Chapter 474
Three days have passed since the escape.
All this time, Kyon never saw Valeera, and, of course, ignored her calls. Now he and his daughters settled in a luxurious mansion on the outskirts of the city. Although his identity will soon be recognized by every resident of the capital, he did not worry about it. He was more concerned about the invitation to the meeting from the zero general!
Before getting into the department, Lovr removed an impenetrable cloth from his wrist (under the skin) and everything that was hidden under it: a ring and two bracelets. Just in case.
Attaching the formation to the elevator, the young man went down to the “-3” floor. At the exit he was met by several people in black masks. They carefully checked and scanned the fat man for hidden objects and assigned an escort.
Finally, Kyon entered the department head’s office. The tall man with stubble on his chin sat at the table with a thoughtful look, interlacing his fingers in a lock. When he looked up at the newcomer with sharp gray eyes, the guy’s heart for some reason shuddered as if from the cold.
«Hello, head of the department!» – Lovr greeted the chief with a respectful bow.
«Have a seat, Kyon Stone.» – with a smooth gesture of his hand, the man pointed to the chair.
As soon as the messenger of the goddess sat down, the zero general measured him with a cold look and spoke with a certain hint in his voice: «Do you know why I invited you today?»
«Because of “The Dark Baron”.» – Kyon agreed, closing his eyes grimly.
*silence*
Kyon opened his eyelids and met the gaze of the zero general, whose eyes shone with a mysterious silver light. At the same moment, the guy felt the blood in his veins turn to ice, and something seemed to be pressing on his mind, even his ears rang.
{He is testing me!} – Lovr immediately guessed.
There is such an effective form of manipulation as meaningful silence. It is especially good in the performance of an authoritative and charismatic person, for example, in a teacher-student relationship or a director of a huge corporation with a subordinate. Being under psychological pressure, the victim, as a rule, is nervous and thereby reveals his guilt in something or immediately confesses to the crime, begins to justify himself and apologizes.
To this technique, the zero general added the ability of an innate unique body. Nevertheless, the young man did not react in any way and behaved completely calmly, and after 10 seconds he shook himself in surprise:
«Was I wrong?» – Kyon frowned uncomprehendingly.
The man opened his eyes in amazement: {Is it possible that my techniques do not affect the blood of this level? Or does the messenger of the goddess have an innate immunity to spiritual attacks?} – the “spiritual attack” just applied by him is capable of terrifying any person one phase below the attacker’s phase, and even an opponent of equal development will be greatly frightened. And at the same time, this ability did not seem to affect the weak young man at all.
The head of the department shook his head: «If you confess everything, I promise that nothing will happen to you. Moreover, you will benefit the empire, after all, the shadow sector of the capital should have been taken under strict control long ago.»
{I expected this…} – Kyon thought with delight, fixing another competent manipulation: with the help of sweet promises, almost anyone can be brought to light. Investigators, when interrogating suspects, like to promise them a suspended sentence in exchange for a frank confession. But their words are worthless. And until the man provides irrefutable evidence, he will continue to persist.
«Do you think I’m “The Dark Baron”?!» – Lovr was genuinely surprised. – «I’ve been trying to catch this bastard for six months! And now, it turns out, I’m under suspicion? What the hell?!» – he looked confused.
The zero general moved on to the previous manipulation of «oppressive silence». However, after a quarter of a minute of silence, he leaned back in his chair: «I know everything, Kyon Stone. There is no point in wasting my time. By playing the fool, you only aggravate an already bad situation. The only question is, are you ready to cooperate with me?»
«Did someone set me up?» – Kyon wondered. – «Or did you decide that since I met “The Black Queen” in Boston on the night of her escape, I was involved in everything that happened? For me, she is just another step in my career ladder! And a very beautiful one… So I decided to have a little fun with her, and I’ve already regretted it a thousand times!»
The head of the department psychologically strangled the interlocutor for another minute, including asking leading questions, then nodded in satisfaction: «Good. I had to check.»
From relief, Kyon almost gave away his involvement. As expected, the general tested him.
«However, some moments haunt me.» – the man suddenly added. – «Remind me, by how many stages did Prince Charles, defeated by you, surpass you in development?»
«As far as I remember, at sixteen.»
«More than one and a half. Your next opponent turned out to be even stronger… Then explain to me how the noble phaser at the beginning stage knocked you out with a simple blow to the head?» – a little earlier, on his instructions, “The Demon Huntress” and three of her assistants were interrogated about the development of Zosimos, as a result of which a unanimous answer was received: the noble phaser at the beginning stage.
«In terms of strength, I may be comparable to the lord phaser at the beginning stage, but how can I be as strong? Especially without the use of pure energy… Even the imperial phasers outside the door didn’t sense the bastard’s sudden appearance, so how could I do it?»
«I see. Do you have any suggestions regarding the personality of Zosimos?»
«In general, yes. Given his incredible abilities, I suspect he came from the moon. The representative of the dark race.» – his words were confirmed by the black effect when he teleported.
«So do you know about them too?» – the 0th general asked dryly.
«The golden pig guild shared the information. As far as I know, the dark and light ones have turned our planet into a battlefield and are now expanding their zone of influence by leaps and bounds. But three things confuse me: why did Zosimos choose such a hopeless area to seize power? And can the age of the participants exceed twenty years? And why were there two beauties with him? Maybe they are participants, and he helps them financially?»
Investigation of the criminal’s identity revealed that his name is Zosimos, and he appeared with two daughters and registered in Dantes 8 months ago.
A few minutes of discussion passed. However, Kyon spoke mostly, while the zero general behaved as if he had thought it all over and made his conclusions for a long time.
