The Genius Evolution Store

They quickly made their way up to the next floor. As they expected, the mall suddenly expanded. What they had explored earlier was nothing but an entrance meant to greet people.

This time, they could see four floors below them, which defined the structure of the underground mall.

There was a big opening in the middle, but it only reached the floor just below ground level.

The stores on the left were quite shallow in width, but the ones on the right were quite deep.

Ellia scanned the area before saying, ”I think we can ignore the stores on our left. Even if there are beasts, we can deal with them in one way or another. Our main priority will be the stores on the right. They’re all big, so the possibility of finding an artifact is also quite high. Just beware of the beasts.”

Auric nodded in agreement. ”We can quickly clear out the stores on the left anyway.”

”Yes.” Ellia took a look at the lower floors. ”I think we should go down first. Since this is an underground mall, the stores are located underground, while above us is the event area.”

Auric contemplated. ”In that case, shouldn’t we just jump off?”

”Do you mean starting from the lowest floor and going all the way back up?”

”Yes.”

Ellia shook her head. ”You shouldn’t do that. First, the beasts must have come from the surface entrance, even if it means they get injured just from entering it. Therefore, the beasts will go down and spread across the lower floors. Beasts are territorial, even in ruins, so the lowest floor is most likely...”

”!!!” Auric felt a chill down his spine. ”The strongest.”

”Yes. And if we fight the strongest and cause a big ruckus, there is a high chance that other beasts will join. You can think of them as a group. If their alpha is attacked, it’s normal for the underlings to come to its aid. However, if the underlings get attacked first, the alpha doesn’t necessarily come.”

Auric thought for a moment. ”I understand. In that case, let’s go...”

Before they took the first step, Lindwurm suddenly said, ”Wait. Don’t you see it?”

’See what?’ Auric’s body froze.

”Your senses have become a bit dull because of the darkness, haven’t they?” Lindwurm shook his head helplessly. ”Look to your left.”

”What’s wrong?” Arina and Ellia were confused. Auric was the one saying they could go, yet he was the one who stopped as well.

Auric raised one finger, gesturing for them to give him a minute. He scanned the first store on the left.

As Lindwurm said, his senses might have grown dull because of the darkness.

It took him a moment to notice the energy leaking from somewhere.

Auric proceeded carefully, following the trace of energy while maintaining clear vision in case there was a hidden beast.

Arina and Ellia exchanged glances, wondering what he was doing.

Auric was rummaging through a pile of rubble, which only confused them even more.

”All right, Auric. What’s going on here?” Ellia asked again.

Auric didn’t say anything and continued with his search. A few seconds later, he smiled and pulled out an item.

It was a jewelry store, so he pulled out a gold necklace with a red gem on it.

Auric could see the brown energy on it, signifying its identity as an earth-element artifact.

”An artifact?”

Ellia certainly didn’t expect such a sudden haul.

Auric smiled. ”Can I throw an artifact into the Space Storage? Or do you want to be the one storing it?”

”You can store it. My Space Storage is quite full with all the items I’m carrying.”

”Okay, then.” Auric nodded. ”Do you think they would mind if I picked a thing or two from here?”

”If you want jewelry, I can give you all the jewelry you want, but yes. Do it before we go back. We can’t afford to waste too much time here.”

”I got you.” Auric threw the artifact inside before walking back.

Ellia shook her head helplessly. ”He’s really doing everything he wants.”

”You too, Miss.” Arina rolled her eyes.

Once they regrouped, they started looking around, searching for any beasts nearby.

While Ellia focused on the beasts, Auric even found another artifact without Lindwurm’s help this time.

And that process was repeated a few more times. Auric occasionally helped to fight the beasts, but he just kept finding an artifact with or without Lindwurm’s help.

In fact, Lindwurm and Auric were betting on who could find the most artifacts. Lindwurm would only point out if Auric missed anything.

”Aha!” Auric took out a teddy bear this time. This teddy bear wasn’t covered in dust and had dark green energy stuck on it. ”A plant element artifact. I believe this is for you.”

Arina received it with a surprised expression on her face. ”Don’t you need it?”

”No. If you don’t want to, I will just sell it.” Auric shrugged. Of course, he wasn’t going to sell these artifacts. The ruins were currently the most important clue for his artificial heart project.

Obviously, the artifact was the reference for the artificial heart itself. He was going to study the artifacts.

That was why he wasn’t going to sell them, at least for now. He even wondered if the artifacts could be used to replace materials. It would be a waste if he used them on a normal case, but an extraordinary case like Axel’s might be worth a shot.

Ellia couldn’t help but say, ”What exactly are you? Are you sure you are a human, not a treasure-sneaking rat or something?”

”Are you complaining that we are getting too many artifacts? Or maybe the number is too low.” Auric shrugged.

”It’s too many. Usually, a single expedition will result in around five to ten artifacts. That’s for the first group. And we haven’t gone halfway, and you have already found around seven artifacts.”

Auric shrugged. ”Well, isn’t it good? More artifacts means more money.”

”I can’t deny that.” Ellia shook her head helplessly. ”I don’t know what to do with you anymore. Arina, he’s your problem now. I’m going to cook.”

Auric looked innocent, as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Arina, on the other hand, could only sigh. Handling Ellia alone was already exhausting, and she had to handle another person who acted like her.

However, Auric might actually be nicer compared to Ellia. At the very least, she could ask a few things.

