“Thank you for your generosity, Sir Klopp!” Sein said sincerely to the knight overlord before him.

Moments earlier, he had received not only commendation from Klopp but also an astronomical allocation of resources routed through him from the Magus Alliance.

Combined with what he had gained during the Clash of Civilizations, Sein likely would not have to worry about cultivation resources or rare magic ingredients for thousands of years.

“Heh. You earned every bit of it,” Klopp replied. “In fact, I think the reward may still be insufficient. The technological advancements from the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, as well as the discovery of those vast inert crystal reserves, are of great importance to our leadership.”

“As for your request for a Golden Apple, I’ll need to discuss it with the others first. Even if we have none available to allocate, I’ll see that you receive another treasure of equal caliber,” the knight assured him with a smile.

“Thank you, Sir Klopp!”

Among the Magus Civilization’s overlords, Klopp was the one Sein had interacted with most frequently and the one who had shown him the most favor.

It was clear that Klopp held this young, promising successor in high regard.

Before Sein took his leave, Klopp casually asked, “Have you heard of the Sacred Fruit produced in Hundred-Mile Blossom World?”

“I have heard of the Hundred-Mile Blossom World, but I know nothing about this Sacred Fruit,” Sein answered honestly.

If he remembered correctly... the Hundred-Mile Blossom World was a medium-sized plane within the Magus Alliance.

According to records in Sky City, the Magus Civilization had once attempted to help it advance into a large-sized world, but the effort had ultimately failed.

Why it failed was unclear. Perhaps the civilization did not truly want it to rise. Perhaps the world itself lacked the qualifications. Or perhaps other forces had intervened.

In any case, records about the Hundred-Mile Blossom World were sparse. During the last Magus Alliance Conference, Sein did not recall interacting with any powerhouses from that plane.

As for the Sacred Fruit, he knew even less.

“I see.” Klopp nodded. “You may return and await further notice. The resources promised by the Magus Alliance will be delivered to you in batches.”

“Delivery times and quantities may vary, as we will be prioritizing the front-line legions. But rest assured—you’ll receive everything as promised,” he added with a faint smile.

Sein nodded in understanding.

After thanking Klopp once more before departing.

***

After leaving the Magus Civilization’s command center on Portman World, Sein received a flurry of messages from Thor and Loki.

Loki alone sent seven. Thor sent two.

They seemed unusually anxious.

Puzzled, Sein headed toward the location he had agreed upon with the brothers.

It was a cavern deep beneath the western ice mountains of Portman World. The interior was spacious and home to a few low-level creatures, but the overall icy gloom made it feel less like a business meeting and more like a shady transaction.

Sein was not particularly sensitive to his surroundings, but even he could not help grumbling inwardly about the brothers’ choice of venue.

When he arrived at the ice cavern at full speed, Loki had already been waiting for quite some time.

Years had passed since they last met—and to Sein’s surprise, Loki had advanced to Rank Five!

At the most recent Magus Alliance Conference, Loki had still been an unremarkable Rank Four Titan god.

Had he gone through extraordinary trials like Sein? Or was his bloodline simply that exceptional?

As Loki stepped out from the shadows, Sein could not help but stare.

“Did you bring the coins?” Loki asked immediately, sounding urgent.

Sein raised an eyebrow at him. “Where am I supposed to get that many magicoins in such a short time?”

“I thought I told Thor that I can offset part of the price with some treasures I acquired on the civilizational battlefield,” he said.

“You really have loot worth hundreds of millions of magicoins?” Loki muttered skeptically. “If not, you could always give me that mask of yours.”

Had they not worked together before, he might have doubted the purchasing power of this Rank Five mage.

Sein did not bother arguing. He began retrieving items from his spatial storage device and asked, “Where’s the item?”

Loki’s eyes lit up when he saw several clearly valuable technological secret treasure fragments appear in Sein’s hand. Without hesitation, he pulled the Golden Apple from his chest pocket.

Sein had seen two Golden Apples before, so he immediately recognized this one as genuine.

Just as satisfaction began to settle in, his eyes caught the teeth marks on the apple.

A clean chunk was missing!

He was being sold a Golden Apple that had already been bitten?

Sein froze, his hand still inside his spatial storage device.

Loki noticed his reaction and looked a little awkward. Of course, he knew exactly why Sein had reacted that way.

Before Sein could ask what was going on, Thor strode straight into the area, clad in full armor.

It had been years since they last met, and it was not just Loki who had advanced. Thor had also reached Rank Six!

Not long ago, Sein had witnessed White Stella’s breakthrough. Now, Thor stood before him at the same rank.

Though Sein was still exceptionally young and had recently received recognition from Klopp, he could not help feeling a growing sense of urgency.

Everyone else seemed to be growing stronger. He would have to push himself harder as well.

As Thor arrived, Sein was about to greet him when Thor boomed without preamble, “Looks like you have struck it rich lately, Master Sein. How did you come by so many secret treasure fragments—”

Loki immediately pulled Thor aside. He must have said something with enough impact to cut Thor’s words off mid-sentence.

“Where’s sis? Did I not tell you to keep her occupied?” Loki transmitted his voice through mental focus.

“Couldn’t hold her off any longer. I didn’t have anything important to talk to her about anyway,” Thor replied with a shrug, spreading his arms.

He made it seem as though he had come without any particular reason, but in truth, he was worried Loki might run off with the payment and leave him empty-handed.

Loki had pulled stunts like that before, and Thor had learned his lesson the hard way.