...

"So you did all that during the few short days I was unconscious?" Melinda asked when Hal was done with his 'Thrilling' tale.

"Of course. Don't tell me you were expecting me to sleep around all through" Hal said in a tone of mock outrage.

Melinda simply shrugged and Hal snorted,

"I'm guessing you did not even expect me to cultivate at all" He smiled while he reached down and squeezed her breast lightly.

"Mmh. Of course, I expected you to cultivate. You might be a horndog but you're no slacker. All the same, for you Sex and cultivation are practically the same things so I wasn't entirely wrong" Melinda said while she moaned at the pleasure his touch was providing.

Hal was teasing her with little doses of {Erogenous Touch} so it was understandable... Or at least it was until the doses began to heighten.

"Keep that up and I just might jump you right here, right now" Melinda moaned and snuggled her head into his chest.

"Well, we wouldn't want that" Hal chuckled and retracted {Erogenous touch} but his hands continued to rub her breast.

Melinda purred and encouraged him to continue while she stretched her hand to his lower half and started rubbing his hefty tool through his pants.

And so it was that as the Carriage trudged on to a newly acquired Estate and territory, a lecherous couple who could not keep their hands of each other continued to feel each other up while Castor and the other guards dutifully ignored them.

To them, there was absolutely nothing of note going on inside the Carriage.

Hal was very much aware that he had spies tailing him and so did his guards but there was no need to be sneaky after all, there was nothing suspicious about visiting a new purchase.

Especially one that was purchased in such a public Auction.

"That reminds me, I never really asked how rich you are," Hal said.

It was true, he knew Melinda was financially sufficient but he has no interest in knowing just how rich before just like how he had not spent any of it and opted for an apprenticeship first and foremost for the Goal of earning Gold.

He of course did not eventually follow down that route but he did earn money through his Astral sense as It had been very instrumental in all his banditry.

The Salmon, The Holgers, and now the Confluence of the Great Families.

Melinda sat up and looked him in the eye before she chuckled.

"What's funny?" Hal asked.

"What's funny is your instinct to compare wealth with me. Some will call that insecurity" She said as she covered her mouth and giggled.

"What? Come off it. It was a genuine inquiry. I just want to know how rich my Baby girl is. That's not too much to ask" Hal said in a tone filled with outrage.

"Oh really? Then why haven't you asked me before now?" She smirked, knowing full well she had caught him and wondering how he would squirm out of it.

"Come on! It just did not come to mind" He said exasperatedly.

"Are you sure you were not just waiting to have enough so you would not feel inadequate when you did ask?" Melinda said with her eyebrow raised.

"Positive. You've SEEN me. I am anything but inadequate"

"Okay fine" she shrugged and went back to resting her head on his chest.

"So... How much?" He asked while he pecked the top of her head.

Melinda took a deep breath,

"I was not serious with Dane textiles in the last few years, so my net worth took a hit and I'm barely keeping it at 200 million"

Hal froze "Gold coins?"

Melinda rolled her eyes "of course"

'Oh damn'

Frankly, Hal did not care that without robbing the confluence, she would have been richer than him. He simply did not want to be a parasitic leach who just guzzled up all she had and did not add to the coffers.

His view of things had been that he would garner more wealth and would aim to enrich and not impoverish her. It had nothing to do with the pride of a man or him as a provider.

It was all because of his ambition to be individually Rich.

All that being said, he had never thought she would be that wealthy. Most likely at the level or even wealthier than the Great families. Even if by a little.

Which begs the question...

"Why then did you gasp when the Holger Vault was opened?" He asked

"If you remember correctly, Rita was the one who gasped not me. I was merely surprised a Plebeian family could have gotten their hands on such expensive -by this city's standards- pills" Melinda said with a smile.

"Oh yeah," Hal said as the memory came back to mind and he grinned at her,

"You know what this makes us right?"

"What? The Salmon city Power couple?" Melinda said with a smirk.

"You said it not me." Hal smiled.

"I don't know what the big deal is. Outside of Bottom feeding cities such as this, that amount is not worth much" Melinda said and knew what would come next.

"Explain" was all Hal said.

"Well, The currency of the Nexus world..." Melinda began before Hal cut in...

"Wait what?"

Melinda sighed "It's understandable that you don't know. This world is called the Nexus world and through the segregation between Man and Beast is divided into Two continents and its currency is Silver, Gold, and Blue gem"

Hal raised his eyebrow in mild surprise but Melinda was not done,

"The exchange rate of 1 Gold coin is 1000 silver Coins, guess how much 1 Blue gem equals in Gold coins" Melinda smiled and Hal shrugged,

"I would say 1000 Gold coins but judging by your smile, that seems to be incorrect" Hal inferred and Melinda chuckled,

"1 Blue gem is worth 10000 Gold coins"

Hal's eyes widened,

"10000 Gold coins? What sort of bogus exchange rate is that. The Gem has to have more value than simple currency or it would make no sense." He said with a slight shake of his head.

He was already aware that Gold coins were more expensive than Gold ores mined no matter how pure or beautiful the Gold was. This was because they were infused with little bits of Cosmic energy when they are minted and passed out for circulation, not to mention complex rules that were etched on them.

It was the same for silver coins as well.

This was why owning gold mines did not automatically grant the Payne family power over currency or give them the right to mint their own.

These were all things Hal had already understood and the standard exchange rate for this Blue gem should have been 1000 as well, even if it was infused with Cosmic energy like the coins. As such the only way that its value could skyrocket that high was if it had other uses and he was not wrong...

"It does have more value than simple Currency" Melinda confirmed,

"All Blue Gems hold violent Cosmic Energy. And by violent, I don't mean because it's in large quantity, No. It is just too violent and impossible to use for cultivation.

" But it can be used successfully in places where a constant stream of Cosmic energy is needed but the burden can not be borne by any mortal. Such as the powering of Arrays.

Where I come from, true wealth is measured in Blue gems and the most wealthy and powerful families such as mine use them in powering large scale defensive and at times, attacking arrays and formations."

"Wow. And with such an insane exchange rate just how much can some families hold?. The Dane Family for Example" Hal asked with a smile.

"Best not to say. You might go into shock" Melinda chuckled.

"Fair enough. I'm close to going into shock already" He chuckled as well.

Melinda sighed,

"When I was 'Sent' here, I was given 10000 Blue gems that after taking where I was going into consideration, I exchanged for gold coins. That was all they could spare. Just 10000. That was nothing to them and it was nothing to me too. The injustice alone made my hatred burn hotter"

She paused at which time Hal continued to stroke her hair, trying and succeeding quite well in keeping the fact that she had called 100 million Gold coins in Blue gems, nothing.

"When I first arrived, I poured all my energy into Dane Textiles. I did it out of spite and also in a bid to forgot old and lost glory. With what I had, I could live in this city lavishly -by its standards- and then die just like everyone else in this city does eventually.

" I had no thought that I would be called back and even if I was, I was quite sure I would not want to return."

Towards the end, even though her voice remained strong, there was an undertone that revealed just how deep her pain was.

"But you will return," Hal said and stroked her cheek.

"I definitely will"

"And we might kill some fools"

Hal continued and Melinda sat up to wrap her arms around his neck.

She smiled wildly before she nipped at his neck and said between nips,

"Oh yes! It's gonna be great"