As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

"Pack up." Moen stuffed the key into his pocket, his gaze sweeping over the trembling gang below.

Upon hearing Moen's words, the terrified thugs began frantically cleaning up.

As the sound of billiard balls clapping echoed from inside, Sylvie walked in with light steps from the doorway.

She had changed out of her old clothes and was now wearing a black leather jacket that allowed her to move around easily, which perfectly accentuated her curvaceous figure.

"Mr. Moen, I think I arrived just in time," Sylvie greeted him with a smile.

Moen joked, "You came at just the right time; you almost missed our victory celebration."

"What? Do you need me to clean up this mess for you as compensation?" Sylvie replied in a pitiful tone.

Moen ignored her, then his gaze swept around and landed on the thin boy next to him who looked nervous.

"Kate, would you be interested in finding a job?"

"Huh?" Kate was stunned, and almost dropped the wrench she had picked up from somewhere.

He pointed to himself, then looked around at the gangsters he usually wouldn't even dare to look at, his voice trembling slightly.

"Young...Young Master, you must be joking, right?"

"I never joke." Moen stepped down from the platform and came to Kate.

He patted his thin shoulder, the pressure neither too light nor too heavy: "I'll give you a chance, a chance to stop having to depend on others."

"But I will be even more demanding of you. I want you to use this as a foundation to build a decent intelligence and logistical network for me."

"How about it? Think about it?"

Kate stared blankly at Moen, and in that instant, all the surrounding noise disappeared.

Countless images flashed through his mind: his father's painful gasps on his sickbed, his sister's pale and thin face from hunger, and the days and nights he spent being trampled and humiliated by adults in the garbage dump.

Fear? Of course, fear. It's an instinctive resistance to the unknown and a skepticism towards unexpected kindness.

Having lived in the lower city for so long, he couldn't believe such a good thing would happen to him.

But seeing the sincerity in Moen's eyes, a fire of ambition ignited in Kate's heart.

The reason he was able to maintain the family despite his father's illness and his mother's disappearance was because of his indomitable spirit and keen intuition.

"I..." Kate took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his fear, "I do! Master!"

"Very good." Moen nodded in satisfaction.

Kate's favorability rating has increased significantly.

Current Status: Friendly

He turned to Sylvie: "Your chance to shine has come. Send me a few quick-witted, clean-cut people to help this kid keep things under control. This will help improve your reputation within the organization. As for the specific business..."

Moen glanced at the boxes of contraband still piled up in the corner: "Kate, you should know what the Blacktooth Gang used to do, right?"

"I know, I understand."

Kate immediately got into character, and although she was still a bit rusty, her thinking was very clear: "They mainly make their profits by selling black water, human trafficking, collecting protection money, and loan sharking."

He looked at Moen with some hesitation: "Young Master, if we take over these businesses..."

"Cut them all off." Moen said without any hesitation, his tone resolute.

"From today onwards, this place will be renamed Ember. Our rules are simple: we only engage in legitimate alchemical material recycling, intelligence trading, and security services."

"Remember this, Kate: true strength is not gained by exploiting the weak, but by uniting the majority."

Although Mohn didn't explicitly state those profound theories, the unique core of his words still stirred Kate's heart.

In the lower districts, no gang ever treated ordinary people as human beings, but this young master was so different.

"Yes, sir! I understand!" Kate answered loudly, her back ramrod straight.

"By the way, young master." Once he got into character, Kate immediately demonstrated his value.

"I've already obtained most of the herbs you asked me to find yesterday on the black market, but the brain fluid is indeed not available there."

"However, I heard that a treasure hunting team is recruiting members to go to the underground [Lava Cave].

"I heard that a lava queen was discovered there, and its nest is surrounded by a large number of rare minerals and mutated creatures."

"Lava cave? Treasure hunting group?" Moen secretly memorized this information.

The monsters near the lower town of Skargard are generally around level 20-25. As long as you don't go deep into the snowy mountains and risk your life, this is a good place to farm experience.

"No rush. Now that we have all the herbs, let's treat your father's illness first."

Moen waved his hand: "Come on, let's take a look at the alchemy room here."

Kate looked up abruptly, her face filled with disbelief.

He thought the young master would either go treasure hunting first, or reorganize the gang first.

Unexpectedly, the young master put treating his father's illness first.

Even though it was suspected that this was a tactic used by Moen to win people over, Kate's favorability towards Moen still rose significantly.