”By the way, Auric. Since we’re going to get some rest soon, do you think you can make it a bit more comfortable?” Arina asked.

”What are you talking about? What are the problems exactly?”

”It’s too hot.” Arina sighed while spreading her arms as if she were trying to show her body. ”Look. I have been sweating all this time. There is not much air circulation here, so maybe your wind element... No, that’s just blowing air. It won’t cool me...”

Auric chuckled. ”At first, you tried to stop me from wasting my energy. So, has that changed?”

”Fine, fine. You win. Can you help, please?” Arina grabbed Auric’s arms before noticing something important. ”Wait a minute. How are you not sweating?”

Arina was startled and started touching Auric’s body and realized it wasn’t drenched. In fact, Auric’s clothes felt cool.

”How? How did you even...” Arina was speechless.

”Well, how about I show it to you directly?” Auric gestured with his finger, asking Arina to follow him.

They reached a small store.

”Can you close the store with your power? Just for a while.”

Arina thought for a moment before nodding. ”Sure.”

She summoned her roots and closed the store completely.

Auric first used the Golden Finger to make a light. Then, he pointed his palm to the corner and used Ice Spike, producing a large ice spike.

”Ice?” Arina gasped.

Auric went one step further by using his wind element, generating a cool airflow in the room as if there were an air conditioner running.

”This...” Arina dropped her jaw but soon smiled in excitement. ”You’ve been doing this the whole time?”

”Just a small piece of ice and a little wind to keep myself cool. It’s not like they use up too much energy. And even if it ends up hindering my energy reserve, I can still use other elements.” Auric shrugged.

”You’re the best.” Arina pumped her fist. ”Won’t this mean we can sleep in this place comfortably? I have prepared some wet clothes to clean myself, but this... You have the water element, right? Like, actual water.”

Auric chuckled. ”I do, but the water has a higher density, so you may have a hard time using it.”

Arina’s eyes flashed as though she had found a treasure box. In a way, Auric was more like an artifact than an artifact itself.

He had everything that could make things more convenient.

The room temperature quickly decreased. Arina laid down on the floor and closed her eyes. ”This is heaven in hell.”

”If we bring another evolution master, those grumpy old men will probably complain a lot about this temperature.” Arina chuckled.

”Well...” Auric could certainly imagine the complaints. Suddenly, they heard Ellia’s voice from outside. ”All right. What are you guys doing here? Why are you wasting your energy?”

Arina was startled and panicked. ”Ah.”

She hurriedly recalled the roots and reopened the store. The cool wind immediately rushed out, shocking Ellia.

Ellia’s expression darkened. She raised her spatula while glaring at them.

”All right. You two have been enjoying this while I’m out there enduring this hot place. I have to cook, so the fire makes it worse. Meanwhile, you guys are chilling here without even telling me about it? Do you have a death wish?” Ellia glared at Auric and Arina.

”Ehm, Miss...” Arina was trying to calm her down. ”Auric, it should be fine for the entire night, right?”

”Well, maintaining the wooden wall and the wind won’t be a problem. However, it will be quite hard to maintain the ice. Well, it will probably drain my energy for about 30% overnight,” Auric explained.

”You fool!” Ellia raised her voice.

Auric was startled, not expecting Ellia to get angry. ”Sorry?”

”You should have created ventilation!”

Auric felt as if his mind stopped for a second. He thought Ellia was angry because he was wasting energy, but Ellia actually gave a suggestion instead.

”Okay, you won.” Ellia sighed. ”I will give up 10% of my share this time. You have found so many artifacts yourself after all. And I will give up an additional 5% as long as you maintain something like this.”

Auric blinked in confusion. ”You’re giving that much?”

”Artifacts are important. Well, if you want cash, I can’t ask for more.”

”Artifacts are also necessary for me, but...” Auric paused for a moment to ask Lindwurm inwardly, ’By the way, you say you can remodel any room, right? What if you remodel this one, not making it like a store but maybe like the evolution chamber? Get the bed and everything? Ventilation will be nice as well.’

Lindwurm nodded. ”I can do that. But how are you going to explain it to them?”

’I have the Dream Creation from Milinda. As long as you don’t put in the light, I think I can fool them somehow. Besides, it will only last for like 10 hours or something? It shouldn’t even cost you 50,000 credits, yes?’

”Indeed.”

’And I won’t have to waste too much of my energy if you do it directly. Besides, having a kind of room like this sounds like a hotel in this hellish place, doesn’t it? What if we charge them 300,000 credits for the two of them? They will probably haggle it, so I will first charge them 500,000 credits.’

Lindwurm’s eyes turned gold. ”You’re a genius.”

Auric suddenly walked to Ellia and whispered, ”How about this? I will accept the one you’re offering, but what if I can offer you a better service? A bed and a cool room with sufficient ventilation. It will be like a hotel, but inside the ruins, for an additional 500,000 credits per night. Also, I have a small condition as well. Tell me more about the Relesha family.”

”Only 500,000?” Ellia smirked. ”You should have charged more. Unfortunately for you, it’s a deal now. You can’t jack up your price anymore.”

”Wha—” Auric blinked his eyes in disbelief. He thought charging 500,000 credits was already a bit too much, considering a cheap hotel would only cost 5,000 credits per night. He might have underestimated Ellia’s financial power a little too much.