It's time to get up, there are things to do this afternoon.

Lin Mo woke up Ellie, whose body was limp as mud.

They got up slowly, washed up, and went downstairs just in time for lunch.

The inn's food was still the same as before - decent, not great but not too bad either.

To be honest, he didn't have much appetite right after waking up, and since they'd had a big meal last night, he just ate casually.

Pushing open the inn's main door, sunlight spilled over his body. The prosperous scene within Silverstream City still hadn't been greatly affected. Compared to when Lin Mo first arrived, although people's faces showed more worry and he often heard discussions about recent events, most people didn't show much despondent spirit. Clearly, they believed the City Lord could handle everything.

Workers in the city were still busy, living their ordinary day-to-day lives.

For the lower-class people of this world, such slightly poor but stable days were already quite precious.

Since he hadn't eaten much earlier, he occasionally stopped at snack stalls while passing by, buying some sweet or savory snacks. Ellie stayed very close, almost pressed against his side, humming tuneless little songs.

Rest days were always so wonderful.

But there was something even more wonderful - collecting mission rewards.

Since this reward didn't involve special ceremonies like "bestowing honors," they didn't need to go to the City Lord's Mansion and could receive it directly from the Association.

Association Chairman Vic was away, so related matters were handled by the vice chairman.

The Association vice chairman was a robust-looking middle-aged man, probably a Warrior or Knight profession. He appeared steady, didn't speak much, but handled matters efficiently.

"According to the conscription regulations for this special mission, your due reward is 25 gold base reward plus 21 gold rescue reward, totaling 46 gold. Additionally, there's the reward for killing goblins - 14 level 1 goblins, 112 gold coins, total reward 158 gold coins!"

The person currently receiving rewards was a level 2 Professional. Lin Mo found him somewhat familiar - probably a teammate who went to the same cavern.

That person happily collected his reward. For a level 2 Professional, this reward amount was quite good.

Many people were still queuing ahead. Lin Mo could probably cut in line, but since he wasn't in a hurry anyway, he ordered a fruit wine and sat patiently waiting.

Soon, an Association maid in uniform came over carrying a tray. On the tray was a greenish fruit wine with two small fruits resembling kumquats.

Lin Mo took a small sip - sweet and sour, with low alcohol content and no bitterness - quite tasty.

For someone who didn't quite enjoy ale, fruit wine was a rather good drink.

Of course, the price was slightly more expensive.

But with Lin Mo's current wealth, he didn't care about that.

He casually tipped the Association maid a few copper coins. Considering gold coins were too large for daily city expenses, Lin Mo had specifically exchanged some silver and copper coins, keeping them in a purse he only carried in the city.

The maid was clearly very happy. These few copper coins weren't huge for her, but definitely not small either - equivalent to two hours of work.

"Thank you, kind and generous adventurer!"

After nodding her thanks, she bowed slightly and left with the tray.

Lin Mo's gaze lingered on her figure for a moment. To be honest, he quite liked elements like maids and maid uniforms.

Just like how he liked beast-eared girls.

"Brother, mind if we share the table?"

Although it was afternoon, the Association was quite crowded. Besides those specifically collecting rewards, there were also people routinely accepting and completing missions. It seemed the number of adventurers in the city had indeed increased recently.

Most came from nearby towns. Their areas were relatively farther from Roland Forest, and their usual missions mainly involved dealing with "ratmen," "kobolds" in the wild, and occasionally some stronger magical creatures. But overall, both the quantity and quality of missions couldn't compare to Silverstream City.

Plus, Silverstream City had recently increased rewards for goblin extermination, attracting many low-to-mid-level adventurers.

"Sure."

Lin Mo nodded, his gaze falling on the newcomer.

He looked very young, probably a rookie. He had three or four companions of similar age, one girl very naturally sitting beside him and whispering a few words close to his ear.

This made Lin Mo think of his earliest teammates - if they could be considered earliest, not counting those unlucky ones who died at the hands of mutated goblins.

He wondered how Bern and the others were doing, and what progress Evan and Miriam had made.

Roland Town wasn't safe - he didn't know if they had chosen to relocate...

As his thoughts wandered, the young man sharing the table suddenly pointed at Lin Mo's cup: "Brother, can you tell me what that is? I'd like to order one too."

"Think it's called sour citrus honey wine?"

Lin Mo recalled and gave the wine's name. Seeing the young man's simple equipment, he added: "1 silver coin per cup."

Sure enough, the young man immediately showed an embarrassed expression, smiling awkwardly before turning to whisper with the girl again, abandoning this luxurious idea.

Lin Mo drank the fruit wine in one gulp.

The 1 silver coin price wasn't normal for a regular drink. The reason it was sold so expensively was because the "sour citrus" used to make this fruit wine was quite expensive. Indeed, this wasn't any ordinary fruit but a special variety cultivated by planters.

Sour but not astringent, with clear juice.

Sour citrus was among the most common special crops. Even so, not everyone could grow it well - it required professional planters to carefully cultivate.

That's why it commanded such prices.

However, sour citrus being relatively low-grade among special crops meant it had little practical value - the price came purely from the planter's labor.

If it were those very skilled planters growing "C" grade or even "B" grade crops, they would contain very high energy, even comparable to lord-level magical creature flesh.

Some crops would even possess additional special effects, like temporarily increasing strength, enhancing perception, poison resistance and detoxification, etc.

If processed by Chefs into high-grade cuisine, these effects could be further enhanced.

