Dorian stormed out of the room silently. He was still frustated because of the recent talk with Kaltrik.

    Lucius followed silently, as he was curious where Dorian would go next after talking with Kaltrik.

    They soon arrived in front of a massive door. It was carved from dark wood and reinforced with some unknown metal.It was also carved with numerous runes that Lucius didn''t know about.

    There was also a small monument beside the huge door. There was a crystal orb on top of it.@@@@

    Dorian approached it and put his hand to the orb. The runes on the door glowed up before opening up.

    Lucius remained in the shadows and smirked, "Interesting. Now, what could you be hiding behind such an elaborate door?"

    The door revealed a grand chamber filled with treasures that glittered in the faint magical glow of enchanted torches.

    Shelves lined the walls, packed with beast cores, rare materials, ancient artifacts, and shimmering jewels.

    In the center of the room, several pedestals displayed particularly rare and powerful items.

    Dorian stepped into the room and surveyed the Garran family Treasury. He folded his arms and let out a disdainful scoff.

    "Damn it. To think the Academy expects me to give that brat Lucius a gift."

    Lucius, hidden in the shadows, raised an eyebrow. "A gift? How generous of you, Dorian."

    Dorian paced through the Garran Treasury and frustatedly scanned all the shelves, searching for the most useless one.

    "Let me see," he sneered. "I''ll just pick the most useless item here. That should satisfy their ridiculous demands."

    He looked around and saw a dull, dust-covered orb. "Phatetic core, but perfect. He deserves nothing better."

    Lucius watched him from the shadows. He ignored him and looked around. "So, this is Garran family Treasury. A treasure trove of opportunity, indeed."

    Lucius began to move silently and roam deeper into the vast Treasury. It was massive and filled with a lot of treasures.

    He knew instinctively that the most valuable items would be hidden further in, away from the casual gaze of anyone entering the room.

    As he ventured deeper, the light began to dim. He glanced back briefly to ensure Dorian was still preoccupied.

    The count was too absorbed in his arrogant search for a "useless gift" to notice Lucius slipping away into the depths.

    "Perfect," Lucius muttered. "Time to make this visit worthwhile."

    [Hack Initiation: Automatic Resource Absorption]

    [Target: Unknown Scale]

    [Effect: Absorb Target Material to Convert into Hack Points]

    [Execution: Commencing]

    ---

    The moment the system began absorbing the scale, Lucius was surprised. He saw a flood of hack points appear on his interface.

    The numbers climbed rapidly, far surpassing his expectations. Lucius excitedly said, "Jackpot."

    Lucius looked at the dull scale back and smirked. "I don''t know what you are or how you ended up here, but I don''t care. You are mine now."

    He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Is this luck? Or perhaps some divine plot armor working in my favor? Either way..."

    He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I''ll take it."

    Lucius checked his system interface again, noting with satisfaction that his hack points had skyrocketed.

    "Dorian, you have no idea how much value you''ve just handed me."

    Turning, Lucius began making his way back through the Treasury. Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire

    As he neared the door, he slowed, peering cautiously around the final corner.

    Dorian was still inside the Treasury, muttering angrily to himself as he inspected a dusty artifact.

    The man''s body language screamed frustration: his shoulders were hunched, and he occasionally slammed an item back onto the shelf with unnecessary force.

    Lucius smirked. "Still busy, I see. Perfect."

    He slipped past the distracted count silently. Once he reached the door, he slipped through it.

    Outside, Lucius smirked as he glanced back at the huge Treasury. "That scale... I don''t know what it is, but thanks to it, my plan will move faster."

    With a final smirk, Lucius turned and began making his way back toward his room, thinking what he should do next.

    Dorian didn''t know that he had given Lucius a very precious gift, even though he had not given it to him.

    Any gift that Dorian would give to him later would just be any ordinary gift, whether it was bad or not.