"You shouldn’t do that," a deep voice jolted Elvis out of his thoughts.
Elvis suddenly froze, having been so focused on the panel that he hadn’t noticed the man sit up.
The burly man wore a suit that strained against his muscular build. His gruff, thug-like appearance made the formal attire seem at odds with his disposition, making Elvis’s heart race.
"Indiscriminately using [Life Inspection] on people isn’t morally right. You wouldn’t like it if someone peeked into your pants, would you?" the man said.
Elvis’s con-man instincts kicked in as he sensed the man might be trying to pin a serious accusation on him. "First of all, I didn’t do anything. That’s a very serious allegation. Secondly, where in the world is using [Life Inspection] equivalent to being a pervert? Does that mean we’ve been perverted beings all along for using it on monsters? Ew! That’s a disgusting, fetishistic thought, especially when using it on monsters. You might—"
"Kid, keep all that eloquence to yourself." The burly man cut him off without changing his expression. "In the wild, some people might just kill you for that. Just like staring is rude, using [Life Inspection] without permission is offensive. And people more powerful than you or more sensitive to will notice."
With that, he rested his head back on the desk.
Elvis froze before turning to Caelithia, who merely shrugged at him.
"Don’t mind him; it’s just his way of being kind, but he can’t articulate his advice clearly. Still, take his advice. Outside the city, some Awakeners might interpret such an act as probing before an attack, so they might strike first," the cashier lady advised with an amiable smile.
Elvis nodded.
"The price for everything is six hundred and twenty thousand Terris Credits."
Elvis transferred the money before picking up the storage bag. He performed [Shadow Mist] but stopped before the skill could activate, allowing a little of his mana to leak out and bind the storage bag to him.
Then, he felt his mind being dragged into a dark space, which he assumed was five cubic meters in size.
’Not too big, but manageable until I increase my level and grind enough money to get a more portable storage ring... Speaking of increasing my level...’
Elvis broke the connection with a thought and returned to his senses.
"Ma’am, do you guys have monster cores?" Elvis asked courteously.
"Yes. Which level do you want?"
"Level One."
"Um..." Elvis opened Caelithia’s tab to check, confirming she only needed ten monster cores to level up.
"Fifty," Caelithia suddenly replied before he could speak.
"Don’t listen to her, ma’am. We only need ten," Elvis hurriedly spoke, stopping the cashier just as she reached for the phone beside her.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Elvis turned and saw Caelithia glaring at him from the side.
He hurriedly pulled her aside and whispered in a very low voice, having learned his lesson about Awakeners’ keen hearing. "Ten for now. We still have other expenses. Once we’re done, we can buy more."
Caelithia finally relented.
Elvis returned to the cashier. "Just ten."
"Okay."
The cashier made the call. A few minutes later, a man arrived with a sealed bag and handed it to Elvis. Elvis paid before placing everything they had bought into his new storage bag.
They then left the trading center and took a cab to Seventh FF Street, where the building housing the Frozen Forest dungeon was located.
The guards, who were unfamiliar faces, were unyielding and refused to let them in. After much persuasion and a veiled threat to report them to their boss, they finally settled for calling the man inside.
A short while later, the man strode out of the gate with a cigarette between his lips.
"Thank you, sir, for your vital support in lending me this universal storage bag. You’re a godly hero in my bleak life." Elvis bowed deeply as he held out the storage bag to him.
The man accepted the bag with a nod.
Caelithia did the same, though with a slight bow as she expressed her thanks.
Elvis then drew closer to the man, ignoring the smell of cigarette smoke and his never-changing, sullen expression.
He whispered, barely audibly, "Sir, I don’t know if you could let my sister and me enter the dungeon today. I promise to give you ninety percent of the money from the monster carcasses we sell. We aren’t greedy folks."
The man merely threw him a dismissive glance before turning around and sauntering through the gate, leaving Elvis standing completely dumbfounded.
Caelithia giggled beside him. Get faster updates on g.com.
"What were you thinking?"
Elvis retorted, "Hey! Stop laughing. My thoughts were on the right track, but he’s just a dumb, inflexible oaf. I see where these patrolling guards got their priggish character from."
Suddenly, the man soundlessly appeared in front of him like a teleporting ghost.
"What did you call me?" he asked calmly.
Elvis hopped back while Caelithia dashed a distance away. He snapped his head toward the gate, trying to make sense of the situation, as he had clearly seen the man leave.
"I said, what did you call me?" the man asked again, his tone unchanged.
Elvis broke into a fawning smile, trying to make it look natural. "A highly valued man of integrity."
The man nodded and sauntered through the gate again.
Elvis watched him disappear before pulling Caelithia along and hurrying away. They took a cab in silence. Along the way, Elvis fidgeted, looking around and expecting the man to pop up like a ghost again. However, he never did, not even after they got home.
Elvis finally patted his chest and exhaled.
"What a scary experience."
"You should speak and act carefully. This isn’t where we came from. Now, where are the monster cores?" Caelithia asked.
"Yup! Let’s forget about that infle—" His voice trailed off as he swept his gaze across his surroundings, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Fortunately, the teleporting ghost didn’t appear.
"Like I was saying, let’s forget about that highly valued man of integrity."
He wasn’t taking any chances.
Then he gave Caelithia’s shoulder a sharp pat. "Let’s fatten you up, girl!"
"Fatten me up?!"