20: Excess Rewards

Li Hua was well aware of the existence of super-powered individuals in this World.

So after the initial shock had somewhat dulled,

he focused his attention on the gold brick, which even had a production date engraved on it.

'A spatial ability user?'

'I wonder if there's a chance to convince him to return to the country.'

With that thought in mind,

Li Hua probed,

"Have You ever considered returning to the country for development?"

Joa was momentarily stunned, hearing that the other party wasn't rushing to discuss the gold, but rather brought up something else.

He then politely declined.

"Returning to the country for development is out of the question, but I can go back to visit if there's an opportunity."

"Just don't arrest me when I do."

"After all, I've contributed to the country, wouldn't You say?"

"Gold is a hard currency, inherently valuable, and far more important than the U.S. dollar, which only gains value from national credit and its peg to oil."

Hearing this, Li Hua shook his head with some disappointment and sighed.

"What a pity."

"Then let's discuss the gold."

Listening to the two conversing in a language he didn't understand throughout, Polaris idly wondered if Joa truly loved her.

The two talked for several hours.

During this time, Li Hua left the bedroom several times to communicate with East University.

As the sky began to show the first hint of dawn,

the two sides finally reached a consensus.

Fifty tons of gold.

Five billion U.S. dollars.

This price was significantly higher than Joa's lowest acceptable figure.

It was important to remember that this was the net amount after the money laundering process.

This was clean money that could be spent freely.

The deal was happily concluded,

and they agreed to place the gold on a merchant ship bound for East University in a few days.

Joa and Polaris left the East University Embassy.

Before leaving,

Joa left Li Hua's phone number.

It might come in handy in the future.

Back home,

the two showered and then collapsed onto the bed, falling into an exhausted sleep.

After an entire night of commotion,

neither of them had the energy for anything else.

While they were sound asleep,

the entire World was shocked by a news report.

Headlines like "The Biggest Heist in History," "The Vanishing Robbers," and "The Impossible Crime" flooded the media.

Whether online, in newspapers, or on television, news outlets in almost every country on Earth were reporting on the Los Santos robbery.

And America, too, successfully made a big splash in this robbery.

This heist had a significant impact on America, which had been engaged in remote cultivation in other countries for many years.

It's worth noting that in the eyes of the big colonists, America was a guiding light, the hope of all humanity.

The greatest Empire in the World.

But as soon as this news broke,

the big colonists couldn't hold back.

The bank was robbed, and when the Police arrived, they couldn't even find a Shadow of the robbers.

How could they continue to advocate for democracy and freedom now?

Yes, it was indeed free enough.

But it was the freedom of the bank robbers.

"Shit! Fuck! Those useless Police in Los Santos are all idiots! Idiots!"

"They are completely wasting taxpayers' money!"

"These stupid guys have ruined our international image!"

Politicians and capitalists cursed and blamed the Los Santos Police for their incompetence.

Meanwhile, criminals were celebrating, highly encouraged.

They even regarded the unseen robbers who pulled off this job as their idols.

······

Inside the Villa of the famous playboy, Tony Stark.

Stark stared intently at the television screen, where a reporter who had been at the scene last night was giving a detailed report of the events.

"Jarvis, do You think it was the two robbers who robbed Stark Tower?"

"I apologize, Sir, based on the available information, it's impossible to deduce."

"However, based on the various criminal psychology theories I've recently studied,"

"the probability of the bank robbers and the Stark Tower intruders being the same group is 1 percent."

Hearing Jarvis's words, Tony Stark remained silent.

These days, he had been driven mad by the two robbers who broke into Stark Tower.

No matter what methods he used to investigate,

he couldn't find any clues about the robbers.

"Damn robbers!"

"I've never hated robbers as much as I do now!"

Annoyed, he turned off the television.

Stark gave up.

He wasn't going to investigate any further.

He had tried every method he could think of, but he just couldn't find any trace of the two.

Continuing to investigate would just be a waste of time.

"Damn personal privacy protection laws!"

"If there were more cameras, I could definitely catch those two!"

······

What was happening outside

did not affect Joa and Polaris's sleep in the slightest.

At two in the afternoon,

Joa, who had just woken up, sat on the living room sofa.

He sneered, watching the television station that was still continuously reporting on the robbery.

"Go ahead and investigate, You'll wear yourselves out and still won't find any useful information."

Listening to the anchor's report on television,

Joa closed his eyes.

'The gold has been sold.'

'Once the money arrives, it'll be time to prepare for entering the Resident Evil world.'

'But before that, I need to claim the System's reward.'

His consciousness sank into his mind, and Joa opened the System panel.

"[Mission: Pacific Standard Bank Heist. (Completed)]"

"[Minimum Gold Target: Ten tons.]"

"[Robbed: Fifty tons.]"

"[Over-completed Target: Forty tons.]"

"[Asset Rewards: Bunker, Facility.]"

"[Over-completed Mission Rewards.]"

"[1: Tyrant MK2 blueprint, and accompanying production line.]"

"[2: TM-02 khanjali tank blueprint, and accompanying production line.]"

"[3: electromagnetic rifle blueprint, and accompanying production line.]"

"[4: F-160 leviathan fighter blueprint, and accompanying production line.]"

"[Note: Blueprints and accompanying production lines will appear in the Facility once the host selects a location and materializes the Facility.]"

'What?'

'Why are they all blueprints and production lines?'

'Not a single finished product?'

Looking at these System rewards, Joa felt a pang of heartache for the money he hadn't received yet.

'I'd rather have other rewards.'

'In the Marvel Universe, the effectiveness of technology is limited.'

'I hope the next mission doesn't give me rewards from Morality and Law 5 again.'

Although he wasn't very satisfied with the System's rewards,

Joa didn't dwell on it too much.

These rewards, in the Marvel Universe, served little purpose beyond helping him make money.

But in the Resident Evil World, it would be different.

As long as he could build these things,

zombies, Lickers, Tyrants, bio-mutations, or various parasitic mutations—they would all be toys.

In the face of ample Firepower, they would all obediently turn to ashes.

Even Alex Mercer from Prototype, commonly known as Brother A...

Uh... let's not go there, that's a bit over the top.

Tearing tanks apart with bare hands, leaping dozens or hundreds of meters high, surviving a nuclear explosion without dying.

Such ultimate life forms are beyond what technology can solve.

Even in Marvel... they would be enough to easily defeat most superheroes.