Upon entering the basement, a pungent chemical smell assaulted the senses.

This place was originally where the Black Tooth Gang refined black liquid. Dozens of wooden racks were neatly stacked with bottles of black potions, which were all addictive and eventually caused internal organs to rot.

[Item: Magic Stimulant]

Quality: Inferior

[Description: Trash that sacrifices life force for fleeting pleasure]

[Note: "Side effects include, but are not limited to: severe hair loss, foaming at the mouth, and seeing your deceased great-grandmother waving to you affectionately from the other side of the river." — Hal the Resurrected]

"You've done a lot of harm." Moen frowned in disgust.

Without his command, Sylvie snapped her fingers, and several members of the Anmi Society dressed in black appeared like ghosts.

"Destroy everything, and while you're at it, clean this place up."

These professionals were incredibly efficient. With a few shadowy movements, the drugs vanished instantly, and even the odor in the air was completely purified.

After cleaning up, Moen walked to the long table, which was fairly well-equipped, and untied the packets of herbs Kate had brought.

[Tranquilizing Flower], [Glowing Moss], [Swimming Bladder of a Mutant Lungfish]...

Although the material quality was average, it was sufficient for Moen.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and the formula for the lung-cleansing medicine came to mind.

Since awakening the deeper uses of perception, he has mastered all the secondary professions that require mental power, including blacksmithing and alchemy, without any formal instruction.

Although his secondary profession level is only 1, his experience from his previous life has given him a fairly precise control over the heat and the properties of the medicine.

"Glug, glug." The liquid in the crucible churned, gradually changing from a murky green to a clear light blue.

Moen's technique was extremely skillful; his extraction, purification, and fusion were all performed with fluid grace.

Kate, standing to the side, was stunned. Although he didn't know anything about alchemy, he felt that Moen was incredibly strong just by watching him perform.

Half an hour later.

[System notification: Refining successful!]

[Item Obtained: Potent Lung Cleansing Potion (Rare Quality)]

[Alchemy Proficiency +50]

Moen poured the blue potion, which emitted a cool, refreshing aura, into a glass bottle and handed it to Kate.

"Take this. Although it can't cure that crystallized lung disease, this medicine will at least clear most of the toxins from your father's lungs. As for what happens after that, we'll talk about it once we get the [Starfrost Crystal]."

Kate took the medicine with trembling hands and hugged it tightly to her chest.

"Young Master, I..." He wanted to say something, but found that his throat was blocked by something, and he could only nod desperately.

Kate's favorability rating has increased significantly.

Current Status: Trust

It was already evening when Mohn and Kate returned to the dilapidated tin shed.

The room was dimly lit, and a dirty little girl was squatting by the bed, holding a bowl of mushy soup, feeding it little by little with a spoon to the middle-aged man on the bed who was having difficulty breathing.

"Brother! You're back!" The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw Kate come in, and she rushed over.

Kate touched her sister's dry, yellow hair, quickly walked to the bedside, and fed the bottle of medicine to her father.

Just a few minutes later, the man, who had been bedridden for years, coughed violently a few times, spitting out several large mouthfuls of black blood clots. After that, his intermittent breathing became steady and strong.

The man opened his eyes and touched his chest in disbelief. The feeling of not being able to breathe was gone.

"Dad! You're all better!" Kate and her sister hugged their father and cried their hearts out.

Moen stood at the doorway, quietly watching this scene.

[System notification: Kate's request has been met]

Kate's favorability rating is now locked at: Friendly (Never drops)

[Destiny Stone Exclusive Questline Now Open]

The Price of Growing Up

[Objective 1: Help Kate level up to level 15]

[Objective Two: Find the whereabouts of Kate's mother]

"Level 15..." Moen glanced at the quest panel.

In the world of Blood and Wine, the so-called "experience points" are actually the "source power of heaven and earth" that is released after a creature dies and is of the same origin as divine power.

Players have a system panel that allows them to directly absorb the energy, while NPCs, although they cannot see the panel, can also absorb this energy to strengthen themselves after battle.

This is why veterans who have been fighting on the front lines for many years have much higher ranks than ordinary people.

"It seems we have no choice but to go to that lava cave." Moen looked at Kate, who was wiping her father's face, and pondered his leveling plan.

However, the sudden noise outside the door interrupted the cozy atmosphere inside.