Seketika itu juga, Michael bisa merasakan kejengkelan Theresa mendengar ucapan Levi. Sayangnya, dia tidak punya jawaban untuk tawaran semacam itu.
Kekuatan Konglomerat Goldstone berasal dari berbagai properti mereka yang tersebar di seluruh dunia. Namun, cabang Theresa hanya berfokus pada Benua Kerajaan. Dan sayangnya bagi Theresa, sudah menjadi rahasia umum bahwa Lazarus telah menyisir seluruh benua itu demi mencari subjek-subjeknya. Sang Master Mistik telah mengarahkan pandangannya ke luar negeri.
Kebetulan, Levi secara khusus menangani cabang terbesar perusahaan Vanderbilt di luar negeri. Dia tidak bercanda ketika mengatakan bahwa dirinya bisa memberi Lazarus banyak mayat untuk dibedah dari beragam spesies yang tidak ditemukan di Benua Kerajaan.
"Bagaimana menurutmu?" tanya Levi. "Berikan kelopak es itu kepadaku, dan aku akan memberimu subjek yang kauinginkan. Kudengar, semakin eksotis mereka, semakin baik hasilnya untuk penelitianmu."
Lazarus Cadaver memiringkan kepala, tampaknya sedang mempertimbangkan tawaran itu. "Aku tertarik."
Wajah Levi langsung cerah, sementara wajah Theresa berubah masam. "Namun, akhir-akhir ini aku sedang kekurangan sumber daya. Kelopak esku tidak lagi menghasilkan sebanyak sebelumnya. Aku tidak punya yang bisa kuberikan."
Seketika, kedua pemimpin Konglomerat itu bangkit berdiri.
"Tapi kita sudah membuat kesepakatan!" seru Theresa. "Guild of Arcana sudah menjaminku bahwa kau bisa menyediakan kelopak es yang kubutuhkan!"
Lazarus tetap tenang. "Mereka yang menjaminnya kepadamu. Bukan aku."
Theresa menoleh kepada Seberus. "Tuan Seberus..." Tatapannya dipenuhi permohonan. Jika ada yang bisa membantunya meyakinkan Lazarus, orang itu pasti Master Mistik lainnya.
Namun, Seberus hanya mengangkat bahu. "Maaf. Kami, para Master Mistik, memiliki kesepakatan untuk tidak mencampuri urusan satu sama lain."
Michael bisa melihat bahwa Theresa ingin mengatakan sesuatu lagi, tetapi dia segera sadar bahwa yang dihadapinya adalah seorang Master Mistik. Bahkan ada dua orang.
Mereka mungkin bagian dari Guild of Arcana, tetapi itu bukan berarti mereka terikat oleh guild tersebut. Dengan kekuatan yang mereka miliki, para Master Mistik bisa melakukan apa pun yang mereka inginkan tanpa masalah. Bahkan para Konglomerat pun tidak punya kuasa atas mereka.
Theresa segera menyadari bahwa posisi tawarnya dalam percakapan ini tidak ada gunanya. Dia langsung menarik diri, matanya berkilat penuh pertimbangan.
Sementara itu, Levi segera menangkap perubahan raut wajah Lazarus. Dia memanfaatkannya dan mengajukan pertanyaan yang tepat. "Lalu, apa yang bisa membuatmu yakin? Kau tentu tidak akan datang kemari jika tidak berniat berdagang dengan kami, bukan?"
Benar saja, Lazarus mengangguk. "Ya. Aku meluangkan waktu untuk mengunjungi tempat ini karena ada banyak hal menarik yang kuinginkan. Namun, yang paling kuinginkan adalah sesuatu yang spesifik. Aku menginginkan monster-monster magis itu."
Begitu mendengar ucapan itu, kedua pemimpin Konglomerat tersebut tersentak. Mata mereka menyipit. Percakapan ini jelas serius.
"Dari mana kau mendengar tentang itu?" tanya Levi.
Dan untuk pertama kalinya, Michael melihat sesuatu yang cukup menarik. Levi dan Theresa saling menatap! Tatapan itu bukanlah tatapan penuh tantangan, melainkan tatapan penuh kesepakatan rahasia!
Michael sama sekali tidak tahu apa yang sedang mereka bicarakan, tetapi dia mulai memahami apa yang mungkin telah terjadi.
Sepertinya monster magis itu adalah sesuatu yang telah disepakati Levi dan Theresa untuk dirahasiakan! Di tengah semua pertengkaran kecil, perbedaan pendapat, dan persaingan mereka, kedua pemimpin Konglomerat itu memilih bekerja sama untuk menutupi informasi tersebut.
Namun, tampaknya mereka tidak cukup baik dalam melakukannya. Lazarus berhasil mengetahuinya.
"Aku menginginkan mayat mereka," tuntut Lazarus.
Akhirnya, Levi kembali menatap Michael. Matanya menyipit, lalu dia memandang ke sekeliling, melewati dinding perkemahannya sendiri.
"Baiklah. Tapi tidak di sini. Tidak pantas membicarakan hal ini di tempat yang terlalu banyak telinga mendengarkan."
Theresa segera maju. "Aku bisa menyediakan tempat pribadi untuk kita berbicara."
"Tempatku akan—"
"Tidak akan cukup," potong Theresa. "Dan kau tahu itu. Akan lebih menguntungkan bagi kita berdua jika kau menggunakan sumber dayaku untuk urusan ini."
Levi menggigit bibir, tetapi akhirnya mengangguk dan menerima penilaiannya. Theresa menguasai banyak Dimensi Saku, yang bisa digunakannya sebagai pengalih perhatian atau umpan jika ada yang mencoba menguping percakapan mereka.
