Universe Infinite Canteen

Time again for the weekly shopping day, Ma Lu had prepared early, placing the white egg on top of his head, and when he opened his eyes again he was already inside the Knight's apartment.

Picking up the helmet he had left on the table before leaving last time, Ma Lu checked his recent emails first.

Knowing that he only checked his emails every seven days, Hellhound and Bliss Bird had stopped leaving him messages; only Yun Que continued tirelessly to send various messages, seemingly treating Ma Lu's place as a diary.

However, this gave Ma Lu some new insights into the lives of the witches.

Since being detected with magic power, witches still in swaddling clothes would be adopted by the Church from their parents and sent collectively to the Witch Academy for education.

Compared to ordinary schools, the Witch Academy had very strict rules, and the curriculum was much heavier.

Besides basic cultural classes, witches also had to learn the mastery and application of magic power, starting from a young age to hone their combat skills and accumulate combat experience.

Moreover, with the Church advocating frugality and forbearance and opposing indulgence and luxury, there was almost no entertainment for the students, and witches were not allowed to step out of the Witch Academy until they graduated.

In fact, even after graduating, the actions of the witches were still restricted.

They were required to live in the Witch's Home, ready to respond to the summon of the knights at any time, to carry out the Church's dangerous missions outdoors, fighting against those energized plants.

Nevertheless, compared to their student days, they did have some freedom—at least they no longer had to attend classes and train on schedule every day.

Although most witches still set and followed their own training plans to maintain their physical condition, the Witch's Home also provided free training grounds and gyms for the residing witches.

Additionally, the witches were no longer confined; they just needed the approval and supervision of a Knight each time they went out, and they were still prohibited from having extensive contact with the ordinary citizens.

Having finished Yun Que's weekly journal, Ma Lu was even more aware of the Church's control and wariness of witches.

On one hand, they needed the witches' power to deal with those energized plants outside the city; on the other hand, they were vigilant about this power.

The original sin theory, Witch Academy, Witch's Home, and the Ring of Order, which could control the life and death of witches, were like the chains set by the Church, firmly binding the witches within them.

After catching up on world affairs, Ma Lu then opened the message from the Sacred Order of Knights.

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There were two messages in total, one of which was a transfer: a total of 210,000 Holy Silver Coins and 2,600 Atonement Points, which were the rewards for completing the last mission.

Although the task system had already estimated the results, the actual distribution had to wait until two days after the completion of the tasks.

However, it was understandable; any large organization would have many processes involving financial transactions, and compared to others, the Order Church was considered fast.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In addition to that, Ma Lu received an official sounding letter of commendation, mainly praising his excellent performance on his last mission and encouraging him to continue working hard to fight for the Church and Holy Temple City.

Ma Lu didn't know if this thing was mass-mailed, he just scanned it briefly and closed it.

Together with the 223 Atonement Points left over from purchasing the Chameleon Double-Barrel Shotgun, he now had a total of 210,000 Holy Silver Coins and 2,823 Atonement Points on hand, enough to further strengthen his team.

Ma Lu planned to draw a card, ah no, to make a donation to the Church, and then recruit another witch.

However, just as Ma Lu was fully armored and ready to leave, he found a small card at the entryway, which seemed to have been slipped through the door crack.

Ma Lu's first reaction upon seeing the small card was, yo, even you, the bushy-browed Holy Temple City, have defected, and they've even expanded their clients to include knights now.

But when he picked up the card, instead of finding an exciting picture of a beautiful woman, there was only a somewhat scribbled message.

Unfortunately, in this realm, Ma Lu couldn't read, not recognizing a single word on the card.

No matter what the intentions of the person placing the card were, they were essentially winking at a blind man.

Ma Lu casually crumpled the card into a ball and tossed it into the trash can behind him, then pushed open the door and left the apartment.

On his way to the White Tower, he passed the small square again.

There were no longer any stakes or bound witches there; the square had returned to its usual peace, with even a few children running and frolicking on the cleared space where the wood platform had been. Some pretended to be knights, while the others played as energized plants, and a mock battle ensued between them.

Ma Lu merely glanced briefly and continued on, his steps unceasing as he quickly traversed the square and then three more streets before finally arriving at the base of The Great Tower.

He explained his purpose to the monk responsible for reception at the entrance and was then led to the 19th floor.

Ma Lu sat in a white reception room furnished with only a chair and a table for about five minutes before a sharp-eyed, hawk-nosed old lady about sixty years of age pushed open the door.

Without any self-introduction nor greeting, the old lady got straight to the point.

"I understand you wish to expand your ranks of witches, Knight?"

"That's correct."

"Then you'll need to make a sufficient contribution to the Church. Is this your first time recruiting a witch?"

"Yes, it is."

"150,000 Holy Silver Coins, and I will have someone bring a group of witches over for you to select one to take with you."

Well, this is really just like drawing cards.

"No problem," Ma Lu replied without hesitation, readily paying the money.

The old lady waited a moment to confirm the transfer was received, then nodded at Ma Lu, still expressionless.

"In half an hour, those witches will be before you."

Having said this, she turned to leave, but Ma Lu called out from behind, "Then I'll come back in half an hour as well, as I plan to pick out some equipment at the Weaponry Department today."

"You may," the old lady answered as always, brief and to the point, while continuing her exit.

Ma Lu then took the elevator down to the 11th floor, where he encountered Xi Xi, with whom he had done business previously.

Xi Xi didn't recognize him at first; after all, all knights looked alike in their armor, indistinguishable from the outside.

And since Xi Xi already had a client, Ma Lu walked over to an empty terminal.

With his prior experience, he adeptly searched for weapons and equipment suitable for the three witches under his command.

Since Ma Lu had just bought Yun Que a weapon last time, he planned to upgrade equipment for both Hellhound and Bliss Bird this time around.

However, compared to Yun Que who had to make do with a training gun, the purple-haired and red-haired girls' equipment had significantly better attributes, all prizes they'd won in school competitions.

It seemed a pity to simply discard them, especially since Ma Lu was still at the beginning stage and currently had less than 3,000 Atonement Points in hand, so he needed to be economical in his spending.

With this in mind, Ma Lu's gaze fell on a piece of equipment.