Incident

"Clovis. Handle the two Quaggas on your right. Jay will be intercepting the incoming Quaggas." 

"Got it." Clovis stepped forward, seeing the Quaggas rushing toward him. He jumped to the left so that these two beasts would follow him. When they were about to reach him, Clovis threw the short sword, letting it circle around a trunk so that he could slide and loop around. 

The two beasts hurriedly followed him, but their form was unstable because of their speed. Clovis took this chance to slice their necks, only to fail to kill both of them at the same time. 

He managed to cleanly cut the one near him, but it seemed that after knowing it would die, this Quagga slammed its friend's body to push it away. As a result, his blade only scratched the second Quagga's neck. 

The beast charged forward in a rage over the death of its friend. Clovis actually used its friend's body as a shield, causing the Quagga to hesitate. He then looped around and struck this Quagga, killing it. 

After killing them, Clovis checked on Jay in the distance. As expected, Kanaria helped him, so Jay finished the beasts at the same time as him.

"Are there any other beasts around, Kanaria?" Jay asked.

"The radar doesn't see anything within a fifty-meter radius. We should continue north to find more." Clovis asked.

"I also don't see any sign of life around here. If you want, I can sense some on the other side of the hill. Do you want to climb the hill?"

"No. It will take too long. We'll just follow the hill from down here," Clovis replied before asking, "By the way, have you seen anyone need help?"

"Huh?" Kanaria frowned. There was no reason why they should help their rivals in this situation. So, she didn't understand why Clovis was asking for it.

"It's nothing. If you find one, please tell me." Clovis chuckled before turning to Jay, who looked a bit exhausted. He tossed a water bottle to him, which was actually the recovery water bottle. 

At the same time, Jay also stabbed the demons with their syringe, trying to get their essence. 

"How many have we killed?" Clovis asked.

"Including these five beasts, we have killed 73 beasts within these past few hours. The sun is about to set soon, so why don't we set up a tent here?" Kanaria replied. 

"Nah. We're not exhausted yet." Clovis looked at Jay, who nodded his head. He didn't know why, but he felt that his condition was even better than usual.

"Alright. In that case, let's move to the north. We should be able to reach the next destination before dark." Kanaria stood up and started running on the ridge. Her position looked exposed, but the hill didn't have a lot of trees, so Clovis and Jay could easily find out if there was a beast chasing after her. 

Since she was safe, the group proceeded with their current plan. They had killed so many beasts on the first day, so it wouldn't be weird if the population of the beasts here would be gone by tomorrow morning. 

After some consideration, they decided to stay right at the edge of the Elasmotherium's territory. This way, they could start hunting these beasts when morning arrived. 

Clovis was in charge of setting up the tent, Kanaria was heating up their food, and Jay was searching for water nearby.

Kanaria noticed the change in the tent. "Hmm? Is it a new tent? I think the one we purchased a few days ago wasn't like this."

"Yeah. It's a new tent. I bought it with my money, so it's fine, right?" Clovis didn't tell her about the real use of the tent, but he was proud of it. After all, if the effect registered in Another World Mall was true, then four hours of sleep would feel like six hours. 

"Well, yeah. After you invest a lot of money back in the group, I don't think it's a problem if you want a new tent or something." Kanaria nodded, not pursuing this matter further.

"By the way, do you know what they're planning to do, Kanaria?" Clovis asked. The ones he mentioned were none other than Ivan and his group. 

"If my intuition is correct, then they should be taking advantage of a Gold Class map to roam around. However, there is one big flaw in their plan. One of them doesn't have a lot of stamina, so they won't be able to move a lot. If I have to say, their group should produce the same result as us today."

"The same result?" Clovis was surprised, but he understood the wonder of Gold Class map since he was using it too. 

