Chapter 89: Money

"If you think you can buy my forgiveness with money... then you’re damn right."

Jackson’s answer came without the slightest hesitation.

Angela, who had been anxiously waiting for his response, momentarily froze. She had prepared herself for various possibilities, including having to explain her actions in greater detail or endure another round of interrogation. She had even considered the possibility that the mysterious hunter might refuse to forgive her regardless of what she offered.

Apparently, she had underestimated the importance of money to him.

Jackson, meanwhile, regarded the situation with a perfectly straight face. He had no intention of pretending to be some noble hero who cared nothing for material rewards. Such people might exist, but he had never considered himself one of them. If someone had caused him trouble, nearly endangered his life, and then offered a substantial sum as compensation, accepting the money seemed like the most sensible course of action.

Besides, Angela was the heir to one of humanity’s largest weapons manufacturers. Compared to the resources available to the Northwind family, a little money was hardly worth making an enemy over.

Angela’s method of apologizing was remarkably straightforward. She simply offered him millions of mana stones as compensation, apparently believing that a sufficiently large payment could resolve the unpleasant situation between them.

And, as it turned out, she had been right.

Seeing that Jackson had not immediately lowered his weapon or accepted her apology, Angela apparently decided that her initial offer had been insufficient. After a brief pause, she increased the amount without showing any particular reluctance.

"Ten million mana stones..."

Jackson murmured as he examined the payment certificates in her hand.

For a moment, even he had difficulty maintaining his composure.

Ten million mana stones was no trivial sum. It was enough to purchase a considerable amount of cultivation resources, acquire valuable equipment, and fund his advancement for a substantial period. More importantly, it could help him continue strengthening himself without having to rely entirely on academy missions for every resource he needed.

With his current goal of reaching Fourth Sequence within a year, such a fortune would be immensely useful.

Naturally, Jackson understood that accepting the money did not mean he should suddenly trust Angela. A generous payment could settle a debt, but it could not erase his suspicions about her or explain why she had deliberately led seven demonic hunters toward him.

Still, there was no reason to let perfectly good money go to waste.

Jackson took a slow breath, then raised his gaze to meet her eyes. He deliberately allowed a brief silence to settle between them before speaking in a solemn voice.

"Fine. You’ve sincerely moved me... I’ve decided to forgive you. But don’t do anything like this again in the future."

His words were delivered with such gravity that anyone unfamiliar with the circumstances might have mistaken him for a magnanimous hero who had just chosen to spare a defeated opponent.

Only Jackson knew how much sincerity was actually involved.

Angela’s expression twitched faintly.

She had never imagined that the mysterious hunter who had effortlessly slaughtered five Third Sequence demonic hunters would be so easy to appease with money. Even so, she had no intention of complaining. Considering what she had done, ten million mana stones was a small price to pay if it meant avoiding a potentially dangerous conflict with someone whose abilities she could not understand.

She promptly handed over the Awakened Paradise cards.

Each card served as a payment certificate that could be redeemed for mana stones at an Awakened Paradise office. Together, the cards represented a staggering ten million mana stones.

Jackson accepted them and checked the amount before putting them away.

Only after confirming the payment did he finally withdraw his combat knife.

With the matter settled, there was little reason for him to remain in the forest. Although the immediate threat had been eliminated, the demonic hunters had already demonstrated that their organization was willing to operate deep within the Outer Forest. There was no guarantee that more enemies would not appear, particularly if the five he had killed belonged to a larger hunting party.

Jackson had already completed nearly all his missions. Once he killed the last corrupted monster on his list, he intended to return directly to Sector Sixty-Seven.

Between the ten million mana stones Angela had paid him and the loot recovered from the demonic hunters, his trip had turned out to be considerably more profitable than expected.

He had originally entered the forest to earn contribution points and gather resources for his cultivation. Now, in addition to completing his missions, he had acquired a small fortune.

Not bad for a day that had nearly turned into an unnecessary fight for his life.

Jackson adjusted his armor and prepared to leave.

"Wait..."

Angela’s soft voice reached him just as he was about to fly away.

He stopped and turned his head toward her.

What does she want now?

Jackson studied her for a moment, a faint sense of suspicion returning to his mind.

Surely, she did not expect him to become her personal bodyguard simply because he had saved her once. He had already made it clear that their relationship was little more than that of villa mates, and the ten million mana stones had settled the matter between them.

If Angela believed that one payment had purchased his continued protection, she was sorely mistaken.

Jackson certainly appreciated money. He would be the last person to deny its usefulness, especially when cultivation resources cost a fortune and every advancement demanded greater investments. But he was not foolish enough to sacrifice his safety and future merely to earn a little extra.

He had more important things to accomplish than protecting a wealthy young woman from trouble she might have brought upon herself.

Nevertheless, he did not immediately fly away. Angela had called out to him for a reason, and hearing her request would cost him very little.

"Please accompany me back to Sector Sixty-Seven," she said. "I’ll pay you handsomely."

Jackson blinked behind his mask.

That’s all?

For a moment, he considered the proposal.

The request was hardly unreasonable. He was already heading back to Sector Sixty-Seven, and traveling together would not necessarily force him to deviate from his plans. If Angela was willing to pay for the additional security, he saw no particular reason to refuse.

However, he was not about to agree blindly.

"I still have one mission left," he explained. "There’s a corrupted monster I need to eliminate before returning."

