Not long after Billy left with the check, Sam Li returned carrying a birdcage.
As soon as he reached the door, he heard Nicole laughing non-stop—like something great had just happened.
Seeing Sam Li walk in, Nicole quickly pulled him over to the sofa and took out the medals from the Public Security Bureau.
"Sam Li, we hit the jackpot this time! Officer Zhu Yuan and Officer Qingyi just delivered four million Dennies—and two medals..."
She couldn't wait to tell him everything that had just happened.
"I forgot to get the contact info for the Sons of Calydon. You've got it, right? Let them know to come to the city in the next couple of days. I'll hand over their two million Dennies, along with the one million Hare's House is investing."
She went on to talk about investing in Carrytown, asking Sam Li for his thoughts.
Sam Li thought for a moment.
"Rationally speaking, Carrytown has great development potential. Now's the perfect time to invest."
Before leaving Carrytown, he had already placed a Statue of The Seven there.
Someone had already received a Vision through the statue and awakened the power of Geo.
The statue also served to protect the region, transforming the surrounding land and restoring its fertility.
With the statue in place, the rise of Carrytown was inevitable.
Rebuilding order in the Outer Ring—and even founding a new city—was only a matter of time.
At Nicole's urging, Sam Li took out his phone and contacted Piper, asking her to come by Hare's House soon to pick up the money.
After receiving his message, Piper quickly replied:
"Wait—three million Dennies? Mr. Sam Li, why so much?"
Sam Li explained based on Nicole's breakdown:
"One million for capturing the criminal. One million as a reward from the Bureau. One million as Nicole's investment."
"Thank you all! Boss Caesar's gonna be thrilled!"
"If you've got time, please come to the city soon."
"I'll come tonight—wait, no. Boss Caesar won't let me drive at night. I'll be there first thing tomorrow. Don't leave without me!"
"I might not be at Hare's House. Just talk to Nicole."
After confirming the plan with Piper, Sam Li relayed it to Nicole.
"Since we just made a big score and probably won't get another huge job in the next few days, I'll wait for her here tomorrow."
Talking about big jobs—
Sam Li remembered the agreement he made with the Proxy siblings on Sixth Street and said,
"Have you heard of the Golden Bangboo and the Platinum Bangboo?"
Nicole blinked in surprise.
"Of course I've heard of them. Why? I thought they were just legends."
Sam Li shook his head.
"No, they might actually exist. According to the Proxy siblings from the video store, someone reportedly saw them recently. A lot of powerful groups are now paying attention—it doesn't seem like a hoax. They want to team up with Hare's House to go after the two Bangboos."
Nicole's expression instantly changed—shocked, excited, like she was seeing a mountain of Dennies.
"Golden Bangboo? Platinum Bangboo? I thought they were just a myth... I can't believe they're real!"
"Hurry and say yes to them! With their intel and our Hare's House mobility, we can definitely win this!"
"When are we leaving? Tomorrow? The day after? We can't let someone else snatch them first!"
Just imagining the two priceless Bangboos made Nicole beam with joy.
If they were real, she estimated that Hare's House could make tens of millions—maybe even hundreds of millions of Dennies.
They'd be rich overnight.
No more worrying about money ever again.
She looked at Sam Li like he was a walking mountain of gold.
"So? When do we make our move?"
Sam Li, as calm as ever, replied,
"We don't have enough intel yet. We'll wait for the Proxy siblings to update us before we make a move."
On the side, Anby saw how worked up Nicole was and gently reminded her,
"Nicole, don't get too excited. From what Sam Li said, it sounds like a lot of powerful groups are watching this. Even the New Eridu authorities might get involved. It's going to be a tough fight..."
Nicole took a deep breath and nodded.
If it were just local agents competing, Nicole was confident they could beat the rest and find the Golden and Platinum Bangboos first.
But if the official forces got involved—like the Defense Force, the Public Security Bureau, or the Hollow Investigation Association—things would get way more complicated.
After a moment of thought, Nicole said,
"You're right. Let's wait for more news from the Proxy siblings. They're the famous Phaethon. If anyone can get the latest info, it's them."
Then she turned back to Sam Li.
"Don't take any new commissions for the next few days. We're going all-in on this Bangboo operation."
Nekomata piped up with interest.
"Nicole, should we celebrate this big job by having some bluefish tonight?"
Nicole shook her head.
"Nope. We just had bluefish yesterday. Besides, I already promised Billy we'd go to the Star Knight collaboration restaurant. And no—it's not because it's cheap."
With that, she flopped onto the sofa, pulled out her phone, and opened the forum to look up news on the Golden and Platinum Bangboo.
One look—and she was stunned.
She hadn't checked the forum in just a few days, and everything had changed.
No posts about Hare's House anymore—almost everything was about the Golden and Platinum Bangboo, with a few on the Zero Hollow crisis.
It looked like they were real.
Nicole couldn't wait to open a post titled "100 Strategies to Capture the Golden and Platinum Bangboo."
But when she clicked in, it turned out to be clickbait—no strategies at all.
She checked several more posts but found nothing useful.
Looks like Sam Li was right.
Most of the info on the forum was just rumors. For anything real, they'd have to rely on the Proxy siblings.
From the side, Nekomata's eager voice called out,
"Nicole, it's getting dark! When are we heading to Lumina Square for that feast?"
Nicole put down her phone and said seriously,
"Relax. We'll wait for Billy to get back before we go."
Just as she finished speaking—
Billy walked through the door.