Welson immediately began writing up a contract of sale, pausing near the end to say, “There’s just one thing. At 150,000 spirit stones per vial, these five crates will cost at least 700 million stones, likely closer to 800 million. I only have about a twentieth of that on me, and I can’t exactly spend all of it. Are you willing to commit to carrying out the transaction after we settle the scores with Kalvin and the Falling Rain Sect?”

For someone who had been so worried about dying just a few minutes ago, Welson spoke with the air of a man that had just secured a comfortable future.

“Yeah, no problem. Was there anything else that you wanted to talk about?”

Nodding, Welson pulled out a piece of gilded paper and slid it across the table. The contents detailed a formal challenge to the legitimacy of the current merchant king, and the summons for a summit on the future of the association. Evidently, Welson would also be making a trip to North Island in the coming weeks.

“Seems like things are escalating pretty fast up there.”

Welson nodded. “Another reason why I was a bit worried to hear about the fate of those elders. Rather than simply replace me, Kalvin could rightfully kill me now that a summons has been called considering that we’re from different factions. Since neither of our sides will declare neutrality, it’s perfectly in line with the association’s rules.”

“I get why you’d be freaking out about that, but don’t worry. If I’ve learned anything about dealing with the stress of always having this guy and that girl coming at me for my life, it’s that you’ve got to take time to relax in between all the craziness.” Filling both of their cups back to the brim with spirits, he raised his and proposed a toast. “To relaxing. Let’s just drink and gamble and forget about all that. With me here, nobody in this city can say anything to you.”

After donning a complicated frown for a few moments, Welson’s anxiety seemed to disappear. Clinking cups, he let out an appreciative sigh. “You know, you’re a good fellow, Nolan. Business matters aside, how about we be friends?”

Nolan took a long sip. “Mr. Sly over here, trying to get a strong bodyguard.” When Welson shrugged with an inebriated grin, Nolan laughed and said, “Sure thing, man. I wouldn’t mind a little break from cultivating.” He produced a large bottle of Divine Spirit Fountain water and slid it across the table. “If you get too drunk, drink this and it’ll sober you up within minutes.”

“What is this? It’s filled with Origin Energy and spiritual energy. It’s not as potent, but it’s similar to the heavenly dew.”

“My master gave it to me. The dew’s better for cultivation, but this stuff’s a lot more useful. It can sober you up, cure poisons, heal wounds… I swear I had the flu once and I was fine after a few sips.”

“I can have this?”

“We’re friends, right?” Nolan got up and approached the door, “Let’s go out to the main area and hit up the dice table. I didn’t think I’d see one of those here.”

“Why not? They’re pretty common. Do you think I run a broken ship?”

As they walked out into the hallway, Nolan began to bask in his rising buzz. “Ah, it’s nothing. Let’s go turn up for a while, and then I know a great place we can go. Me and my buddy found it the other day…” While he wasn’t the sort to partake in the type of place that he had in mind, looking around wouldn’t be too much of a guilt-giving experience. He basically killed people for breakfast these days, so visiting a pleasure house on Venara didn’t have nearly as large an influence on his thoughts as it might have back on Earth.

Nolan had a great time over the hours that followed, jumping from gambling hall to gambling hall alongside the city’s consul. Contrary to his lack of confidence, Welson was quite respected in Tallgate, at least at the establishments that they opted to visit. Still, others didn’t put him in their eyes, often ignoring him or looking at him with overt expressions of displeasure when passing him by in the streets. He seemed adamantly against the idea of visiting a business owned by Connick or by other merchants from differing factions, especially now that a challenge had officially been issued against the merchant king’s authority. Nolan pressured him to do so anyway, and soon they found themselves outside of a luxurious villa where a large event was currently taking place, one that Welson seemed wary of attending.

“What’s the problem?” said Nolan as they made their way down a private road in a secluded area of the city. “There’s no one there that can bother us.” The road was uphill, so they couldn’t see the estate just yet.

“I’m not so sure about that.” In a lower voice, Welson muttered, “If this were a transaction slip, I wouldn’t sign it…”

The consul clearly thought that May or Delia had been the ones to kill the Falling Rain Sect’s elders, not Nolan, else he wouldn’t seem so on edge. It wasn’t that he was outwardly distrustful, only that it didn’t make much sense for someone in the late phase of the Integration stage’s sixth level to singlehandedly kill three seasoned cultivators at the first level of Genesis.

“Trust me, it’ll be fine.”

When Nolan heard that there was a huge gathering at a property owned by an unknown merchant lord’s chamberlain, he’d followed his whims and convinced Welson to relent with the promise of a free vial of heavenly dew if the heavy-footed man allowed Nolan to dictate the direction of the night. They were both quite drunk at the moment, so it wasn’t too difficult to ensure that an agreement was reached.

It wasn’t long before they began to run into other people along the road, which ended at a large set of metal gates where several cultivators in CMA colours were busy checking invitation cards. Hundreds of people were gathered around the area, with many more life signals nearby.

“This is it?”

Welson nodded, the two of them standing at the back of a congested mass of people that were currently waiting to be vetted for entry. All of the guests were dressed in the finest of clothes, virtually every person in attendance wearing the most expensive jewelry on the market.

“Wow, talk about wealthy, huh?” Whispering, he said, “Man, can you toss me a couple of rings made of star gold? I can’t be looking like a servant out here.” While Nolan’s clothes were no less appropriate than those of the people around him, he was the only person here without any pricey adornments on.

“Ah, yes. Here.”

Three rings, and an earring. Piercing his left ear was but a momentary matter, though he had to rely on one of his demonic sloth needles to puncture his skin as it was too tough for simple star gold to punch through. After putting them on, he frowned at the fact that Welson’s eyes were darting around like an anxious mouse that was trying to navigate through a field of felines. Even Nolan could tell that the man wasn’t particularly cut out for his current position, which told him that whoever this Merchant Lord Kam was, the man was likely lacking in capable manpower.

“Thanks, buddy.” Looking down at his hands with satisfaction, Nolan thought that it didn’t feel bad to showcase some wealth every once in a while. “Eh, relax already. I’ve already taken a look around and I don’t sense anything sketchy going on. You’re the consul of this city, so just sack up and enjoy the party.”

“Sometimes you sound like a field hand, you know that?”

“Why are we even waiting here? Let’s go flex your status and cut the line.”

“It doesn’t work that—”

Nolan noticed that a lot of the people out front of the gate seemed to have been denied entry, though none seemed willing to give up on getting in. Taking the lead and leaving Welson with no choice but to scramble after him, he said, “You ever think that some people look at you the way they do because you don’t give any pushback? I don’t know, I’m just saying if I ran a city in this world and people tried to troll me like that then I’d be taking down names.”

“In this world?”

“Ah, something we used to say in my village.” The road levelled off near the front of the line, revealing an impressive sight beyond the dark metal fencing. “Wow, that’s awesome.”