The problem with the hypothesis that Loki had an helper is that as long as Gold Body is fighting another divine being, he would never bring out his shoddy Cave Heaven to fight with it. Therefore, even if Gold Body had died, his Cave Heaven should be safe after his death.
There are only a few special ways to attack the Cave Heaven directly. This is why he never expected that Gold Body would be gone forever.
But now that he knows that Gold Body was gone forever, what he wants next is to know how Gold Body died and how his Cave Heaven was destroyed. Unfortunately for him, Loki is adamant about keeping the fight a secret.
Since Loki has decided to keep the fight a secret, any means to investigate it through the divine constellation will be blocked by Loki. He will have to spend so much of his lifespan that Loki gives up before he can learn the information he wants.
But even if he manages to make Loki cave in, he would still have to get through Loki’s helper. If that mysterious divine being also blocks his inquiry, all of the lifespan he spent to force Loki would have been for naught.
As this thought and many others went through his mind, he said to himself, ’How desperate am I to know what happened? Will it even change anything if I knew how Gold Body died? Aside from knowing who is supporting this new Gold Body, it is not as if I can bring the old Gold Body back?’
At the end of the day, reason overtook his curiosity. So he smiled again and said to Loki, "In that case, the Gold Body we knew is gone and should be forgotten. As his one and only replacement, I offer you an invitation to take his place and join our Thorn House of Commerce."
Loki also smiled as he said, "What are the benefits of joining your Thorn House of Commerce? I hope I don’t have to surrender my Cave Heaven anymore."
He doesn’t even know what exactly surrendering his Cave Heaven is and what benefits can be gained from it. But he doesn’t like the sound of it at all.
In response to his question, Forced Exchange shook his head and said, "Surely you jest. If you weren’t, then it seems that you don’t know that I was joking earlier when I suggested you surrender your Cave Heaven. So you shouldn’t take that offer seriously."
"As for this offer, you will become a partner of the Thorn House of Commerce. You will have a share in our profits based on your contributions."
"You will be able to retain your freedom as a partner. But we won’t be obligated to protect you from enemies. You will truly be in your own, like the previous Gold Body."
He spoke as if it would be a good thing for him to be alone like the previous Gold Body. But he glanced at Life’s Worth as he spoke. His behavior was as if to remind Loki of what had happened to the previous Gold Body and who was responsible for a large part of it.
Monarch Life’s Worth also noticed what Forced Exchange was doing. But she only snorted and said nothing.
Then her eyes gleamed when she heard the new Gold Body say, "What if I reject your offer? Am I to believe that you will also come after me?"
Forced Exchange shook his head as he said, "We are not that kind of people. We won’t force people to join us."
Monarch Life’s Worth chose this moment to say, "What he means to say is that they never fight people who are hale and hearty. They only pick on the weak and near death. They will wait for me to weaken you before they come to pick your bones clean."
This statement made Loki ask, saying, "If that is so, why didn’t they take down Gold Body when they had the chance?"
Monarch Forced Exchange answered his question by saying with pride, "That’s because we have a non-aggression clause. We have sworn an oath and made a contract not to attack each other in the Thorn House of Commerce."
This information explained a lot of things, so Loki said, "I see."
Then he said, "Am I right to think that if I don’t join the Thorn House of Commerce, I won’t be able to enjoy this benefit? Or you mean to say that you never attack anyone when you said that you don’t try to force people to join your House of Commerce?"
In response, Monarch Forced Exchange only chuckled. He didn’t say anything more because everything that he needed to say had been said.
Loki thought about the offer for a while. As he did so, he glanced at Monarch Life’s Worth. He saw that she looked nonchalant and unconcerned about his decision.
Her behavior made him review everything she did ever since she appeared before him. He remembered that she had been angry about his being offered to surrender his Cave Heaven. Then she exposed the fact that the people of the Thorn House of Commerce couldn’t be trusted to keep their noses out of his business if he didn’t accept their invitation.
After thinking about the situation for a while, he said to Forced Exchange, "What do I need to do to become a member of the Thorn House of Commerce?"
His reply put a big smile on Forced Exchange’s tattooed face before he said, "Excellent decision. You won’t regret it."
Then he said, "It will take a while for me to prepare everything we need for the contract. When I am done, I will reach out to you through the divine constellation."
At this point, he glanced at Monarch Life’s Worth as he said, "In the meantime, I wish you good luck."
Since he had said everything he wanted to say, he tore through space and left. This left him alone with Monarch Life’s Worth.
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A/N: Please, don’t forget to vote with your power stones and golden tickets. Thank you for your support.