Chapter 423 - 422: It Will

Chapter 423: Chapter 422: It Will

"Haven’t seen any."

"No... she’s a big shot at the center of all this drama. If someone had used an arena challenge on her, don’t you think the Zone Channel would’ve exploded by now? Would you even need to be asking here?"

"Whoa! Isn’t that wild? How many people were in that hoarding group? Four! Cloudmute is dead, Artemis is dead, so does that mean Mountainwind and Nathan Kane are next?"

"What goes around comes around."

"This is karma. It’s all just deserts!"

"So are they still selling Expansion Crystals?"

"They’re dead. How are they supposed to sell anything?"

"If they stop selling... what about my hut? I’ve been scrambling to get Expansion Crystals. Every night, I can hear the bugs chewing away at my hut, bit by bit. I can’t sleep at all. I was finally able to start buying Expansion Crystals... Why?!"

"Hey, you’ve survived this long. You can’t handle a couple more days? The market will reset after the Zone merge. You’ll be able to buy Expansion Crystals for even cheaper then."

"Easy for you to say! My hut can’t take much more of this! The bugs are going to eat it whole!"

"Whining! More whining! I seriously don’t get how you people have survived this long. The mobile hut is made of wood, and wood is a basic material! What can you use wood for? Repairs! Get it?!"

"You can do that?"

"Thanks for the tip, big shot! You really saved my sorry hide!"

"It’s because of people like you that clueless folks like us can survive!"

For a moment, the channel was filled with an endless stream of praise.

Seraphina Sinclair’s lips twitched. ’I can’t believe they need to be reminded of such a basic survival tactic.’

But it takes all sorts to make a world, I suppose.

Seraphina Sinclair scoffed internally and continued scrolling.

"But... is the Zone merge really happening? There hasn’t been any official news, right?"

"If we don’t merge soon, everyone in our Zone is going to be dead! If the System has any sense at all, it knows we need to merge, right?"

It was a bit crude, but it was the truth.

Seraphina Sinclair thought so, and so did everyone else.

The atmosphere in the Zone Channel instantly improved, as if everyone had caught a glimpse of hope.

It made sense, though. The people who had been hoarding Expansion Crystals for so long had gotten their comeuppance, those who desperately needed them to upgrade their huts now had a solution, and prices in the market would return to normal after the Zone merge. No matter how you looked at it, this was all good news.

As the Zone Channel moved on to other topics, no one paid any more attention to Mountainwind and Nathan Kane.

Seraphina Sinclair, however, suddenly found herself a little interested in the two. She looked at Luna Jacobs. "What exactly was the hush money you gave Mountainwind and Nathan Kane?"

Luna Jacobs told her the truth. "I engraved runes on their weapons to increase their damage."

So that was it.

’She used her status as an Engraving Master to win them over. No wonder Luna Jacobs wasn’t willing to tell me the truth back then. She’s always been incredibly tight-lipped about being an Engraving Master.’

Seraphina Sinclair nodded and turned away, but her mind started racing again.

Luna Jacobs had said that you could only learn one of the four major professions. ’In that case, if someone without a profession kills someone who has one, would the profession be transferred?’

"It would."

Luna Jacobs’s voice was low, and it trembled slightly.

Only then did Seraphina Sinclair realize she had asked the question out loud.

She turned her head to look at Luna Jacobs.

Luna Jacobs’s face was a little pale.

It wasn’t the paleness of fear, but the kind that comes from... remembering something you’d rather forget.

"How do you know?" Seraphina Sinclair asked.

Luna Jacobs was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Because I took the Engraving Master’s legacy from someone else."

’Killing someone isn’t exactly strange in this world, is it?’

’But this expression on Luna Jacobs’s face is a rare sight.’

Seraphina Sinclair guessed the problem probably lay with the person she had killed.

But she had gotten the answer she wanted, so she didn’t press further.

Luna Jacobs looked at Seraphina Sinclair’s impassive face, suddenly at a loss for words.

She had just admitted to killing someone and stealing their legacy. In front of anyone else, a confession like that would have elicited some kind of reaction.

Surprise, wariness, disgust—there should have been something, right?

But Seraphina Sinclair showed nothing.

She just listened calmly, received her answer calmly, and then calmly looked away to think about other things.

Luna Jacobs was stunned for a moment, then she suddenly smiled.

It was a faint smile, so faint that Seraphina Sinclair didn’t even notice it.

When she had said those words, she had actually been waiting for a reaction.

Waiting for Seraphina Sinclair to ask, "Who was it?" or "How did you kill them?" or even "Do you regret it?"

She had even prepared her answers, but the questions never came.

Luna Jacobs suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Apparently, not everyone was like those people who would stare at your scars and dig for every last detail.

She looked down at the Gloom Hatchling in her arms and gently patted its back. The little thing was sound asleep, completely unaware of what had just happened.

Truth be told, Luna Jacobs didn’t quite understand what had just happened either. ’Perhaps at first I was only forced to work for Seraphina Sinclair by that puppet item, but now... maybe there’s some sincerity in it?’

But no matter what, her loyalty remained unchanged.

Not that Seraphina Sinclair would care.

Just as her thoughts were drifting, Seraphina Sinclair’s voice came from beside her. "The blueprint."

Luna Jacobs looked up.

Seraphina Sinclair was holding the blueprint for the Black Fog Crystal Energy Storage Lamp, holding it out to her.

"When can you have it improved?"

Luna Jacobs took the blueprint and examined it carefully.

Her eyes turned that silvery-white color again as she focused intently on every line on the blueprint.

After a long while, she finally spoke.

"I need materials."

"Name them."

Luna Jacobs reeled off a long list of names.

Seraphina Sinclair listened as she spoke, retrieving each item from her Silver Moon Earrings as Luna named it.

By the end, she had produced every single material without exception.

Luna Jacobs’s lips moved, but no words came out. She was utterly convinced.

’Rank one truly is rank one. Her hoarding ability is even more ridiculous than mine.’

Looking at the small mountain of materials in front of her, Luna Jacobs suddenly understood why she had lost so miserably in the arena.

She had hoarded for so long, schemed for so long, only for the other woman to casually pull out every material she needed.

’This is just ridiculous.’

"Is it enough?" Seraphina Sinclair asked.

"It’s... it’s enough." Luna Jacobs swallowed hard. "It’s more than enough."

Seraphina Sinclair nodded without a word.

Luna Jacobs crouched down and began to sort through the materials.

Her movements were practiced. Each time she picked something up, the silver light in her eyes would flash, as if she were confirming something.

Seraphina Sinclair stood beside her and watched, not rushing her.

After a good while, Luna Jacobs finally looked up. "These are indeed all I need. Boss, improving the blueprint will take time. I’ll need a few days."