She cares for him but hates the way she does.  He is always on her mind since that day. But in contrast, he hated her for that. She wants to make it up to him but he avoids her like dirt. Sometimes he is good, sometimes he is the worsest. She hated how unpredictable he is and how he messes with her life. But she loves him, and she doesn't want to admit it.

That was in the last year of middle school.

Ria wakes up early on her first day of school in junior year. Bringing a nightmare with her she goes to her school and found out Keith and her will be classmates. New sets of problem arises then. But is this going to be a hell of a year for Ria? Or is this going to be a chance to get close with Keith and clear some issues?

Translator: Lav
Editor: Levs

"Penalty!"
As the voice didn't see the horrified reactions on Shi Lei's face it expected, it emphasised it again.
Shi Lei twitched his lips once again, not even bothered to speak.
Strange silence.
Most likely, the voice was waiting for Shi Lei to ask about the details of the penalty.
"Why aren't you asking me about the details of the penalty?" The androgynous voice finally took the initiative to ask him after a long pause.
Shi Lei pointed towards his mouth, and gestured a zipping action, meaning it just told him to shut up previously.
The ATM sounded like it couldn't be helped, and said: "You can ask normal questions. I told you to shut up in the hope that you don't challenge my authority."
"Alright, then, oh, my respectful master, can you please tell me about the penalty?" Shi Lei began to feel that this prank is getting boring.
But the voice seemed to be happy with how quickly Shi Lei had adapted to his new role and said: "Not bad, that's the attitude a slave should have. The fate of the man from last night is your penalty."
"Woah, this severe?"
The voice seemed to ponder for a while but still spoke up: "From now on, you will receive a certain quote at the midnight of every Sunday, and until the midnight of next Sunday, you must spend the quota entirely. If you don't, I will take away your body parts according to the ratio of the money left. That man's fate would be the most severe penalty."
Shi Lei nodded and asked: "In other words, if I only spend 5,000 yuan, I'm basically dead because I can't live with half of my body?"
This time, the voice ignored his question: "Ok, that is it for today. Remember the 100,000 yuan you received last night was not through the normal way so I have taken it back. Today is Saturday, and at midnight tonight, 10,000 yuan will be added to your bank account. You must spend it all in one week."
"Remember! Spend all of it! You wouldn't want to receive the penalty from Slave Rule number zero!"
As soon as the sentence ended, the ATM screen blurred for a second and returned to its normal state. The black bank card had been ejected from the ATM.
Shi Lei hesitated for a second, eventually pulled the card out and shoved it into his pocket, thinking, who the hell is this boring person, don't expect me to believe you just because I didn't know how you got my WeChat password for PayPal.
Shi Lei turned around as he heard the door opening behind him, a girl walked in.
As he walked out, he glanced at the ATM once more, thinking, as expected, as soon as he was finished, people were not kept away from this area anymore.
After he returned to the dorm, his roommates were still away. Shi Lei remembered about the password to the PayPal, hurriedly took out his phone and became more relieved after changing not just that, as well as the login password to WeChat. But when he checked the details, it was rather strange as in the transaction list, the history of the transaction for the 100,000 yuan he received last night did not have any notifications, and the ID of the guy who disappeared last night was also gone.
But, if it had the ability to get his WeChat PayPal password, wanting to do something like this would be a piece of cake.
Shi Lei spent the day muddling along without an aim, but a sense of excitement filled him when it was midnight. He wanted to know whether 10,000 yuan will actually appear in his bank account.
Even though this prank will be finished in a week, the unexpected money would seem good too.
Although, if it really did appear, he would still not believe in the so-called slave and master even when the money was transferred, as only the card number and name of the person are needed to be known to transfer money to someone.
Time was hard to kill in a dorm by himself. Shi Lei's background was rather ordinary and didn't ask his parents to buy him a laptop as he doesn't really need it for his major anyways. If he needed it occasionally, he could just borrow his classmate's. This time, trying to stay up to midnight was really not that easy.
He forced himself to stay awake until half-past eleven, he eventually gave up and when he woke up, it was already bright outside.
The first thing Shi Lei did after opening his eyes was turning on his phone. It had an unread message. Opened it, it was really from a bank, notifying him that 10,000 yuan had been transferred into his account.
Honestly he was not that surprised, after seeing 100,000 yuan from before, actually, he felt slightly lost.
100,000 turned into 10,000...
Shi Lei even thought that if you wanted to do this kind of prank, it would be funny to see their faces after he actually spends all this money.
While brushing his teeth and washing his face, Shi Lei thought of how to spend this money.
"I won't actually spend all of them. I'll get myself some new clothes, then eat something nice. At the very least I need to make them pay for their actions."
After a moment of thought, Shi Lei dashed out of the school gate.
Basic necessities come first; after buying two steamed buns for breakfast, he decided to start with clothes.
He dashed into the mall he was too embarrassed to enter before, and ran towards the exclusive Nike counter which he had his eyes on for ages but did not have the money for.
He picked a set of sporting clothes at first sight. Perhaps because the shop just opened not long ago, the shop employee was rather lazy.
The employee managed to find Shi Lei's size for the clothes with effort and showed him where the changing room was, then leaned against the shelves, yawning.
Shi Lei changed into the new clothes and looked in the mirror after walking out, and was surprised to discover that he was actually pretty good looking. It was just that the cheap clothes made him look devastated, unable to show off his youth and handsomeness. The idiom goes 'fine feathers makes a fine bird', after changing into branded clothes, he seemed like a new person.
After buying the clothes, next were shoes.
Nike's sports shoes, especially the 'Air Jordan' series, Shi Lei wouldn't even dare to think about it usually, he had only seen his friends wear it. It was at least one or two thousand for a pair, it hurts Shi Lei to see that it was used by those people to sprint on the basketball court.
"Doing a prank on me? If I don't use some of your money, do you really think you can scare me?"
This year's newest design of the Air series was on the shelf, the 29th generation. Shi Lei stated his shoe size and the employee immediately brought him a pair.
Except when the shop assistant placed the shoes in front of him, she deliberately glanced at the shoes he was wearing – also Jordan, but of course a cheap copy of it.
Shi Lei had seen too many glares like this to care. He shook off the old ones which only cost about 70 yuan on sale with the original price of 120, shoved his stinking feet into the real Air Jordan shoes.
Mhm, pretty comfortable! As expected, it felt too different when stepping on a thousand dollars beneath his feet. Shi Lei suddenly felt like he could perform a slam dunk from the foul line like Jordan at the peak of his career!
Under the doubtful glare of the shop assistant, Shi Lei took out his bank card. After the payment, a genuine smile finally appeared on the assistant's face, even subtly hinting some flattery towards him. Perhaps it was just Shi Lei's imagination. Although the shop assistants may not be rich themselves if they watch customers coming in and out every day, how can she possibly hold that sense of flattery towards simply because he bought a set of sporting clothes and a pair of Air Jordan shoes?
The old clothes and fake Jordan shoes were shoved into a paper bag. As Shi Lei walked out of the mall, he threw it in the rubbish bin without hesitation.
That felt good! It felt so different to have money!
Shi Lei faintly began to hope that this prank was real. With 10,000 yuan per week, life is going to be great!
Wearing Jordan shoes and an entire set of Nike sporting clothes, Shi Lei checked the time on his phone...
This phone, if it weren't for this bad quality phone, those pranksters would not have taken the 100,000 yuan from his WeChat that easily, and he wouldn't have to act along to those guys.
Let's go get a new phone!

Not my story.?‍♀️ don't have the permission to write it. if the author wants me to remove it pleases let me know thanx

After another rapid apparition during the dinner, he bolts to the seven floors once again after having thought of something.

