Sometime later...

Levi was seen sitting on the couch of his apartment alone... Arthur had decided to stay with Rayan and help him out if needed with his evolution situation.

The bets they made came back profitable with 1.5 odds, which were quite amazing considering that this was their first raid.

Levi had bet on his team with his entire capital of credits, which was around half a million... With those odds, he cashed out on another two hundred and fifty thousand Nocrix credits, leaving him a quarter short of a million!

Still, he was quite far from hitting a minimum of two million to kick off his business.

Now that their team's prowess was exposed, he knew that the odds would be reduced after what they did to the Drowned Court... so the earnings wouldn't be that high, unless he made specific risky bets.

As for the treasury? They had already taken the materials or artifacts that fit them during the looting phase... whatever was left had been split up amongst them equally.

Not the treasures, just the value of it.

Levi had given Shia the treasures to be handed to Lord Idriss to offload them in their region's market... while the value would take a slight hit due to the poor situation of their Daywalkers, none of them cared as much.

Those treasures would help boost the economy of their region and empower their Daywalkers, which they were already starting to have a great shortage of.

This situation wasn't enforced on the raiders, but encouraged by the government... one would be surprised by just how many raiding teams went through with it for the sake of the region's stability.

For all their faults, no one wanted their region to get weakened as they knew that was the first sign of its eventual collapse.

After everyone split up, Levi returned to the apartment to start the preparations for his upcoming duo Sun and Void seeds' evolutions.

He had already reached the evolution stage of Junior rank a few days ago after a torturous two weeks of cultivation sessions.

With the Nine Senses seed's hunger being satisfied, he was allowed at last to feed the other two pissed-off toddlers.

Fortunately, his previous failed cultivation method of using heat and cold to negate each other had worked wonders on both seeds... as envisioned!

With his spiritual prowess developing to such an amazing state, he was capable of feeding them simultaneously... Solar energy for Sun Seed, and Dark energy for Void Seed.

The two seeds didn't care about getting fed both at the same time, as long as they were being fed.

In this manner, Levi's cultivation sessions went incredibly smoothly without much pain... the only issue was that he needed to keep moving all over the region's perimeter to find more condensed dark energy clouds.

After many sessions, Levi started to figure out that those clouds were bound to expire once and for all... This created quite an issue, considering he needed to be under a holy light to keep the cultivation's speed at its best.

Though that was a problem for his future self... right now, he was at the second rookie stage of both seeds, and he was nearing the third final stage.

He planned on evolving tonight if his cultivation sessions went just as smoothly, and he found the last remaining material he needed... Radian Fog.

'I bought Solarleaf, found Sunroot in Grave'Maw's treasury, and I am on a dimensional auction for Helios Oil... I just need Radiant Fog, and I can create its evolutionary recipe... the Void's evolutionary recipe's materials are already on standby.' Levi spoke to himself while lying on the couch, chilling with a dimensional screen open before him.

It was showing an online bidding war on Helios Oil, which was in its last three hours...

Ting!

-You have been outbid.-

'Damn it, it's already on twenty thousand Nocrix Credits, what the hell is this... It's just a D-grade natural treasure.' Levi's lips twitched in vexation.

'Heh... you have yet to see the true horror.' Ash'Kral sneered, 'At least you have an auction now... You can find what you need. Just wait until you reach Junior rank with those two seeds, and you will be requiring minimum C-grade natural treasures.'

'That sounds ominous...' Levi gulped, 'How bad can it be?'

'Nobles can't get their hands on them type of bad.' Ash'Kral replied, 'The moment treasures related to Sun or Void-based Aspects hit C-grade, they are officially off the public markets... if you want them, you need a massive network that helps you get the news about them before they can even get auctioned off... that's the only way to secure them at somewhat of a reasonable price... if not, you will find them in private auctions not even Baron Nobles were invited to... still, they will skin you alive before you leave their auction.'

'Of course, there is always the Infinity Shop, but your rank is too low to have access to such treasures.'

'Dear lord... day by day, I come to an understanding of why you are so broke...' Levi said, sighing helplessly.

'Was adding 'so' necessary?' Ash'Kral curled his lip in annoyance.

'This is why you need to get into the Ancient Distorted Site.' The Titan said solemnly, 'A-Grade site with Sun, Undead, Life, Desert, and such rare affinities are considered holy places... this is the place where people find those treasures to put in the markets besides the crafted or the ones earned in the two platforms.'

'I know, but it's not up to me.' Levi smiled wryly, 'I can only wish our government could pull a miracle and get us in somehow.'

'Screw your government, they are most definitely going to drop the ball.' Ash'Kral frowned, 'You should start thinking of ways to sneak in.'

'Sneak in? Is that even possible?' Levi knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

They were just told that the SAS Headquarters had put it under their jurisdiction, which meant anyone daring to sneak in would turn to charred toast.

Just like using the divine chains on nightcrawlers... they were registered under a certain name, and anyone besides them could not touch the chains without getting burnt.

Or the holy pillar that fell on the nest, which they were immune to.

It was all in the registered names, which was the reason everyone in the CRS Platform needed to use their real full names to keep the continuity.

