After handing over the corpse, Sungyoon borrowed a small room. He then looked over the Device he had acquired from the armored Connector.
‘I was lucky.’
The opportunities to kill a high rank Connector like that man without getting wounded were few and far between, and Sungyoon had been rewarded for grasping this opportunity.
For a brief moment, he looked at his own Devices and Gems. He had experienced many fierce battles recently, and his Gems had experienced rapid growth. His sword, halberd, ax, and hammer, all had evolved to Ruby rank, the fourth highest rank amongst the Jewel rank Gems.
The Gravity magic Gem had reached Silver rank, and the Earth magic Gem was now Gold rank. The Strength Enhancement Gem had been upgraded to Jade rank, and his shield had climbed to Platinum rank.
After all his weapons had reached Ruby rank, he had swapped them with a new set of Gems. He had been focusing on evolving his cloak and another strength-enhancing Gem. Both of them had evolved to Jade rank. As a cherry on top, he even raised the Sense Enhancement Gem and the Strength Doubling Gem to Platinum rank.
Anyone who had fought Sungyoon before would've noticed his increase in power if they were to fight again.
Even without the Bone Gem, Sungyoon had become plenty strong.
‘Let’s see.’
Sungyoon now moved on to the armored Connector’s Device and Gems. Similar to Sungyoon's devices, many Gems were slotted into the bracelet type Device. The Device wasn’t shaped like a conventional bracelet that clasped around one’s wrist. It spiraled upward from the wrist to the forearm as if it were a snake winding up the arm.
‘This is why he could slot so many Gems.’
The Device contained thirteen Gems, but a total of twenty-six slots, most of them being high rank. Ten of the twenty-six were Ruby rank slots, and ten were Emerald rank. The remaining six were Sapphire rank slots, which could house the second-highest rank Gem in the Jewel Gems.
Moreover, all the slots were universal, and it didn’t matter what the Gems were shaped like.
‘I can decrease the number of Devices that I wear.’
Sungyoon found it annoying to equip a lot of Devices. He welcomed the chance to wear a Device that slotted a massive number of Gems.
After the Device, he turned to the Gems. Most of them weren't to Sungyoon’s taste. He had a Ruby rank Evolution Gem, and this cheat could help him acquire many high rank Gems.
In contrast, the armored Connector possessed a good number of low rank Gems. Moreover, a lot of these Gems' abilities overlapped with the abilities Sungyoon's Gems had. They mostly increased one’s strength.
Of course, he would take them, but he wasn’t interested in them.
‘I’ll take the shield.’
Sungyoon picked up the cross-shaped Ruby Gem. Until now, Sungyoon had lost his shields the most in battles. The one he carried right now was something he had bought with money.
‘Four of my shields have been destroyed until now.’
Aside from the disposable Gem that he had used to evolve another Gem and the multiple destroyed shield Gems, Sungyoon had lost only one other Gen, the spear Gem.
Therefore, Sungyoon was delighted to acquire a new shield. He immediately activated the Gem, and a new shield appeared in Sungyoon’s hand. The top of the shield was straight, and the curved sides met at a point on the bottom. When most people thought about European medieval shields, this was the shape that would come to mind. It was a Heater shield.
The shield was large enough to completely protect his upper body.
‘It's a sturdy one.’
Unlike most of his Jewel rank equipment, the shield didn’t possess any special abilities. However, it did possess a special characteristic—its unusual sturdiness.
Sungyoon was satisfied with it.
‘The best characteristics for defensive gear are durability and sturdiness.’
Defensive gear had only one purpose: blocking attacks. For them, durability and sturdiness were more important than any random ability that came with a high rank Gem.
This idea was reinforced by the fact that Sungyoon's shield had been destroyed four times.
‘This shield can sufficiently block weapons that are one rank above it.’
Sungyoon didn’t hesitate in turning his current shield into his backup shield. He decided to use the Heater shield as his main shield. Since this shield was higher in rank, he didn’t need to think about swapping it out.
He then tried swinging it in various directions.
‘I need to use it in battles if I want to get familiar with it.’
This wasn’t a problem for Sungyoon. In the current atmosphere, it was clear that the army of monsters would continue to attack humanity. He would be fighting an awful lot of battles.
Next, Sungyoon checked the mace.
‘Magical energy amplification?’
The mace was capable of amplifying the effects of support magic including healing spells.
‘This should go to Ms. Emily.’
Sungyoon immediately had that thought.
‘The armored Connector healed and buffed himself in the fight.’
Sungyoon had also found very high rank healing Gems and Support Gems in the lot he had gained.
‘I’ll just hand all of this to Ms. Emily. That'll be for the best.’
This time, he took out the armor. The armor was Ruby rank too.
Moreover, it was similar to the shield. It didn’t have any extra abilities other than being extra durable and sturdy. However, Sungyoon didn’t feel the need to swap out his current armor. Still, he was pleased with acquiring a backup armor.
‘I’ll have to get rid of this.’
Sungyoon had kept various pieces of armors in case his main armor was destroyed. He no longer needed them. They were Orange rank boots, Yellow rank bracers, leg guards, and a helmet.
Even if these Gems were rare, a Connector of Sungyoon’s caliber carried them as backup gear. He even found that thought to be absurd, so he shook his head from side to side.
‘I’ll donate it to the company.’
It would be given to the Connectors who would be juniors to him in the company. Of course, this was all assuming Armstrong city and the Moon returned to normal.
