“Civilization Preservation Society…”

Muttering this name to herself, Yvette contemplated and decided to initiate a hack immediately. On one hand, she wanted to determine whether this society was sincere or merely a scam; on the other, she figured that the website’s server had likely accumulated a wealth of data—perhaps she could obtain valuable information at no cost.

However, to her surprise, the hack was thwarted shortly thereafter.

Unlike the outdated static rule-based firewalls of the Blackwater Zone Police Bureau, this website featured dynamic defenses, with very few exploitable vulnerabilities available for ongoing use. Sometimes, when she managed to breach the system, the abnormal access path was revoked within less than a second.

This left Yvette with a sense of engaging in a rapid offensive and defensive play, and the other side’s strength was immense, possessing a “breathing sense” that felt less like an AI and more like a top-tier rune hacker.

After a brief consideration, Yvette decisively abandoned her attempts. A normal system hack should feel like playing chess with a corpse, but this time it felt as if there was a living opponent across the board—this changed the game entirely. Although she utilized proxies, fake addresses, and traffic obfuscation for disguise, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t leave some trace for them to trace back.

She didn’t want to get caught by someone through the network. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

…

Setting aside the mysterious “Civilization Preservation Society,” which possessed impressive anti-hacking capabilities, for the next month, Yvette led a relatively calm and peaceful life.

On Welding Gun’s side, sales of the Arcane Wind Blade had met expectations. Aside from the one for personal use, all four remaining sealed packages had been sold, purchased by the same local gang leader.

Selling off those four packages meant a windfall of 200,000 credit points, getting Yvette significantly closer to the 500,000 needed for the “Elemental Replenishment Technology.”

However, with not much on her plate, and in preparation for future endeavors, that morning, Yvette used the contact information left on the business card to reach out to her neighbor Regel Hoffman.

“Good morning, Mr. Hoffman.”

“Good morning! Oh, Miss Sien, how can I help you?” Regel exclaimed in surprise as he saw Yvette on the holographic screen.

Since moving in about a month ago, Regel, along with his wife Susan, older son Hans, and younger daughter Mary, had become familiar with Yvette and Rosalyn, who they viewed as “cousins.” They would often greet each other warmly in the hallway or on the street below.

Due to their similar ages and interests, Rosalyn and Hans and Mary had already become quite close friends.

Although Yvette appeared young, her mature demeanor surprised them; she didn’t act like a child at all. So casual conversations naturally led Regel and Susan to subconsciously treat the silver-haired girl as if she were their peer.

“Actually, Mr. Hoffman, I’ve had some free time recently and have been reading some books related to ‘Potions,’ and I’ve developed a keen interest in medicine. I’d like to ask if you could provide me with some guidance or allow me to observe some medical processes,” Yvette explained, “Of course, I’ll pay a reasonable tuition fee for this.”

Besides rune compilation, Yvette possessed a considerable reserve of knowledge in the field of rune medicine, as the Abyss Base had a plethora of specialized books on runic medicine, many of which were even classified Blacktower internal secrets.

However, she hadn’t made use of this knowledge during her initial escape; she had only skimmed through the readings.

Now, despite still prioritizing research on magitek machinery and energy storage, she figured that revisiting and digesting her previous self-study in rune medicine wouldn’t hurt. After all, she would definitely need this knowledge sooner or later.

“Uh…” Regel seemed taken aback by her request and hesitated, “I’m sorry, Miss Sien; it’s not that I don’t want to teach you, but I don’t have a teaching qualification. Even if I did, it should be done in a professional educational institution…”

“You only need to let me observe; I can offer 20,000 credit points for a month. How does that sound?”

“Twenty thousand…” Regel swallowed hard. He was technically practicing medicine without a license, a fact well-known among the residents of Light Apartments and his regular clients near Acid Street. Hence, his fees were exceptionally low; while other doctors in the same field earned around 70,000 monthly, his income was less than 20,000.

Just by letting this young lady observe the treatment process, he could double his monthly income!

Even though there was a risk involved in sharing illicit knowledge, it was a risk well worth taking!

Besides, having no medical qualification meant he would be less concerned about such debts, and his patients would generally keep matters confidential…

He self-deprecatingly thought for a moment before saying, “Okay, Miss Sien. From now on, whenever I go on a house call or have patients come in, I’ll message you. Does that work?”

“Absolutely! Thank you very much, Mr. Hoffman.” Yvette nodded appreciatively.

…

In the afternoon, Hoffman’s clinic received a customer who seemed to be suffering from ear ringing, seeking treatment and medicine.

Yvette promptly followed Regel to the small clinic adjacent to his home. While observing, she was warmly welcomed by Mrs. Susan. Despite being there for learning purposes, the nearby small table was filled with snacks, making it look as if she were there to enjoy rather than study.

However, Yvette understood Susan’s perspective; she likely viewed her as a significant benefactor.

Recalling that both of their children—Hans and Mary—were studying at Blacktower Middle School, the leading elite school in the area, where the tuition was 300,000 credit points per year, even Regel working full time and Susan taking on jobs meant they still struggled under the heavy burden of student loans and daunting interest rates, living conditions were worse than those of the lower-class residents in the Blackwater Zone who earned four or five thousand monthly.

Thus, it was undeniable that the decision to put in this request for learning stemmed partly from that understanding.

After observing for a while, Yvette saw Rosalyn directly walk in through the door. After exchanging polite greetings, she did not disturb Regel’s work but asked, “Teacher, Susan Auntie, are Hans and Mary here?”

“They went out this morning. Are you looking for them to play?” Susan replied kindly.

“Yes,” Rosalyn said with a sweet smile.

Since the day she had crossed over, it was the first time she had made friends she could play with, and they got along well. With not much going on lately, she felt like she was on summer vacation, and would often hang out with Hans and Mary, enjoying her days immensely.

“Hold on, let me check…” Susan activated a subscription-based home safety service on her magitek terminal. This would allow parents to know their children’s real-time locations and also facilitate quick reporting in case of emergencies.

After checking for a moment, she said in surprise, “It looks like they’re on Scrap Iron Avenue… that’s about five kilometers from here. What on earth are they doing there?” She paused briefly, showing some irritation, “They’re not answering my calls! Those two kids!”

Scrap Iron Avenue was an old street, reasonably safe; it was lined with shops, and the probability of encountering trouble was low. Moreover, no alarms had gone off, and disconnecting calls was somewhat common behavior for rebellious kids. Nonetheless, as a parent, a hint of worry crossed Susan’s face.

She mumbled, “What if they’ve encountered danger?”

“Don’t worry, Susan Auntie. They’ll be fine. I’ll go check on them right now.” Rosalyn said. After confirming with a glance at Yvette, she immediately ran downstairs and called a taxi headed for Scrap Iron Avenue.