“No, we’ll be taking it. Name your price—I’ll transfer the amount to your crypto wallet,” Ace suddenly announced, recognizing his sister’s worry the moment she began fidgeting in her seat, nervously tapping her knuckles on her knees. The last time he saw her this anxious was when she and a few friends were trying to buy black-market tickets to their favorite band’s concert. In the end, they backed out, claiming it would be like cheating on their idols by buying from a scalper, though in reality, they simply couldn’t afford the tickets. The scalper had quoted a price equaling three months’ their rent, with no EMI option.

“Ace!” Lyra looked at her baby brother in shock. Even if Sonia was right and the item was worth only a few million, she couldn’t believe her brother could casually fork out that kind of money on the spot.

Ava was equally surprised and couldn’t help but speak up in concern. “You sure you want to take on a few million dollars’ worth of debt to bet on your sister?”

She couldn’t help herself when it came to him. And she was astonished when her mother and Sonia chuckled at her words instead of reacting with their usual helpless sighs. Even Ace blinked in confusion and muttered, “Debt?”

“Ace, you can’t go into debt over something like this! I’m sure we can find a good curse item for my awakening ceremony within our budget,” Lyra added quickly, panicked by Ava’s use of the one word that strikes fear into the heart of every middle-income person: debt. A debt of millions, no less. Lyra almost fainted on the spot.

“A few million dollars? Little girl, that curse item is worth three billion dollars,” Janice corrected Ava. Then, turning to Ace and Lyra, she solemnly added, “Ace, I, Aurelian Eyes, swear on my honor as a curse crafter that if your sister successfully awakens as a curse master using the Jackpop, then the resulting innate curse tool will be worth every penny of that three billion.”

In both worlds, only a handful of curse crafters had the reputation to make such a guarantee, and Aurelian Eyes was one of them. Hence the steep price tag. This was also why EAD Matthews hadn’t hesitated to call in old favors with Janice to arrange this transaction.

“Three billion dollars?!” Ava and Lyra exclaimed in unison. This time, Lyra truly fainted, unable to process the reality that Janice was dead serious and this was actually happening. Thankfully, her baby brother caught her before she hit the floor.

Meanwhile, Ava quickly turned to Janice and asked, “How much does the Weeping Scoop cost?”

“Two sky-tier innate curse tools,” Janice answered calmly and professionally.

“Based on current market rates, that’s nearly half a billion dollars,” Sonia translated, seeing Ava’s confused expression.

“Are you crazy?! Who charges half a billion dollars for a freaking ice cream scoop? Granted, it’s cursed—but its ability is akin to a party trick. It wouldn’t even hurt a fly! Have a little conscience, friend,” Ava blurted out, unable to contain her disbelief that Janice was selling the Weeping Scoop for such an astronomical amount.

Her mother had warned her that any curse item from Aurelian Eyes would cost them an arm and a leg, so she needed to choose wisely. But now, Ava was realizing they couldn’t afford it even if they sold their entire family fortune.

“First of all, right now, I’m nobody’s friend. Secondly, I’m not forcing you to buy it. Feel free to leave if you think the prices are unfair,” Janice curtly refuted Ava.

Ava turned to her mother and said, “Mother, come on, let’s leave. She clearly has no plans to do business with us.”

“We’ll be taking the Weeping Scoop,” Matthews said calmly, ignoring her daughter’s rants she handed over the two innate curse tools she had earned—one from stealing Ace’s kill at Janice’s resort home, and another from hunting the S.S.S. during her short break. As for the ones she got from killing the cultists, those had to be turned over to the C.I.B. in exchange for a few measly merit points.

“Mom!” Ava protested. She was no longer interested in the Weeping Scoop and was now more curious whether her mother had been hiding her true net worth from her father. But before she could create a scene, Sonia stepped in.

“Ava, calm down. You’re not just paying for the curse item itself, but for Aurelian Eyes’ brand guarantee. Trust me, in the long run, you won’t regret it. Just look at Ace.”

Seeing that Ava wasn’t convinced, Sonia knew she had no choice but to drag Ace into the conversation, knowing full well that her new friend had infinite patience when it came to him or anything related to him.

“Before he became a curse master, Ace used to think twice before spending ten dollars. Now, he can drop tens of billions without blinking. That’s because he awakened a very powerful and mysterious innate curse tool and art.”

The curse awakening ceremony has the power to turn a pauper into a supreme being. That’s why every step of the awakening process is crucial. Stop worrying about the half-billion-dollar price tag and focus on the bigger picture. If you ever want to defeat Ace, you’ll need to awaken an equally powerful and mysterious innate curse tool and art,” Sonia said in a single breath, not wanting to be interrupted by either Ace or Ava, thoroughly impressing her superior, Matthews, with her quick thinking.

Sonia had long proven that she had no issue kissing up if it meant gaining something in return. So, it wasn’t surprising she was going out of her way to score points with Matthews, who clearly had a great deal of influence within the C.I.B. That influence was evident by the fact that Matthews had only received a verbal reprimand for losing three priceless Apache curse gadgets and still got to keep her job.

Sonia was beginning to understand how a mere EAD, without any family background, could stand her ground against the powerful McSuile family. With her criminal background if Sonia wanted to make it in the C.I.B. she need that influence. And she planned to do anything to borrow it and make it hers.

“Is Ace really that powerful and rich as a curse master?” Ava asked. Her tone caused both Sonia and Matthews some concern, uncertain whether she was trying to learn more about her rival or beginning to idolize him.

“Yes,” Sonia replied honestly. “Just this afternoon, he managed to fool some of the brightest minds in the country’s curse community. The forces involved still don’t know what truly transpired.”

She was referring to the incident where Ace had brought Lyra home while the country’s top curse users were chasing decoys across private airfields. The case was still being dissected by experts, and Ace Lander’s name was quickly gaining prominence in the curse community—perhaps even more so than when he was awarded the title of Samsara Slayer without any merit in the purging of the Samsara Cult. A single afternoon was all it took for him to shed the skin of a lamb to the slaughter and become the big bad wolf in the eyes of the country’s curse community.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep