"Letting you go is fine, but I want to ask if you have any money on you right now?" Chen Luo was amused by the delinquent's internal drama, but he hadn't forgotten his main objective.
"Y-Yes! My phone is the latest model, and my payment apps have over 2,000 yuan in the payment software inside..." The blond delinquent trembled.
"No need for details. I know. And from now on, your phone and the money in it belong to me. Any objections?" Chen Luo tapped the guy's cheek with a small knife.
"N-None at all!" The delinquent shook his head frantically.
"Got any other cash?"
"N-No... Wait, yes! I don't have any now, but I can collect 'protection fees'! I have dirt on Bai Bin—I can extort him! My family has money too—I can steal from home! I—"
After seeing Chen Luo's disappointed eyes, Huang Mao realized that if he didn't get money, he might be killed to silence him, and frantically thought about how to get money.
SLAP!
Chen Luo backhanded him across the face.
"You'd still dare to extort? Steal from your own family?" Chen Luo glared, plunging the dagger into the dirt beside him.
Sure, his finances were tight now that he had an extra mouth to feed, but he won't use money gained from these methods.
"N-No, I dare not! Never again!" The blond recoiled, realizing he'd misread Chen Luo's intentions.
"Forget about the money. I'll let you go this time. But if I catch you bullying students or shaking them down again..." Chen Luo leaned in, lowering his voice. "I'll drag you to a basement, chop off your limbs, and turn you into a human pig. Got it?" Chen Luo tried to make a scary face.
He wasn't sure how the guy had imagined him earlier, but if fear kept him from causing trouble, Chen Luo was happy to play the villain.
"Yes, yes." The blond delinquent nodded frantically.
"Help me out here, oh mighty Herrscher of Sentience. Can you yank him out of the hole?" Chen Luo turned to the Herrscher of Sentience.
Digging the pit had been exhausting, and refilling it would be worse. Extracting the guy without turning him into a human pretzel? Even harder.
"Easy." The Herrscher of Sentience grabbed the back of the blond's collar with two fingers—as if touching garbage—and yanked.
Chen Luo didn't understand what strange martial arts the Herrscher of Sentience used, but the guy popped out of the dirt like a cork from a bottle, completely unharmed.
Although Chen Luo didn't understand, he needed to learn that move.
"You are the Herrscher of Sentience, right? Making him keep his mouth shut should be simple," Chen Luo said.
"Obviously." She snapped her fingers. The blond's eyes glazed over, and after a brief pause, he walked away like a wind-up toy.
"Done. Once he leaves the neighborhood, he'll forget most of this. But he will continue to abide by your threats." She dusted her hands off.
[Ding! commission Complete!]
With 30 Primogems deposited, Chen Luo marveled at how useful this delinquent was.
Stealing candy from a kid earned 5 Primogems, but tormenting this guy for one night? 40 after tossing him in a hole for a night.
Maybe the talent rewarded the blond's sheer desperation to survive. Though the commission difficulty was still "0," the payout was generous.
Chen Luo, feeling a warmth throughout his body, left the vegetable garden.
This guy's a fantastic tool. Gotta see if I can milk more commissions out of him later.
As for the hole... Maybe plant a tree over it.
Back home, Chen Luo pondered while retrieving last night's takeout from his inventory.
"It's still hot? Amazing." The Herrscher of Sentience's praise was expected.
"Fu Hua, shake my hand." Chen Luo suddenly extended his palm.
"Huh? Okay." Although the Herrscher of Sentience didn't know what Chen Luo was going to do, she still stretched out her hand.
"Keep eating."
"...Sure."
As predicted, her name now appeared in his friend list.
So handshakes are mandatory for friending? What kind of archaic system is this?
Herrscher of Sentience:
[Herrscher of Sentience Core] (Item): 5,001 Primogems (Original price: 10,001 Primogems)
[Edge of Taixuan] (Martial Arts): 2,000 Primogems (Original price: 4000 Primogems)
[GrandMaster of Cold Weapons] (Skill): 2,000 Primogems (Original price: 4000 Primogems)
[Grandmaster of Melee Combat] (Skill): 2,000 Primogems (Original price: 4000 Primogems)
[Modified Herrscher Physique] (Constitution): 2,000 Primogems (Original price: 4000 Primogems)
[Weapon Cache] (Item): 1,000 Primogems (Original price: 2000 Primogems)
...
She's way richer than Barbatos.
And crucially—50% discounts across the board, which is way better than Barbatos!
Is this the power of [Father-Daughter] bonds?
Too bad Chen Luo couldn't afford any of it, but he wants to buy them all.
The Herrscher Core costing exactly one Primogem more than a Gnosis felt like a deliberate jab.
He also lingered on [Grandmaster of Cold Weapons] and [Grandmaster of Melee Combat].
The former granted free use of all melee weapons but did not say perfect control. While the latter could use all kinds of melee skills like fists, fingers, palms, and kicks.
So "Grandmaster" is the tier above "Master"?
This made Chen Luo's [Furniture Mastery] seem even more broken—it outright granted perfect control.
Probably because it was a special reward from my first non-basic commission.
What is a basic commission. For example, basic commissions were things like "steal a lollipop" or "clean someone's house"—anything under 10 Primogems with no special rewards.
But why does the Herrscher of Sentience—a being with maxed-out magic penetration—insist on fighting hand-to-hand?
You're a Herrscher! Why compete with others in Edge of Taixuan?! No wonder you lost!
"Fu Hua, can you teach me swordsmanship?" Chen Luo asked abruptly.
"Oh? Why the sudden interest? Of course!" The Herrscher of Sentience said happily after being surprised.
"That old timer taught Kiana. If I train you, then you can go beat Kiana up! That'll prove I'm stronger than the old timer!" She grinned, thinking of something very interesting.
"..." Chen Luo suddenly felt that he had put his trust in the wrong person.