Chapter 90: Response & Exchange

Time passed bit by bit, Keon was busy in observing and improving his nexus through the UHS1. Just twenty four hours remained before the conclusion of phase five.

Suddenly, his internal rhythm was broken by a sharp, crisp notification from the communication channel... a sound distinct from the routine planetary alerts. He opened the channel, his pupils suddenly dilating as he saw the unexpected response on his request message.

[Universe 339]

“Are you the one who is interested in these light crystals? You must be the one who purchased all the crystals I put in the trade center. After waking up just now, I was surprised to see that all of them have been sold.”

Keon’s gaze turned clinical, his processors analyzing the cadence of the text. ‘Talking too much, revealing too much information. And it just said it woke up now? At this critical moment in the universal phases? It seemed to be strangely relaxed, almost arrogantly confident in its own security. Yet, the possibility of establishing a direct supply line is a variable that I can't ignore.’

He didn't waste time on pleasantries. He opened the reply prompt, his thought typing with effortless speed.

[Universe 888888888]

“Yes, I need these light crystals, and in huge quantities. What is your current total supply, and what is your sustained production capability?”

A flicker of notification disrupted his interface. The reply from Universe 339 materialized, the text manifesting with an odd, almost playful tune.

[Universe 339]

“I can provide as much as you want, but I want to know what you will provide in exchange? Also, I want to know why you need so many light crystals?”

Keon’s processors paused, seeing the query. It mirrored the exact process he had utilized when requesting for his sand refinement. It was standard, predictable mercantile behavior. He didn’t hesitate, his response was instantaneous, cold, and devoid of unnecessary elaboration.

[Universe 8888888888]: “I want these crystals to build something.”

The reply was immediate from the other side, in just less than a minute.

[Universe 339]

“Really... I will give you crystals but you must also make something for me.”

A bizarre, beaming eye emoji punctuated the end of the message. Keon’s optic sensors flickered, his internal logic processing the erratic tone of the input. ‘Am I talking to a child? The discrepancy between the request for materials and the tone of the communication is really illogical. Anyway, I can manage it.’ He typed, his focus purely transactional.

“Well, it’s a deal. I will give you one copy of the object I am going to create using these light crystals. As for the exchange against our deal, I will provide magic crystals if you are interested.”

…

On the other side,

Somewhere far across the vast, tangled web of the multiverse,

In a forgotten corner of Universe 339,

A continent of impossible proportions drifted through the void. It was not a sphere, but a massive, flat landmass, millions of kilometers in diameter, a geological anomaly that defied conventional physics. Here, the laws of gravity and light operated on a different axis; four suns orbited this flat continent, illuminating its jagged edges and vast, crystal-filled terrain in a perpetual, shifting cycle of dawn and dusk.

The surface of this world was a patchwork of mineral biomes. In some regions diamond rained, the other side is burning red with lava, some mountains look like dark ashes, while others look blue like the sky.

In one remote corner, jagged terrain dominated the landscape... mountains, ground, and even the atmosphere were saturated with crystalline structures. Amidst these crystalline peaks, many round creatures... beings composed of living, faceted crystals, as if spikes attached all around to a round ball, These beasts drifted and rotated in slow, rhythmic patterns.

At the very edge of this jagged range, one of the round crystal beasts remained stationary, a translucent panel hovering in its field of vision, invisible to others.

‘Is this player really going to exchange these useless light crystals with something like magic crystals?’

The thought flickered through the beast’s consciousness, voiced in a resonant, feminine tone. She glanced around the landscape... peaks of red, purple, and other colors, many common transparent. She was profoundly bored, her daily existence a monotonous cycle of living inside these inert, abundant structures.

‘I am really bored by seeing these crystals everyday,’ she mused, her thoughts echoing in the empty space of her mind. ‘I wonder how the magic crystal will look like, taste like.’

Creek! Creek! Creek!

She rolled, releasing a sharp, grinding sound, until she halted beside a towering, jagged spike of transparent crystal. Observing the massive peak in front of her.

“Crystal Disintegration!”

Swish!

Suddenly a spike shot out from her body as she channeled her innate talent.

‘Okay, send me the magic crystal,’ she wrote in response, her focus sharpening. ‘I am sending the light crystals... Tell me if it’s enough. If it’s not, I will provide more.’

Bang!

As her spike touched the target, the massive crystal peak erupted. It burst into millions of small, glittering shards. Next moment these crystals blurred as if dissolving from the physical plane as if the reality of their existence had been momentarily retracted. They vanished, leaving behind only a smooth, clean-cut section of barren crystal floor where they had once stood.

…

Back to the Universe 8888888888,

Inside the southern base, Keon sitting in his main control room looking at the notification in front of him in daze, ‘I never expected it to send so many crystals.’

[Universe 339 has initiated the trade: 1300 tons of luminous crystals for magic crystals. Accept/Reject]

‘Also it didn’t specify the amount of magic crystals I can exchange? If I want, I can only send a few yellow crystals in exchange. Either my guess is correct, there is an immature personality on the other side or it simply doesn’t care about quantity.’

He thought and then shook his head, he turned around and walked outside the base building. ‘Anyway, I will go to a safe place and receive it with precautions.’

After a while,

Keon appeared inside one of the square buildings; it was a massive, sterile warehouse spanning one hundred square meters of floor space, though its ceiling soared high into the subterranean architecture of the base.

The space was currently empty, the metallic walls reflecting his own stoic posture as he stood at the center of the hall. He did not need a console or a terminal; he simply closed his eyes, his consciousness tethering directly to the planetary grid.

He released a precise, targeted order through the neural nexus: “Transport request: 1,300 Tier 1 magic crystals. Destination: Warehouse Bay 4.”

In the distant sector of the planet, thousands of kilometers away, the logistics network responded with instantaneous synchronization. The magic crystals, currently stored in another massive, reinforced warehouse, were moved by automated cradles onto a central platform.

The floor of the vault shifted, revealing the mouth of an underground massive passage channel... a network of resource transfer built deep within the planet's mantle that remained completely invisible to any surface scanner.

The system utilized a vacuum transfer mechanism, a marvel of his own engineering that eliminated air resistance and friction. It was capable of accelerating objects to the theoretical limit of their physical endurance, moving them across the planet’s curvature in mere seconds.

He tracked the transfer process as the crystals entered the transit pipe. The warehouse hummed, a low-frequency groan of shifting pressure.

Thump!

A circular aperture in the warehouse floor hissed open, and the yellow crystals emerged from the vacuum channel, settling on the loading platform in front of Keon. He reached out, his optical sensors scanning the load… 1,300 units of Tier 1 magic, stable and pristine.

He accepted the transaction through the nexus, the system confirming the exchange with Universe 339.

[Exchange Complete]

…

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