Seeing Cipher react so quickly, Lu Zhaoran hurried to stop her.
"Wait, wait, wait! I still need time to make contact! Tomorrow—we can probably head out for the trade tomorrow!"
"Ah... fine then."
Hearing that, Cipher stepped down from the passenger seat with a look of disappointment.
"By the way, Sister Cipher, is there some emergency? Do you need money that badly?"
Lu Zhaoran was puzzled. Just a moment ago, she had seen Cipher looking reluctant, yet the second she mentioned how much the pair could sell for, Cipher had bolted straight into the car as if she couldn't wait another second.
Cipher froze. She hadn't expected Lu Zhaoran to ask her that.
In fact, the question stumped her as well.
'That's right... am I in a rush for money?' She wasn't. There were almost no places where she actually needed to spend it.
Aside from the ten thousand credits she had given away, she hadn't made a single purchase. So why did her body instinctively lunge forward the moment she heard "over a million credits"?
Why was she like this?
Even if she had liked money in her past life, it shouldn't have been to this extent.
'Am I being influenced by the cat's own personality?'
But that didn't seem right either. In the game, the cat couldn't exactly be called greedy; she only amassed wealth to combat the prophecy...
"Er... Sister Cipher? If it's inconvenient, just pretend I didn't ask..." Seeing Cipher fall into a long silence, Lu Zhaoran spoke up hesitantly.
"Oh, it's nothing." Cipher was snapped out of her thoughts by the voice. She replied casually, "I was just thinking about whether or not to tell you."
"Then maybe it's better if you don't?"
Lu Zhaoran chickened out immediately. The more you knew, the faster you died. Although this "Great One" had a good temperament, she was still afraid of getting caught up in something bizarre.
For instance, what if that unknown friend of Cipher's suddenly appeared beside her one day with a cold face, saying "You know too much" while slapping an instant-death curse on her? She wouldn't even have a place to go to cry.
(Styx: No... I don't think I would do that...)
"Forget it, I'll tell you. It just so happens you can help me with this."
After some thought, Cipher decided that even if she didn't understand why she liked money so much, she might as well make use of the situation. She turned to Lu Zhaoran and said:
"It's because credits have a special use for me. The more credits I possess, the more power I can gain through that method. So..."
As she spoke, Cipher moved to Lu Zhaoran's side. Before the woman could react, Cipher deftly swiped her terminal and slipped a stone into its place.
Cipher then dangled the terminal in front of her with a mischievous grin.
"Help me collect as many credits as possible. When I get even stronger, I'll help you beat up any enemies you can't handle in the future."
Having said her piece, Cipher tossed the terminal back to her.
Lu Zhaoran caught it and sank into thought. She had realized her terminal was taken—after all, she could clearly feel the change in weight in her clothes.
However, Cipher had seamlessly swapped it for a stone in her pocket. If the texture and weight of the stone hadn't been different from the terminal, she might not have even noticed the theft until much later.
"What's wrong, Xiao Ran? What do you think?"
Lu Zhaoran's train of thought was interrupted. She looked at Cipher, nodded, and gave a precise, smiling answer:
"Since the Great One put it that way, I'll definitely help you get your hands on plenty of credits. After all, the chance to cling to a powerful ally is right in front of me. Why would I pass that up?"
Cipher silently gave Lu Zhaoran a thumbs-up. In reality, as long as the woman believed her words, it was already a form of help.
"But, before we sell them tomorrow, I still need to take some insurance measures."
With that, Lu Zhaoran pulled out two syringes filled with an unknown liquid and inserted them into the arms of the two men.
"What's that?" Cipher asked curiously, watching the syringes.
"These are a potent sedative. They'll keep them asleep for a few more days. It wouldn't do if they woke up early before the trade begins."
"I see..."
Cipher nodded thoughtfully. But soon, a realization hit her. Could she use her Chrono Surge to directly inject this into others? That way, she could take down powerful enemies without breaking a sweat.
Thinking of this, she immediately asked, "Xiao Ran, how long does it take for that medicine to kick in?!"
Though Lu Zhaoran didn't know why Cipher was asking, she answered quickly.
"It takes quite a while, about an hour or so. This sedative is mainly used to keep people who are already unconscious out for longer, so the onset isn't that fast."
Hearing the explanation, Cipher lowered her head in disappointment. But she quickly asked again:
"Then is there one that works fast? It doesn't need to keep them out for as long."
"There is, Great One. There is."
Lu Zhaoran nodded and pulled a syringe filled with a translucent white liquid from her pocket.
"This drug can knock out anyone below A- rank within a minute. If their strength isn't even at B- rank, they'll be out in ten seconds! The only drawback is that it can only be used via injection, so it's a bit of a niche tool."
Cipher's eyes lit up. She snatched the syringe from Lu Zhaoran's hand.
'How is that a drawback for me?! Who said this is a niche tool? This thing is amazing!'
"How many credits for this? I'm buying it!"
"No need. If you need it, Great One, just take it. I have a dozen more tubes; I developed these myself a while back."
"Then thanks in advance! I'll share the profits with you once the deal is done!"
Looking at the syringe in her hand, Cipher gave a happy reply. She was already mentally calculating whose body she was going to stick this into.
However, before she could think for long, the system's voice suddenly rang out.
[Detected incoming abnormal energy. Preparing to resist the anomaly.]
[Further scanning complete. Anomalous energy identified as Divine Power with the attribute of Trickery. Source: Cipher.]
[Aborting resistance. Allowing partial intrusion.]
[System update commencing...]