Chapter 17: Making Money (Part 2)

As the group passed through the door, they were astonished by the scene before them.

The room was filled with various statues, sculptures, ceramics, bronze artifacts, iron objects, gold and silver coins, and gold-crafted ornaments.

"Everyone, this is our target. Start transporting!" Edward shouted. Bullseye snapped out of his daze and signaled his men to begin the transfer.

"You five, as your reward, you can each choose two items. You can either keep the artifacts or convert them into cash," Edward smiled at them.

"I want the artifacts!" the archaeologist exclaimed excitedly.

"We are getting the hard bills!" The other four said in unison.

"Both options are fine. Select the artifacts you want and for those who want cash, I'll arrange for the money to be transferred to your accounts. The funds will be clean and untraceable. If you choose artifacts, give me an address and I'll ensure they are delivered safely. If you prefer to transport them yourself, that's also an option. Just mark the items with these stickers and write your names on them," Edward instructed before handing them some stickers.

The five eagerly went to find their desired artifacts, mostly relying on the archaeologist to estimate the value. Many of the items were so rare that they couldn't be appraised easily, as they had never appeared on the market. Eventually, they selected the artifacts deemed most valuable by the archaeologist, marked them with stickers, and signed their names.

Bullseye noticed a door not far away. Chewing on a toothpick, he approached Edward and asked, "Ed, what's behind that door?"

"An alien. I'm going to set it free soon which will destroy this label this place flat. So, once you finish moving everything, get out of here quickly."

"Why free it?"

"I mean why not. After all, it helped us make a lot of money. We can't just kill the chicken that lays the golden eggs, now can we?"

"Fine, if that's what you want."

They then spent an entire day and night carefully transporting the artifacts. If it had been ordinary bricks, it would have taken only a few hours, but these were fragile items. Even a slight bump could significantly reduce their value, necessitating slow and cautious handling.

"Are you sure you don't need us to wait for you?" Bullseye asked as he sat in the helicopter.

"No need. Just wait for me at the rendezvous point. The scene that's about to unfold is too intense for ordinary people to witness," Edward replied.

As the helicopters took off, Edward stayed behind, preparing for the next phase of his plan.

Bullseye nodded and led his team away. After they left, Edward used the crystal skull to open the door. Inside, he found thirteen crystal skeletons, though one was missing its head.

Edward returned the head to the skeleton before stepping away, "If you really want to thank me, please melt all the gold here into bars for me."

Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind, "Don't you want knowledge? Or wisdom?"

"Nope. Hard gold would do more than anything~!" Edward replied. Knowledge? Heh, it can't grant you happiness. Money doesn't buy happiness either… it buys crazy-ass happiness!

"As you wish. Thank you for returning my head."

In the next moment, all the gold in the room was extracted and formed into a massive block, five meters in length, width, and height. It was pure gold, without any impurities.

After securing the gold block, Edward left without looking back. He didn't notice the thirteen crystal skeletons converging towards one, merging until the alien's true form became clearer. Finally, the alien opened its eyes and watched Edward's retreating figure.

After Edward departed, a ring of sparks appeared in the room. A bald woman in white robes stepped out of it and nodded slightly toward the alien.

(AN: I really need an MC to fuck this bald woman. Any fic featuring this fetish of mine?)

As the explosions rumbled behind him, a disc-shaped UFO appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only a massive crater as evidence of what had once existed there.

Edward returned to the Amazonian village at high speed, then took a car to the city, and from there, a flight back to New York.

Upon landing, he rushed back to his office. There, Walter could be seen staring at the vending machine like an anticipating lover. After working with Tom over the past few days, he had finally accumulated enough points to exchange for a Vigor.

"What are you doing, Walter?" Edward's sudden voice startled Walter.

"Boss, you're back! I was just about to buy some Vigor. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Where did you get the points?" Edward asked curiously.

"Hehe~ Boi! I took on a few commissions and completed them with Tom's help."

"You're… something else. Well, choose whatever you like. It's not like you can only use one Vigor ability. If you have enough points, you can exchange for all of them."

Encouraged by Edward, Walter directly chose the Vigor he thought suited him best: the Murder of Crows.

As Walter completed his exchange, a bottle appeared with a soft blue glow. The cap was shaped like a crow's head. The bottle itself bore the image of a crow holding a dagger in its beak.

Taking a deep breath, Walter uncorked the bottle and drank its contents in one gulp. Instantly, he felt dizzy as the scenery around him spun. Suddenly, a crow with a red beak landed on his arm. The crow appeared to have just fed, with blood dripping from its beak, creating a fearsome sight.

As the crow flew away, Walter regained his senses and understood how to use the Murder of Crows. The first method was to release a swarm of slaughter crows to attack enemies. The crows were invulnerable to attacks and could only be dispelled after a time limit or if the enemy was killed. The second method was to create a crow nest that, when stepped on by an enemy, would transform into a swarm of slaughter crows. Overall, Walter was quite pleased with the abilities.

However, his satisfaction was tempered by the realization that the amount of "Salts" in his body was limited, allowing him to use his abilities only about ten times before needing a lengthy recharge of about thirty minutes for one use.

"What's the matter? You don't seem very satisfied," Edward observed.

"My mana salt reserves only allow me to use the abilities ten times. How can I be satisfied?" Walter replied.

"Do you see that tall blue bottle in the vending machine? It can increase your mana salt capacity. Buy more of those, and you'll be able to use your abilities more frequently," Edward suggested.

Walter then noticed the blue potion in the vending machine. It had no description other than the word "Potion." He also saw the relatively inexpensive mana salt potions, which could replenish his mana salt reserves. Well, he went for it.