Wilbur was lost in thought when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and was met with a strong smell of alcohol.


    Mitch, looking very drunk, said, "Brother, you treated us to this meal, and now you see we''ve all had too much to drink. We can''t get back on our own. Can you arrange a car to take us all home? Sorry for the trouble."


    Wilbur looked around and saw that the entire exploration team was indeed slumped over drunk. It seemed they had exhausted their savings over the years for their expeditions and had not had such avish meal in a long time. No one wanted to miss this opportunity.


    Everyone wanted to enjoy it fully, and most of the food on the table had been eaten. This scene reminded Wilbur of when he used to lead the Abyss Mercenaries.


    When people were hungry, nothing else mattered. They instinctively craved to be full. Wilbur felt a familiar sensation and smiled slightly. He snapped his fingers and said, "Okay, no problem. Leave it to me."


    Wilbur then called a server, settled the bill, and asked the server to keep an eye on the group. He drove four people home first and then returned to take the other four. Since everyone but Mitch had fallen asleep, Mitch sat in the front seat, directing Wilbur to the others'' addresses. After dropping off the seven, Wilbur drove Mitch to his own ce.


    Mitch lived next to a recycling center in an old, run-down apartment building in the western part of Vicente. The area was filled with various noises and unpleasant smells due to the recycling activities.


    This was far from what Wilbur had expected Mitch''s living conditions to be. During the meal, Mitch mentioned that he used to be a top-tier mechanic in Vicente, earning a sry that was among the top five for mechanics in the city.


    At his peak, he had earned fifty thousand a month, which was almost a year''s sry for most ordinary workers in Vicente. That year, including his year-end bonus, Mitch had made eight hundred thousand.


    Eight hundred thousand was equivalent to sixteen years of an average worker''s sry, and with the real estate prices then, Mitch could have bought two high-end apartments in downtown Vicente.


    Wilbur had thought that Mitch, as the organizer of the expedition team, would have considerable savings and a middle-ss lifestyle in Vicente. However, Wilbur was surprised to see Mitch living in such conditions.


    Seeing the look of surprise on Wilbur''s face, Mitch smiled weakly and said, "You think I''m living a poor life, right? Well, you''re not wrong. I do live in a ce like this now. Dreams, they''re not for everyone. Some people achieve greatness because of their dreams, and some people be wretched because of them."


    Wilbur looked at Mitch and asked, "What about you? What kind of person do you think you are?"


    Mitch shook his head painfully and said, "I''m not worthy of having dreams! I don''t deserve them. They''ve ruined me!"


    As he spoke, Mitch let go of Wilbur and staggered towards the stairs. Wilbur quickly followed and caught him just before he fell, saying, "Be careful. Let me help you."


    Wilbur helped Mitch up to the third floor. Mitch pointed to the door marked 301 and said, "Here we are. Let me get the key."


    Mitch rummaged through his bag for a minute before finally pulling out the key and unlocking the door. Wilbur then helped Mitch into the apartment.


    The room was sparsely furnished and filled with various expedition equipment and manuals. There was only an old, tattered sofa against the wall. Wilbur carefully guided Mitch to the sofa and helped him sit down.