The journey back always felt faster than the way in. At least, that's what Charlie felt now.

It had taken him days to descend into the Dungeon's Deep Floors, but the return to the surface took only about 30 hours.

The main reason the return trip was drastically shorter was that Charlie had no interest in fighting monsters on the Middle or Upper Floors.

Any monster that dared block their path was obliterated in the blink of an eye by Aishia, using her Spirit Arts with a series of deadly elemental attacks.

Charlie was too lazy to even collect the magic stones from the monsters inhabiting the Middle and Upper Floors, leaving them scattered on the ground. He was certain other adventurers would be thrilled to scavenge the magic stones he disregarded.

The only noteworthy event during their journey to the surface was when Charlie crossed paths with Bell and Lili on Floor 12. However, there was no interaction between the two parties.

Charlie only glanced at them briefly—Bell looking like a clueless rabbit, while Lili eyed him warily.

Just because Bell was the protagonist of this world, Charlie had no intention of groveling like a sycophant to gain favor with him. Even the Karasuki Rio template didn't affect or alter his personality. He remained true to himself.

"We're finally out!"

Breathing in Orario's fresh air, Charlie stepped out of the Dungeon's entrance, a massive hole at the base of Babel Tower, with Aishia and Est at his sides.

"Compared to the gloomy atmosphere and stale air of the Dungeon, this is on another level. What do you think, Aishia?"

"As long as I'm by Charlie's side, I don't care where we are." Aishia replied sincerely.

"I feel the same." Est, the petite spirit, said, looking up at her master to assert her presence.

"Glad to hear it."

Charlie gave a faint smile, reaching out to pat both Aishia and Est on the head simultaneously.

He used to wonder why anime protagonists loved patting girls' heads so much. Now, he completely understood why.

It felt incredibly satisfying!

"Tch."

The heartwarming scene between Charlie, Aishia, and Est was witnessed by nearby adventurers, sparking jealousy and envy. They clicked their tongues, openly expressing their displeasure.

Adventuring was an extremely dangerous profession, with a high risk of death every time someone entered the Dungeon. In fact, adventurers died daily in the Dungeon, whether at the hands of monsters or bloodthirsty fellow adventurers.

"Before we head back, let's sell these magic stones and drop items. They're cluttering up my storage."

"Mm."

Aishia and Est nodded in agreement, leaving all decisions to Charlie.

The trio then walked toward the exchange counter provided by the Guild within Babel Tower itself, sparing adventurers the need to travel back and forth to the Guild's headquarters to sell their Dungeon spoils.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

After a few minutes of queuing, it was finally Charlie's turn.

Unlike the Guild's receptionists, who were mostly young, beautiful women from various races, the receptionists at Babel Tower were gruff, intimidating men.

"Hm? Where's your loot?"

The receptionist named Roy frowned, seeing Charlie approach empty-handed.

"Wait a sec."

Charlie raised his right hand. Instantly, magic stones and drop items from various monsters began materializing out of thin air, piling up like a small hill behind Roy. This was the contents of his Space-Time Cache.

"What?!"

Roy wasn't the only one shocked. The other adventurers around them were stunned.

It was Roy's first time witnessing such a scene. After all, storage items like Charlie's Space-Time Cache were not widely known.

Besides Charlie, only the Loki Familia and Goibniu Familia possessed such items. After all, Charlie himself was the sole supplier of the Space-Time Cache.

"You have a storage item?!" Roy exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"Oh, you know about it?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow, surprised that the other party was aware of such a rare item.

"I heard about it from a colleague. They said the Loki Familia has an item that can store things in a spatial dimension! It's a revolutionary item! Now, tons of Familias want to know where the Loki Familia got it!"

"I see. Anyway, start counting."

"O-Oh…"

Reminded by Charlie, Roy looked at the mountain of magic stones and drop items. The corner of his eye twitched.

(Can just three people produce this much? Maybe only an expedition from the Loki Familia or Freya Familia could match this…)

Mentally preparing for exhaustion, Roy quickly called over his colleagues for help. If he worked alone, it would take hours to process everything.

Meanwhile, some adventurers who had initially planned to pick a fight with Charlie reconsidered. Seeing him casually produce such a massive haul of magic stones made them think twice. Moreover, he had a Space-Time Cache. It was highly likely Charlie had connections to the Loki Familia or, at the very least, someone extremely powerful and influential.

Not wanting to provoke a strong enemy with potentially dangerous connections, those adventurers abandoned their malicious intentions.

At the exchange counter, Roy and two colleagues began counting the towering pile of magic stones.

Roy's tired expression gradually turned to confusion, then shock.

"Roy, look at this!" one of his colleagues shouted, eyes wide. "This… this is a magic stone from the Lower Floors!"

Roy quickly examined the magic stone his colleague held, then grabbed a few more from the pile.

"What?! These too! Most of these magic stones… they're from the Lower Floors and even the Deep Floors!"

The longer they worked, the more shocked and numb the receptionists became.

The number of magic stones from the Lower Floors alone reached four digits! Roy and his colleagues also identified that most of the drop items came from monsters on Floor 37!

This was a floor only First-Class Familias could reach, and even then, only with thorough preparation and large groups.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Twenty minutes later, Roy returned to the counter, his forehead dripping with sweat.

"Your total comes to 85 million valis." he said.

After announcing this, he was assisted by several colleagues who brought over large sacks filled with mountains of cash.

Inevitably, the sight of so much money drew greedy stares from many adventurers present. Faced with such wealth, a person's rationality was put to the test. Several pairs of eyes glinted with avarice, calculating risks and opportunities.

*BUZZ!*

Suddenly, all the sacks of money vanished. With a wave of his hand, Charlie had stored them all in his Space-Time Cache.

The adventurers with malicious intentions flinched, their schemes evaporating instantly.

"What's your name?" Roy asked, his tone now far more respectful.

"Charlie Avalon from Hera Familia."

The moment Charlie mentioned his Familia's name, the entire area fell into complete silence.

Whispers ceased, greedy stares vanished, replaced by pure shock and fear.