Mansam glanced at the girl who had approached and said irritably:
"You are so curious; why did you not come up and ask for yourself just now?"
"You ask me, but how would I know?"
"The President did not tell me much. He only said that he hired external help, keeping it all mysterious."
This was a lie. Although Ichiryu had begun to suspect that there was a spy inside the IGO at this time, he still fully trusted Mansam's loyalty. Therefore, Mansam had actually been told the truth about the Dimensional City.
The reason Mansam said this now was mainly due to Ichiryu's order; he was instructed to keep the details of the Dimensional City hidden for now to see who would come to inquire about it. It was essentially a fishing operation to see if a mole would reveal themselves.
Of course, the reason he hid it from Rin was not because Mansam suspected her of being a spy. After all, Rin is the biological sister of Sunny among the Four Heavenly Kings. Like the four adopted sons raised by Ichiryu, they grew up under his watch and have sound backgrounds. It was impossible for her to be a mole.
He did not tell Rin simply because she cannot control her mouth. Rin is obsessed with Toriko; the scar on her face was self-inflicted to imitate Toriko's three scars, wanting a matching look. Although she messed up due to her recklessness and only finished one side because of the pain, it showed her obsession. Because of this infatuation, Rin loses her mind whenever Toriko is involved and might blurt out anything. She is truly not suitable for keeping secrets.
"Tsk, whatever. You stingy guy, do not say anything if you do not want to," Rin pouted. She knew Mansam was just being difficult, so she complained and went back to work.
But Rin rolled her eyes and quickly thought of a plan. He was being so mysterious and unwilling to talk; he must be hiding a shocking secret. She would find a way to uncover it.
Mansam, unaware of Rin's thoughts, looked around and found nothing else to do, so he returned to his office to drink and read. He had called himself a spectator, but that was more of a self-deprecating joke. As a high-ranking official, he did not handle daily management or technical work; his subordinates did that. He was primarily a supervisor responsible for emergencies and reporting situations. Usually, he just patrolled, listened to reports, and ensured Biotope 1 ran smoothly before enjoying his leisure time.
As for the five girls who returned home with a full load, they were happy as they carried their bags back to the Dimensional City, but they did not expect their joy to turn to embarrassment instantly.
"Ouch!"
The five women passed through the Dimensional Gate one after another. The next moment, there was a loud bang of a heavy object hitting the floor, and Loki let out a cry of pain.
"Um? Loki, what are you doing?" Tiona and the others looked back and found that Loki had fallen flat on the ground, pinned down by the food she was carrying.
"Damn it, I forgot that there is a seal here. Come and help me move these things. I can almost not breathe," Loki struggled, raising a hand for help.
The others finally reacted. Because of Takumi's seal, Loki became an ordinary person again the moment she entered the Dimensional City. Since she was carrying the most items, she was overwhelmed and collapsed immediately.
"Pfft!" Faced with this funny scene, Tiona could not help laughing on the spot, though she hurried to rescue Loki. The others also helped move the items away.
"What is going on? Why is the way blocked?" At this time, Finn, Bete, and Gareth were about to drag their prey back, but they found Loki blocking the path. Seeing this scene, they were confused. The girls quickly explained while moving the goods.
"This is really..." After hearing the explanation, the three men could not help but twitch their mouths, trying not to laugh.
"What are you laughing at! Do not laugh!" Loki felt embarrassed and furious. When she saw their expressions, she scolded them. However, her reaction only made them burst into cheerful laughter.
"Pfft... Hahahaha!"
"Sorry, we usually do not laugh unless we cannot help it, hahahaha!"
Amid the laughter, a dark-faced Loki was rescued. The moment she stood up, Loki clenched her fists and said viciously, "Damn it, just you wait. You will beg me for help in the future!"
Hearing this, the others quickly suppressed their laughter. After all, it would not be fun if Loki actually sought revenge later.
"Hmph!" Loki snorted and said nothing more.
After this little farce, Finn and the other two finally passed through the Dimensional Gate, bringing their prey with them.
"Whoa! You gained quite a lot." Looking at the pile of monster corpses dozens of meters high, the girls were shocked. This was much more than what they had gathered.
Finn shrugged. "This has not been decomposed yet, so I do not know the final value."
"Then let us go to the Dimensional Guild to exchange it for money."
Everyone agreed. After passing the security check, they brought their harvest to the Dimensional Guild. The girl at the counter was the same one from this morning. When she saw Loki and the others, she smiled. "You are back. It seems the harvest is quite abundant."
"Well, please take stock and see how much these things are worth."
The girls' group handed in their task first, while the haul from Finn's group was taken for processing by specialists. Since they had the IGO list, the fantasy ingredients were counted quickly.
"There are fourteen kinds of ingredients above level 20, totaling 1.5 tons; 42 kinds of ingredients above level 30, totaling 8.9 tons; and three kinds of ingredients above level 40, totaling 2.7 tons."
"If converted according to their prices, the total is 113,496 dimensional coins. Rounding it off, you get 113,500."
"Eh? Why is it so little?" After hearing the number, Loki was stunned and asked subconsciously. The others agreed. Having just arrived in the Dimensional City, they did not yet understand the local economy. They did not realize this was a huge sum. Compared to the high-end equipment they wanted, which cost hundreds of thousands, ten thousand coins felt insufficient.