Wednesday's Quest.

Chi Di's eyes burned red as he obsessively replayed the video of the attack.

The haunting images of police agents being brutally beaten...fortunate ones succumbing to their injuries.

Overwhelmed with grief, he fought back tears... rage consuming him instead.

Two sleepless nights had passed since the incident, and exhaustion had yet to catch up with him.

"Again!"

His voice resounded in his small room that looked more like a dumping site.

Plastic bottles were all over the place, and though he hadn't slept, he still needed something to keep him alive.

His boss was still in a comatose state and was getting worse by the day. Some medical reports even stated that she might lose her life - being a cripple was actually a blessing.

Min Yize was injured to the point of amnesia... and the police had used him as their scapegoat.

What kept Chi Di awake was the fact that the people who did this were still walking around alive.

Worse was that murderer-kidnapper!

Some police investigation units had taken over the issue, yet Chi Di was tenacious like a roach.

Life had knocked him down, but he was too stubborn to stay on the ground.

At this time, Mickey had decided to head into the center of Acoustic City where the Book Lords reside.

Acoustic City is the same size as Stockholm back on Earth. It isn't crowded most of the time, as the population only amounts to a mere hundred thousand.

Among those, only 30% are Book Lords, while the rest are mortals.

Thus, this was a new experience for Mickey - In his past life, he lived in the ghetto, and now, seeing this suburb filled with estates and mansions, his eyes couldn't help but dance in reverence.

The last time he went out, he was near the peripheries where mortals were allowed to step.

This was a no-go area for them!

He made no effort to conceal his strength, and it was evident to all that he was a Spirit Realm Book Lord about to attain the second stage.

The presence of X, lounging in his hair and exuding the aura of an Elementary Realm Profound Beast, was the cherry on top.

Nevertheless.... no one paid attention to this country bumpkin.

He was practically the only person on the streets now.

Once a Book Lord graduates from Doves Academy, they are given a choice to select one car of their choosing - It didn't matter whether it was something like a big-rig truck or just a normal family car.

Although, this world had its share of arrogant young masters, like Mo Bing, who boasted about their seniority and looked down on those of lower status, no one bothered Mickey, likely due to his short hair, which clearly indicated he was born a mortal.

Mickey didn't care, though. His gaze remained fixed on his tablet, engrossed in the navigation app as he ignored X's incessant chirping.

Mickey's decision to choose a blood raven as his companion was largely driven by their unique characteristics. Blood ravens mature remarkably fast, reaching full maturity in just a week, and they have longer lifespans compared to ordinary ravens.

However, their bodies don't grow in size as they mature.

To feed X, Mickey used a combination of his own blood and liters of Mo Bing's blood. Additionally, he had to feed the mysterious ring he found on the beach with at least 100 milliliters of blood daily.

'At this point, I have no blood to store for future use.'

Mickey's gaze turned grim as he spotted a large store to his right.

"Found it," he muttered, his eyes fixed intently on the building.

It was big and comparable with some of the retail stores on Earth. There was a brick pavement car park just before the entrance with a wide space. The walls were painted green, blending in with the lush surrounding.

This place belonged to an elder with world realm cultivation. Hence, the security of this place mainly had Human realm cultivators, and the till operators were all at the middle stage of the spirit realm.

These people all had rich battle experience, which made Mickey envious. But remembering how big the world is, he actually felt pity for them.

As he walked past the car park with his earphones in, his red eyes landed on the words written on top of the entrance,

[Treasure Cultivation Store: We sell all the cultivation items you need.]

Ahaa...

Mickey could only sigh at their false advertisement.

'They don't even sell world rank grimoires and items. They have them, but that's only for special individuals. Herbs, pills and ores are an exception, after all. Alchemy is not really picked as a path by cultivators who have high talent.'

As he was about to walk into the store, someone grabbed his shoulder.

A bass-baritone voice echoed in his ear.

"Hey, kid."

Mickey's body started sweating and shivering lightly.

He could feel the pressure descending on his jindan, and knew this person was a realm above him.

He turned his head to look at the owner of that voice. It was an athletic man fit to be a soccer defender, in a matching the khaki uniform he had on.

'Sh*t! It's that cliché guard who always finds trouble with the protagonist!'

Despite his thoughts being rather insulting, Mickey didn't even have confidence in surviving one spell from this guy.

