Apocalypse Gachapon Chapter 1930: Spending is also an art (2)

Everyone waiting outside figured Ye Zhongming would take quite a while in there. With all the merchandise tucked away inside, just a single stroll to check things out would eat up plenty of time, not to mention picking out stuff that added up to hundreds of thousands of points.

Yet, against what folks had anticipated, the wait turned out to be... pretty aggravating.

Shouldn't he have wrapped up choosing rewards valued at a million points by this point? Was he dozing off in there or something?

One individual stared at the utterly still shop entrance, harboring some nasty thoughts.

Still, Zizi Kaba along with the folks overseeing the Novice battlefield stood watch; nobody had the guts to force their way in. That said, a bunch of people kept pushing them, urging a check inside to speed things up.

Zizi Kaba shot back coolly: "No rules exist about how long someone can take to pick out items."

"So if he holes up in there for a whole cosmic year, we're stuck twiddling our thumbs out here that long too?" someone griped, clearly fed up.

Zizi Kaba eyed him: "Feel free to head back to your group and wait there if you want."

The guy fumed so much he stormed off right away. He didn't truly depart, though—just shifted to one side; arguing with Zizi Kaba was pointless anyway.

Minutes dragged on, yet the interior stayed dead silent.

This delay wasn't Ye Zhongming dragging his feet on purpose; rather, fate had thrown a small mishap his way.

Upon stepping into the shop at first, he wandered about to get a feel for the wares on offer. Next, sticking to Cheng Liujin's wishlist, he started grabbing those bits and pieces for the modest point allocation.

As he neared the end of picking those prizes that weren't truly his, the Cloud Peak's leader spotted something odd.

It appeared as a rather plain-looking 'Four-Bead Bracelet' embedded with four stones. Ye Zhongming couldn't identify the stones, figuring they weren't anything special.

He'd already jotted down its name on the sheet. By pure luck, Ye Zhongming brushed against this low-value item, costing just a tad over three thousand points. The instant his fingers made contact, an unusual sensation hit him.

Ye Zhongming pondered it; this didn't scream danger, but pinpointing the exact nature escaped him for now.

He moved aside and took a seat. Clutching the Four-Bead Bracelet, Ye Zhongming examined it closely, stroking and scrutinizing to uncover the source of that odd vibe.

Even after a detailed inspection, though, nothing seemed off about this fine bracelet.

The sensation rang true, but its origin eluded him. This left Ye Zhongming a touch restless. Without thinking, he reached to remove the Bronze Order Leader mask he'd kept on since arriving.

This sensation... Ye Zhongming's gaze snapped wide open.

The touch!

Indeed, the feel on his thumb from gripping the mask matched exactly what he'd sensed with the Four-Bead Bracelet!

What in the world?

Ye Zhongming quickly yanked off the mask. Now with the mask in one grip and the bracelet in the other, he held them side by side for comparison.

It took a solid ten minutes or so before Ye Zhongming pieced together what was up.

Both objects had pulled a 'sneaky trick' on him.

To start, that weird touch stemmed from the shared material texture of the two pieces.

The trick earned its name for two reasons. For one, the Four-Bead Bracelet's stones sat on a metallic base. Ye Zhongming wouldn't have guessed this metal matched the bronze mask's stuff, given their stark color difference. Only after intense scrutiny and reflection did he spot that the bracelet's metal had been colored and etched with designs, fooling him into thinking that was its natural hue at first.

The second trick involved the Bronze Order Leader mask sporting distinct metals inside versus out!

Visually, spotting the variance proved nearly impossible. Most people, even catching onto the odd feel, wouldn't detect a thing.

Ye Zhongming stood apart, though. As a skilled artisan from the get-go, with some moments and a clear focus, he unveiled the mask's hidden truth.

Did the layers differ from the start? Ye Zhongming probed deeply. It struck him as if the inner metal had been layered on afterward by someone.

The inner and outer materials felt remarkably alike to the touch, and their joinery was flawlessly smooth. Without his expertise, Ye Zhongming surely would've missed it.

Normally, gear sharing a material wouldn't raise eyebrows; loads of things use the same stuff. But the odd part? Right before the Novice battlefield's climactic clash, during his talk with White Robe, that Silver Order Leader had shared with Ye Zhongming that, beyond a handful held by the clan's head, the Star-Eye Clan's prized assets likely boiled down to just the three Order Leader masks.

Those three masks got crafted from ultra-rare materials, draining the clan's long-hoarded funds nearly dry. Thus, they served not only as rank badges but as mighty tools too.

White Robe had added that the masks' material was incredibly pure, refusing to blend with anything else.

So if true, why did the Bronze Order Leader mask's inner side carry an extra layer of something?

Once that itch of wonder kicked in, Ye Zhongming couldn't shake it off. Time slipped away as he dove into repeated analysis of the Bronze Order Leader mask.

At last, in one key instant, as Ye Zhongming applied pressure to the mask's rim using all six fingers from varied spots, a faint quiver ran through it.

Then, the Bronze Order Leader mask's inner layer actually came loose!

Ye Zhongming felt no pang over wrecking a relic or legacy; thrill surged in his chest instead.

He sensed he'd unearthed a monumental mystery.

Where the stripped inner layer met the face, Ye Zhongming saw nothing out of the ordinary. Yet on its reverse—the sandwiched side—dozens of tiny metal slivers appeared. These slivers linked via a pale goo that clung tight to the surface.

What could this be!?

Ye Zhongming prodded it with utmost care and realized the slivers were plain metal, but that pale goo pulsed with vitality!

Not like it breathed, but more as if drawn from some creature's inner workings, like tissue or limb.

Assuming that held, what purpose did it serve?

Ye Zhongming mulled it over endlessly without clarity. He even paired it with the Four-Bead Bracelet, yet answers stayed out of reach.

Was it really just the matching material tying these two together?

Before long, though, Ye Zhongming traced the pale linker's origin beside a sliver on the mask's inner piece, tucked smartly at the eye socket spot.

Plus, the pale stuff there didn't lie flat like elsewhere; it formed a tiny gap!

Ye Zhongming's pulse quickened; inspiration struck.

He glanced out; silence reigned supreme. He resolved to try his hunch on the spot!

Gripping the Four-Bead Bracelet tight, he squeezed, shattering this few-thousand-point gear in his grasp!