'Salazar had makes his own room in the castle, who says the three others didn't?'

Pacing in front of the blank wall three times while thinking of all the hidden and forgotten rooms the castle had, a heavy-looking steel door appears out of the wall. When he pushes it rather than leading to amother room like the other time, it was a long corridor with multiple doors lining the two sides. Alex couldn't help the giddy feeling rising from his guts at this. Starting by the right side, he pushes the first door.

As night was starting to fall on the castle, the room was plunged in semi darkness by the windows on the left side but not enough to hinder him. Looking in the room, he saw nothing out of any other classroom, climbing the seven steps leading to the professor quarters at the front of the class, he enters the private room. Inside was the vestige of an occupied room. A trunk was still open, letting anyone see its content, few books were on the desk along with a stationary. When he sees the book, he understands that it must have been a previous DADA professor, who hadn't the time to gather its things.

"Shouldn't his personal things been put in the room by the castle elf?"
"No master, elves don't want to touch think of cursed wizard."
"Are you speaking about the curse Voldie had left on the position?"
"Yes, master."
"Would something happens if I take something?"
"No, it just elf who don't want touch nasty wizard stuff."
"Oh? Well then."

A minute later, the room was clean of any stranger objects. Opening the next door, he sees that it was a similar case, so for the next sixty-seven room, he clean left behind personal objects, stacking them in one of the still empty expanded room of his storage. After those rooms, he sometimes opens forgotten cupboard that Finch didn't know the existence of and containing nothing more than actual broom and bucket who soon became wooden block or metal one. He also stumbles on students' experimental room, founding melted cauldrons, gunk of rotten undescriptive matters, everything was recycled, given some frightening poison, extracted off centuries olds rotten blob of failed potion attempts.

Thankfully, he also found lost small library of a time where that castle was housing more than it's messy three hundred plus inhabitants. He actually found subsidiaries' commons room that still exists and must be linked to the actual ones. While the one of Gryffindor gives mothing more than a few weapons, mostly dagger, knives, and four or five swords, the three others were treasure troves.

He obtains a few dozen secure boxes clinging money when shaken from the Badger den, and if he could trust the thing written on them, those were used by past students to pool their money for the older years smuggling business. As years past, those where forgotten, make them open new ones who in their turn became lost, feeding the circle.

From the Snake pit, he gains quite the collection of old, now banned artifacts, some books, and supplies.

But his biggest hit was the libraries of the raven nest. Old and now rare book on a plethora of magic arts. If he was to count them, he would have known that he earns them in hundreds. Along with his clan, those ones form the chamber, those and the ever-increasing among from the mundane greatest libraries across the world, he s about to get the most complete collection of work of the past millenary.

At this point, he was completely mind-numbed by his holding of the day. When he looks at the corridor, he saw that he had nearly cleaned it but at the end of it, few feet far, the last doors were the largest and bear three easily recognizable crest, a roaring lion, a soaring eagle, and a digging badger.

His hand badly shaking, he pushes his house crest bearing door. What was revealed, was a large bedroom sporting a huge four posters bed and gold and red bedding. On the walls, shining battle-ready weapons. For their intense and smooth glittering, the blade must have been made of silver, engraved with a central runic line, not dissimilar with the blade he obtain the previous day. After wrapping each of them in clean clothes, and storing them in a unique wooden case imprinted with a lion crest on the surface, Alex proceeds to the door.

Like for Salazar quarters, a small library with its desk was present, looking around before storing them, he sees that those books deal with only one subject, wars spell. Those special spells created to bring an immense amount of destruction at the cost of great magical consumption. He shudders at the idea of what Tom would have made of such spells during the war. Like the previous weapons and the books on Parsel magic, he carefully organizes the books in sturdy crates lined with padded interior.

In the last room was a mindblowing amount of shining gold coins. Not Galleon, but actual gold coins coming from what seems different now European countries along with gems and not a small collection of says countries weapons.

-It seems that this Godric fellow was either a warmongering man or a conqueror, perhaps both.-
"Hmm." Nodding at this more crates appear, swallowing the treasure of past between their wooden walls. Once sure he cleans the entires room, he stops for a moment before taking the bed too.

Once outside, he chooses the badger den next. Seeing the similar disposition of the room, the three surely have spoken among them before creating them. But unlike Godric one, the bedroom was only housing a large bed with a warm yellow, black stripped bedding. Going for the study first, he falls with a room full of preserved potions and books on healing art, and for his greater joy, different books than that of Salazar. Storing like the previous, he calls for the same elves to take the potions to the territory reserve.

Going to the other room, rather than golden coins, he sees different and ancient artifacts that were taken out of the room by Alex.

As he faces the last room, he enters the raven nest, collect the bed and go for what happens to be a staggering amount of books on Wards, runes, arithmancy, and ritual. Regretfully, a majority of them were already in his hand, via the clan. Still, he gathers them and stores them away. In the next room, even larger stacks of golden coins were surrounded by the largest wards stones he ever sees, some even reaching his midsection. The stones were priceless as they were completely blank. Too large to enter his crates, he just stores them as they were while coins rains in those wooden boxes.

Before he returns to his room, he exits the room of requirement and attempts his last idea. When the room responds to his wish he barely holds himself for madly cackling.

-What did you ask?-
'I have swept the castle but not Hogwarts!'
-What are you saying, that the same thing.-
'No, they are not! While the castle is Hogwarts, so is the ground around it! The lake is connected to the sea, otherwise, Dumstrang ship wouldn't be able to make it way in, that signifies that it's perhaps no the sole ship to have made is way in!'

When they enter, Sunny, who until now, has stayed quiet, drop his board at the sight, while Alex nearly faint and Cs was busy cursing the later luck. The room that the castle had used was ginormous, but again, why it wouldn't be at least that size to House what could be easily classified as a ship's cemetery.

Ships and boat of all size from all ages but sharing a common trait, they where all warships. Roman, Viking, German, Spanish, Venitian, and greeks ships were present here, all from the magical communities of the past. Looking at those battle scars covering the ships, goosebumps grasped Alex. Unwilling to destroy those glorious mementos of the past, he turns toward Sunny.

"Do we have a place to keep them?" Ask him a clear expectant feeling present in his voice.
"Yes, the clan have a shipyard on the bank of the lac, but there is too much of them, we can't take them all.

Hearing this, he was fr from being dejected that he couldn't take all off them, even he hadn't planned to do so.

"Would it be enough to keep at least one of each?"

Rather than responding, the elf pops in all the room, looking at each of them before returning. Sadly shaking his head as it was impossible for him to realize his master wish. When he sees him, Alex thinks for a moment before making a choice.

"If we can't now, then, we will only have to wait until we can. For now, let just take everything inside them. They would not move from where they are, so in the following months we will build another closed shipyard to keep them all, I wanted to start creating ... That it! Why didn't I think of it earlier, I don't need to create runic circle myself, I can just craft them! Spells can wait, I have already my elemental magic, I time I start to look in runic schemes! Alright, it already late, let wrap this tonight!"

In the following hours, Alex and co became a blur, hopping from ship to boat, cleaning them like a swarm of locusts, leaving only the damaged ship behind. At first, he didn't expect much from them, seeing that they where warship, but, oh boy he was wrong.

Inside the roman ship, other than mountains of bones in full armors, he found that they where wizard too, and each of them has a wand. Because of their immersion until then, they hadn't rotten, so Alex calls for reinforcement, it was the entire army of Evans elves that fall on the ships, taking away their precious cargo, to make sure that they wouldn't be damaged by being exposed to the air.

