1430 No Medicine For Regrets.
Boss Alves had no idea what was Duke Humphery's end goal in creating fallen specters. No matter how hard he thought about it, he really couldn't figure out a legit reason to go this far.
In his eyes, Duke Humphery was actually risking his position as an Eathreal Elder by pulling this crap and if he was ever to be found, Lord Hades himself would deliver the punishment.
Still, he didn't dare ask him about it as he had no intentions of involving himself in this operation even deeper.
Alas, he had no clue that the moment he was brought down to oversee the negativity energy's harvesting process, he was already too deep to come out.
Three decades later, he was just as involved as Duke Humphery whether he wanted to admit it or not...
***
Back to the present...
"But, how did she escape from you? I thought your contracts were bulletproof?" Boss Alves asked about Karra.
"It was due to a lapse of judgment from me, a lapse that I have never made ever again." Duke Humphery replied, his eyes colder than usual.
"I see..."
While this didn't answer his question, Boss Alves knew when to stop pressing the matter. Right away, he switched the topic.
"I can ensure you that she will get kicked out of the heaven plane even if it's the last thing I do."
At this moment, Boss Alves wasn't even planning to do this for the sake of the duke, but for himself.
As the duke said, he was involved too deeply in the project and if things turned south, he had no way to save himself unless the duke came forward and admitted that he had forced him to carry his missions.
Boss Alves was certain that the duke wasn't going to take the fall by himself.
"Mmm."
Duke Humphery made a noise of acknowledgment and went to the main subject of the meeting.
"I received news from Sharky that our operations have successfully spread out to Elderguard and Midnight cities. The reception of becoming fallen specters turned out to be received with open arms by the most desperate dark and indigo spirits. He is asking for extra hands to help facilitate the process without raising alarms." Duke Humphery ordered, "Take care of it."
Black lines appeared on Boss Alves' forehead at the order, not pleased in the slightest.
"Is there a problem?" Duke asked calmly.
"My lord, I have already told you before that my services will be related to the capital and the capital only." Boss Alves replied, his fists clutched tightly.
He knew that he would be in trouble for rejecting the duke's order, but if he didn't stand firm on his boundaries, he was certain that his business might not survive.
Unexpectedly, Duke Humphery neither cursed nor scolded him. He simply turned his chair to face the window again and uttered, "I see, I guess I will ask someone else to do it. You're excused."
"..."
Instead of being relieved, Boss Alves' heartbeats accelerated rapidly in agitation as he had a bad feeling that if he dared to walk out of the office, it wasn't going to end well for him or his business.
'I can't win...I just can't win.'
In the end, Boss Alves smiled bitterly at the reality of his situation, understanding that whether he rejected or accepted the order, he could never escape from Duke Humphery's strings.
In other words, if he decided to be a useful puppet, he would be left alone, if he decided otherwise, Duke Humphery had no issue with throwing him in the trash and replacing him with another...
"On second thought, I was also thinking of expanding my estates in those cities, so tell Sharky I will send my men to help him out."
"Mmmm."
Duke Humphery neither acted happy nor surprised by his sudden switch. He didn't even bother to turn his chair and face him. He gave a slight head nod and waved his hand, gesturing for him to take his leave.
"Thank you for your time."
Not daring to overstay his welcome, Boss Alves left the office and straightaway headed to the exit, having no plans to tour the mansion.
'Sigh...Why did I have to accept his help? Feel like I signed a contract with the devil.' Boss Alves sighed helplessly, feeling akin to a feather carried by the wind toward a storm.
When The Red Fangs Organization ended with a major loss that was going to put them under once and for good, it was Duke Humphery who reached out with a hand and pulled them from the rubble.
At that time, Boss Alves was desperate enough to accept his help even though he knew that it would turn the Duke into his benefactor.
He didn't have problems with this as he also felt good to be under someone with that kind of authority. So, each time a problem arose in his business, he always turned to Duke Humphrey for help.
