CHAPTER 152: CHAPTER 152 - SOUL FRAGMENT

The next few days passed in near isolation.

Logan stayed in his room, memorizing every vein, artery, and mana path of the human heart until he could picture them perfectly with his eyes closed.

At the same time, he practiced the engravings on paper, then moved on to tougher materials like bone and crystal.

Just as he felt confident enough to create the undead space, he glanced at the time.

’There’s only an hour left,’ Logan thought, opening his hologram. ’Let’s hope the price didn’t shoot up too high.’

The hologram powered up, immediately loading into the auction page.

[Item: Soul Fragment – Queen of Thorns]

[Current Bid: 5.2 billion USD]

[Time Remaining: 00:58:13]

Logan’s jaw tightened. ’Higher than I expected.’

He stared at the screen, mind racing through many strategies at the same time. ’Do I push early and try to scare people off, or wait and snipe it at the last second?’

The set of Titanhorn bones had gone through easily after he pumped a large amount into it, but he doubted it would be the same for this item.

Minutes crawled by as Logan kept his gaze fixed on the screen.

[New Bid: 5.5 billion USD]

[New Bid: 5.9 billion USD]

As Logan reached the final five minutes of the auction, his eyes stayed fixed on the screen, his heart pounding.

Suddenly, the bids shot up.

[New Bid: 7 billion USD]

[New Bid: 7.9 billion USD]

’Come on...’ he thought, clenching his fist. ’Don’t go any higher than this.’

Another minute slowly ticked away, sweat evaporating off Logan’s skin as he refused to look away from the screen.

’They are all waiting to snipe it,’ he thought, pulling up the bidding venue.

He only had one chance to bid, and that single decision would decide everything.

’Do I risk all the usable money I have?’

His mind raced.

A minute and thirty seconds remained.

His thumb hovered over the input bar.

As the auction reached the final ten seconds, the prices shot up again.

[New Bid: 8.5 billion USD]

[New Bid: 9.8 billion USD]

Logan exhaled deeply and pressed confirm.

[Your Bid: 11.1 billion USD]

His breathing finally began to slow.

For five seconds, everything around him went silent.

Then the notification popped up.

[Auction closed]

[Final bid: 11.1 billion USD]

"I... won?"

As the notification faded from view, Logan leaned back, letting the tension drain from his body.

A few seconds later, several congratulatory messages and delivery times entered his inbox, confirming that he was indeed the winner.

’Those were all the funds I had left...’ he thought, glancing at the ceiling. ’But I got it!’

The image of the colossal tree and thousands of roots shooting to the sky flashed through his mind.

Logan felt a wave of relief and excitement course through his body. ’If all goes well, I’ll have an insane weapon at my side.’

After the initial excitement wore off, Logan closed the hologram, the green image of the soul fragment still burned in his eyes.

’This time, I’ve really gone all in.’

He’d spoken with Edric and Silas, explaining that he needed a large sum of money for an improvement to his strength, which they understood and supported.

’But I doubt they expected me to spend so much money.’

A small smile grew on Logan’s face. "They’ll see the results soon enough."

Even if the Dark Knights technique wasn’t a success, which he highly doubted, the fragment could always be used to create a new city or apply for another S-rank dungeon by the government.

Logan decided to inform them right away, wishing to avoid the hassle of doing so later.

Moments after sending the messages, his hologram beeped several times.

[Silas]: What the? Did I read that right?

[Edric]: Stay where you are, I’m coming over.

Logan nodded slightly, having already expected such a reaction.

A few minutes later, the door beeped.

Logan unlocked it without hesitation, a smile on his face.

Edric’s expression was one of disbelief and exasperation as he stepped in. "Eleven point one billion?"

Logan nodded, locking eyes with him. "Worth every cent."

Edric stared at Logan in silence, expression rapidly shifting.

"Tying up our assets in the middle of a war is very dangerous," he said, worry flickering through his eyes. "If the Holy Cross Guild decides to launch a full-on attack or an extremely valuable contract pops up, we’ll struggle to compete."

Logan nodded slowly, expression serious. "Maybe it was reckless. But I’m not going to pass on something that will make me stronger."

Edric remained silent for a long time, mind racing.

Finally, he let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It should be fine for now. You left us enough to keep running and fend off a few attacks."

He paused, locking eyes with Logan. "But please! Do not do something reckless like this again."

It didn’t take long before the door chimed again, this time with Silas standing in front of it.

As Silas stepped in, he glanced between Logan and Edric before his eyes settled on Logan. "So it’s true, you really did buy something for eleven billion."

Logan gave a short nod, his voice confident and firm. "It’ll be worth it."

Silas exhaled quietly, taking a seat on the couch opposite Edric. "I’m sure you’ve thought this through. Just... make sure you actually make good use of it."

Logan smiled slightly. "Don’t worry, I intend to use it rather soon."

Silas gave a slight nod, then looked at Edric. "If he says it’s worth it, I believe him. Besides, what’s done is done."

Edric muttered something under his breath but didn’t push the matter.

Both of them couldn’t deny that the company had made significant improvements after Logan took over. Every decision he’d made had been a wise one up to this point.

After a few more minutes of small talk, Edric finally stood and walked to the door. He glanced back before leaving, his tone lighter. "I’ll trust your judgment on this, Logan."

Silas stood as well, giving Logan a small nod before following Edric to the door. "If you need anything for whatever you’re planning, just say the word."

After the door shut behind them, the room went silent as Logan leaned back on his couch.

’That went surprisingly well,’ he thought, nodding slowly.

Logan closed his eyes for a few minutes.

Then, they snapped open again as a manual appeared in his hands out of thin air.

’I’ll create that undead space now—no matter the risk.’

’Otherwise, all of this has been for nothing.’