From the Spanish, german, greek, and Venitian ship, he could only salvage weapons and armors alongside very little of information inscribed in beast skin and preserved in sealed containers. While the preservation spells have long since fade, the unsealed containers that weren't damaged have successfully achieved their missions.

It was the Viking ship that gives him the most gains out of this, like their warrior's side, the wizards Vikings have hoarded their wars gains on their ship, taking their treasures down with them. It was literal mountains of gold, silver, and other precious ores and gems that were collected out of them. Completely exhausted from the day, Alex was poped in his bedroom at five A.M in the morning by Sunny, after a hot shower and wearing his mew onesie reserved for the night of great victory, he immediately falls asleep the instant his head touch his pillow, sporting a loon wide smile on his face.

When power far above you decide that they want to wrench the canon, by bringing you in the game, sometimes the wisest thing to do it just to tag along and just try to make this encounter end the most rapidly possible.

who knows, maybe something great will come out of it? After all, what could be worst than being taken out without your consent out of your world, only to be thrown in the darkness?

When this news was broadcasted on Sky Vision, many people from the 17 Western Cities who had originally been somewhat gloomy found something to cheer about. The name Alice was suddenly imprinted in their minds.
However, Alice couldn't really be called a goddess, as her appearance didn't make her stand out from the crowd.
Luo Yunyang was familiar with this scrawny girl. A few days earlier, she had been standing next to Lemarto at the banquet.
However, there had also been a beautiful girl by Lemarto's side, so this girl had not stood out much.
Actually, nobody had even noticed the plain-looking girl.
Although there hadn't been anything worthwhile to note during her previous fights, it was evident now that she had been intentionally hiding her power.
As soon as the news of Luo Yunyang's victory over Lemarto had spread, a blood-red axe had appeared in her hands.
The blade was the size of a truck tyre and the entire axe was even taller than the girl, yet the girl twirled around the huge axe as though it was as light as straw.
As the axe danced around through the air, it produced a loud whistling sound. A single seemingly gentle blow caused the expression of the girl's opponent to change dramatically.
The lance in his hands had formed a barrier that was sliced cleanly in half by the axe's blade!
Any ordinary martialist would have considered this a normal, straightforward strike, but Luo Yunyang could see the girl's additional control over her power, her imposing manner, her…
Asura's Seven Axes is a technique almost equal to Martial God Luo Kai's Heaven Splitter.
When that humongous blade stopped inches away from Tom King's head, Tom King was already frozen in place. He was actually trembling violently.
"That's really sick!" Luo Yunyang said, smacking his lips.
"You are just as bad yourself. Why don't you take a look at yourself before you comment on others? You are clearly just as sick!" Fat Xue stuffed a piece of banana into his mouth before asking suspiciously, "Do you really have three source cores, you brat?"
"I already told you that I have cultivated the last two diagrams of the Ape-Dragon Blueprint. so I have awakened two extra source cores," Luo Yunyang replied calmly. He had already prepared himself for this question.
"You sicko! You actually managed to cultivate the last two diagrams of the Ape-Dragon Blueprint? Do you know how many people have died trying to cultivate the Moon-Swallowing Devil Ape Move? That's a taboo technique that practically no one should be able to master. How were you able to cultivate it successfully?
Fat Xue, who looked flustered, suddenly knelt on the ground. "Please accept me as your disciple!"
"Just get rid of your current source core and awaken a wood-based life source core," Luo Yunyang told Fat Xue rather dryly.
Fat Xue pouted. His earth-based source core was a source core of the highest grade. How could he get rid of it? Plus, once a person's source core was destroyed, their career within the Da Alliance was over!
Chu Yuan gestured at Fat Xue. "Everyone's destiny is different. You don't have to insist on this. The Ape-Dragon Blueprint is extremely abnormal, so only people like Luo Yunyang, who possess a wood-based life source core, are probably able to withstand its backlash."
Ling Yubing and Wei Zhongxing nodded their heads. Although they were all undeniably jealous of Luo Yunyang's three source cores, they knew very well that their paths were already set. Cultivating two source cores was simply impossible for them.
Teacher Xie returned with a huge smile on his face. He waved his hands around as he said, "I just informed the legislative assembly about your situation. After the superiors conducted a study, they concluded that this method of yours shouldn't be mimicked. If anyone asks you, just tell them that your body's constitution is unique. Got it?"
Teacher Xie's instructions solved a really troubling issue for Luo Yunyang. It would be really inconvenient for him if people tried excessively to figure out what was special about his circumstances.
"Got it, sir!" Luo Yunyang replied right away.
"You can put on an act during the upcoming match. We have already achieved our goal after all. The top brass has given us three days of vacation." Teacher Xie fished a card out of his pocket. "This is 100 million dayuan. Use it however you please!"
Fat Xue was left dumbstruck by the sight. He suddenly felt an impulse to rush over and grab the card in Luo Yunyang's hand.
100 million? Although this was a sum that Fat Xue could earn based on his background and abilities, that didn't mean that he could use it as he pleased.
100 million dayuan... Whoa! If only it was his…
"What about me, boss? Although I didn't contribute any victories this time, I still tried my hardest. I should at least be paid a fee for my services, right?" Fat Xue was grinning from ear to ear.
Teacher Xie glanced at him with a chuckle before taking another card out of his pocket and handing it over.
"Our boss is great indeed. I always wanted to buy a full set of diamond tableware, and now I can finally afford it." Fat Xue clasped the card in his hands and kissed it.
"There is 10,000 dayuan in that card. It's probably enough to buy you a set of fake diamond tableware. He he… I think the shop next door is having a sale!" Teacher Xie said affectionately, patting Fat Xue's cheeks.
Fat Xue's face immediately fell. He was about to ask why he was being treated so unfairly, but Teacher Xie had unfortunately already swaggered out of the room.
Teacher Xie send Luo Yunyang and the other four a message, saying that he had already relaxed thoroughly.
As the others slowly started to leave Luo Yunyang's room, Sky Vision was still jabbering on. The bald commentator kept sharing his vehement, lofty views.
"Even a martial grandmaster would have to make a strategic retreat against Alice's three minutes of Bloodthirsty State. Therefore, the resource allocation of the 17 Western Cities will not be affected! We should probably wait till tomorrow before cheering over our victory!"
　———
The Battlefield of Gods was the largest sporting arena in the entire ancient city of Mei'ya, perhaps even the entire Da Alliance. Under normal circumstances, this arena wouldn't be open.
However, the Battlefield of Gods could accomodate 1,000,000 spectators. Although Mei'ya was one of the 37 last cities of humanity, there weren't many events that brought together 1,000,000 people.
The reason this sporting arena didn't open often was because, when it did, it consumed a lot of resources.
There was already a bustling crowd of spectators outside the Battlefield of Gods. Half an hour before the match was due to start, the entire arena was already full.
Some spectators who had gone there too late, but were unwilling to leave, had gathered outside the Battlefield of Gods to watch the event on the big screens.
Several tall statues of gods stood outside the Battlefield of Gods like guardians that surrounded and protected the venue, making it seem incomparably awe-inspiring. 


Violet skies, a world undergoing massive changes, a deficient moon, interlinking voids...
When the world experienced a cataclysmic event,the majority of living things died right away. Although humanity survived by hiding in the last safe zones, humans had to face mutated dire beasts and colossal source beasts that could break through the space barrier and enter the earth at any second.
Luo Yunyang, a young man who grew up in those calamitous times, obtained an attribute regulator and set out to walk the path of supremacy!

