A series of empty bowls lay before Roy as he patted his stomach in a rare sense of satisfaction. Thankfully, his tactical vest held tight, keeping his bloated belly in place.
The workers came back and proceeded to pack up, leaving him and Vera alone.
Her emerald gaze glued to his figure, she did as promised, bringing up the reason for the invite straight away. "Now that we are done with the meals, we best get to business."
"A Hunter of about level 8 or higher invaded your territory just yesterday, and from what I heard from my sources, both he and his whole squad who went in for rescue have yet to step out ever since."
Roy remained silent, his gaze meeting hers, but his expression gave nothing as she continued, her fingers tapping the polished wood table in rhythm.
"I'll just come out and say it. Dio holds the location of a dungeon, one of the wonders of Arcana. I would ask for nothing but a chance to assist you in the expedition."
By now her expression was already dead serious, her playful seductive flair dissolving with the stifled wind. This was her merchant self, one that treated bargains as seriously as life-and-death battles.
Roy remained silent with a thought. I see, that's what they mean when they said I have a pile of treasure hidden beneath my feet… to think it was actually Dio. Well, that makes it easier.
Right now, Richard was temporarily in charge of his building development, army training, and farming, but all these left out the prisoners he had locked up…
He had been worried about ways to increase his subordinates' levels. This dungeon indeed might prove useful, but his brows furrowed when he thought of Vera.
Theoretically speaking, telling him about the dungeon wasn't enough for a bargain. After all, as long as Dio remained behind his bars, getting this info was merely just a matter of time. Except she has yet to call the price she is willing to pay.
And indeed, he was right as Vera spoke bluntly, "Forgive me if my next words are offensive…"
"The dungeon Dio discovered was estimated by him to be a high-level dungeon, one well above the twenties. So you can imagine how much more terrifying the boss monster might be. To conquer such a dungeon, you are too weak."
Roy understood where she was getting at. By enlisting her help, they would share the loot and she would help him clear the dungeon — a win-win. Well, that was if he was a normal Lord.
He deliberated for a moment…
Seeing him contemplating, Vera added, "That's not all, there's more."
"Oh?" Roy raised a brow in response.
"You see, as an early comer, I have a vast amount of info and resources at my disposal, ones that would be vital to a newcomer like you… Allow me to embark on this journey with you, and I will nominate you to join an alliance I'm a part of."
Roy's gaze became hesitant. He wasn't in the right space to be mingling with other Lords now. One had to realize that at some point in time he was destined to clash with all Lords — Vera and the Nine Supremes included. After all, who would sit and watch as he extended a part of his territory into theirs, planting police outposts and naturally his officers in their domain?
Vera seemed to sense this worry of his and immediately began correcting his line of thought. "I see you might be worried about getting close to other Lords. Let me guess, it might have something to do with your Order…"
"But fret not. I'll start by saying this: I am a chosen of the First Class Order of Trades, and I awakened the S-Class Universal Merchant System."
Roy's eyes widened. Why was she stating out loud something that was meant to be a secret?
Vera shook her head at his questioning gaze. "Don't make the mistake of thinking keeping your Order hidden is wise. Those who do so are the weak — the Second Class Orders and lesser. If you are a true First Class, you must have no fear of exposing it."
"And besides, my system requires me to open a market across other Lords' territories. This requirement is quite similar with a few other Lords I know… I'm guessing it's the same with you?"
Roy couldn't help but nod. "Yes, indeed, quite similar."
Vera finally smiled. "That's one of the benefits of our alliance. We are a close circle of Lords who have each other's backs and are not allowed to turn against each other. So naturally, those in the alliance will be willing to allow you to bridge their territories with whatever you have to set, as long as you let them into yours."
That's smart, achieving your goals without violence and unnecessary trouble. But the problem still remained… Roy's skeptic voice sounded. "Why would I trust these other Lords and believe they wouldn't stab anyone in the back?"
Fingers twirling her locks, Vera's mesmerizing smile stayed true as she replied in a beat, "Naturally, we have a Lord amongst us who is a bearer of the Order of Oaths and Covenants, and he awakened the Heavenly Covenant System. Mind you, he is one of the strongest among us all. The broken abilities granted by his Order allowed him to reign over our oath as an alliance…"
She paused, her gaze carrying an ominous glint all of a sudden. "And I assure you, after the first tried renegading and others saw with their eyes the vile repercussions of trying to skirt an oath presided upon by the Covenant Lord, I can guarantee none would have the balls to dare try anything funny."
Roy was immediately tempted. This was a chance to step into the social circle of early comers and other powerful Lords. Also, with the communication between territories, development would be super fast.
Though the thought was extremely enticing, Roy still asked, "Is it possible for me to delay the response to joining your alliance? And besides, I will need to meet them first."
He had ultimately decided to wait. There would be plenty of time to deal with this after the Upgrade Calamity, and besides, he wanted to meet with them on equal footing — as an equal, and not as a lesser.
Vera nodded. "As long as you are ready, I will nominate you. As for meeting with them, that will naturally have to happen before you join our circle."
"So about the dungeon…"
Roy waved his hand dismissively. "I accept!"
"Good. I will pick a team along with me. We will all embark to your territory to pick Dio." Vera's eyes lit up as she started making arrangements. Unfortunately, it was interrupted.
"No need for unnecessary troubles…" After saying this, Dio activated a function on the system. This new function was a reward given to him the moment he completed his prisoner quota, and it was called Call To Service.
This function allowed the Cosmic Policeman to summon any prisoner of his choosing to his location, no matter how far.
Vera suddenly felt it. This was her territory, but something beyond her comprehension burrowed into her domain, passing through space and time. Something was teleporting into her home!
And she couldn't stop it. She just watched as space fluctuated and destabilized, only after spitting out a familiar disoriented figure did it stabilize.
It was Dio!
Tumultuous waves brewed in her heart as she gazed at Roy, her gaze grim, carrying a certain wariness.
That wasn't normal. How could a Lord tamper with the law of another Lord's territory? How could he isolate her control of space?
A tingle crept down her spine. What… what if Roy was an enemy and he summoned an army suddenly out of thin air into the heart of her territory?
Ben's caution rang in her mind as it began dawning on her. This guy… he's dangerous!