Seeing the shocked expression on the Public Security Bureau chief's face, Zhu Yuan and Seth exchanged glances. They had already expected this reaction on the way here.
After a moment of silence, Zhu Yuan reminded him,
"Chief, about the bounty... Hare's House is already following up on it."
When the chief still didn't respond, Zhu Yuan prompted again,
"Chief..."
The Public Security Bureau chief came to his senses and said slowly,
"Write up a request, I'll have someone approve it."
Zhu Yuan nodded, then added,
"The Hare's House and the Sons of Calydon were a huge help this time. Should we give them an extra reward?"
Hearing this, the chief fell into deep thought.
"..."
Both the Hare's House and the Sons of Calydon had made significant contributions—capturing the wanted criminal Perlman and saving several members of Zhu Yuan's team.
In principle, they deserved a reward.
Rewarding the Hare's House wasn't an issue—they had been rewarded several times before.
But the Sons of Calydon were, after all, an Outer Ring gang, a constant target of New Eridu's official crackdown.
Rewarding an Outer Ring gang would surely stir up controversy if word got out.
Before the chief could decide, Qingyi suddenly said,
"If we're rewarding Hare's House and the Sons of Calydon, why not reward the Bangboo Gang as well?"
Seth was caught off guard.
"Eh? Reward the Bangboo Gang? But wasn't it their boss who was chasing us at the time?"
Qingyi smiled,
"Well, Perlman was captured in Bangboo Town. If their boss hears that we rewarded Hare's House and the Sons of Calydon but not them, he might get upset and turn into a hundred-meter-tall rock monster and come knocking... Who could stop him then?"
Hearing this, Seth fell silent.
"..."
Zhu Yuan also said nothing.
"..."
They had seen Azhdaha's power firsthand—no one could stop him.
On the side, the chief felt a headache coming on.
After hesitating for a moment, he sighed and said,
"Fine, reward them all. But this time, no publicity—no announcements either. Just give them their Dennies and medals."
Qingyi reminded him,
"It would be best to give the Bangboo Gang parts instead of cash. Those little Bangboos will be thrilled to get brand-new parts."
The chief nodded.
"Qingyi, I'll leave that to you."
At this moment, after watching the footage Qingyi had brought back, the chief now felt both fear toward the Bangboo Gang's leader and an urge to win them over.
So he agreed to Qingyi's suggestion.
Then, after keeping Qingyi's memory card, he dismissed the others.
Immediately after, the chief called in a few more people, instructing them to head to the Outer Ring at once—
They were to inspect the battlefield described by Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, verify the traces left behind, and confirm whether the battle shown in the footage had actually taken place.
...
At the same time—
At Hare's House—
With the Outer Ring mission finally over, Nicole, Billy, Soldier 11, and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, all they had to do was wait at Hare's House for the Public Security Bureau to deliver their two million Dennies.
Just thinking about it made Nicole chuckle to herself.
Nekomata asked, puzzled,
"Nicole, what are you laughing at?"
Nicole grinned,
"Our Hare's House just completed another big job—of course I'm happy! Well... I guess it wasn't exactly a job, but either way, we caught a criminal and earned a pile of Dennies."
Seeing Nicole so happy, Soldier 11 mused,
"I didn't expect professional agents to make money this fast."
Before working with Hare's House, she had seen forum rumors claiming they were on the verge of bankruptcy.
Now it seemed they were doing just fine.
At that moment, Nekomata glanced at Nicole, then at Soldier 11, and said with a grin,
"Soldier 11, I have to tell you—at Hare's House, we have a tradition. Every time we earn a big payday, Nicole takes us out for a feast at Lumina Square, right Nicole?"
Soldier 11 looked at Nicole,
"I didn't expect her to be so generous. That's not what the forums said."
Hearing that, Nicole looked a little embarrassed.
"Well... cough, cough. Nekomata is right. We made a lot this time, so of course I'm treating you all to a feast. Everyone get ready—we're heading to Lumina Square."
Nekomata cheered,
"Yay! Bluefish feast—!"
At the mention of bluefish, Anby seemed to think of something and reminded her,
"You've been out for three days. Are the bluefish you're raising still okay?"
That snapped Nekomata back to reality.
She hurriedly said,
"Nicole, wait! I'm going to check on my bluefish."
She quickly ran to her room.
Two minutes later, she came back out—looking completely dejected.
No need to ask—everyone could tell from her face that the bluefish were already dead.
Billy consoled her,
"Ahem... Nekomata, don't be sad. We can buy more bluefish fry when we pass by Lumina Square."
Anby added seriously,
"Bluefish fry are hard to raise and have a high mortality rate. It'd be better to buy a fully grown bluefish—they're much easier to keep alive."
Hearing Anby's suggestion, Nekomata's eyes lit up.
"Good idea! But... if the bluefish are already grown, why keep them?"
Anby: "..."
Billy: "..."
Nicole coughed lightly,
"Let's not waste any more time. Let's go—off to Lumina Square."
Since their car had broken down in Carrytown, this time they'd have to walk.
Billy grumbled,
"When are we finally going to buy a new car for Hare's House..."
Nicole thought for a moment and said,
"I've saved up quite a bit of Dennies. Once we get the Public Security Bureau's reward, we can buy a new car right away."
Nekomata cheered,
"Yes! No more riding in that old wreck!"
Anby: "..."
...
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the next day.
Hare's House opened early in the morning and resumed normal business.
Just like before—
Early in the morning, Sam Li headed to Lumina Square for breakfast, then carried his birdcage and went out for a walk—
He arrived at the café on Sixth Street.
As soon as he sat down, Master Tingman came over.
"Mr. Sam Li, I haven't seen you for three days. Did you land another big job? You didn't go to Hollow Zero, did you? I heard it's been really active lately, even expanding..."
Sam Li shook his head.
"No commissions this time—I just took a trip to the Outer Ring."
At the mention of the Outer Ring, Master Tingman immediately perked up.
"Did you run into the Bangboo Gang out there?"
...