n

n

n

"Of course, I estimate this to be on par with a good dark gold item, or a common red item,

" she excitedly said,

"I'll ask for a common red graded item for you. Even for such a tycoon, red graded items aren't that cheap to acquire, hahaha!

"

nShe seemed elated and in a better mood now. But I hurriedly stopped her.

n

"Wait, can I add more bones to it?

" When I heard about her initial assessment, and putting my deadly ballista as an assessment measure, I knew how valuable this chance was.

n

"Add more?

" she blinked, as if she saw me as a real tycoon here,

"I told you, only one item can be put up to the bet.

"

nI knew that, but I couldn't let such a chance slip by. I had two options here, either to replace this bone with a gold graded bone, or…

n

"I know about such rules, but aren't pills and potions sold in packs?

" I said what I had in mind,

"consider these bones as one pack,

" I said while taking out enough white graded bones to form a dozen with the one she had in her hands.

n

"This…

" just seeing all these bones made her drool more and she literally jumped over the bones and snatched them from my hands.

"You are really generous and daring to bet them here.

"

nI grinned evilly. Come on girl! Stop this little show here. You and I knew very well that this bet was in my pocket.

n

"I want something specific in return,

" I didn't get all these bones out just for show,

"in fact I want two things.

"

n

"Anything you want will be considered strongly by the impact,

" she said without a speck of hesitation,

"provided that it's not against the rules.

"

n

"First, what I want him to bet is something related to warfare,

" I pointed at my small and lonely ballista before adding,

"like my little toy here.

"

n

"That's granted,

" she nodded,

"and I'll make sure he will pay something to make him bleed, hahaha!

"

nFor some reason I felt little sympathy towards that dragon dude. He messed up with a lady he shouldn't touch.

n

"I trust you on this,

" I said, while not starting any more conditions other than being something that I could use in my upcoming wars.

nIf I got something on par with my ballista, something that could shift the tides of any battle, then this auction was considered done for me.

n

"The second thing is a business deal proposal,

" I was here to win this bet and buy more warriors to my collection or good weapons and gears as the rules stated. But from her reaction just now, I could tell there was a better chance for a great deal.

n

"Business deal? Sure, we are always open for business,

" she was so excited to not say no to any of my requests.

n

"After this bet is done, I want to put the bones in the exchange window that you have,

" I pointed at the bones in her hands.

n

"This…

" she paused,

"I can't promise you anything related to the bet. After all, the bet isn't over and you haven't won it yet.

"

nGirl! Drop the act please! But it seemed she was bound by the rules of the place. After all, when she said that, she winked at me as a signal for her inability to agree on such a condition.

n

"I don't care about these bones,

" I acted like a real tycoon this time, even carelessly shrugging my shoulders as I took more bones from my inventory, a dozen ones,

"I have lots to spare anyway.

"

n

"You…

" her face changed again when she saw my bones.

n

"These bones are much better than the ones you have,

" I said,

"but I won't put them in your impact exchange. I trust my ability to win this bet. But if I lose it, then these little ones here will be in your care.

"

n

"Why give me reasons to wish for your loss?

" she rolled up her eyes. But come one, you already knew I was going to win this.

"Alright, that goes with the rules. What price do you want me to set for you as the basic price and buyout price? Or you want me to handle these things for you in return for a small fee?

"

n

"Neither,

" I firmly shook my head,

"I don't want to sell them, I want to exchange them for something I wanted.

"

n

"Exchange… I can do that for you,

" she winked,

"in return for one little bone of yours, one of the good ones indeed!

"

nGirl! Did you have a grandfather of a dragon race or what? Why act greedy with me now?

nYet I nodded. First this wasn't my best graded bone after all. And second I just realised from this short discussion the immense value of having a friend as her as a backing.

n

"Here,

" I didn't wait and threw one bone of what I had to her before she asked:

n

"What do you want to exchange for? Warriors?

"

n

"Hmm… I'm thinking about something more precious,

" I didn't reject the idea of expanding my warriors, but I was looking for something else.

"I wanted a kingdom heart, can I have it with these bones?

"

n

"Kingdom hearts?!!

" she gaped open her mouth when she heard my words,

"how do you do about that?!!!

"

n

"I just heard,

" I shrugged without delving much into any of my secrets. Of course I knew about that, after all it was mentioned to me by the old man through the beads.

"Can I get it?

"

n

"Not a chance,

" unlike my expectations, she firmly shook her head,

"this thing is far more precious, even more precious than your entire stock of bones.

"

n

"This…

" I frowned. I already knew this thing was precious, but how come it wasn't offered here?

"May I know how to get it then?

