"So, what'd everyone buy?"
Tim Wynn asked with curiosity, pulling a Dragon Fang and a Dragon Gem from his pocket.
"Just these two. The Black Mystery Zone really lives up to its reputation as an Attribute Gem hotspot — you literally can't get your hands on these outside."
"Lucas, what about you?"
Jace Rowan glanced at what Tim was holding, then turned to Lucas. His things would get a dramatic reveal last to build suspense.
"I didn't buy anything."
Lucas shrugged, shaking his head. He'd been so focused on the starfruit that he hadn't paid attention to anything else.
"Lena Greaves and I bought these."
Serena said with a smile, and after sharing a glance with Lena, each of them produced a purple bag.
"What are these?"
Everyone crowded in to take a look.
"Stardust?"
"Yep! Pretty, right?"
"Uh… pretty, sure."
No one besides Auron showed much interest.
For them, something that was just for display had no practical value.
But girls liked shiny things, so they could only offer polite nods.
Though Auron was curious whether the Stardust had the same properties as Star Piece — but now wasn't the time to ask. That could wait until they got back.
"Simon Greaves, what about you?"
It was almost his turn, and Jace's excitement was building.
Simon Greaves held up a translucent cloth, faint and slightly intangible.
"This."
"What's that?"
Jace leaned in again, curiosity written all over his face.
"Not sure, but according to the family records, Phantump really likes this thing. So I bought it."
Auron recognized what it was at a glance. This was the Spirit Veil — no wonder Phantump would love it. It was the evolution item for Phantump.
But something felt off. If Phantump liked it, it would carry the cloth on itself. There shouldn't have been so long without a Phantump evolution appearing…
"Come to think of it, I should look through the old records again. But seriously, how long has it been now? They still haven't released how to evolve Feebas? Is the official release really that slow?"
Auron thought, bewildered. The rewards had been handed out long ago, and yet there was still no public announcement on Feebas's evolution method — not to mention Steelix or Kingler.
Though speaking of which, Mo Qiangcheng's Steelix had been making headlines internationally recently.
Mo Qiangcheng, who had been locked in an endless rivalry with Marcelo Belsa of the Americas for the title of strongest Steel-type Elite Four — they'd been evenly matched for years. But ever since Steelix, the Zone Guardian, joined his side, Mo Qiangcheng had gained the upper hand in their matches.
All they needed now was one official battle to confirm Mo Qiangcheng as the strongest Steel-type Elite Four.
Apparently, the Steelix affiliation had also earned him some fans in the Americas, which was a little hard to wrap his head around.
So recently, both Mo Qiangcheng and the Dragon Kingdom authorities had been working to set that match up.
The Dragon Kingdom side was practically certain — Mo Qiangcheng wasn't going to lose.
If Steelix's appearance had given him the advantage, then Mega Evolution meant his Metang could practically crush the opposition.
"Luze? Luze?"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Auron blinked back into focus, just in time to see Jace waving a hand in front of his face.
"What do you mean, what's wrong? You totally spaced out."
"Ah? Oh."
Auron rubbed his eyes, trying to refocus. Then he turned to Simon Greaves.
"Keep that thing safe. It'll be useful later."
"Uh—" Simon Greaves froze for a moment, then nodded, tucking the Spirit Veil away.
"Okay okay okay, my turn now! Wanna guess what I bought?"
No sooner had Simon Greaves put away the Spirit Veil than Jace burst out shouting.
"What, a Legendary's egg?"
"Or a Legendary's baby?"
"Or did you actually buy a Legendary?"
Everyone piled on the teasing.
Jace's face darkened. "Be serious. I'm being serious here."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a rolled-up bundle of paper.
"Tada-da-da-da~"
"Guess what this is?"
As everyone opened their mouths for another round of teasing, Jace quickly changed expression and unrolled it himself.
"Ta-da! A map — of the Black Mystery Zone!"
Jace spread the map across the table, proudly waiting for the group's praise.
"Uh… how much did you pay for this?"
"Only five thousand! The boss said this was the only copy of a Black Mystery Zone map in existence. It was originally twenty thousand, but after my tireless negotiating, I got it for five!"
Looking at Jace's smug face, Auron and Tim exchanged a glance, both at a loss for words.
"I take back what I said — Lu Lutong is definitely not a scam artist…"
Tim nodded in agreement. "Seriously, comparing the two, that guy seems incredibly honest."
"What are you guys talking about? Aren't you going to praise me?"
Jace looked genuinely confused, not realizing that behind him, Lucas and the others had already started laughing.
Jace was too deep in it to see the problem. But as outsiders, they'd caught the exchange between Auron and Tim and had already guessed what was going on.
"Uh… we actually have a map too…"
Jace froze. No way.
Tim then unrolled the map that had been sitting on the chair behind him, laying it out beside Jace's.
Comparing the two maps side by side, Jace's instantly lost all appeal.
The shoddy craftsmanship was one thing — compared to Lulu Tong's official map, there was simply no contest.
Lulu Tong's map not only had detailed area descriptions, it included first-entry precautions for the Black Mystery Zone and notes on where exits might appear.
Jace's? It looked like something a kid had scrawled during art class. A circle here with "dangerous" written inside. A circle there with "not dangerous."
The contrast couldn't have been more stark. Jace immediately went red, snatched his map, and bolted for the door.
"I'm going to find that guy! He scammed me!"
Lucas grabbed Jace by the arm. "Hey hey — the guy's long gone. Where are you even going?"
"Hahaha, come on, sit down. Consider it a costly lesson. We're not laughing at you. Pfft—"
Jace shot Auron a deeply resentful look. Wasn't he supposed to not laugh?
Auron waved his hand sheepishly. "I just remembered something funny."
"You're impossible…"
Jace had no words, and changed the subject.
"Let's look at the map. It says here, 'When entering the Black Mystery Zone for the first time, hold nothing back.' What does that mean?"
The first item listed under "Precautions" on the map was: "Give it everything you've got — hold nothing back!"
Written in bold red letters.