Liu’s Heavy Industries Senior Staff Apartments, Room 1414.

Lin Qi stood in the bathroom, splashing cool water on his face.

The cool sensation washed away his stray thoughts, allowing him to focus on one thing.

’Theoretically, I shouldn’t do anything that affects the situation in Greenfield City.’

’But that’s just in theory. As long as Si Ying is alive, the danger I face won’t be reduced in the slightest, even if the grand scheme of things remains stable.’

’He has to die.’

He waited. This was something that required the help of others; Lin Qi couldn’t accomplish it on his own.

A weapon compartment on his arm’s Exoskeleton opened, and he took out the Quantum-Locked Text Interaction Device.

The device displayed a message King Arthur had sent during the day: "There was a big commotion last night, and the news is on total lockdown. Do you have any intel? I’m in a lot of trouble and need more information to work with."

King Arthur had learned his lesson and hadn’t sent a long string of messages, knowing Lin Qi wouldn’t have time to reply during the day anyway.

Lin Qi thought for a moment before replying.

"Last night’s incident was a probe, meant to test the true identity of the Liu Clan’s heir. Not many factions took direct action, but almost every power worth naming was present."

Lin Qi’s description was deliberately vague to avoid exposing his real-world identity.

Even though they belonged to the same Highest-Level Mercenary Corps, there was no guarantee that all members had good intentions toward one another.

King Arthur replied quickly: "That’s about what I figured. That final explosion last night was something called Holy Light. It’s a technique from the European Administrative Region, tied to some ancient beliefs."

’Holy Light?’

It was a unique technique used against Wizards. Lin Qi committed the name to memory.

King Arthur clearly knew a lot, but Lin Qi didn’t press for more details.

Instead, he asked, "What kind of trouble are you in? Perhaps I can offer some help."

With a lot of the attention on him having died down, Lin Qi was willing to engage in exchanges with King Arthur that weren’t limited to just intelligence.

This time, King Arthur didn’t reply instantly. This Knight Professional, who wasn’t exactly a deep thinker, was also considering his own situation, wary of potential danger from his so-called teammate. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After a long pause, a new message appeared: "Something’s strange with the gangs in Greenfield City. They seem to have consolidated into a single organization, and practically every member is out looking for me. It’s getting very hard to hide."

Still being hunted by gang members.

It must be an awful feeling.

He was a Tier Three Extraordinary Professional, yet he couldn’t reveal his power and was being hunted by a bunch of small fry like a rat in a dark sewer.

In fact, King Arthur’s current hiding place was literally in a sewer.

This was something Lin Qi felt he could help with.

He replied: "Starting tomorrow, I’ll help you look for an entrance to the Iron Curtain Void. I know Master Ma and Capitalist said it’s not a good time to leave Greenfield City, but the Iron Curtain Void could serve as a temporary safe haven."

This time, King Arthur replied instantly: "Thanks. If I get any other intel, I’ll share it with you immediately."

Down in the sewer, King Arthur, a man barely five-foot-three, hugged his knees and fiddled with his device, his heart swelling with emotion.

’It’s true,’ he thought, ’Wizards and Knights should be steadfast partners.’

’All those medieval stories about Knights going on a worldwide Witch Hunting campaign have to be rumors.’

’We’re all ancient Extraordinary Professionals; we should look out for each other.’

Recalling King Arthur’s predicament, it seemed it had all started with a single S-Class Potion.

Extraordinary Professionals like Martial Artists and Knights seemed to have an extremely high demand for Potions.

He typed another message: "Are you interested in a new type of Potion?"

The new type of Potion he was referring to was, of course, the beyond-spec version of the M-level Potion.

For now, Lin Qi could only create M-level Potions, but that might not be the case in the future.

"What new type of Potion?" King Arthur was naturally interested. As a wandering Knight and a lone-wolf Mercenary, he would never pass up any opportunity to grow stronger.

Every Knight dreamed of becoming a Legend, just as the codename King Arthur had chosen for himself implied.

King Arthur was destined to be a Legend.

"It’s just M-Class, a new breakthrough from the research institute I belong to. The prerequisite for taking it is having a physique that’s reached the Tier One Entry Level. Its ultimate effect can strengthen the human body to the Tier One Limit."

Lin Qi chose his words carefully, intentionally crafting a brand new cover identity.

A member of an unknown research institute.

This "unknown research institute" would be Lin Qi’s primary cover for selling the beyond-spec Potions for the foreseeable future.

Naturally, Lin Qi had no intention of keeping these beyond-spec Potions just for his own consumption.

He needed to monetize them, provided it was safe to do so.

In the Cyber World, how much money you had often directly translated to how much combat power you wielded.

"M-Class? Tier One Limit?"

"??????"

King Arthur sent a string of question marks.

As a Knight Professional with an extremely high demand for Potions, King Arthur understood the value of such a Potion even better than Lin Qi did.

This thing practically defied the fundamental principles of Pharmacy.

Right after sending the question marks, King Arthur pressed on, "Are there higher-level versions? S-Class? No, A-Class or even L-Class would work!"

Seeing King Arthur’s reaction, Lin Qi knew he had asked the right person.

"The L-Class technology is in the breakthrough phase; we’ll be able to produce it before long. The tech for higher Levels is still in the theoretical stage and will require a significant amount of time."

Lin Qi’s reply left King Arthur feeling a little disappointed.

Although the beyond-spec M-level Potion was valuable, it was of limited use to a Tier Three Extraordinary Professional.

What King Arthur truly needed was a way to break through to become a Tier Four Knight.

An S-Class Potion was one such hope, which was why he had come to Greenfield City in the first place. He just never expected to run right into the activation of the Iron Curtain System.

Lin Qi could guess what King Arthur was thinking, so he replied again.

"Theoretically, higher-level versions of this Potion can be produced, but it will take time. I’m a core member of the lab, so if you need them in the future, I’ll have a certain quota I can sell."

It wasn’t the price that made S-Class Potions so precious, but the access.

The corporations capable of producing S-Class Potions could be counted on one hand, and they all strictly restricted their sales.

Even when sales did happen, they were on a corporate-to-corporate basis, never to a Mercenary with no backing.

To these corporations, Mercenary Corps were a massive headache.

No corporation in any administrative region wanted a new T0-level Mercenary Corps to emerge.

"If you succeed in producing them, you absolutely must contact me. Even a standard S-Class Potion will do. I can pay more than the market price."

After sending that line, King Arthur sent another: "Can you sell me a few doses of the new M-level Potion? I have a use for low-level Potions, too."

’Does he really need them? Or is he just trying to secure this channel?’

It didn’t really matter. Lin Qi was confident that if King Arthur got his hands on the beyond-spec M-level Potions, he could sell them at a price that would be highly profitable for them both.

One couldn’t place their full trust in the title of "Mercenary Corps teammate." A bond forged by mutual interest was a far more resilient symbol of friendship.

"I’ll gift you a few samples once I find an entrance to the Iron Curtain Void. The research institute I belong to is highly secretive, and the person in charge despises doing business with large corporations. We need some trustworthy sales channels."

After sending the message, Lin Qi glanced at the time.

It was almost midnight, the start of a new day. Time to prepare for the meeting.