"Tapi tidak boleh ada orang lain," kata Levi, ditujukan kepada semua orang, meski Michael bisa merasakan bahwa dirinya sedang dikecualikan secara khusus.
Reborn mungkin memiliki perkemahan sendiri, tetapi itu bukan berarti mereka dianggap sebagai faksi sungguhan. Mereka hanya diizinkan untuk berada di sana.
Dan ketika mereka hendak pergi, Michael angkat bicara.
"Jika boleh, Tuan Lazarus. Aku ingin tahu apakah Anda memiliki informasi lebih lanjut tentang Zephyrs."
Immediately, Michael could feel Theresa’s annoyance with Levi’s words. Unfortunately for her, she had no answer for his kind of offer.
The Goldstone Conglomerates’ strength came from their various real estates all over the world. However, Theresa’s branch only focused on the Royal Continent. And unfortunately for her, it was widely known that Lazarus had already scoured the entire continent for his subjects. The Mystic Master had set his sights overseas.
And coincidentally, Levi specifically dealt with the biggest branch of the Vanderbilt company overseas. He wasn’t kidding when he said that he’d be able to give Lazarus many dissectable corpses from a variety of species not found in the Royal Continent.
"What about it?" Levi asked. "Give those Ice-petals to me, and I shall give you the subjects you want. I heard the more exotic they are, the better it will be for your studies."
Lazarus Cadaver tilted his head, seemingly considering the offer. "I would like that."
Levi’s countenance brightened up, while Theresa’s turned into a scowl. "But I’ve recently had a lack of resources at the moment. My ice-petals have not been producing at the same amount. I do not have any to give away."
Immediately, this caused the two Conglomerate leaders to stand up.
"But we’ve had an agreement!" Theresa shouted. "The Guild of Arcana has already assured me that you will be able to provide the ice-petals that I needed!"
Lazarus kept his cool composure. "They assured you. I did not."
Theresa turned to Seberus. "Sir Seberus..." her eyes were filled with pleading. If there was anyone that could help her convince Lazarus, then it would be another Mystic Master.
However, Seberus could only shrug. "I’m sorry. We Mystic Masters have a pact to leave each other’s businesses alone."
Michael could tell that Theresa wanted to say more, but she immediately realized that she was dealing with a Mystic Master. Two of them, in fact.
They may be a part of the Guild of Arcana, but that didn’t mean they were shackled by them. With the kind of power they had, any of the Mystic Masters could do whatever they wanted without any problems. Even Conglomerates had no hold over them.
Theresa immediately realized that her bargaining powers were fruitless in this conversation. She immediately withdrew within herself, her eyes flashing with thought.
Meanwhile, Levi immediately saw that look on Lazarus’ face. He was able to take advantage of it and ask the right questions. "Then what will gain your surety? Surely you wouldn’t have come here if you weren’t planning on trading with us?"
Sure enough, Lazarus nodded. "Yes. I took the time to visit this place because it has a lot of interesting things that I want. But most of all, I want something in particular. I want the magical monsters."
As soon as he said that, both Conglomerate leaders started. Their eyes narrowed. This was a serious conversation.
"Where have you heard about that?" Levi asked.
And for the first time, Michael saw something quite interesting. Levi and Theresa both made eye contact! And it was not the kind of stare that was filled with challenge. It was a conspiratorial kind of stare!
Michael had no idea what they were talking about, but he was starting to get an idea about what happened.
It seemed that this magical monster was something that both Levi and Theresa had agreed to keep a secret! For all their skirmishes, their disagreements, and their rivalries, the two Conglomerate leaders chose to work together to suppress information from coming out.
But it seemed that they didn’t do a good enough job on it. Lazarus was able to find out.
"BU TO TO!"
Michael heard the sounds of the Orc Chieftains whispering in his ear.
"We apologize, Supreme Leader. We did not know about the presence of the magical monsters."
What are they anyway? Michael asked.
"We have been looking around the Chasm for a while now, RAH TA TA. And throughout our information-gathering, we have heard about whisperings and rumors spreading around it.
We knew that the Conglomerates were trying to hide something. But we just didn’t know what. We apologize for our incompetence."
It seemed that magical monsters were present here in the Chasm and that the Conglomerates were trying their hardest to suppress anyone else from finding out.
The Shadow Orcs were feeling sorry for not finding out about it sooner, but Michael didn’t hold it against them.
After all, they were Conglomerates. Levi was in control of the 4th largest branch in the Vanderbilt company. Of course they would have strong anti-espionage defenses in place. They probably had a Nascent Spirit cultivator taking charge of that, which was why the Shadow Orcs were unable to break through it.
It was already impressive that the Orcs found out that there was a conspiracy and was able to get away without the Conglomerates finding out about it.
"I want their corpses," demanded Lazarus.
And finally, Levi turned to look at Michael again. His eyes narrowed, before looking around him, beyond the walls of his own camp.
"Alright. But not here. It is not appropriate to talk where there are too many ears listening."
Theresa immediately stepped up. "I can provide a private place for us to talk."
"My place will—"
"It will not suffice," Theresa said, cutting off Levi. "And you know it. It will serve us both better if you use my resources for this."
Levi bit his lips, but he eventually nodded and agreed with her assessment. She had possession of many Pocket Dimensions, which she could use as a distraction or a decoy if anyone ever tried to listen in to their conversation.
"But no one else," Levi said, saying it to everyone, but Michael could tell that he was being singled out for this.
Reborn may have their own camp, but that didn’t mean he was considered as a real faction. They were just being allowed to exist there.
And as they were about to walk away, Michael spoke up.
"If I may, mister Lazarus. I would like to know whether you have more information about the Zephyrs."
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