As the reinforcements arrived and witnessed this creature from Hell, they despaired loudly:
"What the fuck is that?!"
"Is the enemy a summoner?!"
"Quick, find the one responsible! There's no way we can defeat this!"
Even the MTA didn't dare to go head-on against the monster they saw. It seemed that powerful! But they already had a plan as their captain barked orders:
"Gale mage, you're up! We need visibility!"
"Team 2 distract the monster while everyone else secures the area!"
A man came forward, chanted for a few seconds, and then the entire floor felt like it was being swept into a tornado. Yet the humans were barely affected as the smoke was all aspired and dealt with.
They could finally gaze upon the impossibly strong creature that…..what the fuck?!
As the smoke cleared, they were able to see everything clearly. There was a black horse that didn't appear that scary. (Out of Tower look). As for the countless tentacles? It was only grass swinging gently.
The fiery effect? It was only a small trick from the blacksmith. The deadly aura had also disappeared as if it hadn't existed in the first place.
Heck, now that they looked at the seemingly harmless horse, they couldn't fathom how the tremors they had felt had happened either.
Then a man very casually stepped forward:
He seemed unbothered by the whole event as he greeted them with a small wave. As the MTA members noticed his face, they began sighing. Of fucking course, it was him! Thanks to his pet orc display, Josh had just been a hot gossip topic.
Josh unsummoned Nightmare and turned toward them.
"So, what happened exactly? Also, shouldn't you guys be pursuing the culprits?" He raised a brow.
"S-sir, there's no need. There's another squad in charge of that. We were told to secure the area here." He respectfully replied.
Seeing the meek MTA soldier, the young blacksmith once more realized that this guy wasn't anyone normal. He wasn't just a personal friend of Markus either, but someone involved in the government somehow. How peculiar!
Then followed a very awkward waiting time. The soldiers kept glancing at Josh as he were some kind of dangerous creature. What kind of rumors were circulating about him? It had to be slander!
A few times, the MTA captain would shyly propose:
"S-sir, we can hold the fort here. There is no way for you to waste your time. We'll report everything to sir Markus afterward."
But Josh just shook his head, adamantly staying behind. They could only grit their teeth and allow it. They were convinced that his mere presence increased the risk of something crazy happening by over 9000%!
A few minutes later, a — Clang — resounded coming from the elevator shaft. Then slowly rose the metallic elevator cabin. As the doors opened, a swarm of people came out, armed to the teeth.
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They growled at them, pointing their guns at the group. The atmosphere suddenly became tense as the two groups faced one another.
"Vacate the premises. We'll take care of things from now on!" A man barked.
"No can do. We have orders to secure this place and wait for reinforcements." The MTA captain replied.
"There have been fake MTA soldiers before. Just leave!"
"You guys could be fake auction house guards. We're staying."
"I said: Vacate. The. Premises."
"We. Have. Orders."
At this rate, a conflict was on the verge of exploding! Any more spark, and this could easily turn into a bloodbath. Each seemed to have orders not to let anyone through.
In this tense atmosphere, a giggle was suddenly heard.
"Pfft— really, guys?" It then turned into full-blown laughter. "Are you seriously trying to intimidate someone with these tacky orange vests?! Hahahaha!"
Josh was holding his belly, trying to control his mad cackles.
Both factions were stunned into incomprehension. What was this guy doing?! But then the leader of the auction house troops pointed his gun straight at the madman's face.
"Who the fuck are you?! Keep laughing, and I'll blow your brains out!" He shouted.
Josh observed the man carefully: his bark was worse than his bite. He was threatening, but he'd never dare to open fire on the actual fucking MTA. He was simply trying to make a show of force.
Knowing this, Josh gave a small grin. Instead of retreating, he slowly advanced, even gently guiding the gun to his mouth.
"Feel free to shoot, but make it count." He softly whispered with incredible detachment. He could as well have been at a spa relaxing!
