Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 175: Pocket Trial Ownership Part

[Ding! Synchronisation with Fog Golden Core 5876 is completed!]

[Ding! You have acquired 1x Pocket Trial Ownership part!]

[Ding! You can code it to form Pocket Trial Ownership core!]

"..."

John reread the notifications again in surprise. "Pocket Trial Ownership core?" he whispered, the words tasting like ozone and ambition. "Does that mean if I coded it, I could actually take control over this entire pocket trial?!"

John was speechless for an entire minute. As he tried to process the importance of what this notification implied. In front of him, the core was undergoing a metamorphosis.

The yellow and blue coding structure he had seen earlier began to shrink, collapsing in on itself to become a much smaller, denser object. In his special vision, the blue code clusters were being replaced by a deep purple, and the yellow codes were shifting into a vibrant orange.

The core had changed into a fragment. He knew he wouldn’t be able to code anything significant with just a single piece, but the potential was staggering. He decided right then that as soon as this quest reached its conclusion, he would take a deep dive into his Shell ability to better understand the fragment he got.

As the Fog Golden Core solidified into its new, smaller form, the yellow monsters remaining on the field exhibited a bizarre behaviour. They didn’t retreat, and they didn’t continue their frantic assault.

Instead, they stood perfectly still in their spots, becoming motionless statues of skinless flesh. It was a sight that immediately reminded John’s friends of how the Fog Seekers had reacted back when Ogolith was slain.

"John must have done it!" Cissel was the first to shout, her voice carrying across the river with a mixture of relief and battle lust. "Look at them! They’re paralysed! Let’s use this chance, let’s kill them all before they wake up!"

John remained at the den, standing without moving a muscle as he watched the scene unfold from a distance. The monsters around him were too many, but they were harmless at this point.

Even the Bulltors, seeing the tide change so abruptly, found their courage. Led by Lanmar, who regained his former self the moment the immediate threat of death was removed, the giants jumped off the walls and joined the slaughter.

The ensuing cleanup didn’t last more than half an hour. It was no longer a battle; it was a one-sided massacre. When the last motionless yellow monster was toppled, the world was ushered under a heavy and eerie silence.

"So, this is how the old den was changed by the lightning?" Ricky said, breaking the silence as the group finally approached the den.

John had stood in his place, a silent sentinel watching everyone finish the job until the battle was officially over. Now, the team gathered around him, checking the changed den with a mix of awe and curiosity. The metallic ground and the shrunken, orange-glowing core attracted everyone’s attention.

"First things first," John said, ignoring Ricky’s question as he turned to face the group, including the towering Bulltors. He looked at each of them with a calm eye. "Does anyone keep track of how long it has been since the first Wrather’s wave?"

"Well," Lanmar cleared his throat, adjusting the grip on his massive glaive. "It has been eleven hours exactly!"

"Hmm, I thought it had been a bit longer," John muttered, shaking his head. He looked toward the horizon, where fog was like a distant white rim surrounding their base.

"What are you looking for?" Ricky asked. His pride was still a little stung by John’s previous ignorance of his question, but he forced himself to act normal. As the designated group leader in the field in John’s absence, he felt he needed to stay informed of John’s next eccentric move.

"Here." John didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached into his inventory and tossed a glowing, activated Wrather core to each of them. The purple gems caught the dim light as they sailed through the air. "I noticed you grew stronger while I was away. That means you ingested the cores you found, right?"

"Yes, but..." Cissel began, looking at the purple stone in her palm. She was confused for only a brief moment before she and Ricky were the fastest to realise their mistake. They both slapped their foreheads in unison. "How come I totally forgot about the fog clearance step?!!"

"Damn me!" Luke interrupted, staring at his own core. "Isn’t it supposed to be that the core needs to clear the fog before it’s swallowed? Otherwise, isn’t it just a cold rock?" He looked at his friends, his eyes wide as the sudden realisation of the wasted potential gains was still settling in his mind.

"Don’t compare the two types of cores together," John said, rolling his eyes at their dramatic reactions. "The Fog Seekers were much weaker than the Wrathers and these yellow monsters. Their cores were smaller. It’s expected that these higher-tier cores would help you even if they didn’t absorb fog first, simply because they got too much power."

"So..." Ricky looked at the vibrant purple core in his hand. "Is there a significant difference?"

"You take it and tell me," John said with a calm smile. His friends knew that look; it was the expression he wore when he was holding all the cards.

Without any further hesitation, they all placed the activated cores in their mouths. The reaction was instantaneous. Unlike the raw cores they ate earlier, these activated cores felt like liquid starlight.

"I feel the energy coming out of it is much richer..." Cissel said after a moment, her eyes glowing with excitement. She paused, looking toward the horizon, before sighing. "We have like one hour before the next wave hits, or even less. We can’t possibly run out into the fog, activate more cores, and get back before the Wrathers arrive!"

Everyone knew she was right. Yet, John’s calm, almost bored expression told them he had already solved the problem.