Once the corps leaders came to their senses, they had to suppress their joy and start asking Lin Xinghai for information about Guanghan City.

After all, even with the army accompanying them, a place like Guanghan City was still incredibly dangerous. Everyone was eager to gather more information and make thorough preparations.

The information about Guanghan City wasn’t exactly a secret, so after a moment’s thought, Lin Xinghai released the video of their exploration mission. This would allow the other Mercenary Corps to be better prepared.

At this point, Lin Xinghai felt he had done everything that needed to be done. After introducing Liu Miaomiao to a few people, he prepared to take his leave. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

All in all, he had only been in the bar for half an hour.

Many people wanted to ask Lin Xinghai to stay when they saw he was leaving. However, they were afraid of disturbing the couple’s time together and getting on his bad side. They could only sigh to themselves as they respectfully saw the two off.

It was already 4:00 p.m. by the time they left the Mercenary Guild.

Liu Miaomiao glanced at the time and asked, her voice full of excitement and anticipation, "Do you have anything to do next?"

"No. What’s up?" Lin Xinghai asked, a little puzzled by her expression.

"Didn’t you see the notification? The bonus from the Mercenary Corps came through. My treat today! Let’s get Wang Yao and the others and go for a feast," Liu Miaomiao declared, puffing out her chest like a new millionaire.

Her expression made Lin Xinghai chuckle. He pulled up his wrist-mounted computer and saw that he had indeed received a notification. Two of them, actually.

One was a notification that his Points had been credited, while the other, surprisingly, was from Elder Wei.

Elder Wei had stated clearly that after discussions among the leadership, they had approved the operational plan he proposed. He also thanked him on behalf of the Shelter.

At the end, Elder Wei had even added a final sentence: "It’s a shame you’re leaving in a month, kid. Otherwise, once you break through to the Blood Qi Realm, I’d really want to hand the Mercenary Guild over to you."

Lin Xinghai was speechless as he read the last message. He never expected Elder Wei to hold him in such high regard.

But Lin Xinghai knew full well he couldn’t stay at the Star Shield Shelter forever. If for no other reason, he was determined to go to the East Sea Base and participate in the selection just to obtain the Divine Demon Body Cultivation Technique.

"Ah Xing, what’s wrong?" Liu Miaomiao asked, her curiosity piqued by the change in his expression.

"It’s nothing." Lin Xinghai shook his head, changing the subject. "By the way, how many Points did you get for your bonus?"

"1,530 Points! And that’s just the bonus. I never imagined Mercenaries could earn so much. I’m just a rookie. How much must the veteran Mercenaries, or even people like you with official positions, make on a single mission!" As she spoke, her eyes sparkled brightly, as if filled with little stars.

"Er..." Lin Xinghai looked a little sheepish and quickly explained, "It’s not usually as much as you think. Your bonus was so big because we made a huge profit this time. On a normal mission, the entire Mercenary Corps might only earn around 10,000 Points. Once that’s split among everyone, each person gets about 100 Points, at most."

"100 Points isn’t bad! I only made 120 Points for a whole week of work at the Government Hall. Oh, right, you still haven’t told me how many Points you got for this mission!" Liu Miaomiao said, suddenly remembering her original question.

"260,000," Lin Xinghai said.

"How... how much?" Liu Miaomiao’s eyes flew wide.

"265,000 Points, to be exact." Before Liu Miaomiao could say anything, Lin Xinghai explained, "Actually, I don’t get a bonus. I get a percentage of the profits. Whenever I go on a mission, I get half of the total revenue."

Liu Miaomiao was speechless for a moment. But when she recalled Lin Xinghai’s stunning performance on the mission, she felt the arrangement wasn’t an exaggeration at all. In fact, it seemed like the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps had gotten the better end of the deal.

Without Lin Xinghai, forget earning 560,000 Points—they would have been lucky to make even 50,000.

After composing herself, a cheerful Liu Miaomiao pulled Lin Xinghai along. First, she found a hot pot restaurant and booked a table, and then they headed for the Government Hall in the Lower Level District.

However, they got a huge shock when they arrived at the Government Hall. A large section of the building’s eastern side had collapsed and was undergoing emergency repairs.

Of course, to keep the Shelter’s operations from grinding to a halt, the Government Hall was still handling various tasks despite the circumstances.

To their relief, when they entered the Government Hall, they found Wang Yao and their other friends safe and sound, bustling about with their work.

The young women were delighted to see Lin Xinghai and Liu Miaomiao arrive together, though in addition to her joy, there was a flicker of sadness in Wang Yao’s eyes.

However, the Shelter had just been through a major battle with the Morgan Conglomerate, and every department was swamped. The women could only exchange hasty greetings before diving back into their work.

Only after everyone got off work and met up at the reserved hot pot restaurant in the Middle Level District did they finally have time to talk about the previous day’s battle with the Morgan Conglomerate.

"It’s all thanks to you for putting in a word with our department supervisor. We were able to get on the first evacuation list because of that. It would’ve been dangerous if we had to leave later," Shen Yimei said, speaking first. She had a look of lingering fear on her face.

At work today, they had learned that three people from the last group of evacuating staff had been killed.

"It was no trouble at all. You’re all Miaomiao’s friends; it was the least I could do," Lin Xinghai said with a smile. For him, something like that really was as simple as saying a few words.

"You Mercenaries really have it good. You’re powerful, you make a lot of money, and you have high social status," Qin Zixue chimed in, her face full of envy.

Speaking of which, she couldn’t help but glance at Liu Miaomiao. "So, our gorgeous mercenary, what’s the occasion? Why are you treating us to a feast?"

"Because I got the bonus from my very first mission," Liu Miaomiao said, a happy smile spreading across her face.

"How much was the bonus?" Qin Zixue pressed.

"1,530 Points."

As Liu Miaomiao stated the number, the table instantly fell silent. The other women froze in place as if they had been struck by an Immobilization Charm.

"Oh my god! That’s so much!" Once she recovered, Qin Zixue couldn’t help but exclaim, "Now you’re making me want to become a Mercenary too."

"Yeah! I heard that many Mercenaries only have a D Level Genetic Assessment. In that case, so could I!" Shen Yimei chimed in from the side, clearly tempted.

Both her and Qin Zixue’s Genetic Assessments were D Level. As long as they became the Optimized, they would meet the standards to be trained as Mercenaries.

Of the group, only Wang Yao and Yang Yi didn’t comment.

Yang Yi was silent because her Genetic Assessment was too low. An E Level assessment on its own was enough to crush any thought she might have had of becoming a Mercenary.

As for Wang Yao, she was the most talented of the group aside from Liu Miaomiao, but her eyes merely flickered, and she said nothing.

Seeing her silence, Qin Zixue and Shen Yimei both assumed Wang Yao was worried about the danger and wasn’t considering the idea for now.

And so, the topic quickly shifted to other things. Just then, the ingredients in the hot pot were finally cooked, and everyone began to eat.

Halfway through the meal, Wang Yao, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly put down her chopsticks and fixed Lin Xinghai with an intense gaze.

"If I become one of the Optimized, can I join the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps?"