Chapter 1049: Three Months Later, Changes [1] |
Michael immediately picked up the document.
The moment his eyes began scanning through the contents, his expression changed. Even Michael was genuinely surprised.
He had expected access to dimensional cracks before coming here, but what he had not expected was this level of generosity.
For one thing, Michael had completely overlooked the involvement of the other academies. When he originally negotiated compensation, he had only considered two parties.
The Federation and his own academy.
After all, he was not a student of the other academies. Why would they reward him?
From Michael's perspective, his relationship with the Federation was also somewhat awkward. It was not bad, but it definitely was not good enough for him to expect special treatment.
In fact, before arriving, Michael had mentally prepared himself to receive a handful of weak dimensional cracks as a symbolic payment. Perhaps five. At most ten.
As for the academy, he had expected better treatment from them, but they were still only a single organization. No matter how wealthy they were, their resources could not compare to the Federation that governed the entire Aurora Realm.
As it turned out, the Federation had not handled the rewards alone. The ten great academies had also participated. Including his own academy, all ten top academies had contributed portions of their dimensional crack resources.
Naturally, the amount each academy contributed varied. The determining factor was how much Michael's intelligence had benefited them during the operation.
Some academies had received only limited benefit from his information while others had gained significantly.
Unsurprisingly, the four major awakening academies located within his own country contributed the most, given that the Rank 4 demonic supernatural had also been primarily stationed there.
Michael continued reading. The further he read, the brighter his eyes became.
Thirty-five. A total of thirty-five dimensional cracks.
Michael nearly laughed. Thirty-five!
More than half contained monsters below Rank 1. Around half of the remainder primarily contained Rank 1 creatures.
Only two dimensional cracks regularly produced Rank 2 monsters.
This distribution might have looked disappointing to some. After all, stronger dimensional cracks meant stronger resources, or more accurately in Michael's case, stronger monsters. But Michael's lips still curved upward.
What he needed was quantity. Evolution Points were all he cared about. A Rank 2 and above monster corpse was indeed valuable.
A single corpse could provide a large amount of Evolution Points. However, stronger dimensional cracks had a major weakness. Their regeneration speed was slow.
The weaker dimensional cracks were different. Their monster populations replenished at absurd rates.
To Michael, they were practically Evolution Point farms. In the long run, these weaker dimensional cracks were significantly more profitable.
Of course, that did not mean he disliked stronger dimensional cracks. In any case, the thirty-three weaker dimensional cracks alone were enough to make Michael extremely happy.
However, what the ten academies provided was not actually the largest portion of his reward. That honor belonged to the Federation itself.
When Michael reached the second section of the document, even he could not hide his surprise. His eyebrows rose.
Director Lin smiled when she saw his reaction. "It seems you have reached the Federation's contribution."
Michael looked up. "They gave this much?"
Director Lin nodded. "The Federation council personally approved it."
Michael lowered his gaze back to the document.
If the ten academies had jointly provided thirty-five dimensional cracks, then the Federation alone had contributed seventy more. Twice the amount. Seventy dimensional cracks.
Michael suddenly found the Federation looking much more pleasant than usual.
Like the academies, the majority were lower-ranked dimensional cracks. Most contained monsters below Rank 1. A significant portion contained Rank 1 monsters.
Several possessed Rank 2 monsters, and unlike the academies, the Federation had even included a handful capable of regularly producing Rank 3 creatures.
That alone made Michael's heart beat faster. Even if their numbers were small, their value was immense.
With a sufficient supply of Rank 3 monster corpses, he would be able to fill more than half his contract slots with stronger creatures, saving a considerable amount of Evolution Points.
One had to remember that Michael had swept the entire Everlong Forest clean of monsters.
Even the lowest level creatures that could be converted into undead had been cleared out, all so he could maximize his contract slots and increase his daily Evolution Point income.
