Chapter 178: The Gift of the King-Rank Core

When he opened the door, Wendy was standing outside under the pale wash of the moonlight.

Moonlight spilled across the entrance, illuminating her delicate, refined features and giving her an almost ethereal, otherworldly appearance. Her dark hair fell neatly over her shoulders, framing her face softly, and she seemed to have taken a considerable amount of time to compose herself before walking over to his villa.

Ethan’s eyes brightened with quiet amusement as he looked at her.

’Well, well. Just as I expected, she couldn’t keep it off her mind.’

"Is something the matter?" he asked, keeping his tone light and inviting.

He stepped aside to clear the threshold.

"Come in."

Wendy nodded silently and walked into the room, her footsteps making barely a sound against the polished floor.

Her gaze briefly travelled over the simple, tidy furnishings of the living area before returning to him. She stood there awkwardly with her hands clasped together tightly in front of her, clearly struggling to find the right words to begin.

Truth be told, she had rehearsed what she wanted to say several times on her walk over here.

She had planned her sentences carefully, weighing every possible response he might give.

But now that she was standing right in front of him, every single one of those carefully prepared sentences seemed to have completely vanished from her mind.

The Eagle King Core was simply too valuable. It was a treasure of unimaginable magnitude in this broken world.

She knew intimately how much effort, danger, and sheer grit it had taken Ethan to obtain it. He had fought a terrifying King-Rank Mutant Beast, risked his life on the edge of death, and nearly lost comrades along the way.

How could she possibly have the nerve to casually ask him to hand over such an astronomical treasure?

Overwhelmed by the weight of her own thoughts, she lowered her eyes, staring at the floorboards.

"Ethan, I..."

Before she could finish her hesitant sentence, he reached casually into his pocket.

A brilliant, intense blue-white glow suddenly illuminated his palm, casting dancing shadows across the walls of the room.

Wendy’s words died instantly in her throat.

The Core.

She recognized that unique, overwhelming aura immediately.

It was the genuine Eagle King Core, the exact legendary treasure she had been agonizing over all evening, struggling with how to even bring it up in conversation.

Ethan held it out toward her without a hint of hesitation.

"This is for you."

For several long seconds, Wendy didn’t move an inch.

Her beautiful eyes widened in profound shock as she stared directly at the glowing Core. The powerful, crackling energy radiating from its surface made the tiny hairs on her arms stand completely on end.

She looked down at the treasure, and then slowly raised her eyes back to meet Ethan’s calm expression.

He was smiling gently.

There was no hesitation in his expression, no reluctance, and certainly no sign that he was joking or testing her.

"For... me?"

Her voice trembled slightly, betraying the immense turbulence inside her chest.

Ethan nodded firmly.

"Yes. It’s yours."

Wendy stared at him in absolute disbelief, unable to process his generosity.

She had come here hoping against hope to ask whether he might ever consider giving her the Core, or perhaps loaning it so Kate could use it. She hadn’t even known how to begin broaching the subject without sounding greedy.

Yet he had voluntarily offered it to her before she could even complete her sentence.

Her very first instinct, forged by the harsh survival rules of the Apocalypse, was to refuse.

The Core was simply too precious, too life-altering. She couldn’t simply accept something of such immense, priceless value without feeling that she owed him an explanation—or worse, that she was taking unfair advantage of him.

But then, like a flash, she remembered Kate.

Her dearest friend had spent days fighting tooth and nail against the Eagle King, pushing past her absolute limits. If this Core could help Kate break through her bottlenecks, surely it would be infinitely better in her hands?

Wendy hesitated miserably, torn between her conscience and her loyalty to her friend.

Her fingers slowly reached out, trembling slightly, and brushed against the smooth, chillingly cold surface of the Core.

A sharp, invigorating sensation spread rapidly across her fingertips, charging through her veins.

That small, physical touch brought her crashing back to reality.

She looked up at Ethan again, struggling desperately to find something meaningful, something intelligent to say.

Why was he giving her something so catastrophically valuable?

What did he expect in return from her?

She wanted to ask him those exact questions out loud, but the words completely refused to form in her dry throat.

In the end, all she managed to squeeze out was a quiet, choked whisper:

"Thank you."

With a sudden motion, she closed her fingers tightly around the glowing Core, claiming it before she lost her nerve.

Then, almost as if she were deeply terrified that she might change her mind and hand it back, she spun around on her heel and hurried toward the door.

She was so flustered and overwhelmed that she completely forgot to close the door behind her as she left.

Ethan watched her slender figure disappear quickly down the corridor, an amused, affectionate smile lingering on his face.

A moment later, the sound of her hurried, light footsteps faded completely into the distance outside.

Wendy didn’t stop running or slowing her pace until she reached the absolute safety of her own villa.

She slammed the door shut behind her and leaned heavily back against it, taking several deep, ragged breaths to calm her racing lungs.

Her heart was pounding furiously against her ribs like a trapped bird.

She looked down slowly at the Core resting safely in her palm.

The brilliant blue-white light reflected brightly in her wide eyes, illuminating her utterly stunned, beautiful expression in the dark room.

It felt impossibly heavy in her hand.

And it wasn’t because of its physical weight, but rather because of the profound implications of what accepting it truly meant. A King-Rank Core was a legendary treasure that countless desperate survivors would happily kill or die for, yet Ethan had handed it to her like it was nothing more than a polished stone, without asking for a single thing in return.

She tightened her grip around it until her knuckles turned white.

’How am I ever supposed to repay him for a gift like this?’

Meanwhile, back in the quiet comfort of his villa, Ethan wasn’t thinking about her internal dilemma at all. He was already sitting back comfortably, waiting expectantly for the system notification to trigger.

As expected, the familiar chime rang out clearly in his mind almost immediately.

[Ding! You have gifted a King-Rank Core to a female with a Beauty Score of 100. Special conditions have been triggered...]

Ethan’s eyes lit up with brilliant anticipation.

He straightened his posture instantly in his seat, his breathing quickening slightly as he eagerly reached out with his mind to open the system panel.

A Beauty Score of 100.

An authentic King-Rank Core.

And special, rare conditions triggered on top of that base achievement.

He couldn’t help wondering what kind of monumental, game-changing reward the system had prepared for him this time around.

Whatever it turned out to be, he had a very strong feeling it wouldn’t disappoint his expectations in the slightest.