Two weeks had passed since Mundus had visited Dark Dream.
After a lot of talking, Dark Dream and Anatomy had come to an agreement.
Nick would help Anatomy in exchange for several assets, namely Specters.
Of course, since Nick couldn't have been completely sure how the Specter to the north would react, the reward had been divided into several tiers.
If nothing happened, Dark Dream would not get anything.
If a weak force attacked, Dark Dream would get a Specter.
If a strong force attacked, Dark Dream would get two Specters.
And if Nick's involvement ended up contributing to the Specter's capture, Dark Dream would get a lot!
Anatomy was willing to make an amazing offer to Dark Dream.
After all, if this mission succeeded, Anatomy would gain their first Demon!
That would allow the three founders of Anatomy to advance inside the Hero Stage, and Kugelblitz would stop widening the gap between them.
This was the most important mission within the last decades for Anatomy, and they would not miss this chance just because Dark Dream wanted a couple of Specters.
Of course, due to the relationship between Dark Dream and Anatomy, an insurance clause had been created.
Anatomy was responsible for Nick's safety.
If they let Nick die, they would have to hand over a Fanatic and two Elders to Dark Dream.
Naturally, Dark Dream wouldn't truly be able to work with them, and these Specters would just be wasted money on them, but that wasn't the point.
The point was to create an incentive for Anatomy not to "accidentally" kill Nick.
Julian had a copy of the contract.
The city had a copy.
And even the governor had been informed.
Of course, telling the governor brought some risks with it since he was strongly involved with Kugelblitz, but it was a risk they had to take.
Firstly, Dark Dream demanded it.
Secondly, Kugelblitz could use the laws to damage Anatomy since they "risked integral city forces for personal gain" by going after the Specter with their own Extractors.
However, while there definitely was a risk, the chances of the information reaching Kugelblitz were low.
Yes, the governor was involved with Kugelblitz, but the governor was ultimately part of Aegis.
Aegis wasn't the biggest fan of monopolies since they generally produced less Zephyx, which meant that the city wouldn't pay as much to Aegis.
It was okay for a Manufacturer to be the most powerful in the city, but there should be at least one other Manufacturer that was comparable to them.
Lastly, if the secret got out and Kugelblitz stole the Specter, Anatomy would raise hell in the city, and the governor obviously wouldn't want that to happen.
Therefore, it was in the governor's best interest to keep this secret.
However, the governor also wasn't required to help Anatomy.
His involvement and dependency on Kugelblitz didn't allow him to help any other Manufacturer.
If he did, Kugelblitz would manipulate the rules and keep the Crimson Fungus from the governor, and with time, they could silently assassinate him.
Naturally, Ghosty's Lab also couldn't help Anatomy.
But the reason for that was simply that Ghosty's Lab wasn't strong enough to threaten a Demon.
Only Kugelblitz, Anatomy, and the governor were powerful enough.
Anatomy was on its own.
Two weeks after the negotiation, Nick waited in Dark Dream's main hall.
According to Mundus, today would be the day of the operation.
Anatomy was going to do it.
They were going to try to capture the Demon to the north.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, Nick saw a muscular man walking into Anatomy.
He looked extremely serious and wore the green uniform of Anatomy.
According to his uniform, he was a Veteran.
He looked around and quickly found Nick.
"Follow me," the person said in a neutral voice without greeting Nick.
Then, he just turned around.
Nick's expression didn't change, and he wordlessly walked after the Veteran.
The man sped up, and the two of them ran to the western part of the city.
The man slowed down and calmly entered an unassuming house near the edge of the city.
Nick entered the house after the man, and the door closed behind him on its own.
The house looked pretty normal from the inside as well.
"Nick," a cold and deep voice spoke from one of the rooms.
Nick glanced at the motionless Veteran beside him before walking towards the room.
As he looked into the room, he noticed three things.
First, the room was huge and almost encompassed the house's entire first floor.
Second, there was a big hole in the middle of the room, and the red mist from the Crimson Sea was constantly spilling out.
Third, there were three people standing beside the hole, and all three of them were looking at Nick with neutral eyes.
Under the gazes of the three of them, Nick felt enormous pressure.
These three were the leaders and owners of Anatomy.
Mundus Stairwell, a tall man with black hair that looked to be in his thirties. He owned 40% of Anatomy and was their Chief Zephyx Extractor. He was also their only Hero.
Zarren Harrow, also a tall man with black hair that looked to be in his thirties. He owned 30% of Anatomy and was one of their two Senior Directors. He was an extremely powerful Specialist.
Nick already knew these two, but he had never come into contact with the third person.
The third person was a small woman with icy blue hair. Her expression was just as cold as the expressions of the other two.
Just like the other two, she looked like she was in her thirties.
Nick had not seen this woman before, but he had certainly heard of her.
Ariel Cerillion, the other Senior Director of Anatomy. Just like Zarren Harrow, she was an extremely powerful Specialist.
Those three were the sole owners of Anatomy, and they dictated how Anatomy operated.
"Are you ready to leave?" Mundus asked, looking at Nick.