Nicole grew happier the more she calculated, grinning from ear to ear at the dennies in her account. They'd struck gold. The Hare's House had truly hit it big.
Just then, a head popped out from behind her — Nekomata.
"Nicole, we must've made a ton of dennies lately, right…?"
Nicole snapped out of her daydream and cleared her throat. "Actually, not that much. It'll be gone before we know it, so we shouldn't splurge."
Nekomata clung to her side, whining, "My weapon's broken. I just need a little dennies to get it fixed."
Nicole turned to glance at the weapon in Nekomata's hands. The blade was indeed nicked and cracked — they'd been fighting too much lately. Even the weapons couldn't take it anymore.
"How much will it cost?" Nicole asked seriously.
"This blade's made of top-grade materials. Repairs will cost at least a hundred thousand dennies," Nekomata replied quickly.
Without hesitation, Nicole pulled out her wallet and handed over one hundred and fifty thousand. "Find a good shop and get it properly repaired. Use only the best materials."
Nekomata's eyes lit up as she took the money. "Nicole, I knew you were the best! A hundred thousand for repairs, and with fifty thousand left… bluefin tuna, here I come!"
Humming happily, she dashed off to find a repair shop.
At that moment, Nicole's phone chimed.
[New Eridu Bank: 500,000,000 dennies credited to your account.]
The sound froze everyone — Nicole, Nekomata, Billy, and Anby — in place.
"…How much?"
"Five hundred million dennies?"
Nekomata jumped up, tail bristling. "Meow?! Nicole, five hundred million dennies?! Who sent you that much?!"
Billy scrambled over the sofa in shock. "Boss Nicole, was that real? Since when does the Hare's House have that kind of money?!"
Anby frowned. "That doesn't make sense… not at all."
But the most stunned was Nicole herself. Her hands trembled as she stared at her phone. Five hundred million dennies.
Was this for real?
She quickly opened the New Eridu Bank app and double-checked. Her heart pounded as she tapped the number again and again — no mistake.
Five hundred million dennies.
Nicole stood frozen. "Five hundred million… It's really five hundred million dennies! Billy, Anby, Nekomata, Sam Li — we're rich!!!"
Billy quickly reminded her, "Boss Nicole, Sam Li went to the Outer Ring with the Adepti. They're not back yet."
Nekomata sighed dramatically. "It's over. Boss Nicole's lost it."
Five hundred million dennies. They hadn't just never earned that much — they'd never even seen that much.
Then Billy suddenly thought of something. "Boss Nicole, wait. Where did this money even come from? Who sent it?"
Nicole shook her head. "How should I know?"
Nekomata offered, "Maybe some rich bigshot transferred it to the wrong account?"
Nicole immediately denied it. "Impossible. You have to fill in a name when transferring — there's no way to mess that up. Maybe Sam Li took on some massive secret job again and made us a fortune!"
Billy groaned, rubbing his face. "There's no way a single commission could be that big…"
As the Hare's House debated the mysterious windfall—
Nicole's phone rang again.
It was Sam Li.
Nicole's eyes lit up. "I knew it! It was Sam Li!"
She answered the call and immediately launched into an excited account of the five hundred million dennies.
On the other end, Sam Li's calm voice came through: "That transfer was from Miss Keqing. It's Liyue's investment in Calydon Town. Caesar will visit Hare's House shortly — please transfer the funds to her."
Nicole froze.
So that was it… no wonder such a huge sum appeared out of nowhere.
Watching that fortune slip through her fingers, her heart ached.
Sam Li spoke again, "Thanks for handling this."
Nicole forced a smile. "We're family, no need to thank me. By the way, are you back from the Outer Ring?"
"Yeah," Sam Li replied. "I'm at the Janus District Branch right now."
"Great. Then tonight we're celebrating with a feast at Xiangling's restaurant. You have to come," Nicole said before hanging up.
As the smile faded from her face, Billy cautiously asked, "Boss Nicole… what did Sam Li say?"
Nicole sighed. "That money isn't ours. It's Miss Keqing's investment in Calydon Town. Still, it's good news — Caesar's team needs funds for rebuilding."
Billy grinned. "I'll call Caesar right now! She'll be thrilled!"
Nicole shook her head. "No need. Sam Li said Caesar's coming here soon."
Nekomata blinked in realization. "Ah, so that's it. Liyue isn't just after the city center—they want control of the Outer Ring too."
Nicole sighed. "…"
She couldn't care less about politics.
Still, if even Miss Keqing was investing so heavily in Calydon Town, its potential must be enormous. One day, it might become a thriving metropolis.
After a moment's thought, Nicole said, "We've already put in ten million. Maybe we should invest a bit more?"
She looked toward Billy, Nekomata, and Anby.
Anby nodded. "Sam Li did say Calydon Town is destined to rise. Now's definitely the best time to invest."
"How much?" Nekomata asked.
Nicole thought for a moment. "Miss Keqing invested five hundred million. Let's put in fifty million."
Nekomata threw up her hands. "Meow! Didn't you just say we didn't have much dennies left?"
Nicole answered matter-of-factly, "That was to stop you from wasting money. Anyway, let me think about the exact amount…"
...
While Nicole and the others discussed investing in Calydon Town, at that very moment, in the Janus District Branch—
Qingyi had gathered over a dozen professional Bangboo technicians, transporting all the Bangboo to a specialized repair facility. Even Azhdaha, uneasy about the process, followed along.
Meanwhile, inside the Public Security Bureau—
Sam Li, the Director, Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and several Adepti surrounded the Golden Bangboo and Platinum Bangboo.
The Director spoke solemnly. "Gold, Platinum — hand over Professor Arche's dennies."
The Golden Bangboo shook its head. "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm mm-hmm da (Who's Professor Arche? We don't know. No one can have those dennies) —"
Platinum Bangboo echoed, "Hmm, hmm, da (Those dennies are important. We can't give them to you) —"
Watching their firm resistance, the Director seemed to understand.
"They've wandered through Hollow Zero for too long — the corruption's taken hold. They've even forgotten who Professor Arche is."