Just as Caroline had predicted, the mysterious faction that attacked Eidolon came seeking Ghost soon enough. Dante didn't expect them to go about it that way, however. Sending some idiot to threaten him was a very bad idea. If they truly wanted to seek an alliance, they should have started with a more polite invitation and a clear statement of what they offer and expect in return.

The idiot with the messy hair might have acted on his own, but that was beside the point. Their image was already tainted by what he had done, so it was up to them to fix it if they wanted things to work out.

"I'm assuming the reason you were looking for the alchemist was the Booster."

"You could say that." The idiot said. "It would be a problem for us if you went around selling a workaround for out flagship product."

"Just to be clear, he wasn't officially working for us when he did that," Dante said. "Still, he came to us for protection, so you can forget about taking him."

"So long as you prohibit him from selling the booster."

"You aren't selling the drug, so it's pretty much useless."

Dante had expected them to want the Booster formula for themselves, so it was a little surprising to hear that they preferred it gone.

"Anyway, I pretty much have an idea of what's going on." He said. "If you want our help when fighting Eidolon, you should show more sincerity. If you're going to act no different from those assholes, then don't bother."

Dante needed to get close to the people running the Catalyst faction, but he wasn't about to bow his head to them. Not only would it not be in character for him to do so, but it would also make things more difficult down the line. Then there was the main reason he wouldn't want them to look down on him.

Though he barely knows anything about the faction opposing Eidolon, Dante doubted it was made of common folk rebelling against the system. In all likelihood, they were a part of it at one point and lost their place when the megacorporation rose to prominence. The last thing he wanted was to be treated as just another pawn in their games, or as if he were their lesser.

"I would have much preferred to meet your boss…" the messy-haired idiot said. "Can you truly decide on these things on your own?"

Staring at him for a moment, Dante could only scuff.

"Just like how they sent you to deal with the stuff they can't be bothered to do, I'm here to deal with the pointless stuff as well."

~[ ]~

After kicking out the idiot, Dante was left wondering what the point of that mess was. They hadn't achieved anything concrete, so it felt like the whole thing was nothing more than a waste of time.

'Well, at least I got Lev out of the picture…'

His bony friend had already moved to his new lab in the pocket dimension he had created for him, so it was unlikely that anyone would ever come close to getting him. Still, that didn't mean their troubles were over. Far from it. Now, Dante was the one standing in their way, so it was up to him to deal with it all.

'I just hope the Cult has better manners.'

As if on cue, a message from Larry arrived, saying that his acquaintance wanted to schedule a meeting on the 7th of that month. The timing felt a bit odd, but Dante didn't think there was anything to it. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Gear Cult was allied with the Catalyst faction, so in order to bring him into their coalition, they would have to be on the same page first, sending only one representative. Since they were working separately, it could mean that they had yet to come to an understanding on what to do about him, or it might be that he was never on the agenda to begin with, as far as their alliance was concerned.

Eidolon might be the enemy that would bring them together, but the two had their own reasons for approaching them. Even if they put those aside, they would still want to get on his good side in case they decide to invite him into their coalition. Once the megacorporation was out of the picture, they were likely to turn their weapons on each other. Dante already chose which side he would take when the time comes, but for the time being, he was going to play along.

~[ ]~

After getting some rest, Dante went about his usual routine. He ate his breakfast, drank his coffee, went through the reports his lieutenant brought, and delivered packages all around the world.

The last part was a recent addition.

Apparently, crushing the White Whales turned out to be a much bigger deal than he had anticipated. The Sorcerer clan was the best when it came to international smuggling. Not only did they handle deliveries themselves, but they also helped ships sail through international waters undetected. That earned them a good place in the underworld with clients all over the globe, so when news of their demise broke, many were up in arms, looking to get revenge.

Thankfully, Viktor had his back. The fixer had used his connections to settle things with the global underworld. Such a herculean feat couldn't be achieved by apologizing alone, so he had to offer the concerned parties an alternative to what they had lost.

Long story short, Dante had to fill the White Whales' role by smuggling things around the world. The same day delivery option shut any complaints the clients might have had, and their attitude seemed to change drastically as they experienced the results for themselves.

The only ones still making a fuss were those who partake in human trafficking, since he refused to aid them in their sick endeavors. Instead of being thankful that he was holding back on going after the names he got out of Jason, they instead tried threatening him and putting bounties on his head, but that didn't get them far now that his influence was spreading all across the world.