[You brutally humiliated xxx and severely injured him, stellar jade +60]
Upon hearing this prompt, Cipher paused.
It seems this also counts as an influence, though the degree of influence doesn't seem to be as much as what she gained from joining the Spark Team.
The previous one hundred, plus the current sixty, was just enough for one pull, but... Cipher looked at the dozen or so people around her and decided she'd wait until she had enough for a ten-pull, since there was no rush now.
First, let's see if anyone else tries to cause trouble...
"Wonderful!!!"
"Good!"
"Well fought!"
A series of loud cheers and applause suddenly erupted, startling Cipher, who had been standing still, waiting to see if anyone else would come looking for trouble.
Unsure of the situation, she immediately ran over to Lauren and the others, asking her with a puzzled expression:
"What's wrong with them? Logically speaking, shouldn't there be stronger people who dislike me and want to beat me up?"
"How could that be? Entertainment is scarce in Pit Bottom District; they'd be thrilled if such a scene played out a few more times to relieve their boredom."
Lauren tilted her head, directly refuting Cipher's 'logic'.
"Uh... so everything I just did was treated as a performance by them?"
Cipher was speechless, unsure whether she had profited or lost out.
The good news was that no one was bothering her for now.
The bad news was that while she was treating the other party like a monkey, she was also being watched like a monkey... Suddenly, she felt so angry!!!
"Oh, right, will the table need to be compensated for later?"
She suddenly remembered that after she kicked that Mercenary flying, he fell and smashed a table. According to novel plots, she should have to pay for it, right? But she didn't have any money now!
Thinking of this, Cipher suddenly felt a bit annoyed. She should have held back a little more. She originally thought she just needed to avoid kicking him to death, but she forgot to prevent accidental damage to property.
"No need."
"Meow?"
Lauren's three words once again surprised Cipher, even making her blurt out a word in her mother tongue (?).
"What that Mercenary said earlier was actually correct; here, might makes right. You won against him, so all expenses incurred from this fight must be paid by the loser. The winner doesn't need to pay."
"I see."
Cipher pondered, it seemed this place was truly cruel. Compared to the city, it felt more like a primitive jungle where the strong prey on the weak.
If she had known this, she should have put more force into it earlier, letting him smash through the ceiling and then fall to break the table... That way, she wouldn't believe his wallet wouldn't bleed heavily!
But very quickly, Cipher shook her head, dismissing this dangerous thought, because if she did that, it wouldn't just be the Mercenary's wallet that would bleed heavily; the Mercenary himself would also bleed heavily. As a law-abiding citizen who had only ever killed chickens in her previous life, she didn't want to kill anyone!
Lauren, standing by, saw Cipher first annoyed, then quickly shaking her head. She didn't understand what was happening, but after a while, seeing Cipher had calmed down, she continued:
"Also, Cipher, you're really amazing. I thought you were just bragging when you said you were strong."
"How could that be!"
Hearing that Lauren didn't believe her, Cipher felt her integrity was being questioned.
This was a very humiliating thing for a Trickster Demigod!
"I don't lie, I'm very honest!"
So, Cipher uttered these words that even she herself didn't believe.
However, as long as she could make others believe what she said, then she couldn't be considered to be lying!
(Cat's cry)
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you..."
"Eh? It's fine, it's fine, I didn't take it to heart."
Seeing Lauren apologize so decisively, Cipher was a little unaccustomed. She scratched the back of her head, her eyes darting around, and responded with an awkward laugh.
Just then, Cipher happened to see Jasmine fiddling with something nearby that looked like a camera. Out of curiosity, Cipher went over.
"Jassy, what are you doing?"
Jasmine was startled by the sudden voice from beside her ear. After seeing it was Cipher, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, she handed the camera in her hand to Cipher.
"Because my strength isn't enough, I wanted to record that person's appearance so I could get revenge later when I became stronger. But I didn't expect you to be so powerful and directly defeat that hateful guy, so I wanted to delete this video."
After listening to Jasmine's explanation, Cipher looked at the camera. What was recorded inside was indeed the Mercenary she had just kicked flying, but in the latter half of the video, it was the scene of her mocking and humiliating the Mercenary, as well as the Mercenary flying through the air.
"Basically, the whole process was recorded..."