Lastly, Sungyoon looked at the Emerald Gem. This was the first time he had set eyes on such a high rank Gem. It was the third-highest rank amongst the Jewel rank Gem.
Sungyoon activated it.
‘It's another special ability Gem.’
When he saw the hexagonal shape, he had thought about all the possibilities.
‘This can increase the ability of an equipped Gem to correspond with the rank of the slot.’
This meant that Sungyoon could slot the lowest Rainbow rank Gem into the highest Jewel rank slot. He could put a Purple Gem into a Diamond rank slot, and by activating this Emerald rank Gem, the Purple rank Gem would perform like a Diamond rank Gem.
It was a special ability Gem that was very narrow in scope, but had the potential to become a boon for Sungyoon.
‘He was supposed to be weakened on Earth, yet his mace was unusually powerful. Was this the reason?’
The man had probably slotted his Ruby rank Gem into the Sapphire rank slot and used the special ability. Thus, the Ruby rank Gem behaved like a Sapphire rank Gem.
‘The limitation didn’t come from the ability of this Gem. He could only raise the mace's rank by one level because he only possessed a Device with a Sapphire rank slot.’
If the armored Connector had a Device with a Diamond rank slot, he would have been able to wield power equivalent to a Diamond rank Gem.
Still, Sungyoon didn’t mind the gain. He had basically acquired the power of a Sapphire rank Gem. Now, his mind was working to decide which Gem he should use the ability on.
It didn’t take him too long to make a decision.
‘This is the only logical choice.’
Sungyoon tapped his finger on a Gem. It was the Evolution Gem, the reason for Sungyoon's rapid growth.
‘If I can increase its ability to Sapphire rank, I should be able to evolve the other Gems into Sapphire rank.’
There was a possibility that even the Evolution Gem would evolve itself.
Sungyoon placed the Gems into the new Device.
‘I’ll have to return this.’
To evolve the Gems of his comrades, he had borrowed a Device with five Ruby rank universal slots from Sir Russell. He now stored that Device into his storage Gem.
Then, he started to transfer all his Gems to the new Device.
‘This is great. I can slot so many Gems at once.’
He made sure he still had enough space to slot in six Gems for his party members. The rest twenty slots had been filled with Gems. He slotted in the Emerald rank strength-enhancing Gem that he acquired from the armored Connector alongside his own strength doubling Gem.
Unlike before, he wasn’t wearing the arm bracer, the brooch, and the numerous necklaces. He only wore two Devices, sporting a clean look; one was the Device that spiraled up from his wrist to his forearm, and the other was a large brooch on his chest.
‘I like it. It's neat.’
Sungyoon loved his new look, and he was satisfied by the fact that he would be able to evolve his Gems further.
‘The only thing left is to fight.’
He would probably fight until he was sick of it.
Sungyoon hardened his heart as he put the finishing touches on his newly-acquired power.
***
As Sungyoon had predicted, the monsters' attacks continued. Thankfully, after a while, a pattern in monsters' appearance was discovered, and this helped the countries avoid mass casualties. Of course, it also meant that the Connectors were fully focused on Earth.
The forces of Grenoid got their wish; humanity’s movement became greatly restricted.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m fine.”
Even though she heard Sungyoon’s words, Jimin’s face didn’t relax.
If she hadn't been driving, she would've brushed his cheek with her hand to see if he had lost weight.
Jimin's worries weren't baseless. All the Connectors capable of using their abilities on Earth, which included Sungyoon, continuously fought the monsters.
“Please go home and rest. Don’t do any work.”
“I’ll do as you say.”
Sungyoon didn’t feel any fatigue, but he showed an understanding of Jimin’s feelings. Without saying much, he nodded.
The two of them were heading toward their home. After Woosang and Woosung had been arrested, they had gained a new family member in Soyoung. Therefore, Sungyoon, Jimin, and Shinhae were living at Hweeyoung and Aiin’s house. However, the situation with Fabion was coming to an end. Woosung and Woosang had been deemed innocent, and they would be released in a couple of days. Then there was Plu-El, who was trying to find a place to settle down.
It was slowly time for Sungyoon and his family to return to their home.
The two of them were going to check up on their house before bringing back Shinhae.
Jimin smoothly parked her car in the driveway. They were about to walk past the front yard to enter their home when they noticed it.
“Huh?”
Jimin, who had been walking ahead, came to a stop. Sungyoon also stared at their home.
“… Light?”
Their house should be empty, yet a faint light was leaking out through the window. Sungyoon placed a hand on Jimin’s shoulder.
“Are we expecting someone today?”
“N... no. I didn't tell anyone about the security code.”
“Step back.”
Sungyoon stepped in front of Jimin as if he wanted to protect her. He then carefully moved forward as Jimin cautiously looked at him.
“Please be careful”
She spoke in a low voice full of worry.
Ggee-eek!
Sungyoon found the front door unlocked. He slowly entered the house and saw that all the lights were off. The light that was leaking outside was the light coming from the TV. Moreover, Sungyoon could hear voices coming from the TV speakers.
He slowly entered the living room. Someone was sitting on his sofa and watching the TV. The man looked as comfortable as if he were the owner of the house.
“You're here?”
Sungyoon knew this voice, and he felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately activated his Gems as he raised his guard against the man sitting on the sofa. In contrast to him, the man on the sofa was relaxed. He stood up and turned toward Sungyoon.
“You're late.”
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