The black clouds that had been dropping raindrops were gone. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly despite the wet streets. The restaurant started to get quiet as customers were ready to return to work.
David helped Elizabeth put on the coat, getting ready to head home after receiving a crushing defeat. Without saying goodbye to Klaus and Alexa, she walked towards the exit with a sour look on her face.
On the other hand, Klaus smiled so wide that his lips touched his ears. He had just gotten a factory just from tossing a coin, though he wasn't sure if Elizabeth would keep her promise.
"Your mouth has been curved for an hour. It's time you stopped smiling, Klaus." Alexa quipped at him.
"You should smile too. There's nothing more fun than embarrassing an arrogant person."
Alexa sighed. "I can't be happy when it adds one more enemy to take me down. It's not a good idea to mess with the guild master of one of the Five Pillars."
The bespectacled woman was worried that this bet would cause a backlash, considering how arrogant Elizabeth was. She worried that Elizabeth would use her connections to sabotage Mors Industries.
However, Klaus took it lightly. With the Divine Ursine Alliance's relationship established, Elizabeth and Oathkeeper would not dare to mess with his company.
Fellow Five Pillars would not cross paths with each other. They preferred to avoid conflict rather than a battle. That was why Klaus had the audacity to toy with the Guild Master of the Oathkeeper.
"By the way, Klaus. I'm curious about something."
Klaus glanced at Alexa. The bespectacled woman seemed to be holding a question. "Just tell me."
"How did you win three coin tosses in a row? It's not something impossible, but still, you seemed so confident when you asked Elizabeth to bet. As if you knew you would win." Alexa turned to Klaus with a furrowed brow. "Are you pulling strings to win the bet?"
Klaus did nothing with the coin.
Elizabeth was an S-Class, and she was no fool. Klaus predicted that Elizabeth would definitely do everything possible to win the game. And he was right. Elizabeth used elemental manipulation, controlling the rotation of the coin as she wanted.
If Klaus did the same with her, there would definitely be a problem. Therefore, instead of manipulating the coin rotation, he manipulated the people.
Klaus cast the spell [Illusion of the Eye] on everyone sitting at the table, including Alexa. He made everyone who saw the coin rotation hallucinate according to the imagination in his head.
If he chose a tail, they would see tails.
If he chose a head, they would see heads.
So, no matter what side of the coin was facing up, what was seen in their eyes corresponds to Klaus' choice. In fact, Klaus did not win a single coin toss. That's why Klaus couldn't stop smiling.
Klaus was using illusion magic with very little mana consumption, so an S-Class of Elizabeth's caliber would not even notice.
"I told you, I'm just lucky." Klaus replied with a grin.
Alexa furrowed her brows. "What? You're betting your company and legacy on luck, that's obvious bullshit."
Klaus just chuckled at her response.
Turning his body around, he walked towards the exit. Alexa still didn't buy his answer, and she followed Klaus and spouted dozens of questions at him until her curiosity was satisfied. However, Klaus simply shut his mouth and smiled.
...
Southern Brooklyn.
Barren Island, once a remote and forgotten stretch of land, was transformed into an industrial area.
As far as the eye could see, factories and foundries rose from the ground, puffing black smoke from chimneys. The rough sounds of machinery filled the air with squeaks and metal hitting metal. Meanwhile, cranes and gantries towered overhead, pulling materials towards the processing plant.
Since dungeon breaks were a common occurrence, the need for weapons to fight monsters increased. Then, the government turned places that were impossible to live in into their weapons production sites.
And Barren Island was one of them.
A black sedan car passed in the middle of the bustling industrial area. Inside, Klaus looked at the scenery outside through the car's black windows. As usual, he did not come alone; the beautiful secretary sat next to him.
The reason Klaus entered this polluted place was to meet the Guild Master of the House of Blacksmiths, Richard Dickson.
The two of them had already agreed to cooperate; it was just a matter of signing the contract papers to formalize their cooperation. However, for some reason, Richard Dickson wanted to sign at the House of Blacksmith's place.
By asking Klaus to come to their place, he knew that Richard wanted to talk about something important.
After sitting on the car seat for an hour, they arrived at a large building with whitewashed walls. When compared to the others, this building stood out and streaked.
As Klaus got out of the car, a staff member dressed in a green factory uniform came to greet him. The man smiled kindly and guided Klaus to go inside.
The first thing Klaus felt as he stepped into the building was heat. The vibrating engines filled the air along with the sound of metal hitting metal.
Klaus saw dozens of iron forgeers working using machines. Bright red molten metal flowed into the reservoir, emitting heat that caused the air in the factory to become like a sauna.
The workers continued to forge weapons even though sweat soaked their clothes. They seemed to be focused and their eyes were sharp. They divide their tasks into groups. There are those who supervise the forging machine, those who guard the fire, and those who sharpen.
Seeing how dedicated they were to their work, Klaus was relieved to leave the production of the Elemental Gun's frame to the House of Blacksmith.
The staff escorted Klaus to the door of an office with the signboard "Richard Dickson". He smiled at Klaus and Sheila before leaving.
"I'm going to have a one-on-one talk with him, Sheila. You wait outside. It seems he wants to talk about something personal."
"Yes boss."
As Klaus opened the door, he saw Richard Dickson sitting at his desk, and the man immediately stood up and welcomed Klaus.
"Mr. Klaus! You've finally come! Give me five minutes to finish my work. Take a seat please."
Klaus sat in the chair, right in front of Richard Dickson.
For a guild master's private office, the size of this room was small, and there was no sofa or table to receive guests, only one chair opposite Richard's seat. However, the minimalist touch made the room look spacious.
Closing the ledger, Richard finished his work.
Klaus immediately expressed his intention to come here without further ado. He handed over a stopmap containing papers for Richard Dickson to sign.
"I think you have reviewed the copy of the file we sent you earlier. So, please sign it. If there is anything you object to, please let me know."
Richard opened the stopmap, and his eyes began to scan the agreement letter while his lips pursed. He read it for quite a while and his thumb could not stop pressing the tip of the pen.
And then, Richard closed the stopmap before he signed it. Of course, it triggered Klaus to raise his eyebrows.
"Do you want to revise it?" Klaus asked.
Richard smiled weakly. "No, everything is perfect. It benefits both parties."
"Then why didn't you sign it?"
The man was silent, and once again his thumb quickly pressed the tip of the pen many times. Klaus could clearly see there was something he wanted to say, but hesitation held him back.
Not long after, Richard opened his mouth.
"Since we're going to be allies, I just want to know one thing so I can be sure of you, Mr. Klaus. What is your ultimate goal?"
"Goal?"
Ruling this world without going through the path of ashura (destruction) was his ultimate goal. Klaus failed in his previous life, and he didn't want to repeat it again in his second life.
However, giving this answer to someone who had lived several decades would certainly not be satisfactory. Richard Dickson was nothing like Neil O'Brien. Ever since their first meeting, Klaus had not seen the greed in Richard's eyes. But at the same time, he could see his strong ambition.
Ambition that was accompanied by high determination and an unbreakable will. Klaus didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't a bad thing.
Klaus sighed. "Controlling the market, accumulating power, standing at the top, dominating the world. There are many answers I could give, but I'm not sure which is the right one to satisfy you. But one thing I will definitely not do in achieving my goal. Destroying this world."
Richard opened his eyes wide, and then he smiled broadly.
"Unusual answer, but I think we can be great partners," Richard said. He then signed the agreement.
They stood up and shook hands. Klaus felt Richard's hand grip very tightly.
"Before you go, there are things I want to talk to you about. About New York and the future."
