"It may take some time on my end to convince him, but I promise to ensure that Lucian sells this city to you at the most favorable price," Envy affirmed before expressing her curiosity. "But let me ask you, why don't you just use your force to take over this island and be done with it? Not that I support you to do that, just curious."
Hearing this, Daniel let out a peculiar smile. Initially, he had planned to support the Syndicate Union to strengthen their ability to counterbalance the Hightower's power. That's why he initially used the soul coin from the Syndicate Union to trap his enemy's soul and then sold it to them. However, just a few days ago, an Italian gang from America had attacked his building because they accepted an assassination job from the Syndicate Union's platform.
As if that weren't enough, Supreme General Nicholas Sullivan, whom Daniel considered one of his allies, had been attacked by one of the top assassins hired from the Syndicate Union's platform. This was the final straw that led him to abandon the idea of supporting the Syndicate Union.
Now, he needed to come up with a new approach to deal with the Hightower. That's why buying this city was the first step in creating his own force. He could have used his overwhelming force to seize this city from the Tessia Kingdom altogether, but if he did that, he would lack legitimacy and would face significant dissent from the people later on—something he wished to avoid. Legitimacy was of utmost importance to him.
"Because legitimacy is very important. I don't want to bother having a debate or dispute over this island with the Hightower, the Tessia royal family, or anyone else. So, let it be clear that I buy this island, it belongs to me, and it will be outside of any country's influence. If anyone tries to get their greedy hands on this island, I'll have legitimacy on my side and can rightfully retaliate against them," Daniel explained.n))0velb1n
Envy nodded in understanding before preparing for her trip to Britain to negotiate with the Hightower and then use the Hightower's authority to compel Lucian to sell this island to Daniel.
— A few days later —
A few days later, Envy traveled to Britain to negotiate with the Hightower regarding Lucian's abuse of his councilor position and coerced him to sell Sector Alpha City to Daniel. Now, Daniel lived alone with his mischievous daughter, Sylvana. Their usual morning routine involved enjoying fried eggs since Daniel lacked the time to prepare anything fancier for her.
With Sylvana having resigned from her old school and now residing with him, she often spent time in his office or the nursery, where she befriended Sloth, who frequented the nursery for naps.
On this particular day, Daniel found himself watching TV with his daughter in his office, as there were no urgent matters requiring his attention.
"Sylvana..." Daniel called his little troublemaker.
"Yes, Papa?" The young troublemaker set her Lego aside and turned toward her dad.
"What do you think about eating out today? Hmm?" Daniel asked his daughter with a smile.
"Yay! Are we going to visit Uncle Luciano again?" Sylvana jumped in delight at the mention of Luciano.
Daniel smiled wryly at his daughter's antics. It's not that Luciano's restaurant isn't good, but they had been eating there so often that he was growing tired of Italian food. However, it seemed that his little troublemaker never grew tired of their pizza. Then again, perhaps children always loved pizza.
"Are you sure you don't get tired of pizza, hmm?" Daniel asked with a wry smile.
"No! I love it!" Sylvana affirmed her unwavering love for pizza, causing Daniel to sigh. He didn't want to spoil her eating habits, but whenever he tried to coax her into eating something else, she wouldn't eat as much, leaving him worried that she might go hungry. However, he also knew that it wouldn't be good for her health if she kept eating pizza exclusively. It was a bit of a conundrum.
The only two people who could get her to enjoy anything other than pizza were Envy, whose culinary skills could rival those of any 5-star chef, and Michaela, who somehow had a way of persuading Sylvana to eat anything, even vegetables.
As Daniel thought about Michaela, there was a knock at his door.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
"Come in!" he called out to the guest outside.
The door opened, and Michaela entered, her face looking rosy now that she had recovered from her injury.
"My Lord, Supreme General Nicholas Sullivan wishes to meet with you," Michaela reported.
"Let him in," Daniel nodded.
Michaela stepped outside for a moment to summon General Sullivan, and soon, a muscular middle-aged man in a high-ranking soldier uniform entered Daniel's office, wearing a worried expression.
"Mr. Emberweave, I regret to inform you that the matter concerning the safety of Ms. Erina Sun is about to be jeopardized," the General said bluntly, though he tried to soften his words as much as possible, fearing Daniel's reaction.
Daniel didn't become angry upon hearing this. He couldn't believe that someone as competent as General Sullivan would fail at such a simple task.
"Why is that?" he asked calmly.
"It's because of the upcoming ascension ceremony, sir. King Lucian intends to pardon all prisoners who aren't serious criminals and then relocate any serious criminals to a supermax prison on the island, which falls directly under the jurisdiction of the royal family. I won't be able to protect her if she's moved to that prison," General Sullivan explained.
Hearing this, Daniel let out a sigh. The tradition of the Tessia Kingdom dictated that any incoming king would need to undergo the ascension ceremony, during which non-serious crime prisoners were pardoned. What frustrated him was that the royal family would move any serious criminals to their private prison on an island.
Most of these prisoners would never be heard from again, and according to statistics, more than half of them were either political enemies of the royal family or individuals who refused to submit to their will. The actual serious criminals made up only a third of the prison's population.
