Chapter 22: Unexpected Wealth

David switched on the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device, an endless array of data appearing on the display before him. For someone without the relevant knowledge, it would be impossible to understand how the device worked, let alone operate it.

However, David managed to do it all with ease. The knowledge on electronic warfare that now existed in his brain allowed him to be aware of all the possible scenarios where he was most likely to expose his position.

He retrieved the T3 Sniper Assist Device and placed it beside the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device. The latter was very impressive, managing to capture the control system in the T3 Sniper Assist Device, which had a weak signal, in just ten seconds.

He discovered the code that had revealed his location and the location-hiding program that sent out location signals every hour.

With a flick of his finger, he switched off the program that sent out the position signals, the action a bit late considering the incident had already happened. 

"Strange… Given the way those mercenaries acted, why would they place so much importance on the T3 Sniper Assist Device, especially since they left without the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device? The latter was left behind on the ground, too..." Although David had turned off the signal program, he still had plenty of questions left in his mind.

The K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device of the Electronic Warfare Division was a very valuable piece of equipment. Although David did not know its exact value, he was sure that it cost hundreds of thousands of credit points at the very least and was a truly luxurious piece of equipment.

On the other hand, the T3 Sniper Assist Device was just rare and difficult to obtain. It was far less valuable than the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device, and simply not worth the effort of deploying numerous armored mercenaries. The payoff was not at all proportionate to the gain.

Thinking to himself, he wondered, 'Could it be that the T3 Sniper Assist Device has some secret?' 

With that in mind, he began to look at the T3 Sniper Assist Device closely.

Although the equipment seemed simple, it was made up of a large number of smaller, very exquisite components. He could not disassemble it, and as a result, he could not find out the secrets within.

Turning around, he saw the Shadow Servant, causing his eyes to light up. Since the Shadow Servant could penetrate through tangible objects, wouldn't that mean he would be able to see what was going on within the device? 

Although the T3 Sniper Assist Device wasn't very large, the Shadow Servant should at least be able to fit an eye through it.

Looking at the inner parts of the T3 Sniper Assist Device through one of the Shadow Servant's eyes, David saw that there was a fingernail-sized chip glued to the side wall of the device. 

It would be troublesome to take out the chip from the T3 Sniper Assist Device. The equipment was still intact after the explosion of the personal aircraft and the subsequent impact, so there was very little hope that David could affect it in any way. Even if he wanted to destroy it, he would have to break open the shell and remove the chip, which was practically impossible.

"Let's see what this chip is for first," David said, deciding to activate the chip and check its contents, even if he could not retrieve it. 

In the past, David definitely wouldn't have had the ability to do so. However, he had just received the 98%-Proficiency Electronic Warfare Retaliation ability. Activating a chip such as this one in very close proximity was a simple action.

The K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device emitted a weak wave of energy. With the way Shadow Servant was positioned, the weak energy directly connected with the chip's energy interface, after which it began to activate.

A row of data then darted out of the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device, David glancing at what seemed to be messy codes. However, in his eyes, it was clearly data, all of which he gradually understood. 

His hands moved quickly, and the row of data was transferred from the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Retaliation Device to his identity bracelet. 

A projection then appeared on his identity bracelet, displaying the logo of Arca Bank. 

Arca Bank was one of the many banks in the Star Federation, but the one with the highest level of secrecy attached to it. It claimed to be the safest too. Although one wouldn't earn much interest from storing their credit points in a bank account at Arca Bank, their account balances would never be exposed. With that in mind, it was the best choice for people with dubious sources of income.

When David saw the logo of Arca Bank, he immediately understood what the chip was.

He had never seen the legendary anonymous accounts before, but he had heard the widely spread tales of special accounts.

The brief projection of Arca Bank's logo was followed by a chain of verification processes. The influx of data from the chip was continuously interconnecting with the Arca Bank branch on Planet Rocky through Skynet, the interaction process lasting for a full ten seconds.

Even with David's 98%-Proficiency Electronic Warfare Retaliation ability, he could not analyze the data, as it was the core of the secrets of Arca Bank. The information had been tested and verified for countless years.

After the verification ended, David finally had the real reason for the arrival of those mercenaries: it was the 4.2 million credit points that was available in the balance of the anonymous account.

At Planet Rocky, where credit points were extremely valuable, 4.2 million credit points were considered a massive amount of wealth. 

In actuality, only 2.6 of the 4.2 million credit points stored in the account were from the sale proceeds of the exquisite loot that had recently been obtained by the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps. The rest were private assets that belonged to the deceased Abbott.

Looking at the credit points in his account, David's heart caught fire. If he couldn't get admitted to a good university, he wouldn't be able to earn and save up that many credit points even if he worked in Pelan City for the rest of his life.

Be it in his previous life or his current one, it was his first time seeing so much wealth.

Pausing for a minute, David took a few deep breaths to calm down. He did not transfer the credits from the account to his identity bracelet, as such a large amount of income from an unknown source would definitely cause trouble, which he didn't need at the moment.

Besides, now that the chip was in his hands, no one else could obtain it, and hence, others would not be able to open the anonymous account. It would essentially become his private account.

If he wanted to use credit points, he could always withdraw small amounts from that large sum.

He put the T3 Sniper Assist Device in his pocket, an item that was now worth more than 4.2 million credit points.

The agitation and stimulus that he had just received, coupled with what had happened the night before, made it impossible for his brain to settle down.

After the deaths of the two people last night, he began to analyze all the problems with the Shadow Servant's ability.

First of all, as an armorer, Amos would never have just a single ability. However, the Shadow Servant had only obtained a single Warhammer Mastery (82% Intermediate) Knowledge Orb, which was placed in his soul. Based on that fact, David felt that since Amos could have become an armorer, his physical abilities must be far beyond the entry level.

Then he thought about the female mercenary from the Electronic Warfare Division, whose soul only gave out one Knowledge Orb to the Shadow Servant.

A vague notion began to build up in his mind, the idea that the Shadow Servant could only gain a single ability from each soul, and that ability would most likely be the soul's strongest ability at the time they were alive. 

That point was reflected with the female mercenary. Her soul provided the Electronic Warfare Retaliation Knowledge Orb, which was her strongest ability.

David did not absorb or fuse the Knowledge Orbs again. Based on the process of absorption and fusion of the Electronic Warfare Retaliation (98% Proficiency) Knowledge Orb, there would be a high possibility of failure if his body couldn't support the fusion.

The Electronic Warfare Retaliation (98% Proficiency) Knowledge Orb was a pure Knowledge Orb, which he was almost certain he could not withstand. The remaining Knowledge Orbs were all combat Knowledge Orbs that had even greater possibilities of failure.

He began to continuously practice the eighteen movements of Bodywork, going off of the feeling that if he could practice the full set of 99% Beginner-level Bodywork from the beginning to end, he would break through the beginner level.

That feeling was very strong, and although practice would not improve his attributes due to it being incomplete, he was practicing tirelessly, almost like a madman.

He was consuming the three months' supply of strengthened meat that he had purchased at a rapid rate. However, his massive consumption was no longer a problem, the large amount of wealth he had just acquired enough to support the costly routine.

The plan he had made for himself was to increase his Bodywork to the intermediate level, which he would use to perfectly absorb the bottle of Level 2 Strengthening Potion. 

Although the Level 2 Strengthening Potion was effective, the absorption depended on one's ability. The stronger one's Bodywork, the better the absorption of the Level 2 Strengthening Potion.

He could only be confident that he wouldn't waste the remaining three Knowledge Orbs after he absorbed the Level 2 Strengthening Potion and improved his physical attributes.