Noah did not wait long before he was invited to the VIP reception room on the second floor of the Oval Building.
As soon as he entered, two receptionists in revealing maid outfits, one on his left and one on his right, enthusiastically pressed against Noah.
Joel watched the young playboy with a slight smile, embracing a woman on each side. Different people required different methods. For a vigorous young man like him, beautiful women were an excellent choice.
"Welcome, Mr. Nexus. I am Joel, a director of Black Bird."
Nexus was, of course, Noah's alias. Since he was in disguise, he naturally wouldn't use his real name. The so-called ten million investment was also made up by Noah. However, the two million deposit in the briefcase was prepared by President Roland for his infiltration plan.
Sitting on the leather sofa, Noah fully displayed the arrogant demeanor of a second-generation heir, unceremoniously propping his feet on the coffee table. "Your consortium really has a lot of swagger. I'm here to bring you money, yet you dared to make me wait for ten minutes."
Couldn't even wait ten minutes. He truly was a spoiled brat.
You'll realize your mistake later.
Joel felt displeased but maintained a smile on his face, lowering his posture to appease Noah.
"Mr. Nexus, what aspect are you interested in investing in? Our Black Bird has a very wide range of businesses."
"Whatever Heartfilia invested in, I'll follow. This time, I'll see what my family can say about me only losing money."
Listening to the young man's defiant tone, Joel became even more convinced that he was just a dissolute playboy who only knew how to eat, drink, and be merry. He would certainly not have the patience to scrutinize complex contracts. Thus, he immediately had his subordinate bring over a contract filled with hidden problems.
As long as he was tricked into signing his name, this brainless playboy, along with his family, would fall into the meticulously woven trap of Black Bird.
At that time, it wouldn't be me who was speaking humbly.
Feeling increasingly smug, Joel pushed the contract towards Noah. "Mr. Nexus, ten million is only enough to join one of our cooperation plans with Heartfilia, but please rest assured, you will absolutely not incur any losses."
"If you trust me, please sign."
Noah only skimmed through the contract and found several issues. Was the other party really taking him for a fool?
However, Noah still signed his name readily. After all, he was signing as Nexus—what did it have to do with him, Noah?
Seeing Noah sign the contract as expected, Joel was secretly pleased and immediately ordered his subordinate to take away Noah's briefcase containing the two million deposit.
"Hey, wait a minute."
With one hand pressing on the briefcase, Noah feigned a belated look of panic, his voice a little flustered. "Director Joel, I just remembered that there seems to be an unreasonable clause in the contract."
"Is this contract genuine?"
He noticed so quickly. He wasn't entirely useless after all.
Joel's enthusiastic demeanor from before instantly changed, and he spoke unhappily. "Our Black Bird is a legitimate business consortium. According to the contract, you need to inject twenty million into our consortium within three days, otherwise, it will be considered a breach of contract, and you will have to pay three times the penalty."
"What!!"
"Is this flimsy paper made of gold, or are the words on it made of gold! I'm not investing!"
Looking at the young man's flustered expression, Joel sneered. "Now? You must be joking, right?"
"Nexus, didn't your family teach you about contractual spirit? You have money to earn, yet you can't seize the opportunity. You complain it's expensive, and I complain you have no money to put on airs."
Provoked by this, the young man immediately became enraged. He pushed away the receptionist beside him, picked up the ashtray from the coffee table, and smashed it on Joel's head.
His head bleeding, Joel never expected the other party to resort to violence directly. Dazed, he hadn't even had time to call his subordinates before Noah pressed his advantage, pinning him to the ground and rubbing his face on it.
The violent scene frightened the two ladies, and their sharp screams immediately spread throughout the building.
"Murder!"
"Murder!"
"Someone's trying to kill the president! Get help!"
Before the security department could act, a white-robed figure appeared like a ghost at the reception room door, instantly kicking Noah flying into a cabinet displaying fine wines in the room.
Amidst crashing sounds, the cabinet fell, pinning the young man underneath.
