Ian looked at the mountain of emeralds before him, then at the witch girl, whose eyes were practically turned to stone—reflecting nothing but the glittering green gems. He couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, snap out of it! You're drooling!" Ian waved a hand in front of her face.
The witch girl jolted awake from her trance, quickly covering her mouth—only to realize there wasn't actually any drool.
"Ahem." Ian cleared his throat, trying hard not to laugh. "So, Miss Witch, your prices are way too low. These glowstone dusts and lapis—you're practically giving them away! You'll lose money like this!"
The witch girl lowered her head, mumbling softly, "But… that's the price I've always used."
"That won't do! Starting today—glowstone dust, fifty emeralds each! Lapis lazuli, seventy-nine emeralds each! That's final! I've got more emeralds than I'll ever need anyway."
The witch girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "Huh? That's… that's too expensive!"
"What's wrong with that? I made more than that just talking to you." (T/N: Bill Gates has joined the server?)
Her eyes flickered. Clearly, the words "made more emeralds" struck a chord. She hesitated, then finally nodded. "O-okay…"
Ian grinned and, with a dramatic sweep of his arm, pushed the mountain of emeralds toward her.
"Here, take all these emeralds first! If it's not enough, just tell me!"
The witch girl stared at the heap of emeralds like she was dreaming. She reached out a trembling hand to touch them—the cool texture proved it was no illusion.
"Um… Mr. Ian," she said in a quivering voice, "Do you... do you need anything else? I can... I can go restock."
"Restock?" Ian's eyes lit up. "Oh? Sure! What else can you bring in?"
She tilted her head, thinking hard. "I… I don't really know. Every time I restock, it's like… like…"
After stammering for quite a while, she still couldn't explain.
Ian asked curiously, "Like what? Don't tell me you don't even know where you restock from?"
She nodded, then shook her head, looking utterly lost. "I… I can't remember. Every time I restock, it feels like a dream... When I wake up, I don't remember anything, I just know I have a lot more stuff... and the few Emeralds disappear at the same time."
"No worries. Just take all these. Just bring in a bit of everything. If you run out of emeralds, I'll give you more."
"That's enough! Definitely enough!" she said hastily, clutching the emeralds with greedy excitement.
Ian chuckled at her miserly expression but didn't tease her further. He opened the Transmutation Tablet and retrieved the newly acquired lapis and glowstone dust, preparing to craft new items.
"So this is the Soul Stone…"
He held a deep azure gem in his hand. A warm current surged through him, sweeping away all fatigue.
It felt like soaking in a hot spring—every pore opened, every muscle relaxed. He could even feel his vitality slowly increasing.
Next, Ian crafted the Body Stone. The gem glowed a vibrant red, pulsing with energy. The moment he touched it, strength flooded through his body—his power now slightly above even the Red Matter Armor.
"Damn, I'm practically Superman now!" Ian laughed, swinging his fists to feel the rush of power coursing through him.
Finally, Ian turned his attention to the recipe for the Watch of Flowing Time. With a flash of dazzling light, the surrounding space began to twist, as if being pulled by an invisible force.
An antique pocket watch materialized in his hand. The hands spun wildly, almost hypnotic to look at.
Holding the watch, Ian felt reality itself blur around him. He activated its power, consuming EMC to speed up time.
The grass beneath his feet rapidly spread, and soon, tall grass covered the area around him.
"Holy crap! That's fast!" Ian quickly restored the normal time flow, afraid the witch might vanish if time passed too quickly.
He turned to check—thankfully, she was still there, though now crouched in the grass, gathering stray emeralds.
Ian smiled, then continued synthesizing—combining the Evertide Amulet and Volcanite Amulet. With that, he had all the materials needed for the Gem Armor Set.
He began crafting the Abyssal Helmet, Infernal Armor, Gravity Leggings, and Hurricane Boots.
Abyssal Helmet: 4 armor points, +2 armor toughness, unbreakable. Crafted from one Red Matter Helmet, one Tier-6 Klein Star, one Evertide Amulet, and one Soul Stone. EMC value: 29,133,920.
Grants night vision, integrates the Evertide Amulet's abilities—water walking and infinite oxygen.
Incorporates the Soul Stone's power, naturally restoring 0.5 health per second. Can fire lightning bolts when hands are empty, the only drawback is that the lightning also damages the wearer.
Infernal Armor: 14 armor points, +2 toughness, unbreakable. Crafted from one Red Matter Chestplate, one Tier-6 Klein Star, one Volcanite Amulet, and one Body Stone. EMC value: 30,950,432.
Grants night vision, integrates the Lava Amulet's effects—walk on lava, immune to fire, and extinguish flames nearby.
Also incorporates the Body Stone—restores 0.5 hunger per second and can trigger explosions when unarmed.
Gravity Leggings: 12 armor points, +2 toughness, unbreakable. Crafted from one Red Matter Leggings, one Tier-6 Klein Star, one Black Hole Band, and one Watch of Flowing Time. EMC value: 30,258,440.
Integrates the Gravity Core function—immune to fall damage, quadrupled jump height, and can release a "Gravitational Shockwave."
Hurricane Boots: 7 armor points, +2 toughness, unbreakable, doubles movement speed. Crafted from one Red Matter Boots, one Tier-6 Klein Star, and two Rings of Swiftwolf's Rending Gale. EMC value: 28,709,248.
Grants high-speed flight, though with strong inertia. Also provides slow falling and fall damage immunity.
As massive amounts of EMC were consumed, Ian watched the space before him begin to twist, like a calm lake surface rippling after a stone is tossed in.
Immediately after, a set of armor with a deeper color than the Red Matter Armor slowly materialized. It quietly floated there. The surrounding air seemed to be compressed and solidified, and tiny spatial rifts constantly appeared and healed, emitting a faint crackling sound.
Gem Armor Set! Its mere presence radiated a suffocating pressure.
Looking to the side, the Witch girl, who had been picking up Emeralds on the ground, had already run away and was hiding on another platform far off, peering over tentatively, her face full of terror.
Ian took a deep breath, lifted the Abyssal Helmet, and placed it upon his head.