Aishwarya waited for a long time, so long that she didn’t even notice the wails of the junior beside her had faded to near silence.

Finally, Aishwarya sent a reply: "Name your terms. I can agree to anything within my Ability. I hope you will keep your word and guard this secret. I do not want the Intercontinental Military Large War Prosthetic Company to find out about this."

Her message was met with silence. Lin Qi was in no hurry to respond.

Aishwarya took a deep breath. "I have a way to cut ties with the European Big Business Alliance. As a show of good faith, I can tell you there are two reasons I agreed to cooperate with them this time."

"First, for the sake of Extraordinary Items. With your knowledge of Wizards and the Holy Light, you should know that there are very few Tier Four Extraordinary Items left in the world. Most are controlled by Intercontinental Influences. Once a Wizard reaches the Tier Three Fourth Stage, advancement is all but hopeless. If I want to continue progressing in my Extraordinary Profession, I must rely on external power. The Intercontinental Military Large War Prosthetic Company cannot give me that."

"As for the second reason, it’s because of the current head of the Modi Group, Dardamo. He wants to continue New Reid City’s ’escape from Asia into Europe’ project and promised me a Tier Four Extraordinary Item. I chose to help him for old times’ sake."

"As long as you help me eliminate this threat, I will grant any request you have—but only three."

It was a long message, yet she still hadn’t swallowed her pride, even adding a limit of three requests.

Lin Qi was sure Aishwarya knew full well that even if he agreed, the "three requests" limit would hardly be binding.

No matter what, as long as Lin Qi held this leverage, the Intercontinental Military Large War Prosthetic Company would forever be a sword of Damocles hanging over Aishwarya’s head.

Unless she had a way to handle the Intercontinental Military Large War Prosthetic Company herself after the threat was eliminated.

Lin Qi looked at Aishwarya’s message, a plan already forming in his mind.

’I’ve pushed her enough. Time to state my conditions.’

Aishwarya stared at her communication terminal, waiting for a new message to appear in the chat window.

She had already been running the calculations.

Severing ties with the European Big Business Alliance was a contingency she had planned for from the very beginning. She couldn’t let this blackmail bind her for life, and she’d had an exit strategy ready for a long time.

She just never expected a trap to be laid for her in the one area Wizards excelled: Extraordinary Items.

’A trap like this wouldn’t have been easy to set.’

Aishwarya had invested a great deal into the younger generation of her family, maintaining strict protective measures over them.

The only Extraordinary things they had touched recently were the Extraordinary Items from the European Big Business Alliance—and nothing else.

For this reason, Aishwarya chose to trust Lin Qi for now. She would wait to see his demands before planning her next move.

Besides, once Lin Qi revealed his demands, she could follow the clues and perhaps uncover the identity of the person behind the chat window.

Aishwarya waited for several more minutes. Just as she felt her emotions spiraling out of control, the junior lying on the floor fell completely silent.

Finally, a new message from Lin Qi arrived.

Aishwarya’s pupils constricted as she read Lin Qi’s demands.

[I have two tasks for you, both of which are very difficult. First, I want the specific details of the collaboration between Ninghang Technology and the European Big Business Alliance. I also need you to acquire a sample from this joint project. It must be the master sample; I will not accept any sub-samples. Second...]