Chapter 399: Improving Life
Looking at the three corpses lying on the ground and the two Threads of Fortune in my hands, I felt a mixture of emotions.
It was as if something very important had just happened, yet inside I felt empty, my mind filled with puzzles.
This feeling was not pleasant.
So… I turned and walked towards the pile of small money; in this damn world, only this tangible thing could slightly fill my inner void…
After enjoying it, I finally stood up with satisfaction.
Then, with a wave of my hand, the mountain of hardwood coins, paper bills, precious metals, and luxury items was collected into my storage equipment, not leaving behind a single hardwood coin.
After cleaning up this wealth, I glanced at the two excavators who had been here earlier.
That modest one who claimed he hadn’t done much to seize so much wealth, even mentioning he had reserves in the bank, made it hard to imagine just how much these two had; it was such a pity… Now there was not a single drop of profit to be extracted.
After a simple search, they had nothing of value on them; all of their combat equipment and weapons had disappeared, leaving me with no chance to sell scrap.
As for how to take these guys over to collect the bounty… that was a question.
After all, I didn’t want to use the storage equipment Sister Bai gave me to hold these guys; that would be too unsettling.
After thinking it over, I looked around; there didn’t seem to be anyone living here, so I ultimately set a teleportation marker on them, letting them lie here for now, to be summoned later when needed.
The teleportation summoning spell, which could summon a whole giant sword during the exchange competition, truly proved its value at this moment.
Since there were no residents here, a few days’ wait was nothing; it was just to collect a bounty, after all.
Once everything was planned, I let out a long sigh.
Who would have thought that my simple intention to understand the excavators and interact with them would end up leading to their demise?
I could only blame that guy who forced me into the battle, and the one who shot at me.
But at least one guy provided “burial expenses,” so it wasn’t a total loss; after all, there are still good people in this world.
Now it was time to find Qiu Ruxin; after all, with money in hand, there was no need to devise elaborate plans to rob the rich to help the poor.
……
“Hey~ It’s so dangerous outside during the day, and yet there’s a little girl wandering around?”
“Don’t you have a home to go back to? How about coming back with your uncles?”
“Tsk…” The sudden voice made Qiu Ruxin’s heart skip a beat. Turning around and seeing these little hoodlums, she instinctively clicked her tongue, her hands clenching tightly, nails digging into her palms, reminding her to calm down, “It’s happening again…”
However, she no longer needed to fear as she did before.
Because she had just tested how strong her layer of protection really was.
Even though Sister Xiao Han hadn’t given her any means of self-defense, the protective spells were quite effective.
All she needed to do was wait for Sister Xiao Han to come find her…
Yet she felt somewhat regretful for not finding a better place to avoid these guys.
But thinking of her luck… it seemed that encountering such things wasn’t surprising at all.
“Are you not running? Not running is just fine~ How about coming back with us to have some fun?”
The three men gradually approached Qiu Ruxin, blocking her escape routes, but just as they reached out to her, they found their hands blocked by something invisible to them.
Generally speaking, a spell shield is an energy shield, and extraordinary energy typically cannot be seen by the naked eye unless its dispersion causes glowing or heating phenomena, or it is intentionally manifested during use. Otherwise, usually, protective spells only vaguely reveal their shape when attacked, as energy tends to emit light upon being disrupted.
“What is this thing?”
This time, it was the little hoodlums’ turn to be stunned; they hadn’t anticipated such a situation. However, clearly, they weren’t thinking along the lines of spells or magic, instead believing it to be high-tech self-defense contraptions created by the wealthy from Lanas Island.
As for suspecting the girl in front of them was an excavator?
Please, they had never seen such a weak excavator. If those guys encountered them, they might just pull out guns and shoot because they found them a nuisance.
“Damn it! What the hell!”
After confirming that they couldn’t break it with their hands, they angrily kicked at it, but the kick caused them to lose balance and fall backward, while the shield remained motionless.
The action instantly made the two underlings beside him unable to hold back their laughter.
“What are you laughing at! Hurry up and help me up! Today, I won’t accept defeat.” He cursed loudly and grabbed a nearby stone, throwing it at Qiu Ruxin.
Seeing this, Qiu Ruxin instinctively raised her arm to block, not because she didn’t trust Sister Xiao Han’s abilities, but out of reflex.
However, the stone hit nothing but air.
“What are you just staring at!? Join me! With something like that in her hands, we could sell it for a good price on the black market!” With a furious shout, the two beside him joined in.
Human greed is such; even without seeing anything, they always believe their efforts are worthwhile. How could they believe that the girl in front of them was a homeless orphan without a penny to her name?
“Is that satisfying to smash?”
Just when the three were busy smashing stones until their backs and waists ached, a female voice rang out from behind them.
“Who?” The leader of the hoodlums immediately turned back alertly, but what greeted him was my kick.
I kicked directly at his side waist; since he hadn’t fully turned around, I could say I aimed for his lower back.
A surge of force sent him straight into a teleportation passage that flickered in an instant, a huge person disappearing right before Qiu Ruxin’s eyes.
The other two were similarly dealt with without further ado, kicked into the teleportation passage as well.
All of this unfolded in a matter of seconds, and the next moment, the teleportation passage closed.
Indeed… such spells become more effective with use, and this teleportation spell was no exception.
“Sister Xiao Han!” At this moment, Qiu Ruxin saw me arrive and immediately stepped out of the negative emotions of indifference, self-blame, and sadness, yet she was also quite curious about such methods.
“Those guys…”
Just as Qiu Ruxin was about to ask, a heart-wrenching scream echoed from the sky in the distance.
As those figures rapidly fell to the ground, the screams finally ceased.
