“This is your last chance to back out of releasing your talent rank as Demon. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Eva asked sincerely. She was still concerned about the ramifications that would surely follow.

“Yeah. I’m sure. Like I said, the world is going to find out that I’m a God eventually. Breaking them in with the rank above their present knowledge will help to smooth things over later. Besides, humans need to get used to the idea of the unknown appearing randomly at any point. There is still so much that the Merger will bring, it’ll be tough if they don’t get used to it.” Kailan confirmed as he continued to stare at the sheet of questions for tomorrow’s press conference.

“Alright. Then we’ll proceed as planned. By the way, where is your armor and weapon? We aren’t going to have to stop at your house to pick them up are we?” Eva noticed that Kailan didn’t have either. If he was just going to leave it at home he should have just stayed there to save them the trip.

“They’re in my Heart Dungeon. It’s annoying having to carry them everywhere.” Kailan replied smoothly with a smile.

“Oh, on that Floor 0 right? I’ve been wanting to talk with you more about that. You said that it spawns creatures just like a dungeon mine. I assume you can get experience from those creatures. Does that mean that you’ve been raiding your Heart Dungeon as well?” Eva curiously asked.

Kailan put on a sly grin as he responded. “What do you think?”

Eva didn’t expect him to answer her. He was tight lipped about most things and only provided answers when it suited him. She wasn’t sure if he was toying with them or if he was simply keeping important information to himself. The former would probably suit the personality of a God, she thought.

“I think you enjoy toying with people.” She replied. She didn’t mean to say it aloud but it just slipped out. Her eyes widened for a moment as she realised what she had said, but quickly went back to normal as she pretended nothing happened.

Kailan was surprised at Eva’s response. But he was also happy for it. It meant that she was letting her guard down around him, and someone who lets their guard down is someone who is building trust. Kailan played along and pretended he didn’t hear anything. He just wore his usual smile.

“We’ll be leaving in about 10 minutes. So don’t go anywhere.” Eva got up and walked out of the room.

Kailan sat there reviewing the questions sheet once again. He was anticipating what kind of storm would be caused tomorrow. And after reading the sheet a third time, he concluded that there was a high probability that he would only be asked a quarter of the questions. In his case, there would be other questions people want answered. For instance, his relationship with Gaia.

Ten minutes flew by and Eva came into the office with Douglas to get him. Kailan got up and followed them as they headed to the North side garage. When they arrived at the car, there were around 15 people walking up the stairs and entering cars as well.

“Those are the miners. They’ll be following us into the dungeon today. They’ve been briefed on your Demon rank already so just avoid talk about Gods and we’ll be fine. I’ve also explained to them that you possess a dimensional pocket so you're safe to pull things out of Floor 0.” Eva leaned over and whispered to Kailan.

“Got it.” He replied.

Kailan noticed that Douglas was back to his stoic and commanding presence. Clearly he was in business mode. No doubt because of all of the miners who would be joining them. As they drove off and headed towards the dungeon Kailan couldn’t help but poke fun.

“So Dougy, what’s got your knickers in a twist that you have to wear such a bland and stern expression?” Kailan did his best to hold back his laughter as he asked.

Douglas’ eye twitched when he heard this and Eva nearly spat out the coffee she was drinking. It was lucky she had a firm grip on the steering wheel or she might have accidentally swerved into the next lane.

“Dougy?” Douglas asked as his head turned back towards Kailan. His twisted expression showed his extreme disapproval.

Kailan had a slight grin as he stared out of the window, whistling, pretending he didn’t know what Douglas was talking about. Douglas let out a low grunt before turning back to face the front. Now he was frowning as he wore his stern look. Eva had to cover her mouth and turn to her window so Douglas wouldn’t notice her stifled laughter.

“So, Eva, where are we going today?” Kailan changed the subject.

Eva turned back to face forward as she forced down her emotions. “We’ll be going to a dungeon that’s in Castleton.”

“Oh. Who exactly do these dungeon mines belong to?” Kailan was curious since they were able to schedule them so quickly.

“The one from yesterday and this one belong to the Bureau.” Douglas grouchely forced out. He was still facing forward with his stern frown.

Kailan snorted lightly as he held back a laugh. Realising his mistake he quickly turned towards the window again and put on a steady face before Douglas was able to jerk his head around to glare at him. Douglas only looked at him for a moment before turning back and readjusting his position in his seat.

“I thought that the dungeons were managed by the guilds. Or does the Bureau also take over mines on occasion?” Kailan continued his line of questioning.

“We do actually. Sometimes the Bureau will claim a dungeon mine but they give due compensation to the guild that it would have gone to. After all, many of the agents in the Bureau are also Hunters, we need to level up and train as well.” Eva responded smoothly. She had regained control of her emotions after nearly letting out another snort of laughter when she also saw Douglas pouting.

