Another World Mall

"Where is the tube? Let's register your result."

"Here." Kanaria handed the tube carefully, not knowing why her mother was this excited. She wondered what had actually happened in the last three days.

She hurriedly handed the tube to the examiner and said, "Check it right away!"

"Y-yes!" The examiner was a bit overwhelmed. Not only was his superior here, but these important people were urging him to do his job.

He hurriedly scanned everything and couldn't help but gasp. "This is… a total of 13 Tier 1 beasts, 230 Tier 0 beasts, and one… one Tier 2 beast."

"!!!" Everyone's eyes turned to the examiner as if trying to confirm what they had just heard. However, the examiner rushed to upgrade the scoreboard.

1. Libation Fiesta (#24) - 3600X points.

2. Red Hawk (#9) - 2300 points.

3. Fiery Wings (#11) - 2200 points.

4. Not Mohawk (#26) - 2170 points.

5. Xovereign (#4) - 2130 points.

6. True Thorn (#25) - 2120 points.

Everyone's heart sank when they saw such a high score.

"This is…" They were shocked by the Tier 2 Essence, but the fact that the first place overwhelmed them without the Tier 2 beast alone was enough to show them the current gap.

As for Ivan's group, let alone placing second, they actually failed to get to the top 5.

"Impossible." Ivan gasped. "How could this be possible? How in the world are they able to get those points?"

Even Lovelia couldn't explain this situation. They thought that their score was already crazy high, so there was no way other groups could actually defeat them. And more importantly, these groups didn't seem to be famous and had powerful individuals.

Elina hurriedly asked, "There must be something going on. We ask the examiners to investigate the points."

The commander couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows. He raised his hand, saying, "I'm sorry, everyone. There is one thing that everyone should know first. If you take a look at the score, you will notice that we added a character instead of a number for the Tier 2 beast.

"In the other competition, Tier 2 was worth ten times that of Tier 1. However, this is because the participants are Tier 1 Explorers. When a Tier 0 explorer fights against Tier 2 beasts, their only option is to run away since even preserving their lives is hard.

"That's why instead of using the normal measurement, we are giving a special character as no amount of Tier 0 or Tier 1 beasts can amount to the difficulty of challenging a Tier 2 beast as a Tier 0 explorer.

"With that out of the way, I do feel suspicion about the score. While I'd like to praise everyone who has done a great job, I'd like to know the method that you use to acquire such a high score."

"What is this? Are you pressing these guys?" Kanaria's mother squinted her eyes.

"It's not like that, Madam." The commander gave a wry smile. "I know that I am being shameless for asking their secret. While I can say that this is for the greater good, the military will pay the compensation they deserve."

The groups couldn't help but look at each other. Kanaria also felt the gaze of her mother.

"And what kind of compensation are you talking about, Commander?"

"I can apply for one more super injection for the compensation."

Kanaria thought it wasn't a bad trade. If she pushed him too much, it would definitely affect their relationship with the military. And this super injection would definitely be useful for Clovis.

There was no way Clovis would take everything by himself despite his contribution, so if there was only one super injection, Clovis couldn't reject it.

Besides, the trick itself wasn't a big deal. While it looked unfair at first glance, it wasn't forbidden. In fact, it was what everyone ought to do during the exploration.

Kanaria wanted to ask for Clovis's opinion first, but if she looked at him right now, he would definitely tell her to change the reward so that they could split it.

Hence, she had to make a decision on the spot. "I understand. It's actually a pretty simple secret. We just cooperate with each other."

"Cooperation?" The commander frowned.

"Yes. We share each other's loot so that everyone can take in that one ml of essence. While the syringe will notice the same gene, they won't care if that same gene is in another person's place, right?"

"Ah!" The commander looked down, falling into deep thought.

"That's cheating!" Lovelia raised her voice. "You are cheating. This is not fair. They should be disqualified."

Kanaria smirked. "What do you mean we're cheating? There were groups that tried to kill others who had just taken down their enemies. They attacked their exhausted targets and claimed the beasts these people killed as their own.

