Ch 116: My Multiverse Supermarket

As the quartermaster and supply officer responsible for managing the legion’s finances and logistics, Rebecca was highly skilled in calculations. With just a glance at the display shelf of elemental gemstones, she could quickly tally how many there were.

Blue crystals representing water: 18 pieces.
Red crystals representing fire: 22 pieces.
White crystals representing wind: 33 pieces.
Yellow crystals representing earth: 15 pieces.
Purple crystals representing lightning: 4 pieces.
Green crystals representing nature: 41 pieces.
Transparent crystal representing light: 1 piece.
Pink crystal representing life: 1 piece.
And even three dark purple crystals containing shadow elements!

A total of 138 elemental gemstones, worth 61,962 points, costing about 33 gold coins.

Yag’s dozen or so gold coins weren’t enough to buy them all, so Rebecca hurried out to have the other five paladins pool their money.

Yag asked, “What are you trying to buy? You need that much and still don’t have enough?”

Rebecca exclaimed, “You have no idea—there are 138 elemental gemstones in there!”

“What!?” The paladins stirred immediately at her words.

Yag stopped them before they could hand their money to Rebecca.

“Yag?” Rebecca looked at him in confusion.

Yag said, “Let me handle the negotiation.”

Then, swaggering, he walked back inside.

“You’re from the United Kingdom of Atmos?”

Zhou Li: “?”

“The United Kingdom of Atmos?”

Yag snorted coldly. “Don’t play dumb! The decorations here already give you away—rebellious, disrespectful, faithless barbarian!”

Zhou Li: “??”

What? Why was she being scolded out of nowhere?

Crossing her arms, she tilted her chin slightly. “You here to cause trouble?”

Yag said, “Those elemental gemstones are not something you can possess. Hand them over.”

Zhou Li couldn’t help but laugh.

She’d dealt with thieves, cheapskates who harassed her when they couldn’t get a bargain, and robbers who snatched things and ran—but this was the first time someone tried to extort her so brazenly.

“Black Raven Legion? You act more like the Black Raven Thieves.”

Before Yag could retort, Rebecca rushed in, slamming into him to push him aside.

“Yag Spark! What on earth are you doing?!” Rebecca’s voice cracked in shock at his stupidity.

She’d thought Yag had some clever plan—but it turned out he was trying to rob the place!

Trying to distance herself from him, Rebecca said quickly, “You misunderstand, madam! He’s not from the Black Raven Legion—he’s a paladin captain from the Church of the Holy Light. The Black Raven Legion would never commit robbery!”

Yag staggered from her shove but quickly steadied himself.

Angered by her words, he snapped, “Rebecca, why are you interfering?”

Rebecca secretly rolled her eyes.

Back in the airship command room, the mage had already warned them that the reason their magic array couldn’t scan inside this building was because it was protected by a barrier.

Anyone who could set up such a barrier was clearly no ordinary person relying only on technology.

Did Yag think that if he robbed her, the God of Light would personally save him?

Rebecca said, “Yag, don’t forget this mission is under my command. You’re just an assistant.”

Yag had no response.

Zhou Li could tell the two followed different faiths and came from different factions—working together only out of temporary alliance.

But so what?

She’d just been insulted and extorted. A simple apology wasn’t going to make her forgive them.

Zhou Li said to Yag, “You’re blacklisted. You’re not welcome here. Leave.”

Yag gripped his sword handle tightly but, under Rebecca’s push, left the store.

Rebecca kept apologizing—she really wanted those gemstones, after all.

This world was once dominated by magic.

But over the past century, magical energy had gradually waned, ushering in the Age of Diminished Magic.

As more people stopped believing in gods, divine power weakened even further.

The rise of machinery spurred technological progress, giving birth to the Steam Faction.

As belief in technology grew, this new form of faith created new gods.

Though young, these new gods grew rapidly in strength.

Some older deities—like the God of War—were tempted by this faith energy and switched sides.

Humans in the Steam Faction no longer needed divine oracles or rituals. Their love of machines and devotion to science became the greatest source of divine power.

The new gods didn’t need to grant divine spells; as long as their followers meditated (immersing themselves in the sea of knowledge), they would receive enlightenment and blessings.

The Magic Faction, on the other hand, still required baptism and prayer to gain magical knowledge and elemental power.

One way the gods responded to their followers was through elemental gemstones infused with divine magic.

Now, not only had magic energy dwindled, but elemental gemstones were also becoming scarce.

Even after scouring entire battlefields, the Black Raven Legion couldn’t gather 138 gemstones.

Zhou Li noticed Rebecca’s eagerness and said, “You don’t need to apologize for him. Once blacklisted, always blacklisted.”

Rebecca asked, “Then… do I still have a chance?”

