After a long and tedious shopping trip, during which Alex and Jewel spend the entire day looking for items, they return to Capsule Corp, where they enjoy another meal together with Panchy, while Dr. Brief works busily, not wasting time on eating.
The next day, he is still working, prompting Alex and Jewel to resume their trip. To add to Alex's growing nervousness, this continues for two more days. By May 4th, Alex can't take it anymore and grows visibly restless.
Finally, Panchy invites him out for a drink and with him being desperate and bored enough as is he can't help but accept.
Princess Jewel will accompany Panchy and Soulmate.
"The more the merrier!" Panchy says. "Though I'd hoped to have some of our young Demon Hunters' attention just for myself. With a cutie like you around, he'll be distracted."
Princess Jewel likes Panchy! She can appreciate Princess Jewel's charm and cuteness.
Charm and cuteness my ass... by now you're a giant spider, you can barely fit onto my back. I think I'm developing a walking disability from the constant weight on my back.
It's training, Soulmate! Training! Remember when Goku and Krillin were training under Peasnt Roshi? They were carrying heavy turtle shells! This is even better training, because spiders are far superior to turtles, which makes this training vastly superior, too!
Hmph, I doubt that. Still, out of nostalgia, I'll continue this charade. I'm sure someday soon I'm gonna miss it.
That makes Princess Jewel sad....
Gotta cheer her up.
"Oh, come on. Instead, you'll be walking by my side instead of clinging to my head or back," Alex says, smiling.
❤️
With Jewel mostly silent and using Zetsu to hide herself, Alex and Panchy enter a high-class bar nearby.
"..."
"Then, I bought that dress, and my hubby got dizzy just by looking at the pattern on it, do you believe it?" she asks after a couple of hours of constant talking.
"Heh, I believe it," Alex snickers, though not really about what Panchy said.
"Hihi," she giggles, emptying her fifth glass. "You are so kind and patient. Surprisingly, a rough man like you knows how to treat a lady... you are surprisingly gentle and kind."
"Thank you," Alex replies, looking back at her, taken in by her beauty for just a second.
Finally, Alex and Jewel escort her home, which only takes five minutes on foot.
Clinging to his arm, Panchy looks fairly satisfied.
When they enter Capsule Corp, she says, "That was enough to fill up my batteries for a long time. Thank you for keeping an old lady like me company."
"Well... have a good night," Alex replies, feeling restless.
The mission really takes precedence. The stakes are high. I enjoyed that, but with life-and-death battles looming over me, it's kinda weird.
As she walks away, she turns around, still tipsy. "Should you defeat the Demon, I might give you a reward for real." Immediately afterwards, she disappears, leaving Alex and Jewel behind.
Rejected! Princess Jewel rejects that offer!
Alex sighs, and he returns to the guest room with Jewel.
"Let's go over our spoils... if Dr. Brief isn't finished by tomorrow, we need to leave anyway, or I'm gonna miss the Tournament," Alex says, his face serious for once.
Princess Jewel agrees. This might have been a clever trap by the system to sabotage Soulmate and Princess Jewel.
"Not like we wasted our time, though," Alex says, grinning.
"We sold the trash and stolen capsules to various pawn shops; even the weapon rack got bought. Overall, we bought 10 White Ranked items, five Green Ranked items, and even a real treasure! Too bad it's the only one."
They also sold their suspicious capsules and loot from the bandits, and even the weapon rack was sold to a suspicious merchant operating in an underground cellar far away from the center, in a district almost resembling a slum.
Since Jewel no longer hides herself, everyone immediately treated Alex and Jewel with respect, not daring to approach them, much less rob or threaten them.
Princess Jewel likes these weapons. They might be useful, though the strong people here are immune to gunshots... even Soulmate is completely immune to them with his armor.
Even me, huh?!
"Anyway... without a doubt... this is the highlight, hehe," Alex says. "It was outrageously expensive at 3 million Zeni, but it's worth its price. It was probably the system trying to prevent people from buying it just like that... not like that stopped us!"
[Experimental Ray Gun]
World: Dragon Ball
Quality: Deep Blue
Type: Blaster
Required Stats: STR - 3
Durability: 30/30
Damage: 10-150
Effect: Unstable - Increased max. damage but lowered min. damage, causing potentially lethal, but unreliable damage.
