novel bin Chapter 114 Rewards and Arrangements
Chapter 114 Rewards and Arrangements
Chapter 115 Rewards and Arrangements
After another day of fruitless research, Hick ultimately had to abandon his investigation into Laf's body.
That power was like a mirage; one could clearly sense its presence, but could not grasp or analyze its essence.
This feeling of helplessness was extremely rare and frustrating for Hick, who was used to being in control and understanding everything.
Even Ginny, who was standing next to him, was seeing Hick scratching his head and looking so frustrated for the first time.
Ginny.
Hick rubbed his temples hard, feeling utterly exhausted. He pushed a piece of paper with a name on it onto the table.
"Go and tell the people on this list to come here immediately."
"Yes, sir." Ginny bowed slightly, picked up the list, and quietly left the laboratory.
"An extremely bizarre power—"
Hick took one last look at Laf's calm yet strangely mysterious corpse, and shook his head with resentment.
He then sealed the unanalyzable corpse completely into a separate storage cabinet filled with isolation runes, as if to seal away this temporarily unsolvable problem as well.
"It seems that Boss Hick has finally remembered his previous promise."
On his way to the lab, Andy rubbed his hands together excitedly, his face full of anticipation.
"I wonder what kind of reward they'll give! You know, this mission is—"
Dila responded enthusiastically, but halfway through his sentence, he caught a glimpse of Jona's pale and silent profile beside him, and immediately swallowed the rest of his words.
Regardless, Kurt had already died in that wasteland.
As Kurt's younger sister, one can imagine how Jona felt at this moment.
When Kurt's mangled body was transported back to Wenther Castle, the entire castle was shrouded in grief.
Jona's parents cried their eyes out and almost fainted.
Jona herself was sobbing uncontrollably, her former spoiled nature completely washed away by the immense grief.
As companions who had known each other for three years, Dila and Andy also attended the entire somber and depressing funeral.
After all, the person is already dead, and it is only right and proper for a former companion to see them off on their final journey.
Moreover, at least Kurt managed to leave behind a relatively intact body for burial, which was a stroke of luck compared to those unfortunate souls who completely disappeared or became materials in the wizard tower.
In the days following the funeral, all three of them stayed at Wenther Castle to help with the aftermath.
If Rabble hadn't urgently summoned them back via the communication stone, they might have stayed a few more days.
Upon entering this dark canyon they had never been before, the three were stunned by the subtle changes that had taken place there.
They knew in the past that Boss Hick had a number of modified beings under his command, but the number was far less than it is now!
The figures that silently passed by them almost all exuded an inhuman aura, their bodies having undergone terrifying modifications to varying degrees, and the entire stronghold was filled with a cold and efficient chilling atmosphere.
Soon, they met Ginny, who was in charge of guiding them, and Rabble, Brown, Sean, and others who were already waiting there at the designated meeting point.
Looking at the list of members, Ginny checked it one last time. After confirming that everything was correct, she said in her characteristically calm tone, "Everyone's here. Come with me."
A short while later, there was a gentle knock on the heavy metal door of the laboratory.
"Come in."
Hick's voice came from inside the door, having regained his usual calm and indifference, as if his previous agitation and resentment had been perfectly suppressed.
However, if someone could look directly into his eyes, they might still catch a glimpse of his lingering concern about the unsolved mystery.
The door was pushed open, and Labour, Brown, Sean, Andy, Dila, Jona, and several other modified subordinates who had performed exceptionally well in this operation or in the early intelligence gathering, entered respectfully one by one.
As soon as they entered the laboratory, they immediately felt an invisible yet immense pressure coming towards them, as if they were no longer facing a person, but an ancient ferocious beast that had just completed its metamorphosis!
Just by standing there, they were breathless, subconsciously holding their breath and bowing respectfully, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.
"grown ups!"
Hick's gaze swept over everyone as if it were a physical object, lingering for half a second on Jona, whose eyes were slightly red and whose expression was listless but who was forcing herself to be energetic, before he moved away without making a sound.
"Although this mission was fraught with twists and turns and even resulted in unexpected losses," he said, his voice so steady that no emotional fluctuations could be detected.
"But ultimately, the core objective was achieved."
"The Moon Fox has been successfully captured, and the potential threat, Raff, has been eliminated. Overall, you've done a good job."
Everyone felt a slight sense of relief, especially Brown, whose shoulders, which had been tense, were finally able to relax a little.
"As previously promised, those who have rendered meritorious service will be rewarded."
Hick's gaze first fell on Brown: "Brown, although your initial actions were flawed, allowing the target to escape, your later pursuit was decisive, and you provided crucial intelligence and—a sample of great research value—in a timely manner. Your merits and demerits cancel each other out, and you are awarded a chance for advanced limb regeneration and bone strengthening, the part of which you can choose. You are also awarded 800 Magic Crystals and 3000 Contribution Points."
