Even swindlers miscalculate sometimes.
Chelman had taken the bait.
He was now hauling piles of utterly useless dirt back to his dimensional home—greatly accelerating construction of the basement.
Any building above two floors required a foundation.
Even without one, reckless digging could cause collapse.
Adam, as a transmigrator, understood this perfectly.
Hollowing out ground too close to the surface was suicidal.
So he dug downward—hard.
Relentless.
As he excavated, he compressed the surrounding soil with brute force, pressing sand and dirt into the walls.
Hands that could crush stone could easily compact earth to near-rock hardness.
Gradually—
A vertical shaft formed.
Solid. Reinforced.
Ten meters deep—
Until—
CLANG.
He struck bedrock.
For ordinary diggers, rock was a nightmare.
You couldn't dig it.
You couldn't chisel it.
Explosives?
Risk collapsing the entire tunnel.
But for Adam?
It was a blessing.
Exactly what he needed.
His claws extended to their limit.
SHRAKK—
He sliced straight into the rock.
Behind him, Silver Bell caught the flying fragments with precision.
Each piece—
Uniform.
Rectangular.
Natural stone bricks.
Perfect building material.
The rock layer was cleared.
But groundwater surged up immediately.
Adam calculated the elevation.
Then began excavating sideways.
Not long after—
A vast underground chamber took shape.
Two hundred square meters.
Two meters high.
At the center formed a natural pool fed by groundwater.
There were even small fish swimming inside—creatures from an underground river.
Using the quarried stone—
They built a proper basement.
Stone brick flooring.
Three stone coffins for resting.
Stone cabinets, tables, chairs.
Partitioned side rooms.
And at the very center—
The water pool.
Silver Bell, with her centuries of artistic obsession, carved three statues of maidens holding vases and placed them beside the pool.
Elegant.
Surprisingly refined.
"Alright," Adam called cheerfully.
"Bring out Yu Jia's belongings."
He was talking to Chelman.
"When are you returning my dirt?" Chelman asked coldly, ignoring him.
He had clearly realized he'd been tricked.
"When I say I need it," Adam replied with a smile.
"And my ten thousand gold?"
"Paid when the cargo reaches its destination. As agreed."
"…Where is the destination?"
Adam smirked.
"Antarctica."
He chuckled.
"If you can't wait for me to go there, you can deliver it yourself. I'll still pay."
Chelman could go?
Of course not.
Through prior dealings, Adam had learned the truth—
Chelman's home existed in another dimension.
He traveled via the bottle.
Moving the bottle itself was extremely difficult for him.
Flying from Greece to Antarctica?
Impossible.
He'd probably drop into the ocean halfway.
This was an open scam.
"When are you going to Antarctica?" Chelman growled, unwilling to give up.
"When I master advanced vampire blood arts."
Adam laughed harder.
Yu Jia and Silver Bell were already laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
Chelman's face turned crimson.
He'd scammed countless people.
This was the first time he'd been scammed.
Chelman was bound by restrictions.
He couldn't rob others of treasure.
He could only deceive.
That was why a demon capable of banditry worked as a swindler instead.
He also had to honor agreements.
He could twist terms in many cases—
But not this one.
So even after realizing the trap, he couldn't dump the dirt back.
He had to keep transporting it.
Every bit of this information—
Adam had previously pried out of him with gold.
Back then, Chelman thought he'd sold useless trivia.
He'd been delighted.
Now?
Those same details struck his fatal weakness.
"Anyway," Adam said again,
"Return Yu Jia's belongings."
He emphasized the words—making sure Chelman wouldn't mix the two contracts.
Chelman stayed silent for a long time.
Furious.
Face flushed.
Finally, he made a rude face at Adam—
And vanished.
Black smoke poured from the bottle.
It filled the chamber.
When it cleared—
Items lay scattered everywhere.
All the cargo they'd shipped from Corsica.
"I'm taking my five hundred gold commission!"
Chelman's vicious voice echoed in the air.
No matter how angry he was—
A profiteer never refused money.
"I didn't know swindlers could get scammed too," Yu Jia laughed, wheezing.
"His dimensional house must be filled with dirt now. Dirt he can't even throw away."
"But…" Silver Bell hesitated.
"If we need him again later… will he still agree?"
They wouldn't stay here forever.
Once they entered the Athenaeum Library and finished studying the world's most complete collection of vampire blood arts—
They'd have to leave.
Smuggling goods out of Athens wouldn't be easy.
This wasn't Corsica.
Enemies were everywhere.
"Don't worry."
Adam exhaled slowly, picked up the bottle, and sealed the cap.
"I've been thinking about how to control that swindler."
"And I finally found the secret."
"What secret?" Yu Jia asked.
"Owing him money."
What did profiteers fear most?
Debt.
In Adam's previous life, the world was full of profiteers.
How did corporations control them?
Debt leverage.
If Adam couldn't control Chelman—
Chelman couldn't control Adam either.
They were equals.
So the only leash…
Was unpaid money.
Chelman stormed off now—
But only temporarily.
He would return.
Because as long as Adam owed him gold—
He'd cling to hope.
Hope that Adam would pay.
To secure repayment, he'd have to behave.
Please Adam.
Serve Adam.
Wait for the day Adam allowed him to unload the dirt—
So he could finally claim his ten thousand gold.
Just like corporations delaying supplier payments.
Monthly settlements.
Quarterly.
Even yearly.
If one shipment failed—
The profiteer lost everything.
And the key rule of payment leverage?
Never settle the full amount.
Always leave a balance.
So even if Adam paid later—
He'd keep a remaining debt.
Enough to keep Chelman hooked.
Bound to the same ship.
Restricted.
Controlled.
If Chelman heard this plan—
He'd probably cough blood on the spot.
But he couldn't hear it.
So he could only guess.
And guessing bred hope.
Hope bred entrapment.
"You're terrifyingly smart," Yu Jia said in awe.
If he'd understood this earlier—
He wouldn't have been scammed into bankruptcy.
"So… we can trust Chelman now?" Silver Bell asked innocently.
Adam shook his head.
"No. A swindler is always a swindler."
"This just keeps him from going too far."
"We still stay cautious."
Suddenly—
Adam froze.
His ears twitched slightly.
"What is it?" Yu Jia asked.
A fifteenth-generation vampire's hearing was far weaker than first or second generation.
Silver Bell's ears moved too.
She looked up.
"Bibu's knocking on the door."