Take Back That Eye, and I'll Give You Everything You Want

"Lai Er... Gold Merchant?!" The bespectacled black marketeer stared at Lai Er as if he were a ghost, his face full of suspicion. "You're not kidding me, are you?"

"What do you think?" Lai Er said. "The souvenir is right in front of you. Can't you tell if it's real or fake, Tuo Lei?"

As one of the Division Manager at headquarters, Tuo Lei certainly knew that the contents of the letter from a branch manager were genuine, but he was still reluctant to believe that the smug guy in front of him had already become Gold Merchant.

Oh... saying you're already Gold Merchant isn't quite accurate. To be precise, you can only become Gold Merchant after completing this transaction; you just have the privileges of Gold Merchant now.

But so what? This guy has indeed gotten the chance to become Gold Merchant. You have to understand, with the distribution of profits across the various territories already set, such an opportunity is extremely rare. So, after reading the letter several times, Tuo Lei said sourly, "Heh, so the Bishop of the Rhine Northern Bishop is dead. No wonder you... Damn it, what kind of shitty luck do you have?"

He couldn't help but curse halfway through his sentence, after all, Tuo Lei had been guarding the headquarters for so many years and had never had such an opportunity.

Lai Er said with great enthusiasm, "It's not just luck, it's also skill."

"Heh, don't get too cocky," Tuo Lei said. "You haven't succeeded yet. What if you bet on the wrong horse and the person you supported fails to take over as the Northern Bishop? Then you'll know you're wrong. Do you think the new bishop will let you off the hook? At that point, even if you run to the ends of the earth..."

"Why are you arguing so much?" Lai Er tapped the table impatiently. "Hurry up and sign! Give me the stuff! This damn lowly Division Manager is babbling on and on with me."

Tuo Lei glared angrily at Lai Er, but he was powerless to do anything about it. Once Lai Er became Gold Merchant, his status would be completely different from his own.

So even though he was very unhappy, he could only suppress his anger and then obediently go backstage to get his things.

Tuo Lei's reaction naturally delighted Lai Er, who couldn't help but hum softly again.

"Oh, you seem to have a grudge against this guy?" Bai Wei's voice echoed in his mind.

Lai Er immediately showed a look of trepidation. "Ah, Visas-sama, you've woken up."

"I haven't slept at all," Bai Wei said calmly. "Tell me about it."

"Well, it's not exactly an interesting story..."

"Whether it's meaningful or not, I can tell for myself," Bai Wei said. "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

"Of course not!" Lai Er was nearly scared to death, shaking his head repeatedly. "How could I dare to teach you how to do things? You are my light! My sun! My..."

"Stop talking nonsense."

"...Oh." Lai Er scratched his head.

As mentioned before, Bai Wei also has a persona in Lai Er's eyes.

His character is someone who awakens from a long slumber spanning a thousand years. Because he has been asleep for so long, he is somewhat bored and therefore very interested in the present world, as well as in Lai Er, this lowly little man.

Of course, this character design is not new; Bai Wei initially used the same character design for Ulu.

The biggest advantage of this persona is that it allows one to legitimately learn about things unknown to oneself from the host.

For example, this is Bai Wei's first time visiting the headquarters of the black market. If he were to directly ask Lai Er what the situation was like here, it would be a bit beneath him. But if he pretended to be interested in Lai Er's experiences and asked him to describe the place from his perspective, everything would be different. Not only would it not make Lai Er think, "How Visas-sama doesn't know anything?", but it would also make Lai Er think, "Visas-sama cares about me," thus making him even more apprehensive and devoted.

Just like now.

"I do have a grudge against that guy. When I first came here, he not only mocked my background but also stole my quota, causing me to lose a lot of money." Lai Er looked at the entrance to the small room that Tuo Lei had entered and said in a low voice, "Later, I went to confront him and tried to get my things back, but I failed and he beat me up."

They were currently in a window that resembled a pharmacy.

Black market traders here purchase goods that can only be manufactured by headquarters, such as various contraband, fake body parts of Visas, and "Seed of Covenant" that only Gold Merchant can possess.

This means that even when purchasing goods from headquarters during the Lai Er copper merchant era, he could still be ripped off by the people at headquarters, truly living up to his reputation as a black-hearted merchant.

