Chapter 94: The Reward Is Not Proportional to the Time Cost

"I’m so jealous your parents aren’t constantly nagging you to find a boyfriend! My mom has chased me all the way to Rongcheng just to give me a lecture..." Su Yue sighed.

Hearing her best friend’s envious comment, Wang Ling couldn’t help but scratch her head before replying.

"That’s what you get for not having an older sister! The only reason my parents aren’t lecturing me is because my sister hasn’t found a boyfriend yet.

As long as she’s still single, I can keep living this carefree life of mine."

Su Yue thought for a moment. "Wang Ling, I remember your sister is two years older than you, right? She’s twenty-seven this year. Your parents must be giving her a hard time about it."

"Not really. My mom brought it up once, but my sister said she’s too busy with work to even think about things like that. She told them that if they could introduce her to a colleague, she’d be happy to meet them.

Hahaha, Su Yue, can you believe what my sister said? Asking our parents to introduce her to a colleague? Our parents are ordinary people, how would they know any Investigators from the Superpower Administration Bureau!

They don’t know anyone like that, let alone an Investigator around my sister’s age. So ever since then, my parents have never brought up dating with her again," Wang Ling said with a laugh.

"Your sister is amazing! By the way, hasn’t she been in the Capital City for a while now?"

"She’s been gone for a month. She should be back in about a week. I have no idea why the bureau sent her to the headquarters in the Capital City—a business trip for over a month, can you believe it?"

"Your sister never told you what the bureau sent her to the Capital City to do?"

"Su Yue, you don’t know her. She’s very tight-lipped. Even on her days off at home, she rarely talks about work."

"It seems the Superpower Administration Bureau is very strict about confidentiality!" Su Yue laughed.

The two chatted idly for a while. Just then, a delivery guy carrying a large bag showed up at the door. It was a package Wang Ling had ordered online, so she quickly stepped out from behind the cash register to sign for it.

Su Yue took her phone out of her pocket and set it on the table. Sipping her milk tea, she unlocked the screen, opened WeChat, and tapped on a specific chat window to send a message.

Su Yue: What are you up to?

Five or six minutes passed with no reply. It was as if her message had vanished into thin air.

’It’s been a while with no reply. Could Lin Li be taking a nap?’

’No, that can’t be right. It’s not even noon, so it’s not time for his nap. Maybe he’s in the kitchen making lunch? That’s why he hasn’t seen my message?’ Su Yue mused inwardly, staring at the empty chat box.

"Excuse me, miss. Could you wrap up this orchid for me?" a young woman who had just entered the flower shop asked, pointing to a pot on a shelf near the entrance.

"Of course, miss. One moment, please." Su Yue stood up and walked over to the entrance. She took the orchid the young woman had pointed out from the shelf and began to place it in a bag for her.

...

「An Unknown Otherworld.」

On the bank of a rushing river in a lush, green forest, Lin Li finished a large, delicious bowl of seafood instant noodles. He packed up his pot and bowl, then doused the campfire with water.

Even though Lin Li was in an unknown Otherworld, he was still environmentally conscious. If he didn’t deal with the fire properly and accidentally started a forest fire, the consequences would be dire.

’All done. Time to continue exploring.’ Having packed everything away, Lin Li set out once more on his journey.

With a full stomach, his energy was restored, and Lin Li’s pace of exploration picked up considerably.

After more than an hour of not encountering a single Mutant Beast, Lin Li finally came across his first one in this unknown world.

It was a giant, 1.5-meter-long Centipede Beast. Its body was a vibrant emerald green, and a pair of large, purple eyes sat on either side of its head. Its fearsome mandibles opened and closed periodically, letting out a sharp CHITTERING sound.

"High-level Tier One." Lin Li stared at the giant green centipede, his Perception picking up the Spiritual Energy Wave radiating from its body as he muttered to himself.

’I knew it! In an Otherworld where the concentration of Spiritual Energy is several times higher than on Blue Star, how could there not be any Mutant Beasts?’

The green Centipede Beast’s eyes burned as it stared at the prey before it. A faint golden Spiritual Light surfaced on its body. After letting out a few sharp CHITTERS, it immediately scuttled rapidly toward Lin Li.

They were about ten meters apart. The green Centipede Beast was fast, but Lin Li was faster.

By the time the Centipede Beast had covered two or three meters, a forty-centimeter, crescent-shaped Cyan Wind Blade had already formed in Lin Li’s hand and shot toward the creature.

WHOOSH.

The sharp Cyan Wind Blade sliced through the air with a piercing whistle, aimed straight for the Centipede Beast’s large head. It was too fast to dodge; the creature was struck squarely in the head.

SQUELCH.

The Cyan Wind Blade sliced the Centipede Beast’s head open, and a mass of green, viscous fluid oozed out, a sight that Lin Li found utterly revolting.

Instantly killed by the Cyan Wind Blade, the Centipede Beast’s long body continued to writhe for a good while before finally going still.

Even though the Centipede Beast’s corpse had stopped moving, Lin Li didn’t approach it immediately. Acting with extreme caution, he fired another crescent-shaped Cyan Wind Blade at the motionless body.

SLICE.

It was sliced in two.

’Now it’s well and truly dead.’ Lin Li nodded at the bisected corpse of the Centipede Beast. Only then did he walk over and store the two halves on the Mysterious Small Island.

’I’ve been in this world for nearly three hours, and all I have to show for it is a single Mutant Beast. The reward is completely disproportionate to the time I’ve put in!’

After storing the Centipede Beast’s corpse, Lin Li pulled his phone—which had no signal—from his pocket and checked the time on the screen, grumbling to himself.

’I’ll press on a little farther. If things don’t improve, I’m heading back.’

Just as Lin Li prepared to continue his exploration, an earth-shattering clap of thunder suddenly erupted from ahead and to his left.

RUMBLE...

Startled by the sudden peal of thunder, Lin Li whipped his head around to look in the direction of the sound.

He saw a brilliant, silver-white bolt of lightning shoot out from the distant woods, streaking toward the sky. It was followed by a deafening roar of thunder.

...