"What?"
Wei-Lan was left stunned for a moment, and then his expression turned confused.
"How does a hairless child have anything to do with the fall of a Tier 8 powerhouse?"
Bishop Va’ren leaned closer and uttered with a wide grin that would have sent shivers down the spines of children. "Everything."
"I will need a better explanation than that." Wei-Lan frowned.
No matter how hard he thought about it, he just couldn’t figure out how Levi could have anything to do with bringing Bishop Na’thir down.
"There is a time for explanations and a time for actions." Bishop Va’ren smiled as he poured himself a cup of tea. "Now... are you interested in a partnership or not? If you accept my proposal, I will assure you that your child’s strength will put him back on the top... no questions asked."
Wei-Lan remained silent, taking his time thinking things through... although he wanted his son to reclaim his number one spot, it didn’t mean he held any grudges against Levi and wanted him dead.
In fact, he respected him more than his son after having his sources bring him the data. What he read left him in admiration, as he was reminded of his younger days before he had signed his life away to the devil.
Wei-Lan might be seen as a traitor by others if they were to hear his story... but in his eyes, he was doing it all for the sake of saving their home planet. If it wasn’t for Levi humiliating his son, which in turn humiliated the reputation of his lineage, he would have liked him much more... maybe even invited him for a visit and see if there was a possibility of poaching him from the Heliodor region.
But now... it was either him or his legacy.
Wei-Lan would choose his legacy over his own son, don’t even mention Levi.
"What’s my part in your grand scheme?" Wei-Lan narrowed his eyes coldly, "Kill the kid?"
"Kill?" Va’ren laughed while shaking his head, "He is our way in... he is the heart of my plan. What I need from you is to convince him to work for me."
"..."
Wei-Lan stared at him in silence, feeling like he had just heard the worst joke of his life... convince the proclaimed future of the planet to work for a Bishop? One of the most hated enemies on the planet, and a high member of the organization responsible over his parents’ death? It was easier if he just asked to kill him.
"I am out." Wei-Lan stood up while fixing his robe, "Dealing with you has never been pleasant... I have no idea why I thought it would be any different this time."
"Sit." Bishop Va’ren ordered indifferently.
"No... nothing you say will change my mind... if I dared attempt convincing the kid to work for your scheme, I would be offering my own neck for execution. I want my son to restore what he has damaged for my lineage, but I am not foolish enough to take such an unnecessary risk for that."
Wei-Lan felt Va’ren’s intense pressuring aura, but he still refused to listen... he understood that the Bishop had no authority over him in the Boundless Expanse, and if he were to make a move, it wouldn’t end pleasantly for him.
"You must think I am stupid to come forward with such an offer if I wasn’t assured that the boy will accept it." Bishop Va’ren sneered, "Levi is intertwined with Bishop Na’thir far more than you can even imagine... his death is his quest, and he will work with anyone to help him achieve it... of course, if he is intelligent."
Hearing this, Wei-Lan slowly returned to his seat with an intrigued expression... he didn’t need extra details to figure out the connection.
"Bishop Na’thir was behind the murder of his parents that night..." Wei-Lan soon frowned, "But, then what... what’s so special about it? His fate is similar to thousands of other Daywalkers."
Wei-Lan understood that if this was the sole connection between the Bishop and Levi, it was as useless as trying to save up when heavily in debt... it just didn’t add up.
"The murder is personal... but Bishop Na’thir had taken something that didn’t belong to him that night." Bishop Va’ren grinned, "He made the mistake of holding onto it this long."
"Hmm? What are you on about? Also, what is your source? I doubt Na’thir will allow anyone to access to information that can damage him."
Wei-Lan knitted his brows... feeling more confused by the second about Va’ren’s angle.
"I have my ways... for now, all you have to tell me is are you in or not?"
Va’ren stressed again, and he didn’t seem to have any thoughts of asking another time. If Wei-Lan refused to join, he wouldn’t care as much. He had prepared other ways to reach out to Levi.
The only reason he wanted Wei-Lan added was to convince Levi easier... after all, an offer of partnership with the Bishop would sound different from Wei-Lan’s mouth than someone else hired by the Bishop.
Wei-Lan realized this as well... hence, after putting some thoughts into it, he ended up nodding in acceptance.
"You made the right decision." Bishop Va’ren leaned closer with a faint grin, "Bring your son tomorrow to my lab... I will take great care of him."
"You better... I need him ready before the Faction’s Death Game." Wei-Lan narrowed his eyes coldly, "This time... I am drafting the contract, and we are signing a legitimate contract using your lab’s name."
Wei-Lan had no plans to repeat the same mistake... although he had signed his first contract at gunpoint, he still would have preferred if he wasn’t ignorant about Va’ren pulling a fast one on him.
Now, he wanted everything to be legit for his son so if Va’ren decided to screw him too, he would lose his alchemist license.
"I don’t mind." Bishop Va’ren shrugged, "I have a reputation and business to maintain... I can’t have your son getting beat up after he gets registered in my portfolio to have used my potions."
"If you do your job right... no one will ever defeat him in his generation on this planet." Wei-Lan stood up and added coldly, "Tomorrow... I expect to know everything after the signing."
"Sure thing..." Va’ren chuckled, knowing that Wei-Lan would never believe him without a signature.
After Wei-Lan left, Va’ren sent a message to someone and kept drinking tea on his own for a short while. Then, a few knocks resounded across the small room, and a familiar, but slightly colder voice was heard from the outside.
"Bishop... It’s me."
Bishop Va’ren’s smile widened a little.
"Come in."
The door was pushed forward, and a man walked inside wearing a nightmarish rabbit-mask and a black robe, covering his entire body. The mask exposed only his jaw and lips... but they were enough for anyone to figure out his race... a human.
"My favorite new subordinate... join me for tea."
Bishop Va’ren welcomed with a pleased expression. The man walked slowly towards a seat and then sat down, his mouth affixed into a single grimace... stoic coldness.
"How did it go?" He asked.
"We have his support." Bishop Va’ren replied, "I didn’t expect the final piece of our puzzle to land in our hands... now, it will be much easier to reach out to Levi and kick off our plan."
"Good." The man nodded... his tone unreadable.
"I thought you would be more excited than this." Bishop Va’ren chuckled, "Loosen up a bit... I thought this is everything you have ever wanted."
The man remained silent for a moment... many thoughts coursing through his mind. But then, he responded with the same tone.
"I will loosen up when I reclaim everything I have lost..." He paused, then added with a sharper tone. "Especially, when I stand above the grave of Na’thir and the rubble of his empire."
Bishop Va’ren heard the deep-seethed hatred in his tone, and couldn’t help but shake his head.
"Na’thir has really been making too many rookie mistakes... I don’t know if his arrogance and ego have started getting in his way, or he is becoming softer." Va’ren added with a cold grin, "Either way... I have been waiting patiently for the moment he slips and make him regret the day he screwed me over my territory two centuries ago... I don’t forget, I don’t forgive... and I won’t show the same idiotic mercy he had shown upon that boy."
The man cracked a faint pleased cold smile... but it was erased almost an instant later. Then, he took a sip of the tea and stood up.
"I will head out and start our preparations..."
He nodded at Bishop Va’ren and left the room.
Bishop Va’ren stared at his fading back behind the closing door for a moment and then... he sneered inwardly while returning to his casual posture.
’I understand his reasonings, but... Once a rat... always a rat.’ He thought to himself, having different thoughts than the man who had left.