Josh made eye contact with the man. This was all it took to send shivers down his spine. This was all it took to send shivers down the man's spine. Seriously who the fuck was this guy?!
Also, why weren't the MTA people one bit worried? Some of them were even watching in excitement, eager to see what would happen. Had they all gone insane?! No…this wasn't possible.
This could only mean that they had complete trust in that guy. Was he some kind of hidden powerhouse? Just as he was completely going crazy, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Stand down! These valiant heroes helped us. Why are you pointing guns at them?" A calm voice berated them.
"O-owner?! Yes, right away!" The man freaked out.
While they were facing one another, a newcomer had arrived from god knows where. The man wore a black suit, and his straight posture gave him a refined air. Looking at him, one wouldn't have known that his shop was just attacked. He was too serene.
So this was the auction house's boss. Why wasn't he also wearing orange?!
Why the fuck wasn't he also wearing orange if he loved the color so much?! Did this make any sense?! Had he known all along how disgusting of a color it was?
He slowly raised his hands.
"All of you, thank you very much for the help, but you can go now. We will take care of everything. The auction house will be closed until further notice" His tone was polite yet didn't leave any room for a rebuttal.
What?! Closed?! The blacksmith instantly looked crestfallen. How was he supposed to complete a weapon if he couldn't buy materials? This was just his (bad) luck!
Josh went forward.
"Sure thing, but can we talk business for a second? I need materials for—"
"Leave. You may come back later when we reopen." The owner coldly replied.
"I just need a few—" Josh kept pushing.
"I have more important things than to deal with your issues." He frowned before turning to the MTA soldiers. "Please relay to your superiors that I need to meet someone high up to discuss this attack."
Would Josh accept being treated like that?! Well, yes….for now anyway. He remained coy and slowly left with the MTA soldiers.
They all glanced at him as if they were witnessing something unbelievable. Josh Motherfucking Malum was just letting it go like an actual mature adult? Was this possible?! But as soon as they were outside that room, they understood.
Josh was very quick to make a call.
"Hey, Markus! Listen, there's something that I need you to do for me. It's nothing too troublesome either. The thing is that…." He began conversing with Markus.
The few soldiers who witnessed this couldn't help but smile wryly. The guy inside had no clue who he had just offended….
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
Wealth was supposed to be something wonderful. It was supposed to bring peace of mind. Then why the hell was wealth the source of his problems now?!
The man paced around, his mind in chaos as he tried to figure out a solution. Everything had been going well recently, and his beloved Infinite Treasures was making banks. But it had all turned for the worst with this new treasure he had acquired.
It was a rock, but one that didn't come from this world. It really had been a coincidence for him to acquire it. It was extremely sturdy and also seemed to be alive. How? He had no idea. All that was sure of was that it was as valuable as illegal.
But now that he owned it, he couldn't just discard it, right? But he wasn't sure what to do with it. After all, he would need a loyal, crooked, and godly blacksmith to forge such a thing. He would only have one chance!
That's why he had temporarily stored it, making sure it remained in safety, even forgetting about it. Well, until today. The attack had evidently targeted this thing. Now, what should he do about it? There were many options:
1. He could hide it somewhere else.
2. He could sell it to someone
3. He could get rid of it
The problem was that he would now be watched for sure. It was all thanks to this incident. The MTA would want to know for sure the reasons behind it. It would be so easy for him to get busted. He couldn't risk it!
That's why he suddenly etched a plan. It was a very simple but possibly very efficient one. He would agree to sell it to the government in exchange for the MTA looking the other way on the illegal possession.
That's why he had asked for a meeting, and he was now waiting.
— Ding! —
There was a message on his UW.
"Markus will meet you in person. Go to 44th Florentine Street ASAP."
Markus would meet him?! Awesome! This meant that he had a chance to come out of this whole trouble a free man. He would just need to convince the most influential man of Metropolis-D.
This was stressful, but he could do it! He left for the meeting. He had a good feeling about this…
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