Chapter 113: Sapphire Space Bag, Devour and Upgrade

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Sapphire Space Bag, Devour and Upgrade

Seraphina Sullivan had been on high alert, and she knew it was trouble the instant Chester Donovan appeared.

At almost the exact same moment he raised his gun, she and Sean Chandler used their incredible reflexes to dive to opposite sides.

A scorching shock wave and a spray of shrapnel erupted from the spot where they had just been standing!

Having forced the two back with a single shot, Chester Donovan didn’t even glance at the outcome. He lunged forward like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey, charging straight for the Silenti that was clutching the [Petrification Star], his eyes burning with greed and fanaticism!

Seraphina had just steadied herself. When she saw Chester Donovan not only attack them but also charge directly toward the Stone of Death, her initial fear was instantly replaced by a sense of absurdity and schadenfreude.

’Heh. He’s really digging his own grave. The idiot is asking to die!’

Chester Donovan completely failed to notice the way Seraphina was looking at him, as if he were already a dead man.

His mind was consumed by the strange energy radiating from the Glowing Green Fluorite and its potential, immense value. His face was alight with the greedy excitement of someone about to claim a priceless treasure.

He strode toward the green light, his thoughts on the special Effect of his Space Equipment. ’All I have to do is feed it this special-looking stone, and my space bag will grow and expand.’

’With more space, I can hoard even more weapons.’

Chester Donovan could already picture it: himself, armed with countless Fire Weapons, laying waste to everything around him with his [Full Firepower] Talent.

However, his euphoria was short-lived.

The instant one of his feet stepped into the effective range of the [Petrification Star]’s eerie green glow, a terrible sensation—cold, stiff, and rapidly spreading—shot through his arm like an electric current!

"What’s going on?!" Chester Donovan looked down in horror, only to discover that the hand he had stretched out to grab the green stone was losing color and sensation at a visible rate, its skin rapidly turning grayish-white and coarse.

And this terrifying Petrification was spreading rapidly up his arm toward his shoulder and torso!

"No! How could this be?! Why am I being petrified?!"

Chester Donovan let out a desperate and incredulous roar, whipping his head around to look at Seraphina Sullivan and Sean Chandler in the distance.

He saw Seraphina wearing a smug ’beats me’ expression, and she even gave a little shrug as if in sympathy.

Then, to add insult to injury, he heard her say, "I was going to warn you, you know. But then you attacked us right off the bat."

Chester Donovan understood instantly.

He whipped his head around, his gaze locking onto the Silenti clutching the glowing stone, his eyes filled with horror and regret!

"It’s this thing! It’s the stone’s light!!"

But by the time he realized, it was already too late.

Even as he desperately tried to stop, his body’s immense inertia still pushed him forward another two steps, exposing him even more completely to that deadly, eerie green light!

"No—!!!"

All he could do was let out a scream of utter terror and indignation as he watched helplessly, the sensation of Petrification washing over his chest, his neck, his head... until finally, his consciousness, his expression, his every movement, solidified completely.

Transformed into a grayish-white stone statue, frozen in a lunging, grasping pose. It stood there in the eerie green glow, radiating an Aura of pure despair.

Seraphina Sullivan watched the scene unfold and sighed softly. "Well, it’s true what they say. In a place like this, greed is the cardinal sin that’ll get you killed the fastest."

’A wave of fear washed over her in hindsight. If my [Analysis Glasses] hadn’t identified the stone’s terrifying Effect ahead of time, I’d be the one who’s a statue right now.’

"But..."

Her tone shifted as a cunning smile spread across her face. "Hehe, this works out perfectly for me. Talk about an easy score."

She certainly hadn’t forgotten about Chester Donovan’s Space Equipment—the one that let him pull out two machine guns in an instant!

She immediately focused, exerting her Control over the Silenti holding the [Petrification Star]. She had it back away, carefully and slowly, carrying the Stone of Death out of the immediate area to create a safe distance.

Only then did she cautiously approach Chester Donovan’s lifelike stone statue.

The statue’s face was frozen with its final expression of terror and indignation.

She reached out and easily plucked the exquisite leather pouch from his waist, the one inlaid with a large blue gemstone.

’Item Identification, activate!’

[Item: Sapphire Space Bag]

[Effect: Contains 10 cubic meters of stable space, usable for storing non-living objects. This is a rare, growth-type Space Equipment. The internal space can be gradually expanded by feeding special gems or minerals containing powerful Energy to the ’blue gemstone’ embedded on its exterior.]

"It’s a growth-type Space Equipment?!"

The moment she saw the item information, Seraphina’s eyes lit up, and her heart began to race in spite of herself.

"All I have to do is feed it gems or special Energy Ore to expand the Space? This... this is an incredible treasure!"

She never expected that Chester Donovan’s greed would, in the end, become her windfall.

This unexpected joy instantly washed away the tension and fatigue of the night.

Curious, Seraphina first extended her consciousness into the newly acquired [Sapphire Space Bag], wanting to see what goodies Chester Donovan had hoarded.

What she found, however, was slightly disappointing.

The space bag didn’t contain many rare or strange items. Most of the space was taken up by various firearms, ammunition, and even a few crates of grenades and explosives—a small armory, plain and simple.

The remaining corners were stacked with compressed food and fresh water.

"Looks like this space bag was just Chester Donovan’s personal armory." Seraphina pursed her lips.

’But on second thought,’ she mused, ’when paired with his violent [Full Firepower] Talent, this bag of weapons really would be devastating. A perfect match, really.’

Finding no particularly exciting items, she turned her attention back to how to deal with the hot potato that was the [Petrification Star].

"Haha, this Sapphire Space Bag gives me the perfect solution."

Seraphina’s eyes lit up as she thought of a brilliant idea.

’Since I can’t touch the stone myself, why not put it to good use and feed it to the blue gemstone on the bag to expand its Space?’

’It eliminates a danger and upgrades my equipment. Two birds with one stone!’

She walked over to Chester Donovan’s statue, patted its cold, stone shoulder, and said gratefully, "Thanks so much for the gift, pal. I’ll be sure to put it to good use."

The stone statue of Chester Donovan: ...

Seraphina wasted no more time. She placed the bag on the ground, stepped back to a safe distance, and used her Control on the Silenti still holding the Petrification Star. She directed it to slowly move the eerie, green-glowing [Petrification Star] toward the large blue gemstone on the bag.

The very instant the stone was about to touch the surface of the gemstone.

WHOOSH!

The blue gemstone seemed to spring to life. Its surface flashed, and it generated a powerful suction force!

The fist-sized [Petrification Star], as if pulled by an invisible hand, instantly transformed into a solid stream of green light and was completely devoured by the blue gemstone!