We materialize inside the lobby of the Galeheart Tower, and I immediately ask the two lobby men to tell me where Lith is even though I already know the answer.

"He should be in his office."

The elevator dings, and opens, but no one is inside it.

I turn and walk inside. All of my teammates follow, then the fast-moving elevator moves us up dozens of floors in a matter of seconds before letting out a ding and opening up to show the visual of Lith's high-rise office.

The moment I lay eyes on him, the man's appraisal-blocking artifacts are meaningless to me now. I see his [Lv. 824] rating clear as day now, his extreme wind element too, even all of the high-grade mental strength boosting artifacts cannot be hidden from the Soul Energy coursing through my eyes.

Even the mana shielding in this building that I assumed to be impenetrable before, can easily be looked through like glass windows. My conceptions about this being a completely secure building were completely wrong, the Dark One was most likely spying on us this entire time.

I sense many other buildings nearby, but 3 other large towers stand out the most to me in the center of the city previously protected by the Dark One's Royal Guards. The shielding on them is nearly identical in thickness to the Galeheart Tower. However, they're almost twice as tall.

While smaller office buildings surround these towers and have workers similar to the setup Lith has here just on a smaller scale, there is a clear distinction between those buildings and the 3 that are completely abandoned without a single guard or living soul inside them.

One of them seems to be filled to the brim with many unique magic items, possibly replacement gear for soldiers in its army.

Another has dozens of sectioned-off containment rooms, and it's hard to visualize exactly what's inside because of the many denser layers of shielding inside masking these very odd energy readings.

Then lastly, there's a building that feels entirely empty, other than a small opening at the lobby base that seems to go underground.

As my perception skills go wild, trying to pick up all of the readings in my environment, Lith stands up from his desk and interrupts my scans by speaking loudly with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Five of my isolation pods? You took them a few days ago, didn't you? I saw it all on the surveillance footage once I was done with my session, yet haven't heard back from you since. Those were rare gifts from the old Sector 2 leader, you know, they aren't easy to come by. You could have just used them here. I'd like a good explanation on why you've—"

"The Dark One is dead, I killed it. We destroyed its entire army. Every Dark Guard, Ghoul, Wraith, and follower under its spell."

As these words leave my lips, I grin and walk over to Lith while placing out a hand.

"I've finished my portion of our agreement a little ahead of schedule, we had to take some of your resources when we were in a pinch for time."

He stares at my outreached hand, and the look of annoyance on his face turns to one of shock.

"You... really did...?"

I smile and nod, staring him in the eyes with a serious look. There is only silence in the room for a moment before he places a hand over his desk and stands up to shake mine.

"Well... In that case... I did say I would give you whatever resources were necessary to become strong enough. I just never imagined you'd act so soon."

We release our handshake, and I smile.

"What's done is done. However, I have a few more conditions I'd like to add moving forward, because with the Dark One's army taken care of, the people standing before you right now make up the top fighters of the strongest army in the entire Dark Continent."

There's a pause of silence in the room as the reality of the situation sinks in, then I say it out loud.

"We're taking over."

Lith's face turns pale, but he doesn't move a muscle, speaking back in a steady tone, masking his fear.

"My connections— My resources— I'm far more powerful than just physical strength, I think you should reconsider your—"Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

I interject before he completely misunderstands my point.

"Hey, I never said we're getting rid of you, nothing like that at all."

Color floods back into his face as I continue.

"I want you to be the face of Valor City. I need you to take over the arena, continue all of the high-end trade deals, and retake over the lost Royal Guards to make sure this place is secure."

I look in his eyes and speak up again.

"Consider my team the new Dark One's Army overlooking this city as a final measure of security, but with a far less strict agenda, and more perks. I want things to prosper here as much as you. Our trade deals shall run just as normal, you will keep your discount for items bought for Sector 1. Plus, I wish to see your promise to continue linking me with all of the other Sectors and regions on the mainland stay the same."

Lith nods, thinking over my words, then replies.

"That is fair. It's really all I asked for initially, and I assumed if you ever became strong enough to defeat the Dark One, there would be no reason to keep me in power, or even alive for that matter. However, negotiating with a human is far easier than a monster."

He lets out a sigh and sits back in his chair. Then, I reply again.

"Well, probably, but don't be so sure about that. I have one last condition, and there is no negotiating on this point."