Cipher's face was slightly red. She hadn't felt anything wrong when she was doing those things just now, but when she looked at her actions from an outsider's perspective, why did she feel a strange sense of shame... After watching, Cipher returned the camera to Jasmine. She had originally wanted to tell Jasmine to delete it, but after thinking about it, this was her first conflict in another world after all, a commemorative video, so she asked Jasmine to keep it for her.
Jasmine somewhat didn't understand Cipher's actions, but out of respect, and since Cipher was the protagonist of this video, she complied with Cipher's request and did not delete the video.
Besides, whether she deleted it or not had no impact on her.
After a while, Ethan walked out from a door behind the counter. As soon as he came out, he saw the very conspicuous graffiti Mercenary.
Ethan paused, but didn't bother with it. Instead, he walked directly to Lauren's side and asked with some confusion:
"Captain, did something happen here?"
"Let's leave here first; I'll tell you on the way!"
Seeing Ethan return, Lauren immediately grabbed his arm and ran out of the Association.
Cipher and Jasmine, seeing this, also followed them out the door...
After a while, the Mercenary lying on the ground slowly regained consciousness.
"Hiss... why does my whole body hurt, especially my chin... what exactly happened..."
He shakily climbed up from the ground, one hand propped on the floor, the other still supporting his chin.
At this moment, he only felt his head spinning. In his memory, he only saw that woman appear in front of him as if by teleportation, followed by a sharp pain and a sensation of weightlessness, then everything went black and he lost consciousness.
"Hello, Brother Mad Dog, you look a bit confused? Want to know what happened? It only costs ten credit points~"
At this moment, a mischievous voice came from beside him.
He turned his head in confusion, looking towards the source of the voice.
He saw a young man, about twenty-something, holding his personal terminal, wearing a mask that covered most of his face, looking at him with a smile.
After the Mercenary stared at the young man for a few seconds, his rusty brain finally started working, and then he once again erupted in anger.
"Who the hell are you?! Who are you calling a mad dog?!"
Saying this, he disregarded his injuries, barely managed to stand up, and swung at the young man.
But the young man merely shifted slightly to the side, then "accidentally" forgot to retract one foot.
"Ouch, holy crap!"
Another "thud" sounded, and the Mercenary fell to the ground in a face-plant.
Before he could even recover, he felt a sharp pain in his scalp, and then his head was forcibly lifted, revealing the young man's face after he removed his mask.
At this moment, the young man was gripping the Mercenary's hair, smiling as he stared at the disheveled Mercenary in front of him and said:
"You asked who I am? Do you recognize me now?"
"Shen... Boss Shen..."
When he clearly saw the young man's face, the Mercenary finally realized that the person in front of him was someone he absolutely could not afford to offend, and even his speech began to stutter.
Because the person in front of him was none other than Shen Yan, the president of the Pit Bottom District branch of the Mercenary Association and the owner of the tavern.
The 'rule-maker' he had been referring to earlier was precisely this person.
"Hmph, it seems you still recognize me."
Seeing that the Mercenary recognized him, Shen Yan released his hand, allowing the Mercenary's head to hit the ground.
"You know I'm the 'rule-maker,' but you don't listen to the rules I make at all."
"Provoking other Mercenaries for no reason is one thing, and you didn't even get cursed at, you got angry first and made a move."
"And then? After making a move, you still lost, even though you had the first strike. I really don't know where you get the courage to provoke others."
With that, Shen Yan pulled out a notebook from his pocket and began to write.
"Damaged one cup, 50 credit points; damaged one table, 200 credit points; the floor has several scratches from you, and this is a wooden floor, so repair fees will be 200 points... Oh, right, there's also a 100 credit points cleaning fee; as for the mental damages for other patrons... considering you put on such an entertaining comedy show for us, I won't charge you for that. Alright, the total cost is 550 credit points."
"And I know you poor wretch definitely can't afford these fees, so I'll notify your Squad's captain to clean up your mess. In the meantime, you just wait here."
Each time Shen Yan spoke a sentence, the Mercenary's face grew paler. By the time he spoke the last sentence, the Mercenary's previously flushed cheeks had turned completely ashen.
"Cipher, is it... She looks like she's from Genesis Technology's feline gene modification program, but... why would someone from Genesis Technology come to Pit Bottom District? And be so ostentatious..."
After pondering for a while, Shen Yan couldn't come up with a clear answer for the time being, so he put his notebook away and walked towards the counter, leaving behind a poor wretch sprawled on the ground, having lost all strength and means.