Chapter 40: The Most Valuable Thing Is Still the Crystal Core

Doctor Jenkins quickly finished a full bowl of egg and milk custard, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth clean.

His movements were incredibly elegant, completely at odds with his unkempt appearance.

Just as he finished wiping his mouth, he glanced at the Mutated Aphids tumbling in the vegetable basin on the kitchen counter, then stared burningly at Sev Steele. "Don’t forget tomorrow night. Notify me a quarter of an hour before dinner is ready."

"Don’t worry! I’ll definitely make sure you get to eat piping hot meat!" she responded with a smile.

"Since you happen to be here, why don’t you do me a favor on the way?" Sev Steele pointed to a pile of neatly arranged vacuum bags in the corner of her room.

"I’m off the clock!" Doctor Jenkins said in displeasure.

"I’ll pay you 1,000 points for overtime, won’t that do?" Sev Steele asked.

Hayden Hanson didn’t speak, nor did he show any expression of disapproval. He knew today’s spoils were highly valuable. As long as this Doctor Jenkins offered a passably fair price and kept his mouth shut, even paying 5,000 points would be worth it.

"Heh! 1,000 points? Is the time of a dignified member of The Jenkins Family... Is Jared Jenkins’s time so worthless?" Doctor Jenkins sneered.

"Of course your time is precious, but isn’t this just a little something on the side after enjoying a delicious meal?" Sev Steele said brazenly.

"Hmph! Bring it here," Doctor Jenkins snapped.

Sev Steele hurriedly brought out the tattered mat from her house and laid all the vacuum bags on top of it.

Doctor Jenkins frowned at the tattered mat, and Hayden Hanson also felt a bit embarrassed. If he had known her mat was this worn out, he should have brought over his own bamboo mat when he went home earlier to fetch the bird eggs.

Doctor Jenkins inspected them one by one. Seeing that they were already sorted and processed, he nodded in satisfaction.

"First Tier Mutant Army Ant workers, standard price is 380 points each. Since yours are processed, the price increases by twenty percent. Tell me, how many are there in total?" Doctor Jenkins asked.

"Forty-six!" Sev Steele blurted out. She had counted them while processing them earlier.

"Alright, 20,976 points. Plus one Second Tier ant queen at 50,000 points, making it a total of 70,976 points." Doctor Jenkins directly gave his quote.

Hearing this price, the anxiety in Hayden Hanson’s heart instantly vanished. Although the quote he gave wasn’t the absolute highest, it was definitely fair. The highest prices could only be obtained when a certain item was extremely scarce and the Mercenary Corps Leader personally stepped in to negotiate.

"Second Tier Mutant Tree Frog males are 18,000 points each, so three of them are 54,000 points. One female is 80,000 points, bringing the total to 134,000 points.

"These few trash Crystal Cores... five First Tier ones at 2,500 points each, and three Second Tier ones at 5,000 points each.

"One high-quality First Tier Wood Element Crystal Core is 80,000 points, and one high-quality Second Tier Wood Element Crystal Core is 200,000 points.

"All the items above total 427,476 points. Deducting a five percent Appraiser’s fee of 21,373 points, the actual payable amount is 406,103 points.

"Are you two splitting it fifty-fifty? Or thirty-seventy?" Doctor Jenkins’s voice was like a robot’s, completely devoid of emotion.

"Um... why didn’t you charge me an Appraiser’s fee last time?" Sev Steele asked weakly.

"The first appraisal is free," Doctor Jenkins replied.

Sev Steele glanced at Hayden Hanson, who nodded heavily in agreement.

"Uh, alright. We’ll split it fifty-fifty." Even though her heart ached over the lost points, Sev Steele didn’t dare say another word.

Soon, both of their watches lit up at the same time. Sev Steele tapped hers open and saw 203,051 points had been credited to her account.

She casually glanced over the account details:

Yesterday’s balance: 370,350 points.

Today’s entry and exit fees: deduction of 10 points.

Today’s deposits: 203,051 points.

Total account balance: 573,391 points.

At this moment, what was on Sev Steele’s mind wasn’t her balance, but rather that Second Tier Wood Element Crystal Core. She had fought two grueling battles today and painstakingly butchered the carcasses, yet all her earnings combined were only roughly equivalent to the value of that single Crystal Core. Thinking again about the Crystal Core that Silvy’s Mom had given her, which was larger and of even better quality than this one... wouldn’t that be worth over a million points?

