However, Wei’en’s mood soon turned gloomy.

After reviewing all his upgradable skills, he was stunned to find there were none he urgently needed to improve.

’First of all, the Meditation Technique is out for now. Given the current speed at which my Spirit level is rising, the Spirit I gain from two Xiaoxi Meditations is completely negligible.’

’The Gonzalez language is a possibility, but I don’t have any untranslatable Era Relics on hand. If I upgraded it, it would most likely just collect dust.’

’My firearm mastery is also sufficient for now. It’s not like upgrading it will make my bullets curve, is it?’

’As for the remaining Soul-Devouring Magic and the Undead Summoning Magic...’

Thus, Wei’en realized with a sense of helplessness that he didn’t have any skills that would grant him a major power boost right now.

’Looks like I’ll just have to save these survival points for now.’

...

...

It wasn’t until it was almost time for lunch that Lisi burst through the door.

"Marco, Wei’en, I have good news for you!"

Wei’en was taken aback to see a brilliant smile on her face and couldn’t help but ask, baffled, "Captain, did you take... What’s gotten into you?"

He’d almost asked if she’d taken the wrong medicine. Just half an hour ago, she had been furious.

"We got the money from selling the mummified body from the Despair Sect’s sacrifice. A full 45 gold pounds."

Lisi sidled up to him, shaking the money pouch in her hand and producing an enticing JINGLE JANGLE.

’Gold pounds??’

Wei’en’s eyes lit up. He had quite a few things to buy, and this money had come just in time.

Marco sidled over, rubbing his hands together. "Lisi, hey, about my share..."

"Relax, everyone gets a share." Lisi flipped the money pouch upside down, spilling all the coins out. She picked up two and weighed them in her hand. "I just love this glittering gold color."

"Me... too..."

Wei’en stared fixedly at the dozens of one-gold-pound coins on the table and gulped. ’If only all this money were mine.’

Lisi pulled over a stool and set half the money beside her. "Half of the sale money has to be turned over to the department. As captain, I get one-third of the total, which is fifteen gold pounds."

"Hmm, we also have to take out twenty percent for Ariana’s assistance, which is 9 gold pounds. Marco and Tina put in a lot of effort this time, especially Tina, so she gets 8 gold pounds."

"Marco, I’ll hold onto your share for you for now..."

"Huh?" Marco looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. "Officer Lisi, please don’t. I need that money..."

"To throw another party?"

Marco: "..."

’It’s been two days already, is she still mad about the party?’

Lisi ignored him and pushed the rest of the money to Wei’en. "This is your share. Besides your cut from the sale, there’s also an extra reward for writing up the case report..."

Wei’en looked at his share—a total of 6 gold pounds.

It had originally been only 5 gold pounds and 8 shillings, but Lisi had rounded it up for convenience.

Wei’en counted it several times, then reluctantly took out 2 gold pounds and placed them on the table. "Captain, this is the money I owed you. Please take it."

"So you didn’t forget."

"Of course. In my hometown, we have an old saying: ’Repay your debts promptly, and you’ll never find it hard to borrow again.’ I hope you don’t hold it against me that I didn’t settle the contract when I got the reward for the translation."

"There’s a saying like that?" Lisi raised an eyebrow. "It’s fine, I trust you’re not that kind of person. Hmm, I’ll just take one coin this time."

"Huh?"

"Consider it a reward. For putting you in such danger yesterday, and for Clelia today..."

"I understand, Captain. You don’t need to feel guilty."

Wei’en quickly took one of the coins back and said solemnly, "For the Secret Investigation Department, to protect the safety of the Caster City State, encountering a little danger is nothing."

’This way, I’ll have 5 gold pounds. I can buy a few more portions of Magic Potion ingredients.’

’Or maybe I can buy all the mechanical materials to modify my flintlock?’

"..."

Lisi’s gaze flicked downward, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. ’What’s with that hand speed? Is he a coin-counting machine or something?’

After the loot was divided, Lisi briefly explained the matter of Clelia’s attack and asked, "Wei’en, do you think she’ll come for you again?"

Wei’en pondered for a moment. "I hate to admit it, but I think she has her sights set on me."

In fact, he knew very well that the situation was even more serious than he let on.

’It’s not just that she’s targeting me. Clelia has a reason she *must* kill me.’

"I thought I was the one being targeted before,"

Marco looked at him sympathetically. "Wei’en, you have to be extra careful for a while. That lunatic Clelia is capable of anything."

"You don’t call what happened today crazy?"

Wei’en thought of the blood-stained stone path in the Dumitru District and the collapsed ruins. He couldn’t find a similar scene even in his predecessor’s memories.

"She was even crazier over in Klande. I heard that in the Secret Investigation Department over there, she assassinated three captains..."

"That’s enough, Marco," Lisi frowned. "As difficult as this is, Clelia isn’t impossible to deal with."

"How?" Wei’en asked quickly. "Is there a better solution?"

"For now, just stay vigilant. I need to prepare some things."

Lisi found a pen and paper and wrote something down. "Also, because of that Guardian Knight’s attack today, Clelia won’t be showing up in Caster for a while."

"She was injured?"

"Of course. The light of Dawn is the bane of the Eternal Life Association."

Wei’en nodded. ’That’s good. I can still use this time to get as strong as possible.’

’I’m not saying I need to be able to beat her, but as long as I can escape if she attacks, that’ll be enough.’

"Alright, let’s go eat."

After she finished writing, Lisi put the parchment in her pocket and smiled. "Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. A lot of the time, a known danger isn’t really a danger at all."

"Yes, I understand."

...

...

"Lisi is so mean," Marco said listlessly, his head drooping in dejection. "She actually held back my money..."

"She’s just holding onto it for you for now. She’ll give it to you later."

Wei’en gave him a sympathetic glance and changed the subject. "Anyway, Marco, thanks for coming with me to do some shopping."

"It’s just a coincidence. There happens to be a case there that we need to wrap up."

Marco took a deep breath, trying to lift his spirits. "Before we left, Lisi told me to take you to the scene for a walkthrough and teach you some professional know-how along the way."

"Sounds good." Wei’en thought of something and asked, feigning nonchalance, "I hear wrapping up a case also pays, right?"

"Of course. When it comes to rewards, you can have complete faith in the Secret Investigation Department’s generosity."

"Mm, I’m already glad I managed to join the Logistics Department."

’Logistics Department, Logistics and Investigation Department, who cares? With rewards this generous, only an idiot wouldn’t join.’

As a result, Wei’en felt an inexplicable surge of gratitude toward Yuan...