Chapter 1004 - 484: "Hot Potato

During his outings over the past few days, Gauss had seen no shortage of dead adventurers’ corpses; sometimes, entire squads or even large battalions had been wiped out. Out of humanitarian principles, he would do his best to bring their bodies back—provided they hadn’t been eaten by monsters as rations. Even if they had never met before, he wished those ambitious and energetic Adventurers good luck.

Upon arriving at the upper floor, he met with Michelle and several other commissioners, whom he hadn’t seen for a few days. Without much small talk, they quickly proceeded to the formal exchange process.

Michelle brought out a box containing a dark red metal bracelet. "Mr. Gauss, this is the Echo of Yesterday you exchanged for," she said. "The rest of the supplies are stored inside. You can put it on and inspect them yourself."

She gestured for Gauss to try it out first.

Gauss didn’t stand on ceremony. He decisively picked it up and slipped it onto his wrist. Unlike its cold, metallic appearance, it felt extremely warm and smooth against his skin, like a piece of aged jade. It didn’t cause any discomfort at all. Instead, it fit perfectly—neither too tight nor too loose—as if it had been broken in for many years. This was probably what they meant when they said precious artifacts possessed a soul. Even before testing its functions and parameters, his first impression of the storage item was excellent.

Upon putting it on, he soon felt a wondrous gravitational pull from the blank, brand-new bracelet. Immediately, his Magic Power and Spiritual Power flowed into it naturally, unfolding a massive, entirely new space before his eyes. The space inside was vastly more spacious than any Storage Pouch or Storage Bracelet he had ever encountered. Three special Spellbooks and an adamantine ring lay quietly within.

Gauss quickly realized the concept of spatial bubbles that Michelle had introduced a few days ago. Although the items were placed extremely close to each other, they seemed to exist in completely different dimensions, none interfering with the others. With a mere thought, the three exquisite Spellbooks and the ring instantly appeared on the table.

He briefly flipped through the Spellbooks to ensure their contents were correct, then tested the functions of the Magic Storage Ring. Finally, he stored them away and looked up at Michelle and the other commissioners, who had remained completely silent throughout his testing to avoid any unnecessary interruptions.

"Everything is in order?" Michelle asked.

"Yes." Gauss handed the original Storage Bracelet, which contained the true dragon’s corpse, back to her. Of course, the other Dragon Corpses, materials, and items unrelated to this transaction had already been transferred into the Echo of Yesterday. Since he was bound to both spatial items, he could perform this operation seamlessly—just one of the many conveniences of the Echo of Yesterday.

Michelle also conducted her inspection. After confirming everything was correct, she stood up and shook Gauss’s hand, concluding the entire procedure.

When Gauss and his party left the Adventurer’s Guild station, less than twenty minutes had passed.

"So this is a top-tier storage item," Aaliyah said, casting a few extra curious glances at it. The Echo of Yesterday didn’t look much different from an ordinary accessory. If Gauss hadn’t explained its powerful capabilities to her beforehand, she would never have guessed its true value just from its appearance. One hundred meters in length, width, and height—just picturing it in her mind made it seem unfathomably massive. Instinctively, she even felt that the Green Dragon Corpse Gauss had paid was nothing compared to it.

But she quickly dismissed that thought. She wondered if she was simply ignorant of the true value of a real dragon. After all, the Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t a charity; why would they ever make a loss-making deal?

"Who do you guys think should wear this?" Gauss asked, taking out the Magic Storage Ring he had prepared for his teammates.

"I don’t need it," Albena was the first to shake her head. Although she was slightly tempted by the prospect of receiving a ring from Gauss, she knew she was the one who needed it the least among them. She was a bona fide Warrior, meant to stand on the front lines and tank for the team. The Magic Storage Ring was much better suited for the backline members, allowing them to adapt to the situation as needed.

"Give it to Aaliyah or Ying. I’m a Healing Priest and don’t engage in frontal combat, so it’s not suitable for me," the Half-Snake Man Serdur also declined modestly.

"If it were the past you, you might have actually had the standing to say that," Aaliyah rolled her eyes at him silently. Nowadays, he charged further to the front than anyone else in battle. Especially when Gauss wasn’t around, once he hit his stride, he would quickly transform into a Berserker. Because of his healing Spells, he could simultaneously cast healing and buff Spells on himself while fighting, all while casually throwing curses and other debuffs at the enemies.

However, Aaliyah didn’t outright refute Serdur’s point; he really wasn’t suited to wear this ring. In the heat of battle, he’d probably forget the right moment to use it.

Therefore, Gauss ultimately turned his gaze toward Aaliyah and Ying.

"Give it to Aaliyah."

"Give it to Ying."

The two of them spoke at the exact same time.

It should be noted that the Magic Storage Ring’s consumption and power were determined by the person who stored the Spell. As for the user, theoretically, anyone could use it after a certain breaking-in period. The ring itself would assist the user based on the original Caster’s Casting experience. This was the reason it was worth ten percent of a male Green Dragon. If the stored Spells hadn’t been restricted to the 5th tier and below, its value would have multiplied several times over.

"Aaliyah is a Caster; she’ll find it much easier to use," Ying added.