Not far from the Volcaria Estate, in a dimly lit restaurant tucked away in a quiet corner of the district, a man sat alone at a corner table.

    His presence was thin, as he was not ordinary. This man was Zerath, a 6-Star Tamer and one of the higher-ups in the mysterious group.

    He was wearing a dark cloak that hidden most of his features. He appeared to be nothing more than a traveler passing through.

    As he ate in silence, his brows furrowed deeply. The special device he carried still remained silent. It didn''t sense the materials at all.

    Zerath gripped his fork tightly as he was frustated when recalling his fruitless search. "Damn it. Just where the hell is it?"

    He had entered Astra Academy quietly. His mission had been simple: find and recover the Red Dragon Blood Essence.

    Yet, despite his efforts, the artifact hadn''t picked up a single trace of it. "I even went to that elder house to check if he had it or not."

    The elder had killed the flares who originally took the material. Zerath hoped that he would find the essence in the elder''s surroundings.

    But the artifact didn''t react, even when he examined the elder''s personal spatial ring. "The artifact should still detect it, even if it''s hidden inside a spatial ring."

    His frown deepened as he leaned back in his chair. Zerath clenched his fists as he grew frustated. "Someone else must have taken it. But who? And where did they go?"@@@@

    He took a deep breath. He forced himself to remain calm. Losing his temper wouldn''t help him now. He needed to figure out where the material had gone. There was not much time left.

    Just as he was about to leave, a nearby conversation caught his attention.

    Two men seated at a nearby table were speaking in low tones, but their words were clear enough for him to hear.

    One of them excitedly whispered to the other. "Did you hear about the Volcaria family? They''ve suddenly found some incredible material."

    Zerath''s sharp ears perked up, and he instinctively slowed his movements, pretending to adjust his coat as he tried to hear more.

    The second man replied. "Yeah, I heard. It''s supposed to be something really rare—at least 6-Star, maybe higher. And it''s an essence, no less."

    The first man thought and was curious about it. "I wonder what kind of essence it is. They''re being so secretive about it. No one knows the exact details.But I heard they plan to auction it off soon."

    However, he knew that the remaining essence wasn''t as potent as it once had been.

    Lucius leaned forward and muttered to himself. "This won''t be enough. If we want to draw them out, we need to make the bait irresistible.""

    Without hesitation, Lucius turned toward the system. He already knew what hack he needed to do. "Amplify the aura by double."

    ---

    [Hack Initiation: Aura Amplification]

    [Target: Red Dragon Blood Essence]

    [Effect: Double Aura Intensity]

    [Cost Required: 100,000,000 Hack Points]

    [Execute?]

    [YES] [NO]

    ---

    Lucius frowned as he stared at the prompt. He mutted it to himself. "One hundred million hack points."

    The cost was steep—almost one-eighth of the 800 million hack points he had gained from absorbing 80% of the essence''s power.

    He clenched his jaw. He was contemplating the decision. Spending so many points in one go wasn''t something he did lightly, but he knew that without a strong enough lure, the plan might fail.

    Lucius let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it. The plan''s already in motion. If I back down now, it''ll all be for nothing."

    He hesitated for a moment but still did it in the end. "Fine. I''ll make them pay for this."

    Without further delay, he selected [YES] and confirmed the hack.