Dayu Palace, as an Emperor Force of Dayu World, hid in misty mountains.
Between countless and endless of mountains, Dayu Palace Sect was situated inside an extensive cave mansion.
"Master of Scarlet Island, I have told his Highness that you have arrived. His Highness, together with Lord Wu Cang, are presently on their way." said a White Sector God within Dayu Palace.
"Lord Wu Cang is here as well?", Master of Scarlet Island was taken aback.
"Lord Wu Cang has been residing in Dayu Palace this entire time. He seems to be working together with his Highness to come up with a strategy." White Sector God explained.
"A strategy?" Master of Scarlet Island appeared more bewildered.
"Master, who is Lord Wu Cang?" Jian Wushuang, who was beside Master of Scarlet Island, asked in confusion.
Before Master of Scarlet Island could even opened his mouth, White Sector God has already started explaining, "Lord Wu Cang is from Snow Kingdom who is also a Universe God of Third Heaven, like our Highness."
"A Universe God of Third Heaven?" Jian Wushuang faltered.
At his current level, a Universe God of Second Heaven would have already greatly surpassed him in terms of power. A Universe God of Third Heaven could probably kill him even with a single breath.
Without waiting for a long time in the palace, Jian Wushuang and Master of Scarlet Island soon see two figures walking in.
Amongst the two, one of them had all white hair and his movements appeared to be very sage-like.
As for the other, he was clad in a black robe, a middle-aged man sporting a messy hairdo.
"Greetings Your Highness, My Lord."
Master of Scarlet Island, who ruled both the Scarlet Island and Dayu World, was a man with a commanding presence. Yet at this exact moment, he was giving the two people in front of him a bow.
With Master of Scarlet Island acting as such, Jian Wushuang naturally became very respectful.
"Get up.", as the elder waved his hand, both Master of Scarlet Island and Jian Wushuang rose.
"I heard you brought a Realm treasure for me?" Master of Dayu Palace looked down at them.
"Yes." nodded Master of Scarlet Island, "However it is not mine, it belongs to the Divine General of my Scarlet Island, Jian Wushuang."
"Jian Wushuang? This young man of lowly status standing beside you?", Master of Dayu Palace glanced at Jian Wushuang. Just his gaze was enough to make the hair on Jian Wushuang's back stood all at once.
That feeling was as though all of his secrets were being exposed to the other in front of him.
"Incredible." Jian Wushuang felt secretly amazed.
"A Universe God of Third Heaven is a real expert, even in the Eternal Chaotic World, he is a true warrior, certainly impressive." Gu King, a parasite inside of Jian Wushuang's body continued.
"Jian Wushuang, bring out the golden gourd." Master of Scarlet Island commanded.
Jian Wushuang nodded slightly before revealing the golden gourd all at once.
"This is the gourd?" Master of Dayu Palace scanned the golden gourd with a placid expression, seemingly indifferent.
Since he has announced the need for a Realm treasure or a form of secret skill three hundred years ago, numerous people strove to send one and another treasure. The amount of treasures received were countless but ultimately none achieved his standard. As such, he has long been exhausted by gimmicks.
Up to one hundred years ago, as long as one sends another kind of Realm treasure that was not up to standard, the Universe God of Dayu Palace would not even bother to inform him.
Today, if it was not for Master of Scarlet Island, he would not even have shown up at all.
And now, upon his arrival, he was greatly disappointed.
This is as the treasure did not belonged to Master of Scarlet Island but belonged to merely a young boy of low status, Jian Wushuang.
What kind of Realm treasure could a mere Universe Master even present?
Master of Dayu Palace no longer harbor any hope towards Jian Wushuang.
Master of Scarlet Island has obviously noticed this at this juncture and signaled to Jian Wushuang. Jian Wushuang simply nodded his head before pulling out the stopper on the golden gourd.
"Boom—"
Endless golden quicksand instantly burst out from the gourd, expanding across the whole palace, eventually covering the entire palace cave mansion completely.
In spite of being indifferent just a while ago, Master of Dayu Palace's eyes immediately twinkled upon seeing what the Golden Gourd could do. "This is…the Golden Drift Sand?"
Standing beside Master of Dayu Palace, the middle-aged man sporting an untidy hairdo, Lord Wu Cang, abruptly raised his head at once. After observing the surrounding endless of quicksand for a moment, he eventually locked his sight on the golden gourd in Jian Wushuang's hands.
"This gourd, is this the Golden Drift Sand Gourd?" Wu Cang's voice sounded a little hoarse.
"Golden Drift Sand Gourd?" Master of Dayu Palace lit up as he has obviously heard of its name as well.
The Golden Drift Sand Gourd already had significant popularity in the Eternal Chaotic World and was rather established. However, its price was astoundingly expensive.
With conservative estimate, the value of the Golden Drift Sand Gourd exceeds 600,000 Chaos Gem. In an event where one was to bump into another who need the gourd desperately, or if it was to be placed at some high-scaled auction for sale, it could even be sold up to millions of Chaos Gem.
Undoubtedly, this Golden Drift Sand Gourd is a very powerful and valuable Realm treasure.
"Brother Wu Cang, with your capability, what are the chances of succeeding if you were to exude your powers to activate the Golden Drift Sand Gourd, together with the Realm, to pass the Secret Land?" Master of Dayu Palace immediately looked at Wu Cang beside him, his eyes ablazed.
"I have only heard about the Golden Drift Sand Gourd before but have never seen it, so I am unsure of the strength of its power. However, it is immensely famous, surely its powers would not be any sub-par. Compared to the other Realm Treasures or Skill that others have sent in the last couple hundred of years, it must be a lot more powerful."
"Given my capability, with the help of the Golden Quicksand Realm, I would have at least fifty percent chance of overcoming the test within the Secret Realm!" Wu Cang proclaimed.
"Fifty percent?" Master of Dayu Palace was overjoyed.
He and Wu Cang once coincidentally explored and found a Secret Land. The Secret Land was very unique, different from the norm and contained mysterious opportunities to be discovered.
They paid a huge price to enter that Secret Land, unfortunately, there lies a grave test within the Secret Land. Despite trying many times to pass the test, they always end in failure, ultimately having to leave.
Yet when they came back, through relentlessly studying about the Secret Land, they came to a conclusion that they would need the help of a type of Realm Technique in order to have a chance to overcome the test.
This was how the quest and word of finding a treasure circulated as Master of Dayu Palace continues to search for the treasure for many years.
Throughout several hundreds of years, Master of Dayu Palace and Wu Cang both mobilized their powers to search for a piece of Realm Treasure that could meet their requirement.
Yet three hundred years down the road, even with the best form of Realm Skill, they only had up to thirty percent chance of passing the test.
Now, with the help of the Golden Drift Sand Gourd, the possibility of passing the test is actually fifty percent?
Fifty percent, that is already by itself, tremendous!
This was sufficient for them to take the risk and give it a try.
After a moment of exchange between Master of Dayu Palace and Wu Cang, they turned around and finally set their sights on Jian Wushuang.
"Kiddy, what's your name again?"


Jian Wushuang was reborn in adversity. In order to get his revenge, he began to cultivate Heavenly Creation Skill. With the help of the Heaven defying cultivation method, Jian Wushuang gradually grew into a peerless genius from an ordinary practitioner. With a sword in hand, no one is his match. Using his extraordinary Sword Principle, he killed all his opponents and eventually became number one Sword Master from time immemorial.

