Infinite wealth In A New World-Chapter 417: Information
Patricia watched in horror as, one by one, her fifteen Legendary summons disintegrated. The golden aura of the formidable creatures shattered, reverting them into their card forms. They flew towards her, seeking the safety of their master’s grasp, but then burned into ash before reaching her hand.
"This?" she gasped, the word choking in her throat.
She felt a coldness in her midsection, a chilling void that shouldn’t be there. She lowered her gaze to her stomach, staring at the massive, clean wound that had bisected her. There was no pain yet, only the terrifying realization of absolute defeat.
"What... are you really?"
She collapsed to the ground. But her body didn’t bleed; instead, it cracked like porcelain and shattered into ashes, a byproduct of the clone technique she had used to escape death at the last second.
"Impossible!" Esther stepped forward, her eyes wide as she stared at the pile of ash where her opponent had stood just moments ago.
’How? When did she use it?’ She thought, her mind reeling. The tactical implication was terrifying. To swap places with a clone instantly required timing that bordered on the divine. The next moment, the adrenaline faded, washing away the temporary strength that had kept her standing. She clutched her chest, the pain of her own injuries rushing back, and collapsed to her knees.
"Hey! Are you alright?!" Treasure asked in surprise. The royal watched as Esther’s mana-construct wings vanished into motes of light, leaving the woman to slump to the ground, unconscious.
"Hey!!" Treasure rushed towards her, shaking the sleeping lady with a mix of concern and annoyance. "Don’t die on me!"
"What a drag." Lucian sighed, looking up at the night sky, completely unbothered by the violence or the fallen woman. To him, this was just another delay.
"Take her, let’s go look for a hotel," Jinx said, her voice cutting through the noise. She was already walking towards the alley exit, her coat sweeping behind her. "We need information, and she owes us."
"Hey!! What about that lady?!" Treasure yelled, watching Jinx and Lucian walking away without a backward glance.
"What don’t you get?" Destiny stopped beside her, his hands in his pockets, his demeanor calm and analytical. "The enemy used a substitution trick and escaped, sacrificing her summons to save her life... Do you truly need someone to explain this to you?"
He asked with a smirk and walked past her.
Treasure stared at his back for a few seconds, fuming. Her fists clenched, but she knew he was right. She exhaled, releasing her frustration.
"Fine. Bring her with us."
The Crimson Ant, standing silent and imposing like a statue of dark chitin, nodded. It walked towards the unconscious Esther, picked her up effortlessly onto its shoulder as if she weighed nothing, and fell into step behind the four royals, leaving the dark alley behind them.
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[Next Day. Southern District.]
The morning light of City X was grey and filtered through a haze of smog. Inside one of the smallest motels in the city, the air smelled of stale dust and cheap cleaning agents.
"So what have you uncovered?" Jinx asked, staring through the window.
They were in a single room, cramped and utilitarian. She stood at the window, watching the street below—staring at the cars and people, walking and focusing on life in a world that felt alien yet strangely familiar.
"Well, this City is known as City X, and it’s not like the Upper, Great or Supreme world... It’s like the Lower world, but they don’t have any advanced technologies... It’s just like Earth, which Dad described to us," Destiny answered, his arms in his pants pockets, looking relaxed despite the unfamiliar territory.
"And..." He moved his gaze to the still sleeping Esther, who lay on the small bed.
"There are forces known as the Police officers. They fight against Crime, and behind these officers, they are Summoners, those who can wield what they called Mana and summon creatures to fight," He added.
"Yes. And these Summoners’ strength are classed with alphabets... The strongest being an SSS rank summoner," Treasure continued, picking up the thread of the briefing. She seemed fascinated by the primitive ranking system.
"There are, D rank, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS... That lady we encountered yesterday is an SS rank summoner." She turned to Esther, assessing the sleeping woman’s power level. "While she is an S rank Summoner."
Jinx slowly nodded her head, processing the hierarchy. She turned around to face the three.
"Ok, what about outside City X?" She asked.
Destiny brought out one hand from his pockets and opened his palm. The next moment, an emperor scorpion made of dark smoke appeared on it. The creature chittered silently, a construct of pure recon. He stared at the scorpion for some seconds, decoding its memories, and looked up at Jinx.
"Nothing, Big Sister... Only desert. Meaning, City X is surrounded by sand," He said.
"That explained the huge wall around the city," Jinx nodded, the strategic geography making sense now. "Good work both of you... Gotten so much information in just one night is great."
Destiny nodded, as the scorpion vanished into wisps of smoke. "There is one more thing... Amongst these Summoners, there are some very few, who were born with more Mana than normal. These guys are known as Original, and what my spies picked up during the months they were here... These originals have the strength to merge with their summons. The strongest SSS rank Original can even merge with five Legendary grade summonses."
"That is strong." Treasure nodded her head in awe, then blinked as the timeline registered.
"Wait! You said your spies have been here for months?!" She asked in shock, staring at her younger brother, who is only 15 minutes younger than her.
"When did you do that?!!" She added, staring at Destiny in shock.
"Dad told us about this mission six months ago... After that meeting, I asked for Dad’s assistance and sent some of my insects into this realm to look at things... I am lucky, some end up in city X, the rest, I can’t feel them."
"Huh?" Treasure was confused.
