System's POV

570  Feel Free To Call Me Anything You Like, But Make Sure To Pay Up

Thirteen felt as if his body was floating.

He was very familiar with this sensation, for this was neither the first nor probably the last time it would happen.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in the familiar Celestial Realm, where the Laplace Demon and The One were waiting for him to regain consciousness.

But before the two powerful beings could talk to him, Thirteen managed to ask them a question first.

"How is Cranky alive?" Thirteen asked.

The corner of Laplace Demon's lips twitched, not expecting that such would be the first question the teenage boy would ask him.

"Actually, Cranky never died," Laplace Demon replied before snapping his fingers.

A projection then appeared in front of Thirteen, showing him hugging the Honey Badger, whom he thought had died while protecting him.

Laplace Demon then made the replay speed up a bit until the part where Thirteen fought against the Majin King, Orochi.

A few minutes after their battle started, Cranky's body shrank until its body was only three meters long.

The injuries it suffered slowly regenerated until no wounds remained on its body. A minute after that, the Honey Badger started digging on the ground, just in time to evade the shockwave that had spread across the land due to Thirteen's battle with the Eight-Headed Serpent.

"Cranky is a mutated monster with the strength of a Pseudo-Majin Prince," Laplace Demon explained. "Although its regeneration ability isn't as fast as the Eight-Headed Serpent's regeneration, it was still enough to allow it to fully recover from its injuries.

"But Cranky had been unconscious even when he started digging on the ground. Its primal instinct urged it to look for a safe place to hide for a period of time until the present danger in its surroundings disappeared.

"It only regained consciousness after Orochi died. As you can see, the first thing that was on his mind was to eat the Majin King's Core, which I found very amusing."

Thirteen watched as the small Cranky emerged on the ground a few meters away from the dead Orochi before increasing his size.

The Honey Badger then unceremoniously picked up Thirteen from the dead Majin King's chest before gently placing him to the side, as if he was on the way to his midnight snack.

The scene that followed was along the lines Thirteen remembered, which made him scratch his head helplessly.

"Such a troublesome glutton," Thirteen said with a faint smile on his face.

"You don't regret it?" Laplace Demon asked. "Because of him, you were forced to use a trump card that you could have used for something else."

"I don't regret it," Thirteen replied. "Well, that is a bit wrong. I regret not using it earlier. If I did, I wouldn't have to suffer that heartbreak. Man… that was embarrassing."

"You're starting to become more human now, Thirteen," The One commented with a smile. "Um? Let's put that aside for now," Thirteen said. "Since I fixed this problem, I should get some rewards, shouldn't I? You're going to give me compensation… right?"

14:42

"Bah! Forget what I said earlier," The One scoffed. "You're still not human. You're just a greedy system."

Thirteen smirked as he opened his hand in the sign of asking for payment. "That's fine. Feel free to call me anything you like, but make sure to pay up."

"Didn't you already get a reward?" Laplace Demon arched an eyebrow. "We made an exception and allowed you to receive an Adamantine Weapon and Armor. That should be enough compensation.

"Also, all the First-Time Wanderers have raised their Ranks to Rookies, while the Apostles are now Elites. Isn't that enough?"

Thirteen glanced at his Status Page and checked the mission details once more.

—————

< Emergency Mission >

Mission: Fight or Flight! (Complete!)

You can choose between the two options. Clearing any of the two options will automatically clear the current mission of all Wanderers within the territories of the Fractured and Absolute Heaven.

Defeat the Eight-Headed Serpent.

Special Rewards: – For those who are experiencing their First Wandering, all of you will automatically become a Rookie even if you haven't absorbed any Beast Cores. This means that you can continue your next mission as Rookies, giving you greater strength to clear the last mission.

– All Apostles will also break through the next rank and become Elites even if you didn't absorb the required number of Cores.

– Each Wanderer will also gain an Adamantine-Grade Weapon, and Peak Adamantine-Grade Armor that they can use regardless of Rank.

 — All Wanderers will gain the Title "Survivor."

< Survivor >

— Triples the speed of your Stamina Regeneration. — If even one person can clear this mission, all Wanderers will gain the rewards listed. —————

"It's not enough." Thirteen shook his head after reading the completed mission. "Adamantine Weapon and Armor? Please, I can't even use them even if I want to. As for the new Rookies and new Elites, what does that have to do with me? I'm the one who carried them all. "You guys give Wanderers unfair missions, but when it comes to rewards, you're not stingy. The Wanderers got what they deserved, but these rewards… hahaha, I don't deserve such skimpy rewards, right?"

The Laplace Demon and The One exchanged a knowing glance at each other before sighing at the same time.