“There is a way…”

Rebecca brightened, then looked troubled. Yag was blacklisted and unlikely to lend her money. She had no gold coins left—maybe she could trade something valuable?

“Wait, didn’t you mention valuable items can be exchanged for points?” Rebecca said, inspired. She pulled out a small vial of liquid.

The bottle held just five milliliters. When shaken, the liquid glowed faintly green.

“This is a potion brewed by the alchemist Ramanda. It’s called ‘Oath of Verity.’ Drop a single drop into water and drink it, and you’ll be bound by the Goddess of Oaths to speak only the truth.”

Zhou Li: …

That was basically a truth serum.

She wasn’t sure if it would work in a world where the Goddess of Oaths didn’t exist, but she decided to list it on the auction board anyway.

[Oath of Verity]
Age: 5 months
Date of Production: 1877
Owner: Rebecca (Black Raven Legion Quartermaster)
Starting Price: 38,220 (recommended)
Buyout Price: 50,000 (recommended)
Note: The Goddess of Oaths, who guards the River of Souls, will forever watch over you.

Zhou Li: ?

That sounded… dangerous. Good thing she wasn’t the one being watched.

“47,500 points—enough for 95 elemental gemstones. Would you like to proceed with the exchange?”

“Exchange!” Rebecca said, delighted. Who would have thought a potion worth only 5 gold could be traded for 95 gemstones? What a bargain!

“Oath of Verity” was a common alchemy recipe—cheap herbs, easy to make.

It did compel truth, but most people with secrets had ways to counteract it.

For example, paladins and priests could use spells to negate its effects.

Still, Rebecca couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Why could something worth just 5 gold exchange for gemstones worth over a hundred?

Was there some hidden catch?

Zhou Li was unaware of her customer’s growing anxiety. “You can choose any 95 gemstones you like.”

Rebecca snapped out of it, deciding to stay alert.

As a follower of the War Goddess, she knew exactly which elements to choose.

The War Goddess often appeared as a black raven. Wherever she sought destruction, hurricanes would rise, toppling buildings and sweeping away enemies.

Thus, her followers often wielded wind magic.

Archers and rangers—like Rebecca herself—were especially attuned to wind.

Besides wind, she also picked fire, light, and life gemstones.

Fire mages in the Magic Council were always short on fire gems—she could sell those for a tidy profit.

Water gems could be used by ice mages.

As for lightning…

Rebecca grimaced.

The Sky God, master of thunder, now belonged to the Steam Faction. With airplanes and electricity spreading fast, his influence was growing rapidly.

She’d rather not touch that.

The remaining 20 she chose from nature elements.

The Steam Revolution had devastated nature, and human greed had weakened the Goddess of Nature. Druids who still followed her surely needed these gems.

After picking her gemstones, Rebecca looked longingly at the ones left behind, already planning to contact her commander for more funds.

Though the place was remote, others might soon detect the magical energy emanating from here and come to buy as well.

After completing the trade, Zhou Li restocked the shelf.

Rebecca stared in disbelief as Zhou Li scooped up a large handful of fresh elemental gemstones from a basket.

Rebecca: “?”

She gasped, “These are all elemental gemstones? How do you have so many?”

Zhou Li: “Yup.”

Freshly mined sea fluorite, like most minerals, was bulky and irregular—made of clusters of many colored crystals fused together.

When Zhou Li brought them back, they were still raw and unseparated.

After extracting the crystals, she ended up with hundreds of gemstones—enough to fill an entire basket.

Rebecca: “…”

She’d spent all that time agonizing over which gems to buy—for nothing!

In despair, she asked, “Did you dig through the whole Elemental Storm Canyon?!”

Zhou Li: …What’s that place supposed to be?

She didn’t answer.

Rebecca saw even larger, purer crystals—clearly higher-quality gemstones—and instantly regretted her choices.

Could she return the old ones and buy new ones instead?

Unfortunately, the better ones were 100 points more expensive, as they were priced by weight.

“Miss, could you please hold those aside for me? I’ll go prepare the money right now.” Rebecca decided to take a roundabout approach.

Zhou Li refused politely. “Pre-orders require full payment upfront.”

Rebecca had only some basic potions and scrolls left.

The potions wouldn’t sell for much, and the scrolls were her emergency assets—she couldn’t give those up.

Finally, she pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote an official requisition order as a quartermaster, dispatching a paladin to rush back to the Vitas Outpost to draw funds for “military supplies.”

[Author’s Note]

Boss Zhou: The magical elements from your world probably leaked into another dimension. [dog emoji]

In the corner, the Goddess of Nature: “Pray for me.” [angry emoji]

——

The gods in this story are a mix of Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Norse mythology—a big blend.

Classes like ice mage, fire mage, ranger, druid, and paladin are inspired by various RPG game settings.

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