If Levi dared to sneak into the site while his name wasn't registered, even if he had some Radian traits, his ass would be fried to a crisp.

'Well, you'd better hope you will awaken a mutation that helps you survive the holy light or something.' Ash'Kral suggested.

Levi went silent, actually giving this insane idea some thought... though, since nothing was in his hands now, he could only focus on what he could do.

'If I can't find Radian Fog in less than two weeks, nothing matters.'

With that being said, Levi added a new bet on Helios Oil and left the apartment... his destination? His other studio, as he decided to take his search on the streets.

***

Boundless Expanse... Nocturn's Heart City.

Levi was seen walking amongst the bustling streets in the city's Main Hub... shops and vendors were all over the streets, with even some people placing their stuff on the ground. The market was lively and crowded with shouts, arguments, and bargains flooding the streets.

The smell was all over the place, leaving everything to the imagination about its source. As Levi walked steadily with a faint, serene smile on his face, he kept scanning every item in sight, using his Harmonic Spine.

The public markets were mixed... There were the legit vendors and the scammers, claiming one thing, but selling something else.

Unlike the Infinity Shop, where the items' authenticity was regulated under the system, the public markets were a jungle, where everyone was on their own.

Of course, the legitimate shops couldn't afford to sell fake products for fear of losing their merchant licence, but the street vendors were fair game.

Levi came here for them specifically, knowing that what he sought could only surface through scam artists with questionable sources.

'So far nothing much...' Levi murmured, looking for a golden-like fog contained in a bottle or such.

But, after walking for over an hour and even getting lost twice in the maze of alleys, he ended up with nothing to show for but a couple of failed scamming attempts.

'Ash'Kral, I refuse to believe that you have lived for eons and you have not a single contact for a black merchant...'

Levi sighed, knowing that looking for a specific treasure in those streets was harder than weighing fire on a scale. He could walk all day, ask all day, and still, he wouldn't have covered 20% of the market.

'Well... I do have a contact, but he doesn't sell his products with credits.' Ash'Kral shared.

Levi immediately glanced at his ass cheeks and then uttered sternly, 'I ain't that desperate.'

'Idiot, where did your nasty mind go to?' Ash'Kral rolled his eye, 'The cheap bastard buys knowledge, information, tips, whatever is useful but unknown... It's their business design.'

'Knowledge?' Levi raised an eyebrow, 'Can't I sell him some perfect and remarkable evolutionary recipes?'

'You think you're the first partner I've had that had the idea of selling my hard-earned research?' Ash'Kral muttered, 'Unappreciative brats.'

'Wait... how many recipes have they sold already?'

Levi felt chills course down his spine after being reminded that his access to Ash'Kral's knowledge was shared by dozens... Ash'Kral never mentioned this before when he was talking about selling his recipes to get rich, but now, he understood... the bastard was just being himself... an asshole, who was waiting for him to find out on his own, but there was too much going on in Levi's mind to think about it at the time.

'About 80%?' Ash'Kral sniggered, 'Shit, I think at least 10% of your planet's Daywalkers are using my recipes indirectly.'

'...' Levi was left silent.

Although 80% meant a lot of things, as some people might buy the recipes and keep them private to build a Lineage of them... while the others wouldn't hesitate to sell them back, spreading the recipes more and more until they became public knowledge.

That's what happened to many remarkable evolutionary recipes, as it was hard to keep them a secret when too many hands were involved... in the case of Ash'Kral, you best believe that was the case.

'Don't feel so bad, you can still sell them for a decent price of ten thousand credits each or a hundred thousand credits for my latest research.' Ash'Kral said.

Although the amounts were decent, Levi was expecting to sell each one for fifty thousand or more... he had a whole plan of finding a good auction house and starting a partnership with them, selling three to four recipes each week to keep the business going until he had his own shop.

This would help him build his first network for his upcoming Leviathan-based rare products while also earning enough to lease a property here.

But now... his dreams were shattered beyond salvation.

'I am such a f*cking idiot.'

Levi covered his face, wanting to erase such a memory from his mind. Then, he asked the asshole for the black merchant contact, believing that he had a source of information that only a select few had...

Speaking of the devil, a new notification rang in Levi's mind.

-The Great Kraken's Heart has been imported to the Ninth Province and will be sold in The Cursed Coin Exchange in about a week.-

'Well, that's a piece of information I can trade.' Levi smiled... the risk he took to slay the Leviathan was rewarding him daily as long as he kept it active.

Although he couldn't do much with the information before, since he had no use for such expensive material, but now?

'Suit yourself... when he asks for your referral, tell him it's Ellina... he had the best relationship with her compared to my other partners.' Ash'Kral said while giving him the contact number and her private password.

'He doesn't know you?' Levi asked.

'No, and I prefer it stays that way.'

'Okay.'

No further ado, Levi called the number and listened to it ring for a few moments... just as he started to think that no one was on the other side, the call was picked up.

'Your referral.'

'Ellina.'

'Password.'

'Life is just paint smeared on a rotten canvas… I wish it had stayed empty.'

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