But Bai Wei naturally wouldn't defend Lai Er, and only said with a slightly mocking tone, "You really went to argue with him?"

"Uh, I brought a stick, but I couldn't manage it," Lai Er said sheepishly.

At this moment, Tuo Lei returned and placed two golden Seed of Covenant on the table.

"That's all," Tuo Lei said irritably. "Take it and get going."

Upon hearing Tuo Lei's tone, Lai Er's anger immediately flared up.

That damned guy! He could let it go after how badly he bullied him before; he could easily forgive him now. But the problem was, Visas-sama already knew about how he'd been bullied. As Visas-sama's chief follower (in his own eyes), what if Visas-sama considered him a useless piece of trash?

Moreover, it was one thing for you to treat me like this before Visas-sama arrived, but you still dare to treat me like this after Visas-sama arrived?

Did Visas-sama come for nothing?!

Visas-sama is watching!

Thinking of this, Lai Er felt he had to do something to salvage his image in Visas-sama' eyes.

So Lai Er didn't take the Seed of Covenant. Instead, he leaned against the counter, staring intently at Tuo Lei, and said, "What, you don't dare to covet my things this time?"

Tuo Lei replied with a dark face, "Do you think I'm an idiot? This is Seed of Covenant, who would dare to covet this thing!"

"Oh, really?"

"You still think it's fake?" Tuo Lei said. "Besides, how long have you been a black market merchant? You don't even know that each Gold Merchant has two Seed of Covenant?"

Lai Er knew that Tuo Lei wouldn't dare to tamper with the Seed of Covenant, but so what? He was here to cause trouble anyway.

"And what about last time?" Lai Er said. "Does that mean the things we embezzled last time don't count?"

At this point, Tuo Lei understood what Lai Er meant, but he forced himself to say, "That's the rule."

"What rules?"

"When you first become a black marketeer, you always have to be taught a lesson. We're telling you that you can't trust anyone in this world, not even black marketeers themselves," Tuo Lei said, forcing a smile. "If you don't understand this, then you deserve to be scammed... Everyone does it this way, it's not just me."

"Is that so?" Lai Er leaned forward. "According to your logic, once I really become Gold Merchant, wouldn't I be able to find ways to find you... I mean, teach you a lesson?"

Lai Er's blatant threat really gave Tuo Lei a headache. It wouldn't be easy for a vengeful Gold Merchant to deal with a mere Division Manager like him, so he didn't dare to continue arguing and could only raise his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, I admit defeat. I'll give you back what I took from you before, okay?"

"Is just giving it back to me enough?"

Tuo Lei gritted his teeth. "Double it!"

"Is simply doubling the amount enough?"

"That's not enough?! What else do you want?!"

Lai Er pointed to the Seed of Covenant in front of him. "I want this thing."

"I've already given it to you!"

"Two aren't enough," Lai Er said. "I want more!"

Tuo Lei was shocked. "How is this possible?! This is the rule!"

"Is it true that you embezzled my things a few years ago, and that's considered part of the rules?"

"This is different!" Tuo Lei said. "This thing is registered under a real name. If I lose one, I can't bear it, and neither can you."

"Since that's the case..." Lai Er slowly revealed his true purpose, "Then tell me, how did this come about?"

Tuo Lei's eyes widened little by little. At this point, he understood what Lai Er meant, but he subconsciously wanted to say he didn't know. However, Lai Er spoke first.

"Playing dumb won't work," Lai Er said. "I know that some Gold Merchant bypass headquarters and trade directly with the people of the Contract Land in private. Now I'm going to do the same. I'll buy Seed of Covenant directly from them. You just need to tell me where they are. It's that simple, isn't it?"

Upon hearing Lai Er's words, Tuo Lei's expression immediately became uncertain, which made Lai Er even more smug.

Lai Er knew his request was "overstepping his bounds," but so what? He wanted to overstep his bounds, he wanted to see Tuo Lei in a difficult position, or even see Tuo Lei refuse, so that Visas-sama would understand that this matter was not easy to handle.

Then he tried every means to get it done.

Wouldn't that establish his image as a "capable assistant" in Visas-sama's mind?

If it's something anyone can do, how can its value be highlighted?

Thinking this, Lai Er began to anticipate Tuo Lei and resolute refusal, and he would then find the guy in secret again, just like last time. But unlike last time, this time he wouldn't be holding a wooden stick, but Visas-sama!

Unfortunately, Lai Er's fantasy was beautiful, but Tuo Lei's response was quite disappointing.

"Okay, I can tell you."

Lai Er was slightly taken aback. "You can tell me?"

"Yes, I can. But I can only tell you his location," Tuo Lei said. "Whether you can reach an agreement with him is none of my business."

Seeing how casually Tuo Lei agreed, Lai Er realized that this was probably another "unspoken rule" he was unaware of: Gold Merchant could bypass headquarters and do business directly with the Contract Land.

Damn it, is there really no one who follows the rules?

Lai Er couldn't help but curse inwardly, but he couldn't continue to cause trouble. After all, finding the location of the Contract Land was Visas-sama's mission, and he couldn't put the cart before the horse by trying too hard to prove himself. He could only get the location from Tuo Lei with a lot of frustration, and then turn around and leave.

As he watched Lai Er's departing figure, Tuo Lei's expression immediately turned gloomy.

"What an idiot." He sneered twice. "Still the same as before, believing everything you hear. Don't blame me for rigging this, since you were the one who threatened me first. Not even knowing who you absolutely can't afford to offend at headquarters, you deserve it..."

Tuo Lei had only spoken halfway when he saw Lai Er turn back, so he had to swallow his words back.

Lai Er walked up to Tuo Lei and extended his hand.

"What are you going to do now?" Tuo Lei asked, puzzled.

"You just said that you stole my things last time, and now you're giving them back to me." Lai Er said expressionlessly, then, realizing he'd left something out, added, "Double."

Tuo Lei: "..."

Ten minutes later, Lai Er emerged from the inner room, satisfied, carrying a large bag of "spoils" he had extorted from Tuo Lei.

Logically speaking, someone of his current status wouldn't even consider such a thing, but Lai Er was never one to forget his roots; he wanted it no matter how much money it cost. Plus, Tuo Lei's disgusted expression just now made this bag of spoils taste even more delicious to him.

The only problem is that Tuo Lei gave him two extra Visas limbs in order to get rid of him.

In the past, he would have been very happy, but now... Lai Er was not sure if taking two fake corpses in front of the real Visas was blasphemy.

So he cautiously asked Bai Wei, and only felt relieved after receiving Bai Wei's indifferent reply.

After all, he was just trying to save money so he could better contribute to Visas-sama's rebirth.

"Visas-sama, shall we go find the envoy from the Contract Land next?" Lai Er asked cautiously.

"Do you have other things to do?"

"No, no, no, of course not." Lai Er shook his head repeatedly.

He just felt that things were too simple now. All he had to do was find the envoy from the Contract Land and force him to reveal the exact location of the Contract Land.

This simply didn't achieve the effect he wanted to make Visas-sama realize his "competence," so Lai Er decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Visas-sama, what offerings do you require?" Lai Er asked.

"Worship?"

"Yes, someone as great as you must need to be worshipped, just like the gods," Lai Er said with great enthusiasm. "You may not know this, but the black marketeers have been paying tribute to the Eight Great Churches to ensure they won't attack us, and those tributes can be found at headquarters."

"Oh?" Bai Wei asked with interest, "What kinds are there?"

"For example, it was given to the fair-skinned little boy in Rhine; they liked it. Or it was given to the brain of the Church of Eternal Nightmare..."

"Brain?"

"Yes, the Church of Eternal Nightmare enjoys eating human brains, and they must be 'alive.' You may not know how it's done..."

"Alright, that's enough." Bai Wei interrupted Lai Er calmly.

Lai Er, who was describing the scene with great enthusiasm, suddenly choked, thinking he had said something wrong.

"I want eyes more than anything else," Bai Wei said slowly.

"Eyes, eyes?" Lai Er scratched his head. "Do you prefer eyes? What kind? Boy's or girl's, I can give you any..."

"No, it's mine."

Lai Er's head suddenly tilted to the side uncontrollably, and then he saw a huge convoy slowly driving into the edge of the Nameless Town.

Star Relic Divine Church.

"My eyes are there," Bai Wei said slowly. "Help me get them back, and I'll give you everything you want."