It didn't matter what the name sounded like. What mattered was the familiarity the name brought him.
Though Aurora's language was eerily similar to Earth's English, it wasn't the same in the end. This had much to do with the different histories of the two realms, which led to different things like pronunciation, accent, and so on.
Earlier, when he saw Timi, he only suspected that this might be the youth Lily always spoke about, but after hearing him talk, the suspicion turned to certainty.
This was English!
It had only been a year in real time, or two if including the perspective of the Land of Origin, since he'd last heard such a language. Though he knew he no longer had anything to do with the life he'd had on Earth, nor did he want to, Michael never expected such a similar thing to cause his emotions to stir.
Michael shook off the distracting thoughts and focused on Timi.
Though Michael had barely lived a life on Earth, thanks to illness, and had spent most of his days drifting in darkness, there were many things he was ignorant about, but he wasn't so ignorant about the world before he died.
Though Timi's name had a clear African descent, his accent felt more American. Though he wasn't exactly dressed like his memories of people on Earth, he did seem to have a fashion sense similar to those in that region.
However, whether or not he was from this place or that place didn't matter now that his origin was confirmed. What was needed now was the way forward.
"About what happened just now... Sorry about that. It was a mishap on my part."
Michael deliberately kept the explanation vague.
Timi stared at him, tempted to ask what Michael had done to him earlier while refusing his apology.
However, fortunately, he had a good head on his shoulders and knew what he could and couldn't play with.
"...It's fine."
The acceptance came somewhat reluctantly.
But what else was Timi supposed to say?
No, explain yourself?
To Michael Norman?
Timi wasn't that brave.
Besides, his imagination had already begun providing explanations of its own.
Perhaps that thing just now had been some sort of expert aura.
Timi had consumed enough entertainment before Earth's apocalypse to recognize the classic situation.
Powerful expert stands there doing absolutely nothing.
Junior approaches.
Junior suddenly sweats.
Junior's legs tremble.
Junior nearly kneels.
Then everyone realizes the expert is unfathomable.
Timi's expression became strange.
Was that actually a real thing?
Perhaps it was truly so. After all, he had just lived through it.
Although there was another possibility Timi found himself leaning more toward.
Timi's black eyes briefly moved toward Lily.
His expression became suspicious.
Could this bastard have actually been testing him because of Lily?
The more Timi considered it, the less ridiculous the possibility seemed.
Lily's tone whenever she spoke about her cousin made it painfully obvious how close they were.
This showed that Michael clearly cared about her too.
And what did overprotective older brothers and cousins do in movies when their favourite family member suddenly arrived with some teenage boy they had never met before?
Of course, intimidate the boy.
Timi's eyes narrowed slightly.
Shameless!
If that was really what had happened, Michael was unbelievably shameless.
What kind of grown man used his overwhelming strength to bully a sixteen-year-old just because he'd appeared beside his female relative?
He hadn't even done anything!
He and Lily were friends!
Just friends!
Why was he being subjected to some ridiculous meet-the-family intimidation scene?
Of course, Timi wisely kept every one of these accusations inside his head.
Meanwhile, Michael didn't know he had been falsely accused again by a certain overprotective brother who saw others through his own lens.
Michael naturally had no idea what kind of nonsense was currently running through Timi's head.
After giving the teenager another brief glance, he turned toward Lily.
"So, why did you come here today?"
It was a perfectly ordinary question.
Over the past few days, Lily had visited the Eternal Crown whenever she felt like it. Sometimes she came because she needed something, or to observe the new native Awakeners. Other times, she simply wanted to see Michael.
Michael had naturally never questioned it.
This time, however, she'd brought Timi with her.
That alone made it obvious this wasn't one of her casual visits.
Michael could have simply asked what relationship the two had and why she'd brought him along, but doing so now, especially after considering the task he'd given her, didn't quite sound right.
So he settled for the less direct question.
As for the matter relating to Earth, putting aside Timi's own opinion on the issue, Michael's current emotions toward Earth were somewhat complex.
Michael had accepted long ago that his previous life was over, and he'd never possessed any strong desire to return. Even now, learning that Earth still existed somewhere in this universe hadn't suddenly made him desperate to find it.
Still, Earth was his birthplace. He was naturally curious about it.
But regardless of whatever might happen in the future, today wasn't the day to talk about its related matters, or at least not this very moment.
