Chapter 33: Fuck Me!

"That was all about our motives."

I exhaled a slow breath.

Now that I think about it, lying with a straight face is indeed a tough task.

"So you want me to join you?

And for what exactly? I have my own organization with sufficient personnel to cater to all my demands. I can’t picture what I would gain by joining hands with you.

Also, you seem keen on making me your pawn. Or your organization’s pawn—what was it, D.X.?"

I didn’t interrupt Alfred as he continued his monologue.

He sure was talking a lot.

"I wouldn’t call it being a pawn. It’s more like a mutually beneficial relationship."

Silence.

"Hahaha!"

Alfred’s laughter echoed in the room.

"Mutually beneficial?! And what benefit do I get?"

Before I could speak, he interjected again.

"Forget it. What would your organization even gain from me? Lonatu doesn’t have strong forces like you."

Alfred cast a brief glance at Arthur.

"Your brain is what we need. Specifically, your skills in alchemy.

We want a stable base in the legal market of the world. Just ruling from the shadows doesn’t give us the wings needed to soar higher.

At least that’s what my boss said."

"So you want me to make and sell some measly potions?

And what do I get in return?"

Was he acting dumb?

Heh.

"So should I take it as your willingness to join us?"

I grinned.

Alfred shrugged his shoulders. "You wouldn’t come here without studying us... and you might already know about the bounties on my head."

I nodded.

"It’s getting tough to procure new test subjects, as it is to sustain our operations. The major powerhouses seem to have reached a breaking point, making every effort to search for me.

At first, they had a cautious approach, but now, with rising pressure from the public, stronger individuals are being sent for my execution."

Alfred let the truth sink in.

"And many of my bases have already been destroyed, all the members killed.

They didn’t leave a single soul alive. Seeing these brutal hunts, many of the other heads surrendered themselves, begging for mercy... those fools."

It was the first time I was seeing some sort of emotional resemblance from Alfred.

This emotionless monster was displaying a myriad of emotions before me out of nowhere.

It felt like these were his real emotions, like he truly felt the frustration of betrayal.

But I knew better.

Alfred didn’t give a shit about his organization.

Lonatu—or whatever he called it.

He made it just to make his work easier. This guy was a hell of a loner.

Alfred could work in some cave for years, even without any external support.

He was fairly capable of kidnapping people on his own, irrespective of their power and status.

Still, the current state he was displaying was like showing me how human he was.

That he too felt sadness, anger, and all other emotions like a normal living person.

It was to make me think of him as something normal. To make me trust his story and accept the deal.

To make me think I was in control, while he used me as a meat shield for his own ambitions.

Sigh.

This child’s funny. Playing with me...

He still doesn’t know who the real dad is?

"Though none of them know the location of all other bases, I can only say that Lonatu isn’t what it was in the past."

Let him speak his mind.

Alfred looked at me. "Don’t be mistaken about it. We have grown weaker than before, but believe me, I still have what it takes to turn this situation upside down."

His words slowed.

"It’s just that the price to be paid is tremendous. The gains aren’t proportional to the losses I might suffer if I decide to fight back."

Alfred’s shoulders dropped in defeat.

Or the fake defeat he wanted to show.

I must say, his acting was natural—certainly better than some other person—

I smiled in Julien’s direction.

But seeing Alfred act so human...

It was terrifying.

His laughter, the pain in his eyes, his inability to push back against his enemies—everything felt so real!

As I looked into Alfred’s eyes, he gave me a hopeless smile.

A smile of someone on the brink of...

Defeat?

Haa.

He really was a natural predator. Acting like prey, waiting for his chance to...

Fuck me!

"So what would I get in return?"

Seeing that I didn’t reply, Alfred asked again.

"For an organization at our level, we would surely make a lot of enemies—both officials and criminals in the black markets.

So you would get a stable supply of high-quality subjects, and—"

I looked in Arthur’s direction.

"You would also receive our exclusive protection. How about it?"

Alfred gave an impressed smile.

"Truly mutual. My saviours!"

He made a small bow with his head, showing fake gratitude.

I take it back.

His acting was trash, same as—

Looks like I need to go the hard way!

"Haa..."

I rubbed my hair and walked toward a nearby researcher who was minding his own work despite our ongoing conversation.

Such diligence.

As I approached him, he lifted his head to look at me.

"Wha—"

Splurt!

A head rolled on the ground.

I raised my hand toward the body and resisted the incoming flow of mana essence.

Someone at Immortal rank should have been able to sense it, but given that Alfred was a weakling...

I made some extra effort.

This time, I actively used my own mana to resist the foreign mana essence.

The effect was friction created between the two.

And my goal?

"Impossible! This can’t be..."

To make the mana essence visible to the naked eye.

Someone like Alfred, with deep knowledge of anatomy, would surely recognize the mana in the air being illuminated by the friction I created.

"Don’t fuck with me, Alfred Symer.

Drop the act."

My indifferent voice reached Alfred’s ears.

He seemed to understand something, changing his awestruck look to his original expressionless face.

No.

This was colder than before.

The real him.

Those dead eyes now felt more alive, as if they held the deepest secrets buried within.

"You can control mana essence."

Alfred said it more as a statement than a question.

"I can barely control it, but my boss..."

I paused, letting the silence stretch.

"He can do much more with it.

From my sources, you were quite interested in harnessing foreign mana essence and using it for your experiments.

Those hybrids of yours are still incomplete, aren’t they?

Without mana essence, they are just frozen corpses, with no way to impart life into them."

I had to make Alfred understand what he would lose if he decided to pull any tricks.

"You don’t have to join us if you don’t want to.

No need to pretend otherwise.

I just needed you to know what you’ll lose without this deal."

Without any way to control foreign mana essence, all of Alfred’s projects were merely shells of creativity without life.

His life’s ambition depended on the very thing I could control at my fingertips.

This was my only real leverage against the monster before me.