"Listen, Thirteen—this is only the second mission of your Chain Quest," Laplace demon explained. "You will only get the grand reward after you finish the mission in its entirety and return to Pangea. Isn't that how things work? You know this, we know this, so why are you trying to get an advance payment all of a sudden?"

"That's right," The One stated. "You will get the rewards you rightfully deserve only after you clear the mission in its entirety. So, make sure to clear the mission."

Thirteen crossed his arms over his chest. "We're only on the second mission, which means that the difficulty of the third mission will increase, yet I was already forced to use my biggest trump card. Now I don't have any cards left. I want an advance payment."

"So you say, but aren't you the one who forced the Majin King to descend?" Laplace Demon countered.

"I just did what was expected of me," Thirteen argued. "What happened next was completely out of my control."

"It was also completely out of our control," Laplace Demon argued back.

"So we need to compromise."

"Compromise? You're just being stubborn at this point."

Thirteen heaved a long and deep sigh because he could already see that the two Guardians of Solterra wouldn't budge no matter what he was going to say.

"Then how about this," Thirteen raised a finger. "If I complete this mission, aside from the rewards, I will ask for a favor. Of course, if you think that this favor is too much, feel free to reject it. However, if it is within your capacity, and it will not harm the interest of Wanderers in the world, will you seriously consider my request?"

The One pondered a bit before nodding reluctantly. "Deal. But if the favor you ask is too much, I will reject it."

"Good." Thirteen nodded. "Thank you for hearing my request."

Laplace Demon sighed before poking Thirteen's head with his finger.

"We temporarily brought your soul here in the Celestial Realm, but staying here for too long is not good for you," Laplace Demon said. "Go and return. Your people are waiting for you."

Thirteen could feel his consciousness falling from a high place before coming to a complete stop.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and found himself inside Rocky's Mobile Fortress, lying on Cranky's fluffy chest, which was going up and down as he loudly snored in his sleep.

Propping himself up, he saw Giga, Blacky, and Hercules roasting large slabs of meat for everyone to eat later. The Trolls and Ogres, on the other hand, were busy removing the scales from the dead monster's body and storing its blood in large containers, which they piled to the side for future use.

Thirteen smiled because he was already thinking of ways to help his monster army grow stronger, as well as put the Majin King's corpse to good use.

With the flesh and blood of the Majin King, he could trigger an evolution for the Trolls and Ogres. Not only that, but he already found ways to help Erica's, Sherry's, and Diana's Avatars to evolve.

However, since his body was still exhausted, he decided to put this matter aside for the time being and lay back down.

Despite Cranky's loud snoring, Thirteen was able to fall asleep relatively quickly.

Soon, the teenage boy and the Honey Badger were both snoring loudly, as if they were competing who could snore louder. The sight of this picture made Erica and Sherry giggle, finding it quite amusing.

Meanwhile, outside Rocky's Mobile Fortress…

The young lady with long black hair and green eyes stood on a small hill that overlooked the battlefield where Thirteen had fought the Eight-Headed Serpent.

She watched the battle from beginning to end and found herself thinking of the teenage boy who had used the Ruyi Jingu Bang, which her father had also used in the past. "Sister, are you hungry?" a little girl with pink hair and green eyes asked.

"Cinnamon thinks that sister is hungry," another girl, who looked exactly like her sister, Maple, commented. "Do you want gummy bears, sister?"

"Okay," Stella replied with a smile as she happily ate the gummy bear that Cinnamon gave her. "The two of you should return soon. Papa and Mama Chiffon might get worried if you don't get back soon."

"We asked for permission to see you, sister," Maple said. "Isn't that right, Cinnamon?"

"Yes, we did." Cinnamon nodded. "Sister, do you think Brother Zion will let us take a bite of that Giant Serpent? It looks delicious."

"Brother Zion?" Stella asked with curiosity. "You've met him before?"

"Yes!" Maple raised her hands. "He made us eat a lot. Also, his sister, Remi, and little Ria are very kind. They are good people."

"Cinnamon likes Big Brother Zion," Cinnamon commented. "He's a good person."

Stella was surprised to hear her sisters, Maple and Cinnamon, praise Zion Leventis.

Both of them were very sensitive to the feelings and desires of others, so they did not approach bad or malicious people.

Since the two labeled the teenage boy as a good person, Stella decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Return for now, okay?" Stella kissed the cheeks of her little sisters before urging them to return home. "I have Aethon with me, so you don't need to worry about my safety."

""Okay~""

The twins then held hands with each other before moving their hands in a circular motion. A moment later, a portal appeared in front of them, which would lead them back to their own world, which was on the other side of the Multiverse.

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A/N: One long chapter for today. I will post three chapters tomorrow. And yes, the Elyverse is real. Kekeke! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om