"No... that's not it..."
Facing Cipher's barrage of questions, Lauren instantly became flustered.
"Of course I treat you like family! It's just... it's just..."
Lauren lowered her head, not daring to meet Cipher's sapphire-like eyes.
"It's just... when I took you in, I never thought of getting anything in return... My initial thought was for us to help you..."
Her fingers unconsciously fiddled with the corner of her clothes, her voice growing softer and filled with intense unease.
"But now, we have to use your money... we need your help to escape our current predicament... This feeling..."
It's as if... their previous help was actually just a form of taking from Sister Cipher, which is completely unfair to Cipher... "I wanted to help others, but in the end, I even need the 'helped person's' assistance to solve my own difficulties... Sister Cipher, am I... too useless?"
'Something isn't right...'
Looking at the scene before her, Cipher felt she had miscalculated.
She had thought that after playing the emotional card, even if Lauren still had some resistance to the money, she would at least accept a portion of it to "comfort" her and for the benefit of the team.
But what she hadn't expected was that Lauren's personality and inner self seemed even more fragile than she had imagined; all her help was selfless, and even when she received something in return, she saw it as her own weakness, needing help from the "helped person."
To put it nicely, this is overly selfless, a saintly disposition; to put it harshly, it's a pathological psychological issue at play.
She interpreted "helping others" as "something she must do," but she understood "being helped" as "her own incompetence," completely distorting the original meaning of "help."
Cipher rubbed her head, feeling a headache coming on.
She was very curious about what Lauren had experienced in her childhood to develop such a distorted personality, and she also wondered how Lauren had managed to survive until now.
Such a personality, let alone in this Pit Bottom District where basic survival is precarious, even in her previous life's country of Yan, with its good public order, she would have been completely taken advantage of by various unscrupulous scammers.
If she continued, Lauren's mental state would definitely suffer again... Thinking of this, Cipher sighed.
Let's temporarily skip this matter for now; her psychological issues can be slowly corrected later.
Anyway, my strength is sufficient, and even if they don't have money to buy that... potential activation medium, I can cover for them if the mission goes awry.
Then, after organizing her thoughts, Cipher spoke to Lauren with a serious tone:
"You are not useless... On the contrary, you are remarkable."
Lauren was startled, then looked up at Cipher.
"But... I can't even..."
"Stop! Listen to me first!"
Cipher didn't want her to continue stressing herself out, so she immediately interrupted her.
"If you were useless, why would Jasmine and Ethan willingly follow you? If you were useless, how did this underground hut, where everyone lives, appear out of thin air? Was it just Ethan alone?"
"It's the wristband..."
"I know it's because of the wristband." Cipher interrupted Lauren again, "But do you know a saying?"
"Luck! Is also a part of strength!"
"The Spark Team was founded by you! This house was built by you and Ethan together! So many missions were completed under your leadership! Allowing everyone to live relatively comfortably in this damned Pit Bottom District, which of these didn't involve your effort, Lauren?"
"And, do you know what the most crucial problem is?"
Lauren was stunned by Cipher's string of words, and when she heard her question, she could only shake her head blankly.
"The most crucial problem is that you are currently the captain of this Spark Team!"
"What is a captain? A captain is the leader, the core of the team! If you, the captain, feel completely useless, doesn't that mean that the entire Spark Team, Jasmine, Ethan, and I—all of us—are all worthless trash! Don't you agree?"
As she spoke, Cipher also looked at Jasmine and Ethan.
The two sitting at the table exchanged glances, then nodded in cooperation.
"No—! That's not it! You... you are all amazing! All very important!"
After hearing what Cipher said, Lauren seemed to be stimulated, her eyes instantly reddened, and then she urgently and loudly refuted, subconsciously denying this terrible conclusion.
"So, don't always feel useless..." At this point, Cipher's tone softened considerably, "You are the core of our Spark Team, Captain Lauren."
"Mm... Thank you, Sister Cipher, I... I think I understand... I won't easily say I'm useless anymore..."
Lauren lowered her head again, thanking her in a low voice.
'You understand, my foot; this is just a negative effect of that psychological issue...'
Although she grumbled inwardly, on the surface, Cipher still showed a smile, then handed back her personal terminal.
Before Lauren could speak, Cipher quickly said:
"The USB drive can't retrieve the credit points. Since you don't want them, how about you temporarily keep them for me? When I need them, you can help me use them. What do you think, Captain Lauren?"
Hearing Cipher's words, Lauren's eyes lit up, and then she also smiled at her.
"Okay, Sister Cipher! I will definitely keep them safe for you!"
'Sigh... I finally managed to fool her. Let's take it slow.'
Cipher secretly wiped away non-existent sweat, then said to Lauren:
"Aren't we supposed to go on a mission today? Let's get ready and depart after we finish eating."
After speaking, Cipher took a fierce bite of the energy bar in her hand, not knowing if she wanted to express her eager mood or vent her recent frustration.
Or perhaps both?
Since things have come to this, let's just eat the energy bar first.
Soon after, everyone finished their energy bars.
After organizing their weapons and equipment, the group climbed out of the dog hole, moved aside the steel plate, and smoothly arrived at the entrance of the underground parking lot.