"We are simply doing the same thing. However, we do it in the way a proper human being should behave. Instead of killing one another, we should join hands. If the people two generations above us hadn't united and cooperated with each other, humanity would have gone extinct. Don't you think so?"

When the people heard it, they realized that the concept was indeed similar. In fact, there was no rule stating that they couldn't do it.

This kind of competition was something new, so they didn't realize it was possible. In fact, if they weren't urged to create this competition, they wouldn't have one. Due to the limited amount of time, they couldn't ensure that the rules were perfect to stop any kind of cheating.

The commander looked at Kanaria, asking, "Is the idea originally from your group?"

"Yes."

"From the looks of it, there are four other groups that cooperate with you. In that case, I shall reward your group with a super injection for your cooperation and ten thousand dollars for the other four groups." The commander judged fairly.

Even though the competition looked unfair, there was no way he could punish them when they were talking about cooperating with their own kin. He would be labeled as a demon if he actually punished them.

"This…"

"The commander has just…"

"Another ten thousand."

"A big bonus at the end. We won't be able to achieve this without their help, so they can get the big reward, I guess."

While they were lamenting the fact that they couldn't get the super injection, their rationality was much higher than their greed.

The commander looked at the examiners and asked, "How is it?"

"We have confirmed that there are same genes on their tubes." The examiner confirmed Kanaria's claim.

Lovelia's grandfather gritted his teeth. He never thought that his granddaughter's team would lose like this. If it was only the second place, he might be able to understand it. But they couldn't even reach the top five due to this scheme.

He was trying to hold his anger the whole time, but it erupted the moment Kanaria said, "With this, Lovelia has to leave her group and be unable to join anymore."

"Huh?" Her grandfather widened his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He looked at his granddaughter, whose face was already pale. "What is the meaning of this, Lovelia?"

Lovelia couldn't say anything. It was Ivan's fault for accepting that bet.

Kanaria was delighted when she saw Lovelia's expression. She stated, "Their group has come to us with a bet to see which one of us has a higher ranking. In the event that my group loses, I am forced to leave my group and join theirs.

However, because my group only has three people, we demand more, which is to have Lovelia leave the group and can't rejoin as well as Vina become a part of our group for two weeks."

Lovelia was gasping for air. Her grandfather was going to severely punish her even though it was Ivan who proposed the bet.

Ivan gritted his teeth. He wanted to deny it, but he didn't know how to do it in the correct way. If he said one wrong word, he would definitely become the joke of the community.

"Child. There is no proof of that bet. Besides, it's not an official bet."

"If you want proof, I believe there are a few groups who can confirm it." Kanaria looked around, finding several familiar faces. These people were on the same truck as them, so they should have heard about the bets.

However, they looked frightened when she looked at them. It wasn't because of her. Instead, Lovelia's grandfather was warning them with a glare that if they dared to speak up, they would get the consequences.

"See? There is no proof."

Kanaria looked at them while shaking her head helplessly. It seemed that they didn't dare to come out, but she could understand their fear since the opponent was a Tier 5 explorer.

"Besides, after listening to your little scheme for cooperating with each other, I do think that you might actually buy them beforehand. Do you think their words will be credible?"

Kanaria's expression became cold. She couldn't help but sigh. "As expected of someone who has led the Rusth Family for over thirty years, you are rather shameless."

"Is this how you speak to your elder? It seems that your parents don't teach you manners."

"Mom. He is talking about you, you know." Kanaria rolled her eyes, wondering why her mother didn't back her up this whole time. It turned out she was currently fixated on her device, typing a bunch of stuff.

"Well, it doesn't really matter. All I know is that I always teach you one thing, right?" She smiled while extending her hand.

Kanaria chuckled before handing over her device. "Yeah."

Her mother typed a few more things, connected Kanaria's device, and tapped the 'play' button in just a few seconds. In that instant, the broadcasting system got activated and started playing the recording.

Ivan's voice began to echo in everyone's ears.

"Let's have a bet."