[XXX was severely humiliated and badly injured, Stellar Jades +60]
After hearing the notification, Cipher was stunned.
It seemed this also counted as an influence—though the magnitude appeared smaller than what she'd gained from joining the Ember Squad.
With the previous 100 and the additional 60, it was just enough for single pull... but…
Cipher looked around at the dozen or so people and thought for a moment. She decided to wait until she had enough for a ten-pull. There was no rush right now.
She wanted to wait and see if anyone else would come looking for trouble before that.
"Wonderful!!!"
"Good!"
"Nice hit!"
Suddenly, loud cheers and applause broke out, leaving Cipher, who had been standing there, still wondering if anyone would continue to pick a fight with her, completely bewildered.
Not understanding the situation, she immediately ran over to Luo Lin and the others, asking with some confusion:
"What's going on with them? Shouldn't there be stronger people who would be annoyed by me and want to come beat me up?"
"Impossible," Luo Lin said, tilting her head. "Entertainment's scarce in the Pit District. They'd love to see more scenes like this—it's their idea of fun."
"Uh… So everything I did just now, they saw it as a performance?"
Cipher was momentarily speechless, unsure whether she had gained or lost from this.
The good news was that no one was looking for trouble with her for now.
The bad news was that while she had been messing with the mercenary, she had also unknowingly become entertainment in the eyes of others...
She suddenly felt quite upset!
"By the way, should I compensate for the table?"
Suddenly remembering that after kicking that mercenary, he had fallen and smashed the table, Cipher thought that according to the standard cliche, she should be responsible for compensation, right? But she didn't have any money right now!
Annoyed, she cursed herself for not holding back more. She'd only worried about not killing him—but forgot about collateral damage.
"No need."
"Nya?"
Luo Lin's two words once again caught Cipher off guard, causing her to blurt out a meow in surprise.
"That mercenary was actually right when he said that in this place, the bigger fist is the law. You won, so any costs resulting from this fight will be covered by the loser, not the winner."
"Ah… I see."
Cipher seemed to understand. This place was truly harsh. Compared to the cities, it felt like a survival-of-the-fittest in the jungle.
Had she known earlier, she would have exerted more strength, enough to make the mercenary punch through the ceiling before smashing the table. That'd really make his wallet bleed!
But she quickly shook her head, banishing the thought. If that really happened, not only would it cost him a fortune, but the mercenary himself would bleed too. As someone who had only ever killed chickens in her previous life, she had no interest in taking a person's life.
Luo Lin watched Cipher's face shift from frustration to resolve, then back to normal. Not understanding why she was going through a roller coaster of emotions, but seeing her calm down, she added with genuine awe:
"You're really amazing, Cipher. I thought you were just bluffing about being strong."
"How could you doubt me?!"
Upon hearing that Luo Lin didn't believe her, Cipher felt her character was being questioned.
For a self-proclaimed "demigod of schemes," having her honesty questioned was a deep insult.
"I never lie! I'm extremely honest!"
She didn't believe it herself—but if others did, then technically, it wasn't a lie!
"Sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you..."
"Eh? No, no, it's fine. I didn't take it to heart."
Seeing Luo Lin apologize so decisively, Cipher was a bit unaccustomed to it. She scratched the back of her head, her eyes wandering, giving a bit of an awkward smile.
Just then, she saw Lin Wei fiddling with something that looked like a camera. Curious, she leaned in.
"Xiao Wei, what are you doing?"
Lin Wei was startled by the sudden voice, then relaxed a little when she saw it was Cipher. She held out the device.
"My strength isn't enough to fight back yet… so I wanted to record his face for revenge later. But you beat him so easily—I was about to delete the footage."
Cipher peered at the screen. Sure enough, it recorded the mercenary she had just kicked away. The latter half of the footage showed her mocking and humiliating the mercenary, as well as the mercenary flying through the air.
"Looks like the whole process was recorded…"
Her cheeks turned slightly red. She hadn't felt anything wrong when doing it earlier, but now that she saw her own actions from a third-person perspective, she couldn't help but cringe a little…
Cipher handed the camera back to Lin Wei after watching the footage.
Initially, she planned to ask her to delete it, but after thinking for a moment, she realized this was the first conflict she had encountered in this new world, so it was meaningful in a way. Worth keeping.
Lin Wei didn't understand, but respected Cipher's choice—the recording was hers, after all. And honestly? It didn't matter to her either way.
After a while, Xiong Lei came out from a door behind the counter. As soon as he walked out, he saw the very conspicuous mercenary covered in graffiti.
He paused—but didn't help. Instead, he walked straight to Luo Lin.
"Captain, what happened here?"
"We should leave here first. I'll explain on the way."
Luo Lin grabbed his arm and bolted for the exit. Cipher and Lin Wei followed without hesitation.
After a while, the mercenary lying on the ground slowly regained consciousness.
"Ugh… why does everything hurt, especially my chin… What happened…"
He shakily got up, using one hand to prop himself up, the other supporting his chin.
He remembered a woman who seemed to have teleported into front of him, followed by a severe pain and a sense of weightlessness. Then he lost consciousness and everything turned black.
"Hello, Mad Dog Bro—feeling lost? Wanna know what went down? Just 10 credit points~"
At that moment, a sly voice came from beside him.
He turned his head toward the source of the voice.
A young man, probably in his twenties, was holding his personal terminal, wearing a mask that covered most of his face, with a smile on his lips, looking at him.
The mercenary stared at the young man for a few seconds, and then his rusty mind finally kicked in. He suddenly became furious again.
"Who the hell are you?! Who are you calling Crazy Dog?!"
He lunged—ignoring his wounds—but the young man sidestepped… and "accidentally" left his foot out.
"Ah, shit!"
With a thud, the mercenary face-planted into the ground once more.
Before he could rise, a sharp tug on his hair yanked his head up. The young man removed his mask.
Still smiling, he looked at the mercenary who was now even more of a mess and said:
"You asked me who I am? Now do you recognize me?"
"Shen… Boss Shen…"
Upon clearly seeing the young man's face, the mercenary finally realized he was dealing with someone he definitely couldn't provoke. He even started stuttering when speaking.
The young man was none other than the president of the Mercenary Guild's Pit Zone branch and the tavern owner, Shen Yan.
"Hmph. At least you recognize me."
Shen Yan released his hair, letting his head slam into the floor.
"You know I'm the 'rule-maker,' but you've completely ignored the rules I made."
"You know I set the rules here—yet you broke every one. Instigated a fellow mercenary unprovoked. Got angry first. Started the fight. And still lost—despite striking first. Where'd you get the nerve?"
Saying this, he pulled out a ledger and began jotting down notes.
"Broken cup: 50 credits. Shattered table: 200. Scratched hardwood floor: 200. Cleaning fee: 100. Emotional distress for patrons? …Given how entertaining your little farce was, I'll waive that. Total: 550 credits."
"And since I know you're broke, I'll contact your captain to settle your debt. Until then—you wait. Right here."
Each time Shen Yan said something, the mercenary's face turned paler. By the time he finished his last sentence, the mercenary's face was ghost-white.
"Cipher is it? It looks like she might be from Genesis Biotech's cat gene modification program. But… why would someone from Genesis Biotech be here in the Pit Zone, and so conspicuously?"
He couldn't figure it out. Shrugging, he tucked the ledger away and walked toward the counter, leaving behind the poor mercenary, now completely exhausted and utterly humiliated.