Damn Necromancer

Chapter 400: Higher God (3)

“Th-then…….”

The leader of Ares Corporation asked with a trembling voice.

[Just what is the price we must offer you?]

“It's nothing much.”

Kim Minwoo declared with the most wicked and capitalistic smile in the world.

“I'm just about to molt into a Higher God, you see. You just need to hand over some trivial promotion materials that will go into it.”

[H-Higher God……?]

“Yeah. Looking at the rough estimate, to contain the enlarged divinity, I need to mold a physical body with supreme materials capable of withstanding the pressure of a star, and I need a transcendent mental medium to process prayers, you see? Your treasure warehouses are overflowing with that kind of stuff, aren't they.”

The moment his words ended, the leaders beyond the hologram freaked out and jumped.

The weight given by the distant word 'Higher God' was also massive, but it was because they realized the true meaning of the materials that devil-like bastard was demanding in a single breath.

‘Materials that withstand the pressure of a star? Could it mean he's going to rob all the most expensive rare minerals in the universe and super-alloy assets hoarded in our headquarters' secret safes?’

‘Wait, if it's a mental medium to process tens of billions…….’

The complexion of the Ares leader turned as pale as a blank sheet of paper.

[C-could you mean you are going to rip out even the super quantum cores and main computers that are no different from the hearts of our megacorps!]

“Oh. As expected of a chairman, you catch on fast.”

[C-crazy talk! If you rob all those core assets, the very foundation of the megacorps will shake! Are you not telling us to empty our treasure warehouses completely!]

The leaders jumped up and down and bulged their veins.

[What is the point of gaining eternal life! We will become penniless beggars overnight, lose our power, and roll in the gutters! It would be better to die; we don't need such eternal life that is nothing but a shell!]

To them, whose religion was exactly capital and power, becoming penniless beggars was as terrible as death.

The leader of Ares Corporation, exhaling rough breaths beyond the screen, roared with bloodshot eyes.

[Death Lord! Do you think we will crawl at your feet to spare our lives! The moment you step even a single foot into our headquarters, we will immediately activate the headquarters' self-destruct!]

“Huh?”

[We are the ones who have ruled the universe. Rather than losing everything, we will turn it all into ashes! The quantum AI cores and super-alloy resources you want? They will all evaporate in the tens of millions of degrees of heat of a nuclear fusion explosion. Let's see you try to promote to a Higher God well with just bone dust!]

An extreme mutually assured destruction declaration. The other three leaders also agreed with the Ares leader's words and simultaneously placed their hands on the red detonators in their respective executive offices.

It was a resolve befitting venomous types who had ground up hundreds of millions of people to stand at the apex of the universe.

However, upon hearing that grim declaration, Kim Minwoo's reaction was extremely indifferent.

“……Huh? Who said I was going to strip even your underwear off? Why are you suddenly accelerating on your own and making a fuss.”

[Wh-what……? Are you not saying you will kill us all and work us as slaves?]

“If I was going to do that, why would I have pulled out a contract?”

[…….]

Toward the silent leaders, Kim Minwoo spoke.

“You don't understand the words. When did I say I would smash all your companies' foundations? I'm saying I'll just extract some high-grade materials exactly necessary for my promotion. I'll leave the monopoly infrastructure you've laid out across the entire universe, the tens of thousands of subcontracting factories, and the planetary ruling authorities exactly as they are.”

[……!]

Kim Minwoo clicked his tongue tteut-tteut as if he was dumbfounded.

In fact, from the moment Kim Minwoo checked their venomous eyes beyond the hologram, he had somewhat expected this situation.

Those guys were genuine vicious capitalists who squeezed tears of blood from hundreds of millions of people to climb to the top.

Genuine venomous types who, when perfectly cornered, could blow everything up so others couldn't have it either, rather than not having it themselves.

‘If they really press the detonator buttons there and it all flies away, I'm the only one taking a loss.’

It was exactly for that reason he had snapped only Arthur's neck as an example in the first place.

If he pressured them saying he would kill the rest too and those guys actually went through with self-destruction, the super-massive quantum AI cores and the physical resources needed to promote to a Higher God would evaporate into space dust along with the nuclear explosion.

There was no reason to go out of his way to take such a risk.

Furthermore, if he took everything and killed them all, who would run this massive space economy?

“I won't lay a single finger on the monopoly infrastructure you've laid out across the entire universe, the tens of thousands of subcontracting factories, and planetary ruling authorities. Is it a big deal if those paltry AI computers and treasure warehouses are a bit empty? You gained eternal life; it's fine if you slowly run things and recover them again.”

[Th-that is……!]

“If you're anxious, I'll definitely put a clause in that dimensional contract I showed you earlier guaranteeing your power, alright?”

The leaders' hands, which had been resting on the detonators, trembled with a flinch.

“Think about it a bit. I'm nominally a god, so would I sit around in this paltry lump-of-iron dimension signing papers instead of you and managing the space economy? That's annoying.”

Kim Minwoo blew out a puff of cigar smoke and put on the most wicked yet sweet capitalistic smile in the world.

“In the end, tenacious types like you are the best at tenaciously running corporations and extracting money, right? I'll give you perfect immortality instead of dying bodies, so you guys just work and live large eternally in this Galaxy dimension until the universe perishes. While offering only a certain portion of the profits.”

Subcontractors.

It was the word that came to the leaders' minds first.

They were the ones who had spent their entire lives running things, squeezing out tears of blood while placing tens of thousands of planets and corporations in the galaxy under their feet.

They were the ones who knew the physiology of that superior-subordinate dynamic deep in their bones better than anyone.

