After several seconds—and the passing of that peculiar sensation that had gripped his entire being, a feeling like freefalling from a towering, unseen height—Robin slowly opened his eyes once more.
"Hmm?" he muttered with a hint of caution.
What he saw in front of him wasn't drastically different from what he had expected. The sa glowing white chamber encased him from all sides, unchanged and otherworldly. Its walls shimred faintly, void of any shadows or edges.
He glanced down at himself, half-expecting so bizarre transformation.
But what he saw was... normal.
His body appeared just as it always had: the sa clothes, the sa texture of skin, the familiar contours of his limbs. It was all far too realistic—eerily so.
But despite how convincing it all looked, he knew without a shred of doubt:
He was no longer in the real world.
"Huh?" Robin turned sharply, instinctively scanning for the source of the voice.
It didn't take long to find it.
Floating gracefully into his view was a strange being—delicate, radiant, and undeniably ethereal.
It looked like a tiny fairy, perhaps a fairy, with four translucent wings and a semi-humanoid figure. Despite the almost human proportions, its diminutive size—no more than a few centiters tall—made it feel surreal, like sothing out of a child's dream or an ancient tale.
"…Constructed from pure soul energy?" Robin whispered in awe, stepping closer.
He began to circle the creature slowly, studying it from every angle. Every motion it made, every faint shimr along its outline, scread of high-level energy manipulation.
Extraordinary.
The tiny entity continued, her voice smooth and oddly chanical, as if she were reciting a long-morized script.
"…"
Robin froze. His expression faltered.
He had assud it was a standard ID number. Sothing generic and randomly assigned.
But no.
That was his actual number—his literal placent among all users in the Society.
88 quadrillion… and so loose digits at the end.
A quadrillion… was a million billion.
The scale of that number was astronomical—almost absurd.
Yet, when he thought more deeply, it wasn't so unbelievable.
The Soul Society extended across the entire Middle Planetary Belt—a zone that spanned countless star systems, all teeming with advanced civilizations.
Even so… that number was terrifying.
In fact, it was possibly even small—if you considered how strict the entry requirents were. Not just anyone could join. It likely represented the total population of the upper-middle to elite classes scattered across the Belt.
Then, a darker thought crept into his mind.
If those 88 million billion users paid 70 liters of essence each day—for just basic access—how much wealth had Morpheus amassed over the millennia?
And that's without counting the fees from these trades, cross-planetary comrce, soul-forging licenses, and other services…
Gulp.
"…Understood."
Robin nodded, taking a silent breath. This largely mirrored what the receptionist outside had told him—only this version was more detailed, more official.
The fairy fluttered her wings and paused, giving him a mont to consider.
"Three thousand pearls?!" Robin's eyes nearly popped out of his head from sheer shock.
He had already been thinking, deep down, that commuting to this place every single day was utterly impractical—especially for people of high status like emperors, council mbers, or those burdened with endless responsibilities. And just when he had begun to wonder how such individuals might use the Soul Society regularly, this offer was suddenly laid out before him.
This—this was the answer.
A private access implant.
A system designed specifically for the elite. With it, those who stood at the summit of society, the true powerhouses of the Middle Planetary Belt, could log in anyti, anywhere, without being physically present near a terminal. They could access the network from within their own soul domain, continuing trade, exploration, and research uninterrupted.
It was brilliant—a masterstroke of both convenience and profit.
With this system in place, comrce within the Soul Society would soar, powered by the spending of the richest and most influential. And anwhile, the Society itself would quietly drain energy wealth from them, day by day, hour by hour.
And then another thought hit him—
"Wait a second… Did you just say three thousand Soul Units or three thousand Energy Pearls?" Robin asked again, eyes narrowing slightly. His tone was incredulous, but tinged with curiosity.
The little fairy nodded politely, her wings fluttering gently in place as she responded in her cheerful, lodic voice.
Robin stood still for a mont, his brows furrowing into a deep, thoughtful crease.
The idea of using Soul Units as a form of currency didn't sit well with him—not entirely. Soul itself was a vital essence. A foundation of life, cultivation, consciousness...
To spend it so casually? That felt dangerous. Risky. Maybe even sacrilegious.
But just as those thoughts ford, they were abruptly interrupted—
the fairy continued gently,
"…"
Robin stood in silence, face tightening.
Twenty-five percent?!
That's an enormous cut for simply hosting a list. What did they actually do to justify it? They already charged an outrageous entry fee, and now they took a quarter of every transaction, too?
That was practically extortion.
"…And what does any of this have to do with that 'Chamber of Truth'?" he asked pointedly.
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