Frederick sat in his private study, rubbing his forehead while groaning out in discontent at the latest record to have landed in his hands.
Reia and Damian stood in front of Frederick, their expressions a bit awkward.
"So he kicked everyone out of his city after its completion and announced that the formation would be on lockdown for the next few years to at least a decade?" Frederick felt an oncoming headache trying to process the situation.
Why would he advertise the establishment of a common hubbub for solo cultivators and a black market if he were going to shut off all outsiders on the day of completion?
Frederick's eyes widened as he cursed under his breath.
Reia might be weak, but she was quite the clever one and she had also brought up this point to Damian on the way—both of them eventually came to one conclusion.
He was using the fake news as both a deterrent and means of protection—but why would he need that if he had a rebirth realm cultivator in his camp?
Obviously, he spent the last three years finding that support, while all these cultivators were used as a front—a protective talisman that bought him the time needed.
Now with a rebirth realm cultivator in the house, those people are redundant.
If it weren't for the contract between Frederick and Leonardo, he would have been duped as well. Thus, he couldn't help but laugh to himself.
Reia spoke up just then, "My lord, since we have a contract of ownership to a piece of land in the city then why were we chased out too?"
She was genuinely confused about this.
Yes, he ate his words after declaring to the whole world—but which cultivator keeps to their words nowadays? It was all for benefits unless tied down by a contract.
Frederick tapped the smooth desk that refreshed one's senses with a smell of nature and said, "Our contract stipulates that the distribution of the land would occur on the day of opening the city's gates…" Frederick sighed.
Reia's eyes widened, feeling the urge to curse.
"He fooled me, that brat," Frederick laughed, "He gave the illusion of being in a rush to establish the city and seek protection from the solo and wandering cultivators, but it was all a sham to have me build that black market for him.
"Now, all he has to do is procrastinate till we come forward and offer more benefits—the city doesn't need to open its gates today, this year, or this century even. He can even drop the whole city project altogether and build a simple auction with the prepared venue and an underground black market, especially since people from the black market are already aware of this place and they'd definitely flood him with their deals…"
Unknowingly, Frederick was wiping his own forehead with a napkin while talking. As for Reia who prided herself in being smart, her back was already drenched cold.
Frederick has yet to tell them that Leonardo mapped all of this out within the span of a day ever since he noticed the dynasty's ploy and the shady dealings of the Azure Lane.
However, he truly didn't think much of this slight trick, it was something he valued as much as a non-cultivator using sleight of hand to play the magician.
Frederick was confused about one thing, what was Leonardo's goal in doing all of this?
…
"Are you sure these are your conditions?" A man cloaked in black was currently seated in the ruins of what seemed like a meeting hall in its golden days.
"My conditions are very clear— I want a seat in the organization as the one responsible for black market dealings in this region with access to the information network. In exchange, you will have a permanent slot of residence or business in any location of your choosing throughout the county."
In front of this man in black was, of course, Leonardo. The two had been going back and forth with terms and conditions of allowing the black market into Blackrain's territory through proper channels.
The man furrowed his eyebrows, "Make it three spots, I'll consider it then." He tapped the stone table, each word of his slow and heavy.
Leonardo raised his eyebrows, touching his chin a moment later as he sank into thoughts. Then, he sighed and tossed over a parchment with many ingredients listed on its surface, "Two spots and the protection of our rebirth realm cultivator. In exchange, you'll help me gather these materials within five years."
Leonardo's eyes flashed—he intended to give all of his knowledge in regards to magic and its profundities to Merlin to keep her occupied.
She was already approaching her mid-thirties and bordering her forties. If it weren't for the preservation of medicines, her face might already be full of wrinkles due to overwhelming herself with hours of research driven by fear of dying without accomplishing anything.
Although she didn't say it, Leonardo and anyone with a high enough spiritual sense could feel her desperation. Thus, before finding a solution for her predicament, Leonardo couldn't just seclude himself in cultivation to attack the zero rebirth and star core realms yet.
He planned to incorporate the mountain range and his sub-dimension into the star core, which means it would take a lot of time simply tame the leftover remnants of consciousness since the ancient war.
The man across from Leonardo glanced over the materials on the parchment, a lot of them were exotic and rare materials of a very high tier.
Leonardo intentionally mixed up the materials that Merlin required with many more, not forgetting to add a portion for Elizabeth as well since she was very crucial—not to the research but to Merlin.
"I agree to these conditions if you allow us to station a black market in your future capital—that's our bottom line."
Leonardo suddenly woke up from his deep thoughts, realizing that the man in front was struggling for a while with making a decision but eventually folded to the lucrative terms.
Leonardo clapped his hands, "Great!"
The two of them immediately got into signing the contract and the follow-up details, successfully solving the economical department for Blackrain—albeit through improper channels.
Leonardo didn't care about that though, the clean channels will definitely be filtered out from the connections to the black market, and everything will naturally happen in due time.
Furthermore, time is the only thing Leonardo wasn't lacking at the moment, especially since he could feel Ingrid doing just fine.
The moment he achieved rebirth he would go fetch the two.
Thinking about how he would deal with Nier after finding her, a smirk adorned his lips.
…
Leonardo silently made his way into an underground chamber in the outer regions of the mountain range—these are the locations his advancement wouldn't affect much under Rosaline's protection.
He found Merlin and Elizabeth carrying boxes from one corner of the room to the next, smudges of dirt on their white laboratory coats and perspiration moistening their foreheads.
With a chuckle, he drew their attention.
Merlin's eyes sparkled, "You're finally here to help out?"
Seeing the fatigue in her eyes, Leonardo wasn't in the mood to joke around anymore and shrugged, reaching for a laboratory coat nearby instead of offering a verbal reply.
"Where did your search for truth lead you thus far?"
Leonardo asked, approaching the messy desk with hundreds of papers—all depicting complex diagrams and notes…
