Michael was fortunate that his worries didn't turn into reality. Solving the problems about the two powerhouses that tormented his mind had been rather easy.
He ended up worrying more about potential problems with the War Priestess and the Berserker Chieftain than necessary. Thankfully, they didn't find out about Extraction's existence. Therefore, there was no problem, in the first place. If anything, the two Leaders' opinion of Michael improved even further after they found out that Michael's Soultraits were capable of storing the memories of the war criminals in his mind.
According to their point of view, Michael had sacrificed a lot to procure crucial information. His sacrifice was far bigger than they'd anticipated.
Silvana and Palika felt bad for thinking that Michael didn't have anything to sacrifice. In their opinion, the youthful Lord lost nothing to procure the information they had required to find and retrieve the Tritaenus spaceship. But that was wrong. They had been wrong.
Watching Michael's expression change several times as the memories of the war criminals flashed through his eyes flooded the two older Awakened with guilt. Observing the anger in his eyes as he lived through the memories of those merciless and terrifying men was definitely not easy.
Silvana and Palika clearly recalled what had happened in the memories stored in the Memory Crystals, and they couldn't help but feel that Michael was worthy to be called a brave and tenacious Warrior. Michael was a brave soul, and he should be protected at all costs.
Not only did Michael protect their kind more than once, he was also one of the few who actively approached other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to establish connections. He protected others and offended his own people to make sure that the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers were treated on equal terms. His determination to keep the Tritan Alliance intact and protect it was obvious. If not for his selfless offer to interrogate the war criminals – even if that meant that he had to imprint their memories in his mind – they would have never gotten back the Tritaenus, and their future plans would have been destroyed.
But that was not all. Michael was also powerful. Silvana and Palika couldn't even guess how many Soultraits Michael possessed at this point. He was like an onion with countless layers. He…was a treasure and a true prodigy.
Michael noticed the changes in both Palika Mavenham and Silvana Zentur's body language and way of interacting with him, and he was not sure if he deserved this kind of treatment. He wanted to help Alice and the others, but he also had selfish intentions when he offered to interrogate the war criminals.
Of course, Michael wasn't a fool to be upset about their preferential treatment. He didn't have the luxury to do so. The only luxury he had was to be in possession of a bunch of Tier-4 and Tier-5 Artifacts he'd extracted from the war criminals. Their quality was also pretty decent.
Selling the Artifact would provide enough funds to complete a few tasks on his to-do list. After adding the rewards he was about to obtain from his Battle Exchange ranking, and for offering his help, Michael hoped that he had enough funds to complete the Teleportation Array, start upgrading his Basic Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank and maybe even continue with the Intermediate or Advanced level of the Sacred Knight Temple – once the Basic level had been constructed.
'But then again…better techniques might as well be better than some funds. Neither Sacred Rectification, nor Caesurium Menta, or Pandemonium's Requiem are top-tier techniques. They're not as potent and efficient as Inheritance techniques. As for combat techniques… I have too few of them…quite literally…'
Michael was deep in thought as he was led outside the underground prison. Silvana and Palika thought that he needed some time to fight with the demonic memories that had taken root in his mind. Therefore, they left him alone to clear his mind. Instead of bothering him right now, Palika forwarded a few files to keep him informed about the most recent changes about the Interdimensional Flag War and the happenings in Piloq. Silvana then shared a file about the battle with Dark Heavens.
Michael was led to a large room, or a ginormous bedroom to be precise, that had been emptied for him. In the center of the room hung a large chandelier. It shimmered brightly and attracted Michael's interest for a moment. His eyes moved to the king-sized bed and the dozens of cushions spread all over it. He then looked over to the huge wall of bookshelves on the other side. The bookshelves were filled with books, probably hundreds of them.
Their titles were quite interesting as well.
[Compendium of Mythical Creatures]
[Origin of the Expanse]
[The Will's Nature: The Foundation of Power]
[The Will's Nature II: Utilizing the Will]
[Achievement Stores and its Utilities]
…
Michael was curious about the previous owner of the room. Thus he asked the Berserker Chieftain.
Interestingly enough, the room had been Elder Xerx's residence before the…incidents…happened. Michael was given the room as a small gift of gratitude for the support he offered. He was given a few more pieces of information before the two Leaders left Michael alone – not without forgetting to profusely thank him once again.
By now it was obvious that the Leaders were going out of their way to ensure that he was taken care of. They were too forthcoming. It was uncomfortable at this point.
Once left alone, Michael began to skim through the messages and notifications on his crystal watch.
[Congratulations for successfully protecting your Flag War Token. As the 23rd Seed of the Duo Campaign, you can collect your resources from the Management Department *Now*. You may also select delivery to hire a courier to send over your reward package!]
[Dear Mr Fang. We would like to inform you that the Vice President of the Bartholomew Corporation provided a detailed report about your selfless actions for mankind's sake. The Seeds of Demonic Breed have been detected and removed thanks to your contribution. The Bartholomew Corporation wants to thank you for your extraordinary achievement. Your diamond-level discount will increase and your profit share of the Agriculture Project will increase to 21%. This is just a small gift of gratitude for saving the Barren Lands and the Agriculture Project from going extinct before it could flourish properly….]
