Ed-Bear cleared his throat, jarring Talitha from her stupor.
The young woman quickly calculated the value of the haul, arriving at a staggering figure. A strange flush crept up her cheeks as she stammered, “I—I’ll go get the appraiser. Please wait a moment…”
Dealing in supernatural items was beyond the authority of a mere receptionist.
She hurried out from behind the counter, skirting around Ed-Bear as she turned into a narrow hallway. Reaching the inner office area partitioned by wooden boards, she called for several appraisers to come out.
Ed-Bear watched them bustle back and forth, waiting patiently for fifteen minutes until the valuation was complete. The bag of Mimic-Ape claws was worth over three hundred thousand merits.
The hall erupted into a heated debate, with the crowd split into two camps.
One side argued it was impossible for Ed-Bear to have wiped out a Mimic-Ape nest single-handedly in just two or three days. They claimed he was nothing more than a merchant—someone who hoarded goods to manipulate the market, buying low and selling high.
The other side believed Ed-Bear possessed overwhelming strength. They argued that when facing a swarm of Mimic-Apes, companions were actually a liability. It was just like when a Lantern-Bearer explored the Violet Zone; they would strictly limit their party to three people or fewer. Bringing too many Light-Seekers was a drain on focus, as the leader would have to constantly look out for them.
The explorers argued incessantly, even going so far as to start a betting pool.
An appraiser set down his specialized magnifying lens and glanced at Ed-Bear, asking curiously, “The quality of these Mimic-Ape claws is the best I’ve ever seen. One or two would be understandable, but for every claw to be this pristine… Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry into your secrets. I’m just fascinated. If it’s inconvenient to say, please forget I asked.”
“Is that so? I’m not entirely sure,” Ed-Bear replied calmly after a moment’s thought. “Perhaps it’s because they were harvested while the creatures were still alive.”
“What?!”
“Don’t waste time discussing it,” Ed-Bear said, tapping the desk impatiently with his fingertip. “I want to exchange these merits for items.”
“Of course, please have a look.” Talitha hurriedly presented the exchange catalog, her attitude now incredibly eager.
Ed-Bear flipped directly to the prosthetics section. His finger slid down several pages until it stopped on an entry titled: ‘Silver Tendrils.’
According to the specifications, this series of prosthetics was the most slender, specifically designed for women.
It pondered for a moment before asking Talitha to bring out the stock for inspection.
Soon, a long case was brought from the warehouse and placed before it.
Ed-Bear lifted the lid. The Silver Tendrils: Left Arm lay quietly inside.
The surface of this relic-processed item was uniformly decorated with elegant, embossed floral vines. Light flowed across its seamless, integrated form. Anatomically, the proportions were graceful, and the joints moved with fluid smoothness.
Though it was an ancient relic, it possessed a sleek, modern metallic aesthetic.
Ed-Bear picked it up but felt it was still too long. Looking left and right, he asked, “Are there any twelve-year-old girls here? I need someone to try this on.”
“Sir, you can’t buy little girls with merits. The Explorers’ Guild doesn’t deal in human trafficking.” Talitha’s heart skipped a beat. Is he some kind of pervert?
The hall buzzed with renewed gossip.
“Who would’ve thought he was into that?”
“Tch, and here I was thinking of hitting on him. Too bad I’m already sixteen.”
“I’m twenty-one, did I say anything?”
“Can we not talk about age? It hurts…”
Despite the murmurs drifting through the air, Ed-Bear remained indifferent.
Although it could use its tentacles to mimic human organs, it possessed no sexual desire of its own. Even if a human woman offered herself, it wouldn’t necessarily be willing to provide ‘services’—unless, of course, the other party offered a reward it couldn’t refuse.
Hmm… now that’s a thought.
“I’m not looking to buy a girl. I’m buying a prosthetic for a twelve-year-old child. The Silver Tendrils series is the smallest in the catalog, but it’s still a bit too large. It looks like I’ll have to buy the parts and build it myself.”
The last sentence was meant for Wang Yue. Since information could only be transmitted one way, the avatar would provide verbal cues to its creator.
Seeing him remain calm and explain himself so composedly while being judged by the crowd, Ed-Bear’s image suddenly grew much taller in Talitha’s heart.
Talitha suggested earnestly, “Sir, children grow. It’s usually best to wait until they reach adulthood and stop developing before getting a custom-made prosthetic.”
“I’m not short on money.”
“…”
The way Talitha looked at Ed-Bear now was bordering on worship.
While Ed-Bear picked out materials and packed them into boxes, the young woman straightened her bangs and propped up the little ears on her bear-themed hat to look more adorable.
Mustering her courage, she walked up to Ed-Bear’s side, leaning in slightly as she issued a shy, innocent invitation. “I’m free after work today. Would you like to go for a drink?”
Humans talk so much, Ed-Bear thought.
The air entering its breathing holes was thick with Talitha’s surging hormones. In the silence of its own mind, it could hear the girl’s heart racing inside her chest.
Talitha was sixteen and had never been with a man, nor had she ever touched alcohol. To many of the women in the hall, such a naive invitation was no different from a moth flying into a flame.
Talitha tilted her head up, gazing at Ed-Bear. Her fingers were curled nervously against her chest as she awaited his answer.
Ed-Bear glanced at her.
The girl’s lips looked temptingly soft in the firelight, and the curve of her waist and long legs seemed designed to stir a man’s heart.
But it had no interest in providing ‘services’ to her. The main reason was that the girl looked quite poor.
It was a monster that just wanted to be a lazy dog. If it could exchange ‘services’ for value from women, why would it ever need to fight?
However, poor girls were off the table.
Room 202*
Wang Yue was deeply troubled.
Something had gone wrong with the avatar’s head.
It was bad enough that it suffered from bouts of depression seven or eight times a day, but lately, it had actually developed the desire to become a gigolo.
That was just too absurd.
It seemed she would need to give it some psychological counseling the next time they met.
Turning her thoughts back to the task at hand, the synchronized memories showed that the prosthetic materials were ready; she just had to wait for the delivery. The problem was that there was no finished product. She needed to design it according to Prima’s physique.
A prosthetic design needed to achieve three things: beauty, comfort, and ergonomics.
After thinking it over, she decided to use the most straightforward method: replicating human limbs.
Options like multi-jointed parts, tentacles, or animal limbs were simply too bizarre. The easiest way was to find a young girl at school with a similar build to Prima and use her limbs as a template.
Wang Yue used a tape measure to record the distance from Prima’s shoulder to her crotch. Using this as a standard, she posted a notice in the dormitory building, looking for someone with similar measurements.
Soon, a crowd arrived.
Helpful students gathered outside the door of Room 202, all of them having similar measurements and wishing to do their part for their classmate.
Suddenly, there were many options to choose from.
Wang Yue prepared to select the best fit based on bone structure and head-to-neck ratios.
Suddenly, a blonde girl pushed through the crowd.
“Let me do it!”
“Lilith?”
“What’s with that look? I can’t help?”
“You’re just here to cause trouble, aren’t you? Do you even fit the criteria?” Wang Yue looked at her skeptically.
“Measure me yourself if you don’t believe me!”
Lilith was fuming. She balled her tiny fists and shook them aggressively.
Wang Yue took the tape measure, wrapping it from Lilith’s crotch up to her shoulder. She tightened it and checked the numbers. Lilith hadn’t lied; the data was identical.
“Hmph. Well?”
With Lilith’s arrival, the other helpful students were scared off. It looked like she would have to be the template.
