"I've been tricked."
When Clara arrived at the address provided by Herta, all she found was a small, unassuming house.
Herta's real self wasn't inside, but the various experimental data, signs of daily life, and the lingering scent in the air all indicated that Herta had been living there not long ago.
The experimental data was scattered haphazardly around the room, looking like boring results Herta had casually discarded after finishing her tests.
"Well… even though I was tricked, it's not like I got nothing out of it~"
Clara didn't feel particularly angry after being fooled by Herta. After collecting the traces of Herta's aura lingering in the air, she meticulously erased all signs of her own visit, gently closed the door, restoring it to its original state, and left.
"Mhm, with this bit of aura, as long as you aren't halfway across the universe, Sis Herta, I can find you."
"Don't blame me for being ruthless when the time comes~" Clara couldn't help but let an evil grin spread across her face.
"Hehehe~ Hehehe."
…
"Hey, you're back? Done playing with your dear Sis Herta~?"
The moment Clara pushed the door open, Silver Wolf's slightly mocking voice reached her ears.
Clara paid it no mind. She walked over to Silver Wolf, plopped down on the sofa, snatched the bag of chips right out of Silver Wolf's hands, and stuffed the entire contents into her own mouth.
Silver Wolf: ᗜ ‸ ᗜ
"Those were limited edition chips. They were hard to get," Silver Wolf shot Clara a resentful look. She had gone through a lot of trouble to snag that bag, savoring each chip one by one, chewing slowly to appreciate the flavor… and then Clara just inhaled the whole thing in one go…
It made Silver Wolf's heart ache a little.
But even as her heart ached, Silver Wolf's hands never stopped moving on her game controller.
Chips can be gone, but the game must go on.
"Pfft, what's the big deal? I'll grab some for you later… no, I'll buy you ten bags."
Silver Wolf gave Clara a sidelong glance and said flatly, "Those chips cost 100,000 per bag."
"Even if you sold everything you own, you couldn't afford one bag."
"Let alone ten."
"Hey, little Silver Wolf, who do you think you're looking down on?" Clara instantly took offense upon hearing this.
"I'll have you know, a measly million is nothing! Forget ten bags, I could buy ten thousand bags!"
Thinking of the balance in her digital wallet, Clara felt a surge of unprecedented confidence.
The impoverished Clara of the past was dead. Now standing here was Clara the Rich Lady!
"Save the tall tales for Sam." Silver Wolf didn't believe a word of it, thinking Clara must be drunk from eating too many chips and started bragging.
Hmm… can you even get drunk from eating chips?
Silver Wolf didn't know, but if it happened to Clara, it probably shouldn't be surprising.
"Hah! You actually don't believe me!" Clara jumped up from the sofa in agitation. She pulled out her phone, opened her account balance, and shoved it right in Silver Wolf's face.
"Open your ignorant little eyes wide and take a good look!"
"Read it out loud! Tell me how much money I have right now!"
Silver Wolf initially had no intention of humoring her, but seeing Clara's determined stance, she knew the noise wouldn't stop unless she looked.
So, Silver Wolf cast a casual glance at the screen, then went back to her game.
"How much?" But that string of digits gave Silver Wolf pause. Her hands, usually flying across the controller, came to a rare halt.
"Mhm?" Clara smiled with great satisfaction at Silver Wolf's reaction.
Silver Wolf checked the balance on Clara's phone again, her mind racing for a good long while before finally settling on a somewhat plausible explanation.
"You got yourself a sugar mommy? That Herta woman?"
Clara: ?
"What kind of nonsense is that? What nonsense! Can't it be money I earned myself?"
"If you knew how to earn money, Sam would be climbing trees." Silver Wolf looked at Clara with a slightly mocking smile.
"Come on, Sam can already climb trees," Clara rolled her eyes and sat back down on the sofa. "You're just jealous~ Jealous~ Jea~~lous."
"Hmph." Silver Wolf snorted coldly and didn't say anything more.
Jealous of those tens of billions? Silver Wolf couldn't help but find the idea amusing inside.
If Silver Wolf wanted, trillions could just appear in her account out of thin air.
She just wouldn't do something so unscrupulous, that's all.
"By the way, where are Kafka, Blade, Elio, and Sam? Isn't Sam done with her mission yet?" Clara hadn't sensed any of their auras in the room.
She hadn't even sensed Elio's.
"Oh, Kafka and Blade went on missions. No idea about Elio." Silver Wolf put down her game console and stretched.
A perfect arc was presented before Clara's eyes… well, if you ignored the flat chest.
"Are you thinking something rude?"
"No, no." Clara glanced down at her own chest and shook her head. She wasn't exactly in a position to talk about Silver Wolf anyway. /（ㄒoㄒ）/~~
Silver Wolf gave Clara a suspicious look, then slowly said:
"Sam's mission is already over. She's probably on a nearby planet making money right now."
"Making money? What's she doing to make money?"
"I don't know. If you're really curious, why don't you just go see for yourself."
"Alright. I haven't seen Sam in a while anyway." Clara nodded and got up, ready to head to that planet to find Sam.
"Hey, wait a second…"
Just as Clara was about to step out, she turned back to ask Silver Wolf:
"Kafka and Blade are on missions, Sam's off making money, and who knows where Elio is."
"How come you're the only one staying home playing games all day?"
"Hmph, none of your business." Silver Wolf snorted, picked up her console, and started playing again.
"All you do is play games, play games, play games all day! What's the use of playing games?"
"No matter how powerful you are in the game, it's still fake!"
Hearing this, Silver Wolf put down her console. A screen materialized in front of her. After fiddling with something, she flashed a smile at Clara:
"So sorry to burst your bubble, but no matter how powerful I am in the game, it's still real."
"Now, open your phone and check your balance."
Seeing Silver Wolf's smile, a sense of foreboding rose in Clara's heart. Trembling, she picked up her phone, opened her account balance, and almost passed out on the spot.
[Balance: 114,514]
"So? Still feeling cheeky?" Silver Wolf's smile widened as she watched Clara's reaction.
"Hah…" Clara took a deep breath to steady herself, then put on a solemn face.
"You think this can make me submit? Hah! I tell you!"
"I submit! /（ㄒoㄒ）/~~" In a flash, Clara was by Silver Wolf's side, her hands on Silver Wolf's shoulders, giving them a pleading massage.
"Wahhh, Sis Silver Wolf, little Clara was wrong, please, please change my balance back! /（ㄒoㄒ）/~~"
Silver Wolf: …
…
Clara's Review of the Interastral Peace Corporation's Digital Credit Software:
What a garbage company! Can't you beef up the security on your credit software a bit?
You don't even know when you've been hacked!
…
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Give power stones please I survive solely off of number go up.