As it turned out, Crystal Cores were the most valuable things of all!

Having already experienced a massive deposit once before, as Sev Steele looked at her account balance now, her pleasant surprise was mostly overshadowed by calm indifference.

Sev Steele thought, "I can renew the subscription for the Mutated Milk next month."

With Doctor Jenkins transferring the funds so readily, Hayden Hanson felt that in the future, all special materials could just be sold directly to him.

Before leaving, Doctor Jenkins glanced again at the bag of Mutated Ant Eggs on top of the cabinet. "That stuff is indeed suitable for children to eat."

Then, he looked toward the bedroom where Rose was sleeping and said meaningfully, "The little girl is too skinny. Remember to feed her more."

Without asking, Doctor Jenkins unceremoniously pulled out his wide-mouthed jar again and filled it to the brim with egg and milk custard. Leaving Sev Steele and Hayden Hanson to look at each other in dismay, he strolled away at a leisurely pace.

"He... is a very capable person, and also a very fair one," Hayden Hanson said.

"It’s just that the Appraiser’s fee is a bit high." Remembering the more than twenty thousand points that had been deducted, Sev Steele grimaced.

"It’s not high. In the past, whenever our Mercenary Guild hunted Mutant Beasts above the Fourth Tier, Appraisers would always quote a ten percent cut!" Hayden Hanson said.

"My god! That high? If I study hard to become an Appraiser now, is it still too late?" Sev Steele’s face was full of envy and resentment.

"You definitely can’t. An Appraiser must be an Ability user, and specifically a Spirit Element Ability user at that. Only then can they clearly see the internal structure of special materials and accurately provide a reasonable estimate," Hayden Hanson said.

Sev Steele thought, "Fine. I only have envy now. I don’t even have the right to be jealous."

Remembering their prior agreement to deduct the cost of the Ice Crystal Core that Hayden Hanson had provided, Sev Steele directly tapped open her watch.

"Let’s add each other as friends," she said, looking at Hayden Hanson.

Hayden Hanson tapped open his watch and let her scan his 3D code, and the two successfully added each other.

Sev Steele glanced at Hayden Hanson’s username—Hayden Hanson—and thought, "This guy is really honest."

When Hayden Hanson saw her username, he thought the exact same thing. However, what he didn’t know was that the original owner’s real name was "Seventeen," not "Sev Steele."

Sev Steele transferred 80,000 points straight to Hayden Hanson. Watching her account balance drop by 80,000 points, surprisingly, she didn’t feel a single pang of heartache. She casually explained to Hayden Hanson, "Hanson, I’m guessing your gun must be very expensive. Consider this 10,000 points as a rental fee."

Hayden Hanson still wanted to decline, but Sev Steele had already turned and headed over to the stove.

Four liters of milk plus two liters of egg liquid meant that a full six liters of egg and milk custard had been steamed tonight. Even with Doctor Jenkins eating and taking some away, there were still leftovers.

Sev Steele poured all the remaining egg and milk custard into his bowl.

Seeing that Hayden Hanson wanted to refuse, Sev Steele said, "I still have two eggs left here, and the milk will be delivered again tomorrow. If the kids want to eat, I can make it anytime."

Hayden Hanson didn’t decline any further and left carrying the bowl of food.

Returning home, he tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. He couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t noticed this girl back before his genetic collapse. She was good-looking, had a straightforward personality, and could even fight bravely side by side with him when encountering danger.

Back then, he had every right to get together with her, just like his teammates who had found girls they fancied and cuddled with them every night when they weren’t out on missions. But thankfully he hadn’t gotten involved with her at the time. Otherwise, if they had ended up having a child while he was on the verge of death, how miserable would she be?

Thinking about how she would have to struggle to get by alone with four children in the future, Hayden Hanson couldn’t help but worry for her.

Then, he pondered which of his teammates had good character and were reliable enough to be entrusted with her. Perhaps he could introduce one to her? After carefully mentally filtering through them for quite a while, he still couldn’t find a suitable candidate.

Never mind. Rather than finding someone unreliable, it was better to just let her continue living her current life. At worst, before he died, he would just transfer all his remaining points to her. Although it wasn’t much, it could at least offer some help when she was in trouble.