“I see. Thanks for all your hard work.” Kailan replied.

Eva and Douglas didn’t think that Kailan would ever thank them. They were doing their job but the Bureau was also making some sacrifices to do it well. This was normal for any Returnee, but they were also being even more tentative considering Kailan’s status.

The car went silent as they continued their drive, soon arriving at the dungeon entrance. This dungeon was located near White River in a building that was once a Market Barrel off of Woodmoss Lane. As they parked a slew of black SUVs lined up next to them. This drew the attention of the few dozen people that were standing by near the dungeon entrance.

Kailan got out of the car and walked behind Eva and Douglas as the mining team lined up behind him. They marched to the check in counter just like they had done the day before. Eva stepped up and repeated the check in process. Once again the two monitoring agents at the counter questioned Kailan’s status but after seeing the document from Director Morris they backed off and checked them in.

They were a bit early so everyone stood to the side waiting for the previous party to come out so that they could go in. Eventually the previous raid team exited as they laughed and chatted. But when they turned to see a troop of Hunters standing to the side in single file, they were a bit stunned. This wasn’t a very uncommon sight, after all the Bureau used these dungeons too so they would frequently send in their Hunters who were well trained. What was strange was the single young man standing among them that seemed to have a leisurely smile, not wearing any armor or holding a weapon.

The previous raid team walked up to the counter to check out. As soon as they were finished the monitoring agents directed Eva and Kailan’s team to enter. This time Kailan didn’t need to use his ability to override Gaia’s dungeon management protocols to allow them in. Although there was a minimum level limit for dungeons, there wasn’t a maximum one. And with 18 party members they met the minimum 10 party member limit this dungeon had. So they were able to simply walk right in.

Just like before, after they entered the dungeon, Eva started searching her wrist computer for information on the dungeon. She explained everything to Kailan. This dungeon was near a coast, having a quarter of it being ocean water. Everything here was blue, the grass, the water, even the rocks had blue moss growing on them.

The creatures that inhabited this dungeon were crustaceans. They were quadrupeds with large pincer arms, a shelled body with blue patterns and a long tail with a bulb and sharp spine at the end, similar to a scorpion. One of their unique traits was hiding in plain sight. They would blend in with the environment and then lash out the moment anything got near them.

Kailan thought it was a clever tactic, using their natural blue patterned shells to camouflage themselves before ambushing their prey. Of course other Hunters found it annoying.

Regardless they were only level 1 Plebeian talent ranks. Meaning that their abilities were no match for Kailan. Eva instructed the mining team to give them a 10 minute head start before following. The mining team started working in the area around the dungeon gate. This area would always be clear of enemies when they first arrived.

One of the mining team members pulled out a massive tank from thin air. Kailan raised an eyebrow as he watched this curiously. After pulling out a tank he pulled out a large cabinet with many glass compartments. It had a strange light and some tanks along the side.

Eva noticed Kailan’s curious look. “You aren’t the only one with a dimensional pocket space. She’s one of our professional miners and has a dimensional space that’s around 100,000 square feet and is about three stories high.”

“I figured that. It’s the things she brought out that I’m curious about.” Kailan said as he watched the miners get to work carefully extracting plants and soil samples.

“There are other resources here aside from the creatures themselves. For instance, plant life is still under study. Most of them possess special enzymes that are beneficial to Humans. The water in particular is filled with proteins and vitamins that shouldn’t naturally occur. One sip is enough to provide the bare minimum amount of vitamins that the human body requires per day. It's just a matter of removing the salt content.” Eva explained.

“The tank she brought out is for the water in the nearby ocean. The cabinet is specially made for transporting plant life outside of its natural environment. The tanks on the side take in the air content in the dungeon and the sensors on top adjust the lamps to the appropriate lighting settings. The miners add in the soil and then transplant the plant into the individual glass case and voila. Instant portable terrariums.” She continued.

“Neat. I take it there is a financial cut involved in the resources gathered other than the creatures?” Kailan asked. It would make sense for there to be. After all, the dungeons were a business to humans.

“Yes. Since it’s a resource we wouldn’t have been able to gather without the aid of the raid party, there’s naturally a split. But the finances surrounding research materials work a bit differently than say crafting materials or specific objects such as weapons or armors. Firstly, the Bureau works out beforehand who wants a share. Then those organizations or research groups pay the Bureau a nominal fee which is then split for the negotiations and then to pay the raid party.”

Kailan didn’t really care about how the money was collected or distributed, he just wanted a simple small fee to pay for new equipment and possibly a house later on. Maybe even a big 70” TV to watch the news on. His interests were simple. As long as he could make enough to cover these things the rest was pointless. But he also understood that there was a lot of good being done with these resources.