Though it could not compare to his gains from the Black Serpent Empire, four thousand Evolution Points daily across three hundred and sixty-five days amounted to at least one million four hundred thousand points per year.
It was a modest amount relative to his needs, but the Federation and the ten academies had arrived just in time to solve that problem.
Adding everything together, thirty-five from the academies and seventy from the Federation gave a total of one hundred and five dimensional cracks.
Though it appeared everyone had agreed to lease him access for only three years, what Michael stood to gain from them within that period was well worth it.
As for the issue of distance, since many of these cracks were spread across different continents, this might have been a serious concern before he acquired his Legendary Grade item.
Now it was merely a minor inconvenience.
It seemed like the next few months were going to be extremely busy.
Michael continued reading through the document. The more he read, the more satisfied he became. One hundred and five dimensional cracks.
Even after confirming the total, Michael found himself repeatedly going over the list to make sure he had not missed anything.
Director Lin observed his expression and chuckled. "It seems you are satisfied."
Michael nodded honestly. "Very."
That was putting it mildly. This reward was several times better than anything he had originally expected.
Director Lin leaned back in her chair. "Good. Then let us move on to the second matter."
Michael immediately looked up. The second matter?
Director Lin tapped a finger lightly against the desk. "As discussed previously, after your advancement, the academy planned to send you outside Aurora for a mission."
Michael immediately remembered. Back then, Director Lin and the other academy leaders had decided that allowing him to remain in Aurora indefinitely was not a good idea.
Part of it was for training. Part of it was for experience. And another part was simply to let him disappear from everyone's sight for a while. After all, he had attracted far too much attention recently.
Michael nodded. "I remember."
Director Lin smiled slightly. The smile told Michael she had never expected him to forget. The question had merely been part of the conversation.
"Good." Her expression gradually became serious. "The academy believes you should leave soon."
Michael raised an eyebrow. "Soon?"
Director Lin nodded. "The sooner the better." She folded her hands together. "Originally, we were willing to wait a little longer. However, several recent developments have changed our assessment."
Michael immediately became attentive.
Director Lin continued. "Your advancement speed is too fast." Michael remained silent. Unfortunately, he could not argue against that.
"At first, only a handful of people were paying attention to you. Now?" Director Lin sighed. "Far too many people know your name, even if you have kept to yourself for a while now."
She continued. "Normally, this would not be a major problem. But recently, various factions have begun making questionable movements. We suspect some most likely have dealings with hostile realms and the demonic supernatural faction."
Director Lin did not dwell on that point and moved on. "Fortunately, your contribution during the operation has given you considerable protection. It is invisible, but sometimes having more eyes on you can also act as a form of protection. Unfortunately, it has also made you even more visible. At this point I am simply repeating myself, but you should have understood this by now."
Michael sighed.
"Therefore, the academy's recommendation remains unchanged. In fact, it has become stronger."
Director Lin's gaze settled on him. "We believe you should leave Aurora as soon as possible. The longer you stay, the more difficult things may become."
Michael slowly nodded. That assessment actually matched his own thoughts.
Before obtaining the Mausoleum of Endless Dominion, leaving Aurora had been somewhat inconvenient.
Now things were different. With the portal abilities of the Mausoleum and his connection to the Land of Origin, distance had become far less meaningful than before.
Director Lin naturally had no idea what Michael was thinking.
For the next hour the two continued speaking before coming to a conclusion that three months later Michael would leave aurora.
In fact, Director Lin had wanted him to leave earlier, a sentiment shared by the other directors as well. But to their surprise, Michael was stubborn on the matter.
Perhaps they would not understand him. All of them were old, and Michael, who still had genuine attachments to the material world and the people in it, could not simply depart on such a journey in haste.
Michael wanted to use the remaining time to properly set up bases on the continents where he would be operating, and at the same time he wanted to wait for his cousin's first awakening ceremony.
Though the Mausoleum gave him the ability to return at any time, not knowing what could happen once he was outside the realm, he saw no reason to rush.