Volume One: Planet of Beasts Chapter 46: Wealth and Honor

Returning to Settlement 11, the younger sister went to turn in her mission immediately. The reward was a staggering 5.8 million copper coins, leaving Li Juxu green with envy.

"The price of blood wolf flowers is quite unstable. Sometimes it's one or two tens of thousands, sometimes forty or fifty thousand, and at its peak, it reached eighty thousand. The captain used to have a rule that we wouldn't take missions with a price below fifty thousand. This time, seeing that the price was decent and the quantity was substantial, I decided to make the trip," she explained. With only her left in the team, it was practically disbanded. She had intended to rest for a while, but the mission reward was too lucrative, and the difficulty was low, so she took it on.

"A place like that definitely needs to be fully utilized," Li Juxu nodded.

"I'll treat you to a meal." She was in a good mood. A reward of over five million was a huge sum of money, and it had been a long while since she had laid her hands on that much cash.

"I'll head back to the hotel first to let the team know I'm safe. Oh, by the way, I lost the Kui-23 sniper rifle. Next time I'm in the black market, I'll see if I can run into one and buy it back for you," Li Juxu said.

"With everyone gone, what do I need a gun for?" She shook her head. "The gun was a gift to you; if it's lost, it's lost. As long as you're safe, that's what matters."

In the past, when all team members were present, losing the gun would naturally have required compensation. But now, she was the only one left in the team, and she called the shots. She knew roughly what Li Juxu's situation was—where would he get any money? Not to mention that even if he went to the black market, he might not necessarily encounter a Kui-23 sniper rifle, and even if he did, he couldn't afford it; it cost several hundred thousand.

"Where should we meet later?" Li Juxu didn't argue with her, but he had already made up his mind in his heart that the gun had to be returned. In the past, he would have felt that returning a gun was an extremely difficult task, but his recent experiences had matured him overnight, giving him more confidence than ever in his ability to make money.

"Liuxiang Garden!" she blurted out.

"Alright!"

Li Juxu returned to the hotel, where Cao Gang and the others were all present. However, everyone was in poor condition, especially Cao Gang, whose face was completely wrapped in bandages with only one eye exposed. Drummer was both happy and ashamed to see him. Li Juxu offered a few words of comfort and didn't say much else. He took the Breaker-002B and left. The settlement had specialized weapon repair shops forming a mature industrial chain, capable of repairing anything from small handguns to Vulcan cannons, as long as one could afford the price.

Li Juxu brought the Breaker-002B to a shop named 'Little Gao's Repairs'. They were acquaintances, so he didn't have to worry about being ripped off.

"Eighty thousand!" Little Gao was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wearing thick glasses. He picked up the Breaker-002B, glanced at it twice, and gave a repair estimate.

"Fine, when can it be fixed?" Li Juxu twitched the corner of his mouth without bargaining. Little Gao's quote certainly wasn't the lowest, but he wouldn't gouge customers too heavily either; it was within a reasonable range. The key was his good craftsmanship, so there was no need to worry about lingering defects. Some repairmen charged less, but quality couldn't be guaranteed. Since these were life-saving items, he had to ensure the quality even if it cost a bit more.

"Tomorrow noon!" Little Gao said.

"I'll come to pick it up at twelve tomorrow." Li Juxu left a deposit of ten thousand copper coins and headed to Liuxiang Garden, where she had already ordered the food and was waiting for him.

"Drinking?" she asked.

"Don't be so extravagant!" Li Juxu smiled and shook his head. To him, alcohol not only had no health benefits, but it was also exorbitantly expensive, which was why he never bought it—it was pure waste of money.

"What are your plans for the future?" she asked, her big eyes looking at him with a hint of anticipation.

"That question sounds like a boss interrogating an employee," Li Juxu remarked.

"I'm just curious, okay? Is it because Cao Gang is too embarrassed to ask how you made it up there?" she teased playfully.

"You see through everything!" Li Juxu gave a thumbs-up.

"If you ask me, given your abilities, you could jump ship to a first-tier or even second-tier team, where you can earn much more. If you need it, I can introduce you," she suggested.

"Don't just talk about me. What about yourself? Have you thought about what your future plans are?" Li Juxu asked.

"I don't know either. I'll just take it one step at a time." Her expression grew dim. Shark had been a great team leader, always caring for her like a father, and Lin Liu had been like an attentive older sister. In an instant, all her family was gone.

Li Juxu almost slapped himself. Why bring up this topic out of nowhere? He quickly changed the subject. "Isn't that the Black Spider team over there? Coming here to eat—looks like they've completed another major mission."

Although Liuxiang Garden wasn't considered a top-tier restaurant in the settlement, its prices were by no means low. He had been following Cao Gang for over two years and had only eaten here once. The Black Spider team was slightly stronger than theirs, but the margin was limited, and normally they wouldn't dare to spend money here either. There was only one situation that called for it: completing a massive order with a generous payout.

"Black Spider got lucky. On their way back from a mission, they stumbled upon a severely injured silver-horned rhinoceros. That silver-horned rhinoceros happened to be the target of the Red Dragonfly team's mission. The Red Dragonfly team was completely wiped out over it, and in the end, it all benefited Black Spider. The reward for this silver-horned rhinoceros is as high as thirty million copper coins." She was well-informed and had figured out the whole story.

"Thirty million!" Li Juxu drew a sharp breath. "On the mission board right now, the highest reward seems to be only fifty million!"

"It was fifty million before, but a new mission came out yesterday with a reward of eighty million," she said. Keeping an eye on the mission board had become a habit for her; previously, whenever her team took on missions, she was the one who arranged them and provided the information.

"Eighty million!" Li Juxu clicked his tongue in amazement. "What kind of mission pays that much? Surely they aren't going to hunt a Titan Python?"

"No, it's to find a plant. It's completely red like coral, with leaves like an orchid, exuding a pungent and exotic fragrance, and it's quite small," she described.

"A plant? Are there pictures?" Li Juxu's expression suddenly turned weird. How come her description sounded so much like the plant he had obtained?

"No!" She shook his head. "Such exotic plants usually only appear in rather unusual terrains and might be guarded by fierce beasts. Ordinary people like us basically stand no chance of encountering them, so I didn't print out any photos." Knowing it was impossible, she hadn't paid it any mind.

Li Juxu instantly lost his appetite. He hastily finished his meal, bade farewell to her, and sprinted to the mission hall. Sure enough, the fifty million mission that had previously topped the list had dropped to second place, while the one now claiming the number one spot was the eighty million mission—an exotic plant. The moment he saw the picture, Li Juxu couldn't help but clench his fists. It was identical to the exotic plant he had acquired. This monstrous wealth had finally fallen into his lap.

Without hesitation, he immediately applied to the staff to accept the mission, only to be told that he was neither a team leader nor authorized by one, and therefore could not take the mission. Furthermore, he couldn't produce the required deposit.

"How could I forget about that part!" Li Juxu slapped his forehead, thought for a moment, and turned back to seek her help.