Evolution Online: My 10,000× Reward System Multiplies Everything

Kaelen paused for a moment as he stared at the instructor.

A change in arrangements for him?

Did the Emperor suddenly decide to actually remove him from the ’cleanup’ team and move him into the main team?

The fact that Black Rose wasn’t in sight, nor the Emperor or any of the mysterious elite players, could only mean they had already entered the ruins with the main advance team.

Also, Kaelen hadn’t thought about it before, but if he was supposed to be a porter who carried the luggage of the advance team, shouldn’t he be inside already?

This only confirmed one thing. A change had indeed been made to his arrangements long before he boarded that ship, and Kaelen was looking forward to whatever the Emperor would throw at him.

He looked up at the instructor with a serious expression. ”Tell me. What do you need me to do?”

***

A few minutes later...

”I certainly wasn’t looking forward to this...” Kaelen’s lips twitched as he stared at the pickaxe in his hand.

A change had indeed been made to his arrangements, but it wasn’t to put him in the main advance team. It was to switch him from the role of porter... to miner.

When he asked about it, the instructor simply asked if he’d offended any of the higher-ups. And when he tipped the man, he learned Black Rose was behind it.

Now why would she do that?

Porter was the closest role to the advance team, and there Kaelen could keep an eye on the expedition and know when to dip. But miner had no business with the main team and only had one job, which was to mine crystals and special ores all day long.

It wasn’t like Kaelen was complaining, because as long as he’d stepped foot inside that ruin, he was going to see it to the end. But his main concern was Black Rose’s motive for demoting him.

It could be that the woman was simply being petty and playing tricks to punish him for the hangar incident.

Or... she had caught onto something.

Kaelen knew Black Rose was sharp. After his battle in the wasteland had been witnessed by multiple Strongholds, it was only a matter of time before someone began connecting the dots.

If she suspected that Idris Thompson was somehow connected to Kaelen Cross, moving him away from the advance team was actually a clever move... not like that could stop him.

Swoosh—

A powerful aura suddenly swept across the ruins, and everyone’s head snapped towards the entrance of the ruins, where multiple figures suddenly stepped out with auras that far surpassed the limits of the human mind.

Ahead of the squad was a middle-aged man with grayish-white hair and a mustache, adorned in golden armor that radiated like a divine degree. Walking to his side was another man with an eye patch over one eye and a hefty battle axe swung over his shoulder.

The moment Kaelen saw the two men, his jaws immediately locked, and he clenched his fist in anger.

The Emperor seemed to sense the hostility and snapped his head in his direction, only to see the spot empty.

Kaelen had already moved towards the other miners, lowering his safety helmet as he stood behind the group.

Engaging with the Emperor now would only do him more harm than good, because even if the men failed to recognize Kaelen after ten years, they could easily peer into his evolution realm to see he was a Tier 11.

They knew well enough the only person who had transcended mortality and could possibly be a Tier 11.

”Alright, people. The advance team is on a short break now, so let’s go do our job.” The leader of the mining team instructed, and everyone began heading towards the gate.

Kaelen ran his eyes through the advance team to see familiar faces like Black Rose, who was in the main team, and Cindra, who was serving as her porter.

He saw this as an opportunity and quickly caught up with the team just as they entered the almost invisible portal at the gate of the ruins.

The cleanup team was already there, dragging the valuable parts of the dissected beasts out of the ruins, while the miner team was led through a corridor of labyrinth before they arrived at a cavern filled with blue crystals growing from the walls and ceiling.

He memorized the path along the way and took note of the slain beasts along the way. They were strange, unlike anything he’d seen before, and it was hard to tell their evolution realm when they were dead. But the dread that washed over him the moment he stepped into the portal told him that the ruins were on a whole different level.

The quota was passed around, and no one was allowed to take a break until they had mined the required number of crystals.

Kaelen wanted to be smart about it, so he didn’t run off immediately. He walked over to the first joint of crystals and raised the pickaxe over his head.

”Let’s see how good you are...”

Bang—

The sound of his pickaxe hitting the crystal drowned every other noise in the cavern, but Kaelen didn’t stop as he hacked away at the crystals at an incredible speed, breaking off the crystals as he moved onto different joints while the others were still on their first, staring at him blankly.

Kaelen went at it for a moment before he felt like he’d done enough and moved towards the instructor.

”Hey, no breaks until you’ve mined twenty—” the instructor was still saying when Kaelen swiped a hand over his interface, and a mountain of crystals dropped from his inventory.

”H-How many is this?”

”Ten thousand. Can I take my break now?”

Kaelen only needed to mine one crystal for the system to reward him with ten thousand. He was only showing off to make it look like he had actually put in the effort, though ten thousand was still an absurd number. He didn’t care.

”S-Sure. Take all the time you need. Haha.”

With that, Kaelen left the cavern, but instead of returning the way he came from, he turned towards the path that led deeper into the ruins.

The scars of battle were visible on its walls as the advance team had cleared further than that.

”Titan Burst.”

A powerful surge of wind exploded from the spot he once stood, and Kaelen crossed the ruins in an instant, arriving before a behemoth bronze door, which marked the end of where the advance team had cleared.

Beyond that door would be the next level of the ruins with stronger enemies compared to the first level.

”This is it...” Kaelen mumbled to himself as he stared at the enormous bronze door.

His lips slowly curled upward.

”Let’s see what’s waiting for me on the other side.”

”What do you think you’re doing here?” A woman’s voice suddenly came from behind him.