Lily didn't notice anything unusual.
"I actually came because of Timi."
She turned toward the teenager.
Michael followed her gaze before looking back at Lily.
"Oh?"
His expression remained friendly.
"What happened?"
"Timi has Universal Cornerstone Fragments that he wishes to exchange with you."
Hearing this made Michael smile even more warmly, though it was more internal than external.
Unlike before, Michael no longer saw the Zeroth Layer as some beginner area with little value to him.
Fine.
He would admit it.
He had indeed been too green when it came to the Origin Battlefield.
Michael had once unconsciously looked down on the lower layers. After all, what could an area designed primarily for Unranked Awakeners possibly offer someone who could already contend with peak Rank 4s and even wield Demigod-level forces?
Apparently, quite a lot.
It was true that compared to the upper layers, the average quality of resources in the Zeroth Layer was considerably lower.
However, what it lacked in quality, it possessed in quantity.
And once quantity reached a sufficiently ridiculous level, it could sometimes surpass quality entirely.
A few days ago, Lily had brought him a piece of ore.
The ore itself wasn't some heaven-defying treasure.
It was only Rare Grade.
To the current Michael, who possessed Legendary treasures, something of that level normally wouldn't deserve much attention.
But Michael possessed Infinite Evolution, a huge, demonic devourer of resources.
Back when he'd first conquered the Eternal Crown Empire, Michael had devoured an enormous quantity of resources from its treasury to accumulate Evolution Points.
Most of the ores he'd consumed back then ranged from relatively common materials to slightly rarer varieties.
The sample Lily brought him was considerably better.
When Michael devoured a piece of it that weighed one kilogram, he obtained a bit above 100 Evolution Points.
One kilogram might sound insignificant until the scale was considered.
Lily hadn't discovered a few pieces of ore.
She had discovered a mine.
The exact size of the deposit hadn't been properly determined yet, but even an extremely small mine could contain an absurd amount of material.
Suppose the deposit was pitifully small and only contained around a thousand tonnes of usable ore.
That was still one million kilograms.
Even at the lowest estimate of one hundred Evolution Points per kilogram...
Michael could potentially obtain one hundred million Evolution Points.
The number was enough to make even the current Michael pay serious attention.
Naturally, that was an extremely rough estimate.
Not every part of a mine would consist of pure usable ore. There would be waste rock, impurities, differences in concentration, extraction losses, and possibly portions that weren't worth processing.
The actual amount of Evolution Points could be dramatically lower.
But even if only a fraction of his roughest calculation became reality, the potential gains could still rival or surpass what Michael had obtained after devouring a considerable portion of the resources accumulated by the Eternal Crown Empire.
And this was a mine found in the Zeroth Layer.
The Origin Battlefield, regardless of layer, was indeed a treasure trove for all Awakeners and supernatural forces alike.
Outside the Origin Battlefield, the only place Michael currently knew that could potentially provide Evolution Points on such an enormous scale was the Netherworld.
But the Netherworld came with obvious problems.
Compared to that, the Zeroth Layer was stable.
Unfortunately, discovering the mine and exploiting it were two different matters.
It was far away from Evergreen Haven.
And even if Lily possessed enough additional fragments to establish another Universal Cornerstone if necessary, she needed people to run it.
To safeguard the mine and let Lily focus on herself, Michael had Lyra guard it.
The ore wasn't going anywhere. He figured when Lily finally advanced, she could come back to focus on it. At that time, even if she had a few limit breaks on her advancement task that granted her levels, she wouldn't advance again in the short time, so she could use some of that time to manage people.
This was linked to the purpose Michael also had for all the native Awakeners in his empire. Whether in the Land of Origin, the real world, or the Origin Battlefield, even if they served him half-assed, he'd still benefit from them all.
Since Michael knew such resources existed in the Zeroth Layer, his ambitions had naturally grown.
If one mine could exist, why couldn't there be a second? Or a third?
The Zeroth Layer of the Origin Battlefield, after Lily settled it, would be his cash cow for a period of time.
Michael's need for Evolution Points was only going to become increasingly ridiculous.
For now, he could still manage. But he had reached the stage where Legendary Grade evolutions were approaching.
Lucky alone required one million Evolution Points for his current evolution.
Michael himself needed three million for his next racial evolution.
