It didn't really seem important to the main quest for now. Ah'Ming decided to leave it behind, and climb the clock tower.
He stood up, and turned back to look regretfully at the mural. If only he could bring it with him... it looked like he could sell it for a lot of money...
Wait.
Why couldn't he bring it with him?
The system: I feel a disturbance in the peace.
|BROADCASTER IS ADVISED TO LEAVE PROPS WITHIN THEIR PROPER SETTING.
"Shhh. Sh."
Ah'Ming dug his claws behind the murals on the wall, and pulled---
THUNK!
The entire wall came straight off, leaving a surface of packed dirts and roots. Before the wall could hit the floor, Ah'Ming pulled it straight into his inventory. A smirk covered his face.
|System hopes you choke on dirt
"I love you too <3"
He then repeated it with the other five walls.
Everything useful would be borrowed, and that was his life creed. The floor though... that would be difficult to harvest. He stood there, pondering.
"How should I do this?"
|How about the broadcaster get going and follow the main plot?
"No."
...
|There is a shovel in the marketplace that might help.
Ah'Ming turned to look at the panel with a bright grin.
"Really? How much is it?"
The system, instead of responding normally, just opened a marketplace page. The price of the shovel was TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND POINTS?!
"System what the hell? Why on earth is a shovel so expensive?!" He complained.
Once again, instead of responding normally, the system just emboldened the description of the item.
|Once wielded by the god of the earth (X-2583) when shaping the mountains
"And that helps me how? Especially with the price?"
|Sorry, system forgot that broadcaster was a broke ass bi-
"Hey!!"
Ah'Ming glared at the air.
"Just because of that I'm stealing the floor."
He knelt down, and started grabbing the main things. The head of the person... the monsters behind him, basically everything cool.
|NO! STOP! BROADCASTER!! STOP!!!
"Shoulda helped me when you could." Just to be petty, he even stuck out his tongue.
|System hopes you die
Feeling entirely satisfied, Ah'Ming walked back up the staircase. Because he thought it was funny, he even took one of the torches from the side of the wall.
Spiralling up, and up, and up drove Ah'Ming to another realisation: He really hated stairs. They were boring and annoying.
When he finally reached the first floor, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and stretched. Mid Stretch, he paused.
Hey, wait a second...
The walls were surrounded by countless pillars, similar to the cellar, but hundreds more. It was very, very faint, but Ah'Ming could sort of see little words etched into the wood. He still couldn't read it though.
This place was a shrine! To who though? Most likely the person in yellow robes.
Ah'Ming had a realisation.
If the clock tower was so important to the plot, then the yellow person was also probably important to the plot as well.
There were so many plot aspects though! Ah'Ming could feel his head going dizzy. Funeral shops, murders, zombies, alternate worlds, what on earth was going on?! Now there was even migration!
He really was the wrong person for this.
He sighed, and resigned himself to climbing the stairs to the top of the tower.
While he was walking though, he got a system notification.
|Received ITEM from AliyaTechnology Corps.
No way! She was really successful, dang.
|Received ATTACHED MESSAGE from AliyaTechnology Corps.
|"I had a lot of inspiration so I ended up cramming it nonstop :DDD
|"See attached: A telecom device, with the barrage comment skill since I got a spare one in a lucky draw, a flame thrower, and an inventory upgrade! Thanks for giving that sample of your exoskeleton, it helped a lot with some of my other projects. Shop again soon!"
Ah'Ming felt a grin spread across his face. He immediately summoned the item, and put it on. It looked really, really cool.
Two black metal cauntlets sat, from his knuckles to his elbows. Aliya had been really confused as to why he hadn't wanted knives at the ends of his fingertips until he'd shown her his claws.
Immediately, she asked him for samples.
Ah'Ming had complied, breaking a couple chunks off of his arm (to aliya's horror). She'd then made him mop up the bloody mess on the floor while she ran diagnostics on it.
It had healed quickly.
Thanks to that, she'd given him a couple of freebies that he was super excited to use!
