Rise of the Darkness Tycoon

Chapter 9- A Disappointed Winner

As soon as Calvin got to the machine, he heard a loud voice from the front of the line.

“What?! Not a single one had an elemental stone! Impossible!”

The machine operator continued packing away the cracked ores in silence, placing the empty fragments into separate containers with practised ease.

After a moment, he looked up and asked the man, “Do you want to sell the cracked ores or take them with you? The company will buy them back for half price.”

The man clicked his tongue in irritation, clearly frustrated, but with the guards standing nearby watching him, he couldn’t act out. After a moment, he reluctantly nodded and muttered that he’d sell them.

The line moved forward, and Calvin watched the elementalist pass by. The man wore a disgruntled expression, clearly annoyed at the money he had just lost.

As he stepped aside, his eyes drifted back toward the display platforms, lingering on the remaining ores as though debating whether to try again.

Seeing this, Calvin muttered under his breath, “This one is quite addicted.”

Sure enough, the man’s hesitation didn’t last long. He gave in to the temptation and walked back toward the display platforms to try his luck again.

Calvin turned away without further thought and moved up with the line, presenting the three ores in his hands to the machine operator.

The cutting machine itself resembled a baggage scanner, except it had a transparent passageway, allowing anyone nearby to clearly see how the laser pierced the rocks and exposed their contents.

The operator took Calvin’s ores and placed them one after another, and the moment the machine was activated, a low mechanical hum filled the area as the passageway began to move.

Its transparent chamber showed the laser pointer slowly descending before locking onto the first ore, releasing a thin beam of light that pierced directly into the rock, the energy boring through its structure until cracks spread rapidly across its surface and the entire piece split apart, revealing nothing but hollow cavities and useless stone inside.

The operator immediately removed the fragments without interest, then set the second ore in place. The laser descended again and pierced the rock, this time breaking it open to reveal veins of silver embedded within the interior.

While silver had value, it was nowhere near the level of elemental stones, and the operator simply recorded it before setting the fragments aside.

Then the final ore was placed onto the platform.

The laser descended once more and pierced into the stone, but unlike the previous two, its progress suddenly stopped after going a few inches deep.

The operator’s expression shifted slightly as he noticed this, his eyes widening a little as he glanced toward Calvin, who was calmly watching the machine.

He quickly adjusted the controls and redirected the beam, cutting across the ore from a different angle and slicing it cleanly through its centre.

The moment the rock split apart, a clear blue stone embedded within the core was revealed.

Several nearby elementalists immediately turned their attention toward it, including two C-Rank elementalists standing a short distance away.

At the sight, Calvin exhaled softly and shook his head slightly.

“Really? Water?”

The machine operator stared at him in clear disbelief, as though unsure whether what he had just seen was real, since most people would have been celebrating instead of reacting with disappointment.

Ignoring the stare, Calvin looked up and asked, “So, how do I go about selling this?”

That question snapped the operator out of his shock, and he quickly stepped forward, carefully lifting the half-open ore.

“Please wait. We’ll take you to a separate area where its Rank and purity can be appraised, after which we’ll make you an offer.”

The machine operator quickly turned to call someone else while casting side glances toward the two C-Rank Elementalists who had already started moving closer, clearly drawn by the discovery.

‘Get here fast, you idiots! This kid might end up selling it to those guys!’

The man was panicking, worried that if they arrived first, the company would lose the chance to secure the stone.

Fortunately, a nearby guard stepped in quickly, guiding Calvin away toward another section of the facility before the C-Ranks could reach them.

Calvin noticed the two elementalists as he left, turning his head to meet their gaze before bowing lightly in acknowledgement and then looking away toward the guard, making sure they saw it.

The operator watched all of this with growing tension, already calculating how difficult the negotiation would be, especially if Calvin decided to use those C-Ranks as leverage.

And Calvin, for his part, already understood exactly what was about to happen, since he knew the company would almost certainly try to undercut the value of the stone.

If they did, he would have no issue mentioning that there were two interested C-Rank buyers just outside waiting to make an offer.

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Calvin’s little ruse paid off, as after the stone was appraised as a D-Rank Elemental Stone with a purity level that made it worth around 500,000, the company made an offer of exactly that amount.

He did haggle a little, managing to secure an extra 50k before finalising the deal, leaving the negotiator in charge dumbfounded by him.

Getting the money proved to be a minor issue, as the only account open under Calvin Carter’s name was a student account, and if they suddenly deposited 550k into it, not only would the account likely be locked for security verification, but Martha would also be alerted.

‘I’d eventually explain things to her, but now is NOT the time.’

With that in mind, Calvin had two options: either to take a cheque or use his phone to create an online bank account where the money would be transferred directly.

The latter option was less stressful for him, but it came with a minor issue, since Calvin Carter’s phone was an old model that hadn’t received recent software updates and struggled to load the latest banking apps.

Calvin had to borrow someone’s phone to d******d the app of a bank he had used in his past life, fill in the required forms, scan his ID card, and wait for his details to be verified.

After that, he had to go through the process of upgrading the account type, and only after that was completed, close to an hour later, did he finally get his money.

When he left the office section of the building, the C-Ranks from earlier had already left.

He simply looked toward the area they had been standing, studied the poster advertising the upcoming fair, before heading out of the building.

Barely a minute after leaving, Calvin noticed he was being followed.

‘Figures.’

He wasn’t surprised in the slightest, given what had just happened.

This market, filled with all kinds of people, was far from safe, and it was normal for people to become targets as soon as they obtained large sums of money.

Calvin stopped for a moment in front of a shop with a glass display, then bent down to fiddle with his shoelaces while subtly checking the reflections in the glass to see if he could spot the people trailing him.

At first, he didn’t notice anyone suspicious, but when he moved his hand to his other leg, he immediately spotted a familiar face.

‘That guy who was on the line ahead of me...’