The underground market was located beneath a manor in the suburbs of Qianchong City. Before heading over, Zhang Xuan and Zhang Jiuxiao had changed into leisurely clothes, assuming the roles of young scions heading out to play.
"It's said that the person who founded the black market in Qianchong City is an ill-fated scholar. The injustice he has faced from the bureaucratic system has made him harden his heart to the world, and he decided to forsake academics for martial arts. In order to vent the frustrations within him, he created the black market.
"In there, there's nothing that one cannot buy or do as long as one has sufficient money. Of course… the prices there are exorbitant as well. In fact, it could be said to be the greatest money sink in the Qianchong Empire!"
While advancing forward, Zhang Jiuxiao briefly introduced the black market to Zhang Xuan.
"Considering the scale of the black market, isn't it weird that the Qianchong Empire Master Teacher Pavilion and the royal family have left them to their own devices?" Zhang Xuan asked.
Since even an outsider like Zhang Jiuxiao knew about this place, there was no doubt that the royal family and the regional Master Teacher Pavilion were aware of its existence as well. Thus, shouldn't they have moved to strike down the black market instead of allowing it to develop freely, especially considering that they were gambling with the lives of others?
"The Master Teacher Pavilion and royal family do keep a lookout for the black market just in case it gets out of hand, but otherwise, they usually leave it be for stability considerations."
"Stability considerations?" Zhang Xuan asked in incomprehension.
Even though they had not arrived at the black market yet, based on what Zhang Jiuxiao had said so far, it seemed like the black market was effectively a lawless area, devoid of any security or rules. How could an existence like that in Qianchong City possibly contribute to its stability?
"The larger a city is, the more cultivators it has. There's always a lack of cultivation resources, so it's inevitable that cultivators will clash with one another to vie for them. As this is a fundamental problem, there's no way that the royal family or the Master Teacher Pavilion can stop them altogether," Zhang Jiuxiao explained.
"Un." Zhang Xuan nodded.
In this world where strength reigned supreme, there was no doubt that raising one's cultivation realm was extremely important. However, given that the resources in the world were limited, there was bound to be conflict and strife over them.
No matter how powerful the Master Teacher Pavilion was, it could not possibly prevent such matters altogether. If it implemented forceful measures to put a halt to such conflicts, it might face serious backlash from the stifled cultivators.
"An underground black market might be unseemly, but it's a possible channel where cultivators can acquire what they need as long as they have enough money. And to earn sufficient money, they have to cultivate harder and battle. With such a channel, there is a lesser need for cultivators to engage in dishonorable actions such as stealing to obtain what they need. While there are quite a few casualties from the Ring of Death, there's no doubt that the security of Qianchong City as a whole has improved," Zhang Jiuxiao said.
Where there was light, there were bound to be shadows as well.
There were misfits even within the Master Teacher Pavilion, let alone the other cultivators. Without an avenue to vent their darker desires or acquire their resources, there was no knowing what extreme actions cultivators might resort to within the city.
As the saying went, 'A lake too clear will sustain no fish; a man too severe will find no companion.[1]'
The existence of a black market was unlawful and should have been frowned upon, but if it could reduce crime rates in the city, there would be a meaning to its existence as well.
Take his previous life for example, there was a certain occupation that was banned in several countries. But despite the authorities knowing where the people of that occupation operated, they still allowed its existence. It was not that they could not shut it down, but the occupation served its own role in society. It satisfied the needs of others, and through doing so, it reduced crime rates in that aspect.
If they really eradicated it altogether, that would potentially pose a challenge to the security of the society.
Such was the same for the Qianchong Empire's black market as well.
It was unlawful on the surface, but its existence could prevent societal problems from arising in the city. In view of that, the royal family eventually chose to look the other way when it came to their operations.
As for the Master Teacher Pavilion, as long as there was no grievous injustice being dealt and the matter would not harm mankind in general, it usually would not interfere. After all, its manpower was limited.
Thinking back, it was likely that Hongyuan City, Qingyuan City, and the other capitals should also have had such a place. It was just that Zhang Xuan had been too preoccupied with other matters, and he had never stayed too long in each city either.
Just as Zhang Xuan was in the midst of his thoughts, Zhang Jiuxiao said, "Alright, we have arrived!"
Raising his head, Zhang Xuan saw a massive manor right before him.
Before they could walk into the manor, two middle-aged men stood in their path and demanded, "Token!"
Surprisingly, they were both Primordial Spirit realm experts, and they emanated a powerful killing aura. With just a look, it was clear that they were veterans who had killed many enemies in battle.
Zhang Jiuxiao flicked his wrist and passed an object over.
A middle-aged man took the object and examined it closely before passing two black cloths over, gesturing for them to cover their eyes.
Following Zhang Jiuxiao's lead, Zhang Xuan wrapped the black cloth around his eyes, and he realized that not only did it hinder his sight, even his Spiritual Perception was impeded, preventing him from clearly perceiving his surroundings.
Under the lead of the two middle-aged men, they walked for roughly ten minutes before the cloth around their eyes was finally loosened.
A massive mall came into sight. There was a huge crowd milling about, and they extended all the way to the horizon. Even though they were underground, the brilliant glow of the Night Illumination Pearls had the entire area brightly lit as if it was day.
"This…" Blinking in wonder, Zhang Xuan began scanning his surroundings.
He had been to plenty of trading halls, markets, and malls, and even though the scale of the mall before him was not too big, the items that were on display were truly astounding.
Walking past the various vendors, Zhang Xuan's eyes narrowed in astonishment. "Is that the Black Goldcrystal Ore? It's actually on sale here?"
The Black Goldcrystal Ore was a treasure that Wu Yangzi had left behind in his heritage. It was known to be extremely rare, such that it could not even be found anywhere in Qingyuan City. Yet, in this black market, it was actually placed on public display!
Despite seeing all of this with his own eyes, Zhang Xuan still found it difficult to accept.
Noticing Zhang Xuan's expression, Zhang Jiuxiao chuckled softly. "Even though the Black Goldcrystal Ore is rare, it isn't completely unobtainable. It isn't that surprising for it to be on sale here."
He had also been like that the first time he entered the black market, hardly daring to believe the treasures that were being sold so casually around him. However, after seeing more of it, he had gradually grown used to it.
"Cultivation technique manuals, Saint intermediate-tier artifacts, intelligence… As expected of a black market, they really have everything here!" Zhang Xuan remarked in awe as they walked along the street.
It was really as if everything was on sale there, regardless of whether the item was lawful or unlawful.
Upon seeing a store that sold cultivation technique manuals, Zhang Xuan stopped and asked, "Are there are Half-Leaving Aperture realm and Leaving Aperture realm cultivation techniques here?"
"Of course. Depending on the tier of the cultivation technique manual, we will charge different prices!" the elder watching the store replied lazily.
The black market also had its own guards to maintain security. As such, the vendors did not fear that their goods would be snatched.
"Oh? How much do they cost?" Zhang Xuan asked.
Gesturing to the board beside him, the elder replied nonchalantly, "Take a look at it yourself."
Saint intermediate-tier cultivation techniques and battle techniques cost roughly ten concentrated high-tier spirit stones at the minimum. Naturally, those of lower tiers were slightly cheaper.
The price of a single book was still acceptable for Zhang Xuan, but if he had to buy the thousands of books required for him to successfully compile a Heaven's Path Divine Art, that would really be a huge expenditure.
"How many Half-Leaving Aperture realm and Leaving Aperture realm cultivation technique manuals do you have?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"I have a total of 327 for Half-Leaving Aperture realm and 52 for Leaving Aperture realm. They are all on the shelves there. They have been sealed, so don't bother using your Spiritual Perception to scan them. If there's a book you are interested in, fork out the money and I'll copy down a new one for you. Don't worry, the cultivation techniques we have here are all complete and detailed. We even have the Crouching Dragon Art, which the Qianchong royal family practices, and the Supersonic Severing Swordsmanship that Pavilion Master Yue practices. The prices are very fair as well," the elder said with a proud wave of his hand.
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan looked at the bookshelves before him. There were quite a few books on them, but they had been sealed with some kind of special formation, making it impossible to view their content through Spiritual Perception.
However… When had Zhang Xuan needed to rely on Spiritual Perception to read a book?
Sweeping across them with his eyes, he muttered in his mind, Flaws!
Huala!
The shelves of books immediately materialized in the Library of Heaven's Path.
These books were indeed high quality, but it was a pity that they were lacking in quantity, so he was still unable to compile a complete Heaven's Path Divine Art.
There's really the royal family's Crouching Dragon Art and Pavilion Master Yue's swordsmanship… Isn't this black market a little too powerful? Zhang Xuan exclaimed internally after swiftly browsing through the books in the Library of Heaven's Path.
On his journey here from Tianxuan Kingdom, the cultivation techniques practiced by the royal families had all been confidential secrets. Outsiders would never be allowed to even come close to them, let alone lay their hands on them. Yet, for them to actually appear in a black market like this, placed on public display for sale… this was really frightening in another way.
Seeing that Zhang Xuan was scanning through the books, the elder asked casually, "Which one do you wish to buy? I'll have it copied for you."
"There's no need for it…" Zhang Xuan shook his head.
Since he had already collected those books into the Library of Heaven's Path, there was no need for him to waste precious concentrated high-tier spirit stones on them, not to mention that he did not have the money to afford any at the moment anyway.
On the other hand, seeing that Zhang Xuan would not be buying anything, the elder turned his head away coldly, not wanting to waste any effort on him anymore.
There were plenty of people who would ask him for the prices of his cultivation technique manuals just to put on a show despite not having the money to afford them. He was already used to it.
After leaving the book vendor, Zhang Xuan continued proceeding ahead. There were really all kinds of valuable treasures on sales, and even grade-7 pinnacle pills could be found here and there.
Zhang Jiuxiao pointed to the area ahead of him and said, "Zhang shi, the shop up ahead is the place where one can trade items for concentrated high-tier spirit stones. If you have some spare high-tier spirit stones or other miscellaneous artifacts, you can have them exchanged for concentrated high-tier spirit stones. However, the prices will be pushed down, so you might not get a good exchange rate."
Turning his gaze over, Zhang Xuan saw a store with a long and narrow reception. There were two attendants waiting on call there, but there were hardly any customers to be seen.
Walking up, Zhang Xuan took a look at the exchange rate listed on the wall, and his mouth began twitching uncontrollably.
It sure was a huge scam.
Under normal circumstances, the exchange rate for high-tier spirit stones to concentrated high-tier spirit stones was 1,000:1. However, the store actually tripled it, turning it into 3,000:1.
In other words, he had to exchange three thousand high-tier spirit stones for a single concentrated high-tier spirit stone!
Most cultivators would pretty much have to bankrupt themselves just to trade for a single concentrated high-tier spirit stone here.
At the same time, the average price for Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle Saint intermediate-tier artifacts would be around ten concentrated high-tier spirit stones, but over here, it was only worth three. Even Leaving Aperture realm Saint intermediate-tier artifacts were only worth six.
Well, Ding Ding is still rather valuable, worth about roughly thirty concentrated high-tier spirit stones… Zhang Xuan stroked his chin as he swiftly calculated the price of the Golden Origin Cauldron.
Even though plundering the Ten Great Kings and Qingtian Emperor and the sales of the Cloudmist Flower had earned him a fair sum, all in all, that only added up to roughly sixty thousand high-tier spirit stones. In order to raise his soul cultivation, he had expended quite a number of them, so he only had roughly forty thousand of them left at the moment.
In other words, he could only trade for ten concentrated high-tier spirit stones in this store!
That did not even come close to the value of his Ding Ding!
Zhang Xuan pondered hard for a moment before eventually shaking his head. Forget it, that fellow has been rather loyal to me, so I can't really sell it.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan walked up to the attendant.
"I want to trade for concentrated high-tier spirit stones."
"How many do you need?" the attendant asked nonchalantly.
"How many can I trade all of this for?"
Hong long!
With a loud boom, a huge bunch of high-tier spirit stones, weapons, medicinal herbs, ores, and the like fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust in the area.
"So many items?"
The attendant rose to his feet in astonishment.
[1] This is a saying usually used as a philosophy toward governance. Basically, what it means that a rule too authoritative could result in a backlash from the populace. If you were to impose all kinds of lofty ideals and strict rules upon the populace, even if out of goodwill, it's unlikely that the common populace will be able to accept it. Sometimes, it might be good to leave some grayness between the black and white, as well as to leave some space for others to breathe.


