Chapter 167: King’s Ransom

?Instead, she squeezed his hand with all her strength. "All right, sweetheart. I believe you."

?A faint, tender smile touched her lips, though the deep sadness lingering in her eyes remained.

?"However... there is another matter we must analyze."

?Cassian raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

?Seraphina took a deep, steadying breath, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "Regarding your question about my abilities... I genuinely still haven’t identified any inherent weakness within my [Psions]."

?Her expression turned deeply analytical.

?"However, the events you showed me are deeply troubling. The fact that I failed to escape or protect Ruby from a Tier VII Sovereign Lord, despite wielding the exact same fundamental authority I possess today, is logically inexplicable. And the idea that local financial extortion could constrain us without my noticing..."

?She paused, her brow furrowing in frustration.

?"Those outcomes contradict everything I know about my own existence."

?Cassian remained silent.

?He had arrived at the exact same chilling deduction.

?His mother’s authority over reality was transcendent, yet the history of his previous life proved that something had rendered her completely ineffective when the end arrived.

Whether that failure stemmed from an unknown conceptual flaw in her powers, a hidden external seal, or circumstances he had yet to uncover remained a mystery.

?Seraphina lowered her gaze, contemplating the terrifying gap in her memories.

?"Perhaps there are fundamental limitations to my existence that I have yet to realize. Perhaps there are rules governing my true nature that I haven’t unlocked."

?She closed her eyes briefly, then met his gaze once more with absolute sincerity. "I cannot offer you a concrete answer right now, Cassian."

?Reaching out, she gently brushed a stray lock of golden-blond hair from his forehead.

?"But promise me you won’t worry. If I discover any detail regarding my abilities that could put our family at risk, I will tell you immediately."

?Cassian studied her face for a quiet second, his expression softening into a genuine smile. "Thank you, Mom."

?Seraphina returned his smile, pulling him into a tight, warm embrace.

?For a long while, neither of them spoke.

?Cassian simply leaned into his mother’s arms, allowing himself to sink into a rare moment of absolute peace.

He had spent so long frantically preparing for cosmic war and calculating every variable that he occasionally forgot there was a life worth living beyond the pursuit of power.

?And Seraphina, holding her son tightly against her chest, made a silent, unshakeable vow to the cosmos.

?Whatever had gone wrong in that tragic timeline... she would tear reality apart before she let her family suffer the same fate again.

....

After his discussion with Seraphina, Cassian had several errands to complete before setting off for the Orion Rift.

?Initially, his objective after regressing had been relatively simple: improve his family’s living conditions, guarantee their safety, and focus on building his strength.

However, as more details from his previous life resurfaced, he realized that protecting his family alone wasn’t enough.

?There were other people he wanted to save.

?Mr. Atlas. Mr. Parker. Mr. Wayne. Mrs. Diana.

?They were his neighbors, ordinary citizens who had shared the same apartment complex with his family.

In his past timeline, the building had collapsed due to catastrophic structural neglect, killing them alongside hundreds of others.

?His mother and Ruby had avoided the initial disaster only because Cassian had scraped together enough money to move them to a safer residence, eventually relocating them to a Core World within a more developed sector of the Astral Dominion.

?He had always deeply regretted not doing more for the people around him.

?This time, things would be different.

’?If I can prevent their deaths without compromising my primary objectives, why shouldn’t I?’

?Cassian stepped out of the apartment building and headed toward the commercial district.

?His first stop was the bank.

?The financial sector was located in one of the most prosperous districts of New Rise City. Towering skyscrapers rose into the clouds, their reflective glass facades gleaming in the sunlight as streams of luxury hover-vehicles wove between elevated skyways.

?Cassian entered one of the premier financial institutions and walked up to the counter.

?"I’d like to convert some Lord coins into Astral coins."

?The banker behind the counter offered a polite, professional smile. "Certainly, sir. How much would you like to convert?"

?"Ten thousand Lord coins."

?The banker’s smile vanished.

?For a second, the man simply stared at Cassian, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him. "Excuse me?"

?"Ten thousand Lord coins," Cassian repeated smoothly, his blue eyes calm.

?The banker swallowed hard.

?Ten thousand Lord coins was an astronomical sum. Given the fixed exchange rate of one Lord coin to ten thousand Astral coins, the transaction would yield a staggering one hundred million Astral coins.

?That was enough wealth to make most ordinary citizens completely re-evaluate their lives.

?Yet the sheer amount wasn’t even the most shocking detail.

?The banker recognized Cassian.

?Just three days ago, he had personally processed a currency exchange for the young man. At the time, Cassian had converted a modest sum of Astral coins into Lord coins, but nothing about his appearance or demeanor had suggested he would return so soon with a transaction of this magnitude.

?Now, he was standing at the exact same counter, casually requesting the liquidation of ten thousand Lord coins.

?The banker looked at Cassian again, searching for any sign that he was dealing with someone else.

?There was none.

’?How in the world did he accumulate this much wealth in only three days?!’

?The banker had worked in high finance long enough to know that awakening as a Lord didn’t guarantee instant riches.

Most newly awakened Lords struggled to gather basic resources, and even those with high-potential summons needed months or years to establish a reliable income stream.

?Yet Cassian had somehow amassed a king’s ransom in a matter of days.

?Naturally, the banker was dying of curiosity.

?Unfortunately, speculative questioning was not in his job description.

....

[Weekly Goals]

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