From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

Inside the camp.

Elena was somewhat surprised to see Matthew return.

Although she knew the other person would definitely come looking for her, she didn't expect them to come back so quickly.

At this moment, neither Seth nor Gareth were in the camp, leaving her alone, which made the place seem rather lonely.

"Goddess, after thinking about it, following you is indeed my best choice, and I don't want to miss this opportunity."

Matthew at this moment put aside his usual attitude, acting very humble while maintaining a distance from Elena.

"A wise choice. On behalf of the Knights, I welcome you to join us."

Elena's face lit up with a smile, and her eyes shone with a dazzling light, reflecting Matthew's image clearly.

Just as she stepped forward to hug Matthew, he suddenly interrupted her.

"However, I have a question I would like to ask, and I would appreciate it if the goddess could answer it."

"What exactly is your purpose in coming to Val Town?"

Matthew's voice wasn't loud, but it echoed throughout the camp.

He had investigated these past few days and found that normally, when knights were sent to the border to hunt down the strange beasts, there was no need for the goddess to accompany them.

Moreover, so many days have passed since the punitive expedition, and the members of their Knights Guild have not left. Even if they were to investigate Leon's affairs, there was no need to leave so many people behind.

Elena was surprised to hear Matthew's question. She hadn't expected him to ask such a question. After a moment of silence, she slowly spoke.

"Logically, you have no right to know this, but since you've chosen to join, I can tell you the truth, provided you swallow the Moon Spider, follow me completely, and never betray me."

Elena walked up to Matthew, opened her palm, and revealed a spider-like insect, about the size of a thumb, curled up in its palm.

Her expression didn't look like she was joking.

Matthew stared at the furry demonic insect in front of him and subconsciously swallowed.

Having the Record of Another World, he wasn't afraid of such a request. He could refine it directly after it entered his mouth, and even if the other party wanted to control him through the demonic insects in the future, it would be unlikely.

But at this moment, he had to hesitate.

Being too resolute seems fake and makes people suspect that there's something else going on.

Therefore, he has to think.

"Actually, there's no need to force yourself. I believe you even if you don't eat." Seeing Matthew's predicament, Elena's smile gradually faded.

Just as she was about to put away the demonic insect, Matthew grabbed her hand and fed it directly into his mouth, swallowing it down in one gulp.

"Trust is mutual; I hope you won't deceive me, Goddess."

Only after completely swallowing the demonic insect did Matthew release his grip, ending the tender, intimate contact.

Unfortunately, his unscrupulous businessman label did not reveal specific details about Elena as before, only some widely known information.

[Elena: 20 years old, Moonlight Spider, Tier 3 Ability User...]

One of the goddesses of the Möbius Empire

【...】

Only after confirming that Matthew had indeed eaten his demonic insect did Elena lead her people into her tent.

The tent was not as I had imagined; apart from a table and a map, there was nothing else inside.

Upon entering, they found a map on the table, which showed the approximate location of their town of Val and the surrounding border.

"This is a map showing the distribution of mineral veins in Val Town and the surrounding border. The expedition was just a side project; the most important purpose is actually to mine... magic crystals."

"Magic crystal?"

Matthew was puzzled by Elena's explanation.

The tent was instantly filled with dense magic after the other party produced a thumb-sized, irregularly shaped purple crystal.

"This is it, consider it a small gift for you."

Elena tossed the magic crystal to Matthew and then explained its function to him.

As the name suggests, it is a crystal containing magical power that can provide absorbable magical power to the user, but it is different from a potion.

The latter is a supplement, while the former is an enhancement.

Matthew had never even seen such a thing, let alone used it. He had never heard of a crystal that could enhance one's magic power before.

After crushing the magic crystal, a pure magical power surged out and slowly seeped into his body through the pores, while his own magical power increased at a visible rate.

Although it wasn't much, it was much easier than the self-torture I had before.

"How was it? Feeling good, huh?"

Matthew nodded, looking at the circled locations on the map, and followed up on Elena's words, asking, "So, you're secretly mining?"

Elena did not answer his question, but instead pointed to a remote mine on the map, far from Val town.

"There are still some magic crystals left to be mined in this area. Go there in the next couple of days and bring back the rest."

"Of course, one-tenth of it will be your reward."

......

After leaving the camp, Matthew found himself with a magic ring.

This was given to him by Elena to store magic crystals; the space inside is twice as large as his own.

It's hard to imagine how many magic crystals they've mined these past few days.

Matthew walked toward the mine on the map, sensing the dormant Moon Spider within his body.

[Moonlight Spider Larva: A third-tier magical insect, a parasitic species that grows by absorbing the magical power of its host until it completely controls the host.]

[Should we refine and absorb the foreign demonic insects immediately?]

Seeing the reminder from the Otherworldly Record, Matthew learned about the magical insect's power that Elena had given him, but the recipe for the magical insect did not appear.

"It seems to be not the main body, but rather a means of control."

Fortunately, Elena wasn't so heartless as to try to control him; she just treated it as a form of restriction.

At this moment, the Moon Spider inside his body was not absorbing any magic power, and was quietly curled up there.

But it's obvious that if he refines it now, Elena will definitely react.

"Let's hold off for now. We might be able to catch them off guard at a crucial moment."

Matthew observed for a long time and only felt relieved after confirming that it would not cause him any harm or impact.

He originally wanted to sneak back and use the Hidden Segment Worm's ability to gather more information, but he gave up the idea when he thought that the other party might sense the demonic worm in his body.

He knew that this trip to retrieve the magic crystal was actually a test from Elena.

"The most urgent thing right now is to build trust and make her really believe in me."

As Matthew analyzed the current situation, he continued deeper into the border region.

Not long after he left, Gareth returned to the camp with his knights. After collecting all the magic crystals, he took several magic rings and went into Elena's tent.

"Goddess, all the available magic crystals in the vicinity have been exhausted. Should we...?"

Gareth handed over the Ring, his words hesitant and faltering, ultimately refraining from uttering the final words about returning to the Empire.

After Elena put away the Ring, her face remained expressionless. She looked up at the knight commander, who had his head bowed, and remained silent, as if waiting for him to continue.

Seeing this, Gareth had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue speaking.

"Goddess, I think it's almost done. If this succeeds, all will be well, but if something unexpected happens, your position as Goddess may be shaken."

"And now the Rogers family has arrived, along with that alchemist bishop Lumir. Please be cautious."

Inside the tent, despite Gareth's repeated attempts to speak, Elena's emotions remained unchanged; in fact, her expression grew increasingly cold.

Mining magic crystals was actually just a pretext. Her real purpose in coming here was to find that fourth-order magic insect that was lurking inside the Beast King and getting infinitely closer!

"Do you think I can keep the goddess's position if I don't do this? The Knights will only be worse off if they lose me."