System's POV

Chapter 268 ? Something Of Equivalent Exchange

"Zion, my dear friend, where are you right now?" Camazotz rested his hand on the ten-year-old's shoulder and gave the latter the most devilish smile he could muster. "Please tell me your location. I promise I won't send my friends to hunt you down."

"Mmm. I am currently in Mammon's City," Thirteen replied casually. "Feel free to visit me anytime."

"Tsk!" Camazotz would always ask the young human boy about his location whenever he saw the latter in the Conference Room of the Apocalypse.

He was hoping that Thirteen would slip up so that his whereabouts would finally be known to him.

In the past three years, the members of the Order of the Apocalypse had shown the boy's face to their subordinates, as well as their acquaintances.

They even discreetly placed a bounty on his head, but it was not to kill him. The bounty was only asking for any relevant information related to him, especially where he was currently at.

For the past three years, Thirteen had been playing hide and seek with the members of the order. But to this day, none of them were able to get a scent of his trail.

The only one who wasn't making any moves to look for him was none other than Kamrusepa.

Camazotz and the others had tried to hire her services in order to look for Thirteen's location. Unfortunately, whenever they tried, Kamrusepa would turn them down.

At first, they thought that the reward they offered to give her wasn't enough.

They only gave up after Kamrusepa told everyone that she was unable to use her divination to locate any member of the Order due to a mysterious power protecting them all.

Also, Kamrusepa found Zion quite interesting. The young boy had defeated Arundel despite being at a disadvantage, so she knew that the boy couldn't be someone ordinary.

He might be weak, but there was something about him that made her believe that the boy was someone they needed if they wished to break the status quo between the Celestials and the Fiends who ruled over Solterra.

"Alright. Please don't disturb me for now, Mr. Death Bat," Thirteen said as he pried Camazotz's hand from his shoulder. "I need to talk with Metatron. I still haven't gotten my reward from the treasury."

Camazotz loudly sighed because he found Zion's missions very unfair. All the boy needed to do was kill Rank 4 Sovereigns, and he would gain Apocalypse Points, which would allow him to unlock the other layers of the treasury and get some very rare items from its keeper, Metatron.

Thirteen had only been in the order for three years, yet he had already unlocked the second layer and was already halfway to being able to unlock the third layer.

Camazotz had joined the order earlier than Zion, but he had yet to unlock the second layer.

Because of this, he was very bitter about the boy who could just kill Rank 4 Sovereigns without too much effort.

To make matters worse, if he killed a Rank 5 Sovereign, he would gain 5 points. If he killed a Rank 6 Sovereign, he would get 30 points.

A Rank 7 would net him 100 points, and a Rank 8 would net him 600 points.

A Rank 9 was 4000 points, and last but not the least, a Majin Prince would give him 10,000 Points.

Thirteen often commented that if possible, he would like to kill Camazotz since he looked easier to kill than Arundel, making the Death Bat snort.

It was no exaggeration to say that Thirteen held a very special position within the order.

Some of the members were even considering helping him achieve his goal. After all, once he unlocked the final layer of the treasury, he would be able to receive Pandoras' Box.

This was the one thing that all of them were aiming for, and realistically speaking, the one closest to obtaining it was none other than the weakest member of their organization.

After entering the Treasury, Metatron appeared in front of him with a smile on his face.

"Welcome back, Thirteen," Metatron said. "How are you faring in your new adventure? Did you perhaps come here because you have hit a wall that you cannot overcome using normal means?"

"Yes," Thirteen replied in a heartbeat. "Actually, I am here to ask you for some recommendations, Metatron."

In the past three years, Thirteen had acquired two more items from the treasury.

One of them was a Sea Conch, which he received after joining the order.

The second one was a portable teleporter, which allowed him to set three waypoints that would let him travel to those places almost instantly.

But there was a catch.

He could only set waypoints to the places where he had been.

Aside from that, the teleportation was a one-way thing.

