On island one hundred and ninety-one, in a dark tavern illuminated only by the few candles spa.r.s.ely placed in the hall.
An anxious middle-aged soldier was conversing with a hooded figure as they sat on a table in the back of the room.
"Please, you must understand! The captain is looking for moles like he has never done before! After the a.s.sa.s.sination on island one hundred and fifty-eight, every legal faction is keeping its attention on all of us! I can"t give you the reports about the s.h.i.+pments of the next month."
The soldier pleaded the hooded figure, he looked pitiful and even scared when he said those words.
The hooded figure was, of course, Noah.
That was the last of his missions, it had taken him an entire day to complete the other four and he was now doing his best to convince the soldier in front of him to sell the information about the provisions that the continent sent to its representatives in the archipelago.
Noah released a bit of his aura, the soldier was only a rank 1 mage, he immediately stopped speaking when he felt the cold pressure enveloping him.
"P-please, I, I really can"t."
However, the soldier continued to refuse even after that.
"The other four gave up as soon as they sensed the difference in power… It seems that I have to use another approach."
Noah thought, deciding to change tactic.
He took a small sip from his jug and put a hand on the side of his head in a pensive gesture.
"Bill, right? You have a daughter named Cora if I"m not wrong."
Bill"s expression froze after he heard Noah"s words, his hands began to tremble as he sat silently, waiting for the hooded man to continue.
"You have always been happy to work with us, our cooperation allowed her to obtain a rank 1 cultivation technique and a rank 2 martial art. She should be in the liquid stage by now, am I right?"
Bill didn"t move, Noah"s words resounded in his mind and he was incapable to provide any answer.
However, Noah wanted him to understand the situation he was in.
Even more of his aura was released as he repeated his words in a slow but calm manner.
"Am I right?"
Bill was awakened by that question and timidly nodded, cold sweat traced s.h.i.+ning lines on his face as it fell on the wooden table.
Noah sighed and shook his head, he purposely accentuated those gestures before he resumed to speak.
"They grow up so quickly and the expenses for the techniques can only increase as their level rises. I wonder what she will do when her dad disappears… We might find a job for her so that she can continue to cultivate but this really isn"t something I suggest, I don"t like to see promising kids ruined by lecherous old men."
Noah spoke slowly, he wanted to make sure that Bill understood the meaning behind his threat.
Bill suppressed an angered shout as he lowered his head.
"You Hive are evil, using my child like this…"
He spoke softly but Noah could clearly hear what he said.
Yet, he didn"t care much, he knew that the soldier was right after all.
Noah had never used the name of the Chasing demon sect during his missions, it was always the Hive that was mentioned.
As an underground organization, the less it was revealed to the public the more mysterious and powerful it would appear.
Most normal citizens weren"t even aware that there were different factions, they just labeled any criminal organization of the archipelago as Hive.
Noah silently waited for the man to decide, his cold pressure never left his target.
Then, Bill sighed and took a scroll from the sleeves of his robe and handed it to Noah.
Noah opened it and nodded before storing it inside his s.p.a.ce-ring while handing a few thousand Credits to Bill.
"See? It was easy, let"s not make it so difficult next time."
Noah spoke as he stood up and patted Bill"s shoulder.
Then, he simply left the tavern, Bill"s voice ordering more wine reached his ears as he returned to the streets.
"I"m finally done for today."
Noah internally sighed as he moved toward the deeper and poorer parts of the island.
There, he entered an almost-broken wooden cabin where he placed a few hundred Credits on the floor.
A matrix appeared behind his feet and the pressure of the teleportation hit his mind, in a few seconds, he had returned to the now-familiar purple environment.
He was near the residential area of the disciples in the first rank of the dantian and some of them were silently cleaning the matrixes placed on the purple ground.
They noticed Noah"s presence and immediately stood up to perform a polite bow.
They were youths in the gaseous stage, they were the outer disciples of the sect who would act as servants until their cultivation reached the liquid stage.
Noah nodded at them and moved toward the mission"s building, the missions of that day would provide him with three hundred merit points, they were enough to buy a bottle of Sea snake"s tears.
He quickly reached the first floor of the mission"s building and went for the desk, the tattoo on his hand appeared to interact with the formation and confirm the outcome of the missions, the items that he had obtained that day were laid on the formation and disappeared during the process.
Behind him, on the pillar, the missions completed by Noah disappeared and new tablets replaced those empty s.p.a.ces.
In a few seconds, a bottle containing an azure and dense liquid together with a few thousand Credits appeared on the desk and Noah promptly stored those items inside his s.p.a.ce-ring.
The Credits expended for the activation of the matrixes and for the bribes during the missions were refunded by the sect, it would be unproductive to ask for the disciples to pay with their own money after all.
Noah didn"t need to pick other missions so he simply returned to his residential area, he was eager to test the effect of the potion.
Yet, as he returned to his cave, he saw that five disciples were waiting right in front of its entrance.