"They'll never believe a little mortal like me was the reason their shipment was stolen. Whoever they're searching for doesn't exist while I'm right here. Plus, it's not like they'll ask a little weakling like me to fight, right? And, even if they thought I wasn't weak, I'm an alchemist. Who's ever heard of an alchemist going to the battlefield?"

Seeing that Dyon really planned to push all responsibility away from himself, the two beauties began to feel a bit bad for Zaneta City.

At that moment, a knock came from Dyon's door.

Raising an eyebrow, Dyon snapped his fingers, creating a one-way concealment array that blocked Saru and Lilith from view. This sort of sight way something he'd only allow his own eyes to lay upon. Anyone else could forget it.

Dyon's action, however, made Saru and Lilith blush even more profusely. It seemed that Dyon really had noticed the state of their dress.

"Yes?"

Dyon opened the door, finding Venerable Piers on the other side. The latter peaked in, but finding a screen he couldn't see through, he felt an odd bit of dissatisfaction in his heart.

It was usually an unspoken rule amongst powerful men to allow sneak peaks toward their women in this way. Some would even trade their women freely just to get a taste of something new. Initially, Piers hadn't given Saru and Lilith a single look after sensing they were mortals. But during Dyon's certification, he had finally spared them a glance, only to see that they were beauties beyond his imagining. He never knew mortals could become so beautiful.

Seemingly having found a new sort of a fetish, he went to the slave market, trying to see if he could find any others like the two of them. Yet he had failed It was a reality that let him realize that it wasn't that he had been wrong about mortal women in the past, but rather that there was something special about Saru and Lilith in particular.

So, when he got the assignment to come and receive Dyon, he had thought he might get a peek to satiate the curiosity in his heart only for him to be completely stonewalled.

However, in the end, he could only do his best to bury the dissatisfaction in his heart. At the moment, Dyon's standing was even marginally above his own despite being a mortal. With how perfectly he completed his certification, it was only a matter of time before he advanced once more. In fact, he was likely to become one of the few mortals who managed to become immortals on this plane.

Shaking his head, he recollected himself.

"First, congratulations, Venerable Dyon Sacharro. I've brought you your identity badge."

Piers passed over an exquisite box. It was absolutely impossible for a small world like this one to produce something on this level. The box alone was a half-immortal treasure. Inside, Dyon could sense a Venerable grade treasure. It was certain that this was sent by Pill Sword Mountain themselves.

Dyon ignored the obvious intent in Piers' heart. As long as he didn't cross a line, Dyon didn't care if he lusted after Saru and Lilith. But the moment he did, Dyon didn't mind ripping the latter's heart out of his chest.

"Thank you." Dyon accepted the box.

Piers' gaze flashed with a weird light. He remembered nearly fainting with excitement when he got his identity badge. In fact, his badge had taken far longer to get here than Dyon's years, in fact. As opposed to the few days it took for Dyon. Yet, he still felt ecstatic. This didn't even mention the grade of the treasures.

But Dyon treated it like it was air.

" The second thing I came for is related to the coming battle."

Dyon smiled a meaningful smile. "It can't be that you want me to fight, right?"

Piers waved his hands. "Of course not. We alchemists have extremely high standing. However, we still need to do our part. We need to support the soldiers by concocting pills.

"We work on a system of 'Concoctor and Runner'. We have a special station on the battlefield we concoct pills from. Once our pills are complete, our assigned 'runners' deliver them to those who need them most.

"All Venerables must participate according to a deal our alchemy guild has with the City Lord."

Dyon's lips pursed slightly. 'What a moronic system.'

This was his first thought. It was just too ridiculous.

'Runners'? So they had people assigned to sprint through the battlefield and deliver pills? Why didn't they prepare a stash of pills for battle purposes?

The only reason Dyon could think of was that they had never expected for Zaneta City to enter a battle. From the very beginning, it was a puppet state anyway.

But, even then, wasn't this a little too irresponsible? Even if Dyon hadn't been aware of how powerful that pirate gang had been, there was no way they hadn't. Shouldn't they be prepared for this possibility?

' Something else is going on here. There's something diverting their attention from protecting this city the way they should But what is that?'

"Alright. I'll be there in a moment."

Dyon closed the door without allowing Piers to respond, looking at the box in his hand.

Opening it, he found that it was a small spatial treasure.

'Oh? How rare.'

Dyon knew how rare spatial treasures were on the Immortal Plane. Yet, Pill Sword Mountain handed one out to all of their Venerables?

No, that shouldn't be it. There's another reason. From Piers' reaction, this reward wasn't normal. That means someone was aware of his performance and it seemed he did pretty good. Not bad.

The box had a space of half a cubic meter. It was very small compared to what Dyon was used to, barely the size of an average box. But, there wasn't much in it to begin with. There was a robe, a badge, and a small golden cauldron that looked like paper weight with the number '3' branded on it.