Chapter 50: "Penny"
Nine blue, one purple, a classic draw.
Cipher, accustomed to this, first rolled her eyes at the gacha system, then skipped past the blue items and looked at the sole purple item.
"This is... a turning over coin? Why did I draw a turning over coin?"
Cipher stared blankly at the one-eyed cat head coin in her inventory, identical to the one around her neck.
Then, she clicked on the item's description and realized that this "Penny" seemed a little different from what she had imagined.
["Penny"] (Purple Item)
"You shall walk with greed, and you shall die by Penny.
However, this time, Sefaria will never die by Penny; instead, she will bring the nightmare of 'Penny' to others!"
Effect: When the host successfully steals all or most of the assets from a place/person, they will receive a "Penny." At this point, the host can choose whether to drop the "Penny."
The ability of "Penny" is that when someone picks it up, they will know that "Sefaria" took their property.
Unless the host exposes themselves or deliberately informs others during the theft, they cannot trace the host's identity through "Penny."
(Simply put, it's a cognitive shield; they cannot link Cipher to the name Sefaria, nor can they discover that Cipher wears an identical coin around her neck by looking at the "Penny.")
—Go, spread your schemes!
One person spreads falsehoods, ten thousand make them real. All rumors and legends about you shall turn from False to Reality, becoming your most powerful strength!
After reading the description, Cipher dazedly took the "Penny" out of her system inventory.
Looking at the coin, identical to the one around her neck, Cipher was lost in thought.
"One person spreads falsehoods, ten thousand make them real... rumors and legends turning into power..."
She murmured to herself, gently stroking the "Penny" in her hand.
Before long, Cipher's lips gradually curved into a smile, and her eyes, originally bewildered, became resolute with a hint of cunning.
"System, you calculated this, didn't you? Giving me this item right after I finished stealing from a base."
"The greater my fame, the stronger I become, and I don't even have to worry about exposing my identity. With such a good opportunity, how could I, Sefaria, the Trick Demigod, possibly miss it?"
With that, Cipher clenched her right hand into a fist, then flicked the "Penny" into the air.
After tracing a graceful arc in the air, the "Penny" landed precisely on the table in the center of the hall.
The black and gold one-eyed grinning cat head looked utterly out of place on the silver-white table.
However, because almost everyone had been drawn away by her, no one had noticed this anomaly on the table yet.
The "Penny" had been placed. Now, she only needed to wait for this seed named "Sefaria" to take root and sprout, eventually growing into a large tree, allowing them to live forever in its shadow.
"Let's go. I think they're going to be busy."
After throwing a pile of useless Level 3 authorization cards onto the ground, Cipher walked through the corridor, then passed through the base's main gate, returning to the surface.
On the ground, Cipher lightly tapped her toes a few times and leaped onto a rooftop. Then, enveloped by the lingering glow of the sunset, Cipher gradually faded into the orange-red light.
Cipher is on the run... "Knock, knock, knock."
"Xiao Ran, I'm back."
After knocking on Lu Zhaoran's door, Cipher called out inside.
Soon, with a "click," the door opened. It was Lu Zhaoran.
"Boss Cipher, you're back? How was the operation?"
In response to Lu Zhaoran's question, Cipher proudly lifted her head.
"Very smooth! I had those guys running around in circles!"
"That's amazing, Boss!"
Hearing Cipher's reply, Lu Zhaoran sincerely offered her congratulations.
Although she wasn't entirely sure what Cipher had been up to, or which group of people she had tricked.
But none of that mattered; the important thing was to just keep praising her.
Cipher walked into the living room, asking Lu Zhaoran as she went:
"Xiao Ran, are Lorraine and the others awake?"
Lu Zhaoran first shook her head, then nodded and said:
"Xiao Wei is awake. She just woke up twenty minutes ago, but Lorraine isn't awake yet. They both suffered mental exhaustion due to over-releasing their abilities, so after I chatted with Xiao Wei for a bit, she fell back asleep."
"What did Xiao Wei say? What happened on their end?"
Sitting down on the sofa in the living room, Cipher asked Lu Zhaoran curiously.
"They encountered an Arasaka Heavy Industries C-Class team."
"Arasaka Heavy Industries?"
Hearing these four words, Cipher instantly frowned.
She often heard and saw this name, as it was one of the four mega-corporations in this place.
"Why would people from a mega-corporation come to the Pit District? According to what you said before, mega-corporations shouldn't really care about the Pit District, right?"
"Indeed." Lu Zhaoran nodded, agreeing with Cipher's words. "I find that strange too. Logically, the Pit District doesn't have much profit, and it's easy to get entangled in bad luck. Why would people from the company come to the Pit District..."
"What about those Arasaka Heavy Industries people? Even if we don't know their purpose, they've hurt Big Bear like this and caused Lorraine and Lin Wei to faint. We can't just let that go, can we?"
Cipher was a little angry. What if they were a mega-corporation? She was still a demigod. If she was afraid of some so-called mega-corporation, she would be completely disgracing the demigod's reputation.
"No need." Lu Zhaoran shook her head, stopping Cipher's idea.
Just as Cipher wondered why Lu Zhaoran was holding her back, her next explanation revealed the reason.
"Because they're all dead. Killed by Lorraine and the other two."
"This... the company people aren't all that, are they...?"
Cipher's mouth twitched slightly. She hadn't expected Arasaka Heavy Industries, a company with such a big name, specializing in security and military, to be completely wiped out by a small team that struggled to maintain their livelihood and basic needs in the Pit District. Wasn't that a bit undeserving of their reputation?
"No, Arasaka Heavy Industries' teams are very strong. Even a C-Class team has about five C-Class Espers, and with their weapons and coordination, even a relatively weaker B-Class might not be able to defeat them. And Lorraine and her two companions, on the surface, are only three C-Class Espers."
"Logically speaking, under the attack of such a team, let alone Lorraine wiping them out, even escaping would have been extremely difficult..."