Chapter 344: Buying some Equipment for Raid
***
The next day.
After reaching an agreement yesterday, Gordon gathered the officers who had the authority to discuss the matter.
They were assembled in the new Head Officer’s office. Gordon’s objective was clear, to form the puppet guild and appoint a suitable leader for it.
Ashley and Ethan returned to their respective offices.
Ethan’s workload became much lighter compared to yesterday, where the majority of his responsibilities had already been handled by the Head Officer department.
There, Rick was assigned to assist Gordon. Many staff members from each authority were sent to the Head Officer department to help complete data synchronization.
Within a week, Ethan was confident that Gordon and Rick would be able to operate at maximum efficiency.
Since there was not much work left to be completed, Ethan suddenly had a lot of free time.
There were no stacks of documents piling up on his desk. Even if there were any, Sherly would handle them according to Ethan’s decisions.
"I will come to inform you if there are files that require your approval, Sir Ethan," Sherly said.
Ethan turned and nodded, allowing Sherly to return to her office. He remained in his room, enjoying a quiet moment free from exhausting routine work.
He chose to open his system panel and check his individual system. Thanks to the EXP Ethan gained during the previous event, he successfully leveled up from 87 to 88.
That also increased his ATK and DEF. However, his attention remained focused on the quality of his Crystal Spirits, which were still categorized as low quality, all of them tier epic.
There are many things I need to prepare before starting the tower raid. It’s better if I use my time now to go into the city and shop.
Ethan took his LionArk robe and stepped out of his office. He walked down the stairs, passing LionArk staff members.
Many of them stopped, smiled, and saluted when Ethan walked past them.
Sherly, who was on the lower floor, gasped when she saw Ethan leaving his office wearing his officer robe. His appearance clearly looked captivating.
"Sir Ethan?" Sherly asked, hurrying to greet him.
"Where are you going, Sir Ethan?" she asked.
"There are a few things I need in the city. I will go shopping directly," Ethan replied.
"Do you need an escort?"
"No," Ethan said clearly. "I do not want to cause awkwardness among the other city residents."
Sherly nodded. If Ethan ordered it that way, she would follow it. After all, Ethan was their leader and must be obeyed.
Ethan walked alone out of LionArk headquarters, alone within the crowd of city residents. The number had increased significantly.
All rings had been fully occupied, even Ring 1 and Ring 2.
After knowing LionArk became the event champion, they clearly did not want to waste their opportunity to stay close to LionArk.
Many bought land in Rings 1 and 2. Even though they knew those locations were not strategic, if many people lived there, the economy would run well and smoothly.
When Ethan arrived at the city’s main street, several people immediately recognized him.
That caused them to quickly surround Ethan, making the place crowded with people.
"Ethan is here! Come over here!"
"Ethan? Seriously? I came here just to see Ethan."
"Ethan! We love you!"
What is wrong with them? Are they crazy?!
With all his strength, Ethan jumped high and stood on the roof of a building in the middle of the city.
He stood there steadily, his high jump more than enough to shock the others.
Ethan looked down and saw many people cheering and calling his name. Ethan felt goosebumps. Never in his life had he experienced something like that.
Could it be... they are like this because LionArk won the Guild Champions Event?
The man looked at his appearance. The LionArk uniform and robe were attached to his body.
Ethan guessed they could immediately recognize him because of the clothes he was wearing.
Having no other choice, Ethan moved in another direction and jumped until he reached a small, dark alley, far from the crowd.
His clothes changed through the system, from the LionArk uniform to an all-black outfit like before Ethan joined LionArk.
In the middle of a crowd, no one pays attention to faces and usernames. This is my best outfit.
After finishing changing into the black shirt outfit, Ethan stepped out of the small alley.
When he arrived in the middle of the city street, no one recognized him. The majority of city residents were those who came from outside the city.
Many of them likely did not know about Ethan, especially his face.
"Where is Ethan?"
Ethan heard those people shouting. He quickly walked away toward a store that was not heavily visited by people.
He hid there while pretending to be a player who came shopping. His eyes looked at the equipment displayed on the wall.
The woman standing behind the cashier table felt that Ethan’s face looked familiar.
"You... Ethan?" the woman asked.
Ethan turned and cleared his throat, smiling lightly as he stepped toward the cashier table.
