Chapter 39: Chapter 39 – Card
Nick wore a red and black shirt with several pockets, and his pants were formfitting and black.
All in all, Nick looked quite sharp and competent.
It was quite difficult to connect the current Nick to a person from the Dregs.
He basically looked like all the other Zephyx Extractors, which was a good thing since almost all Zephyx Extractors exhibited this aura of authority, status, and power.
The only thing pulling down was his chaotic haircut.
"You look great!" Albert shouted with a thumbs-up.
Wyntor also nodded. "Please keep the uniform clean and wear it when you have to work. Every Zephyx Extractor only gets one set."
"How am I supposed to keep it clean?" Nick asked as he walked closer.
"You wash it," Albert said.
"With water?" Nick asked.
Meanwhile, Wyntor raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Yes, with water," Albert said.
"But water is for drinking. Why would I waste a good barrel of water just to keep my clothing clean?" Nick asked like he had just heard the dumbest thing.
"Nick," Albert said with a deadpan voice. "You earned something like a thousand credits just now. A barrel of water doesn't even cost you five credits, and you can even wash your clothes several times with one."
"Albert," Wyntor said before Nick could answer. "Why wash it with water? I thought Extractor uniforms are made to be washed with Cleanser."
"The guy doesn't even want to waste water," Albert said, pointing at Nick with his thumb. "You want to try to convince him to use something a hundred times as expensive as water to wash his clothes?"
"Also, it doesn't really matter. When you get a cleansing shower in here, the problem will resolve itself anyway."
"Hm, I guess it makes sense," Wyntor said.
"What's a Cleanser and a cleansing shower?" Nick asked.
"The blue bath before you take the green bath," Wyntor answered. "That's filled with Cleanser. It's the blue liquid. A cleansing shower is a small room that pours Cleanser all over you. Every Manufacturer has a couple of those since some Specters can become stronger by coming into contact with matter from the outside."
"Since Cleanser isn't very expensive for Manufacturers due to their insane profits, they just force everyone that enters or exits a Containment Unit to take a cleansing shower beforehand as a precaution."
"We won't be any different since it's a negligible expense for an increase in security."
Nick nodded a couple of times. "Oh, okay. Sounds fancy."
"Anyway," Wyntor said as he walked closer to Nick with a smile. "I just saw the five grams of Zephyx you produced. That's a lot!"
Nick smiled brightly when he heard that. "Are we able to remain in operation indefinitely now?"
Wyntor furrowed his brows as he evaluated some things. "Kinda."
"Kinda?" Nick asked.
"Well, if we were to remain on this level, we could continue indefinitely, but that's not our goal, is it?"
Nick raised his eyebrows in unsure concern. "I guess not?"
"No, it isn't," Wyntor said with a firm tone. "The bare minimum we want to achieve is to earn 50 to 100 million credits so that I can buy a small part of Kugelblitz. If we were to operate in this manner indefinitely, that would take decades."
"We need more profit. We need to optimize Zephyx production with the Dreamer and expand our scope of operations."
"Catching Specters, containing Specters, employing people, paying rent, buying Containment Units, and so on all costs money, and one Dreamer just isn't enough to pay for all of this."
Nick raised an eyebrow in concern.
He understood that Wyntor wanted to become an heir to his family, but he also couldn't understand why someone would need that much money.
They were already earning a thousand credits per day.
Nick could literally do everything he wanted with that much money.
"Okay, we can do that," Nick said after a bit.
"Good," Wyntor answered with a smile. "Now, you've had a long day behind you, and I think you deserve a break."
"Naturally, I want to produce more money with the Dreamer, but I think it's important that you get a couple of days to yourself."
"Why don't you take the next three days off to recover?"
"Maybe go look around for some houses in the Outer City?"
"Maybe meet some friends?"
"Maybe go buy something?"
"In short, relax," Wyntor said, putting his hand on Nick's shoulder.
The next moment, Wyntor took out a small card and pushed it into Nick's hands.
Nick looked at the card and noticed that it looked very similar to the card that the guard had used to pay for Nick's bath.
"It's yours," Wyntor said.
Nick looked at the card with wonder.
"If you want to buy something, just hand it to the seller, but be careful which shops you frequent. Some of the sleazier shops might decide to exchange your card for a counterfeit."
Nick Just continued looking at the card. "How much is it worth?"
"10,000 credits. See it as a hiring bonus," Wyntor said.
Nick's eyes shot open.
10,000 credits!
What was he supposed to do with that much money?!
Nick reflexively tried to hand the card back to Wyntor, but Wyntor just shoved it back into Nick's hands.
"It's yours, Nick," Wyntor said. "You're my Chief Zephyx Extractor, and today, you made 5,000 credits for the company. Within two weeks, my and your personal wealth will increase by another 10,000 credits as long as you keep working diligently."
Nick looked with uncertainty at Wyntor and then looked at his card.
Yes, what Wyntor said made a lot of sense, but Nick still felt strange about just accepting 10,000 credits.
Logically, he knew that he would earn the company much more, but emotionally, he felt like he didn't deserve that much money.
"Well, it seems like everything's going well here," Albert said from behind them. "I think it's time for me to leave."
Wyntor turned to Albert and gave him a respectful handshake. "Thank you again for your help today."
"No problem," Albert said.
Then, Albert turned to Nick. "See you at some point, Nick."
