Chapter 686: Time
Sylas didn't show much of a reaction, only glancing down the page and then flipping to the next. One would have never thought that he knew Professor Fembroise at all.
Everything about his actions was perfect.
"What's the deal?" Sylas asked, still looking through the files. Everything he saw, his mind seemed to soak in like a sponge.
The documents seemed to have everything. Name, experience, evidence of their corruption, and it was all capped off by a letter grade from C to S in terms of threat level.
C. B. A. S.
According to this grading system, Professor Fembroise was actually an A Grade threat. Sylas had already been through about 40 names, and among them, only two others were classified at that level for a total of three.
Sylas' hand paused before he could hear Mortimer's answer.
Professor Broussard.
This was the marine biologist that had had a conflict with Cassarae's mother. Sylas already knew that he was a traitor, but this information... and his rating...
'S.'
"The deal?" Mortimer chuckled. "I can give you a million F Coins per C-level Threat, ten for a B-level, a billion for an A-level, and a hundred E Coins for an S."
Sylas looked up. "Not enough."
Mortimer paused. He had expected a lot of responses, but this was certainly not one of them.
A million coins? Ten? Sylas didn't care for that paltry sum to begin with. A billion was decent enough, but ultimately, to Sylas, this booklet of names and information was far more valuable than the monetary compensation, and that was a telltale sign of something quite obvious...
Mortimer was trying to take advantage of him.
As for E Coins, Sylas truly didn't know how valuable they were. But what he did have was simple logic.
He had yet to run into anything that he could even use E Coins on. That meant that he would have to convert them to F Coins for them to be of any use.
As any person who had ever converted currency in their life would tell you... the one benefitting the most from the conversion would almost certainly be the party doing the conversion itself.
On a planet that didn't even have a market for E Coins, whatever E Coins Sylas got here would likely sit in his system inventory for maybe even years before he got around to making use of them. Either that, or he would have to take a huge loss.
He would much rather have something that he could use right now.
"Is that so? Then what do you want?" Mortimer asked.
"Two things. Aether Stones and Portal Maps."
"Hm..."
Mortimer leaned back in his chair, a puff of smoke coming from his cigar. He had expected Sylas to ask for the moon, but once again, the young man surprised him.
The request was very reasonable...
And very smart.
"What kind of Portal Maps do you want?"
"You have the locations of these targets. I want clearly marked and outlined paths to make it from the Appalachians to their last known locations. In addition, I want one clearly marked path to each continent."
"Alright." Mortimer nodded.
"As for Aether Stones, I will only take payment in Gold Grade stones. Set your price based on that."
Mortimer paused.
It seemed that Sylas knew his worth well.
What was clear and obvious to Sylas, but something that most would overlook, was that if the Grimblades could have done this with others, they would have
already.
Clearly, they weren't willing to risk their heirs, and their other trump cards were things that they would prefer to keep hidden.
By comparison, Sylas was perfect for this task. He was already hated by a great deal of governments, and his strength was already exposed for most to
see.
Obviously, Mortimer wanted to use him like a sacrificial lamb, running Sylas into the ground until he either ran through all their enemies for them, or he
died.
At this point, Mortimer didn't care much which one it was. This short interaction had already made it clear to him that Sylas was too difficult to control.
But by extension, Sylas wasn't a fool who would just happily be used as another's tool.
What Mortimer didn't know was that just based on this list, even without compensation, Sylas would still target most of these people. They were threats to what he wanted most...
Earth's successful Summon.
This was why he felt the list was more valuable than the original plan for
compensation.
"Okay. For every three C-level Threats, I can give you one. Two for a B-level Threat, ten for an A Level, and a thousand for an S."
Sylas shook his head. "One for a C-level, ten for a B-level, a hundred for an
A, ten thousand for an S."
Mortimer laughed. "Now you're price gouging me."
"Will you accept?" Sylas asked.
"Sure. I will accept if you kill them all within a year. Otherwise, I want
every Aether Stone you earn back."
"Okay." Sylas said calmly.
Soon, Sylas had left with a handful of documents. It seemed that the information in the files he had originally received were only the tip of the
iceberg.
After he left, the office fell into silence.
"Was that wise?" a voice echoed suddenly.
Mortimer laughed. "That boy just lied straight to my face without even
blinking."
"About?"
"He has no intention of paying me back if he fails within a year."
"Then kill him."
"Why would I kill my own flesh and blood unless he gives me a good reason to first?" Mortimer laughed.
"But he will eventually. And you know that." Mortimer continued to laugh as though he hadn't heard anything. He could tell that Sylas had no intention of following through on things exactly as he hoped the moment he realized that there was no system contract involved. Unfortunately, just like Nosphaleen, Mortimer didn't have the ability to form one, and no one with a strong enough Will was either here or capable of
either.
"The best schemes are the ones where your enemy has no choice but to dance to your tune regardless. This is one of those times. As for how things bear out, only time will tell."