Free Web NovelChapter 439: Absolute Animals
"So, bro... how is it?"
Amber, his little sister, caught the smug look on Marcus’s face. She already knew the flashy Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Hoe in his hands had to be something special, but that only made her more curious.
"Heh."
Marcus grinned and looked at her. Seeing her familiar expression and the easy closeness between them, he couldn’t help feeling fortunate.
"It’s broken."
He handed the Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Hoe over so Amber and the others could inspect it themselves. The next step was obvious: reach level fifty and upgrade all their gear.
"Whoa! Bro, this is insane. We need to go level. Right now."
The moment Amber saw the weapon’s stats, she immediately understood what he was thinking. Grabbing his arm, she practically started dragging him toward the door. freёweɓnovel.com
"Leveling it is."
Marcus nodded, then raised a finger.
"But first, let’s collect our gold."
Since they were already back in the city, they might as well take care of a few loose ends.
More importantly, he needed to put the Guild Creation Token up for auction as soon as possible. If another one appeared on the market, its value would drop fast.
After the girls had finished admiring both the Wraith Cloak and the Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Hoe, which were now safely stored in his backpack as Mythic Artifacts, Marcus opened the Mad Lion Mercenary Group channel.
"I’m back in the city. Where are you guys?"
"Stone, DragonBlade, Path to Heaven, Thunder, and I are at the shop. Come over."
Boss Blaze replied almost immediately. A second later, the Drunkard joined in.
"Stone, we’re finishing up some mobs over here. We’ll head back soon. And bring the ladies too."
A familiar laugh followed.
"Heh heh."
Invincible Strong immediately piled on.
"Yeah, don’t say we didn’t warn you."
"Got it."
Marcus answered without hesitation.
After listening to the old Appraiser’s usual reminder, "Stone, for the sake of Identification, make sure you find that Dark Relic soon, alright?" Marcus said his goodbyes and left with the girls, heading toward Boss Blaze’s shop.
From the moment Marcus and his group entered the Appraiser’s store, they had attracted plenty of attention. Fortunately, city shops had privacy protections. Since everyone had hidden their weapons and equipment, other players could only see them chatting and laughing together. Nobody could inspect their gear, and nobody could see the Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Hoe.
If they could, Marcus suspected the jealousy alone would have caused a riot.
Still, when players noticed the Monarch Squad insignia on their arms, many of them immediately recognized the group. The veterans who had seen Marcus before could only stare in silence.
The last time, he’d been surrounded by seven beautiful women. Now there were nine.
At a certain point, envy simply stopped being useful.
Boss Blaze’s shop was the first store he’d ever opened. It served as a private gathering place for the group and had nothing to do with the Nightmare Auction House. Since it was located far from the city’s busiest districts, they avoided most of the crowds.
Although plenty of players stared as Marcus and the girls passed by, nobody followed them, and nothing unusual happened. Before long, they arrived at the shop.
"Stone, you’re here."
Boss Blaze and the Drunkard were already waiting inside. The rest of the team had gathered as well. Marcus was the last one to arrive.
"Stone, where are the ladies?"
Drunkard and Invincible Strong immediately started looking past him toward the entrance.
Then they froze.
Nine stunning women walked into the room and quietly took their places beside Marcus.
Drunkard and Invincible Strong weren’t the only ones caught off guard. Even the others couldn’t hide their surprise.
"Stone... which one’s the girlfriend? Please don’t tell me..."
The Drunkard lowered his voice and switched to the squad channel.
Marcus answered just as quietly.
"Whichever one you think it is."
There was no point hiding it anymore. They would figure it out sooner or later.
"Stone... you’re unbelievable. I’m starting to realize I don’t know you at all."
Invincible Strong nearly howled.
The women all wore masks, but that didn’t help much. Anyone with eyes could tell they were exceptional. The kind of women most people rarely met even once.
And there were nine of them standing around Marcus. The group was having a hard time processing it.
"Stone, I thought my old man was impressive. Besides my mom, he’s only got five girlfriends. But you..."
Invincible Strong shook his head in disbelief.
Cleaver immediately joined in.
"Stone, you win. From now on, you’re the boss. I’ve only got three fiancées, and they’re already giving me headaches."
Drunkard looked even more miserable.
"Stone, seeing this makes me want to cancel my engagement."
He sighed dramatically before leaning forward.
"Seriously, do you have any secrets? Any tricks you can teach me? And if the ladies have any single friends, remember your brothers."
"Not bad, Stone."
Even Path to Heaven couldn’t resist joining the teasing. The women around Marcus had exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Marcus could only smile awkwardly.
He had expected the guys to be shocked when they saw all the women around him. He had expected questions, disbelief, maybe even an interrogation.
What he hadn’t expected was the direction the conversation had taken.
Judging from everyone’s reactions, none of them seemed particularly surprised by the idea of having multiple partners. Between Drunkard, Invincible Strong, Cleaver, Path to Heaven, and even the silent Fate’s Trial and Thunder, this apparently wasn’t considered unusual at all.
A few casual comments had revealed enough. Several of them already had multiple fiancées, or girlfriends.
Marcus stared at them. Rich people really did live in a different world.
The gap between ordinary people and the wealthy wasn’t just money, clothes, or status. It was the things they considered normal. Situations that many people would find unbelievable barely registered as noteworthy to them.
Looking around at his teammates, Marcus couldn’t help shaking his head.
"Holy hell."
He let out a laugh.
"Absolute animals."