Nick was taken out of his thoughts and looked at Albert. "Oh, yeah, thanks again, Albert! Without you, this wouldn't have been as easy."
"I know," Albert said with a smile. "See ya!"
Then, Albert walked out of the warehouse.
A couple minutes later, Nick also left the warehouse.
Wyntor had essentially thrown him out of the warehouse, telling him that he should relax for the next three days.
Nick just absentmindedly walked away from the warehouse.
He just kept looking at his card.
Chapter 40: Chapter 40 – Horua
Nick just aimlessly walked back to the Dregs with a disoriented expression.
10,000 credits.
Three days of nothing to do.
Nick had achieved his dream.
He had become a Zephyx Extractor.
He was earning a lot of money.
He didn't need to fear for his life anymore. Well, outside of being in the Dreamer's Containment Unit.
And yet, there was a certain emptiness in Nick's chest.
It was almost like all of this wasn't real.
Literally just two days ago, Nick had been poor and had spent all of his life in the Dregs.
Now, Nick was wearing nice clothes, and he had even taken a fancy bath.
Even more, he was rich.
Eventually, Nick just stopped walking.
By now, he had already reached the Dregs again, and he had stopped in the middle of a random road.
Nick just looked around the area.
He saw a couple of people, but they all avoided him.
None of them dared to look at him, and the few that had to travel past him either waited for him to leave or passed him with a wide berth.
There was fear and nervousness in their faces.
Nick felt the distance between him and the people around him widen.
In a way, Nick felt like he had been thrown out of his home.
Just a couple days ago, no one had batted an eye when he had been walking through the Dregs.
But now, everyone was looking at him from a distance with fear.
'I guess this is what happens,' he thought with a sigh. 'I look like a Zephyx Extractor now, and all Zephyx Extractors get such looks.'
'What am I saying? I don't look like a Zephyx Extractor. I AM a Zephyx Extractor!'
'This is what I have always dreamed of!'
Nick looked around the area with newfound motivation, but the more he looked at the people, the more isolated he felt.
Eventually, Nick sighed again before continuing to walk.
After a couple of minutes, Nick reached his goal.
In front of Nick was a sizable house made of rusty metal, but compared to most houses, this one was quite a lot bigger.
It was almost a mansion.
It was Nick's current home.
Nick opened the door and walked inside.
The house smelled just like the Dregs outside, but Nick didn't mind.
He was used to the smell of rust, shit, piss, and toxic waste.
"Nick?" came the voice of a young boy from upstairs.
A boy, about eleven years old, walked down the steps, but as soon as he saw the person standing at the entrance of the house, the boy stopped in shock.
"S-sir? How can I help y-you?" the boy asked with a fearful voice.
"It's me, Horua," Nick said.
"N-Nick?" Horua, the boy, asked in shock.
Horua was the actual owner of the big house.
Horua was the only child of a quite rich man in the Dregs, which meant that he was earning about as much as the average person in the Outer City.
He had only needed to save enough money to move out of the Dregs, but before he could do so, he vanished.
After some weeks, the gangs started to covet the man's old house and closed in on it.
Naturally, Horua couldn't resist them.
But then, Nick intervened, and he defended Horua.
However, while Nick was a nice person, he was also a practical one.
To say that Nick only helped the little boy out of the goodness of his heart would be a lie.
Nick saw Horua's troubles as a good way to earn some money without having to commit horrible acts.
In exchange for a place to live and his tax money, Nick made sure that no one dared to take anything from the house or hurt Horua.
For the past months, Nick had been living here.
"Is that really you?" Horua asked.
Nick nodded. "Yep," he said as a smile appeared on his face. "I'm officially a Zephyx Extractor now! Cool, huh?"
Horua looked with shock at Nick as he slowly walked closer.
For several seconds, Horua just looked at the uniform like it was a valuable gem.
"Wow," Horua eventually let out. "That's amazing!"
But then, the little boy realized something. "Wait, so does that mean that you won't be living here anymore?"
Nick furrowed his brows.
He didn't answer.
Nick had often thought about moving out of the Dregs, but when it finally became a reality, it felt like it had happened way too soon and quickly.
"I guess so," Nick said after a while.
Horua became a bit worried, and he looked at the ground.
With Nick gone, the gangs would return, and he would lose his house.
Even more, maybe the gangs would even take revenge on Horua for all the troubles Nick had caused them due to him!
Horua was just an eleven-year-old boy, and he was very scared of the gangs.
Horua felt like he would soon die.
But he also knew that Nick actually had no obligation to help him.
"And will happen to me?" Horua asked. "What about dad's house?"
Nick sighed.
"I don't know about the house, but I can make sure that the gangs won't hurt you. I can probably also store your credits somewhere."
Horua's eyes widened in fear.
He knew how much everyone coveted his father's money, and after becoming a Zephyx Extractor, Nick was suddenly willing to store Horua's money?
Horua became suspicious, but he still trusted Nick. After all, Nick had been protecting him for months.
For the next couple of minutes, Nick and Horua talked about what to do.
In the end, Horua could only sigh and accept that he wasn't strong enough to protect his own money.
"If I remain on my own, I will lose my money with certainty. If I trust you, there's still a chance," Horua said.
Nick wasn't offended that Horua didn't fully trust him. After all, they were both living in the Dregs.
"If only there were a way for me to also become a Zephyx Extractor and get an ability that makes me powerful."
When Nick heard that, he got an idea, and he scratched his chin in thought.
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