Chapter 136 Bounty

The retaliation was swift and immediate. Abe, Henry, and Paul were on the way back from their previous territory to transfer their items, when they were suddenly attacked by a different group.

It was only because Celeste was there that they were able to come out of the fight unharmed.

But it did cause the other group members to become afraid of leaving the Territory without having the numbers advantage. Even having ten people with them was not enough to make them feel secured.

"They seemed to have put a bounty on us," Celeste said to Eren.

He nodded. He expected this. The Elvenied Riders must have made a public announcement with the rest of the examinees.

He didn’t have to know the exact details to know that they were probably offering a lootbox in exchange for his defeat.

Even those who did not have any trouble with them before, were now looking very hostile. Even they were tempted by the lootbox offered by an Elite Awakener Organization.

This made it hard for them to transfer all of their items to this new Territory.

Heck, even getting resources here was a troublesome manner in and of itself. They couldn’t get out of their Territory without being targeted by a different group.

So, they weren’t able to get out into the Pitted Cavern and buy an of the resources they needed.

It became very troublesome by the third day. They had no food to eat aside from some fruits and some vegetables, which wasn’t that fulfilling. They needed meat and Skyward Herbs if they wanted to feel sustained both physically and spiritually.

It was at this point that one of Pang Cai’s goons emerged from the entrance of the tunnel with a letter in his hands.

Eren read its contents.

{Congratulations, my friend. I heard that you succeeded in conquering the Volcano. A wonderful achievement, indeed.

But what was even more impressive was your ability to become the target of everyone’s desire. I didn’t expect the Elvenied Riders to offer such sumptuous rewards for your defeat.

They were willing to give away a lootbox and a guarantee of employment after this License Exam. If I didn’t have my family backing me, I would have been tempted too, XD}

He turned the page over.

{But you have done what I have asked. Paupre and his group had suffered a massive setback thanks to your interference. They spent a lot of time and resources on that territory, which means they’re severely behind compared to the other groups.

The Cai family extends their regards to you. And because of that, they were willing to give you a lootbox as a reward.

Of course, since you cannot pick it up by yourself, I took it upon myself to have one of my goons deliver it to you personally.}

It was at this moment that more of Pang Cai’s goons came out of the tunnel and entered into the Volcanic Territory.

They carried with them a large sack.

{I took the liberty of taking away the box itself. It gathers too much attention, you see. But anyway, congratulations!}

Eren had gained an enemy with the Elvenied Riders. But he had gained the respect of the Cai family in return.

It was a good trade in his opinion. They were even willing to give him a lootbox on top of it all!

He took the sack from Pang Cai’s goons. It was very heavy. It didn’t look like it contained the typical items that a lootbox had.

Martial Manuals certainly didn’t weigh this heavy.

"Pang Cai also wishes to tell you that he is willing to deliver any goods that you would like to purchase from him. You only need to contact me, and I shall take care of everything," said Pang Cai’s goon.

This was very useful, especially since they couldn’t go out without being targeted by a hundred groups.

"How will we contact you?"

"As long as you light this lantern outside your tunnel, then I will know to come here and take your order."

Eren nodded and took the lantern from the goon. After that, they soon bowed towards him and left into the darkness of the tunnels.

This left Eren alone with the rest of his group and allies.

They didn’t have a campfire. The light from the volcano’s crater was enough to give them warmth and illumination in the entire cavern.

So, they gathered at the base of the volcano.

"Eren? What’s that?’

They immediately noticed the sack on his hands.

"I don’t know either," he replied. "It’s a lootbox from the Cai family."

The others were completely shocked upon learning where this suspicious-looking sack cam from.

"Loot—lootbox?! Another one?!"

"Why would the Cai family give us a lootbox?!"

"Don’t you know? Eren here is chummy with the scion of the Cai family."

"So? It’s not like Pang Cai could get his family to give Eren a lootbox. That’s not how this works."

While they were busy arguing, Eren took a seat right next to Celeste and slowly untied the string on the sack. Everyone immediately turned silent as they watched everything unfold.

Delia was the first to react. She immediately got up, face filled with shock.

The contents of the sack were a variety of materials, both natural and metallic in nature. Some of them looked like pieces of iron forged in twisted knots. While some of them looked like they were unearthed from the ground.

"These are all rare materials!" Delia shouted. "It’s top-grade materials to create Array Formations!"

She recognized these materials not because she’d used them before, but because she’d seen them only in TV.

She would have never thought that she would see such previous materials here. And they were actually given to them by the Cai family!

Eren looked at the materials and recognized them all. Just like Delia said, they were materials to create more complicated Array Formations.

It seems that they saw what happened here. And they want to see me use more Array Formations...