Brown's face instantly lit up with uncontrollable ecstasy!
With advanced regeneration and exclusive enhancements, his combat power will be a qualitative leap, especially considering that both his arms are made of bone!
He suddenly knelt on one knee, his voice trembling with excitement: "Thank you for your generous reward, sir! Brown will swear to serve you to the death!"
Hick nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Andy and Dila beside him: "Andy, Dila. Your early intelligence gathering was accurate and effective, and your later encirclement and cooperation were commendable. You will each be rewarded with 500 Magic Crystals and 2000 Contribution Points. In addition, you are granted the privilege of choosing any one type of Level 2 Rare Material from the base's resource vault, or exchanging it for an equivalent amount of Knowledge Scrolls."
Andy and Dila were overjoyed; the reward was far more generous than they had expected!
The two men bowed deeply, their voices booming, "Thank you for your generous gift, sir!"
Finally, Hick's gaze fell on Jona, who had been keeping her head down the whole time.
The atmosphere in the laboratory seemed to freeze slightly, becoming somewhat subtle.
"Jona." Hick's voice seemed to soften slightly compared to before, but only slightly.
"Your brother, Kurt—did indeed die in the line of duty. His compensation will be paid to you at the highest rate, doubled. In addition, you may choose to inherit all unredeemed bonuses in his account, or—"
Hick paused for a moment: "I will grant you one additional request, within my permitted scope and not excessive, as compensation for the loss of your loved one."
Jona's body trembled slightly. She raised her head, her eyes even redder than before. She bit her lip tightly, trying hard not to let the tears welling up in her eyes fall.
"My lord—" Her voice was choked with obvious sobs and trembled slightly, "I—I don't want magic crystals, and I don't want to inherit my brother's share—"
She seemed to have used all her strength to suddenly kneel down, look up at Hick, her eyes filled with sorrow, but even more so with an extreme desire for power ignited by the cruel reality!
"I want to become stronger! I don't want to be as powerless as I am now! I don't want to watch the people around me die and be unable to do anything about it! Please, sir—help me! No matter the cost!"
Hick looked at her and remained silent for a moment, as if assessing the determination in her eyes.
He could clearly see that Kurt's death was like a cruel flame, burning away some of Jona's past innocence, but instead igniting the primal desire for power that belonged to a wizard in her bones.
"Okay." Hick finally nodded, approving of her choice.
"Your mental strength and basic physical tolerance for modification are quite good. Go back and report directly to Labour; he will arrange a round of targeted, extreme adaptive training for you. Afterwards, once you're in peak condition, I will personally conduct a deep witch body modification for you!"
"Thank you for your kindness, sir!"
Jona slammed her forehead hard against the cold, hard ground with a dull thud. When she looked up again, her forehead was bright red, but her eyes were unusually bright.
After dealing with the reward matters, Hick changed the subject, and the temperature in the laboratory seemed to drop instantly!
His icy gaze swept over everyone present like a scalpel, finally lingering for a moment on those subordinates who had followed Labour earlier and who had shown obvious hesitation and pause because of Sena's scream.
Those men suddenly felt as if they were bound by invisible chains of ice, their bodies chilled to the bone, cold sweat instantly soaking through their inner linings, their legs trembling uncontrollably, almost collapsing to the ground.
"The reward has been given, but there are some things that need to be made clear."
Hick's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling quality that could freeze the soul; every word struck the hearts of the crowd like an icicle.
"During this operation, someone hesitated and tactically stalled due to a ridiculous interference from an unrelated outsider!"
His voice suddenly turned stern!
"During mission execution, especially in critical moments of life-or-death struggle, any moment of negligence..."
Hesitation and folly! Both could lead to total collapse, rendering all previous efforts futile, and even costing you your own heads!
"This time, you were lucky; the target was successfully eliminated. But can you expect such luck next time? Or do you expect the enemy to laugh at your stupidity?"
The henchmen were terrified, their faces ashen, unable to even beg for mercy.
"Rabul," Hick called out softly.
In the shadowy corner of the room, Labour's figure appeared silently like a ghost, bowing respectfully: "My lord."
"The person is yours."
Hick's voice remained completely still.
"Handle this strictly according to the base's highest disciplinary regulations. I want to see results, and I don't want the same thing to happen again in any future mission."
"Understood! I will certainly carry it out strictly!"
Rabble bowed and accepted the order, then raised his head. His emotionless eyes, like the coldest scanner, locked onto the few subordinates who had not been dealt with before, their faces ashen.
Having dealt with all of this, Hick waved his hand, seemingly somewhat weary.
"Everyone except Rabble and Sean, get out."
Everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon, especially those who were supposed to be punished.
With different feelings, they bowed respectfully and quickly left the oppressive laboratory one by one.