Priest Kula breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Joel had only suffered some superficial injuries. Joel was an important executor of his plan, and the Cult could not find anyone to replace him in managing the consortium in a short time.
Joel was helped up by the arriving security personnel, staring angrily at the figure pinned under the cabinet. "You, drag him out! I'm going to teach him a good lesson."
"No need, I'll handle him."
Kula immediately overruled Joel. "I understand the situation. Today, you can pretend that this Nexus never came. I will use Magic to control him to kill Roland's family."
"Using someone else to kill, solving the problem without exposing the Cult. Priest Kula, you are brilliant."
Joel didn't forget to flatter him even at this moment, and Kula was quite pleased. Magic condensed into a silk thread in his hand, heading towards the gap under the collapsed cabinet.
Puppet Manipulation Thread could control creatures connected by Magic threads. Kula had once used it to control warriors from an entire village, making them personally slaughter their own village.
Suddenly, Kula felt his Magic as if it was stuck by something. His Magic thread could easily cut through stone, so how could it be stuck by mere wooden material?
Just as Kula was about to exert force, the thread in his hand suddenly tensed, and an irresistible immense force came from the other end of the thread, forcibly pulling Kula flying.
The fallen cabinet exploded with a bang, and a figure emerged from within.
He wore gloves on both hands. His left hand was entangled with Kula's Magic thread, which he held tightly. His right hand, clenched into a fist, swung and struck Kula squarely in the chest.
Bang!
A bursting sound rang out again. The white-robed man's clothes exploded, and his body pierced through the ceiling. His upper body was precisely stuck, leaving only his two legs flailing.
Kula felt an unbearable pain in his chest. If it weren't for the protective capabilities of the Priest's uniform, he felt that the punch just now would've been enough to severely injure him.
Quickly cutting the surrounding with Magic, Kula descended while attacking the position in his memory.
"Where is he?!"
Looking at the spot where there was only a pile of broken wood, Kula cried out inwardly that something was wrong and quickly manipulated the threads to weave a protective net beneath his body.
Standing silently behind him.
But a figure had silently appeared behind him as Kula moved.
The newcomer's aura was completely calm.
As if he'd merged with the air, even Kula, who was fully focused on defense, did not sense his presence...
This figure could only be... Noah.
In an instant, dozens of fist shadows rained down like a violent storm. The five elements of wind, thunder, water, fire, and earth constantly switched, leaving one mark after another on Kula's body.
When Kula fell to the ground, his body was covered with five-colored Magic marks, and a huge sense of crisis swept over him.
He would die! He would die! He would die!
The deadly crisis made Kula unleash his Magic with full force. It was neither an attack nor a defense. His body actually scattered like threads, drifting towards the window.
This is my escape route!
Just from the brief exchange, Kula understood that the opponent's strength was definitely above his own. Puppet Manipulation Thread could control living beings, but the premise was being able to lock onto the target.
With both strength and speed suppressed, Kula, who was not good at close combat, had no reason to continue fighting. Running away was the best option at the moment.
"Nexus! I will make you pay! Remember this!"
"Haha, why wait for later? Come and try it now!"
Noah sneered, clenching his five fingers. The blasting gloves suddenly lit up with five colors. At the same time, the threads that Kula's body had transformed into also lit up with the same interwoven light.
"Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Earth."
"Five Extremes Power—Elemental Blast Fist!"
Feeling the explosive Magic Power on his body, Kula finally understood that his failure was sealed the moment Noah got close to him.
Beating Joel was just bait, and he'd fallen for it.
Unfortunately, it was too late to understand everything now.
A scream echoed across the sky above Black Bird headquarters. Bloody, tiny pieces of flesh rained down from the sky like hail.
Because he'd used Magic to turn himself into threads, Kula's death was truly horrifying after the Magic failed.
Joel could see the falling blood rain even through the window. He felt a warm sensation in his crotch, flowing down his trembling legs. It was as if the murderer wasn't the infamous Black Magic Priest, but the handsome young man disguised as a playboy.
Noah smiled and turned around.
"Director Joel, let's talk about your problems."