Do not underestimate her. Got it? And do not let her con you out of money. If she tries to flip you, remember this: she can’t pay double, and she might even scam you out of the deposit. Do not fall for it. Do not talk to her. Kill her on the spot!”

“Do not speak with her. Do not give her a chance to open her mouth!”

His voice was harsh and twisted. It was obvious that some old shadow Qian Qi left in him still hadn’t faded. He wasn’t just worried about losing the 200,000 deposit if Li Hai Sheng died. He was even more afraid that, right before dying, Li Hai Sheng would let Qian Qi talk him into handing over that 200,000 too.

He would rather Li Hai Sheng die for nothing than let Qian Qi get a single cent. [If Qian Qi knew his mindset right now, she would give Classmate Chen Tong a thumbs up for mastering the art of being cheap. Truly worthy of praise.]

Seeing Chen Tong go half mad, Li Hai Sheng shrugged: “Fine. I’ll kill her before she can say a word.”