«Anyway, I had high hopes for you, but in six months you have not met my expectations. The strategy you chose turned out to be so ineffective that even “The Demon Huntress” gave you a head start. You disappointed me a lot, Kyon Stone.»
Earlier, the head of the department set a condition for the messenger of the goddess: as soon as he destroys the last shadow clan, he will receive a promotion and a personal recommendation that will allow him to instantly become a direct disciple of the empress, which means – a key figure in Rosarrio.
Lovr dejectedly clenched his fists: «I tried my best, but it wasn’t enough… In any case, you are absolutely right. The lack of results speaks for itself.» – suddenly he rose from his seat in a fit of enthusiasm. – «But my ambitions for Rosarrio are still there! Mr. Zero General, please give me one more chance to prove that I am worthy to be a representative of the Russells!»
The man closed his eyes and tried to calm down. Soon he swallowed his saliva and agreed: «Your emotions are genuine, it’s clearly noticeable. So be it, I will give the messenger of the goddess one more chance, because I cannot help but reciprocate your ardor. Prove your loyalty to your homeland, show everyone that you deserve to become a direct disciple of the empress, having studied in the order.»
Kyon’s face brightened: «Study in the order? And that’s all?!» – he was delighted, because he wanted to get into the order because of Juno and her wedding in 4 months. Now there is another good reason.
A cold smile appeared on the man’s lips: «The path that an ordinary person will overcome in ten years will take you a month, or even a week. What’s the point in a challenge if for you it is like walking in a park? Your path will have to be complicated!»
«How?» – Kyon asked with a foreboding in his heart.
5 minutes passed.
The conditions that the 0th general voiced to Lovr are completely impossible for an ordinary person. In short, he must earn a hell of a lot of «merit points» and buy the right to pass the main exam with them. The merit points cannot be bought for money, stolen or otherwise obtained dishonestly, they can only be earned by yourself at all kinds of competitions, trials, tests, merit in the order and much, much more. A huge 95% commission is imposed on earning points. In addition, he is not given six years for everything, like others, but only a year! But this is only a small part of the conditions.
Kyon shook his head in disbelief: {He’s mocking me…} – the most annoying thing was not even the impracticability of the conditions, but the fact that the head of the department calculated everything in advance up to the conditions. He didn’t like being part of someone’s far-sighted plan at all. In addition, it was not possible to understand exactly what purpose the man was pursuing. There was an impression that he knew much more than he was saying.
«I’m in.» – Kyon immediately agreed to the offer.
«Fine.» – the 0th general smiled coldly. – «By the way, how did it happen that in six months you developed only two stages?»
«This question worried me too. Recently I meditated and found out that it turns out that I have an internal conflict with an innate unique body… It stopped my development. The matter is now settled and progress should be back soon.»
«Then good luck to you.» – said the man and handed the young man a bracelet containing a powerful protective technique. It is one of the conditions for admission to the order.
Kyon accepted the item and took his leave: «Have a nice day.»
When the messenger of the goddess left, the 0th general leaned back in his chair and, smiling, crossed his arms behind his head. There was an overbearing sense of control in his gray eyes, as if he fully understood the motives and actions of the messenger of the goddess. The smile indicated that he started a gambling game with a mouse.
…
That evening, a picture of a pot-bellied man appeared on the city screen with the inscription: “Attention, attention! Dantes’ most wanted criminal “The Dark Baron”, also known as Zosimos! If you have any information about his location, contact the department immediately! In case of successful capture, you will receive a reward of five billion spheres!”
The next image showed the beautiful face of a young girl, and the reward for her was the same 5 billion. She was called only the partner of “The Dark Baron”, because the nickname should belong to a man, otherwise the citizens would not understand.
«So that’s what he looks like!» … «Oh great goddess, is he single-handedly leading the megaclan and terrorizing the entire capital?!» … «They give as much as five billion for him! This money is enough to buy booze for a thousand lives!» … «I should have become a bounty hunter…»
«His partner is such a beautiful girl… Where did he find her?» … «Stop… This is… This is “The Black Queen” from the Iron Throne! The criminal of the century!» … «It can’t be!»
One woman looked at the screen and gaped in shock, as once this unforgettable bald individual received citizenship in her center. He seemed to say he was serious about getting rich by selling pickles! Apparently, this is the codename for «drugs». Remembering the last words of the man – «I bet my business will flourish in Dantes!» – the customs officer staggered and fainted.
If Kyon registered in Dantes not as an «active citizen», but, for example, as an assistant to the dwarfs, as well as his subordinates, who are now teaching at the factory, then Gennady would have catastrophic problems.
…
«It… can’t… be…» – the sixth golden brother, one of the seven co-owners of the Golden Pig guild named Gusteau, had a dry mouth, and his toad eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Under this personality he saw the messenger of the goddess during the conclusion of the deal. It turns out that the young man blew up the underground auction not only for the sake of fame and promotion in the department, but also to get rid of competitors! All the time he played on both sides, where Dantes acted as a chessboard! The man was incredibly impressed by this. He underestimated Kyon and vowed to be extremely careful in the future.
«Sir, perhaps we should…»
«Should what? Should we hand over the messenger of the goddess and get a measly five billion? You are cretin! A year or two of cooperation with him will pay off all this! In addition, in the future, he will become our powerful ally, which is absolutely priceless. The only important thing is that now we have a solid trump card up our sleeve. But without a compelling need, we won’t reveal it.»
…
Elsa studied every line of the man’s face with a steady gaze. After the betrayal of the department, she will no longer engage in heroic activities, but if Dick suddenly turns out to be somehow connected with “The Dark Baron”, then let him blame himself.
When the image on the city screen changed and showed the girl’s beautiful face, Elsa immediately turned away, clenching her teeth and fists. She didn’t want to mess with this dangerous person anymore. This bitch is too scary.
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