"

n

"Hearts of kingdoms are a precious item, no sane person will share it with anyone, not even for a treasure,

" she stressed over this point again, indirectly answering my question.

n

"But there are old worlds who got controlled and ruled over by races, right? Why can't the extra hearts of kingdoms be sold then?

"

n

"That's for a proper reason,

" she raised her finger,

"each race in the apocalypse have only limited slots of such hearts. To acquire those, you need to exterminate an existing kingdom which is very hard to do, or to exterminate an entire race early on at the first apocalyptic stages.

"

nHer words shone more light over what I didn't know before. Yet she didn't give me any explanation about why I couldn't get what I wanted.

n

"Just wait until I finish,

" she seemed to notice my lacking to understand her reasons here, so she stopped me before adding:

n

"The old worlds are already controlled by races, and yes they have a lot of extra hearts of kingdoms. But they won't give even a single one for anyone, not even in exchange for a treasure. Do you know why?

"

nGirl! That was why I asked you to elaborate in the first place! If I knew, why would I have to ask?

nBut I shook my head and she continued,

"They are looking for candidates to control as many new worlds as possible. In our world, the number of each race controlled worlds are important, very important. No one is insane enough to accept your deal, not even me, not even the higher ups in the impact.

"

nHer words and rejection were firm. Her reasoning wasn't illogical, but I still couldn't agree with it. But what else could I do?

n

"You can change your request right now,

" she said,

"anything else is possible.

"

n

"I…

" I paused for a second. In fact, asking for warriors wasn't a bad deal. I knew my bones would sell for high prices in the impact. But it seemed like I was missing something important.

nWhat did I lack most? Skills were something I lacked the most. But asking for skills in exchange for the bones was a far worse deal than asking for warriors.

nI couldn't settle with that!

n

"Let me think about this then,

" so I retreated a step,

"it won't be too late to ask for this in the future, right?

"

n

"You already paid for this,

" she threw her bone in the air, seemingly cheering to get her hands over it,

"once you made up your mind, send me a message.

"

nBefore I asked her about how, I got a notification that she added me as a friend. And I simply accepted.

n

"Let's go back,

" she cheerfully said,

"I have a dragon jerk to screw, hahaha!

"

nThe next moment I found myself back again. It looked like I never left my place to begin with.

nAnd the moment I returned, I heard a loud noise coming as if a heated debate was going on here.

n

"I placed fifty thousand points on the green tile!

"

n

"Place these, take them all… Place them on the green tile!

"

n

"The green tile… Put all of them on the green tile!

"

nI looked over and saw many of the people smoking amidst a heated storm at the stage. They were giving many things to the few pitch black silhouettes over there, and shouting such weird things.

n

"What's going on here?

" I couldn't help but wonder.

n

"Oh, you came,

" the one who started all this was still by my side. I looked over and couldn't help but feel more positive about him.

nAfter all he did like that nymph did, publicly opposing not only the angels, but also that arrogant dragon lord or something.

n

"Just now,

" I shrugged,

"what's the deal?

" I pointed at the large crowd even fighting among themselves to reach the stage.

n

"They are betting,

" the man said,

"on the final winner. You have the red tile, and that arrogant bastard has the green one.

"

n

"Oh!

" I was amazed by this! Those higher ups of the Birngold impact knew how to strike a deal even amidst an apocalypse!

"But how come I wasn't informed by this?

"

nThis made me feel a little betrayed! Come one, you all knew I would end up winning. So the loot of this bet would be really massive.

n

"Don't be annoyed,

" but the man said in a calm tone,

"you'll get a big share out of this if you win. By the way…

"

nHe paused, even leant over my side as he whispered,

"Tell me, mate, do you have a feeling about the winner?

"

nI looked at his face shrouded in that pale gold smoke. He was a grade higher than me, yet I couldn't refuse to give him a hint.

n

"Aside from your feelings towards that jerk, if I were you, I wouldn't miss this chance and bet on me,

" I answered with the same whispering tone before he suddenly sprinted away while raising his hand and shouting:

n

"Thanks mate, I'll be sure to repay this kindness later.

"

nI stood in my place, not knowing if I should laugh or cry. I couldn't see the face of that dude, and I wouldn't be able to meet him again or even contact him.

nUnless… There was a way to do that! When he returned, I'd ask him about this.

nBut he didn't return fast. He stayed for ten minutes amidst the chaos before the bet was over by the orders of those on the stage and everyone returned.

nI wanted to ask him but as that winged nymph appeared, she instantly said in excited tone:

n

"Now we have two things offered from each side as a bet. Here are the two item assessments after being evaluated by the impact.

"

nTwo balls of smoke appeared hovering above the stage. The people here were returning to their initial spots while chatting, creating loud noise. Yet when the two balls appeared, I could hear nothing at all!

nIf a needle fell at this moment, I would definitely hear its clanging sound loud and clear.

n