Just call me Thor

Shadow Eleven repeatedly scrutinized the young man before him, his confused eyes filled with doubt.

Health, full.

Status, optimal.

Shadow armor, intact.

How did he almost die?

Professor Gregory remained calm. "Did you take care of it?"

Mike nodded, "One."

As he spoke, he took out some prismatic shards, wrapped in a layer of frost.

"Shattered Abyssal Pearls, already sealed. These are the most valuable collectibles from a demon race Lord."

Professor Gregory turned his head away; just looking at the shards had a significant impact on his body.

Shadow Eleven stared at the shards and said, "Looks like the demon race Lord Ice Spike from the Fifth Abyss. I saw him once on the Abyssal battlefield twenty-one years ago. Back then, Ice Spike was a real pain, but Joseph gave him a good beating."

"I think I heard someone praising me."

Joseph walked in proudly, then froze at the sight of the icy shards on the ground.

"These Abyssal Pearl shards look familiar. Where did you get them?"

Mike: "Just killed him. Want them?"

Only then did Joseph notice the young man in the room!

The guy was covered in shadow armor, his face obscured, and he wore a specially crafted Lone Wolf mask.

But!

At this moment, in the Suture Abyssal Plane, a young man appearing before Shadow Eleven and Professor Gregory...

There was only one answer that fit all these conditions!

Thor!!

This young man was Thor!

Joseph instinctively wanted to step forward and greet him but felt that such behavior might be too intrusive. He even took two steps back to ensure Thor's safety.

"Uh... you... I..."

Joseph stammered, so excited to meet the legendary Thor that he couldn't speak clearly. After a while, he calmed down, "Of course!"

The Abyssal Pearl shards from a demon Lord were perfect for forging equipment and weapons.

These shards, in terms of quality and attributes, were very useful to Joseph.

As long as the price was right, buying them would be a great deal.

Mike nodded, "As long as you have the money, everything's negotiable."

"Come on, let's talk about the price."

The bewildered Joseph, like a lamb, willingly walked into the wolf's den.

Strictly speaking, Mike was very good at business.

Facing a wealthy customer, Mike explained, "These Abyssal Pearls, though from the nine-tier Lord Ice Spike, have some flaws in quality, at best considered seven-tier Lord."

"Wait, Ice Spike became a nine-tier Lord?"

Joseph was shocked, "Last time we fought, he was just a six-tier Lord. It's only been twenty years, and he broke through so fast!"

The upgrades of Abyssal demon creatures differ from humans.

Some demon creatures are born as demon gods, like [Vortexarchon].

Some demon creatures remain stagnant in strength their entire lives, like [Vortexarchon].

Legends are legends because they achieve what ordinary demon creatures cannot.

Facing Joseph's question, Mike nodded, "He probably had some epiphany after fighting you and went back to break through."

Joseph's face darkened, his expression unreadable.

Such an embarrassing past couldn't be spread!

He was a wind-element nine-tier Lord, yet he failed to kill a six-tier demon race Lord, who then broke through to a nine-tier demon race Lord after escaping?!

If this got out, it would definitely damage Joseph's reputation!

No way, absolutely not!

Joseph waved his hand, "I'll take all these shards. Name your price!"

Mike was waiting for this! "Look, this shard is of excellent quality. The last time a similar Abyssal Pearl shard was traded at the Mystic Market, it went for 800 Lord merits..."

"This one had a transaction record of 650 Lord merits. I'll give you a discount, 645."

"And this one, if you weren't Joseph, I wouldn't even sell it!"

"..."

Thor's prices were very fair.

Joseph, as a nine-tier Lord, wasn't a fool to be easily ripped off.

Thor's every quote hit the highest value of the goods!

Normally, even the most experienced merchants make mistakes.

But Thor, with his keen eye, had mastered pricing to perfection, reaching an unparalleled level!

For many shards, even 5 more Lord merits would make Joseph feel it wasn't worth it.

But Thor's prices hit Joseph's psychological limit perfectly!

Haggling would be embarrassing.

Not haggling seemed fine too.

After quoting all the prices, Mike summarized,

"A bunch of Abyssal Pearl shards, totaling 3453.8 Lord merits. Let's round it up to 3454 Lord merits. Card or cash?"

Joseph could accept this price.

"Card."

Joseph was quite wealthy recently, not short on money.

In the recent major battle between the two races, he earned over 10,000 Lord merits. Plus, he got a subsidy for leading an SSS-level mission, so he still had 3000 Lord merits in savings.

Money wasn't an issue!

Buy it!

Joseph planned to use these Abyssal Pearl shards to embed in equipment or forge new items.

The leftover bits could be slightly modified and given to friends.

Joseph had to ensure his embarrassing past remained unknown.

This money was well spent!

With 3454 Lord merits in hand, Mike gave 1100 to Amari, keeping 2354 for himself.

According to their previous agreement, they split the spoils 30-70.

Amari silently accepted the money, calculating in his mind.

If he had kept the Abyssal Pearl shards, he would likely sell them at the Mystic Market for around 2200 Lord merits.

High-quality goods like these always had fluctuating prices.

Thor's ability to squeeze the maximum value out of them was rare.

In other words, Amari got nearly 50% of the proceeds.

The extra money was purely thanks to Thor's skills.

Having converted the spoils into cash, Mike emerged from the shadow of "almost die" feeling more at ease.

Amari spoke up.

"Ice Spike left three coordinates before he died."

"Oh?"

Everyone looked at the coordinates floating in the shadow, curious.

What was this demon race Lord up to?

Amari continued, "There are notes next to the coordinates."

Mike looked at the three coordinates and slowly said, "These are all locations of [demon god seeds], each guarded by a nine-tier demon race Lord!"

Was this a trap to lure human experts to their deaths? Or was it to drag the demon lords down with them?

Maybe both.

Regardless, Ice Spike revealed the three coordinates before dying. What Thor and the others would do...

Ice Spike was dead; it didn't matter to him.

"These coordinates are too dangerous. We must avoid them!"

Mike asked seriously, "Is there any way to send these coordinates to Maxen?"