The second message was quite long. It unlocked a bunch of functions he couldn't use before. But the most intriguing was a particular function that hadn't been available before.
[You may now use the Anonymous Trading and the Mysterious Auction. If you want to trade or auction rare materials through the Bartholomew Corporation you may go to any of our shops to do so. We ensure 100% anonymity and excellent customer service.]
Anonymous Trading sounded like a very useful function for Michael. He could use this function to trade his Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. Using the Anonymous Trading function, Michael wouldn't have to look for trading partners actively. He could use the Bartholomew Corporation to amass Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.
But since Michael didn't want to rely on the Bartholomew Corporation, he would trade with Alice and maybe talk to Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb as well. A few more connections might be suitable targets to trade his Mythic Scrolls, but Michael was not in a rush, not anymore.
[Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Hello Michael… to be honest, I am not sure what I'm supposed to say right now. As you might know, I've never been in a situation like this. Jacqueline told me that she informed you about my…situation. It's a little bit embarrassing, to be honest. But…I think I should thank you for what you did. I don't think I deserve your help, but I'm relieved that I was unconscious and couldn't reject it. The healer is a little bitch who complains about everything, but she does her job well. Thanks to her – and your support – I will be able to heal again.]
[Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Putting aside my thankfulness…I'm at a loss. My condition will improve enough to start training soon, but I won't be able to return to the Origin Expanse. The Arygats – that's the name of the enemies I faced-. they're monstrosities whose attacks inflicted curses and destroyed everything I owned. I was the last survivor of my people, and the Arygats' Lord knows where I opened my Runic Gate. He must have created a trap around my anchor to ensure that if I dare to return I won't be able to go anywhere. So…I don't know what to do. Jacqueline tells me to elope with her and run away, but…I can't do that. She loves her family too much, and I don't want to be the one to force her to make that difficult choice of who to abandon.]
[Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Please ignore my rumbling. I have nobody to rant to, so…please just forget everything I've been messaging you. I…just feel helpless. I need strength but my father has been crippled and I am useless. I am a nobody, my Soultrait is not strong enough, and our Inheritance technique is of Inferior quality compared to other Inheritance techniques. How am I supposed to give Jacqueline what she deserves? How am I supposed to protect my father, and heal him? I need strength, but I cannot even use the Origin Expanse…]
Frederik had never been an obedient and calm child. He was known for his bad temper and ugly personality. But these messages…they were different. Michael was not sure what to say or to think.
He stared at his chat with Frederik and pressed his lips together before he typed something.
[Michael Fang: There is no need to thank me. Focus on your recovery first. That's the most important. You might feel like you owe me something, but I don't really think like that. I don't mind helping out a friend as long as I have the means to do so.]
Michael had more than enough to give Frederik a helping hand. Frederik Kolbenheim was about to lose everything. He shouldn't have to worry about his physique as well. He licked his lower lip, his fingers hovering over the holographic keyboard.
[Michael Fang: Would it be enough if you gained enough strength to oppress the potential marriage candidates the Elders have chosen for Jacqueline? Would that satisfy the Elders, or is there more you have to do? Like regaining your territory?]
He was not yet sure why he asked this question, but he sent the message after a while. There was a lot Michael had to reconsider, but he felt like he was doing the right thing by sending the message.
The chat with Frederik Kolbenheim closed and another chat opened. It was his chat with Alice Zenovia, and a bombardment of questions appeared on the holographic screen. Alice had been asking him where he was, how he was doing, and when he would come back. She mentioned the end of the Battle Exchange, the fight for Tritaenus, and the death of various powerhouses. Apparently, her friend had been injured quite severely as well. Fortunately, Maria Seraph chose to offer her help and tend to the wounds of the injured.
[Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I really don't understand this little girl. Sometimes she avoids people by all means and runs away from healing the wounds of those who are on the brink of death, and other times she goes beyond her limit to tend to everyone. This time she even said that she would accumulate enough energy to heal the War Priestess' arm and tend to everyone else who's still injured by the time she returns. I really think that she has a few loose screws in her head.]
Michael raised an eyebrow while reading the second last message but the message that followed right after was even more ridiculous.
[Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Are you ghosting me now, or did Maria kidnap you and thrash your crystal watch? I swear, I will beat you during our next training session if I find out that you've been ignoring me!]
He let out a faint chuckle and shook his head in denial.
'This girl is getting more insane the more I get to know about her.' Then Michael typed a short message.
[Michael Fang: I was doing some tasks for the War Priestess and the Chieftain. Now I'm back. We can continue our Mythic Scroll trade if you're still interested. My subjects should have collected a few more by now. If you're interested you might be able to make a once-in-a-lifetime deal with me!"
Michae sighed deeply, feeling satisfied with himself. At last, he sent another small message to Alice.
[Michael Fang: I wouldn't ignore you. Don't worry.]
