Staring at the courtyard packed full of broken, rusted Bangboo, the Chief of New Eridu Public Security stood frozen in disbelief.
"I sent you to find the Golden Bangboo and the Platinum Bangboo," he muttered. "And you came back with… an entire scrapyard? Anyone passing by would think this place has turned into a Bangboo recycling depot."
Seeing the chief's furrowed brow, Zhu Yuan hurriedly stepped forward and explained everything that had happened in the Outer Ring that day.
The Chief turned and finally noticed the small, stone Bangboo-like creature among the crowd. "You're telling me that little guy is the mighty Azhdaha Bangboo King? The one who can manifest a true form over a hundred meters tall?"
Zhu Yuan nodded. "He was a hundred meters tall before. Now that Mr. Azhdaha has regained more of his power, his true form should be close to one hundred and fifty meters."
The Chief gave Azhdaha a skeptical look. It was hard to believe that this ordinary-looking, almost dopey stone "Bangboo" possessed such terrifying power—capable of manifesting a colossal body, of subduing and destroying a Destruction-class Ethereal.
Just then, Azhdaha seemed to sense the Chief's doubtful gaze. He turned his head and glared sharply at him.
The Chief nearly jumped out of his skin. That glare—sharp as a blade, ancient as the mountains—left no doubt. Small or not, this was no ordinary creature. This was a being of true power.
At that moment, Zhu Yuan spoke up again. "Chief, these Bangboo are all Mr. Azhdaha's followers. I've already promised him that we'll have repair technicians restore every damaged one of them."
The Chief nodded slowly. "Since they're Mr. Azhdaha's men, then no matter the cost, we'll have them repaired. Qingyi, I'm assigning this task to you. Gather as many repair personnel as you can."
Clearly, the Chief took Azhdaha's presence very seriously. Compared to the favor of such a powerful being, even millions—or billions—of dennies were trivial.
Qingyi, hearing the order, stretched lazily and yawned. "Understood. With this many Bangboo, we'll need at least eight to ten technicians to get them all fixed."
Saying so, she turned and left the Public Security Bureau, choosing to walk instead of drive. She headed across Lumina Square toward the "Bangboo Home" repair center.
...
Meanwhile, back in the courtyard, the Chief was just about to leave when Zhu Yuan called out again.
"Wait a moment, Chief… I almost forgot. The transport vehicles we had weren't enough, so I temporarily rented a truck from the Outer Ring to help carry the Bangboo. We'll need to pay a rental fee."
The Chief waved a hand dismissively. "A minor thing. How much?"
Zhu Yuan hesitated. "Five… five million dennies."
Renting a single truck for five million dennies sounded absurd. But since Qingyi had been the one to negotiate with the Sons of Calydon, Zhu Yuan didn't feel it was her place to argue.
The Chief frowned slightly. "Follow me."
Five million for a truck? Normally, he'd have suspected corruption—but not with Zhu Yuan and Qingyi. He trusted them completely.
As for the exact details, he had no time to worry about them. Bigger issues demanded his attention.
Soon after, Zhu Yuan exited the bureau carrying a check for five million dennies, which she handed to Caesar.
"Miss Caesar, here's a check for five million dennies. You can cash it at any nearby bank."
"Five million... It's really five million dennies... Thank you so much, Officer Zhu Yuan."
Caesar's smile beamed with joy as she looked at the check in her hands, unable to contain her excitement. She thanked Zhu Yuan repeatedly.
Zhu Yuan smiled softly. "It's what you've earned."
Caesar's voice was bright with happiness. "With this five million, we can buy a whole batch of new construction materials! Calydon Town's reconstruction just took a huge step forward."
She wasn't the only one excited. Lighter, Piper, and Burnice all looked absolutely thrilled.
After years of struggling in the Outer Ring, this was the first time they'd ever seen a check worth more than five million dennies. It was unbelievable. Burnice grabbed the check eagerly, staring at it over and over again in disbelief.
Only Lucy remained composed, glancing at it once before looking away, as though five million was pocket change.
"Burnice," Caesar called quickly, "careful with that! Don't burn the check."
Burnice laughed. "Relax, I won't! But come on, what are we standing around for? Let's go cash it right now!"
She hopped into the truck without another word.
Caesar, still smiling from ear to ear, turned to Sam Li and said earnestly, "Mr. Sam Li, we'll head to the bank first to withdraw the money. We'll visit you at the Hare's House afterward."
Sam Li nodded lightly. "Alright. Go ahead."
Watching the Sons of Calydon drive off, Sam Li stood in thought for a moment. Then he slowly pulled out his phone and called Keqing.
He instructed her to transfer five hundred million dennies from the "Hollow Zero Operations Department" funds into the Hare's House' account.
Keqing didn't even ask why. She immediately processed the transfer. "Mr. Geo Archon, will five hundred million dennies be enough?"
Sam Li paused before replying, "It'll be enough for now."
Of course, the money wasn't for him—Sam Li never lacked for dennies. That five hundred million was for Caesar, to help her rebuild Calydon Town.
In Sam Li's vision, his mission wasn't limited to saving the New Eridu metropolitan area. It included the Outer Ring, its people, and ultimately, the entire world.
Calydon was part of that plan. Rebuilding it into a thriving new city was one of the first steps.
After finishing the transfer, Sam Li planned to call Nicole next. When the Sons of Calydon visited the Hare's House, she was to hand the funds over to Caesar.
...
At that very moment, inside the Hare's House, Nicole was sitting alone on the sofa, phone in hand and a ledger spread across her lap as she reviewed the latest expenses.
Lately, ordinary commission requests had decreased, but thanks to their connection with the Adepti, the Hare's House had secured several official New Eridu contracts—each worth millions of dennies.
In just a single month, the Hare's House' account balance had skyrocketed. Combined with what she and Sam Li had already saved, their total assets now exceeded seventy to eighty million dennies.
That was nearly enough to buy a single square meter of luxury real estate in the heart of New Eridu.