Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Points Redemption, I Am the Employer
Faye Yardley immediately redeemed 10 Forced Merger Cards, spending 500,000 points.
There was no other way. Veridia was a populous nation, and one card could only merge twenty million people. Ten cards would only create ten merged zones of twenty million people each.
There was only so much she, a single woman, could do. Although she had enough points to redeem more, who could say she didn’t have other things she wanted for herself?
Faye Yardley admitted to herself that she wasn’t the self-sacrificing type, unable to prioritize the greater good in every situation.
"Mr. Pierce, here. If you want to redeem anything else, you’ll have to work for it yourselves. I’ve done what I can."
Zachary Pierce felt the immense weight of the ten cards. He snapped to attention and saluted. "Thank you, Yardley, for everything you’ve done for Veridia."
Faye Yardley waved her hands frantically. "No, no, Mr. Pierce, please don’t do that. You’re making me nervous."
After thrusting the 10 cards at Zachary Pierce, Faye Yardley turned to browse for things she wanted to redeem herself.
The Point Shop never had sales, and most of the items were just basic necessities.
She redeemed two Skill Books (Basic Medical Skills and Basic Acupuncture Skills), and also got a set of silver needles for acupuncture.
A Training Room blueprint cost 10,000 points a piece. Faye Yardley felt that if she built it back home and it had no special effects, she would absolutely lose her mind.
She spent another 10,000 points on some Space Stones and backpack expansion blueprints.
She also looked up warehouse expansion blueprints, which cost 3,000 points each.
’This stuff really isn’t for ordinary people. Good thing I’m not ordinary, heh.’
After telling herself a lame joke, she quietly bought two of each. After all, she couldn’t forget about her brother’s needs.
In an instant, she was down to just 5,694 points that couldn’t be saved.
’Hard to earn, easy to spend. These points don’t last at all.’
’And I haven’t even bought that much. The points I earned from a single Dungeon run aren’t even close to enough.’
But this wasn’t the time to be sighing about it. She still had points to spend, or they would go to waste.
With her improved Constitution, her body’s natural resistance to heat and cold was better, but she wasn’t immune. So, Faye Yardley spent 200 points on two sets of lightweight, temperature-regulating women’s sportswear.
She spent another 100 points on several ordinary summer outfits.
As she scrolled through the shop, she came across a pair of lightweight, breathable, and comfortable sneakers that even had a self-cleaning function. They cost 200 points a pair, but how could she pass them up?
Two pairs it was.
With her own needs taken care of, she started browsing the weapons category.
It couldn’t be helped; none of the weapons she’d found or unboxed so far were a particularly good fit.
She checked the blades, but they were even worse than the decent longblade Zachary Pierce had given her.
’Oh well,’ she thought. ’Saves me some points.’
’It seems I don’t really need anything else, but I can’t let these points go to waste.’
’Maybe I’ll just exchange it all for wood and trade it on the market.’
As the thought occurred to her, Faye Yardley figured there was nothing wrong with that idea.
Wood was an essential resource. ’Someone would probably be willing to trade Dungeon Fragments for it,’ she reasoned.
After all, running Dungeons didn’t guarantee a reward and was life-threatening.
So, she spent 494 points on other basic supplies, then converted the remaining 4,500 entirely into wood. Fortunately, items redeemed from the Point Mall didn’t all go into her backpack; the system thoughtfully stored them elsewhere. Otherwise, even the largest backpack couldn’t have held such a massive amount of basic resources.
The wood alone amounted to 45,000 pieces. With each slot holding a maximum of 99, even her 80-slot backpack, which was considered quite large, couldn’t possibly hold that much.
With all her expiring points spent, she felt a wave of relief.
"Donovan, are you done redeeming your items?"
"Finished a while ago." Gavin Donovan chuckled. He hadn’t had many points to begin with, and after getting the items Faye Yardley had specified, he’d finished quickly and was just waiting.
Zachary Pierce and his two companions were still huddled together, muttering. They were clearly trying to maximize the effectiveness of their points.
Once the allotted time was up, everyone returned to their respective rafts.
"Sister, you’re back!"
Faye Yardley nodded at a delighted Willow Yardley. "I’m going to wash up first. We’ll talk later."
As soon as she returned to the raft, the fog surrounding it began to dissipate.
The Merfolk who had been lingering nearby spotted the raft and swam over excitedly.
After a quick wash and a change into clean clothes, she went outside to where Willow Yardley was fishing.
Faye Yardley had just stepped out when she saw the conspicuous Merfolk beside the raft. "A Merfolk?"
"A few hours after you entered the Dungeon, the system announced that Otherkin would be arriving and instructed everyone to handle encounters with them appropriately."
"Randomly?"
"Yes."
The Merfolk’s eyes lit up upon seeing Faye Yardley. "Hey, pretty lady! Can you invite me onto your raft for a visit?"
"And what if you mean us harm? No, I refuse."
The Merfolk pointed to themself. "Look at me! C’mon, look at me! Can’t you tell I’m a gentle, kind, peace-loving person? I would never do something so horrible."
Faye Yardley scoffed. "Heh... Just tell me what you want or what you need our help with. If I can help, I will."
The Merfolk looked aggrieved but said, "Fine. I want you to help me find the lair of a corrupted Sea Monster. We can split whatever’s inside fifty-fifty."
"A lair? In the sea?"
"Not necessarily. It could be on an island."
Faye Yardley spread her hands. "Either way, how would I know where it is? Am I supposed to jump into the sea with you and search around? And finding an island is even more out of the question. Look around my raft—it’s just an endless expanse of ocean. Can you see anything else?"
"I just know you can do it. My senses are never wrong, and they say it has to be you. I’ve been searching this area for you for two days," the Merfolk said. "See? You obviously weren’t here before, but my senses were right. You appeared, didn’t you?"
Faye Yardley recalled hiring Chloe Hughes and her team in the Dungeon and suddenly had an idea. "We don’t know each other," she said. "There’s no foundation of trust between us. If we’re going to cooperate, we need to establish one, don’t you think?"
"You have a point. So, what do you have in mind?" The Merfolk was conflicted; she couldn’t think of a good solution either. ’If I tear off one of my golden scales and give it to her, that’s like handing over my life, isn’t it? Absolutely not.’
Faye Yardley wasn’t in a rush. She waited for the Merfolk to mull it over. Seeing her genuine dilemma, which suggested she was at least somewhat sincere, Faye finally spoke. "How about this: in our world, there’s a powerful entity called the System. It can provide a hiring contract to bind us both. That would give us a foundation for cooperation."
"A hiring contract? I hire you?"
"Obviously, I’d be the employer," Faye Yardley snapped.
