Standing amidst the dozens of bodies lying on the floor, Klaus looked around the room. No one had survived the [Death Curse] other than Mavis. Even the four innocent comfort women also became dead people.
It's not like that Klaus enjoyed taking lives, he did it out of necessity. He didn't want any of the survivors to leak information about him. Regarding Mavis, he didn't have to worry about him because the man was mentally broken.
"Alright, time to take the loot. Tell me where they keep the arcana, Laplace?"
<On the second floor, my liege. I will lead you there.>
Following Laplace's lead, Klaus climbed the stairs to the top floor and walked down corridor after corridor, until he came to a safe vault. With a flick of a finger, the safe door rattled as it twisted and shattered.
The vault room was filled with stacks of wooden boxes lined up on each side of the room. Klaus opened one of the boxes and found a golden pauldron that emitted a magical aura. He told Laplace to show him the information, and a golden screen appeared before him.
[Name: Atlas Pauldron]
[Type: Arcana]
[Class: Rare]
[Effect: Increase endurance by 10% for earth element users, Strength +5%, Earth element affinity +5%]
[Material: Pure gold x10, Elven blood x1, Earth essence x1]
[Runes: ᚨᛏᛚᚨᛋ ᛈᚨᚢᛚᛞᚱᛟᚾ]
"If all the arcana here are added up, they are worth at least 50 million dollars. They are too much for research, I need to cash in on these arcana. But how should I sell them?"
Klaus clicked his tongue. "I'll think about it later."
He swiped his spatial ring, and it sucked in everything in the room like a black hole. Within seconds, the room became empty air.
Klaus then left the vault and immediately got out of the Black Bulls headquarters.
When he came out of the alley, Sheila was standing next to a black car parked on the side of the road. The secretary smiled widely as their eyes met, and she ran over to him immediately.
"Are you okay, boss?" Sheila asked worriedly.
"I'm okay. Why are you still here?" Klaus raised his eyebrows, remembering Sylvia and her younger brother. "Did that boy not come?"
"Relax, boss. They're fine, in the car. I waited for you on purpose. Worried that you wouldn't come back."
Klaus sighed in annoyance, he wanted to scold his secretary for disobeying him, but the current conditions did not allow it. "Never mind, we'd better get out of here."
After they got inside, the car moved through the night and left the silence of Far Rockaway.
...
A clear blue sky overshadowed New York City.
On the west side of the Queen, dozens of buildings glistening in the sunlight lined the East River. A skyscraper towered high into the sky and stood out from the rest of the buildings.
Below it, dozens of people could be seen going in and out of the building. There was a stone monument with a gold star carved into its courtyard.
This building was the headquarters of one of the five powerful guilds in the United States, Morning Star.
In a minimalist-style office, a man stood in front of a large glass window. The man was wearing a white shirt and black pants. His hair was golden like wheat, while his skin was milky white.
Sipping a cup of hot coffee, he savored the view of the city that stretched into forever. His blue eyes flickered as a knock on the door distracted him.
"Come in," the man said.
A female secretary entered the room. "There is a guest who wishes to see you, Mr. Vincent."
The golden-haired man walked to his desk and set down a coffee cup. "Send him in."
The secretary walked out. Shortly after, a man in a gray suit with dark hair walked into the room. He quickly greeted Vincent as he approached him. "Vincent Thomsen!"
"Isn't it too early for a meeting, Noah Liebert?"
"I'm a morning person. Right now is the perfect time to discuss business with the Guild Master of Morning Star."
Vincent invited his guest to sit down.
"So, what about your guild? What's its name?" Vincent asked.
"Sons of Thor. What do you think, cool, right?"
Nodding his head, Vincent made a face as if it was a good name. Noah then began to tell the story of how his guild was formed; starting from the process of recruiting staff to purchasing the building for headquarters.
After Noah finished his storytelling, Vincent opened his mouth.
"So, your guild is ready. You can start operating in Manhattan, right?"
Noah grinned. "Of course."
They had formed a cooperative relationship long ago.
In their agreement, Noah would borrow Morning Star's resources from Vincent, both in the form of items and awakeners. And Vincent would not charge a dime as long as the guild Noah formed had to be affiliated with Morning Star.
In other words, Sons of Thor would become a subsidiary of Morning Star.
Their deal was mutually beneficial.
On the one hand, Noah would receive great support and resources to strengthen his guild. Thus, his chances of winning the battle for inheritance increased.
On the other hand, Vincent could secretly expand Morning Star's power into Manhattan without drawing the attention of the Awakener Association and other guilds.
Vincent took out a 5 cm thick stack of papers in front of Noah.
"You read this document carefully. I have prepared a contract for the loan of awakeners. After you sign it, I will send 50 B-Class and 3 A-Class awakeners to your guild. At least they can raid the green dungeon with ease for the next three years."
Rubbing his hands together, Noah laughed. "Thank you, Vincent. With this, taking over Manhattan is no big deal."
As Noah signed the contract papers without reading the contents, Vincent secretly grinned.
Morning Star was a powerful guild and had a strong influence in New York. However, its power only covered Queens. Small local guilds still dominated the other boroughs though they were not as powerful as Morning Star.
Of course, Morning Star could subdue them easily. Even the mere mention of Vincent Thomsen's name could intimidate those small guilds. But it was a different story if all the guilds in New York united against Morning Star.
Vincent and his guild may be among the five strongest in the country, but they would still be overwhelmed if they had to fight thousands of guilds in New York City. Therefore, Morning Star could not openly spread its wings of power in New York.
Morning Star needed an intermediary, and their option was Noah and Sons of Thor.
"I look forward to your 53 awakeners, Vincent."
"And I look forward to the development of your guild. Remember, you only have three years."
The two shook hands, and both kept the hiding intention from the smiles on their faces.
After saying goodbye, Noah left the room.
Vincent closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.
"Conglomerate people are crazy." Vincent chuckled. "I can't wait to see how you'll control your son, Liliana."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The sound of the phone broke Vincent's reverie. Still smiling, he picked it up and answered the call.
"Boss, it's me."
Vincent raised his eyebrows, he recognized the person on the other end of the line.
"I bring bad news, the Black Bulls have been destroyed. Everyone is dead, except Mavis."
"What? How is that possible?" Vincent furrowed his brow.
"I don't know, boss. When I asked Mavis, he was talking gibberish and nonsense like someone losing their mind."
Vincent hissed. There was one thing he was very worried about. "Then what about the arcana they keep?"
The voice on the other end of the line was silent for a moment. Vincent was impatient, so he snapped at him to answer.
The person behind the phone sounded frightened. "Gone, everything is gone. There's nothing left in the safe vault."
"WHAT!!!!"
Naturally, Vincent stood up and slammed into the table until it shattered, his face red as if blood was gathering in his head. Losing dozens of arcana worth 50 million dollars was enough to make his veins throb.
"Did you find out who did it!?"
The person on the end of the phone could not give the guild master satisfying answers. He said the building had no CCTV and all the eyewitnesses were dead.
"I don't care! You find and retrieve the stolen arcana, and kill the person who stole them!"
Vincent slammed down the receiver as he hung up the phone. In his 17 years as an awakener, no one had ever dared to steal money from him.
To make matters worse, he had been blundered in his own territory.
