"Your main body was devoured by a child of 'Primordial Hunger'…
"Was it that being known as 'Endless Greed, Devourer of Stars, Lord Who Feasts on Spirits'?"
Ebner asked after careful consideration.
When he had wandered the starry skies as "Alvin Abraham," he had heard this name in multiple civilizations. Without exception, it was infamous everywhere—reviled by intelligent beings even more than demons.
Because wherever It went, everything was devoured. Nothing was spared.
And the pathway in which the "Goddess of Wealth" resided was itself governed by "Primordial Hunger," so attracting that terrifying child of Its was only natural.
Letting out a faint sigh, Ebner said apologetically to the avatar of the "Goddess of Wealth," "Sorry, Helena… If I hadn't gathered such a massive number of 'Collector' pathway characteristics from different planets and concentrated them on the 'Golden Star,' perhaps that greedy Devourer of Stars wouldn't have arrived so quickly."
Alien planets were nothing like Earth, which possessed vast quantities of Beyonder characteristics and even converging source materials. When Alvin first arrived at the so-called "Golden Star," there was nothing there except half of a Sequence 2 existence and a scattering of Beyonder materials—nowhere near enough to form a complete system.
The "humans" there were enslaved by that half–Sequence 2-level monster, drained of every bit of value, living utterly miserable lives.
As for the "Goddess of Wealth," Helena, at that time she was merely the leader of a small "resistance force," a lucky survivor who had directly swallowed a Sequence 6 characteristic without losing control.
Later, due to certain circumstances, Alvin and Helena formed a friendship. He took her traveling across multiple planets, gradually assembling the subsequent potion ingredients and helping her advance to angelhood, becoming the "Goddess of Wealth." Only then did they return to the "Golden Star," defeat the monster enslaving the "humans," and use its characteristics to create what was now this "Traveling Palace."
The reason "humans" was placed in quotation marks was that the people of that planet were not entirely the same as Earth's humans. They more closely resembled the halflings described in Western fantasy novels, all of them rather short in stature.
Of course, after advancing to angelhood, Helena could freely adjust her body, which was why she now appeared nearly indistinguishable from a normal Earth human.
While Ebner was lost in memory, Helena shook her head and said, "'Graz' was actually nothing more than a 'shepherd' placed on our planet by that Devourer of Stars… We were all merely Its reserve 'food.' It was only a matter of time before It came to harvest us.
"At the very least, the barrier you left behind allowed us to hold on for over a hundred more years."
"Graz" was the name of the monster that had enslaved the "humans."
Recalling that planetary civilization—which in just over a century had completed a technological revolution and accumulated enormous wealth—Ebner sighed once more, then set the thought aside… There was no use dwelling on it. It had already been destroyed.
Steadying himself, Ebner redirected his attention to his "Traveling Palace" and asked Helena, "What 'collections' does the Traveling Palace currently possess? Mm, only report those at angel level."
"Ability-type collections: maximum of 3, currently vacant 3.
"Biological-type collections: maximum of 3, currently vacant 2. Exhibit 'Goddess of Wealth' remaining time: 1 minute 26 seconds.
"Item-type collections: maximum of 3, currently vacant 1. Exhibit 'Box of the Old Days, First Layer' remaining time: 3 minutes 15 seconds; exhibit 'Holy Avenger' remaining time: 5 minutes.
"Other-type collections: maximum of 3, currently vacant 2. Exhibit 'Wrath of the Ancient God Soniathrym' remaining quantity: 1."
The avatar of the "Goddess of Wealth" reported with meticulous precision… At this point, her essence was nothing more than the "intelligent steward" of the Traveling Palace.
"Collection Space" was one of the core abilities of the "Goddess of Wealth" pathway from that alien world. Through "appraisal," it could forcibly "purchase" the usage rights—or even ownership—of any person, object, or ability encountered.
For example, Zaratul's "Miracle" had been purchased outright with "ownership," which was why it became the key to Ebner's resurrection of Alvin.
Meanwhile, the "Goddess of Wealth" had only sold "usage rights," or more precisely, "usage time." Back then, Alvin had bought only five minutes from her and nearly bankrupted himself—and that was with her full cooperation and consent to the transaction… If he had tried to forcibly raise the price and buy it outright, no one knew what the cost would have been.
Overall, Ebner felt that this ability was actually less practical than "Historical Projection." As for the "forced appraisal and purchase" ability, while it was outstanding and could certainly achieve unexpected results by directly buying away an opponent's abilities in battle…
In this regard, the "Marauder" pathway was still more effective.
As for how "price" was defined, it stemmed from the concept that "all things possess divinity"… Precisely because all things possess divinity, all things have value. At the very apex of this pathway, "Primordial Hunger" sought to consume exactly that divinity.
This was also why the "Answer Labyrinth" recognized the value of "gold pounds" and "real estate"—because they could be exchanged for corresponding Beyonder characteristics or other items containing divinity.
Another core ability of the "Goddess of Wealth" pathway, "Wealth Leverage"—or rather, "Divinity Leverage"—was based on this principle. It could forcibly elevate a Beyonder's "value," temporarily raising their rank, or suppress a Beyonder's "value," weakening their abilities.
Unfortunately, this "Traveling Palace" possessed only half of an angel's characteristic, so it did not have this latter ability.
However, the exhibit "Goddess of Wealth" could accomplish it… It was just that after losing the "Golden Star," she was probably a "pauper" now, and her strength had likely declined drastically.
As for using my "wealth"… hmm… it seems my current assets still aren't large enough. I need to get Beldan running properly as soon as possible, and then expand the "film company" until it's big and strong.
Additionally, I actually have a way to make some quick money… and it just so happens to be perfect for accumulating "wishes."
...
Southern Bridge District, Rose Street.
Early Tuesday morning, as Emlyn pushed open the doors of the Harvest Church while calculating where he could find another 2,000 pounds to pay off the remaining balance to "the World," someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder from behind.
Emlyn jumped in fright and hurriedly turned around, only to see that "Hero Detective" Ebner was smiling at him.
"What do you want?" Emlyn glanced at the towering figure of the half-giant priest behind the pulpit, gaining a bit of courage.
For some reason, he always felt that when this detective came looking for him, it never meant anything good.
"Short on money?" Ebner pulled him into a corner and asked.
Why are all you detectives the same? Emlyn immediately thought of a certain bearded detective. His heart stirred, and he lifted his chin. "Just say what you want."
"I have something to sell to that Blood Race noble of yours… Marquis Nibais. I want you to act as the middleman," Ebner said with a smile.
"What is it?" Since it concerned his race, Emlyn became even more vigilant, even though Lord Nibais didn't treat him very well.
"It's something good… I remember he's already very old and has to rely on long periods of slumber to avoid decaying, right?" Ebner said, then smiled confidently. "And I just happen to have water from the 'Fountain of Youth'—not the fake concoction fabricated by the 'Immortality King,' but the real water from the true Fountain of Youth!"
And it had only been freshly extracted the previous night, through various means, from the "Unaging Demoness."
(End of Chapter)