Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 984: Conch

Michael teleported himself out of the Orcs’ Shadow Realm, still feeling the highs of their rejuvenating shouts.

He was back in the Mermen lake. And this time, he didn’t wait for the Mermen to give him a bubble. He dove straight down into the Sunken Ship, letting his [Absolute Unity Defense] take care of the depths.

He immediately located Serena, who was wandering around with the other Mermen.

”Oh, Michael! It’s great to see you! Have you seen the second filter you installed? It’s done amazing—”

He immediately stopped her. ”Sorry, but I kinda have something else in mind to do today. Can I exchange for more Soo drops?”

Hearing his urgency, Serena nodded. She waved her hands, creating another vortex in front of her.

”Can you make it a little bigger?” he asked.

She raised her eyebrows, before complying with his request. The vortex grew to thrice its size, towering over Serena herself.

Michael thanked her before using his shadow to access his inventory. And then a second later, Sand Dollars began pouring out onto the vortex.

They became a blur. They were going so fast that the whole thing looked like a solid pillar endlessly shooting towards the vortex.

Serena could only hold her breath as she watched the scene unfold. Tens of thousands were passing by with each second!

”How much was that?!”

”15.1 million.”

And just as she was about to explode in shock, the vortex suddenly trembled, creating mist and bubbles all around.

”What’s happening?” he asked her.

Serena turned her attention to the aberration. She’d never seen her vortex act like this. Nothing in the world could disrupt this process, the same as how nothing could stop the sun from rising in the morning or setting in the night.

This was made by the Ocean King himself! It wouldn’t be disrupted unless...

Just then, the vortex suddenly constricted, as if something—or someone—was squeezing it through a different space entirely. Michael could even see a hint of a hand’s indent gripping the water.

An object shot through the top of the vortex, landing squarely in Michael’s hands.

It definitely wasn’t the Soo drops he was promised.

It was... a conch shell. It fit squarely on the top of his palm and had a little bit of iridescent coloring on its ridged surface.

”What is this?”

He turned to Serena, who was currently laying almost face flat on the ground, her tail curved upwards.

”What are you doing?”

But then he noticed that she wasn’t the only one who was doing this weird pose. It was every single Mermen in the vicinity. The mermaids curved their tails upwards, while the mermen retracted the fins on their back.

[They are currently performing obeisance]

As it turned out, Serena was performing the equivalent of a bow or a curtsy in Mermen culture!

”Father,” she muttered.

Michael was surprised. Father? The Ocean King?

Immediately, he tried to sense his surroundings to search for that presence.

This was perhaps the first time he would come in close contact with an actual Supreme Being. The very pinnacle of strength and power. A Ruler of the World. And not just any world, but the entire oceans themselves!

Unfortunately though, aside from the vortex, he couldn’t see anything else.

”That was my father. I can feel his control on the vortex. He did this. He gifted that to you,” Serena said, rising up to take a look at the conch in his hands.

Michael weighed the conch in his hands. ”For a gift from the Ocean King himself, I would have thought he’d be a lot more generous. What is it?”

Serena put her hands in akimbo. ”It allows you to create your own Vortex. You can now exchange for Soo drops anywhere you want as long as there’s water around.”

After hearing that, Michael was a little bit more appreciative of the Ocean King’s gift.

It was a lot more convenient, that’s for sure.

But there was still something that he was disgruntled by.

”This gift is nice and all... but where’s my Soo drops?”

Just as he said that, the conch in his hands trembled and shot away from him.

Then, a vortex appeared from its hole, before shooting out a large jug towards him.

Michael caught the jug, and immediately, he knew that it contained Soo drops.

[The jug contains 1600 drops of Soo]

Thank you, Ocean King.

”Father must really be taking a liking to you,” Serena said. ”I’ve never seen him dote on someone like this before. He’s practically giving away Soo drops!”

Perhaps the Ocean King was just a really good salesman. Only by giving away freebies will he ensure that his greatest customer would keep coming back.

”Anyway, thank you, Serena. I’ll make good use of these drops.”

She nodded, before giving him a wave. The other mermen and mermaids, on the other hand, performed their cultural obeisance towards him just like they did earlier.

It seemed that being graced by the Ocean King’s presence upped his credential with the Mermen by a substantial amount.

But what use would that be? If he could exchange that with Soo drops, he would.

...

...

...

Michael opened the jug and immediately splashed its contents onto his Drone.

The Mithril Artifact became engulfed in a large bubble of transparent and very viscous water. The Soo drops were so voluminous that the Drone took a good ten minutes before it was able to fully absorb everything.

Finally, Michael turned to his mind’s eye.

[Mithril Artifact: Drone]

[Spirit of Old: 1600 drops]

[Expansion]

—Drones

——Drone Hive = ><

————Mini Drone = 1

[Pocket Dimension: 8 rooms]

—Isolated Room = ><

——Expansion = 1+

—New Rooms = 12+

How satisfying was it to see a four digit number in the Soo category? Euphoric.

Of course, he was going to use everything to buy Mini Drones.

New [Isolated Rooms] would be good for business, but not for this current problem. He needed all the help he could get fighting against an Ersatz Stronghold.

Besides, he could always earn more in the future.