A Scientific Urban Detective

Hearing the "solution" proposed by Shadan Shan, Mugino Shizuri stopped the "Meltdowner" she was charging up and glanced sideways.

Takitsubo Rikou, who had been standing behind her, stepped forward.

"You want to buy your life with money?" Takitsubo Rikou asked.

"It's about spending money to avoid trouble," Shadan Shan said. "Of course, if you want to call it buying my life, then buy my life."

Shadan Shan currently had no desire to argue over such minor details.

The four members of "Item" exchanged glances and quickly reached a consensus.

Mugino Shizuri nodded slightly, but still maintained the "Meltdowner" as a deterrent.

Frenda laughed gleefully, looking as if she had "seized a good opportunity."

"It's settled then, ten times the amount, no take-backs!"

"Of course," Shadan Shan nodded with a smile.

"Haha!" Frenda laughed twice more, holding up two fingers. "Two million, the reward for capturing or killing you is two million yen! So ten times that is... Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

Before she could finish speaking, Mugino Shizuri silenced her with a fierce headlock.

With a straight face, she dragged the smug girl to the side.

"Never mind her, that idiot can't count," Mugino Shizuri said expressionlessly. "A flat price, one hundred million yen, to buy your own life."

"Wow... Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Frenda cried out, feeling the hand on her head tighten again.

She could only feel pain and pleasure in her heart—as expected of Mugino, she really dares to ask for a high price!

You should know, the reward for this commission was only one million yen! After all, in a sense, it was also related to their own interests, plus they were really short on money recently, so they had no choice but to take action.

Frenda felt that doubling the price was already a great deal, but who knew Mugino Shizuri would be even bolder.

Even Uiharu and Shimizu Natsuki were shocked by the amount.

Although they were all daughters of wealthy families, a hundred million yen was still far beyond their "allowance" range.

—It seems we have to mobilize everyone in the faction to donate.

Uiharu calculated in her mind, originally she had planned to rely only on herself and Shimizu Natsuki to pay the "ransom."

That's right, in Uiharu's view, those "kidnappers" on the other side were simply demanding a "ransom."

"Tch, they really dare to ask," Shadan Shan rolled her eyes. Because her family had fallen into decline, she understood the meaning of this amount better than the two true daughters of wealthy families behind her.

If the four members of "Item" were just ordinary girls, this money would be enough to change their lives.

"What, do you have any objections?" Mugino Shizuri asked, maintaining the "Meltdowner."

"No," Shadan Shan shook her head. Since she had proposed the suggestion of settling things with money, she was already prepared to be ripped off.

In fact, the price of one hundred million yen was far from her worst expectation.

However, it was still necessary to bargain when it was time to bargain.

"One hundred million yen is not a problem," Shadan Shan said, "but I don't have that much cash on hand."

"I'll give you two days."

"Shadan-sama..." Uiharu lowered her voice, intending to speak her plan, but was interrupted by a subtle gesture from Shadan Shan.

Shadan Shan said, "You don't need that much time. I have a proposal that, if you're willing to accept, we can settle it today."

Shadan Shan had several enterprises and research institutions under her control, all valued at over one hundred million yen, so she planned to take one of them as "ransom" to pay "Item."

Mugino Shizuri frowned deeply, not regretting that she had asked for too little, but simply finding it troublesome.

Of course, she didn't doubt the value of the enterprises and research institutions. As long as they could be resold, they would definitely make a profit; if they could be managed well, the income would be far more than one hundred million yen.

However, the former was troublesome, and a good buyer was not so easy to find; as for the latter, Mugino's own family was one of the world's top five food giants, if she was interested in management, why would she come to work in the dark side?

Not to mention, a dark side organization running enterprises—was already a taboo thing.

Especially "Item," the top combat-oriented dark side organization. If they obtained a stable source of funding, they would no longer be "mercenaries," but real "warlords."

Of course, Shadan Shan also knew this, so she added: "If you find it troublesome, I have another proposal—I'll find someone to manage it, and then periodically give you dividends, of course, paying the reward in the form of commissioned requests."

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"Tch! What a greedy woman," Mugino Shizuri put away "Meltdowner," but also tacitly agreed to the plan.

Shadan Shan stepped forward and extended her hand: "Then, happy cooperation."

...

After letting Shadan Shan and the others go, the four members of "Item" restarted and walked in another direction.

"Huh? What's going on?" Frenda was still incredulous. "How did it suddenly become a partnership?"

"To find a long-term meal ticket for you and your sister," Mugino Shizuri said, "to avoid encountering this kind of financial difficulty again."

Although she was complaining about Frenda, the sentence also applied to Kinuhata Saiai and even Mugino Shizuri herself.

They were already well aware of their "spendthrift" nature—if it weren't for Takitsubo Rikou's habit of saving money, their situation would probably be even worse, right?

To avoid repeating the same mistakes, finding a long-term stable source of income seemed very necessary.

Shadan Shan was undoubtedly the best partner. First, she came from Tokiwadai Middle School, so she was very rich and good at management, making her an ideal partner; second, she had a handle held by "Item."

Last but not least, Shadan Shan had enough strength—not strong enough to exceed "Item's" suppression, but not so weak that she was easily defeated; not considering level 5s, Shadan Shan's side was even stronger.

For Mugino Shizuri, this was exactly the range that could be considered a "partner."

"Also," Takitsubo Rikou patiently explained, "Kiyama Harumi-sensei has already taken all the responsibility, so theoretically, Shadan Shan has not committed any crime—even if we take her back, she may eventually be acquitted. In that case, it's better to directly exchange for something of value..."

As it turned out, things developed as Takitsubo Rikou described. Kiyama Harumi, who surrendered and was sent to the headquarters of the Anti-Skill, after delaying enough time, simply admitted to all the charges.

And very proactively handed over the program to cancel "Level Upper," successfully awakening everyone.

Including Lin Wuming and Takehaya Yosari, and Kiyama Harumi's students... everyone fully regained consciousness and woke up.