"Gulp——"
Aleph swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his heart filled with sheer terror.
A deal?
Could it be! The Train Conductor he had invited—the one who wiped out the Goblin Imperial Guard's Seventh Expeditionary Army—was actually this legendary Imperial Sequence demon, Altos!?
Bad, this is bad!
A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Aleph's back.
Regret! In short, he was utterly and completely regretting this!
If he had truly known it was this guy, even if he had a hundred guts, he wouldn't have dared to call him over!
Although the intelligence report stated that this Mr. Altos wasn't a villain, still...
Aleph swallowed his saliva again, sweat trickling down his bald head.
Thump, thump... thump...
Ye Qiyan propped his face up with one hand, staring suspiciously at the middle-aged man frozen before him.
He lifted his finger and tapped the table three times.
Those three taps made Aleph feel as if he had been split open from chest to gut, as if a heavy hammer was pounding directly on his heart!
"Do I need to say it again?"
Ye Qiyan thought he hadn't spoken clearly enough, but to Aleph's ears, those words took on a completely different meaning.
"No, no, no, no! I heard you, I heard you, I'll trade with you right now!"
Pressure...
What the hell was this pressure?
It wasn't like he had never seen Top-Tier Train Conductors before.
Take, for example, Zhao Xi, the Grand Judge of Suoluo City from a few days ago.
Although she had also made him feel fear, at least it hadn't been to this extent.
After all, that woman was a genuinely good person through and through.
But this guy...
Aleph steeled himself and walked over to the office safe, opened it, and pulled out a storage pouch containing several thousand Train Coins.
"Here, here are three thousand five hundred Train Coins, Mr. Altos. You can, you can just take them directly. No need for a trade. Think of this as my humble apology to you... Please, please, have mercy..."
Have mercy?
Ye Qiyan furrowed his brow slightly.
When did he know he was going to do something to this city?
Could it be that his Arrogance was dialed up too high?
Hmm...
Whatever.
It didn't matter anyway. He had never planned to hide his identity in this station from the start.
Or rather, even if they found out, he couldn't care less.
Besides, he hadn't come here for just one purpose.
"A deal is a deal. Is the thing you want right here?"
"Uh, sure, whatever works."
Somehow, Aleph suddenly felt that the pressure—like a freezing sun hanging over his head—wasn't so intense anymore.
He secretly lifted his head, only to see a young face.
Wait, a face?
How could he see it?
"Alright."
Ye Qiyan pulled up his system interface and opened the black market.
Ailei, who had been waiting for a long time, directly spat out the spoils and items that had been stored in the black market through the interface.
A massive pile of weapons and items filled the office to the brim.
The noise they made caught the attention of those outside.
"Sir, what's happening?"
"Don't come in!"
"What?"
Hearing his secretary's voice from outside, Aleph hurriedly ran to the door and blocked the office entrance with his body.
"I-I'm fine!"
He really was fine, but he had already mentally prepared himself to die.
This being, who never showed his true face to others, had now revealed his appearance before him. He was probably going to die, wasn't he?
"Deal complete."
Ye Qiyan paid no attention to Aleph's expression of grim determination. The heavy money pouch made him quite happy.
Three thousand five hundred coins, plus what he had left over, put him at around three thousand eight hundred now.
After leaving this station, he could perform his next Train Sublimation.
His train would level up to 19.
And after level 19...
20.
That was the level where a brand-new special shop would unlock.
That day wasn't too far off.
"Whew... I still need to save up more Train Coins."
"All this..."
Ye Qiyan shook his head and sighed inwardly.
["Still too poor."]
After stowing away the Train Coins, he finally looked at Aleph, still blocking the door.
Ever since he'd walked into this office and learned that his buyer was the captain of the guard, an idea had formed in his mind.
"Speaking of which, you invited the Grand Judge of Suoluo City to participate in the Guild Tournament."
He stated this in a flat tone.
In Aleph's bald head, countless possibilities instantly flashed through his mind.
"Yes... the Grand Judge requested it herself. She said it would make certain scheming individuals think twice and also ensure the smooth running of the Guild Tournament."
"I see."
That was very much Zhao Xi's style.
"The Guild Tournament. I'll be attending too."
"Huh?"
Ye Qiyan stood up from his chair, walked over to Aleph's side, raised his hand, and patted him on the shoulder, flashing a friendly smile.
"Move aside."
Aleph stiffly shuffled out of the way.
The office door swung open.
The guard members immediately rushed inside.
Ye Qiyan walked out.
Everywhere he passed, the crowd unconsciously parted to make way for him.
He moved against the flow of people until he vanished from sight.
[Demon Card - Arrogance]
No one noticed him. Or rather, no one had the privilege of noticing him.
Only Aleph saw his retreating figure, just staring...
"Sir? What, what the hell is going on?"
"..."
Aleph clutched his head, his entire body drenched in sweat.
His teeth were chattering. In his mind, the image of that person's face from just less than ten seconds ago was already starting to...
Blur?
This feeling was terrifying...
He had clearly seen that person's face. That person's appearance was genuinely etched into his memory.
And yet...
He couldn't make it out clearly?
In his own memory, he lowered his head.
"S-so strong... Is this what a Top-Tier Train Conductor is like?"
Aleph took a deep breath and finally managed to suppress the fear deep in his heart.
He turned to his secretary and the other guard members, and barked out an order:
"Spread the news. Say that on the day of the Guild Tournament, Mr. Altos from the Imperial Sequence Organization will also be joining as one of the special guests."
"Huh?"
"What are you 'huh-ing' for? Go! And... contact the City Lord for me. Damn it... I have a feeling something big is going to happen on the day of the Guild Tournament..."
Whether it was big or not remained to be seen.
But once the news that [Altos] would be a guest spread throughout the entire Nation on Ships, and continued to ripple through the Train Conductors' networks, many who admired him changed their plans and flocked to the Nation on Ships.
And among these, there was no shortage of those with ulterior motives.
——
[Beep beep——]
["Wow, Bro Ye, you're famous again! So you're on the Nation on Ships too~ Hehe, are you here to hunt for treasure?"]
The virtual sky transformed into night.
The starlit projection of the universe illuminated the ground of the Alphart.
Beside the artificial river in the city center, Ye Qiyan sat there, studying the increasingly powerful [Demon Card - Arrogance].
This card, which he had probably used the most, showed no change in the system appraisal, but as its master, Ye Qiyan could keenly sense it.
This [Arrogance] had grown much stronger after his Spirit stat had broken through 400 points.
Glancing at the few names flickering in his Friends List, Ye Qiyan put away the card and pursed his lips in exasperation.
["Boss, are you a stalker? How is it that wherever I am, you're there too?"]
Zhu Xingshu: ["Hehe~ Because this is the fate I have chosen~ I swear, this time I'm just here to recover from my injuries. If I really were the one causing trouble, I would definitely contact you first."]
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