“First of all — We’re fuckin loaded, man,” Jimmy replied telepathically.

“How loaded?” Rick asked. His greed flared. Jimmy had never described them as loaded in the past. That word was strictly used for the Forbes Top 100 Richest People in the World list for Jimmy.

“Loaded,” Jimmy said. “I’ve been selling all kinds of shit that I know is in your registry and tallying up other things I know we can sell.”

“But wouldn’t other jewelers and people with rare shit be loaded too?” Rick asked.

Jimmy scoffed, “Maybe, but most of them are dead or abandoned their wealth to stay alive. But,” he said, holding up a finger. “Apparently, coin collectors aren’t unique to Earth. I was the first person to list a regular fuckin penny on the System shop as an auction. It went for 90,000 Credits, my dude.”

If Rick had a heart, it would have stopped. That was a lot, right? His little Stipend was a measly 10,000 credits per month and that was meant to be split amongst employees.

“Do another,” Rick fervently urged.

“You don’t get it, Rick. I’ve been doing this. The market is already flooded with ‘em now. Whoever bought that first one has to be pissed. Or maybe not since he has the first Earth coin. But in everything I listed, I was the first. Got a ton of experience from it too, actually.”

“So how many System Credits do you have?”

“Just north of twelve million. But Adam was right, we’re still going to have to spend most of it on a decent defensive array. I have one that I think you’ll like.”

Rick mimicked a whistle, “Could you imagine what we’d do with that kind of coin before all this happened?”

“Yeah, no shit,” Jimmy said in disgust.

He and Rick spent a moment of silence dreaming about riding in limos on the Vegas strip, doing piles of drugs, and living large.

“Anyway, tell me what you have in mind for the array.”

“Okay, so taking Adam’s advice into consideration, I found one that was a little better quality and looks like we won’t need to upgrade it for a long time. It’s called, ‘Self Lock’. Basically, there’s an array disc that looks like a little satellite dish. I can put it in my security booth and it’ll project its sphere of influence for 800 meters in all directions.”

“And what exactly does it do?” Rick asked.

“A few things. It scans anyone who enters the sphere, whether a person or machine and immediately notifies me if they’re unrecognized. It will also completely prevent their use of mana while in the sphere until I give them clearance. If I label them as a threat, the array uses their mana against them and essentially melts their insides.”

“That’s pretty brutal. I like it,” Rick said. “And, instead of locking them out completely, it lets Challengers enter freely without any danger of hurting you.”

“Exactly. It is ten million Credits though, but it’s worth it for the peace of mind, in my opinion.”

Rick studied Jimmy in shock. His friend would never spend that much money on anything so casually. He must really be terrified of Gus and his goons.

“If you think it’s worth it, I’ll trust you, Jim. Did you find anything that will help us find our parents?”

“Yeah, and that’s part of the reason I wanted to splurge on the array. I think everyone will have these things. They’re like little mechanical hummingbirds that travel incredibly fast, scanning anyone in the area. If I program into it who we’re looking for, it will transmit their location to me,” Jimmy explained.

“Oh yeah, everyone is definitely going to want one of those. I can’t imagine how many people and families are separated without any way to communicate.”

“Precisely. They’ll also help me keep an eye on Gus.”

Rick had a feeling that if Jimmy’s parents hadn’t at least shown up here, they were likely dead. His parents were on the run, so of course they wouldn’t come here. Before saying anything to Jimmy about it, he asked, “Hey, I have a question. What about Kara? Is she looking for anyone?”

Jimmy’s expression fell, “She’s got a brother, but hasn’t spoken with him for a long time. She has no idea where he is. And her parents — her parents were in New Jersey. From what we heard, New Jersey is no longer on the map.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Fuck, that’s terrible. You better take good care of her, Jim.”

“She could kick my ass, but I know what you mean. I’ll do my best,” Jimmy said, dismissing Rick’s comment with a wave of his hand.

“Beautiful. How much are the little metal hummingbirds?” Rick asked, steering the conversation back on track.

“They’re 100k each. I’m going to buy ten and have them spread out. So, that’ll leave us with a nest egg of a little more than a million Credits.”

“I love it. Let’s get it done,” Rick said.

“You got it, boss,” Jimmy said as his eyes glazed over.

Rick watched as the little satellite dish materialized. He could feel the sting of spending so many Credits on one item.

Next, ten miniature briefcases appeared before Jimmy. They looked like a toy version of a briefcase you would see James Bond carrying around.

Jimmy opened one and studied it. It was a minor miracle that Jimmy’s fat thumbs could open the small briefcase. “Damn, they don’t work in here. I’m going to have to activate them outside.”

