“A single magic core is worth up to 10,000 gold coins!” Fatty Hart’s eyes had even turned red. “Old bro must have killed at least... 100,000 Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants just now, right? Hiss! That’s 1 billion gold coins!”
“1 billion?”
A shiver went through everyone, and they almost wet themselves.
That was 1 billion gold coins! 1 billion!
No one could spend all of that, even in their entire lifetime!
...
Meng Lei’s speed was very fast, but even so, he still spent more than three hours before he finally managed to collect all the magic cores.
As for the concrete number of magic cores there were, he didn’t bother counting. In any case, there were a lot of them, so many that he was close to running out of space. Even Ol’ Amos’ spatial magic device was almost full.
“Horses don’t bulk up without feeding at night, and people don’t get rich without unexpected windfalls. Our forefathers really don’t lie.”
It was only then that a satisfied Meng Lei returned to the city, where his eyes met Fatty Hart’s, whose eyes were filled with so much jealousy that he was practically mad. “Huhu! 1 billion gold coins! This fatty here is so jealous that I’m becoming distorted from envy!”
“Fatty, have you gone mad?”
Meng Lei patted Fatty Hart’s chubby face, which felt fleshy to the touch. The texture felt pretty good!
“Juxian Restaurant! We must go to Juxian Restaurant when the new term starts!” Fatty Hart clutched Meng Lei’s collar and shouted hysterically, “Once isn’t enough! You must treat me a few more times... No! Every day! You can only offer a wee bit of comfort to my wounded soul by treating me to meals at Juxian Restaurant every day!
“Huhuhu, 1 billion gold coins! If I had that much money, I would sleep on a mountain of gold every day and stuff myself silly every day...”
“...”
Meng Lei rolled his eyes. He finally understood now—that guy was actually jealous of him!
If you knew that I actually have 10 billion gold coins now, would you become so jealous that you’d immediately kill yourself by eating sh*t?
Probably... Yes?
“That boy...”
Dirk Norway, Abbe, and Tanna were also looking at Meng Lei with extremely complex emotions. The penniless boy from the mountains that had reported at the academy half a year ago wearing coarse sackcloth had already become this strong?
“Meng Lei, you deserve the biggest credit in the defense against the ant tide this time!” Marchioness Cesia had a look of approval all over her face as she said, “I will definitely report this truthfully to the king and request that he rewards you handsomely!”
“You’re...”
A bewildered Meng Lei looked at the female Green Dragon Person in front of him.
“Meng Lei, this is Marchioness Cesia, the guarding general of North River Pass,” said Dirk Norway hastily as he introduced Marchioness Cesia. “She’s also the number one female general of Fire Dragon Kingdom!”
“So it’s Marchioness Cesia! I’ve heard so much about you!”
Realization dawned upon Meng Lei.
“It’s just a bit of insignificant acclaim that’s not worth mentioning!” Marchioness Cesia waved and said, “On the contrary, it’s you, Meng Lei, that has exterminated the ant tide with just a flick of your wrist. After this battle, your name will definitely awe and stun the kingdom. You’ll become a hero known in every household throughout the kingdom!”
“Marchioness Cesia, you’re too kind!”
Meng Lei smiled at her but didn’t take her words seriously. Things like fame and all that weren’t important; they weren’t even as practical as a few gold coins or a few magic cores.
At the sight of this, astonishment and uncertainty couldn’t help but secretly come over Marchioness Cesia. After making such a huge contribution, the kingdom would definitely bestow upon him handsome rewards. Yet he was actually so calm, placid, and composed about it—his disposition wasn’t like a 15-year-old teenage boy’s at all!
After that, Meng Lei chatted a while more with the others before he got ready to bid farewell and leave. Little Gold was still in the Magical Beast Forest, so he had to hurry and bring it back with him.
“What a shame!” Marchioness Cesia lamented with a sigh, “And here I was, thinking of holding a celebratory banquet to express my gratitude to the hero credited with guarding the city. I didn’t think that you’d have other matters at hand.”
“Defending against the ant tide is something within my duty and obligation. How can I claim credit for it?” replied Meng Lei with a smile.
Then, he bade farewell to Dirk Norway and the others before finally saying to Hart, “Fatty, I’m counting on you to sell the magic cores!”
“Leave it to me!” Fatty Hart patted his chest and promised, “I’ll definitely get it done perfectly!”
“Thanks!”
Meng Lei patted Fatty Hart on the shoulder. Then, he hopped onto the magic carpet, left the North River Pass city gate tower, and flew toward the Magical Beast Forest.
An hour later, he finally found Little Gold’s hiding place. However, the little fellow wasn’t in a good spot at the moment because... It had run into trouble!
Over a dozen grayish-white spiders surrounded it on all sides. Woven all around it was even a black spider web that had completely sealed off all of its escape routes.
There was nowhere in and nowhere out.
Little Gold was like a tiny little kitten surrounded by a herd of elephants. It trembled and shook like a leaf—weak, helpless, and pitiful...
Krak, krak, krak...
The gigantic spiders were over 10-meters-long and had eight spear-like silver legs covered in steel needle-like fine hairs. They gave off a terrible stink, filling people with fear and causing their scalps to go numb.
“Underground Cave Magical Spiders! These are Underground Cave Magical Spiders!” Meng Lei’s eyes flickered with a chilly glint. “They’ve
