As the saying goes: freedom from debt is freedom for the soul.
Over the next several days, Lan Qingyou dedicated herself entirely to potion-making.
Mana potions, healing potions, attribute potions, luminous potions.
In short, all she wanted was to clear her debts as quickly as possible.
It wasn't until the fifth day — by which point even Li Huai's injuries had fully healed — that Lan Qingyou finally settled every last debt.
Brewing potions was practically an alchemist's bread and butter, but even so, doing it day in and day out was exhausting.
She wanted nothing more than to rest for a while.
But she still had her potion bags and dagger to maintain, so daily brewing was a necessity.
Still, stealing a few free moments here and there to pet Steel Wire Ball was a real treat.
However, there was one thing that lingered in the minds of both Lan Qingyou and every other survivor.
At first, they'd experienced a seven-day Novice Protection Period, followed by a seven-day Mana Turbulence.
After that came the flood of monsters and the bloody carnage that followed.
Though everyone had been scrambling to stay alive, no one had forgotten the seven-day cycle.
Whether or not the pattern would hold, everyone was actively preparing for whatever might come next.
Food, water, firewood — the basics.
Lan Qingyou's luminous potions could provide a week's worth of light, sure.
But she was too lazy to produce many of them, and the bulk of what she did make had ended up in Shang Chuan's hands, where prices had been inflated through the roof.
Even if Lan Qingyou weren't lazy, she alone couldn't possibly supply several thousand people.
So firewood — or more precisely, lumber — became an essential commodity for many.
She'd even spotted miners selling coal on the trading exchange.
Yet when the week passed, apart from the occasional monster roars piercing the night, the only disturbance was the odd creature scratching halfheartedly at one's shelter shield.
"Oh come on, they're at it again."
"What kind this time?"
"Copper Bell Cats."
"Aaaargh, those things! The first time I saw one I nearly had a heart attack."
"Right? Those eyes glowing in the dark like a pair of giant copper bells — gives me the creeps."
"Hahaha, go on then! This is your chance — go out there and take it down! That's an E-rank monster crystal core, at least."
"I'm pretty sure there are two or three of them circling around out there. How about you go instead?"
"Hard pass. I'm not about to mess with those vindictive little bastards."
"Lmao."
Whether it was because most people in District 666 were criminals, or simply because everyone had gotten used to things, Lan Qingyou always felt that the regional channel and the world channel had completely different vibes.
Even after more than half a month, the world channel still had plenty of people who couldn't adapt to life in this mana-filled otherworld.
But the folks in District 666 had actually turned the nightly monster attacks on their shelter shields into casual conversation topics.
Then again, that made sense.
They were a pack of hardened criminals — of course their adaptability was off the charts.
After half a month, anyone who couldn't adapt had already kicked the bucket.
And those who had adapted were now banding together in ways Lan Qingyou could barely fathom.
Take Giant Mickey, for example.
"So you're telling me you still haven't found any trace of Lan Qingyou?"
Mickey sat behind a genuine leather desk, eyeing the man standing across from him.
By now, his shelter had been upgraded twice, reaching Level 3. Its floor area had expanded considerably, stretching to about 180 square meters.
Combined with the efforts of his lackeys, his "office" had taken real shape — even furnished with a respectable amount of furniture.
The desk and chair he was using were a product of exactly that.
"Godfather, we've done everything we can. According to our informant embedded with Shang Chuan, Lan Qingyou rarely leaves her shelter these days. She even purchases the water for brewing potions through Shang Chuan. On top of that, Machine Gun Jacksey's men have been sniping our people constantly — we've already lost four."
"Enough! Manel! I didn't call you here to listen to excuses. Solutions — I need you to come up with actual solutions!"
A vicious glint flashed across Giant Mickey's face, as if he were on the verge of exploding with rage.
But the very next second, after letting out a long exhale, every trace of anger vanished from his expression.
"Put the Lan Qingyou matter on hold for now. There's no Mana Turbulence this week. Let's take out that son of a bitch Jacksey first — eliminate the biggest threat before we worry about anything else."
"Understood, Godfather."
With those words from Mickey, Manel felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
He turned on his heel and went to rally the men for a move against Jacksey.
After all, compared to someone like Lan Qingyou — a recluse hiding who-knows-where, quietly brewing potions — Jacksey and his gang of West Coast clowns bouncing around everywhere were far easier to track down.
In any case, first things first: handle the Jacksey business cleanly and neatly.
Truth be told, if Manel had a choice, he'd rather not work for Mickey at all.
They'd all been forcibly transported to this otherworld. Everything had essentially been reset to zero — so why should Mickey still get to boss them around?
Yet despite his resentment, Manel — and everyone else under Mickey's command — was powerless to resist.
The reason was simple: they'd all been dragged here by Mickey's talent.
Originally, they'd each been struggling to survive in different districts.
Then one morning they woke up to find their shelters had been forcibly teleported to District 666.
And on top of that, Mickey's talent had seized control of their shelters entirely.
They could refuse to work for Mickey, sure — but that meant losing their shelter.
In this deadly otherworld, spending a single night outdoors was enough to get you killed three times over. So if you wanted to live, you gritted your teeth and climbed aboard Mickey's pirate ship.
Nobody knew exactly how Mickey had pulled it off. After all, talents were everyone's most closely guarded secret.
But one thing was certain: Mickey held their lives in his hands.
On the upside, having so many people pooling resources together meant Mickey's shelter could be upgraded rapidly, providing protection for all of them.
And the shelters that hadn't been upgraded? They'd already been blown apart during last week's Mana Turbulence.
Watching Manel's retreating figure, Mickey let out a cold snort.
That damned Machine Gun Jacksey — if he hadn't been running interference behind the scenes, Mickey might have already tracked down Shang Chuan through that informant and, from there, found Lan Qingyou.
He couldn't do anything about being blacklisted. Lan Qingyou had also blocked a whole slew of people who'd accepted his bounty to harass her.
The little girl was not only fast on the draw — she was ruthless. She didn't even bother with a warning, just went straight for the zero-frame startup block.
It put even a seasoned veteran like him on the back foot.
Her blocking spree had even scared people off from accepting his jobs.
Aside from that old codger York, when had he, Mickey, ever been humiliated like this?!
Damn it!
Didn't everyone say the people of the Dragon Nation respected their elders and cared for the young?
So how come it was different when it came to him?
Or could it be that the little girl was actually some kind of underworld figure herself?
'Whatever. One way or another, once I get my hands on that little brat, I, Mickey, will make absolutely sure she learns a thing or two about respecting her elders.'