Chapter 766: Ticket [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]
The peacock soared into the skies and shot into the distance, leaving a trail of shocked warriors in their wake.
How long had that taken?
Two hours? At the very most?
And yet, not long later, they would receive news that Ulite City had also been conquered in much the same way.
Suddenly, the situation seemed to have changed once again. Just as they made a move to attack, the support they should have gained from the Generals and the soldiers under them vanished in a puff of smoke.
The soldiers were still there, but they couldn't be commanded with nearly as much ease. And now that Sylas controlled the commerce of not just one city, but three of them, they suddenly realized that it was in their best interest if things continued in peace.
...
Conquering the two cities with a Commerce Victory wasn't difficult. Paul and the Memory Merchant had had a far easier time establishing their businesses there. They already controlled more than 30% of the market share.
In order to secure a Commerce Victory, though, one needed to control double that.
It would obviously be far more difficult... if not for the fact Sylas had pockets deeper than he cared for, it would have taken much more time.
Sylas had an entire mine of Aether Stones to work with, and exchanging them for F-Coins in the Nexus was very easy.
The result was tanking the economy of the cities with a great deal of inflation, buying up properties and businesses at way over market value, and the odds that he would make his money back in short order was next to zero.
Now, he had also basically used up all of his Aether Stones outside of his Gold Ones. After selling them all, at an unfortunate discount, he was able to scrounge up over 70 billion F- Coins in capital, which allowed him to execute this maneuver with speed and efficiency.
Of course, he had already set Tasia on this task when he left for Guiz City three days ago, ready for this outcome.
There was a very good reason why he didn't fear the Professor in the slightest. As prepared as he was... Sylas didn't feel like he would lose to anyone in a battle of wits.
Especially not when he had such an advantage on the ground.
Did his resources match up to that of the entire government?
Almost certainly not.
But one would never guess by his demeanor that he was worried about in the slightest. Thanks to his efforts now, the already loose pack of sand that was these coming armies had been knocked down another peg.
**
Sylas returned to Casstle Main, his mind still whirring with thoughts.
'I guess that it's about time... I go and see what my rewards have to offer me...'
Sylas hadn't forgotten about the ticket he received to an out-world market. Now that he had the Aether Stones he needed to trigger his timelock treasure, there was no better time than now to leave.
There would probably never be a point where his life was fully at ease. This calm before the storm was definitely the best chance he would have.
Professor Broussard would probably take some time to adjust the changes in the situation. While he was stabilizing him, Sylas needed to go.
...
"I'm not sure if my body will disappear or not, and I'm not 100% certain if communication will be possible, but if there's a problem..." Sylas waved a hand and Szorn appeared. "... I think Szorn should be able to contact me."
"Yes, young master!" Szorn floated, its large eyes shining. "Also, young master, master is wondering when you will be coming to learn the Second Layer."
"Once this battle is over." Sylas responded. "For now, stay here and help Cassarae with anything she might need. Watch over the city and follow the parameters I've set."
"Understood!"
Sylas hadn't had the time to go back to study the Second Layer. A part of him was also resistant to doing so since he had yet to master the First. Something was telling him trying to learn too much would hinder his progress instead.
It wasn't that Gralith didn't understand this, but rather than the number who truly mastered the Scorpion Warlord Armor was next to nill. In fact, in the history of the Scorpion Warlord Lineage, the number who reached even Sylas' current Flesh Mastery level of the First Layer were not even 30%.
And even then, it was after a long, rigorous training process where most of them had already grasped the Third Layer in some fashion.
Still, even if Sylas knew this... he was only measuring himself against himself.
"Okay," Cassarae nodded. "Don't do anything fucking retarded that gets you in trouble. 80%
of Earth already wants you dead, we don't need intergalactic headaches now too."
"Too late." Sylas mumbled.
"What was that?"
"I'll be heading off now."
Cassarae rolled her eyes. "Where are you going? Come here."
She took Sylas' hand and then led him out of her office and down the halls. They reached the basement again, but this time, they went even deeper.
"This is a training room I created with the money you gave me. Use it since we aren't sure what will happen. I will keep it sealed."
"Got it."
Cassarae nodded and then headed off as Sylas took a seat in meditation.
With a thought, a silvery golden ticket appeared before Sylas, looking a lot like a movie ticket from the olden days except for the fact it was covered in complex, almost unnoticeable Runes.
[Quicktime Event Cleared]
[Future of Orciulius City - Completed]
[Contribution Leaderboard]
[Sylas Grimblade - 47 472 723 Hero Points]
-
[Lv30 Access Ticket Received]
The Access Ticket rippled through the air, but before it activated...
[Temporal Lock Point (Gold) (Gateway Treasure)]
[Exchange 10 000 F-Grade Gold Aether Stones to set Temporal Lock on a region]
[Durability: 999/999]
A flood of Aether Stones pooled out from the Madness Key and something that caught Sylas
off guard happened.
Time truly froze.
It was hard to describe how it felt other than Sylas could tell intimately from the feeling of his
Rune Vitality Mastery.
The Runes in this space almost seemed... dead.
Sylas' eyes glazed over as he seemed to be comprehending something.
He didn't even know how much time passed by the time he awoke, but deep inside, he knew
that it didn't matter.
That was because this Temporal Lock didn't just allow him to go to another space off-Earth without worrying about time dilation.
It literally froze the time he was experiencing, allowing him to return to the very same instant
as though no time had passed at all!
This was huge. Sylas had been worrying that even if time was one-to-one, he might still end up missing something important. But it seemed that he had vastly underestimated the value of this
Gateway Treasure.
However...
[Durability: 998/998]
It seemed that once the Durability was gone... there was no getting it back. Sylas exhaled a breath and calmed him. Looking around, he realized that the Golden Aether
Stones he had used already showed some signs of dimming.
It seemed that he had to get a move on.
With a thought, he activated the silvery-gold ticket.
The world around him flashed, and before Sylas could even see anything, he heard a sound of hustle and bustle that made what he had experienced at Sarap City feel like a joke.
When his vision did clear, he found an enormous, pockmarked red tongue dangling before his face, the foul stench of rotting meat hitting him in a wall of heat.