Rosavere guided Lackey from her office and walked on the building's corridor with serious steps, her heels striking the polished floor.

Lackey, following behind her, asked, "Where are you taking me now? I told you I am not interested anymore in dealing with you," his voice carrying irritation as he glanced at the workers moving on the corridor with hurried steps, almost sprinting from one end to another.

Why were they always busy? Why did this place feel like a machine that never stopped?

Rosavere said simply, "Give one more chance and I will prove to you this is really not my fault to begin with," her tone steady, almost pleading, but wrapped under her usual confidence as she kept walking.

Lackey hummed with a curious tone but still nodded as they kept walking inside her office building. The workers' numbers slowly lowered and… they entered a restricted area, far quieter and colder, as if sound itself was afraid to linger.

She placed her hand on some kind of scanner. Lackey looked at the scanner curiously, thinking, 'Hmm… fingerprint scanner? Interesting,' as he never thought he would see something like that here.

What kind of technology does she have?

How far ahead is she compared to everyone else?

As the scanner scanned her handprints, the door parted with a heavy metallic tone, and curled-up smoke came out from the door as it parted, drifting in thin grey streams that smelled faintly of burnt metal.

"Come inside," she said as she took him inside.

Lackey entered. He felt a chill in the atmosphere and raised his eyebrows behind the mask.

He was utterly shocked to see… the things.

Metal rods, weird metallic glowing structures, glowing stones… everything looked utterly different, like it was not something that people here would make.

It looked alien, advanced, dangerous... something that didn't belong in this world.

Lackey slowly moved towards a metallic object that looked like an RPG… its long barrel polished with dark grey metal, wires wrapped along the spine pulsing with faint blue light.

Before he could touch it, Rosavere said with a serious tone, "Please don't touch it. Everything is being monitored and moving it would alarm the entire building," yet she picked a small rod and pressed it with her hand. Suddenly, it glowed, and a bloodshot laser raised on the rod, almost like… a lightsaber, humming with a violent red core that felt like it wanted to cut through anything.

Lackey raised his eyebrows in utter shock. "What are these all?" His voice dropped into something between amazement and fear, because he knew weapons—he knew what true destruction looked like... and these things promised far more.

Rosavere smirked. "A gift from my friend," as she put the rod back in its place. Lackey heard a clicking sound as if it were locked or something.

Lackey frowned. His eyes roamed around the objects… everything looked like nothing but weapons. Heavy rifles with rotating cores, devices shaped like gauntlets, knives with vibrating edges, and orbs that hummed with restrained energy ready to explode if triggered.

Freaking weapons that he had seen in his previous world, meant to destroy anything in their path… why does she have all these? Why would she need something so potent, so deadly, hidden underneath an office building?

His eyes roamed around, and he noticed on the corner, there were cameras too… small black lenses fixed high on the walls, rotating slowly as if tracking even the air itself.

"Now come with me," she said and again moved.

Lackey frowned… she had more? How many secrets did this woman hide under this one building?

As he walked behind her while checking the things here and there, he noticed many familiar objects and… many not. Some resembled weapons he had seen in his past world, while others looked like inventions pulled straight out of impossible imagination.

They reached another door inside the huge room... This door was even more thick and metallic, as if nothing could blast it or destroy it. She summoned her card and placed it on the doorknob. Suddenly, the door beeped and parted like a highly protected locker, its heavy slabs sliding apart with a dense metallic groan.

Rosavere and Lackey entered inside and—

"Holy cow," Lackey muttered when he saw thousands of translucent crystal bars arranged all over the space inside like gold bars arranged in banks, stacked row by row neatly, shelves glowing with pale energy.

How did she get all these?

Lackey turned to Rosavere, who had a smug face as she pointed at the crystals and said,

"These are Origin Core Crystals… the same ones you got from the artifact… I managed to secure all of this for you. So tell me, if I were trying to spy on you, why would I show you all of this?