Nang mapunta siya sa ibang mundo, nagulat na lang si Zhang Xuan nang malaman niyang naging isa siyang teacher. Kasabay nito, lumitaw ang misteryosong library sa isipan niya. 
Basta’t nakita niya ito, tao man ‘to o isang bagay, agad na gagawa ng libro ang library tungkol sa mga kahinaan nito. Dahil dito, naging napakalakas niya. 
“Emperador Zhouyang, bakit ayaw na ayaw mong isuot ang salawal mo? Bilang isang emperor, bakit hindi mo bigyang pansin ang pagpapaganda ng iyong imahe sa publiko?”
“Fairy Linglong, lagi mo ‘kong pwedeng puntahan sa tuwing hindi ka makatulog sa gabi. Magaling ako sa pagpapatulog!”
“At ikaw naman, Demon Lord Qiankun! Pwede bang bawasan mo ang pagkain ng bawang? Gusto mo ba ‘kong patayin sa amoy niyan?”
Ito ay isang kwento tungkol sa mga teacher at estudyante, ang pagsasanay at paggabay sa pinaka mahuhusay na eksperto sa buong mundo!


Important Note.
 
1) There is a whole series of Pregnancy. It has a total of 5 books in the series.
 
2) This book is the first book of series pregnancy. The first and second book complete one story while the other three are their children love stories and are stand-alone books.
 
3)It's chronological no are as follow:
 
A) Pregnancy
 
B) Detective Nara
 
c)His clumsy little angle and
 
d) Bride for sale.
e) Her secret admirer
 
I hope you enjoy the story.
 
Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
 
Thank you for all of your help and support.

This is the first part of the book of pregnancy series. Nate Nara is the CEO of Nara enterprise who had everything in his life good looks, fame, wealth and beautiful wife but the only thing he wants more than anything is to have a family. He wants to have his own family and his own children. But he lost the ability to become a father due to illness. So he tried to have the child by using the insemination method. 

Mia Mathis is planning to go to New York after one month for her studies and she has just started working under his company. She goes to visit the gynecologist for a check-up but gets inseminated by mistake because a nurse misplaced the files and send her to an endocrinologist by mistake. 

After finding out that Mia is pregnant he decided to give divorce to his wife but the situation turns out and Mia had to deliver the kids forcefully due to get shot by the gun by Anna, Nate's wife. Another day at hospital they get to know that Anna was the death and Nate take all the blame to save Mia and goes to jail but the thing was Anna was alive when they go to a hospital to save Mia and their kids so who killed her was still suspense.

Read the book to find out the murderer and to know what happens next.

Ako si Allen Rivamare. Isa akong sophomore ng highschool sa Midfordhive University at and little brother ng Student Council President. Sabi nila na maswerte ako and that I must be really happy 'cause matalino ako, gwapo, at dahil anak ako ng isa sa mga pinaka-mayamang CEO sa buong mundo ngayon pero… Yun ba talaga ang batayan ng pagiging maswerte at masaya?