Realizing it, the woman looked nervous and awkward. Her face turned red because she was meeting the most influential person in the entire eastern continent.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
"I need a Crystal Spirit tier legendary. Do you have one?"
"Crystal Spirit Tier Legendary?"
The cashier looked shocked hearing Ethan’s request. She never expected that someone as important as Ethan would request a high-tier item.
She checked the item rack in her store, trying to see whether her shop provided a Crystal Spirit Tier Legendary.
Fortunately for Ethan, the shop stored a single item with the wind element.
"We have one, but only one, and it is the wind element."
Ethan did not mind that. After all, his crystal spirit composition consisted of fire and wind elements.
The total price for the item was 2,000,000 gold. That was not a random price. Legendary-tier crystal spirits were indeed sold within that price range.
Ethan immediately made the transaction with the woman. He paid using the digital system payment. The payment was received, and she directly handed the crystal spirit to Ethan.
Without thinking twice, Ethan arranged his crystal spirit composition, replacing the epic-tier wind crystal spirit with the new one.
[Crystal Spirit successfully installed]
[Mountain Peak Mist → Eastern Emerald Wind]
[BASE ATK & DEF]
[ATK: 59905 → 61405]
[DEF: 52405 → 53905]
The increase in base ATK and DEF occurred even though it was not significant. Crystal spirits worked to increase Ethan’s strength in direct combat, not merely numbers and statistics.
"Thank you for shopping at our store, Sir Ethan," the cashier said. "We are honored to serve you."
"Do you know another store that sells legendary-tier crystal spirits?"
The woman fell silent. Her eyes looked upward, trying to remember something.
Not long after, she explained that the shop owned by Guild Sword Phoenix might have some.
Ethan nodded. He would immediately visit their store after being informed by the woman.
He stepped away from the shop and looked toward the equipment store owned by Guild Sword Phoenix, one of the large stores crowded with buyers.
"Can I get a crystal spirit in the middle of a crowd like that?"
In the end, Ethan tried to approach the place and lined up to enter with the other visitors.
They seemed too busy with their own matters to notice Ethan’s presence. His username occasionally met the usernames of other players, but they did not always remember Ethan’s face.
As a result, they had no idea who the man was.
Because many visitors came, guild members guarded the store to ensure no thieves were roaming around. Many players came to buy items they considered valuable.
Honestly, Ethan felt pleased seeing them crowding and shopping. It was a simple sign that the city’s economy was running well.
After waiting for quite a while, Ethan finally reached the third cashier out of five female cashiers serving buyers. Again, the woman did not recognize Ethan.
"Welcome to the Sword Phoenix store. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"I want to buy a Crystal Spirit," Ethan said.
"What tier?"
"Legendary."
The cashier was stunned in shock. It was indeed a busy day, but Ethan was the only person buying a high-quality item.
"We have several legendary-tier crystal spirits. You can see them on this panel."
The store had five legendary-tier crystal spirits, consisting of two fire-element crystals, one wind-element crystal, and two water-element crystals.
Ethan looked at the amount of gold remaining in his individual system, around 12,000,000 left.
It was the result of saving gold during events, the game world, and raids, plus bonuses given by Ashley.
It should be enough to buy three legendary-tier crystal spirits at that place, two fire elements and one wind element.
"I will buy two fire-element crystal spirits and one wind-element crystal."
"The total will be 7,000,000 gold."
Ethan nodded and extended his hand toward the digital payment detector device. The transaction was successful, and the buyer identity panel appeared in front of the woman.
"Thank you for shopping at our store, Sir... Sir Ethan?!" the woman exclaimed, her voice loud enough to attract the attention of many people, including the other cashiers.
They stepped toward her and looked at the buyer identity panel.
They were shocked to witness EthanArk, Vice Guild Leader of LionArk and Team Leader of LionArk in the Guild of Champions Event, shopping at their store.
Ethan smiled faintly, received the crystal spirits, and quickly left.
"W-Wait, Sir Ethan," the woman said, stepping out from behind the cashier table and moving to stop Ethan.
"You might want to meet our guild leader. He mentioned that he really wants to meet you," she said.
Ethan turned and saw a guild member opening the shop door leading to the second floor.
"Alright. But I cannot stay long."
"Of course. We will immediately call our leader."
