Eventually, Michael did decide that a billion Sand Dollars was worth it. After all, the only other solution was to hire his own Nascent Spirit cultivator, which would cost ten times more.

This was better. At least, he would be able to use this from now until forever. And as long as he got stronger and the quantity of his Mini Drones got bigger, then this investment would prove even more worth it in the future.

"Would you excuse me for a little bit?" Michael asked Joseph.

He exited the room and took out a billion Sand Dollars and transferred it to his personal ATM machine given to him by the Ocean King himself. As long as he was near a body of water, even if it was a puddle, then he could exchange Sand Dollars for Soo drops.

Thankfully, the exchange didn’t take that long, unlike previous transactions which took half an hour.

Despite transferring a billion Sand Dollars, it only took a few minutes before the whirling water spat out a small Pocket Dimension ring towards his hands.

Upon inspecting the ring, he found a hundred thousand Soo drops as promised.

Once he obtained the required Soo drops, he took out his Main Drone and poured the ring’s contents onto its surface.

The Drone happily absorbed the liquid.

Once it registered into the system, Michael purchased the upgrade.

[Purchase complete. Starting upgrade. Estimated time of completion: 40 days]

Of course, Michael couldn’t wait that long. Thankfully, he had plenty of coupons.

[5x Instant Drone Upgrade]

He was still getting daily coupons from the Drone Emporium that he’d been saving up for a rainy day. And today was that day.

And as soon as he redeemed it, the Drone suddenly shimmered as nanoparticles emerged out of nowhere and began to swallow the entire thing whole.

It felt like bees had now swarmed all of his Drones.

Then a couple of seconds later, the nanoparticles descended into the drone’s frame, disappearing inside.

[Upgrade complete,] ChatJK6 announced.

Michael tested it out by deploying his Mini Drones to a random location outside in New Sparta. Specifically, towards one of the kiosks they had installed.

Compared to yesterday, the people ordering in the kiosk were a lot fewer.

There was still a crowd. The Kiosk and their food products were still a novelty to them.

But as soon as they were presented with the choices such as the chocolate ice cream, they would suddenly feel disinterested and leave the kiosk entirely without ordering.

This happened too many times to count.

However, once the Mini Drone hovered above the kiosk, something changed.

In Michael’s mind’s eye, he was suddenly transported into that place. And there, he saw the metaphysical blanket start to descend upon the crowd, protecting them from the Nascent Influence that changed their very realities.

The effect was subtle. But it was significant. The lethargic crowd had suddenly regained their vigor as they once again jostled each other to be the first one to order chocolate ice cream.

It worked!

Now, the defensive blanket made by the Mini Drone was small in area, barely enough to cover the line in the kiosk. But this could easily be remedied by more Mini Drones. The most important part was that he had a proven way of fighting against those Upper Echelons!

Michael returned his consciousness back to his body.

He returned to the room, finding Joseph enjoying the McTony’s meal he was given while he was out.

"Have you decided?" Joseph asked.

"About what?"

"About what you will do. You can work on your Nascent Influence all you want, but it will take months before you can do anything significant to fight against the Upper Echelons.

And I believe that you want to win the Feast, am I correct? You’ll need something to fight against them at this instant.

Like I said, I will be willing to finance—"

Michael raised his hand to stop Joseph. "Oh, it’s okay. I’ve already solved it."

Joseph nodded. "That’s good, that’s good...."

Silence.

"HUH?!?!?!?!??!?!?!"

Michael winced from Joseph’s high pitched gasp. Was that his Nascent Influence?

"What do you mean you’ve already solved it?! Do you mean to tell me that you’ve mastered Nascent Influence?!"

Michael shook his hands. "No, definitely not. I’m not that talented, you know."

Somehow, a vein almost popped in Joseph’s head when he heard that. But he actively ignored it.

"I was able to figure out a way to spread by minimal defense into a large area. Now, I’ll be able to protect those who buy from our kiosks."

Joseph understood not a single thing from Michael’s explanation. But after looking at his expression, Joseph couldn’t help but think that Michael was telling the truth.

After all, who else would be able to do this? Only Michael.

"I don’t doubt that you’ve... you’ve done what you’ve said. But... but what about me? I was here to help you, you know!"

Michael nodded. "You did help me! I would have never known about Nascent Influence if you didn’t tell me."

Joseph thought he’d be the cool uncle. One that was depended upon. But he ended up as nothing more than someone who did exposition!

"Whatever... I need a break."

Perhaps, this was when the rumor started that the esteemed Joseph Vanderbilt became utterly saddened and listless for a few days.

Anyway, after Joseph left Michael’s room, he immediately started his investigation. And soon after, he was able to verify Michael’s claim about the solution.

Somehow, McTony’s restaurant was recovering their customers at a commensurate rate!

The customers of the kiosk were being protected by the veil of a Nascent Spirit, even though Michael was nowhere to be seen!

And the most surprising part was that this wasn’t an isolated incident. All over New Sparta, particularly the areas with the kiosk, people were getting protected from the Nascent Influence by the Zentmeister company!

Joseph couldn’t believe it.

Somehow, Michael solved the problem. And to think... just a few hours ago, he didn’t even know about Nascent Influence.