First, the phone.
"Hey system, can you send Aliya a message to thank her?"
|Broadcasters cannot send interpersonal messages during instance hours.
"What about to AliyaTechnology Corps?"
The system was upset that Ah'Ming had found a loophole, but still agreed. Ah'Ming spent a little while dictating the message, before remembering a crucial clue he'd gotten in the alternate world before.
Ah'Ming took out the scrap of paper from his inventory. Genuinely, the inventory was his favorite part about the broadcast.
"Uh, +44, 444, 444. Hello?"
The call connected immediately.
"Welcome to FedHex delivery service, what can I help with?"
Ah'Ming blinked. Huh, that was a really familiar name. He shook his head, and continued.
"Hi, I'd like to buy, um, the Complete Compendium of Spirits? Is that alright?"
"Of course! Let me connect you to EtherMart! Guaranteed same day summoning, or you get your money back!"
"Okay, thanks."
He kept walking up the stairs, and waited for the next call to connect.
At first, Ah'Ming had been kind of awkward with the gauntlet phone. He'd assumed you had to hold it close to your face, and talk to it like a normal phone. Turns out, he could just hold it out and a hologram would pop up. It also mostly relied on dictation to use, which was great.
"Welcome to Ethermart, what can I help with?" Another voice, smoother this time, sounded.
"Hi there, I'd like to buy the Complete Compendium of Spirits?"
"Of course! However, the specific copy from the advertisement that you are currently holding is _24$*@ 480 @#@8 cycles outdate-d. Would you like to buy a more recent copy?"
How did they kno-
"How much would it cost for me to buy both?"
"Purely point or cash wise, quite a lot. However, we at Ethermart also accept bartering. For example, a 25 year old soul! You'd be able to buy both compendiums, and then use them until you turn twenty five. After that, we come to collect your soul! Easy, cheap, satisfaction guaranteed!"
Uh.
Not to be rude or dismissive of the sales tactic, but Ah'Ming was already twenty four (in human years). That specific deal would only leave him with a month or two left in the current mortal realm.
"No, no thank you. Would you accept some of my exoskeleton? or some of my venom?"
"Computing... Computing... Yes. 247g of Exoskeleton or 822 milliliters of blood will suffice for this transaction. Please wait."
"Alright, that sounds great."
Ah'Ming kept climbing.
"Please reach your nearest high vantage point, preferably with an open space, and wait for your FedHex carrier to arrive. Thank you, and have a great day!"
The call hung up.
Ah'Ming shrugged.
It took another few minutes, but he made his way up. At the top, it was still pretty narrow. The walking space was only around two by three meters, and half of that was taken by a bell in the middle.
Near the edge stood a shadowy figure.
From deep-seated trauma alone, Ah'Ming got prepared to pummel the figure. Sensing the sudden hostility and danger, it bowed and held out a thick, paper bound parcel.
Oh.
Ah'Ming relaxed.
It was just the delivery person. Wow, FedHex really worked quickly!
The shadowy figure started to talk in a scratchy voice. "Please provide payment... Please provide payment."
Ah'Ming walked closer. "Alright. I don't have anywhere for you to store blood though, so hopefully you brought a vial."
The shadowy figure nodded, reached into his own chest cavity, and pulled out a liter bottle. It was made of glass, with countless inscriptions on the outside. It twisted off the cap, sanitised it with a spray, before handing it over to Ah'Ming.
Ah'Ming was a lot less careful than the courier. He ripped open his wrist, and directed the flow straight into the jar. He had to re-do it twice, though, since it kept healing.
The shadowy figure nodded. It placed the jar into its chest, and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. "Please sign here.... Please sign here...."
Picking up the pen, Ah'Ming signed while asking: "What's your name? If I buy from EtherMart again, I'd rather have a familiar face deliver it."
The figure paused. "My name... Name... Is... My name is... Ha...Ha.."
"Your name is Haha? Got it."
The figure bowed, then faded into the shadows.