Emperor Lawrence

The auction of the talking plant quickly left behind and new, more interesting items replace it. Only those interested in the plant remember what happened, the rest consider it nothing more than an anecdote.

Even surpassing the sentiment of those people, Eminent Greed clenches her teeth, unable to expel the man sitting across from her.

"How interesting… I can’t see your level or your eighth tail." He quickly realizes what’s happening and smiles, "Your previous reincarnation was indeed meticulous, or was it the one before that?"

Because he knows her secret, she can only coordinate. Though she internally wants to respond to this vile man’s words, she is smart, she knows that it’s not her time to act. Not now.

Lawrence predicts Eminent Greed’s thoughts and sighs.

"I won't beat around the bush. You don’t want me as your enemy."

She silently waits for his next words.

"The fact that [that] happened means your current self isn’t even capable of meeting the requirements to be considered my enemy."

"What do you want me to do?"

For a moment, she reveals her true emotions on her face but quickly regains her composure.

"Earn my goodwill."

She narrows her eyes, unable to deduce exactly what he means. He, however, casually says: "You’ll figure something out. In the meantime… I’ll use your name to acquire items at bargain prices. That shouldn’t bother you, right?"

Sighing, Eminent Greed nods.

What follows is no different from a child in a candy store.

"Congratulations, number 13! The item is yours!"

Using the power behind number 13, Lawrence buys two mana-generating magic artifacts at an extremely low price. His rivals in the auction gritted their teeth when number 13 was mentioned, because there are still so many items from the unknown Archaic Ruin, none of them were willing to spend their money on a fight where the odds of losing were high.

Lawrence fished in troubled waters and emerged victorious.

He swore to himself not to spend any more money… but fate had other plans.

At some point during the auction, a beautiful woman brings forth a transparent container holding a reddish sphere of light, about the size of an adult’s fist, and places it on the platform.

"You’re all ugly, hmph."

"Does it talk? What is that thing?"

Like the Silver Lily plant, the floating sphere of light can speak. Everyone is amazed by the novelty of the items today.

Before the host could speak, Lawrence recognizes its origin before anyone else.

"That is… a spirit."

Soon, the host confirms his words and names the little spirit: Thyr.

Thyr’s introduction doesn’t catch Lawrence’s attention because he has already made up his mind. He recalls the conversation he had with Sky Petal and Absolute Prominence, his personal dimension houses different spirits, but their number is so small that even with his power, it’s difficult to know what they are doing.

It’s like releasing a foreign insect species into a forest without knowing if it will harm the ecosystem.

It would be different if he could communicate with them… and Thyr could be the answer.

"The auction will start at 50 thousand gold, may the best bidder win!"

"Number 105, 75 thousand gold!"

"Number 78, 85 thousand gold!"

Eminent Greed notices Lawrence’s gaze and sighs. For a few minutes, she seemed uninterested in the auction, but after a small gesture from that man, she injects some of her mana into her number.

"Number 13, 350 thousand gold!"

Although Eminent Greed’s strange behavior might attract the attention of some, the truth is that everyone thinks it’s due to some secret deal between Lawrence and her, this could be the payment for that business.

"Congratulations, number 13! The item is yours!"

Lawrence smiles at her amiably and then bids farewell, "It has been an honor to speak with you, Eminent Greed. I hope our dealings are fruitful."

Once she nods, Lawrence rises from his seat, and the mana veil that covered them disappears. Many thoughts cross Eminent Greed’s mind as she watches the man’s back move away, she softly taps the table with her finger.

When Lawrence returns to his previous position, he inwardly snorts upon discovering that the item owners belonging to the Reigning Myrias faction do not approach him. It’s uncertain whether this is due to an order from her or perhaps they did it on their own initiative after seeing that only she wasn’t greeted by him, but this will hardly change his opinion of her.

Because that lizard woman didn’t show good intentions from the start.

He still doesn’t know how to deal with her, but if there were a scale, it would be tilted toward the enemy side with a very small chance of becoming allies.

If Lawrence wants to pave the way for his Path to Heaven Sect, it’s necessary to have good relations with all these big shots, but if that’s not possible…

Before the auction ends, when the prices of the items became unattainable, the item owners approach Lawrence with the proposal to refine pills for them. Dozens of pill recipes immediately emerge along with their crafting materials, he doesn’t despise any of them and accepts all their offers, with the only condition being that it will be his refiner, Bearer of Light, who will have the final say.

Of course, all of them were willing to push their luck, they all believed they would be the chosen ones, but reality will hit them hard at the next auction.

