Chapter 181: Chapter 159: Three Chance Encounters

Insufficient balance?

Wait a minute!

’Aren’t I a rich man?’

’My Credit Points are just sitting in an account I can’t spend from. It’s not like they’re gone.’

’It’s all gone already?’

’All those Credit Points I worked my ass off for in Greenfield City, all gone just like that?’

Lin Qi winced at the thought, but after considering his expenses, he didn’t feel like any of it had been wasted.

They were all necessary expenditures.

’I’m in debt again. Credit Points sure don’t last long. Looks like I really need to take advantage of the company’s policies.’

’If I could control thirty percent of a major corporation’s shares, I doubt I’d be worrying about a paltry sum of tens of millions of Credit Points.’

To establish a foothold in the Cyber World, becoming a corporate director was the most effective method.

Even though this world had plenty of so-called Legends, their status was merely a product of their story-worthy experiences.

The true Legends of the Cyber World were low-key, their names unknown to outsiders.

Those so-called Legends might not even be worthy of knowing the names of these true giants.

This was the kind of existence Lin Qi yearned to become.

Joining a Highest-Level Mercenary Corps and becoming a Mercenary was merely a means to an end for Lin Qi.

Lying back on his bed, Lin Qi closed his eyes to rest.

The excessive Meditation in the Doomsday World this time had left him more mentally exhausted than ever before.

He even felt a slight stabbing pain in his head.

...

Lin Qi slept very soundly that night.

When he woke up, the feeling of mental discomfort was almost completely gone.

Sleep had effectively alleviated the negative effects of his excessive Meditation.

He checked the time. It was already a little after nine in the morning.

The work hours at United Pharmaceutical were the same as they had been at the Greenfield City branch; he just had to clock in by ten.

After quickly washing up, Lin Qi walked out of his room.

As soon as he opened his door, Lin Qi saw Liu Xuan heading for the villa’s front door.

Liu Xuan seemed to hear him. She turned her head and said softly, "What a coincidence."

Hearing those words, Lin Qi felt a little dizzy.

Coincidence!

Too much of a coincidence!

Before, their "coincidental" meetings only happened at the company.

Now, they happened the moment Lin Qi opened his bedroom door!

The timing had moved up quite a bit.

"It is quite the coincidence."

Lin Qi’s smile was a little stiff.

Seeing this, Liu Xuan looked away from Lin Qi, but the blue light emanating from her left Prosthetic Body eye suddenly grew a few shades deeper.

The Suppressor’s power level was increasing; Liu Xuan’s thoughts were clearly not as calm as she let on.

Lin Qi paused for two seconds. By the time he walked out the front door of the villa, he saw that Liu Xuan had already taken off in her luxurious flying vehicle.

Even though they were heading the same way, it seemed Liu Xuan had no intention of waiting for him.

Lin Qi found it harder and harder to figure out what Liu Xuan was really thinking.

But no matter what, thanks to his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi could tell that her gaze toward him held no malice.

For Lin Qi, that was enough for now.

He piloted his flying vehicle to the top floor of the H4 Skyscraper.

After arriving, he didn’t run into Liu Xuan a second time, but he did encounter someone else.

Elder Dong’s arrival time was almost perfectly in sync with Lin Qi’s.

Clocking in at the last possible second—this was a move Elder Dong had also mastered.

Not seeing Liu Xuan on the top floor but seeing Elder Dong instead put Lin Qi in a strange mood. It wasn’t a good feeling; in fact, it bordered on disgust.

Even the look he gave Elder Dong turned somewhat hostile.

"What a coincidence. You punch in this late, too?"

Compared to yesterday, Elder Dong seemed to have accepted his reality.

He even greeted Lin Qi with a bit of enthusiasm.

Lin Qi had no desire to engage with Elder Dong’s "coincidental" meeting. He just nodded, his mind already on the research papers he needed to review in the lab today.

Dong Wenlong glanced at Lin Qi, feeling that something was odd.

’Why is this young man so sullen so early in the morning?’ 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He glanced at the elevator before him.

’Oh, right. We’re at work!’

’That explains it. Who likes coming to work, anyway!’

’Elder Dong certainly doesn’t, anyway.’

He entered the same elevator as Lin Qi, and they both clocked in right there.

The time was extremely precise: March 13, 2089, 9:59 AM.

If the company’s timecard system tracked down to the second, it would have shown 9:59:03 AM.

Both Lin Qi and Elder Dong had left themselves about a minute of leeway to avoid being late.

Leaving a buffer to avoid unexpected problems was an excellent habit to have in all things.

After entering the laboratory, Lin Qi quickly got into the zone.

When he came to work yesterday, Lin Qi had still had a balance of well over ten million Credit Points in his hidden account.

But today, not only were his tens of millions in savings wiped out overnight, he was once again in debt to Guang Ling.

Poverty, it seemed, was a constant specter haunting everyone in the Cyber World.

Under these circumstances, Lin Qi summoned an astonishing level of focus.

His efficiency in reviewing the research materials was much higher than yesterday’s.

He barely gave Elder Dong a moment’s rest, quickly launching into questions and discussions, absorbing knowledge at a practically absurd pace.

Elder Dong seemed to age visibly. Every time Lin Qi posed a question, he would start pulling at his hair.

’Just how fast can he learn? Is he even human?’

’He doesn’t have a processor-type Prosthetic Body installed in his brain, does he?’

’No, even brain-implant Prosthetic Bodies aren’t this ridiculous. He’s a genuine genius.’