The Duke never inquired him for anything in return until the eventful day, when he brought him into his fallen specter's operation...At that point, Boss Alves was already too indebted to reject anything asked of him.
If it was possible to turn back time, he would have rather chosen to have his business get ruined than take that demon's hands.
Alas...There was no medicine for regret.
'If I want to kick that girl, I need to kick now both her master and that lunatic.' Boss Alves narrowed his eyes coldly, 'With all the shady deals that witch makes in each case, I just need to find one destructive enough to get her kicked out. Then, I can deal with those two rats.'
When push came to shove, Boss Alves had no intentions of going easy on a bunch of strangers at risk of his own downfall.
The fact that Felix had already pissed the living sh*t out of him didn't make the decision any harder.
***
Many Days Later...
"How is the preparation going? The great filter stage will start tomorrow and many contestants from different cities have already gathered in the capital."
Miss Sanae asked lazily as she placed her foot above the other at her desk while using a file to smooth the edges of her nails.
"Not bad." Felix replied, leaning against the door while staring at a holographic screen.
He was reading the news about all the contestants who made their arrival public, challenging him, Ravager, and Goliath.
"Paradisa City, Valorielle City, Nirvanis City, and even Luminaara City contestants have voiced their challenge...Do they consider us weak?" Felix muttered with a neutral tone.
"Well, you are the only red-graded spirit qualified for the tournament." Miss Sanae replied, "But it's not really about that. The capital has always been targeted each year since it's considered the biggest and most influential city in the heavenly plane. So, if they challenged the champion and defeated him, the spotlight on them will be ten times more potent than doing it in their cities or in the fields."
"In other words, it's a major chance to advertise their sponsors whether they won or lost," Felix said.
"Bingo."
"Well, I am glad." Felix showed a sinister smile, "They made it easier for me to pass the great filter stage without needing to hunt others in the fields."
"You certain are pretty confident." Miss Sanae chuckled, knowing that Felix had every reason to act this cocky.
She had seen him waste more than four hundred thousand Lumus on spiritual treasures, clearing them off the markets and spiking their prices by five times!
Only then did he halt buying them.
In the past week, he had devoured everything and boosted his spiritual prowess to an unfathomable level.
The money obliviously came from Sir. Azravan and Mr. Zinnar.
Since Felix had won the bet against Miss Sanae, she stood to her word and split a 50/50 profit with him, which made him earn a sizable chunk of crystals to aid his preparation.
Sir. Azravan also stuck to his word and freed Emeric who was more than grateful for his freedom even when the case didn't rotate exactly the way he wanted.
"You better go to the Colosseum and utilize your champion privilege to reserve for your challenges before the start of the filter stage." Miss Sanae advised.
"I was planning to." Felix uttered as he closed the hologram.
While battles weren't allowed in the city, the Colosseum was an exception.
The champion of each city was given the privilege to reserve the Colosseum for his own fights ahead of everyone else.
"Sekiro, let's go." Felix threw a black jacket on himself and exited the bureau with Sekiro following him up close.
Roar! Roar!
The moment they got out, they were met with a two-
headed crimson lion, standing majestically near the door akin to a guard hound!
Sir. Azravan kept his word and delivered the lion to Felix even when his heart was being ripped out of its place.
This was supposed to be his jackpot, a beast capable of being solved for at least a million or even more if he got lucky.
Alas, unless he signed the contract, he wouldn't even be in the heavenly plane to enjoy that million...
Obviously, while the lion belonged to Felix, it was decided that if he wanted to sell it, the money would be split 50/50 with Miss Sanae.
There was no way she would be giving Felix such an expensive beast free of charge.
Roar Roar!
"Shut up."
With a single cold glance from Felix and the two-headed lion went quiet instantly, lowering their heads and whimpering silently like they had met their true alpha.
Felix and Sekiro jumped on the back of the lion and Felix ordered it to take off towards the Colosseum.
It was time for the main show to start!
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