Lith's eyebrows raise.

"What is it?"

"I need you to pledge your loyalty to me. You may run this city how you wish, and independently organize trade deals within Sector 1 or in private auctions if you wish, but my word is final. I need you to trust me and follow me as your leader as I establish dominance over the entire Dark Continent."

He clasps his hands, thinking about this for almost a full 30 seconds, then I feel a link of loyalty being created and a notification on my Rising Emperor's Domain interface adding Lith to the list while he speaks.

"Alright. If that is all, I pledge my loyalty to you as the new leader of The Dark Continent."

He nods and places out his hand, and we shake on it. I acknowledge his words and actions.

"Great, it's settled. We're back in business."

I completely change my tone from one of seriousness to one of more nonchalance.

"Now, I assume you've had enough time to reach out and send associates to the neighboring lands to get initial orders for the trade deals. Let me see what you've got."

Lith looks a bit startled at my sudden shift in composure. Then, he speaks up again in a relieved yet confused tone while reaching beneath his desk to pull out a stack of papers and an item box.

"Well, yes, I have a few order confirmations actually, they're uh—hold on. First, is there some soul pact or signature or contract you want me to sign? Just verbally agreeing to your terms seems a bit too easy, how do you even believe me?"

I shrug.

"It's one of my buffs, I trust you, you're part of the team now. Just don't change your mind about me and we'll be fine, I'll know if you do."

I eye the papers on his desk.

"Let me see the terms. Who agreed for the initial orders, are they similar to the estimates you gave out to me a few weeks back?"

Lith nods and pushes the papers forward while handing me the item box too.

"Pretty similar, but there are some differences. If you look there, I managed to secure preorders from 6 separate buyers. Well, 4 buyers that aren't including my initial basic item order here for Sector 1 and Chester's order from Sector 4."

I nod, sifting through the papers as Lith continues.

"There was a large order from Sector 3, mostly E and D class gear for their hunters in smaller cities and enhancement potions for the workers on the vast farmland. It is nearly identical to their past orders with the old Sector 2 leader. It seems they don't mind at all who is selling gear, they just want materials to continue business as usual."

Lith points to another stack of pages.

"This one is the Vice Region's order. It's a fraction of what they used to buy, so it seems they're testing the waters of a new supplier here, but getting our foot in the door is always better than nothing."

Then, he shakes his head.

"No one from the Apex region wanted anything to do with a new unknown source from the Dark Continent, so there were no takers there. However, both the Bedrock and Talton region placed in orders at similar sizes as the Vice Region. Out of the 8 great regions, they hardly ever partake in trade with foreign countries. It seems a new seat of power in Sector 2 has opened up more opportunities."

Lith points to the item box, and I look inside.

About 45 Platinum in miscellaneous currencies fill the small spatial magic box. There's some platinum bars, mostly gold coins, piles of silver, and even bronze inside too.

Lith speaks up, and pushes all of the order forms over as I count it.

"That's 25% of the final amount, its what I charged for pre-orders. Fulfill all of the orders on this list within 30 days and another 135 Platinum Bars are coming your way."

I eye over the lists, then place them into my item storage, along with the item box full of money he just handed me.

"It'll be doable. I'll have a team ready to fulfill these. Where do I fulfill them to exactly, can I set up some personal contacts here?"

Lith nods, placing a few transport crystals with labels of dates, times, and locations on them onto his desk.

"Meeting points have already been assigned for each pickup. If you would like to come along with me once we make the deliveries on the first order, I believe that would be a great way to introduce you. However, I'm happy to maintain these contacts and have my people conduct the deliveries for you. It is a fair exchange for the discount on goods you're selling to me. I'll make a great profit by reselling them in Valor City and the surrounding trade cities."

I nod again, allowing Lith to securely place each of the delivery-dated and marked crystals back into his desk.

"Possibly, I'd still like to meet with the people I'm directly trading with at least once. We'll talk over these details again after the 30 days are up. I'll have my craftsmen begin work after we leave Valor City today. I'm impressed with your connections and ability to make these deals happen, Lith, good job."

I turn around and point to the elevator.

"Anyway, now that the technical business is out of the way, let's go do something fun. I want to go check out the 3 newly abandoned towers in this Royal Coin District. I wonder what the Dark One was hiding here."