One month had passed since Nick finalized the merger with Solace, creating Sky Dream.
For the past month, Nick had been showing Hera how he ran Dark Dream up to this point.
Naturally, since Hera was already a very experienced Chief Zephyx Extractor, she learned things very quickly.
There were a couple of things that Nick learned from her as well, but most of the time, Hera was learning from Nick.
Solace had it a bit easier when it was established since they had received a lot of funding back then.
Even more, the city had wanted another Manufacturer since there hadn't been a lot of competition back then, and Solace came at just the right time.
Then, they got the Bright Candle, and their status as a Manufacturer was essentially unassailable.
Everyone needed light, and getting a good source of that wasn't easy.
Dark Dream, in comparison, had it much harder.
The battle with Cycle.
The assassination attempt by the Spartans.
The entire issue with Anatomy.
Another thing to note was that Solace immediately stationed several of their Extractors in Dark Dream as soon as the merger was signed.
Technically, Dark Dream wasn't powerful enough to own so many Adults, and Solace rectified that by stationing several Veterans and even one of their Experts here.
The policy regarding not having enough power to contain a certain number of powerful Specters was a good one in Nick's opinion, and he didn't plan on changing it.
Specters breaking out was a rare phenomenon, and when it happened, they were almost always contained again without being able to leave the building itself.
In less than a month, Nick would officially become Crimson City's Liaison.
But before then, there was something else that Nick needed to do.
He needed to talk to someone.
Just yesterday, an Agent from Aegis had arrived to tell Nick why he was here in Crimson City.
The Agent said that he had talked to Ghosty and that Ghosty agreed to leave Crimson City.
He just needed a couple of months to deal with everything.
Then, he would leave and work in Aegis' central research unit inside their headquarters, directly under the Technician.
The Technician had been eying Ghosty for a while already.
Even the Left Arm had known about him.
One day after the Agent had arrived, Nick left Dark Dream and traveled to Ghosty's Lab.
"Welcome, Mr. Nick," the receptionist spoke politely.
"I need to talk to Ghosty," Nick said.
"Of course. He has already told me about your meeting," she said with a smile.
Nick didn't comment.
He had not told Ghosty that he wanted to meet him.
Apparently, Ghosty had expected Nick to arrive.
The receptionist led Nick to Ghosty's office and politely knocked on the door.
The door opened, and Nick could see Ghosty holding the door and looking at him.
"Ah, Nick. Pleasure to see you," Ghosty said with a friendly smile.
Then, he turned to the receptionist and politely told her to leave.
The receptionist nodded and left.
"Please, come in," Ghosty said, making space for Nick.
Nick nodded and entered the office.
Ghosty walked past him and calmly sat down in his chair.
"You expected me?" Nick asked neutrally.
Ghosty laughed politely. "Yes, but I expected the reason to be a different one."
"Could you elaborate?" Nick asked.
Ghosty drank something from a mug on his table.
"I expected you to try to kill me, like Vernon," he said.
"That's not necessary," Nick said without losing his calm. "Vernon was a danger. You aren't."
"I'm not a danger?" Ghosty repeated with a dry laugh. "Are you saying Vernon is more dangerous than me?"
Nick shook his head. "A strong Extractor working for the same company is not as dangerous as a strong Extractor working for another company."
"You think we're allies?" Ghosty asked.
"We are neutral," Nick said. "You and Ghosty's Lab have always been neutral in all conflicts up to the final fight against Anatomy. I believe you are someone who values safety and stability above risks and rewards."
"Additionally, I'm not stupid enough to underestimate you. Not even the blind shareholders of Kugelblitz are that dumb, and you know that I know that."
Ghosty looked with interest at Nick.
"I presume the visitor from yesterday is because of you?" Ghosty asked.
"He didn't tell you?" Nick asked back.
"No," Ghosty answered, taking another swig from his drink. "He only talked about Aegis and things related to me. I talked to Aegis in the past, and I told them that I was not interested."