Effect: Breakthrough - Up to 50% of its total damage penetrates armor and various barriers.
Note: An experimental Ray Gun based on stolen military tech. Highly unreliable, hard to properly aim, and unwieldy.
"It's based on stolen Red Ribbon tech," Alex notes. "Though this gun is almost as large as a rifle... and it looks silly, like some sort of miniature rocket launcher, just without rockets, shooting blasts instead."
It's still worth a lot. This one might be worth keeping. Since it has almost no requirements, even the most incompetent Peasant Players can use it.
"..."
Having spent almost all their money on overpriced gear, with just 2 million remaining, Alex is still quite satisfied.
Finally, on the morning of May 5th, Alex washes up, taking a bath together with a reluctant Jewel, who barely fits into the bathtub with him.
Princess Jewel is shy....
Don't be silly.
After bathing, he puts on fresh clothes and leaves the guest room, descending to the ground floor.
As soon as they reach the reception, the secretary robot, now back in its usual place, welcomes Alex.
"Mr. Kerber, the Professor would like to see you," the announcer says politely, even bowing slightly. "He's in the atrium."
"Great!" Alex says. "Thank you."
Speeding up, Alex immediately enters the atrium, and his mood instantly improves as he notices Dr. Brief.
He has thick circles under his eyes, while his wife, Panchy, is playing with their various pets nearby, not bothered at all by his suffering, acting like it's just normal.
"Sorry for the delay. You know, with so much new technology, I've rarely been this excited... but my wife tells me you need to leave and are getting quite impatient," Dr. Brief says, looking at Alex, his eyes barely open, almost resembling those of his wife.
She realized? Despite having her eyes closed almost all the time, she's sharp.
"I wish I didn't have to be... but you know... the fate of the world and stuff?" Alex asks, his voice carrying a little bit of irony.
"I get it, I get it," the Doctor says. "Here is the Dragon Radar. I've improved it a little, and it's far more accurate and covers a greater area. My daughter still has something to learn," he says, handing Alex a rectangular item resembling a popular handheld game console.
Not recognized by the system? That's weird... well as long as it works....
"Also," he says, giving Alex a capsule. "It's a box that blocks out all kinds of radio waves... since we didn't have one, I had to really try hard and rely on my daughter's information."
"That will help more than you can imagine," Alex says, smiling. "I'm glad she believed us..."
"She didn't... but she believed in my technical expertise and evaluation of your items, and she owes me a few favors, hehe," Dr. Brief explains.
"Finally... the sensor," Dr. Brief says. "I've improved it. It scans the target and offers various information about the target. Though it can no longer gather and transmit DNA. Instead, I've focused solely on improving the scanning mechanism, and the tiny amount of DNA is used to identify the target... though the result will always be human anyway... at least I hope so. Aside from the Demons you mentioned or beastmen, should you encounter them."
[Capsule Corp. Scanner]
World: Dragon Ball
Quality: Deep Blue
Type: Mobile Scanner
Required Stats: -
Durability: 50/50
Charges: 3/5
Effect: Allows the user to scan any target, revealing potential anomalies and displaying various information about the user's strength, all combined in a single number, quantifying the user's overall power level. This only measures physical strength and can't grasp magic.
Note: Can't be taken out of this world.
Note: Once the charges are used up, it requires a Soul Crystal Small, as well as 5000 FC or another similar Power source to charge up.
Note: Initially created by the genius Dr. Gero, this scanner has been repurposed and improved by Dr. Brief, giving birth to an iconic item, way before it's time.
"Thank you!" Alex exclaims loudly, almost yelling, his eyes widening. "This is... well, a little dream of mine, to scan people and check their power levels. I can't believe you made this. You are incredible."
I can't wait to scan everyone with it... starting with... myself!
---------------------------------------------------
A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter
90+ Early chapters available - I will still release on WN daily!! Thank you!
New Chapters every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday!
Bored? Complains? Demands? Check out the Discord: https://discord.gg/puVqWsf3y9
Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones! Every bit of help is appreciated.