However, this person was just doing his job.

"I can tell you are new here and must have blindly walked past the rule billboard. No tamed beasts are allowed in the store. I don't have to tell you the reason why, do I?"

Mickey nodded in understanding; he knew the reason. Tamed beasts might start eating the items inside.

X was raised by Mickey, and although he would mostly use English to communicate with him, it understood the guard's words.

Take a monkey and stay with it at home, it would become human.

X was swift in abandoning Mickey, as it flew to land on the guard's shoulder, who couldn't help but raise a brow at this.

"You have trained your beast well."

Mickey bowed a little, "Sorry to trouble you, Mister."

"It's fine."

Mickey bowed a few more times to express his gratitude, before heading into the shop - it was back to earth again! .

Everything in the shop was slick and looked like it was from a manga.

Mickey's eyes glow with a vicious light;

'This will all be mine! It's just a matter of time.'

Mickey calmed down his greed and headed towards the grimoire section.

Mickey took a peek at the right shelf which had Human realm grimoires, and he saw that the starting price was 90 million essence coins.

He never placed his eyes there again!

The sages say, if you don't have, your heart must be calm like the ocean and be satisfied with what it has.

After seeing the grimoires on his left, Mickey considered his budget and his selected path and picked up two grimoires that cost 45 million essence coins in total.

The idea of putting these grimoires in his primeval world didn't even enter his mind until he was finished with his purchase. - He knew that was setting fire in his own eyes.

When he was past the exit, X came flying over to sleep on his hair again, and the guard from before noticed his grimoires.

"I understand the Taming grimoire, but why Blood Blade? It's one of the weakest spirit realm grimoires there is. Its attack power is weak, and don't get me started on its speed. It might not take too much Qi, but the mental burden is too much. We were even thinking of removing it from the store. It is practically useless, despite it being easy to feed."

Mickey's gaze turned to look at the A5 sized book in his palm. It was thin with only five empty red pages inside. The cover was also red, but it had the image of a tongue sticking out on both sides.

Mickey's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought,

'That's a lot of information coming from a guard. Just as I suspected, he's likely a 'day'.'

Mickey's expression remained impassive.

'He's wrong, though. There's no such thing as a strong or weak grimoire; it all depends on the strength of the Book Lord wielding it.'

With a charming smile, Mickey shrugged off the guard, but his shoulder was quickly grasped again.

"I have an offer for you. Would you like to hear it out?"

Mickey frowned, and a hint of killing intent could be detected from his eyes.

"Who are you, Mister?"

The guard's expression didn't change despite noticing Mickey's hostility.

"I am Wednesday, an associate of the store's owner. I'd like to propose a private job to you: taking care of a beast that's been causing me trouble. Don't worry, it's only an elementary-level creature. Unfortunately, it's been destroying my valuable herbs."

Mickey's felt bitter in his heart.

'Bullshit! They must have discovered that I killed Mo Bing... This is why I hate mentalist!'

He sighed in displeasure, weighing his options carefully:

A) Reject the offer, which would likely lead to Wednesday catching him and probing into his memories.

B) Accept the offer, which would mean being under their constant surveillance until they uncovered the reason behind his unpredictable actions.

However... that made him smile.

'My plan to plunder everything in here could be said to have progressed by a single step.'

"How much?"

Wednesday raised a brow at the sudden question, and Mickey added with crossed arms.

"How much are you paying me for this little quest?"

'He is asking for the price before asking what beast he is fighting...' Wednesday thought for a second.

"50 millon essence coins, that is all I can afford to give you now. So, you know this is a private issue."

'How can a person with such a voice have a glib tongue?' Mickey nodded in understanding.

"It must be a wild boar beast without any spells?"

'A pregnant one.'

The two had the same thought, before Wednesday confirmed.

"You seem knowledgeable enough. So, you will take it?"

"Yes, but give me half the amount first."

"..."

"Why are you looking surprised? We don't know each other, and all I know about you is your code name. What if you send me to someone's farm, huh? Paying me half is a way for me to trust you. I am sure you know I can't cheat because you are way stronger than me. Half down, or no deal?"

'Greedy kid!' Wednesday pondered for a few minutes, before giving Mickey half the prize under the condition that he does the quest today.

If he didn't have plans for the Treasure Cultivation Store, Mickey would have run away with Wednesday's.