For example, if he teleportedfrom the Arcadia Archipelago to the Valbarra Archipelago, he wouldn't be able to return to the former if he didn't set a waypoint there.

The waypoint could also only carry a maximum of six individuals each time. If he were to teleport with Tiona, she would be counted as a second individual.

But this was not an issue at all, for he had a way to make things more convenient.

He could simply let everyone enter Rocky's Mobile Fortress and teleport the Magma Bal-Boa with him to the place where he wanted to go, then unload everyone at their destination.

Every member of the order who had managed to unlock the second layer of the Gate had this portable teleporter as well.

It was Metatron's highly recommended item, and it served the Majin Princes' and Princesses' well.

"So, what do you need?" Metatron inquired. "Remember, I cannot give you special treatment. You can only receive one item this year from the treasury. You will have to wait until after the Winter Solstice to get another item from the treasury."

"I know." Thirteen nodded. "I have two questions. The first one is—will it be possible to exchange items in the treasury for something just as important? For example, information?"

"Information?" Metatron pondered for a bit. "Well, information is indeed a valuable thing. Depending on what it is, I might consider trading it for something of equivalent exchange."

"Then, what if I exchanged a treasure here instead of information?" Thirteen inquired. "Since the treasury can house extremely rare items of the Mythical, Legendary, and Divine Rank, is it possible to trade something of equivalent value?"

information?" Thirteen inquired. "Since the treasury can house extremely rare items of the Mythical, Legendary, and Divine Metatron didn't answer right away. Instead, he pondered for a bit. A few minutes later, he reluctantly nodded his head, making Thirteen sigh in relief.

Since there was room for negotiation, he would be able to exchange items within the treasury, without the need to wait for the Winter Solstice to come.

"As long as it is indeed worth exchanging, I will consider it," Metatron stated. "In fact, if it is truly unique, I am willing to exchange more than one item from the treasury. But, remember this, it must only be of equivalent value."

Thirteen nodded. "Then, there is something I want to ask you."

"Ask away."

"Um, I am currently in this kind of situation…"

Thirteen told Metatron about the two Boss Monsters whom he might need to fight in order to clear his current quest.

After Thirteen told the other party about what he needed, Metatron only chuckled before summoning an item from the 2nd Layer of the Treasury.

"I believe this is the item that you are looking for," Metatron said. "Remember, this is a consumable. After using it once, it will disappear. So, are you going to use your last opportunity in the treasury to exchange for this item?"

"Tell me more about what it can do first," Thirteen commented.

Metatron was more than happy to tell him what the item was capable of doing.

After Thirteen asked the Guardian a few more things, he decided that it was truly the item that he needed to complete his current mission.

"Thanks, I just hope that I will not need to use this anytime soon," Thirteen said.

"Well, in any case, I already told you what you need to know," Metatron smirked. "Good luck, and do your best not to die, Zion. I was sincere when I said that I have taken a liking to you. So, as long as you don't plan on breaking any rules of the order, I will help you in any way that I can."

Thirteen nodded, and returned to the second island of the Arcadia Archipelago.

After wracking his mind, he really couldn't think of any way to deal with the Unicorn and the Beholder that he might need to fight in the future.

For this reason, he resorted to using his last chance to get an item from the Treasury of the Apocalypse.

'I'm going to the first island first,' Thirteen thought. 'Vassago's report will probably give me the information I need without the need for a direct confrontation.'

Thirteen had already bid his farewell to Shasha and the others.

He also left the bulk of his forces to protect her and the other Wanderers.

The only creatures who would be accompanying him to the first Island were Tiona and Blacky.

Since he had evolved into a Rank 5 Sovereign called a Nightmare Black Hound, Blacky had become stronger and faster than ever before.

Also, Blacky was a good swimmer, which was the main reason why he planned to only take Blacky with him on his expedition.

Using a boat might alert the Unicorn, so he planned to travel as stealthily as he could, lowering the risk of accidentally provoking the Rank 8 Sovereign, whom he had to face sooner or later.