Upon their arrival at the Merchant Guild's headquarters, the Evil Duo were received by Borgious. This time however, the fellow was not in his pudgy state but came out to greet them as a well-built middle-aged man.
There were also lines of stress on his forehead, showing that he was currently being burdened by something or the other, making Draco curious. After all, he too had seen Eva's memories and knew about the heist she had pulled off.
Could it be that Eva had somehow caused the Merchant Guild great harm?
But would the loss of that 'small' sum of money really have the richest Guildmaster act this way?
Borgious was stunned when he laid his eyes upon Eva's visage, but quickly shook himself out of it. He could only lament in his mind as to why such fine beauties seemed to hover around this dastardly looking fellow.
"It's my pleasure to meet you, Lord Draco and Lady Riveting Night from Vita City-State. Please come in and let us discuss more about the possible collaborations you have come for today."
Draco and Eva returned the greetings before following behind Borgious sedately. They were taken to the same meeting room in which Borgious had met Zaine previously, and just like that time, the other top-echelon was present for this meeting.
This included Olivia, who sat by the side quietly, lost in her thoughts. Her face had become gaunt and her eyes dark, as she had exhausted all her means to save her little brother, and his condition was reaching a critical point.
Draco and Eva sat opposite them, greeting the various members one by one as the same courtesy was returned them. Draco then jumped to the main topic without further ado.
"I would like to purchase 100 grams of Primal Soil, Essence of Water, Essential Tinder, and a Seed of Wind!"
When he laid his desire bare, the faces of Borgious' and the rest visibly changed. This was quite the heavy order as these resources were usually kept close to the chest in case they acquired super mini small worlds that needed upgrading.
In fact, the value of these items had drastically gone up thanks to Draco's Advanced Spatial Creation Device. All the powers who had one had been busy stockpiling these materials as they were crucial in upgrading their organic small worlds.
How could they take it out to sell?
"Lord Draco, this…" Borgious began, but didn't know how to continue.
Offending Draco was the last thing he wanted, as this lad showed great promise as well as value. Making the situation even more delicate, he also happened to be the creator of the Advanced Spatial Creation Device and was willing to trade with his group to give them more.
If they turned him back here, wouldn't they risk offending him?
Primal Soil and co were not exactly hard to find or produce, but the timeframe was just too long.
The only reason organizations like theirs had more than the others was because they had kept their resources safe over the millennia. Not even a thousand years was enough to get a suitable amount of these four basic elemental materials that were absorbed by super mini small worlds to give it life.
A super mini small world usually had some growth and water and such, but those were simply made of energy. That was why super mini small worlds had such potent energy, whether artificial or natural.
Artificial ones could not be upgraded nor could they spawn natural life, so the level at which they were made was where they would end at., hence why Draco's creation was so groundbreaking.
Of course, Norma was in a different ballgame as she had managed to turn her Treasury into a small world, but was it really fair to compare the OP Refinement Goddess to a mere Merchant's Guild and the like?
Mini small worlds were the next step, and they manifested the elements in a genuine form. This was why resources like Primal Soil, Seeds of Wind, Essential Tinder, and Essence of Water were needed, as they were condensed forms of the four main elements.
The other miscellaneous resources needed for the upgrade were just to help give the super mini small world energy and resources to increase the land and quality when becoming a mini small world.
A small world was like the Plains of the Colossus. It was a fully formed space that could generate organic life, resources, and more. A small world was practically a completed plane already, able to exist in perpetuity.
Side Realms were just bigger and more established small worlds while the two True Worlds – the main plane and the Realm of the Gods - were the only fully established ones capable of supporting great amounts of life and generating higher tiers of energy.
This was why Draco's Advanced Spatial Creation Device was so rare. A powerful group could steadily grow it from a super mini small world to a small world, and if they had enough foundation, upgrade it to even a side realm!
Even though it would be beyond difficult, the path was open to them, which was what had skyrocketed the value. It only boiled down to whether the various powerhouses who owned it could reach that level or not.
Draco saw Borgious' hesitation and smiled. He could easily see into his mind and read what the fellow was worrying about, so he was not surprised. In truth, he didn't think he'd need to do this so quickly, so he could have spent time slowly gathering the goods.
In fact, he even knew some places to acquire it, but those were Rank 5 and above zones. The current him was not enough to tempt fate too egregiously.
Draco tapped the table to acquire Borgious' attention. "My request seems to bring you some difficulty, so how about this? I will present you with two offers for the items I want and you may select the one you will feel more."
"I can either bring you 5 Advanced Spatial Creation Devices or I can sign a permanent lease to a plot in the core area of Vita City as well as a Baron conferment for you personally, Guildmaster Borgious."
The faces of the present members changed, even the uninterested Olivia whipped her head up with shock. The second offer could be glossed over since the Merchant Guild was not too much in a hurry to occupy Vita, but the first one…
5 Advanced Spatial Creation Devices was a crazy good offer!
If any of the other powers were to hear this, they would descend upon both the Merchant Guild and Draco like locusts on steroids, not desiring anything but death and killing in their hearts.
