Chapter 646

The entire island of Palmyra is quiet.

Contracted hunters are deep within the mana-shielded structures down below me on the palm, farming away to fulfill their quotas.

A few high-level guards line the streets near the center of the cities, and on the finger islands, there are quite a few C and B-Class hunters awake, spending their leisure time inside the facilities.

However, on the largest finger island, the thumb, where I currently stand, there are only three other individuals present.

There are two strong yellow-cored individuals inside the large mansion at the back of the estate, and behind me, landing just as I arrive here, the red-cored A-Class hunter arrives carrying multiple containment cases full of item boxes from the long period of farming collected from the main island below.

He walks straight past me without noticing a thing, as I'm using stealth, and the doors of the large mansion open wide.

As he walks in, I slip in right behind as the high A-Grade shielded doors close behind him.

---

The young A-Class hunter's voice echoes through the entrance hall.

"Mr. Alfred and Ms. Fiona, the daily quotas have been met. We are scheduled to have a meeting with the District of Ashmore in 15 minutes."

There is some pain in his words, and as he walks further in, I watch his steps become slower.

Two figures stand at the back of the large entrance room, in front of an enormous curved bookcase that fills the entire back wall of the entrance hall.

There are art pieces on the walls and a few interesting statues, but it is rather bland.

The doors near the back of the room that lead to elevators and walkways to the main estate make me believe this is just the front hall they show to visitors. I can sense secret rooms and corridors behind this artificial main hall.

Though, my mind doesn't harp on that fact for long, it is more focused on the dense yellow divine threads permeating from their bodies.

The pressure is strong, and it seems to be suppressed a bit by their mana shielding, not to kill their A-Class red-cored guest; however, with my own eyes and advanced perception, I find that they're roughly the same strength as Mr. Freeman was.

Their cores aren't as damaged as the old Apex Region's director. They look slightly younger, but trying to guess a person's age when divine energy is involved is nearly impossible based on looks alone.

The man, presumably Mr. Alfred, is slightly stronger, standing with a well-groomed mustache, slicked-back hair, and sharp black-and-white professional attire. He is [Lv. 9901] and holds a superior wind magic skill.

He speaks up first and motions for the young man to come closer.

"Very good. We shall leave soon..."

He pauses and twists the ends of his mustache before asking another question.

"Do we have any updates on that new shipment? There were a few accidents this week with the surges, and we need to replace a few faulty units."

The red core stops after taking a few steps forward and bows his head before answering.

"Yes, sir, we had new contracts processed from central. There will be 400 new workers- I mean units... with 10-year contracts soon to replace the defects."

He nods a few times.

"I only ordered 350, but extra will do... Very good, thank you."

He turns to the woman beside him, who is slightly overweight, wearing a deep purple-colored dress and bright red lipstick. She is [Lv. 9785] and holds a superior water magic skill.

I shrug and turn to the large bookshelf behind me.

While taking a step forward, I drop the containment cases on a clean portion of floor, then tap on my wrist while speaking up again.

"Wipe that startled look off your face. We have an important meeting in the District of Ashmore in less than 15 minutes."

While his eyes continue to widen, trying to process what's happening, I charge up a ball of pure mana and divine energy and launch it at the back wall filled with books, aiming for the near S-Grade shielding behind it.

There's a moment of slight resistance, but my attack breaks through, revealing exactly what I was looking for.

Large chests and advanced containment capsules, just like Sebastian had in the private rooms of his mansion.

These are far better guarded, as I don't believe anyone but a True Core could have broken through the walls of this hidden room with such ease, but that only spikes my curiosity more. There has to be something of immense value in here, none of the other secret rooms are so well protected.

I walk in and begin looking through every nook and cranny of this room I can access while the red core behind me collapses onto the floor in shock, unable to believe what just happened.

It's hard to tell if he's happy about it or not; all I feel coming off him is pure shock and fear.

Nonetheless, my search through the treasure and junk continues.

All kinds of rare loot from unique dungeons are kept here, as well as high-grade armor ranging from B-Grade up to even some gear that pushes 300-400% stat buffs.

I let it all fall into my item storage, as I'm sure it will be of value, but this isn't what I'm looking for...

"Where's the stash... I know you have it." I whisper under my breath while clearing out every single chest, item box, and containment case I can find.

Over two full minutes pass before I finally find a small black box inside an average-looking containment case.

Inside, a single spatial magic pouch rests.

"Jackpot..." I can't help but say as just under 3000 yellow divine fragments are found inside.

I take another full minute to double-check the whole room, and even do another scan of the mansion to look for other secret hiding chambers, but no other divine fragments are found.

At first, it surprises me that no red or orange fragments are here like in Sebastian's house, but as I think about it, what could they even use them for?

The insane madman most likely hoarded them for sentimental and nostalgic value, while this King and Queen most likely used these fragments to become stronger over the years and try to reach higher heights.

While it only took me a few hundred yellow fragments to condense my True Core, that isn't the normal case for others. I used many unorthodox means to increase the absorption efficiency and speed of the process.

For others, they won't even absorb single-digit percents of a fragment's full potential per consumption. Their healing capabilities are nowhere near as advanced as mine either.

I grin and sit down in the center of the trashed room, pouring out the contents of the entire 2981 yellow fragment stash.

Then, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and plunge both hands into the glowing yellow pile while activating my innate True Core's talent.

My body glows bright yellow, and I feel the familiar heat surging through me while every single last fragment's energy flows through my bloodstream and condenses inside my True Core.

I let out a satisfying sigh while I stand back up a few minutes later, feeling over 50% stronger yet again. These fragments alone raise my True Core's base by over four times as much as absorbing the King and Queen's essence combined.

Then, I walk back into the main entrance hall of the mansion. The containment cases and red cored hunter are both lying on the ground with the deceased King and Queen standing over him.

"Get up, we have a meeting to attend."