Died for a Million Times: I can Copy Infinite SSS Talents!-Chapter 82 --A Precious Gift

"You little brat, can’t even tell when someone’s complimenting you?"

Finally shedding his dignified façade as a general, Nate revealed his true, more easygoing self.

He stood up, walked over to Link, and ruffled his hair with a grin. "Enough with the nonsense. Come with me—I’m going to take you to collect the gift I promised you earlier."

"Yes, sir!"

Link remembered Edward’s advice and addressed Nate formally with respect.

Unexpectedly, Nate’s expression soured as he put on a mock frown. "Sir? You’re making us sound like strangers! Are you treating me like an outsider now?"

"Uh?"

Link was stunned, unsure how to respond. "Then... how should I address you, General?"

With a sweeping gesture of his hand, Nate declared, "Didn’t I just say not to be so formal? Just call me Uncle Nate."

"This... wouldn’t that come off as a little disrespectful?"

"Hey, you blockhead. Don’t you get it? In front of others, I’m still the general. But in private, just call me uncle. Military ranks don’t always have to be so stiff—only sticklers like Edward cling to that sort of thing."

"...Alright, Uncle Nate. Got it."

The moment Link called him "Uncle," Nate’s face lit up with satisfaction.

"Haha! That’s more like it, nephew! Come on now, your uncle’s gonna let you pick out your welcome gift!"

With that, he turned around and walked to a bookshelf in the corner of the command center, rifling through the shelves for a moment.

Eventually, Nate placed his hand on an old blue-covered book and pressed it gently.

Ruuuumble—!

A deep, resonant sound echoed through the entire room.

A hidden door slowly emerged before their eyes.

Nate said nothing more. He led Link straight through it and then released a domain—Infinite Void Domain—engulfing them both in an isolated space.

By the time the domain was deployed, they had reached the end of a narrow corridor behind the hidden passage.

There, a towering obsidian gate stood silently, exuding an aura of unshakable solidity.

Nate stepped to the side console and began a series of biometric verifications: fingerprint, voiceprint, and retinal scan.

Meanwhile, Link folded his arms and carefully examined the obsidian door.

It appeared to be fused with the entire chamber, utterly unmoving. To open something like this, one would surely need a talent, or at least some advanced mechanical aid. Human strength alone clearly wouldn’t be—

BOOOM!

As Link was thinking this, Nate casually placed his hand on the door and gave it a push.

Instantly, the massive, heavy gate creaked open, revealing a gap wide enough for two people to walk through side by side.

Link was stunned.

This thing was the size of two small mountains—how did Nate just push it open barehanded like it was nothing? And without even so much as a warm-up?

He didn’t even look winded!

So... this is the power of a Level 9 esper...?

"What’re you standing there for? Get in already!"

Noticing Link still rooted to the spot, Nate gave him a nudge.

Only then did Link snap out of it and follow Nate inside.

The moment he stepped through, his jaw practically dropped.

Now this was what people meant by "mountains of gold and seas of elixirs."

Just a quick glance around told him that the treasures in this vault could easily let Nate buy out half of Astral City’s land—and still have plenty left over.

Clearly, the man had earned quite a bit during his years as a general.

"Hehe, never seen stuff like this before, have you?"

Seeing his chance to show off, Nate hurried over and gripped Link’s shoulder, eagerly pointing things out one by one.

"Check this out—this is the Molten Core from a Lava Demon Dragon. Took me a hell of a lot of effort to extract this thing from its heart. If I put it on the market, I could fetch tens of millions easy."

"And this one—this is the Holy Radiant Armor, personally forged for me by a master human blacksmith!"

"This armor’s seen me through countless battles, tanked who knows how many attacks from those moonfolk bastards. Even the strongest of them couldn’t leave so much as a scratch on it."

Link’s eyes glimmered with awe.

Seeing that expression, Nate beamed with satisfaction.

"That’s the right look! You young ones should admire the tales of us veterans’ glorious pasts. What’s with all that fake stoicism and cold detachment?"

But just then, Link asked a question.

"Uncle Nate, if I remember correctly... wasn’t the Holy Radiant Armor the exclusive armor of Lord Pryde, one of the Seven Sages? How come it’s in your collection?"

The moment those words left Link’s mouth, Nate’s expression twitched with visible awkwardness.

"Uh... well... here’s the thing—you may not know this, but legendary armor like this doesn’t always belong to just one person. After Lord Pryde returned to the embrace of the goddess, it naturally passed into my hands. I was one of the top human elites back then, after all..."

"Agh, whatever! The point is—do you want it or not?"

"Of course I do! How could I possibly refuse a gift from Uncle?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Link walked briskly over to the display case containing the Holy Radiant Armor, gently running his fingers over its surface with unconcealed joy.

Nate, watching him, gave a soft sigh. "Alright, consider that your welcome gift. Come on, let’s check out the rest."

Link blinked in surprise. "There’s more? Uncle Nate... I’m starting to feel a little guilty here."

Nate clapped him hard on the shoulder. "Nonsense! Like I said earlier, this is the gift Ryze promised you. But now that you’ve saved the entire Northern Front, how could I, as the commanding general, not show some proper appreciation? Follow me!"

Hearing that, Link immediately withdrew his hand from the armor and said seriously, "Then... Uncle, in that case, I think I should decline the Holy Radiant Armor."

"Huh? Why?"

Nate was baffled. A holy relic once wielded by a sage—how could a young man like Link not want something like that?

Surely the temptation would be irresistible.

Seeing Nate’s curious gaze, Link smiled and explained, "You see, Uncle, the armor is incredible—no doubt about it. But it doesn’t really suit my fighting style. I favor offense over defense. If I stack too much defense, it’ll actually limit me. So... I really can’t accept this one."

He couldn’t explain too much about his talent, so he could only hint at the deeper reasons. But he believed someone as experienced as Nate would understand the implications.

Sure enough, after Link finished speaking, Nate let out a thoughtful "Oh..." and then walked over to a nearby weapon rack.

He pulled down a longsword—its blade dark violet, and a gem embedded in the hilt that looked eerily like a staring eye.

"This is the Demonblade Apophis. I seized it from a moonfolk camp years ago. It’s not technically a holy relic, but it is SSS-grade. Give it a try."

"Okay!"

Link responded eagerly, reaching out to take the sword.

The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, a surge of force erupted from within.

An overwhelming suction seemed to draw power through his arm and into his body—and even his soul felt like it was being pulled inside the Demonblade in an instant...