Chapter 42: Devourer Maw!
But then Jordan hesitated, glanced at Bruce, and said quietly, "If it is urgent, I can loan you money."
Bruce looked at him for a moment, then patted his shoulder. "I did not know you trusted me that much. Alright then, can you loan me five million gold coins?"
Jordan froze. "Five million?!"
Even for a seasoned merchant, that number was insane. His face twitched, but to his credit, he still forced out a strained smile. "Well... yes. I can."
But Bruce shook his head almost immediately. "No need. On second thought, I am not borrowing."
Jordan blinked. "What?"
Bruce did not repeat himself. The last thing on his mind right now was borrowing. He despised it. To him, borrowing was a desperate measure, something only to be considered after every other option had been exhausted. And he was not out of options yet.
Pushing aside the intrusive thought, he glanced at Ash, who had been watching him with curious interest.
"Alright, Ash," Bruce said quietly, eyes narrowing with a faint smile. "Which one do you want to eat first?"
He already knew yesterday’s little feast at home did not even scratch Ash’s hunger. The dragon might have burped in satisfaction to make Lily happy, but Bruce was not fooled. When he checked Ash’s status afterward, it was still extremely hungry. Feeding it properly had become a priority.
Jordan blinked. "Wait, what do you mean by which one he wants to eat? What is going on?"
Ash did not bother answering Jordan. It heard Bruce, flapped its small wings, and floated forward with purpose, hunger flickering in its eyes.
It landed in front of a reinforced cage and tapped a claw against the bars.
Bruce glanced inside.
A Bronze Horned Mutant Goat stood there, its metal-like horns glinting under the light, muscles thick and heavy, eyes burning with beastly aggression.
"So that is your pick," Bruce muttered.
Jordan squinted. "A Bronze Horned Mutant Goat? Seriously?"
Bruce did not question it. "Open the cage," he said calmly.
Jordan hesitated for half a breath but did not dare refuse. He cut some fur from the goat as Bruce instructed, enough genetic material to work with.
Bruce took the fur and went straight to work.
A faint light gathered around his hands as Mirrored Surgeon activated. Cells split, multiplied, and organized. In seconds, life bloomed unnaturally. Five Bronze Horned Goats formed from thin air, brought into existence by Bruce’s will.
Ash’s tail twitched with excitement.
Bruce summoned Red, his blood-hungry scalpel, in a flash of crimson light. The weapon pulsed eagerly in his hand.
Schlick.
He slit the throat of the first goat in one clean motion. Blood sprayed, but it never touched the floor.
Red devoured it.
Every drop.
It consumed the blood like a starving beast. Bruce watched, slightly intrigued. Not one drop wasted.
Interesting.
Meanwhile, Ash licked its lips.
The feast was about to begin.
With five clean, precise slashes, Bruce carved the Bronze Horned Goat into five perfect pieces. Each cut was surgical, controlled, lethal. Red sliced through flesh, muscle, and bone like it was cutting wet paper.
Bruce could currently withstand over 50,000 tons of force casually without mana reinforcement. If he actually put strength into a strike, he could output over 100,000 tons of raw destructive power with just his body alone.
Combine that with Red’s supernatural sharpness?
A mere D-rank beast corpse had no chance.
If Bruce did not deliberately restrain himself, his casual swings would tear through the concrete floor, split the ground open, and possibly bring down the entire stall.
Fortunately for Jordan and the entire Beast Exchange Market, Bruce controlled his strength perfectly. Every blow landed with cold precision.
Jordan watched, stunned. His mind struggled to process everything he had seen today.
’First, life created from thin air. Now controlled destructive power like this. What kind of monster is this kid?’
Thanks to Red draining all the blood, the butchering was surprisingly clean, except for the pile of guts Bruce intended to toss outside.
But then, space tore open like cloth.
RIP!!!
A jagged black void appeared out of nowhere, twisting and pulsing like a living shadow. A void maw. It’s jagged teeth looked frighteningly sharp. And it’s tongue led to a small vortex in the maw
Bruce froze.
Jordan stumbled back in pure terror.
The void maw drifted forward and began eating, devouring the goat innards piece by piece as if swallowing them into another dimension. No chewing. No sound.
Just gone.
Bruce slowly turned his head, eyes narrowing at Ash.
The little dragon hovered nearby, wings fluttering innocently.
"You," Bruce said. "Is that your doing?"
"Kyuu~" Ash nodded proudly.
Bruce eyed the void maw again. "Is that thing connected to your stomach somehow?"
Another nod.
Bruce sighed. ’Of course it was. It was just a second, deadlier mouth for Ash’
"Makes things easier," he muttered. "Use that to eat the meat too."
Ash suddenly shook his head.
Bruce paused, finding it ridiculous. "You do not want raw meat?"
Ash shook his head again, pointed a claw at the sliced chunks, then mimed sprinkling something over them followed by a satisfied expression.
Bruce stared.
"You want it cooked?"
"KYU!" Ash nodded vigorously.
Bruce closed his eyes briefly. "You picky little bastard."
He glanced at Jordan. "Do you have a grill?"
Jordan was still staring blankly, trying to process what he had just seen. ’A void maw floating in front of him, and now this dragon wanted grilled meat?’
He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could move, a flame flickered into existence beside Ash. A fireball ignited out of nowhere, floating obediently like a loyal spirit flame.
Jordan nearly collapsed.
"How is that possible? That is advanced elemental magic. How can a baby beast do that?"
Ash did not care. He simply waited patiently, as if expecting Bruce to hurry up.
Then four more flames appeared around him.
Five fireballs in total now hovered in a perfect ring formation around Ash. They rotated slowly like orbiting stars, bathing the stall in pulsing crimson light.
Jordan’s pupils shrank.
Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly.