The Spoils

In the living room of apartment 201.

Eric stood over the tightly bound Jackson, feeling a mixture of fear and guilt. He admitted to himself that he had acted impulsively. Despite his suspicions that Jackson was a knight, he hadn't truly realized how powerful a knight could be.

To Eric, knights were practically mythological figures. Even William King, a martial university student, was highly revered. Knights were rarely seen, and Eric had naively assumed that the one living upstairs couldn't be too strong. He thought a low-ranking knight wouldn't be much more than a slightly enhanced human.

He'd figured that ten times the normal dose of sedative would easily knock Jackson out. But the reality had been far from what he expected.

Eric was thankful he had chosen to leave and wait. If he had stayed while the drug was taking effect, Jackson might have had enough strength left to kill him.

Eric replayed the events in his mind, taking a moment to calm himself before beginning to search the room for evidence.

He wasn't sure if he could find solid proof of Jackson's criminal activities—after all, Jackson had only recently moved in. Regardless, he needed to find something that would justify his actions and protect himself. If he couldn't find any evidence, he even considered fabricating some.

In today's world, unlike ancient times where bodies could disappear without a trace, every death would be thoroughly investigated. To avoid getting into trouble, Eric needed enough evidence to ensure Jackson could be blamed.

...

Ten minutes later, Eric returned to the living room, dragging a large package he had found on the balcony.

Jackson hadn't brought many personal items with him. Besides some daily necessities and a change of clothes, the room was mostly empty. But hidden in a corner of the balcony, Eric had discovered this package.

Staring at the package, Eric hesitated for a moment before unzipping it. As soon as the zipper came undone, his eyes widened in shock.

The first thing he saw was a 40-centimeter-long triangular military blade.

"Could he be a soldier?" Eric gulped but quickly shook his head. Although the triangular blade had once been military equipment, it had been phased out of use in recent years. These days, many people could get their hands on such weapons.

The people carrying them, however, were rarely soldiers.

After calming down, Eric carefully picked up the blade and examined it. When he saw dried blood still caked in the grooves, he glanced at Jackson, who was tightly bound on the floor.

This man had probably killed before! Even if he hadn't killed anyone, this weapon had certainly been used in violence.

Eric quickly placed the blade far away from Jackson, just in case the man somehow got his hands on it.

He continued rummaging through the package and soon discovered it was stuffed with bundles of cash—stack after stack, messily piled up, with some notes already scattered around.

Eric began counting the money. There were 20 neat bundles, each containing $10,000, totaling $200,000 , plus another 10,000 in loose bills.

Carrying so much cash around wasn't something an ordinary person would do. Eric was now certain that Jackson wasn't a soldier, nor could he be an official. No one from a legitimate background would carry this much cash, especially in a monitored society.

"A lone wolf? A fugitive?" Eric thought to himself. Jackson's behavior and the large sum of money made it increasingly clear that he was likely on the run.

As Eric continued to search, he found several other items in the package. There were six medicine bottles in total, three of which were clearly labeled as commercial products—two bottles of Blood Qi Pills and one bottle of Qi Blood Elixirs. The labels included production dates, manufacturers, and addresses, indicating these were legal, mass-produced items. Eric opened the bottles and found 18 Blood Qi Pills and 8 Qi Blood Elixirs left.

Eric's breathing grew heavier. He had heard from his friend Wu Zhihua about the value of these medicines. In reputable pharmacies, a single Blood Qi Pill cost $30,000, while each Qi Blood Elixir went for $100,000 . For an ordinary martial science candidate, the Qi Blood Elixir was a precious supplement, and even Wu Zhihua's wealthy family had to be cautious when buying them.

Yet here in front of Eric were 18 Blood Qi Pills and 8 Qi Blood Elixirs, with a total value of 1.34 million !

Including the cash, the total was over 1.5 million !

In addition to this, Eric found three unmarked bottles of pills. Although he couldn't identify their exact type, his experience told him these were also likely valuable.

Pills for knights were notoriously expensive, and these appeared to be of much higher quality than the usual supplements for martial science students.

After some thought, Eric continued his search. He knew that someone like Jackson wouldn't keep their most valuable possessions in a simple package. When on the run, the package might be discarded at any moment, so valuable items would be carried on his person. There could still be hidden treasures on Jackson's body.

As curious as Eric was, he didn't dare untie Jackson to search him. For now, the focus was on how to handle the wealth he had already uncovered.

Eric noticed that despite the massive haul, his system's wealth value hadn't increased. He speculated that the system only acknowledged wealth he truly owned, and since Jackson wasn't dead, the items still belonged to him.

To test the system's rules, Eric even considered consuming some of the pills. However, the system gave him no response. It seemed that the system didn't encourage shortcuts like this.

After a moment of reflection, Eric decided to stop worrying about the wealth value and instead focus on how to deal with Jackson. Finding these items wasn't enough to prove Jackson's guilt. Eric needed more conclusive evidence to ensure he wouldn't get into trouble.

Moreover, should he hand over all these valuable items to the police? Eric was hesitant. He had risked his life for this—was he really supposed to give everything away? As he thought about it, he began to wonder if he should quietly keep some of it as compensation.

A few minutes later, Eric repacked the items and turned his attention back to Jackson.

Staring at the still-bound man, Eric chuckled and said, "Wow, knights really are tough. You've been drugged and beaten, and yet you've already woken up."

Jackson remained motionless.

Eric sneered. "You think I'm a fool? When you were out, your breathing was still uneven, and your body twitched a little. But now you're lying there completely still, like a corpse. Either you're really dead, or you've woken up. Do you think I wouldn't notice? You can't fool me by holding your breath. You were breathing loudly just now, and now it's suddenly stopped. Do you think I'm deaf?"

As soon as Eric finished speaking, Jackson's eyelids fluttered open. His eyes darted around, quickly assessing the situation. When he realized the room was empty except for Eric, he let out a sigh of relief.

It was much better than he had feared. He had expected to wake up in the hands of the investigation bureau, with that annoying investigator standing over him. But finding only Eric here meant things hadn't reached their worst point yet.

Despite the intense pain in his head and the fact that his limbs were tightly bound, Jackson's mind began racing, trying to figure out how to escape. He knew this boy might be his only chance.

Though he couldn't speak with his mouth bound, Jackson made an effort to appear calm. His eyes began to flicker, as if he were trying to communicate something to Eric.

Eric picked up the military blade from earlier, took a few steps back, and coldly said, "You want to talk?"

Jackson didn't respond but continued trying to convey a message through his eyes.

"Too bad. I'm not giving you the chance to speak. You're too dangerous. I think it's best to hand you over to the police."

Jackson struggled and let out weak, muffled sounds, desperately shaking his head. He gestured toward the package, hoping Eric hadn't discovered the cash and pills inside.

Jackson's confidence swelled. He believed that given Eric's family background, the boy would surely be tempted by such a large sum of money. If he could just speak, Jackson was confident he could bribe Eric into letting him go.

While Eric had proven to be surprising, Jackson still saw him as nothing more than a naive teenager. Jackson was sure that if he played his cards right, Eric would fall into his trap.