Those numbers were already enormous compared to the Evolution Point costs he'd dealt with in the past.
What happened when he seriously began pushing his legion toward Legendary Grade?
If Michael foolishly decided that every undead under him had to reach Legendary Grade, without billions of Evolution Points, nothing would happen.
Michael had already begun accepting the uncomfortable reality that he couldn't continue treating every undead equally forever, or even in the long term.
As the legion grew and evolution costs increased, he would eventually need to concentrate his resources on a smaller core.
A smaller number of increasingly powerful creatures might even consume just as many Evolution Points as evolving the entire legion would.
Perhaps even more.
Legendary Grade wouldn't be the end.
There was Mythical beyond it.
Divine beyond that.
And Michael had no idea what Infinite Evolution would reveal afterward.
His appetite for Evolution Points would only grow alongside him.
So when Lily revealed that Timi possessed Universal Cornerstone Fragments to exchange, Michael couldn't possibly remain indifferent.
This was, after all, the key to his cash cows and the stability needed to control the brewing chaos in his empire, caused by the native awakenings.
"How many fragments are you willing to exchange?" Michael inquired.
"Sixteen." Timi answered cautiously.
Michael's eyes brightened slightly.
Sixteen meant four complete Deployment Cores.
If he dared to enlarge the Cornerstone's territory from a starting "village," like Lily's, to a "town" capable of holding ten to twenty thousand residents, it would be able to settle all the native Awakeners in his territory right now.
Of course, while this wasn't impossible, neither Michael nor Lily had the capacity to handle it.
Four was a lot, but Michael actually needed more.
However, Michael soon encountered another problem.
What exactly was he supposed to give Timi in exchange?
Universal Cornerstone Fragments didn't possess a straightforward market value.
Michael couldn't confidently attach some standardized price to sixteen fragments.
More importantly, he didn't want to take advantage of Timi.
"What do you want in exchange?"
Michael waited.
Timi glanced briefly at Lily before answering.
"There's actually something I wanted to ask first."
"Go ahead."
"Lily told me your Cornerstone can connect to the Land of Origin."
Michael's expression remained unchanged.
Timi continued carefully.
"Would it be possible for me to use it to enter the Land of Origin?"
That was it?
Michael almost laughed.
"Of course."
A smile appeared on his face.
"That's not a problem."
As far as Michael was concerned, granting Timi access to the Land of Origin wasn't remotely enough payment for sixteen Universal Cornerstone Fragments.
The Universal Cornerstone was capable of connecting individuals between the Origin Battlefield and the Land of Origin under appropriate conditions. Allowing one more person access wasn't some enormous sacrifice on Michael's part.
Michael waited to hear the real demand, but Timi actually kept quiet after that.
Timi remained silent.
Michael continued waiting, but several seconds passed and still nothing happened.
"..."
"..."
Michael's smile slowly became strange.
Where was the rest?
Surely that wasn't his price?
"Anything else?" Michael finally asked.
Timi scratched his head with confusion.
"I can't really think of anything right now sir."
Michael almost became speechless.
This kid...
Did he have absolutely no idea what he was holding?
Michael had prepared himself for a difficult negotiation but nothing happened.
Perhaps the kid indeed had nothing he could think of now.
Michael rubbed his chin.
After thinking for several seconds, Michael eventually shook his head.
"In that case, I'll take the sixteen fragments as a favor."
"You can use the connection to the Land of Origin. As for the remaining value of the fragments, if there's ever something you need my help with in the future, you can come to me."
Timi's expression changed.
This time, the smile that appeared on his face was genuine.
"Thank you."
Timi suddenly felt much better about the exchange.
His first impression of Michael certainly hadn't been good.
He also still suspected Michael had deliberately intimidated him because of Lily.
Shameless bastard.
However, personal impressions aside, Timi wasn't foolish enough to deny Michael's strength.
Michael Norman was powerful.
Timi didn't know exactly how powerful yet, but he felt it should be many times stronger than him.
Having someone like that owe him a favor was valuable.
Even if he went his entire life without using it, merely possessing such an option was worth something.
Besides, Timi hadn't lied.
Access to the Land of Origin really was enough for him.
Second chapter coming soon. It's a bit hard to get into longer chapters but I'm adapting. Please do tell what else can be done better so I can implement it in future chapters.