Chapter 201: Chapter 177 – Refusing to Quit Until Death (First update, wasn’t able to finish writing.)_1

The next day, in the morning.

First, Wu Heng made a trip to the Snake Badge Consortium.

He collected all the payment that was owed from his sales yesterday.

After all, it was him who personally made the deal with Laisia, so he had to take the matter of money more seriously.

After leaving the Consortium, Wu Heng headed straight to the Association.

As soon as he entered the great hall, several female staff members greeted him cheerfully, “Good morning, Captain Wu Heng.”

“Hmm, good morning,” Wu Heng responded.

Just a few steps further, several members from other teams waved at him, “Up early today, Captain Wu Heng.”

“Yes, good morning.”

While Wu Heng responded with a smile, he was somewhat puzzled in his heart.

When did he become so popular?

In the old days, the general staff members would also address him as the captain, but they only did so when attending to business related matters, unlike now, where they greeted him from afar.

The curious gazes of some professionals working in the hall were drawn to him.

Those who knew him understood that he was the leader of a newly formed team, those who didn’t assumed an executive from some area was visiting.

Subconsciously touching his face, he found there didn’t seem to be any difference.

Without stopping, he went straight to the team’s rest room.

Upon opening the door, he found Duke and Mata chatting inside.

Seeing him entering, they got up and greeted him.

Wu Heng nodded, asking: “What’s the deal with the Association today, why are both acquaintances and strangers greeting me?”

After considering for a moment, Duke responded: “Ah! Yesterday we brought back the corpses. Their identities have been verified and the records show that our team earned a three-star merit. The news has spread throughout the Association.”

Wu Heng was stunned, wondering what the connection between this and being greeted could be.

However, he then realized.

Considering the fact that his team was newly formed and consisted of only members, the consecutive killings of several third-class wanted criminals could be seen as a signal.

Not to mention their individual strengths, the potential of his team was undeniable.

If this pace could be maintained, it wouldn’t be long before Wu Heng would be promoted to vice-executive or executive, and both Duke and Mata could become captains.

At that time, if they still stayed in Lundham City, they would be the leaders of these people.

There must be a large number of people trying to establish a relationship in advance.

“Ah, I see.”

Upon understanding the situation, Wu Heng took out nine gold coins from his Space Ring and put them on the table, “This payment was settled by the Consortium – they owed us a total of 9000 silver coins. It would be inconvenient for you to carry silver coins, so I asked the Consortium to pay us in gold.”

“Wow, that’s quite a lot!” Duke wiped his chin, nearly drooling.

Although nine gold coins didn’t sound like much, it totaled quite a substantial income.

At least for the average resident, it would probably take a lifetime to save up that many gold coins.

“Let’s split it up!” Wu Heng divided the gold coins into three portions and placed them in front of the two.

“Thanks, captain,” Duke smiled.

“You should thank Mata, it is her provided intelligence after all.”

“Oh, thank you, Mata.” Duke turned to Mata to express his gratitude.

“It’s better to thank the captain, I didn’t contribute much to the fight.”

They modestly declined each other’s gratitude for a while and then put away the money.

Then, Wu Heng went to the reception to collect the bounty of the wanted criminals.

A total of 720 silver coins, divided among the three of them.

Everyone was quite happy, given the substantial income.

“Captain, can we now apply to be captains given our merit points?” asked Duke.

Wu Heng thought for a while, he recalled what Autruck had once told him and explained: “Besides earning merit points, you also need to reach level 8 or have exceptional performances. As of now, you have the foundation to become captains. All you need now is to reach the level and then apply to the headquarters.”

The Association requires captains to be at level 8 and to have earned at least one three-star merit at minimum.

This doesn’t seem difficult.

However, these two requirements actually hinder most people’s promotions.

A captain of a team needs to be at level 8 and three-star merits are usually granted for capturing criminals of level 10 or above with a considerable amount of power and followers.

This is not something a regular team can achieve.

Even when there are such criminals, it is usually like the case in Black Stone Town where an executive or vice-executive would lead a team to apprehend them.

There were very few teams like Wu Heng’s, who would confront them head-on.

Duke chuckled, “We got all the credit because of you, Captain. Other teams would spend a long time to catch a few wanted criminals.”

“Yes, being with the captain, we earn merits so quickly,” Mata echoed.

Looking at the two, Wu Heng said, “Don’t underestimate these criminals. Each of them is not that easy to deal with – be aware of their accomplices.”

Wu Heng had a clear understanding of his team’s capability.

They merely utilized their firearms to burst down, in situations where it was inconvenient for the opponents, most of them into sieves. The harder ones to kill were left to their skeletons to handle.

The actual strength of the team was not high.

The 12 members of their team could hardly kill a wanted criminal.

“Understood, captain,” the two nodded.

“OK, there’s nothing to do here. You can go back first, be careful not to run around with money and avoid being targeted,” Wu Heng warned.

Both of them wanted to bring the good news back as soon as possible.

After saying goodbye, they got up and left.

Wu Heng also put away the silver coins.

He started walking towards the alchemy ingredient shop in the Outer City Area. He had acquired six level-one Corpse Cores last time – some materials were still needed for brewing potions.

…

After buying the materials.