This is the Company's deepest secret and only I have access. Not even my grandfather is allowed to enter this place and yet… here you are," as she took one of the bricks.

Her fingers slid down the shimmering Origin Core Crystal… then she threw it towards Lackey.

Lackey flinched before catching it. He looked at it and rubbed it with his fingers… with a slightly mesmerised expression. He could feel it… these crystals were stronger than the one he got from the gun.

Rosavere said with a serious face, "The reason I asked for your Origin Card was that it's not that I don't trust you, rather I need to provide it to the person who was handling these things through me… like my supplier.

And since they didn't want to let these be exposed to anyone, I couldn't just show it to anyone, right? They wanted full restriction and even more for those who were indirectly involved with this, like transporter, deliverer, carrier… So I had to give yours to them," as her face turned tired, uttering,

"They said it is alright for me to work with you, but… I didn't expect them to send a spy to check on you."

Lackey raised his eyebrows. "Why would they do it?"

Rosavere shook her head. "I don't know… maybe they wanted to contact you by themselves. I will ask them personally for betraying me behind my back," her face turned wicked as if she would not let this matter slide, "This is not something I should put aside… trying to spy my dealer without—"

Lackey stared at her… with a mildly confused expression. If she was telling the truth, then how come that succubus sneaked into the building without alerting anyone?

Was Rosavere lying?

Lackey felt tempted to use his manipulation skill to pull the freaking truth from her mouth… but things were not going as he expected with his manipulation skill. If he tried to use it on her, who knew she might die and blast into pieces… which he certainly did not want.

Especially if the other party was indeed… Mary.

Then he needed to be under Rosavere, completely away from Mary's eyes... so that he could stay close to her.

Too many stakes here to just casually throw it out.

Lackey hummed with nodding, "Fine, if what you're telling is the truth…" as he took a breath, he nodded again, "I will let this slide for now…"

Rosavere smiled gently, nodding her head, "Thank you—"

"Of course, I believe you would still give me the compensation for the things I went through, right?" Lackey's tone turned sly, a faint smirk hidden under the mask.

Rosavere's lips twitched before she sighed, "Fine… sigh, I will collect from them anyway…" as she nodded, already deciding she would give Lackey the definite compensation for the pain he went through.

"So, what do you think? With these bars… how long will it take you to complete the final products? I want the first batch as soon as possible." Rosavere said with a serious tone.

Lackey, who was checking the bars, hummed thoughtfully before muttering, "I need… at least a week."

Rosavere shook her head immediately, "I need it faster… I cannot delay it. It's just putting those crystals into the artifacts, right? That's all—why does it need a week to produce?"

Lackey shrugged, "I haven't even started the production."

"WHAT? WHY—" Before she could shout, she stopped as she realised why. She sighed and nudged her eyebrows together, "Fuck that! So you not only avoided contacting me but also stopped the remaining parts' production, too?"

Lackey nodded with a small shrug, "What else? The reason I came today was to end everything."

Rosavere bit her lips furiously, 'Fuck! I am gonna really have an earful talk with them all!' she screamed inwardly with a furious expression tightening her jaw.

She took a breath before nodding, "Fine… I need the first batch in 7 days."

Lackey nodded as he put the bar back and asked curiously, "How are you going to transport them? Wouldn't the soldiers be on high alert and checking everything? Honestly, I cannot take things with me."

Rosavere smirked, "There is no need to worry about that… just give me the delivery place, and it will be done in a day."

Lackey blankly stared at her before thinking, 'So there is a mole in the soldiers too… sigh, what a pain,' before nodding.

As they closed the room of those Origin Core crystals and turned to leave the weapon rooms, Lackey's eyes spotted something… something on the corner right beside those rows of stacked weapons… he saw a small sticker.

It was minute and barely visible, but when Lackey saw that sticker… his eyes widened with a realisation.

'I see… Hunter… ah.'

He thought… things were getting messy!

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