"No need. Ten million Credit Points was the price we agreed on."

King Arthur was willing to give a refund, but Lin Qi couldn’t accept it.

Five million Credit Points was enough to make Lin Qi feel the sting, but it was worth it.

King Arthur instantly replied to Lin Qi’s message: "Okay, no take-backs!"

In reality, King Arthur needed the Credit Points more than Lin Qi did.

The Wizard Profession only had a demand for Extraordinary Items, and things like Extraordinary Items couldn’t be bought even with money.

The most Lin Qi spent Credit Points on was purchasing equipment and modifying his Prosthetic Body into an Exoskeleton for disguise.

His second-biggest expense was buying things to take to the Doomsday World.

He still had over ten million Credit Points left in his account, which was more than enough.

After replying to King Arthur, Lin Qi’s inbox suddenly pinged with an email from the company.

[To all employees of Liu’s Heavy Industries (Greenfield City Branch): Please clear out your personal belongings before 6:00 a.m. on March 11, 2089, and arrive at the Red and Green Platform before 6:20 a.m. Effective immediately, Liu’s Heavy Industries is closing the Greenfield City branch. All employees will be transferred to the Red Fruit City headquarters.]

The arrival of this email officially announced the end of the crisis in Greenfield City.

Only then did Lin Qi turn his attention to Liu Xuan.

He saw Liu Xuan operating the company’s system, issuing one command after another.

The Iron Curtain had been withdrawn, and King Arthur was also preparing to leave.

Lin Qi sent a message to King Arthur: "Don’t be in a hurry to leave. Stay another hour. I paid for it."

Down in the pipes, King Arthur, who was not even 1.6 meters tall, pulled back the leg she had just started to extend.

’Alright then. The Wizard is the client now, and a freelance Mercenary has to follow the client’s orders.’

’Ten million Credit Points to stay in a sewer for an extra hour.’

’This is a good deal!’

’Besides, I’ve gotten used to the sewer environment long ago.’

King Arthur began to console herself.

Perhaps because the moment she could finally leave the sewer was drawing near, King Arthur suddenly smelled an overwhelming stench.

’Dammit!’

’I was so sure I’d gotten used to it!’

’Why can I smell it again?’

’Agony!’

’Utter agony!’

During that hour, King Arthur felt as if every second was a year, constantly checking the time.

’How has it only been three minutes?’

’I really want to run!’

’But ten million...’

’Just endure it a little longer.’

’Has enough time passed yet?’

’How is it only six minutes?!’

’Damn it all!’

’Why can’t the Si Clan maintain their sewers properly?’

’How can a Cyber City’s sewer smell this bad?’

’Does this even meet the Big Business Alliance’s construction standards for a Cyber City?’

’Why does a sewer have to have sewage in it?!’

’How long has it been?’

’Only ten goddamn minutes?’

’I... @#$%!’

The more King Arthur thought about it, the more wronged she felt.

The thought of how she had "only" stolen a single S-Class Potion, yet had been trapped in Greenfield City for so long she was practically becoming a sewer rat, made King Arthur want to cry.

Her long-suppressed frustration erupted in that moment.

For no apparent reason, tears started to stream down her face.

In the adjacent pipe, Lin Qi, still wary of a follow-up attack from the Si Clan, activated his Spiritual Vision and scanned the area for any new enemies.

But then he suddenly noticed King Arthur’s body twitching in the next pipe over.

He shifted his focus and took a closer look.

’Holy crap!’

’The mighty Tier Three Top Knight, with forty percent of her body replaced by prosthetics, the 1.58-meter-tall, blonde King Arthur... was crying in a sewer?’

’What’s going on?’

’Feeling wronged?’

’I paid a full ten million Credit Points!’

’Just to have her stay in the sewer for one extra hour.’

’That’s ten million for an extra hour on the clock!’

’If I were more frugal, that’s enough to build a top-of-the-line, full-body A-Class Implanter.’

Lin Qi couldn’t figure it out, so he decided not to dwell on it.

’So what if she’s crying?’

’She still has to finish her shift this last hour.’

Expanding his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi glanced at Liu Xuan again.

He saw the purple light in Liu Xuan’s prosthetic left eye fade from a dim glow to complete darkness.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Lin Qi felt as though Liu Xuan had smiled.

He shook his head, looked away, and continued to scan his surroundings.

But the moment Lin Qi looked away, Liu Xuan glanced in his direction, her gaze piercing through the layers of flooring that separated them.

Her smile became more pronounced.

In Liu Xuan’s own field of vision, a notification from her Suppressor appeared.

[S-Class Suppressor Current Power: 0%]

[Your mental state is stabilizing. A lower-level Suppressor is recommended.]

Liu Xuan retracted her gaze and returned to her work.

...

「Inside the sewer system.」

The metal armor on King Arthur’s shoulders retracted, and she rubbed her eyes against her shoulder.

Her arms were metal prosthetics and would have hurt her eyes.

But the joint connecting them to her shoulder was still organic—the perfect spot to wipe away tears.

She glanced at the time. Fifty-seven minutes had passed.

’Just three minutes left!’

After suffering for so long, she was finally about to leave this damn sewer.

Taking out her bracelet, King Arthur nervously stared at the text on it.

She seemed to be worried that the Wizard would ask her to stay for another hour.

After all, for ten million Credit Points, it would have been reasonable for him to add not just one, but even ten more hours to the clock.

Watching the time, she saw it hit the one-hour mark exactly.

The Wizard hadn’t sent any new messages.

King Arthur didn’t rush. Instead, she waited an extra minute.

Then, she immediately took out her bracelet and sent a message to Lin Qi: "Wizard, can I go now?"

His bracelet vibrated. Lin Qi saw King Arthur’s message.

He replied: "Of course. It was a pleasure working with you."

Seeing this message, King Arthur felt as if she had been granted a pardon.

She found the fastest route and left the damn sewer system as quickly as she could.

’Goodbye, Greenfield City!’

’Goodbye, sewer!’

’No!’

’Good riddance!’

’Sewer!’

The great King Arthur had finally left the sewer system that had trapped her for nearly half a month.

From now on, the sky was the limit!

King Arthur took stock of her gains from the trip to Greenfield City.

One S-Class Potion, over sixty million Credit Points, and the Wizard still owed her several new types of M-level Potions.

She sucked in a sharp breath.

When she calculated it all, those ten-odd days in the sewer seemed quite worth it.

With such a haul, King Arthur was very confident she could break through to become a Tier Four Knight.

"Time to start preparing. It’s all or nothing now."

Having escaped the sewer system, King Arthur wiped away the last traces of tears from her eyes.

However, the smell clinging to her body would not fade so easily.

But thanks to her change in mindset, King Arthur no longer felt wronged.

Instead, she had a new thought: ’This isn’t the rotten stench of a sewer. This is a Knight’s medal of honor for completing a mission.’

...

Lin Qi didn’t have so many thoughts.

After confirming that Liu Xuan was no longer in danger, Lin Qi also left the sewer system.

He returned to the Liu’s Heavy Industries senior employee apartments at top speed.

The Credit Points in his account were still rapidly decreasing.

Guang Ling’s deduction method was very particular.

It charged by the second!

There was no tyrannical clause that rounded up to the nearest hour.

As for the deduction rate?

Credit Points per second!

Guang Ling had rounded up when calculating the charges!