Angela listened attentively as he described his remaining objective. Rather than objecting or attempting to persuade him to abandon the mission, she readily agreed to accompany him.

The corrupted monster he needed to hunt was not far from their current location. They could deal with it first and then return to Sector Sixty-Seven together.

With their destination settled, the two headed deeper into the forest.

Jackson’s final target was a Third Sequence monster known as the Astral Serpent.

It was a formidable creature with a long, sinuous body covered in extraordinarily tough scales. Its natural defenses were so strong that ordinary weapons struggled to penetrate them, and its considerable physical strength made close combat particularly dangerous.

Under normal circumstances, eliminating such a monster would require a team of hunters at the same rank working together. One hunter would need to distract the creature while the others searched for openings in its defenses, gradually wearing it down until they could deliver a decisive blow.

Attempting to fight it alone was an entirely different matter.

Jackson, however, had not come unprepared.

As the Astral Serpent emerged from the forest canopy, its enormous body coiling between the trees, the surrounding vegetation trembled beneath its weight. Its scales reflected the light in strange patterns, and its long head turned toward the approaching hunter.

A hostile hiss escaped its mouth.

Jackson did not retreat.

Wearing his Peak Rank Three armor, he hovered above the forest floor and watched the monster carefully. The creature’s powerful body and thick scales would have presented a serious challenge to an ordinary hunter, but Jackson possessed more than enough advantages to compensate for the difference in their natural defenses.

Angela remained at a distance, watching from high above.

She had originally agreed to accompany Jackson back to Sector Sixty-Seven, but now that they had reached his final target, she found herself paying far more attention to the mysterious hunter than to the monster below.

Her gaze followed every movement he made.

Jackson fought without assistance, relying on his own abilities and judgment to overcome the Astral Serpent. His movements were efficient, and he showed little hesitation when exploiting the monster’s weaknesses. Rather than wasting energy attacking its strongest defenses, he concentrated on finding openings and delivering precise strikes.

The battle was not entirely without resistance. The Astral Serpent possessed formidable physical strength, and its thick scales made it difficult to inflict serious damage. Nevertheless, Jackson gradually gained the upper hand.

Angela watched the fight with a cold, focused expression.

After a while, she quietly muttered to herself, "Any clues yet...?"

Her words were soft enough that they would have been lost beneath the sounds of combat below.

Yet a voice suddenly echoed beside her ears, seemingly emerging from the surrounding space itself.

"No clue."

The answer was brief and blunt.

Angela’s expression grew slightly somber.

Even the experts she had brought with her had failed to identify anything useful.

To understand why that troubled her so much, one needed to know that Angela had never entered the Outer Forest without protection. Despite her considerable talent and the powerful equipment available to her, she understood that the wilderness was not a place where a young Awakened could afford to become careless.

That was why several Life Transformation experts had been secretly accompanying her.

These individuals were powerful enough to stand above ordinary Third Sequence Awakened. Their presence was the main reason Angela had dared to venture so deep into the forest despite the danger. As long as her life was not genuinely threatened, however, they would remain hidden rather than reveal themselves unnecessarily.

They had been watching the encounter from the shadows.

And they had seen Jackson kill the five demonic hunters.

Naturally, Angela had been curious about the method he had used. The sudden collapse of the hunters’ strength, followed by their swift deaths, had been far too strange to dismiss as a simple difference in combat ability.

She had therefore asked the hidden experts whether they had recognized the technique or discovered anything unusual about the mysterious hunter.

Their answer had been disappointing.

They had no idea.

Even with their experience and strength, they could not determine how Jackson had managed to weaken five Third Sequence opponents so abruptly. They had observed his movements, searched for signs of a familiar ability, and examined the aftermath of the fight, yet nothing had provided a satisfactory explanation.

The realization left Angela increasingly uneasy.

She had encountered countless talented Awakened throughout her life. As the heiress of the Northwind family, she had access to resources and information that ordinary people could scarcely imagine. She knew that humanity possessed many hidden geniuses, and she was well aware that appearances could be deceptive.

But Jackson was different.

He had appeared in the middle of the forest without warning, wearing black armor and carrying an unremarkable combat knife. He had then proceeded to eliminate five Third Sequence demonic hunters as though the task required little more than a casual swing of his weapon.

Now, even the Life Transformation experts secretly protecting her could not explain his abilities.

Who exactly was this man?

And what else was he hiding?

Angela lowered her gaze toward the battle unfolding below, her thoughts growing increasingly complicated.

At that moment, the Astral Serpent let out a final, furious hiss.

Its enormous body convulsed before crashing to the forest floor, sending leaves and broken branches scattering in every direction.

The battle was over.

Jackson had emerged victorious.

Without wasting time, he approached the fallen monster and extracted its core. Once he had secured the valuable resource, he returned to the air and flew toward Angela.

She immediately composed herself, concealing the questions that had been occupying her mind.

After exchanging a few brief words, the two set off together, leaving the depths of the Outer Forest behind as they headed toward Sector Sixty-Seven.

For Jackson, the journey had been a profitable success. He had completed his missions, collected valuable loot, and earned ten million mana stones without significantly disrupting his plans.

For Angela, however, the trip had raised more questions than it had answered.

The mysterious hunter flying beside her remained an enigma, and the fact that even her hidden protectors could not uncover his secrets only made her more curious.

Whatever his true identity might be, one thing had become clear.

She had to get this man on her side.