Sila Mama at Papa ay masyadong busy sa Company… Si kuya naman ay masyadong busy sa mga extra-cullicular activities kaya rarely din na naabutan ko sa bahay… Sa ala-mansion naming bahay, para talagang ako lang ang nakatira maliban sa mga drivers at nanny sa bahay.

Kadalasan na nasa kwarto lang ako, nagbabaasa ng novels o kaya naman ay naglalaro ng games sa phone ko. Araw-araw ay ito nalang ang pinagkaka-abalahan ko pagkatapos ng school.

Gusto ko na makalimutan lahat ng mga bagay sa mundo. Ang mga expectations nila saakin, ang mga bagay na nararapat ko daw gawin, at ang image na pilit ko na ginagawa.

Kung tatanungin nyo ako kung gusto ko ba o ingit ako sa kuya ko… Siguro both?

Simula palang bata ako ay ini-idolo ko na ang kuya at iniisip ko na siya ang pinaka astig at reliable sa buong mundo.

Kuya had always been praised by our parents ever since I could remember. Siya ang living definition ng "The Most Perfect Man in The World" para saakin.

Sa sobrang pag-idolo ko sakanya noong bata ako… Napapa-isip ako minsan kung kailan kaya nagsimula na unti-unting nabubuo etong strong hatred at pagka-inngit ko sakanya…
Yung para bang isa kang normal halaman na nai-tabi sa isang magandang halaman at mas gusto ito kaya linagay siya sa isang magandang posisyonkaya hindi ka nakaka-kuha ng sinag ng araw…At siya lang ang naalagaan at sumasagana ang bunga…    

"Sir, Eto po yung snacks ninyo." Sabi ng nanny sabay pasok at ibinigay nya ang meryenda ko na sandwich at orange juice.

"Ipaalala ko po pala sabi nyo na may limited edition books for sale sa pag-oopen ng bagong book store sa bayan ngayong araw." Sabi ng nanny saka umalis.

"Oo nga pala no… Tapusin ko lang etong snacks ko saka ako pupunta sa book store na iyon."
Dali-dali kong inubos ang sandwich at orange juice at nagpalit ng damit. Tinawag ko si manong Fred at nagpasama ako sa town para bumili ng mga limited edition na books sa bagong bukas na book store sa town.

"Mukhang ang saya nyo po sir ah…" Sabi ni manong Fred ng tumingin sya sakin habang papasok ako ng kotse

"Syempre naman manong, I've been looking forward for this day since last week pa. Isa din sa mga nilagay nila sa limited sale are the ones created by my favourite author that I look up to, so much!" Sabi ko

Ngayon ay papunta na kami sa town. Pagkapasok naming sa town, Nakita ko na marami ding palang bagong-bukas na mga shops malapit sa book shop na iyon.

"Manong balikan nyo nalang po ko in 3 hours haha." Sabi ko sabay bumaba ng kotse.

Sa mundong ito, lahat ng tao ay may kanya- kanyang nadarama na parang pagkukulang sa buhay, mapagpanggap, at walang mapagkakatiwalaan… At sa araw-araw na ating tinatahak ay halos wala tayong oras upang hanapin ang ating hinahangad.
             Sa desisyon na “Ayos na at sapat na ang lahat ng meron ako ngayon.” ang lahat na akala nilang magiging buhay nila ay magbabago.
             Sa isang bagong café sa bayan ay ma iinkwentro nila ang mala-milagrong mga singsing na makapagpapalit sa buhay na meroon sila at PAG-IISAHIN SILA???
             And dalawang tao ngayon ay nasa isang “Sumpa” na maaring isang “Biyaya” pala. Sila na ngaba ang hinihiling ng isa’t-isa? Ang taong makakadama at makakakita sa lahat na gusto nilang ipaalam sa mundo?