“Alright. Let’s get started.” Kailan turned and walked a few meters forward before unsheathing his Zweihänder and stabbing downwards into a rock.

Eva and Douglas wondered why he was stabbing a rock.

Just as they were about to question him, the rock gushed out green blood as it squealed and it’s appendages flailed outward before dropping to the ground. “It wasn’t a rock…” They both thought as they drew an embarrassed expression on their faces.

Like this, Kailan once again started a slaughter in the dungeon. Nothing was able to stand in his way and even the mining team had trouble keeping up with his pace. In fact Kailan had already killed the boss before the mining team had even reached the halfway point of the dungeon.

Since it was going to take a while for the mining team to catch up, Kailan decided to sit down and relax as he waited. Eva and Douglas went to monitor the team and see if they could help speed things up.

As he sat there staring off into the dark blue waters of the ocean, Kailan had a thought. “Should I make boiled crab?” His mouth started salivating at the thought. “With these nutritious waters I’ll bet it would taste amazing.”

With a shift of his will, several cooking utensils appeared from his palace. Including a giant pan.

Kailan gathered some of the wood from the local trees and tossed them together to make a fire pit. Adding in some stones around the area he then placed a large grate with two thick stands over the makeshift fire pit before lighting it. He took the giant pan and went to the ocean to fill it full of seawater. He carefully tilted it to let out just enough to save room for the giant crab creature.

Then he returned to his fire pit and placed the pan on top of the grill. Using his sword he severed the tail and four legs, leaving only the pincers. When he took these five appendages off he confirmed that there wasn’t much meat in them. Luckily when Kailan had killed the boss crab he had pierced it through the cranium just below the shell. So he hadn’t caused too much damage.

After tossing the crab into the giant pan he added in some spices that he also pulled from his palace before placing a giant lid on top. Then he pulled out another somewhat smaller pan and some vegetables to boil them over the fire as well. He of course used regular water for these. Now it was just a waiting game.

As Eva and Douglas were helping the miners to collect the corpses of the creatures they suddenly smelled something good. Douglas’ nose was like a hound’s. “Smells like food.” He said in a low volume.

Eva also thought that it smelled like someone was cooking something. They both turned to each other questioningly before running off in the direction the smell was coming from. As they came around a small cliff corner they found the area where Kailan had killed the big boss crab.

And to their surprise they saw Kailan standing on a rock leaning over a giant pan with a massive wooden ladle in his hands scooping up the contents before pouring it back in. Eva and Douglas’ jaws nearly fell to the ground.

“What are you doing?!” Eva yelled out as she and Douglas ran up to Kailan.

“Making an afternoon snack. You hungry? I’ll bet this crab will be amazing.” Kailan replied with a smile.

“Wait! What crab?” Douglas asked cautiously. He had a sneaking suspicion since he couldn’t find the boss creature anywhere, no matter how he looked.

“That big boss crab. I tossed him in here with some of that nutritious ocean water and some herbs I had on me. Go get the mining team, it should be done in a few minutes.” Kailan continued to scoop out the now herbalized seawater and pour it on top of the giant crab. Then placed the lid back on before jumping down.

“What?” Kailan asked innocently.

Eva and Douglas were standing there staring at him like he was a mad man. “You boiled the boss crab for a snack?” Eva asked with a slight stutter.

“Just take it out of my cut of the earnings. Besides, why come to an amazing place like this and not have some fun?” Kailan replied leisurely with his casual smile.

“Hah… He really boiled the crab. The shell on that thing is really valuable since it’s a lot tougher than most materials. It’s valued at around $15,000. Then there’s the pincers, when crushed into powder they make an amazing skin cream that rejuvenates the epidermis. Both pincers are valued at $5,000 each. And you boiled it… Ha, ha ha…” Douglas creepily stated as if he was in a delirium. His deranged sounding laugh sent chills down Kailan’s spine.

“Kailan, you should really consult with us before you do things. The boss monster in this dungeon covers almost a quarter of the value of the entire raid. Sigh…” Eva sighed heavily as she dreaded having to explain to the captain of the mining team that this run wasn’t going to be as profitable.

“My bad. I just thought everyone could use a nice meal. As a thank you for helping me collect everything.” Kailan really didn’t think about it because he was still in the mind set that lower level dungeons weren’t that valuable.

And as Eva had expected, the captain of the mining team nearly had a heart attack when he saw the boiled crab. On the other hand, once they tasted Kailan’s cooking they all fell in love. The crab meat was perfectly cooked, melting in their mouths. It had a slight salty taste from the seawater but it wasn’t overbearing. The spices were perfectly balanced so it had a wonderful tangy flavor. Even the proteins and minerals from the seawater weren’t wasted as they also helped to improve the crab meat’s nutritional value. It was a perfectly healthy and delicious meal.