65: Chapter 65 The Price of an Apprentice

After becoming an Apprentice, Lin Zhao truly felt the importance of Contribution Points for the first time.

During his time as a Candidate, he could only see many catalogs but had no qualification to touch them.

Back then, his anxiety was simple: The door hadn't opened.

But now the door had cracked open, and he finally saw what was placed behind it, and he could clearly see how many Contribution Points were marked behind every item.

This was more tormenting than seeing nothing at all.

In the training ground, Lin Zhao stared at his Xin Huo Interface for a long time.

Action path. Guardian path.

Neither was cheap.

The Ability Seed he wanted to see most was the prerequisite direction for "Gatekeeper".

Its positioning was very clear: frontal defense, personnel evacuation, and blocking low-level contamination. The compatibility was also quite high.

The only problem was that he was still short on Contribution Points.

Xu Minglan's situation was similar.

She had accumulated quite a lot of medical contribution through hospital missions and treating those wounded by the longevity lamp, but she was still some distance away from actually redeeming an Ability Seed in the medical direction.

She could see the descriptions for the two paths, "Wound Purifier" and "Guardian Lamp Healer," and even some descriptions of the complete Guardian Lamp techniques.

The redeemable status, however, always displayed only four words: [Insufficient contribution.]

After training ended, Lin Zhao couldn't help but ask Zhao Ye, "Did full members go through this, too?"

Zhao Ye thought for a moment.

"No."

Lin Zhao was stunned.

Zhao Ye continued, "It was worse for us back then."

"We didn't even have catalogs." Bai Ya, who was nearby, delivered the finishing blow.

"At least now, you're clearly poor."

Lin Zhao was instantly speechless.

Xu Minglan looked at her own Xin Huo Interface and said softly, "Being clearly poor is still being poor."

Bai Ya nodded.

"That sentence has great medical value."

"It shows that poverty can resonate across different paths."

Zhao Ye glanced at him.

"Can you shut up?"

Bai Ya smiled without saying anything.

This low-pressure daily routine made the atmosphere in the hall much more relaxed than before.

But Lu Chen, sitting in the Fire Keeper's seat, saw it very clearly.

Contribution Points didn't just bring restrictions; they brought a sense of purpose.

If abilities were easily obtained, members wouldn't cherish them, nor would they understand the weight of every mission record.

At the same time, Tang Zhiwei submitted a new logistics proposal.

Basic consumables in high-risk missions would no longer be fully borne by individual contributions.

For example, purification patches, basic containment bags, low-level hemostatic ointments, mission communication losses, and temporary transport fees could all be reimbursed by the organization based on the mission rating.

Tang Zhiwei's reasoning was very direct.

"If members use fewer consumables in high-risk missions to save Contribution Points, that's not saving—it's preparing for an accident."

After reading it, Lu Chen didn't hesitate for long.

This wasn't a benefit.

It was an organizational cost.

If the Xinhuo Council wanted to expand, it couldn't let Apprentices survive by being stingy.

He approved the proposal.

Zero synchronized and updated the rules.

[Mission consumption reimbursement mechanism has been activated.]

[Applicable to: Apprentices and above.]

[Reimbursement scope: Mission-authorized consumables, basic medical care, low-level containment tools, necessary transportation, and logistics transfers.]

The Apprentices went silent for a second.

Then, Lin Zhao was the first to say in a low voice, "This is good."

Zhao Ye glanced at him.

"Don't get happy too soon."

"Reimbursement doesn't mean you can spend recklessly."

Lin Zhao nodded seriously.

"I know."

Bai Ya added slowly, "The essence of the reimbursement rule is to give you the qualification to owe the organization more."

This time, even Xu Minglan couldn't help but laugh.

Late that night, Xu Minglan was on duty at the hospital.

The emergency hall was still chaotic.

Children with fevers, elderly people who had fallen, arguing family members, young people causing trouble after drinking.

She had just finished treating a patient with abrasions from a car accident when she suddenly received a notification from the ward.

The patient who had been affected by the driverless night bus had woken up.

When Xu Minglan arrived at the ward, the old man was staring at the ceiling with his eyes open.

His expression was dazed, as if he were still sitting on some invisible vehicle.

Xu Minglan pressed his wrist, and her Mark of the Torch heated up slightly.

The old man's lips moved.

He only said one sentence.

"The next stop..."

"Is Qinghe."

After the reimbursement rules were opened, the area near the Apprentices' seats became noticeably livelier.

Lin Zhao flipped through his mission records and calculated his Contribution Point balance three times.

The numbers hadn't changed.

He was still short of his target Ability Seed.

But that gap no longer felt like a wall, but like a road that could be run to the end.

Xu Minglan, on the other hand, wasn't in a hurry to calculate redemptions.

She read the reimbursement rules very carefully, especially the part about medical consumables.

Low-level purification patches, contamination isolation tape, temporary soothing potions, basic containment cotton.

The unit price of these items wasn't high, but if Apprentices had to bear the cost every mission, it would become a burden over time.

She suddenly understood why Tang Zhiwei insisted on doing this.

The Xinhuo Council couldn't just reward bravery.

It also had to ensure that brave people wouldn't shrink back because of high consumption.

Tang Zhiwei was sitting at the logistics seat, calculating the monthly costs of the Safe House.

She looked even more serious than Zhao Ye when facing anomalies.

When Bai Ya passed by, he took a look and commented, "Your expression looks like you're containing an anomaly that eats money."

Tang Zhiwei didn't even look up.

"Logistics is just like that."

"It doesn't eat people; it only eats the budget."

Bai Ya was silent for a moment.

"That is indeed more terrifying."

Hearing this kind of lighthearted conversation made Lu Chen feel at ease.

If an organization was left with only sternness and orders, sooner or later it would grind people into tools.

The Xinhuo Council needed discipline, but it also needed gaps where people could catch their breath.

This wasn't weakness.

This was a necessary condition for members to stay in the fire for the long term.

Lin Zhao later read the reimbursement rules for a long time.

He realized he had thought too simply before.

Becoming an Apprentice wasn't about gaining power; it was about starting to shoulder bills.

Contribution Points were bills.

Mission records were bills.

Injuries, consumption, misjudgments, saving people—someone had to be responsible for every single thing.

Torch didn't hide these things but laid them out on the interface for them to see clearly.

This actually made Lin Zhao feel secure.

He wasn't afraid of the cost.

What he feared was not knowing where the price lay.

Xu Minglan also made a decision at the same time.

She would actively apply to participate in the next medical assistance mission.

It wasn't as simple as just saving up Contribution Points.

It was because she had already seen what kind of people the prototype of the Guardian Lamp could save.

Since she had seen it, it was hard for her to pretend she was just an ordinary doctor again.

Lu Chen finally classified the reimbursement rules under the logistics module.

This small matter didn't look like a battle scene, but it made the Xinhuo Council more like a real organization that could operate in the long term.

Members were not consumables.

Apprentices were not cheap labor.

If every growth could only be shouldered by the individual, then Torch would sooner or later turn into another form of exploitation.

Lu Chen didn't need that kind of organization.

What he wanted were people who could fight, save, record, and also live to walk into the next mission.