After this question, Kanaria's expression turned grim. She looked at Clovis with a serious expression. "Yeah. Annoying as he may be, Ivan is strong. Even I can't deny it. Meanwhile, you…" 

Kanaria paused for a moment, hesitating. However, this matter had to be addressed sooner or later. Hence, she opened her mouth. "Clovis. With all due respect, I don't think you should invest your money in the group. I know that you don't like to be pitied, but if you continue doing this, you're going to get left behind sooner or later."

Clovis raised his eyebrows. He could feel that Kanaria respected him. In fact, it was because she respected him so much that she didn't want him to be left behind. She wanted Clovis to continue leading the group. That was why seeing him sell a lot of essence and donate the money to the group caused her to worry. 

Clovis took out his device, typed a few things, and tossed it to her. "Catch."

Kanaria was confused. She looked at this device and noticed the information contained within.

Name: Clovis Hacfield

Tier: 0

Evolution Rate: 15%

Brain: 9.1%

Heart: 8.9%

Blood: 11.3%

Muscle: 14.4%

Bones: 10.2%

"This is…" Kanaria gasped, not expecting to see this high number. She couldn't help but think, 'Jay said Clovis only awakened a few days prior. And with his evolution rate and how much he invested back into the group, how did he achieve this number?' 

Kanaria simply couldn't believe it. What she didn't know was that Clovis could still increase by 24% every day if he used all six item limits to purchase the highest level of food items. If he only filled up a single attribute, it would only take him four days worth of product.

In other words, he only needed a total of twenty days to become a Tier 1 explorer.

Jay began his exploration a month ago. She was one month earlier than him. That was why she had the highest progress among them. But still, she didn't know how Clovis could get this number. 

"Are you faking your evolution rate?" Kanaria asked.

"Nope. It's the real evolution rate."

"Then, have you actually explored the subterranean world before this?"

"Nope. My birthday was only a few days ago, and I immediately awakened to become an explorer." Clovis shook his head.

"Then…" Kanaria looked at the progress with a doubtful expression. She wanted to say that this information was fake, but Clovis actually smiled at her.

"Is it hard to believe? In that case, let me give you a single hint." Clovis playfully raised his finger. "What is my name again?"

"Clovis…Hac…" Kanaria stopped abruptly before falling into deep thought. In that instant, she realized that the progress was related to the Hacfield Family's secret.

If this data was not wrong, then the Hacfield Family should have another way to fill up these numbers. And there was no way she could know about it. 

Such a wonderful way would be sought after by many. 

Kanaria politely bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Clovis. I was rude earlier."

Clovis waved his hand, implying it was not a big deal. Little did he know, this was Clovis's plan.

If he wanted to introduce the Another World Mall to everyone, it would bring more trouble than benefits. At the same time, he had to introduce its products so that he could make them even more powerful. 

Hence, there was only one thing he could do. It was to instill the mysterious Hacfield Family in their minds. 

As long as they misunderstood it as the Hacfield Family's secrets, they should be able to understand. In the end, his grandfather was one of the top explorers in the world. The Hacfield Family had also been destroyed. 

As the only successor, it wouldn't be weird if Clovis knew or carried the secret of the family.

Although he felt bad for fooling her, he had to do this for now. At the very least, until he had the courage to tell them about Another World Mall. 

'Once Jay and Kanaria grow accustomed to this idea, I can buy them special clothes from the mall without surprising them too much.' Clovis thought with a smile. While it was not urgent, he still wanted a chef who could cook the ingredients from Another World Mall. This way, the entire group would benefit. 

However, the peaceful moment abruptly stopped when Jay returned to the camp.

He was running, but even after seeing them, Jay remained quiet. He even placed his finger on his lips, gesturing them to not say anything. 

They were bewildered at first, but Jay explained everything after gathering together. 

"I saw two groups fighting and killing each other."

"!!!" Kanaria widened her eyes in shock, while Clovis actually remembered what the military personnel said before the competition.

"Second, during the competition, you are allowed to use everything other than high-level weaponry with overwhelming destructive power like missiles. Other than that, you are allowed to use anything."

He even repeated it to make sure that the participants understood what he meant.