Respectable poor

Before he could inspect the other soul, he heard people coming in his direction. He wanted to ask the system how to revert to human form but realized it would be bothersome to explain stuff if he was caught as a human. A thought without his notice crept into his mind and suddenly he turned into a bird. Overjoyed at the sudden transformation, he quickly escaped the graveyard.

As he flew, he converted Greg's soul into sin crystals without further hesitation. As he needed the system's help in the next part of his plan. He was quite relieved to realize that he could freely convert his body to anything he want as long he imagined it but one thing still bothered him was why did he become a 'truck' when he first landed in the mortal world?

[8 sin crystals are stored in the system space. The host can collect any time]

Leo thundered "Vile system, you told it was 1:10 conversion rate for a high potential bronze grade soul. Are you going back on your word?"

[Host seems to have forgotten conversion charges clause]

Leo couldn't help curse the nine generations of the system but he knew it was pointless. After a while, he cooled down and thought carefully.

'I shouldn't expect everything free from the system. I guess I have no choice but to upgrade the system portal to the next level if I want to reduce the conversion charges.'

"System, how much does it cost to upgrade the portal feature?"

[Replying to the host, it requires 20 sin crystals or a treasure equivalent of value]

Leo was no longer surprised by the high requirements of the system but he was surprised by the later part of the sentence.

"Treasure ah …..anyway I was going to ask this anyway. System, scan the area around me and notify me if there is any high-grade soul or any useful treasure."

Leo didn't want to waste too much time asking useless things as he wanted to utilize every second of his trip. Moreover, he could only stay for an hour without getting obliterated into nothingness.

[Every 1000 meters requires a sin crystal. Please confirm the range]

Leo gritted his teeth and said 5000 meters. 5 crystals in his system space magically disappeared without any trace. Leo's heart bleed but he knew there was no other choice if wanted to save time. Initially, he planned to go on a rampage and kill some criminals to collect some souls and then ask the system the same question but fortunately, 2 high-potential souls were delivered to him by themselves without him doing the seeking.

[Scanning complete. The system has found zero high potential souls but a treasure in the next 2000 meters]

Leo was ecstatic and flew in the direction pointed by the system. He was expecting the worst outcome as he understood high potential souls were not some cabbages in the mortal world. It was already pushing his luck when he got 2 high-potential souls at the same time.

"Isn't it the temple I always used to visit?" Leo felt nostalgic as he flew near the temple. He had no idea what kind of treasure caught the system's attention but whatever it was it shouldn't be too shabby as he was aware of the system's high standards.

As he neared the location, he realized that he no longer could continue as a bird as the location was inside the temple. Without further ado, he changed into a handsome man in a corner of the temple and quickly walked inside the temple.

Since it was a Hindu temple, many devotees were doing all kinds of things inside the temple. Some of them were doing Bajan ( kind of devotional song), some were preparing materials for Archana ( kind of offering to God, usually consisting of garland and fruits ) and most of them were just sitting around and enjoying some silence.

No one bothered to look at his handsome face as it was not the place for appreciating beauty. As he searched around, he found that what the system asking was inside the hundi ( a closed rectangular box with a small open mouth that collects money from the devotees). Leo suddenly had a headache on how to open up the hundi.

According to the tradition of most of the temples, they won't open it unless there was an urgent need. Even if it was opened Leo couldn't possibly ask them to hand over the treasure. Since time was running out he had no choice but to do something creative.

He quickly left the insides of the temple and went to a corner and changed himself to a dragonfly and slowly flew towards the hundi. He scanned around just to make sure no one paying attention to him then without further hesitation he flew inside the opened gap on the hundi.

"Fuck it's too dark here." Suddenly a light bulb flashed inside Leo's brain and he immediately transformed into a firefly.

There were so many things inside the hundi but most of them were Rs10 and Rs100 notes. Surprisingly he found some tree leaves and bark. Obviously, Leo didn't judge people.

'Probably they have some sacred values in the hearts of the devotees.' Leo forcefully consoled himself.

But…

'Who the fuck dumped pamphlets of elections here! People are crazy! Wherever they find a hole they would dump shit.'

Suddenly he noticed a translucent jade-like pendant buried among the pile of cash. Leo's instinct kicked in and he knew it was the one. Just as he transferred it into the system space, suddenly he started experiencing breathlessness. When he looked up he found that small hole was jammed by a piece of paper. He couldn't help but curse his luck.

'Who is this shit head trying to bury me alive here? Should I transform into a truck and bury him alive instead.'

Leo was shocked at his thoughts. Becoming a truck felt like a natural thing to him and whenever he was in a pinch he felt like to roar and smash the opponent into pieces.

'What is happening to me? Anyway, it's not the right time to dwell on this thought.'

Leo quickly transformed into a frog and pulled the piece of paper inside the hundi with his mouth. Later he quickly transformed into a mosquito and flew outside the hundi at a lightning speed. The fat man who was trying to ram a piece of paper inside the hundi was dumbfounded because of the sudden pull but he didn't notice the mosquito coming out.

Thinking there was some ultimate treasure fatso decided to steal the entire hundi later tonight with an excited expression. Unfortunately, fatso was destined to be disappointed as the good stuff was long cleaned up by a mosquito that he didn't even bother to notice.

As time was running out, Leo didn't bother to even inspect the treasure and directly teleported back to the underworld.

****

"System quickly tell me the value of the jade." Leo's eyes shined with a sin crystal in each of them.

[Replying to the host, Jade pendant is a soul-soothing treasure that calms one's heart. It is worth 20 sin crystals. Detected that host has the minimum requirement to upgrade the portal. Please confirm your decision]

Leo pleasantly exclaimed "Good stuff. At least my trip was not wasted this time. If I use everything to upgrade the portal, what would I use to cultivate? sand?"

Leo declined the system's bait mercilessly and immediately converted the pendant into sin crystals. Although jade pendant looked promising for a soul cultivator his priority was still sin crystals. Any long-term investment would have to wait for the time being.

After deducting 2 crystals for the return trip and applying the conversion charges in the latest transaction, Leo was left with 17 crystals. Leo's eyes shined as he looked at the stack of crystals in his system space. Just an hour ago he was a dirt poor guy but now he was a respectable poor guy. Although still poor, he had some capital to start a project.

Before that Leo couldn't suppress his curiosity and checked the identity of the soul whom he had accidentally killed. He was still in shock that he found a high potential golden grade soul in a mortal world. It was extremely rare to even find a bronze grade soul let alone a golden grade.

Suddenly his soul shuddered after seeing the face of the soul owner. Despite that, he continued to look into the memory to know why she was with Greg at that moment.

"Fuck! Greg you lucky bastard, it was an easy death for you. If I knew this I wouldn't have easily converted you into some shitty crystals, even risking getting obliterated I would have kept you by my side to torture you every day for eternity. Damn! being poor is a sin. I can't even have good revenge."

It was one of the turning points in the life of future trucksama, who would be hailed as 'Golden trucksama' by many admirers because of his immense wealth. Anyway, it will be not any time soon.

Although Leo felt sorrowful for Alice, strangely he felt some excitement too. Since her soul was with him it was just a matter of giving a body to Alice in the underworld to revive her. But after some careful analysis, he decided otherwise.

"It is too dangerous here. Moreover, I can't explain this to the father and daughter duo." The existence of the system is a core secret to Leo and he didn't plan to divulge this secret until his last breath. He already had a basic idea to deal with Alice's soul but before that, he wanted to know something urgent.

"System tell me about my soul grade."