"And yet, here they are, just one month after you left for Aegis, and this time, their offer was a lot bigger than back then," Ghosty said casually.
"It was me," Nick confirmed. "I met the Left Arm, and I requested that you leave Crimson City."
Ghosty raised an eyebrow. "You met the Left Arm? That's not someone that you can easily meet."
"I made a considerable contribution to Aegis, and I was rewarded accordingly," Nick answered.
Ghosty eyed Nick. "I believe you are not willing to tell me what kind of contribution."
"Even if I were, the Left Arm forbade everyone from speaking of it," Nick answered.
"Hoh," Ghosty uttered with interest. "Intriguing."
He put his mug down. "Why ask for me to leave Crimson City? If your contribution was that great, you could have asked for my death. They would have probably granted you that request."
Nick looked back. "Because of how Ghosty's Lab was run over the years. I've seen what shady things Kugelblitz, Anatomy, and even Gemini are up to. I've not seen any shady business done by Ghosty's Lab."
"It's possible that you are just much better at hiding it, but I don't think that's the case. I believe Ghosty's Lab doesn't want to risk angering the government or Aegis."
Ghosty listened to Nick as he continued speaking.
"You're not someone that I view as humanity's enemy. You might play the game like everyone else, but you are not contributing to the game's existence. You seem more like a spectator that's along for the ride."
"Additionally, your inventions have proven to be invaluable to Crimson City. You have done a lot of good, and I didn't want such a person to die."
"Even if that person knows of my deepest secret."
"Because of that, I wanted you to leave Crimson City. I don't want you to be a danger to me anymore," Nick explained.
Ghosty looked at Nick with interest.
Nick wasn't able to guess what Ghosty was thinking.
"You're staying in Crimson City?" Ghosty asked.
"I'm going to be Crimson City's Liaison," Nick answered.
Ghosty raised an eyebrow with interest, and Nick proceeded to tell him about the position of Liaison, why he was the first one taking it up, and why the position was created in the first place.
"You must have left quite an impression on the Left Arm if she was willing to create a completely new position just to give you an opportunity to prove yourself," Ghosty commented.
Then, he leaned back in his chair. "Now, I really want to know what kind of significant contribution you have made to Aegis."
Nick didn't say anything.
Ghosty stood up, went to one of his cupboards, and retrieved a couple of herbs.
He put some water into his mug, and with a flash of Zephyx, the water was already boiling.
The next moment, Ghosty put the herbs into the water and put the mug to the side.
Nick could tell that this was not one of Ghosty's abilities.
The amount of Zephyx he had just felt in the atmosphere was far too high.
Making a bit of water boil with an ability would barely use any Zephyx, which meant that Ghosty must have used Zephyx Manipulation to warm it.
Sure enough, Ghosty was a very experienced person.
Creating this much heat was more difficult than creating a bit of light.
His skills in Zephyx Manipulation might even be higher than the old Governor's.
Nick wasn't sure if Ghosty just casually made himself a drink or if he wanted to intimidate Nick.
"You already got the manual," Ghosty commented.
"I joined Aegis," Nick said.
Ghosty chuckled. "That's what you say, but words do not always reflect reality. I prefer to see things with my own eyes."
Nick watched as herbs inside the water levitated out of the water, and once more, Nick could feel a lot of Zephyx in the atmosphere.
Ghosty had probably needed decades of practice just to accomplish these two things.
Funnily enough, these two abilities, with their current power, probably didn't have a lot of combat potential. Using these two methods to actually injure a Specialist would take more Zephyx than even a Hero had.
Yet, Ghosty had still trained a lot just to attain them.
'Because he doesn't need to be even better in combat,' Nick thought. 'He's most likely already very powerful, and no one in Crimson City is willing to attack him because of his frightening intellect.'
"Now," Ghosty said as he drank from his tea. "Why are you really here?"
Nick looked at Ghosty.