Supreme Lord: I can extract everything!

Michael could have continued to experiment, but he was more curious about how much money he could earn from his experiments.

He never researched the price for some Named Scrolls, and he had never seen a 3-Star Named Scroll either. He wondered if he could earn more from selling 2-Star and 3-Star Named Scrolls than by trading Mythic Scrolls for more than 10,000 Ordinary Scrolls.

"The anonymous trades should have been completed a long time ago. Did Kraft Viton forget about them?" Michael wondered, his voice a whisper.

He couldn't blame Kraft Viton if he forgot about the Mythic Scrolls since he forgot about them as well, but that would change now.

'I should produce a few more Mythic Scrolls to earn more Ordinary Scrolls,' Michael nodded slowly.

He retrieved the remaining Scroll Fragments and combined them into Mythic Scrolls. Michael used Extraction on the remaining Ordinary Scrolls and combined the extracted Scroll Fragments into more Mythic Scrolls.

"One Sharpshooter Scroll, one Enchanter Scroll, one Great Warrior Scroll, one Warlord Scroll, and 195 Mythic Scrolls. That, 16,363 Agriculture-type blueprints, and 1524 Artifacts should be more than enough to earn...a little bit." Michael chuckled lightly, a bright smile blossoming on his lips as he opened the Runic Gate.

He could have given everything to Rebecca to forward the goods to the Bartholomew Corporation outside the Origin Expanse, but Michael wanted to check on his friends in the Saphirelake Military Academy as well. Using his trades with Kraft Viton and the Bartholomew Corporation as an excuse to leave the Origin Expanse was pretty useful. It ensured that Michael wouldn't stay in the Origin Expanse all the time – though that was something he felt like doing more often these days.

The troubles within the Origin Expanse were simple. All he had to do was to kill his enemies. The problems would disperse with the death of his foes.

However, the issues outside the Origin Expanse were different. They were more problematic.

But Michael felt that he was capable enough to solve the issues outside the Origin Expanse soon as well. He continued to smile and stepped through the Runic Gate.

Once he emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate, Michael found himself in front of the training hall where he found Frederik and Hiraku. Recalling his first encounter with Hiraku, Michael smiled lightly.

Hiraku was a bit cold and hard to approach, but he was a good guy. If Hiraku hadn't been there to help him, the territory and the Untamed Army would have suffered more casualties. Michael didn't even want to imagine how much worse the situation would have ended without Hiraku.

'I hope he stays.'

Hiraku didn't mention that he wanted to leave the Untamed Jungle anytime soon. That was great since Michael had no idea when the Council of Xylon would attack again. Michael deployed more than enough Scouts in the Savannah Region to check on everything, so he wasn't too worried about being away from his territory for a short while, but he was not sure what awaited him and his people in the future.

'How do I convince him to stay and fight for me?'

It felt like Hiraku wasn't too interested in Michael's offer to give him another Soultrait Symbol and upgrade it. That was unexpected and it left Michael with little to offer.

'Maybe, he wants some Soul Techniques? No. He doesn't seem like a materialistic guy. I cannot read him at all!'

Hiraku was a bit frustrating. It was near-impossible to read people like him.

Michael sighed deeply and called Kraft Viton to see if he was in his office, or if he was busy in the Origin Expanse. The call didn't go through, at first, but less than ten minutes later, Michael received a message from Kraft Viton.

[Kraft Viton: I'm busy until evening. These idiots of the High Society are as stubborn as ever. Now they won't even accept my generous help when I offered them to send reinforcement into the Sacred Desert. These arrogant snobs think that I want to get a piece of their cake. Foolish bastards!]

Michael raised an eyebrow when he finished reading Kraft Viton's message. It was clear that the old man was angry.

That was a rare sight and it surprised Michael quite a bit.

'Why does he care so much about the Sacred Desert? He is even more obsessed with it than...I am...'

Michael wanted to know more about Danny's death in the Sacred Desert, the incident in the Primedival Pyramid, and the betrayal. He'd been thinking about his brother's death a lot since the Zan Twins provoked him. Their provocations never made any sense, which was even more reason for him to recall what they said at that time. He had been thinking a lot more about his brother after he found out that his Living Soul was preserved in the Miniature Coffin Keychain, but Michael didn't feel the same uncontrollable anger anymore. He was still angry at those who killed his brother, but he didn't feel like exploding. Instead, his ice-cold wrath was contained and waiting patiently until the culprit was discovered.

Michael was not yet sure what he was going to do once he found out who ordered his brother's death, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon either way. For now, rescuing his brother was of a higher priority. It was more important than the fate of the Sacred Desert as well.

Michael glanced at his chat with Kraft Viton and typed a message.

[Michael Fang: That's fine. Let's meet up in the evening. There is no rush.]

He thought about something and decided to add a second message.

[Michael Fang: I'm not sure if my Mythic Scrolls have already been traded for Ordinary Scrolls, but I would like to retrieve them later. I'm also considering taking you on the offer about the Bartholomew Corporation managing my threads. That includes my research for workaholics Awakened with remarkable personally, who're looking for a new Lord to power-boost them.

I also have a bunch of interesting goods to sell, including Agriculture blueprints, a load of Artifacts, and special Scrolls. That includes a 3-Star Warlord Summoning Scroll and 195 Mythic Scrolls. Yes, 195 Mythic Scrolls. You didn't see wrong! *devilish-laugh*]

After he had experimented with Insert and Extraction for a few days, Michael sensed a lot better. The death of his subordinates was not easy to overcome, but it was a good thing that nobody blamed him this time. Some Starless Summons – the laziest of the batch, at that – stated something, however, they were quickly suppressed by the Untamed Army who'd witnessed how much Michael had sacrificed in a desperate attempt to protect as many people as possible.

Michael was not a God. He was not invincible either. He bled just like any other mortal, yet, he continued to combat even on the verge of death to protect his people.

Michael didn't think of it as anything special, but his subjects contemplated differently. They knew that Michael put himself in far more danger than necessary to ensure that their casualty rate would be as low as possible.

Michael was glad that his subjects protected him from the lazy Summons that were only there to complain. It was helpful to have someone on his side to stop riots long before they erupted.

His subjects began to work even harder to grow even stronger after their last battle against the Heart of the Blazing Lion army. That was reassuring, and it gave Michael the piece of mind – something he definitely needed.

"Should I return and come back later?" Michael wondered, shaking his head after a second.

It was not like he had to return to the Origin Expanse just because Kraft Viton wasn't free until evening.

'I can clarify my criteria for the Awakened search later. For now…I should relax a little bit.'

Michael couldn't believe that he thought about relaxing, but the corner of his lip curled upward when he sensed the location of a bunch of Links of Loyalty.

Frederik, Hiraku, Thaor, and Lokai appeared nearby.

Their Links of Loyalty flickered.

Michael utilized Cosmic Stride with a trace of energy and disappeared on the spot. He reappeared several hundred meters further ahead, closed his eyes, and used Cosmic Stride three more times.

In the blink of an eye, Michael appeared in a large arena, where he discovered his friends.

Even Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke appeared present.

Even better.

Everyone was fighting in the arena!

'What the hell is going on here?'