Until then, Lawrence cordially bids farewell to everyone, settles his debt with Eminent Greed, and then leaves the room.

"You…"

He encounters a familiar face in the hallway.

"Lawrence, I obtained the information you asked for."

Misty Plain, the guard of the Violet Twilight auction house. The man who once tried to kill him is now trying to resolve their enmity, the twists and turns of life are certainly incomprehensible.

"Let’s talk elsewhere."

Lawrence snaps back to reality and asks one of the servants to guide him to a private room. It doesn’t take long to find one and continue the conversation.

"This is the Ashfire pill recipe."

The Ashfire medicinal pill can heal the wounds of a level 700 hunter and practically bring them back to life. Although it’s not capable of regenerating limbs, it has incalculable value, it can easily turn the tide in a life-or-death battle. Not to mention that if its target level is 700, that’s not necessarily its limit.

If it's about Sky Petal, its potential for improvement is unlimited.

Lawrence reads its contents and then stores it in his storage ring. "If this pill recipe is real, our enmity will be resolved."

In this world, it’s rare to resolve enmity without resorting to violence, and in front of him, that’s exactly what’s happening. The feeling is strange because that man tried to kill him in the past, but to increase the chances of his plans’ success, Lawrence decided to reach an agreement.

"I’m not trying to be your friend, just settling old debts. Once you verify its authenticity, we’ll be strangers."

From start to finish, Misty Plain’s expression doesn’t change. After saying all he needed to say, he doesn’t hesitate to head for the door and leave the room.

Recruiting Misty Plain could be a good option, but Lawrence fears breaking his word and killing him. Because he knows his own word isn’t worth a cent.

Sighing, he leaves the room and walks through the most secluded corridors of the auction house, heading towards that exit where he once encountered that woman. At that moment, he thought their meeting was coincidental, but on second thought, it might have been premeditated.

He never could have imagined that in that very seat, he would meet her again today.

"Lawrence, there’s something you need to know."

Eminent Greed is sitting in the same seat as in her previous life, some things don’t change.

"I’ve been investigating you and found this."

For a moment, he frowns, but his annoyance at being investigated immediately changes when he sees the three papers this woman hands him. Because on each of them, he sees familiar faces.

"They’re wanted posters, all for the same circumstances."

The portraits show the faces of Golden Green, Wicked Fortune, and… Lawrence.

Eminent Greed continues saying: "Your poster isn’t in the high tiers, more like in the lower ones. They seem to treat you as an unimportant character, as only solitary hunters and some small sects have access to this."

He clenches his fists, crumpling the papers in his hands. 'The Unquenchable Fire Brothel is looking for me! I knew they wouldn’t stand still waiting, but not that they would do it so openly!'

Given Eminent Greed’s descriptions, the brothel is trying to approach him in a different way than they are with Golden Green and Wicked Fortune. While the latter two are clearly being treated as enemies, he is seen as a witness.

‘Ha! Either way, for escaping them, they’ll kill me once they get the answers they’re looking for!’

The war artifact helped lean this thought toward his innocence because after answering Wicked Fortune’s questions live, all the partners discovered that the war artifact confirmed his truth. But no matter the reasoning behind his actions, death is the only thing that awaits him if captured.

Once his thoughts are clear, he looks at her with an expressionless face.

"What do you plan to do with this information?"

If this woman plans to use this information to keep him in check, then at that very moment they would become enemies. The harm she has caused him cannot simply be remedied with threats. Because of her, he attracted the attention of a Greater Will! Even if it means incurring losses, he won't allow this woman to continue living!

She might get away with it today, but in the future--

"I'll help you."

"... What?"

She sighs and then shakes her head, "I've already died once by your hand, I don't want it to happen again. I’ll use my contacts to obstruct their search for you, lead them to other places, or even faking your corpse, but Lawrence, if I was able to obtain this information, it’s possible someone else could too."

Eminent Greed is taking his words seriously and genuinely wants to earn his goodwill in order to stay alive.

While the man in front of her had the strength and determination to kill her in her previous life, it also means that having him on her side could bring enormous benefits. If it’s him, she’ll try to change black into white.

"Change your face, I know your level is higher. If you fake a new identity, I'll spread the rumor that your previous identity was a criminal, and that you changed your face as a result. Play with the truth and twist it, excuses will only make you stand out."

The next moment, she throws him a magic artifact, there’s no need to ask what it’s for.

He stares at the magic artifact in his hands for several seconds before looking her in the eyes.

"... I'll think about it."

"Let me know your decision."