Of course, such skilled planters definitely couldn't be found in small places like Silverstream City.

Reward distribution continued intensively. The rookies at his table ultimately ordered cheap ale, drinking while discussing adventure-related matters.

The experiences unique to rookies actually made Lin Mo listen with great interest.

Speaking of which, if calculated by time, he should still count as a rookie, right?

No, absolutely still counted.

Normally, even those who'd been adventurers for two or three years - like Evan, who'd adventured with his uncle Bern for two years - wouldn't dare call themselves veterans, still counting as rookies.

Rookies always had endless topics to discuss, not just about themselves but inevitably various gossip and news.

"Speaking of which, the losses from this special rescue operation seem quite heavy!"

"Exactly! I heard one adventurer team had over 50% mortality! And they didn't end up rescuing many people either..."

"The other teams didn't fare much better. Both guards and adventurers suffered many casualties. If you ask me, might as well not have gone."

"Not gone? Would you let the goblins use those girls to continue growing stronger? Eventually they'd come attack the city anyway. Dealing with it now is slightly easier."

"True, since the City Lord did this, she naturally had her considerations... If you were City Lord, our Silverstream City would probably be finished long ago!"

News spreads fast.

Looks like this rescue operation - more accurately, destroying the goblin stronghold while incidentally rescuing people - indeed came at considerable cost.

But it was all worth it, because the goblins' losses were at least ten times theirs!

Even with the goblin race's immense numbers, losing so many goblin guards, mutated goblins, even bronze goblins and giant goblins definitely hit them where it hurt.

After all, these were all elite forces. Their loss meant not only reduced current combat power but also affected future reproduction.

These elite goblins carried powerful bloodlines. Even without human carriers, their self-produced offspring would inherit some of their strength to some degree.

These were products of many generations of reproduction, consuming numerous "carriers" to cultivate...

If there really was a lord-level goblin leader in Roland Forest now, it must be quite distressed.

Earlier seemed crowded because reward distribution just started, but the number of adventurers participating in this operation was actually limited. Soon, the crowd thinned out.

Lin Mo stood up and joined the queue.

His table-sharing rookies were shocked: "You're an adventurer who participated in this Call to Arms too?"

"No wonder you can afford such expensive wine..."

Since it was a rest day, Lin Mo and Ellie wore casual clothes out, so although these rookies could tell from their spending they weren't simple, they never imagined they were this exceptional.

Adventurers participating in the conscription were at least Professional level, and it was said that level 1s were rare since most level 1 adventurers lacked confidence in their abilities and didn't dare go, so level 2s were more common.

After several more adventurers collected rewards, it was finally Lin Mo and Ellie's turn.

First, Ellie's reward...

"According to Call to Arms rules, besides 25 gold base reward and 21 gold rescue reward, there's also killing 19 level 1 goblins and 2 level 2 goblins, totaling 248 gold coins."

Compared to most level 2 Professionals, Ellie's achievements were clearly much more impressive - not only eliminating many level 1 goblin guards and mutated goblins but also killing two level 2 goblins.

Professionals of the same level, without good equipment, were often at a disadvantage against magical creatures. Even low-level creatures like goblins weren't easy to fight. In pure 1v1 situations, many could defeat level 2 goblins, but killing level 2 goblins amid chaotic battles with numerous goblins surrounding them was completely different in difficulty.

So most level 2 Professionals' records didn't include level 2 goblins.

Ellie collected her reward, clearly in good spirits.

248 gold coins - earning this much from one mission was something she never dared imagine before meeting Lin Mo.

Ellie felt her experience was like those stories bards wrote to cater to female audiences for money.

Originally just an ordinary girl, somewhat unpopular for certain reasons, suddenly meeting a talented, very handsome man who happened to favor her.

Now she'd not only found love but also increased her strength and earned more and more money...

If bards wrote like this, people would say it was too fantastical and unrealistic.

Meeting Lin Mo was truly the luckiest thing in her life.

After Ellie collected her reward, it was Lin Mo's turn...

The serious-looking vice chairman glanced at the compiled data and showed some surprise.

Since he was the last one, the vice chairman turned and walked toward the Association interior: "Come with me."

Were they going to the second or third floor?

Lin Mo followed him upstairs, but contrary to his expectations, they didn't stop at the second or third floor but went directly to the top-floor chairman's office.

Lin Mo had been here when he first arrived in Silverstream City, but only met Chairman Vic in the lobby then.

Reaching the top floor, he found Landon, Torren, and Lute were all there too. Seeing Lin Mo arrive, Landon immediately waved at him.

"Finally here..."

"Haha, we've all been waiting for you."

Lute, usually quite familiar, directly stepped forward and patted his shoulder.

Torren also nodded in greeting.

The vice chairman led them to the inner storage room.

Pushing open the storage room door, it looked like a library with many shelves.

But these shelves didn't hold books - some had skill scrolls, others equipment.

The equipment all looked very refined, each piece gleaming, unlike ordinary items.

"The three of you can go select the equipment you need first."

After saying this, he turned to Lin Mo and spoke based on staff-compiled intelligence: "Because your registered information changed to level 4 Warrior, your base reward is 100 gold coins, plus rescue reward totaling 121 gold coins. Additionally, you were directly related to rescuing some girls - after distribution with companions, calculated as 90 gold coins. Then there's the kill rewards."

"Over a hundred level 1 goblins, several level 2 and 3 goblins, 2 level 4 goblins, 1 level 5 goblin..."