Perlman didn't give up.
"You think that's too low? How about twenty million? Thirty million? I'll give each of you a hundred million! Just let me go, and you'll have more Dennies than you could spend in a lifetime..."
Hearing this, Qingyi shook his head without hesitation.
"Seth, put the sock back in."
Perlman kept struggling.
"You make, what, two or three hundred thousand Dennies a month? That's barely enough for a meal in the city center! Why be so stubborn? I'll give you a hundred million each—no, two hundred million! You'll never need to work again... mmph!"
Before he could go on, Seth had already stuffed Billy's sock back in his mouth.
Once they finished handling matters in Bangboo Town, Perlman would be escorted back to the city to face justice.
After handing Perlman over to Zhu Yuan and the others, Nicole was chatting with Caesar about how to spend their share of the reward.
Caesar's answer hadn't changed.
She wanted to build a school in Carrydon Town, so the children there could go to class like those in the city—or learn survival skills.
Nicole asked curiously, "Is a million Dennies enough to build a school?"
Caesar shook her head.
"Of course not. We need to renovate buildings, buy a ton of supplies, hire teachers... But I'll figure it out."
Then she asked Nicole, "What about you? How are you going to spend your million?"
"I haven't decided yet..."
They'd earned a lot recently. Hare's House was in excellent financial shape; they weren't exactly desperate for this million.
Rather than letting it sit in a bank, Nicole wanted to put it to good use.
After a pause, she added,
"Even if you build a school, what's the point? The gap between the Outer Ring and the city center is huge. That money might be better spent helping the kids move to the city, so they can become real New Eridu citizens."
Caesar had heard this argument many times before.
And to be fair, it wasn't wrong. The gap between the Outer Ring and the city was massive—far more than a single school could fix.
"My name's Caesar. I'm the leader of the Sons of Calydon. My life's goal isn't just to build one school."
Nicole's interest was piqued.
Caesar said confidently,
"I want to build a new city here in the Outer Ring. A city called Carrydon—so the people out here can have a place of their own. A true safe haven."
Build a new city? Carrydon?
She wasn't joking, was she?
Take New Eridu, for example—keeping it running required an entire defense force to protect the borders from Hollows and rebels...
The Public Security Bureau to maintain law and order...
An energy department to develop Ether energy...
Special ops teams to respond to Hollow outbreaks... the Hollow Investigation Association...
Without all of that, New Eridu would never have survived, much less thrived—stamping out Hollow threats and catching criminals as soon as they appeared.
And as for Carrydon Town...
It was still in ruins—utterly impoverished compared to New Eridu.
Seeing Nicole's shocked expression, Caesar just laughed.
"One day, my dream will come true. Fifty years, a hundred years... Even if I'm gone, the Sons of Calydon will keep working toward it."
Nicole looked a little awkward.
"Uh... of course I believe you."
"Me too! Caesar, your dream is way bigger than the old boss's. I know you can do it."
Seeing them all support her, Caesar was delighted.
"As expected of Hare's House. When Carrydon City is built, you have to come be my deputy mayor!"
Nicole smiled awkwardly.
"Well... thanks. I appreciate it."
She was willing to believe in Caesar.
But deep down, she knew—that day might never come.
A distant rumble of an engine echoed through the town.
It was Piper and Lucy—they'd driven over a hundred kilometers to haul back a load of old Bangboo parts.
As soon as the truck stopped—
Billy rushed to open the doors.
Inside was a giant pile of strange Bangboo parts—arms, language modules, movement modules...
Billy shouted excitedly,
"Seth! We've got parts! You know how to fix Bangboos, right? Come swap these in!"
Hearing that, Seth hurried over.
The moment he saw the pile of parts, he lit up like a kid.
"Senior Qingyi, come help too!"
While everyone was busy checking out the parts—
Perlman alone was eyeing his surroundings.
After making sure no one was watching, he tried to slip away.
But after just two steps—
Zhu Yuan grabbed him by the collar.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Caught mid-escape, Perlman stammered,
"I... I feel dizzy. Just wanted to rest a bit."
Before he could finish—
Zhu Yuan hauled him by the collar and tossed him into the truck.
Once everyone had unloaded the Bangboo parts, Zhu Yuan locked the truck door—trapping Perlman inside.
Now they didn't have to worry about him making another run for it.
Then everyone got to work—using the old parts to repair the injured Bangboos.
Of course, none of them were professional Bangboo technicians.
So... things didn't always go smoothly.
For example—they accidentally installed a singing language module on a water bottle Bangboo. As soon as it powered up, it started belting out songs...
Or they attached a massive arm to a gentleman Bangboo—turning it into a muscle-bound brute that nearly knocked Billy over the moment it activated...
Since the parts weren't standardized—
They had no choice but to improvise to get the Bangboos operational again.
Everyone worked late into the night.
By dawn, they had finally finished repairing all the injured Bangboos.
Looking at the odd-looking Bangboos before him, Billy groaned and covered his face.
"Promise me—don't tell anyone Hare's House fixed you."
But many of the Bangboos now looked... odd.
Some had oversized arms.
Some had mismatched legs.
Some looked downright angry.
There wasn't much they could do.
They'd worked with what they had.
The Bangboos were all very happy with the results.