‘We're going to become that monster's subcontractors?’

If it were usual, their pride would have been hurt and they would have jumped up and down wildly, but in front of the massive scale of survival and eternal life, their reasoning began to turn terrifyingly cold.

‘If we refuse the proposal here? If we don't press the detonators and wage an all-out war with that monster, are there any odds of winning?’

None.

Even Zenith's stellar fleet, possessing the firepower to scrape the surface of a planet, was sliced away like a sheet of paper by a single sword swing from that monster's subordinate.

Even Chairman Arthur, who was equipped with the strongest combat core in the universe, had his neck snapped without being able to flick a single finger properly. A head-on match is a suicidal act. Then do we really press the detonators, turn everything we have achieved so far into ashes, and all die together?

That was exactly the worst move they, capitalists down to their bones, wanted to avoid the most.

Above all, there was another, most chilling variable driving the leaders crazy.

Gulp.

In the hologram screen, the four powerhouses, including the Ares leader, glanced at each other and swallowed dry saliva simultaneously.

‘If I refuse to the end and hold out here…… but one of those guys secretly flat-out signs that contract?’

It was a place where alliances were thrown to the dogs long ago.

The moment a traitor emerges, it's over.

It was obvious that a traitor who gained an immortal physical body on top of backing from the power called the Death Lord would swallow all the remaining megacorps and become the sole absolute ruler of the universe.

A thorough prisoner's dilemma.

In the minds of the old venomous types who ruled the universe, the perfect calculation finally finished.

‘It's a hundred times, a thousand times better to rather offer some resources to that monster and be eternally guaranteed the position of ruler in this Galaxy!’

They were lives that would have rotted and decayed away due to their lifespans ending anyway.

If they could gain eternal life while maintaining their free will and power as they were, they were willing to gladly hand over regular tributes (resources) and their headquarters' warehouses.

Seueuk.

The first one to slowly take their hand off the red detonator was the leader of Ares Corporation, who had been bulging his veins the most while claiming he would self-destruct until just a moment ago.

[Ahem, ahem……!]

The Ares leader let out a fake cough, instantly wiped away the fiercely distorted face, and bowed toward Kim Minwoo with the smile of a greedy capitalist.

[Now that I hear it…… the great Death Lord's words are absolutely right. The physical resources we possess are something we can just slowly refill while running the economy anyway, are they not.]

“……!”

[Th-this damn old fox bastard is wagging his tail first?!]

[Ah! I-I will sign too! I will transfer our corporation's main core and highest-grade alloy warehouse to the Lord right this instant!]

The rulers of the universe who had been growling at each other to kill and be killed until just a moment ago were now creating a rare spectacle of fiercely competing for loyalty to become the Death Lord's eternal 1st-tier subcontractors.

Kim Minwoo blew mana into the dimensional contract floating in the empty air.

The golden parchment duplicated, riding the holograms, and one sheet popped up in front of each of the four leaders' eyes.

“Now, I've written down the contract contents very simply and transparently. Read through it and stamp your thumbprints.”

The leaders swallowed dry saliva and read down the clauses of the shining contract.

[Clause 1: The Headquarters (Death Lord Kim Minwoo) provides the contractors with the physical bodies (immortality) of highest-grade undead, where the egos and five senses from life are preserved 100%.]

[Clause 2: The Headquarters permanently guarantees the autonomy of the contractors, and does not issue any forced domination or commands like other undead. (However, upon discovery of hostile acts against the Headquarters, they will immediately be annihilated.)]

The complexions of the leaders noticeably brightened after reading the most important first and second clauses.

It was because it was content that truly guaranteed eternal life with perfect free will, not as slaves.

However, their pupils trembled pareureu at the following clauses.

[Clause 3: The contractors immediately transfer items deemed necessary for the promotion to a Higher God.]

[Clause 4: The contractors, as permanent 1st-tier subcontractors, offer a 50% cut of all resources and profits earned in the galaxy every month to the Headquarters.]

[……50%? Isn't this too much profiteering?]

“You guys rip off 80, 90 percent of the profits from the subcontracting factories under you, and you're going to whine over a mere 50%? If you really don't like it, then don't sign the contract.”

Kim Minwoo said while pointing at Arthur.

A state where he had plummeted to the status of an undead, becoming Kim Minwoo's slave, unable to even have his autonomy guaranteed.

Zenith Corporation was no different from finished.

[……Then, what about Zenith Corporation…….]

“You guys tear it up amicably and take it.”

[……!]

The old wolves beyond the hologram simultaneously drew in their breaths for a moment.

The territory and massive infrastructure of the megacorp Zenith Corporation that had divided the universe in five. The remaining four amicably tear it apart and eat it?

The greedy capitalistic brains lodged in their skulls began to calculate the profit and loss at a speed faster than a supercomputer.

‘If we divide Zenith's pie into 4 to swallow and expand our size…… the profits jump exponentially!’

‘Even if we hand over 50% from that increased size, we should be able to maintain our existing prosperity to some extent with just the remaining 50%!’

Rather, since they gained infinite time without the worry of dying of old age, it was an overwhelming gain in the long run. On top of that, an uncomfortable rival they had been growling at over the 1st place spot had completely disappeared for them, hadn't it.

The 50% tribute merely seemed like a very rational franchise fee to swallow eternal life and Zenith Corporation's territory whole.

“A-ahem! We cannot help but admire the broad foresight of the Death Lord!”

The attitude of the leaders, who had been bulging their veins calling it profiteering until just a moment ago, flipped like the palm of a hand.

They scrambled to firmly stamp their handprints at the bottom of the shining golden contract.

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