novelraw Chapter 204: New Slave!
Chapter 204: New Slave!
P Corp’s director’s face changed several times within a few minutes.
At first, there was anger. Then calculation. Then something close to fear.
He looked at me, at Lyra, and finally at the floor as if it might give him a better option than the one standing in front of him.
After a while, he sighed.
"I will become your slave."
"Good choice," I said calmly.
’He accepted pretty quickly.’
I had prepared for resistance, since I knew he had one more place to fall back to: the [Pure-Iron Faction] he belonged to.
But he didn’t put up an resistance.
’Well, it makes sense he agreed here.’
He knew better than anyone what Pure-Iron Faction was like.
Among all factions inside System Church, they were the most notorious.
No one knew who its members were. They operated in shadows, and were known to be rutheless.
They were infamous even within the Church itself. And to the Head Corporation, they were practically enemies.
If Head Corporation found out someone was part of Pure-Iron Faction, they would not only obliterate that person but also anyone connected to them.
So if this director returned to the Pure-Iron Faction weakened, exposed, and without value, they would devour him for benefits instead of helping him.
He understood that.
I placed the contract on the table.
"Read it carefully. Then sign," I said.
After a long minute, he picked up the pen and signed.
I signed right after him.
The Slave Mark flared faintly on the back of his hand before fading into his skin.
I stretched my neck slightly and turned toward Lyra.
"Treat his injuries."
"Okay," she replied in a normal tone, already moving.
She took out several instruments from the metal case on the table. Nothing dramatic. Just precise tools and compact devices designed for field stabilization.
She worked efficiently, cleaning wounds, injecting stabilizers, and setting fractured bone segments with practiced movements.
The director winced but stayed quiet.
While she worked, I pulled Dante out of my pocket and placed him on the ground beside me.
He shook himself like a small animal and stood upright.
"I’m assigning Dante as L Corp’s guard until you can rebuild L Corp to a respectable level. If someone comes that you can’t handle, just throw him at them and run," I told the Lyra.
Lyra glanced at Dante and then at me.
"Will that really be enough?" she asked, her voice doubtful.
"It will be. But I’ll warn you again. Escape the area as soon as possible once Dante is activated. His abilities can’t distinguish between friend and foe. He’s powerful, but he’s dangerous," I said.
Dante puffed out his chest proudly.
Look at this guy.
He was learning human gestures faster than I expected.
The director frowned at Dante.
"That thing looks like your Cursed Item," he said slowly. "Whether you’re Rank 1 or Rank 2, your Cursed Item must be around that rank. How can a Rank 1 Cursed Item deal with enemies who will come to eliminate us and establish a new Corporation?"
I shrugged.
Explaining Dante properly would take too long. And he wouldn’t believe it anyway.
Dante’s ability to generate a different eldritch horror for every individual observer was absurdly overpowered.
Each person saw their own version.
The only version someone could damage—if they could damage—was the one visible to them.
Other versions, visible to others but not to you, could not be touched by you.
So if twenty people fought Dante, it wasn’t a group fight. It was twenty separate boss fights happening at the same time.
Of course, Dante wasn’t invincible.
A Rank 5 Exorcist could probably seal or destroy him. A particularly strong Rank 4, or a well-prepared organization with sealing artifacts, might manage as well.
But if the Illegal Authorities had someone of that caliber available, they would have overtaken a Corporation already.
The director still looked unconvinced.
"Even so," he said carefully, "my enemies will not be simple street-level Illegal Authorities. They will be other Corporations. They will not hesitate to use high-rank assets."
"Don’t worry. You won’t be staying at L Corp," I replied.
He blinked. "What?"
"The only technologies Lyra and L Corp currently possess are Lantern Technology and Severity Level Reduction Technology. Both are patented. And thus known. That means no other Corporation has incentive to crush L Corp directly. It’s legally protected and strategically irrelevant to them."
I leaned back slightly.
"So L Corp’s only realistic enemies are weaker Illegal Authorities who think they can exploit a rebuilding Corp. Those can be handled by Dante."
I pointed at him.
"But you are different. Your enemies are Corporations. If they know you’re at L Corp, they’ll bring heavy pressure. That puts everyone at risk.
"So keeping you at L Corp is dangerous for us. You’ll be staying somewhere else," I finished.
"That... makes sense," he admitted after a few seconds. "Where will I be staying?"
"I’ll show you tomorrow. For now, focus on healing. And start sharing all technologies you possess with Lyra," I said.
His head snapped toward me.
"What? No—"
The Slave Mark flared violently.
He screamed.
It wasn’t just pain. It was a deep, internal punishment that twisted his nerves and locked his muscles. He fell partially off the chair before Lyra stabilized him to prevent further injury.
I chuckled softly.
Now he understood what kind of contract he had signed.
When the pain subsided, he was breathing heavily.
"You will transfer all technological knowledge in your possession. Complete and unfiltered," I repeated calmly.
He swallowed and remained frozen, trying to understand what had happened.
Lyra gave him a brief, sympathetic look.
She had been scammed into slavery once too. She understood what it meant to realize the trap too late.
I turned to her.
"Parasite Technology and everything this guy has will be useful. Learn it properly. But don’t let anyone else know what you’ve learned unless we can repair Jasmine 000."
"I understand."
She began preparing recording modules to capture the director’s explanations.