“Alright, keep me posted,” Rick said. “Oh, and set the number of Challengers to a party of five. I think it’s time we got back in business.”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Jimmy said, trying not to drop the little briefcases as he left the dungeon.

Rick observed Kara for a moment. She had fallen asleep again and he could sense that she was in pain. If there were painkillers in the System Shop, she hadn’t bought them. It was time to move Penny over into the Aux room anyway.

“Ok, Penny. Kara needs some more healing and I’m going to try to move the Kaiju Egg to the Auxiliary Room to keep it safer,” Rick said.

Penny whined, not liking the idea.

“It’s ok, I’ll be very careful.”

With a mental push, he lifted the egg into the air and started moving it toward the door. Penny was whining loudly now, tail down and stiff.

As the egg got closer to the door, he realized it wouldn’t fit. It was close, but the egg was too wide.

Setting the egg down, he attempted to widen the door with his will. To his surprise, it worked and only cost him a measly five Energy. This time, the Kaiju Egg easily passed through, along with a System reminder.

Kaiju Egg must hatch on a dungeon floor large enough to house the Kaiju.

“Yeah I know,” Rick mumbled. Growing one of his floors large enough for the Kaiju was always something that gnawed at his mind. With a quick warning to Luca, he started growing the floor again. The mucus-web-weaving mosquito buzzed in the air and began tearing down its own webs in a huff.

The glacier had melted enough to fill the pool it sat in. The stream flowed but still hadn’t filled the pool at the bottom, so Rick used the trash. Every so often, Jimmy would throw in another bag while he fidgeted with the hummingbird trackers.

Penny sniffed the Kaiju Egg worriedly until she was satisfied that it hadn’t cracked or died inside. Her tail wagged when she realized there was nothing to worry about and plodded over to the sleeping Kara.

Rick laughed as he watched Penny pry out a piece of shrapnel with her teeth, startling Kara awake with a scream. Penny made her nose glow and healed Kara, then tilted her head confused at why the woman would yell at her.

Kara calmed her breathing when she realized what was happening, “Thank you, Penny. That feels so much better already.”

Penny proceeded to pluck out the rest of the shrapnel and heal Kara to full health. A couple of sniffs later and a Kara scratch behind the ear, Penny returned to guard the egg.

As she lay there, Rick noticed a forest-green scarf materialize around her neck — confirming that Penny could, indeed, use the System Shop. “What did you get, girl?” Rick asked and used Identify.

She sat up proudly, showing off the scarf with her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.

Cozy Scarf of Calming: The wearer of this scarf brings a calming presence to those in pain of body or mind.

Kara must have given Penny the idea to get an item like that when she woke up screaming. It would certainly help her in the future if she had to heal anyone that was completely freaking out.

“You’re so smart,” Rick told her. “Oh, and you reminded me. I need to get the Trapper Kit and the building materials for our new lizardfolk.”

Opening the Dungeon Shop, it was easy to find what he needed. Of course, both the Trapper’s Kit and the building materials all varied widely in price, depending on the quality and other magical characteristics. With only 250 CP left, he purchased a low-quality Trapper’s Kit to get her started for only 25 CP.

The building materials on the other hand were a lot more interesting to him. The lizardfolk man needed either stone or wood. Wood seemed to be the easiest and most appealing, but he knew that Gus manipulated wood. Rick desperately hoped that Gus would come into his dungeon and get his head caved in, so he opted to purchase more stone instead.

All of the stone material was affordable. Apparently, even stone infused with magic was considered quite primitive in the multiverse.

He found a type of stone akin to limestone but had an enchantment specifically catered to lizardfolk.

Stone of Warming Scales: This soft stone is popular among lizardfolk for building homes. It is enchanted to provide a comfortable temperature for the cold-blooded lizardfolk. Whether they are eating dinner in the comfort of their homes or taking a nap on the roof, the stone will provide the utmost comfort.

The enchanted stone was only 15 CP for a brick of it, which is all he needed. Rick could then produce as much as the lizard builder asked for.

Rick did end up buying some wood with a similar enchantment in case they needed any for doors or the interior. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be enough for Gus to destroy his entire dungeon.

Billy had also asked Rick to buy him some building materials, so he bought the gunslinger simple brick and mortar. The man wasn’t a builder, so he didn’t need anything fancy. Just enough to pass the time.

“Hey Billy,’ Rick said aloud so the lizardfolk could hear too.

“Yes, dungeon?”

“I got a few things for you and the lizardfolk. Did you come up with any names yet?”

“Yes, but they insisted on choosing their own names. The ones I chose didn’t live up to lizardfolk standards,” he said, clearly annoyed at the two lizard people flicking their tongues out at him.