They all gulped with fear, their hearts pounding in their chests like a rhino wanting to break free. Borgious himself began sweat, his poor handkerchief not being able to stifle the flow as it quickly turned into a wet rag.
"L-Lord Draco… I-I…" Borgious stuttered.
He wanted to swallow this offer! Just for a mere 300 grams and 1 seed? F.u.c.k, if he were to refuse this offer, forget himself, even his own mother would beat him and skin him alive!
But he didn't easily dare to, because if any of this got out in any way… horrifying!
Draco chuckled and directly placed the five devices on the table. "Don't worry, I already have them here with me, so as long as nobody in this room shares this secret, once we close this deal we can all take it with us to our graves."
Seeing the devices sparked endless greed in the hearts of all those gathered. They dearly wished they could wield machetes and cut down Draco into minced pieces, then rub their bodies all over those devices while m.o.a.ning.
However, they didn't dare to do this in reality because the implications would be too much to bear, even more so since he was one of those Immortal Adventurers. As such, Borgious could only send one of their members to fetch the materials while he continued to chat with Draco.
Eva had remained silent the whole time, watching the proceedings with a dull gaze until she noticed the mental probing of Olivia approach her. She glanced at the Mindmage lightly, directly squashing Olivia's probes and returning fire with an intense attack.
The woman screeched in pain as she clutched her head, blood leaking from her ears and nose due to the rebound. Her actions startled everyone but Draco who simply gazed on with a smile.
"Grandmaster Olivia! What is the matter?" Borgious inquired in a hurry, trying to help her up.
Olivia pushed him away and breathed deeply before bowing to Eva. "Forgive my curiosity, madam. I sensed psychic waves from you and wanted to verify if what I was sensing was true."
Eva just nodded her head and paid no further heed. The transgression had been punished and the insolent offender had acknowledged their mistake.
Seeing this gave Borgious an idea. He gritted his teeth and spoke with respect. "Since Lady Riveting Night seems to be an esteemed psychic, I was wondering if you could perhaps help us with something that has been plaguing our guild for the past few weeks?"
Eva suddenly showed some interest. "Oh? And what would that be?"
Borgious spoke quickly, seeing that he had captured her attention. "I don't think I need to tell you, but this information can't leave this room. To our utter shame, a few weeks ago an intruder managed to break into our guild and not only managed to steal from us, but also left behind a potent psychic curse that functions like an infectious plague."
Draco and Eva froze for a split second, their actions had gone unnoticed by all. Eva then smiled and hummed with interest.
"Heeh? Well then, take me to see the infected patients and if I can help, I will." Eva offered with a smile.
Excited, Borgious quickly led her and Draco to the quarantined area where Mindmage Dawson was. Next to him were many important personnel of the Merchant Guild who had since been infected, and specialists hired from outside to treat it had also joined them, making for 300-odd persons.
So far, the one only who had been able to resist it was Grandmaster Olivia, and for Eva to be able to harm her so seriously indicated that she was far stronger!
In that case, wouldn't her chances of solving the issue be higher?!
That was Borgious' reasoning, which was quite sound and accurate. The fellow might be a bit silly and playful, but there was a reason he could lead the 3rd strongest power in the world.
Eva's lips twitched as she saw the effects. She has easily sensed the virus this close and it reacted like a child seeing its mother. In fact, on the psychic level, it was currently boasting about its achievements and complaining about the lack of 'food'.
Eva quickly praised it and told it to retract itself into her mind. She would keep it and nurture it using her bloodline energy, then unleash it on anyone who crossed her or Draco but was too troublesome to defeat head-on.
With it, even at this infant stage, Eva could use it to cripple any kingdom or empire that she wanted to finish. Even the Godmar Empire that had crossed Draco unwittingly could be finished off in one fell swoop.
How much more if Eva nurtured it for a long period of time?
If she raised it for a few years, could it grow to the level of even crippling Gods? That was something she was certainly looking forward to.
Eva quickly collected the virus but suddenly clutched her head and fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Draco rushed over and held her gently, panic on his face.
"Eva! Eva, my love! No, this bloody virus is harming her! She has cleared it, but it has led to serious backlash!" Draco shouted with shock.
He then turned to Borgious with red eyes. "BASTARD, YOU DARED TO BRING MY WIFE HERE?! MARK MY WORDS, IF SHE DOESN'T RECOVER, THIS. MEANS. WAR!"
Borgious had been ecstatic just a moment ago when he saw Mindmage Dawson and the others had started to rouse themselves, as well as when he heard from Draco how Eva cleared it.
However, his heart now skipped a beat when Draco threatened him. He quickly waved his hands and spoke.
"How could this happen, Brother Draco? Why don't we do this, I will give you the items you want free of charge to thank Lady Eva for her hard work, as well as priority choice to select one special item from us when she inevitably recovers!"
Borgious beat his chest. "A valiant woman like this cannot be beaten by a mere virus, especially if she could clear it so easily! Brother Draco, please calm down and tend to her!"