Kill the Sun

"That's what happened," Wyntor said to the five people in front of him.

Right now, Nick, Jenny, Trevor, Jonathan, and Kiara were standing in front of Wyntor, who had just told everyone about what the guards had found in Cycle.

"He really freed all the Specters without telling anyone?" Kiara asked in shock.

Wyntor nodded. "Ardum is an egomaniac. He doesn't care about anyone else when there is something even mildly bothering him. He is the most important thing, and if he accidentally slightly stubs his toe, he wouldn't care if he had to kill a thousand people to make the pain go away."

At that moment, Wyntor had to chuckle a bit. "And with what Nick told me Ardum went through, I doubt that he had anything but rage and hatred in his mind."

Trevor and Jenny also chuckled.

Nick had already told them how he had thrown Ardum into the sewers.

"Did anyone survive?" Jonathan asked with worry.

After all, he had worked with the people in Cycle for a long while, and he didn't want to see any of them die.

Except for Ardum, maybe.

"Two of the guards and one of the clerks managed to flee," Wyntor said. "The others were killed by the Specters."

Kiara sighed. "Why? Why did this have to happen?"

"Well, when you know that the city is about to come and repossess your company, the only thing you can do is make it as difficult as possible for them to get your stuff," Wyntor explained.

"He can't destroy the building since it is leased in his name, and he doesn't own it."

"He can't just randomly kill his people since that would be considered sabotage."

"The only thing he can do is let out all the Specters and act like it was an accident."

Nick furrowed his brows. "Is there no way to fool the city? Ardum is also a Melfion, right? Shouldn't there be some way to deal with the inspection?"

"He already did everything he could," Wyntor explained. "While the building is leased in his name, Cycle doesn't officially belong to him."

"It doesn't?" Nick asked in surprise.

"No," Wyntor answered while shaking his head. "Officially, his Chief Zephyx Extractor owns 51% of Cycle. Naturally, unofficially, he owned all of it, but only the official accounts matter."

"He can claim that he had raised the issues regarding personnel and the Specters potentially breaking out with the Chief Zephyx Extractor, who just ignored all the issues."

"And since the Chief Zephyx Extractor officially owns the majority of the company, he couldn't do anything without the Chief Zephyx Extractor's permission."

"Under normal circumstances, when your business is judged to be unfit to hold Specters, you also receive a hefty fine and a long mandatory work sentence for endangering the city."

"Yet, since Ardum didn't officially own most of his business, he can't be held accountable, which means he won't lose any of his personal wealth."

The five Extractors were not happy when they heard that.

Ardum would get away scot-free?!

That was so unfair!

"Will Ardum take his revenge?" Jonathan asked.

"That won't be easy," Wyntor answered. "Since he officially failed to earn his inheritance, he has to get access to the family fortune via the traditional route."

"Becoming strong enough to actually control a major part of the Melfion family."

"He will need to become an Expert at the very least, and if he actually wants to control a substantial amount of the family's power, he will need to become a Specialist, a level five Extractor."

"Kugelblitz will hire Ardum as a level two Extractor, and he will have to work his way up the ladder."

"Due to our family name, he will get the job, but as soon as he is officially part of Kugelblitz, he has to work just as hard as anyone else."

"And Kugelblitz is very strict with how their employees conduct themselves."

"Kugelblitz represents Crimson Fungus City, and if one of their employees is found to use their position to suppress people outside Kugelblitz, they will terminate that employee and make sure that they don't find a job anywhere else."

"If you want to make it in Kugelblitz, your conduct has to be exceptional and exemplary."

"While Ardum definitely hates us, and Nick specifically, he won't sacrifice his life and future for revenge," Wyntor explained.

"Ardum might be an impulsive idiot, but that's for my standards, not for general standards."

"He isn't dumb enough to throw his life away for something like that."

The Extractors had mixed feelings.

On the one hand, they were glad that Ardum most likely wouldn't cause problems for them in the future.

But on the other hand, they felt like all of this was so unjust and unfair.

Even though Ardum had done all of these horrible things, he would still get an amazing job in Kugelblitz.

Ardum's fate after messing up everything was a fate that nearly everyone in the city wished for.

It was so unfair.

Everyone remained silent for several seconds.

"On a positive note," Wyntor continued, "the guards captured all three Specters and put them back into their Containment Units. Dark Dream has also received the ownership of all these Specters."

A collective sigh of relief was released.

They had still been a bit nervous about whether or not they would get the Specters.

"And not only that," Wyntor said.

The others looked at Wyntor with raised eyebrows.

"I also got into contact with the owner of the building, and I managed to acquire the lease for the building."

The eyes of the Zephyx Extractors opened widely.

"The building is far better than the warehouse we are in right now. In fact, it has space for up to 20 Containment Units of regular size. On top of that, we will have plenty of rooms for all kinds of things."

"While the lease is quite expensive, it's not an issue."

"After all, we now officially own five Specters."

At that point, Wyntor began to smile brightly.

After a bit, Nick also smiled.

Dark Dream was about to undergo another evolution!