Aria woke up and ate some dumplings for breakfast and got ready. Her schedule has been pretty messed up these few days so waking up at 9am is a nice change. But today she has two purposes.

Take S5- oops, Art- to the mineral market to pick stuff he likes so they can upgrade the mech later on. Thinking about all the gold and silver in her possession right now worth billions of dollars is not enough for the little buttface, Aria felt like she's raising a little fat spoiled child.

Whatever, this will benefit her in the future so just do it.

Perhaps she should rob more of the Li's properties? Hmmm. Nah, she'll hit them again once they rebuild and right before the ZA break out. Oooh, maybe she'll encounter more enemies that she can rob from in the next two years!

Then afterwards, she needed to head back to the park in City H to find the energy source that Eros suspected might be there.

Asking S3 to coordinate with Art to find a good mineral market between City AD to City H, Aria drove towards the nearby mall to buy Art a cute outfit for shopping. All the clothes she had copied were adult clothes which would not fit him.

Going into a high end store with the iconic brown checkered pattern, she saw a cute outfit Art's size. It was a light brown sweatshirt with brown checked elbow patches. She got a white shirt and a pair of jeans for him too. Then seeing the adorable outfit, she went and scanned something similar in her size. Grabbing a few face masks and sunglasses as well as copying pretty much everything they had in their inventory from socks and undies to jackets and ties in every size and gender. Aria paid and then jumped into the G Space to change.

Wearing a pair of dark blue jeans with a white t-shirt and white sneakers, she draped the sweatshirt over her shoulders and put on the mask and sunglasses.

Art: "Sister, do I look good?"

Aria looked at Art in his mini me outfit. He looked like a little young master attending a high class private school in his outfit. But the sweatshirt over his shoulders looked a bit obnoxious.

She can look that way, but a baby can't.

Tossing the sweatshirt and tugging the shirt underneath aside, she pulled out a thin white long sleeve shirt and a navy blue short sleeved vest. Raising his arms she tugged the 2 tops down and adjusted his clothes.

Giving him the child sized mask and sunglasses, it completed the look.

Ahh! Cute!~

Little Eros: "Are we going to go look for minerals for Art?"

Art: "Yes."

Art turned to Aria for confirmation. She nodded. Art turned back toward the fluff ball and confirmed again.

Art: "Yes. Why?"

Little Eros: "Can I come out too? Not to play! But I need to touch the mineral to confirm if it's good quality to copy."

Art: "How can you come out? People will capture a fluffy ball that moves and talks by itself. Then you will be experimented on and Sister Aria will have to come rescue you because you're useless and have no defensive powers."

Little Eros: "I can- I can disappear! If it's dangerous, I can disappear back into the G Space! And- and I can turn into a ring! So you can wear me and I can sample each stone that you touch. Um. I can also tell you which one to buy for the purest and best growth."

Art looked up at Aria inquiringly. Aria nodded.

The fluff ball can disappear so she's not worried about it.

Aria: "Okay, let's head off!"

They arrived at City GH, which was the same city where she purchased the EOS vehicles.

Aria: You stay close. If you get lost I'm not going to come after you or let you come out any more. As for money, it's unlimited. Buy whatever samples you need. I'm assuming mechs will need weapons?

Art: Yes, there are a lot of cold weapons we can make for you to use. I have looked through the list of raw materials. Don't worry!

Aria: Eros, are you connected to both of us?

Little Eros: Yes, master!

It is now the weekdays so not a lot of shoppers are around. Aria and Art walked from shop to shop, sampling rocks here and there. Although there were not many differences between the shops, the quality and purity of the ore samples are different.

Little Eros: This shop! There's 2 sources of energy similar to the Xing Plant in there!

The shop was two stories and quite clean and luxurious. One can tell at a glance that the price and quality of the stones are exceptional.

Little Eros: Over there! That piece of stone in that pile!"

The little fluff ball on Art's finger was vibrating with excitement. The pile it mentioned were a small group of small stones placed in a basket priced at $50/piece. It looks like that batch was the cheapest thing in the store. Art went directly to the pile and shifted through them one by one carefully, finally holding up a smooth white stone.

The old man manning the store smiled calmly at the young boy's actions. Art immediately walked to the counter and handed over the card to pay. After getting the receipt, Artput it directly away in the G Space since Little Eros is touching it which makes it possible for Art to act like he has a Space Button.

Art then went around touching one thing or another gently, petting some cutely, seeming to admire the beauty of the stones.

Aria: "Mister Shopkeeper, is it possible to go look upstairs? My little brother likes pretty stones."

Shopkeeper: "Ah, sure. Let me ring a helper to cover the front desk."

The shopkeeper could tell the two are wealthy children from the way they act and dress. Unhurried, unblinking under the price tag. Letting a young child choose and purchase a random stone by himself with a black card is how rich people play.

Pushing a button, he smiled at the pair as they waited. Art brought over 2 big pieces of stone and paid for it. Aria instructed him to pay as soon as he decides on something since she had seen instances where shameless people would try to grab items in someone else's hands because they haven't paid for them yet.

A young man walked out from the door in the back and smiled apologetically at the group. The old man then gestured for Aria and Art to follow him up the stairs. The upstairs was even more impressive looking than downstairs. Art quickly walked around touching a few gently with one finger. Aria handed him a scanner so he can buy whatever he wanted.

All the items here start at $20k.

Little Eros: It's that rock there under that jade bonsai tree.

The rock in question was a large piece as big as a bowling ball partially hidden behind some larger pieces.

Art squatted down and scanned the rock. The old man raised his eyebrows in surprise at the last scan. The rock has been under there forever that he completely forgot it was there at all. For the boy to find it, he must have seen it due to his short height.

Aria paid for the items and under the old man's eyes, she put each of them away one by one. The total came out to be $1.2M.

Casually paying for the items, the pair left the shop.

Aria: Art, have you found all the materials you needed?

Art: Yes, except 3 samples. 2 are in the liquid state and the other is highly explosive. If the samples we've collected today can be grown at a bar a day, then Imby the time the ZA occurs, I can have 4 cold weapons made. If we can find the remaining 3 samples then I can make 6 more. Hot weapons we can copy from the military's mechs.

This kid is getting bolder and bolder. Now she has to infiltrate a military camp to find samples for him? With her current condition she won't be able to do so for at least a year.

---------------------- Small Theater -----------------------

Art: Can we get a mecha soon?

Aria: Where? Do you see any mechas hanging around outside? They are only in museums and inside military bases.

Art stares up at Aria with large puppy dog eyes. Seeing no response, he pulled his mask down to under his chin, the edges of his lips curved slightly downward.

Aria: Fine! Do you want to go to the museums to see those mechas?

Art: I checked. Those are ancients. They are all broken and shelled out. We don't want those. We want new ones with new advanced technology.

Aria: So you want the military ones.

Art: There are many different mech classes. A lot are mediocre. We need to get our hands on the ones reserved for the Master Experts.

Aria: You basically want the top-of-the line limited edition mechas with all the accessories upgrades and additions, possibly located in the most highly secure and dangerous places in the country right now.

Art: Yes, please.

Aria: ...

Art: Thank you, Sister Aria!

Aria sighed.