Inside Lu Zhaoran's house.
"Let me see, how much money do we have in total now?"
After transferring all the funds from the terminals into quantum storage, Cipher couldn't wait to open her system backpack to check.
[Credits: 27,459,183]
"Over twenty-seven million four hundred and fifty thousand!"
Looking at the numbers, Cipher's eyes glittered with the light of pure wealth.
"Big Sis Cipher! What about mine, what about mine!"
At that moment, Bartholos popped out, eager to claim his share of the loot. Hearing his voice, Cipher shifted her gaze away from the Credits and spared a glance for the spirit beside her.
"We pulled in over five million Credits from this operation. Let's call it an even five million. Based on our seventy-thirty split, I will transfer one million five hundred thousand to you now."
Cipher began tapping the interface to start the transfer to the terminal in Bartholos's hand.
"Eh! Wait, wait, wait, Big Sis! Can those Credits stay with you for a bit?"
Cipher's hand paused mid-air. She looked up at Bartholos with a hint of surprise.
"What's gotten into Little Bart? You're actually willing to leave money with me?"
"No way!" Bartholos grew flustered instantly. "It's just for safekeeping! I feel like if I go out looking like this, I won't be able to buy anything even if I have the money. That's why I want to leave it with Big Sis for the time being!"
"Oh, I thought you had suddenly become generous. So it isn't a gift after all." Cipher curled her lip after hearing the explanation. "Ten percent cut for the storage fee."
"Big Sis! You can't do this!"
Hearing "ten percent storage fee," Bartholos's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
"That's a hundred and fifty thousand, Big Sis! Can you take a little less...?"
"No." Cipher crossed her arms, her face devoid of expression. "I did the acting, I did the stealing, and I did the fooling. You were just responsible for opening a single portal, and you already got thirty percent."
"I haven't complained once, yet here you are crying over a ten percent storage fee!"
"This... Fine, fine. Ten percent it is..."
Bartholos hung his head in resignation. It was true; as Cipher said, his only role there was masquerading as a decoration and opening a way out.
Seeing Bartholos agree, Cipher returned her focus to the Credits.
'Isn't now the perfect time to use the Splitting Silver Coin? Should I just use it while I have the chance?'
Thinking this, Cipher slowly moved her finger toward the Splitting Silver Coin, hesitating as she prepared to tap the use option.
But just as she was about to touch [Use], she jerked her hand back and shook her head violently.
"No, no, no. Firefly still has that ten-million commission to finish. Besides, from Lu Jianyi's description, the Forest Forbidden Zone must be crawling with monsters to deal with."
"Once the monsters are sold and the reward is collected, that should be at least another ten or twenty million. If I use the silver coin now, I'll lose out on at least five million nya!"
Cipher looked away from the coin. Since there was no emergency and she wasn't in a rush to pull from the gacha—swapping Credits for Stellar Jades would only grant her fifty-one pulls anyway—she didn't think her luck would yield a gold drop in just fifty-one tries.
"Wait..."
Cipher seemed to realize a major problem.
Speaking of which, once she finished those fifty-one pulls, how was she supposed to get more Stellar Jades?
Didn't the system say she could gain Stellar Jades through influence? Why hadn't any been awarded after all this time?!
"System! System! You said I could get pulls through influence! This cat has clearly done so much, so where are the Stellar Jades?! Did you swallow them all!"
Cipher hurriedly began shouting at the system; this was a matter of whether she could ever pull again.
[Strong emotional agitation detected from host. Analyzing the content of host's statement...]
[Analysis complete. According to host's statement, an extremely malignant bug has been discovered. Self-diagnostic in progress...]
[Ding. Self-diagnostic complete.]
[Result: Due to allowing divine trickery power to intrude last time, the system's method for obtaining Stellar Jades was altered.]
[The original intent was to add a new acquisition method. However, due to an oversight, the new method overrode the old one, causing the influence-based Stellar Jade acquisition to be hidden. This function is currently unusable.]
"System! What on earth are you doing!"
Cipher felt a wave of distress wash over her. She gritted her teeth and said:
"Based on the original method, you've cost me at least thirty or forty pulls! How do you plan to compensate me!"
[Deepest apologies for the poor experience. The system is about to undergo an update. Estimated time: 48 hours.]
[Once the update is finished, the malignant bug will be fixed. Since the host has not pulled since the last gold drop, the compensation will be: "The very next pull is guaranteed to be gold."]
[We hope this compensation satisfies you.]
"Next pull is a guaranteed gold?!" Seeing those words, Cipher froze. Then, she immediately put on an innocent, oblivious act.
"Bug? What bug? I didn't know about any bug. Ah! Right, System, aren't you going to update? Why haven't you started yet?"
[...]
[System updating. During this period, the gacha function is temporarily closed. Host's understanding is appreciated.]
"No problem! I don't really need to pull right now anyway. Hurry up and update!"
The system did not respond.
Seeing the system ignore her, Cipher didn't mind. She just had to slack off for two days to secure a stable gold light.
"Since things have come to this, time for sleep. It's late anyway."
Looking at the pitch-black sky outside the window, Cipher murmured to herself. She took off her coat, lay down on the bed, and fell into a sweet slumber.
★ ★ ★
Inside the 034 Underground Experimental Base.
A middle-aged man stood in the hall, his lip twitching as he surveyed the wreckage before him.
"So you're telling me... you actually caught Cifera, but let her escape? Then she ransacked the base? And she played every single one of you like a fool?"
The dozens of combat personnel looked at each other, while the hundred-plus researchers lowered their heads.
After a long silence, a leading combatant stepped forward and nodded with great difficulty.
"Haaa... Phew..." The middle-aged man covered his forehead, breathing sharply.
How could a research base filled mostly with scientists produce such a group of idiots? Could these people even conduct an experiment properly?!
He felt genuine concern for the future of the Backcurrent Alliance.
"Where is Lin Zhiyuan?! Get him out here! He couldn't even handle this? He has the power-sealing shackles! How could he let that Cifera escape!"
Hearing the man call for Lin Zhiyuan, the expressions on the staff grew even worse.
"What is it? Where is he?"
Seeing no response, the middle-aged man frowned, his anger rising.
The crowd remained silent, simply parting to reveal a path. A humanoid creature wrapped entirely in white bandages was pushed before the man on a wheeled stretcher.