After spending his DP like a drunken tycoon at a casino, Ves was only left with half of his budget. While he considering splurging the entire amount on lottery tickets, he quickly reconsidered.
"My luck is rather inconsistent. I don't want to take any chances at this moment."
He opened the System's Store page and called up his wish list.
At this moment, Ves mainly sought to keep the Mech Designer System a secret. With enough credits, he could buy all manner of fancy gadgets. The only thing he couldn't readily buy with credits was a way to obscure his expanding use of the System.
[Anonymous Parcel Delivery System - Level 1]
Price: 10,000 Design Points
Range: 1 star sector
Dimensions: 1cm x 1cm x 1cm
The APDS is a sophisticated transportation device that can teleport any cargo to an unmonitored area within its range.
The description left much to be desired, but Ves got the gist, especially with his enhanced intelligence. The small device was somehow capable of instantly teleporting any object placed inside its tiny interior across many light-years.
The capacity of the box was tiny. It only had enough space to teleport a datachip, one of Lucky's gems or his nail clippings. It also drained a lot of power everytime it initiated a teleport.
Ves mainly considered purchasing the APDS due to its ability for him to remain anonymous when he traded something sensitive, like Lucky's gems. He still had to come up with a way to remain untraceable when he communicated with his clients, so until then he had no use for this item.
"Let's look at something else."
[Small Anonymizing Stamp]
Capacity: 1 cubic cm
Price: 10,000 Design Points
This specialized stamp can permanently mark any object with a special ink. The stamp has the ability to hide the special characteristics of object that receives a stamp. The SAS is only capable of affecting an object with a maximum volume of 1 cubic cm.
[Anonymizing Ink - Small]
Amount: 1 single-use cartridge
Price: 100 Design Points
This ink can be used by any compatible stamp or device to anonymize an object, thereby hiding their special characteristics. Enough ink is supplied to apply 1 small stamp.
The stamp and its separately supplied ink could completely obscure any object smaller than a single cubic centimeter. This meant it could obscure the origins of one of Lucky's gems as well as a normal-sized data pad.
The parameters only cares about the volume. This technically meant he could stamp a stick as lengthy as a shuttle as long as it was very thin and very narrow. The stamp worked as long as the object offered a large enough surface area.
"Let's go with these stamps." He decided after a moment's consideration. "The items down the list are also useful, but right now it's important to cover my tracks going forward. If I still want to make use of Lucky's gems, I have to obscure their effects."
As long as Ves applied a tiny stamp, no one would suspect the activation button of the mech to affect the machine in a mysterious way. The only downside to using the stamp was that he had to spend 100 DP for every stamp. It turned each physical mech sale a net loss in terms of DP.
He tapped his lips and weighed the costs. "I can still earn back the points when I design another virtual mech. It's more important for me to raise the performance of my premium mechs. The higher their specs, the more my fame will spread. I'll limit the use of Lucky's gems to gold and ruby label mechs."
The mass production mechs fabricated by Carlos did not deserve to be graced with a special gem. "A cheap synthesized gemstone will do."
Ves bought the stamp and a single cartridge of ink. He stuffed them both into the pocket of his antigrav clothes for now. "I should add secure storage to my shopping list."
After Ves finished his shopping, he went back to work. First, he returned to the Clifford Society's virtual portal and entered the Star Library. He scanned the most advanced Apprentice-level books and grabbed a generous selection.
He then proceeded to read them rapidly. Any Society members that walked by might think he was merely skimming the pages. In truth, with his improved cognitive abilities, he was able to understand most of the theory fairly quickly.
During his reading marathon, his comm discretely beeped. Dietrich finally sent over the thirty-five million credits from the sale of the blackmail material they found at the abandoned base.
"Took you long enough." He said. He first sent the promised twenty-five million credits to SASS. This left him with a total savings of thirty-two million credits. "It's not much of a stash, but I've got enough to spend on some additional books."
In order to accelerate his learning, Ves resorted to the open market to get his hands on Journeyman-level books. The books available for sale in the public might not be as good as the ones in the Moon Library, but at least he didn't have to spend his valuable merits.
Ves indulgently stuffed his comm with two million credits worth of virtual textbooks. He wasn't satisfied with any of them, as the pedigree of the authors fell far short of those whose works were included in the Moon Library.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers."
He essentially tried to advance his main skills by brute force. His enhanced intelligence allowed him to make sense of even the most opaque descriptions. His improved concentration also helped by keeping his focus on track. It took a lot of effort to maintain his interest in his studies.
Slowly but surely, his strategy paid dividends. By combining quality Apprentice-level books from the Star Library with the awful Journeyman-level books from the galactic net, he eventually broke through. He reached Journeyman in both Physics and Mathematics two weeks later.
"Finally, I'm done!" He screamed in the air. He tiredly rubbed his eyes and stood up from his terminal. He walked over to Carlos to see how much progress he made so far. "How many successes?"
"Just three so far." He shook his head as he kept his focus level on the assembler. Trying to stuff the mess of cables and components into a limited space without breaking anything always eluded Carlos so far. "This mech is just too damn finicky with its internals. The three intact mechs I've fabricated so far are complete flukes."
Funding his first employee's fabrication spree also took a toll on Ves. He expected Carlos to master the process now that more than a month went by. What he saw instead was Carlos tripping over the last hurdle over and over.
Ves stretched out his palm. "Okay, this clearly isn't working. Just stop."
"I'm sorry Ves. I thought I could master it, but this darned design is too insane."
"You should see the original Caesar Augustus. That one is at least fifty percent harder to put together. In any case, there's no use for you to work on either designs. They're too advanced and too complex."
"Then what should I do next?"
Obviously Ves didn't want Carlos to sit on his thumbs waiting for him to finish his redesign. "Go ahead and practice on my virtual mechs for now. You need to get the hang of fabricating all kinds of mechs. Start with my 1-star designs like the simple Nomad and work your way up to my 3-star Young Blood."
"I'll be sure to master the Young Blood once you're done with your redesign." Carlos promised him. He knew he screwed up.
"That's good, because some of the design principles I've used in the Young Blood will carry over to the Marc Antony Mk II. By the way, the Young Blood also makes use of compressed armor, so you should skip that step as usual until you are ready to learn its principles."
Alloy compression was an extremely sensitive and dangerous process that could go wrong in many ways. At best it could ruin a batch of multi-million credits worth of exotics. At worst, the entire compression machine might blow up.
Ves still had to find a way to automate the production of compressed armor plating. One of the reasons why he hungered for the Dortmund was that it could link up to a good quality alloy compressor and fabricate compressed plates in a single session.
After settling his fabricator's new training, Ves left the workroom and entered the area where Lucky previously hibernated. The glowing blue ball winked out a few days ago and left a sparkling new mechanical cat in place.
His pet clearly benefited from the unidentified piece of ore from Master Olson. It must have been worth quite a lot, but without any headway into figuring out its use, Ves had no regrets in passing it on to Lucky.
"How are you buddy? Have you recovered from your sleep?"
Lucky tiredly meowed at him while brushing its burnished bronze exterior with his tongue. Ves bent down and scratched his mechanical pet between the ears. He admired Lucky's shiny new exterior and examined his status.
[Pet Status]
Name: Lucky
Owner: Ves Larkinson
Rank: Gold [Exclusive]
Level: 2
Skills
[Gem Excretion II]
[Energy Claws I]
Lucky already gained the ability to claw through armor from a previous gift. His cat did not gain anything special this time when it consumed the ore. Instead, his cat leveled up. Ves understood that as an upgrade to its core functionality. The cat grew a little tougher, faster and maybe smarter.
His exclusive Gem Excretion ability also advanced. Any gems that Lucky excreted from now turned into real treasures. Compared to the pitiful gems that Ves had stuffed in a safe, the newer gems should be twice as strong.
Ves already looked forward to what Lucky might 'produce'. He already had his Anonymizing Stamp in hand. "It's getting dangerous these days. Don't go excreting your gems into the woods without me next time. Let me raise my Privacy Shield first before you do your business."
Lucky lightly smacked his hand with his paw, as if expressing his dissatisfaction.
"Don't be like that Lucky. I already have a huge shipment of tasty ores in my storage room."
That certainly perked up the cat. Lucky rose from his bed and raced out of the living room in a hasty scramble. Ves scratched his head. Did his cat even know how to open the locks?
He followed after his overeager pet and opened one of the drawers for him. He only withdrew a modest chunk of minerals for his cat. He didn't want to see his cat grow fat.
"Take your time, Lucky. I've got plenty of stock ready for you to devour." He cooed, already thinking about the small mountain of gems his pet could excrete.
Having taken care of Lucky's dinner, Ves left the living room and exited the workshop.
Underneath the ever-present clouds, a highly automated construction force fortified the perimeter. The bots already removed the flimsy electric fence. Sanyal-Ablin's workers already measured out an expanded square of fortified walls. Large glowing pillars of light marked the locations where they planned to place the turrets.
Ves approached the construction foreman. "Any problems?"
"None that requires your attention, Mr. Larkinson. The soil here is softer than we anticipated, so we will have to treat it along the way. We're also having difficulties in obtaining our permits from the Freslin City Council. Without their say-so, we aren't allowed to install our heavy turrets."
"I see." Ves thinned his lips. He forgot about the local government in his expansion plans. "What kind of objections have they mentioned?"
"Well, nothing. They don't outright reject our applications, but they are letting them hang in limbo. This seems strange because there aren't any other major projects that is going on that can explain the delays."
The foreman didn't spell out his suspicions directly, but Ves got the message.
"Do I need to pay a visit to the city hall? Remind them that there's a time sensitive project waiting for their approval in my yard?" Ves asked as he tried to figure out a way to exert his influence on the government without ruining his relationship with them. After all, he still enjoyed a privileged status.
"It may help. It's rather strange. Normally our name is enough to cow the local bureaucrats. Our managers suspect that someone else is directing their obstruction."
That was great. "Do you know if the mastermind is from the Republic or from the Coalition?"
"You'll have to speak with Miss Robyn for that. My guess is that it's a foreigner who's stuck their hands into the pot."
"Okay, thank you for informing me." Ves said and tipped his head to the helpful foreman. "I'll dig into this immediately."
"Thank you, Mr. Larkinson. The longer this goes on, the more it will cost."
Ves grumbled a bit. Who thought that with his status, a local still dared to mess around. He could forgive a politician or a bureaucrat who opposed him for a good reason, but this naked obstructionism benefited no one but the shadow behind the scenes.


Humanity has conquered half the galaxy and the Age of Mechs reigns supreme!

Ves Larkinson lacked the genetic aptitude to become a famed mech pilot. Fighting against his fate, he studied mech design in order to express his love for mechs as a builder instead of a soldier.

When Ves graduated from college, he returned to a new but empty boutique. Left with a small, newly founded mech workshop that his father painstakingly built with a mountain of debt, Ves somehow needs to make ends meet with the bank breathing down his neck.

In the midst of his despair, he found salvation from another legacy his father had left.

"Welcome to the Mech Designer System. Please design your new mech."

--Join The Mech Touch's unofficial Discord server: https://discord.gg/APB5KCU

sporting books for sale

FOR SALE: Feelings for Keith

The Black Card

(__)

Trinity: omniverse traveling cat

Supreme Uprising

Legend of Swordsman

Library of Heaven's Path (Tagalog)

Accidental Pregnancy

Destiny Rings Tagalog (New Version)

The Mech Touch

People search sporting books for sale also like: