A Sweet Deal!

That made no sense. It was downright strange!

It was twelve out of ten levels of suspicious. The C'tan represented the material universe, while Vashtor was a "demigod" of the Warp—the domain of the mind, emotions, and souls.

To a certain extent, their sources of power and spheres of existence were entirely different, even mutually incompatible.

Vashtor, as the master of the Soul Furnace in the Warp, shouldn't have been ignorant of such a simple truth. And yet he had made this demand anyway. That made it all the more intriguing.

With that in mind, Alvin decided to test the waters first.

"Great Lord of All Furnaces, Source of Blasphemous Wisdom, Lord Vashtor." He paused, then asked in a curious tone, "May I ask why you desire the 'Star God Fragment'? After all, in a way, I'm only a business partner of 'that one.'"

But unfortunately, trying to read the emotions on a blasphemous face cobbled together from gears and machinery was asking a bit too much. "Of course I know you're 'partners.'"

Every time Vashtor spoke, his words carried the heavy tang of rust. He extended his sharp claws and waved them around Alvin's head, his expression somewhere between a smile and a sneer. "As a 'lesser god' of the Warp, it's only natural that I'd be curious about the 'C'tan' of the material universe and what form of existence they take, wouldn't you agree?"

Clap, clap, clap!

Alvin applauded, gazing at the "lesser god" of the Warp with a faint smile. "Your reasoning is quite convincing, but..."

"It's still hard for me to believe. Besides, forgive my frankness, but the price you're asking for is worth far more than all of Nomad Port."

That was a clear sign that Vashtor didn't see him as a person.

Unless he