Having witnessed this entire scene, Qiu Ruxin dazedly stood still for a few seconds after the screams cut off, then a cold sweat broke out on her back; this kind of method!
It was truly terrifying…
“I’m really sorry; I should have prepared some self-defense gadgets for you.” I finally broke the silence and spoke. I truly hadn’t expected that within such a short time, Qiu Ruxin would encounter little hoodlums.
“It’s okay; Sister Xiao Han’s shield is enough to protect me.”
“Seeking mere self-preservation isn’t enough in this world; however, I don’t have any alchemical items on me, so you might have to wait a bit.”
I reassured Qiu Ruxin with a few simple words. Although I didn’t have much experience in crafting alchemical items, based on my understanding of runes, spells, and inscription techniques, I could solidify a spell onto some small item directly. Even if it’s just a one-time use, it could still serve as a means of self-defense.
My gaze instinctively scanned the jewelry Qiu Ruxin wore, trying to find a suitable vessel.
However, after searching for a long time, there didn’t seem to be anything, except for a pendant around her neck that was tucked into her clothing, presumably to hide her wealth.
“Um… Sister Xiao Han, you mentioned wanting to mingle with those excavators earlier; how did it go?” Following closely, Qiu Ruxin quietly asked.
“Of course, those guys were dealt with.” I shrugged and smiled, as if I had done something insignificant, “By the way, didn’t you say those excavators usually have bounties issued against them?”
“Yeah… if I remember correctly, that should be the case.” Qiu Ruxin nodded.
“Do you know where to collect it? Is it at those bounty hunter teams you mentioned, or somewhere else?” I curiously asked, after all, I temporarily didn’t lack money, but nobody thinks having less money is a bad thing, right?
“Well… I’m really not sure, as bounties are quite rare to collect.”
“Then forget it. By the way, let’s go change into a new set of clothes.” Mainly, I wanted to change into more appropriate clothing and also buy a phone and computer.
Although this world might not call them by that name, the Mind Communication Magic let me understand the concept of a phone and computer from Qiu Ruxin.
Once I have a phone, I could directly go on the Plant Network search engine to find out anything I want, right?
Even if this world doesn’t have a so-called search engine, there should be a communication platform, right? I can just post a question.
“Change into new clothes? But we don’t seem to have that much money… oh, those little hoodlums…”
“No, we have money; it’s those excavators who generously sponsored us, and quite enthusiastically sent their corpses to us to collect the bounty.” I explained with a smile.
“What?” Qiu Ruxin looked at me in shock. Initially, she didn’t believe the part about generous sponsorship, but once she heard the keywords like corpses, she quickly understood the situation.
No wonder Sister Xiao Han asked about the bounty earlier; it turned out… it had already been resolved?
But… where are the corpses?
“Just knowing is enough; some things don’t need to be laid out directly, let’s go. Tonight we can have a feast and stay at the best hotel, and we should also swap out your outfit.” I casually said.
A luxurious meal tonight was a must; I needed to gauge the purchasing power of this world’s currency. Although I previously bought food and water at a convenience store and stayed at an inn, down-market consumption is different from upscale consumption.
I wanted to estimate how long I could make the money last.
That way, I could plan out whether I needed to make a move again after a while.
With everything planned, we quickly executed it, first going to buy suitable outfits; there was no need to be overly flashy, but I found that even after changing clothes, Qiu Ruxin and I still couldn’t hide the attractive qualities that drew attention.
Even I was somewhat surprised by the fashion styles in this world, which were quite nice, possessing a beauty of exotic style. However, it seemed somewhat conservative due to the overall environment, but conservatism also has its own beauty.
After trying on many different styles of clothes and skirts, I simply waved my hand and bought them all, although the payment process was a bit troublesome. This world didn’t have mobile payments or electronic payments but could process card transactions.
However… I also remembered the excavator with the indeterminate name saying that he had some concerns about keeping money in the bank.
And I found it troublesome, purely because large-value payments were indeed difficult to find a reason for withdrawing such large sums.
This world doesn’t have any concept of storage equipment.
However… I ultimately decided to store part of the inconveniently carryable coins, such as the hardwood coins; although they also had large denominations, they were certainly not as convenient as paper bills. Still, even when storing, I only kept a portion.
“Anonymous cards… how interesting.” After leaving the bank, I fiddled with the card; its material seemed to be similar to hardwood coins and had good toughness.
I have to say, having money makes one feel powerful; when I said I couldn’t verify my identity, their attitude changed. But once I pulled out a large amount of cash that stunned them, they even overlooked my identity verification and directly provided me with an anonymous card, and I somehow became a member.
“Sister Xiao Han, what are we doing next?”
“Buy a phone; it’ll be convenient for contact, then assemble a computer. I want to use the Plant Network to understand this world more specifically and also learn about your language and writing.”
“Yeah, I know a place that’s more affordable. Do you need me to lead the way?”
“Sure, I’m clueless about all this, so I have to rely on you. Whether it’s a phone or a computer, I just need something functional.”
“Though I’m not that knowledgeable either, if it’s just about being functional, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Qiu Ruxin thought for a moment and said.
Then, as I followed her to purchase these items, I realized that Qiu Ruxin wasn’t very well-versed in this either.
After all, such electronic devices are typically favored by boys, and Qiu Ruxin probably hadn’t come into contact with them much, so she was somewhat inexperienced but did her best to help me.
Because my requirements were simple, the purchasing process was quick and efficient, but the various services to process, packages, internet connections, and so on took up a lot of my time. By the time we finished, night had already fallen.
“Let’s just call it a day for today; come on, I’ll take you out for a feast~”
