The hyper-luxurious private lounge fell into a heavy, uneven silence. Hide remained standing, his hands loosely buried in his jacket pockets as his cold blue eyes quietly tracked the two men across the room. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

With his enhanced perception and street-honed instincts, it took him less than ten seconds to dissect the reality of the room.

Sitting behind the massive black-glass desk, clad in a brown formal coat, Director Raymond looked sharp and disciplined—but his fingers were tightly interlocked, his knuckles faintly white.

There was no mana beneath his skin. He was entirely unawakened. He was a normal baseline human who had built his corporate wealth out of sheer intellectual grit, founding a specialized company that manufactured high-end communicators and electrical components used across major skyscrapers and official NEA training facilities.

His influence was respectable, but it hadn’t reached nationwide yet. And out here, in a world ruled by monsters and Awakened syndicates, a baseline human with a moderately successful tech firm was nothing more than an unshielded target.

The real authority in the room was leaning against the wine shelf, swirling a blood-red vintage. The Vice Leader of the Green Horn Extermination Agency.

"Let’s skip the corporate pleasantries, Raymond," the Vice Leader spoke first, his voice dripping with an abrasive, casual arrogance. He didn’t even glance at the Director, entirely hijacking the conversation. "The kid is an independent wildcard. We don’t have time to watch you wave contract clauses at him."

The Vice Leader set his glass down with a heavy, deliberate click and walked forward, his boots thudding against the rare ancient timber floorboards. He cast a lazy, predatory gaze down at Hide. "Listen up, brat. Your little record-breaking stunt in the lower grids doesn’t mean a damn thing up here. But you are very skilled... and resourceful." He added matter of factly.

"But you are not yet much powerful, it will take time for that. What if... just what of you were to be badly injured and loose your life during a training session. That would be very... uh, i forgot the word. Anyways let’s get to the main point... I don’t like swirling things around. You brought an S-Rank elixir into our perimeter. You’re going to hand over the source of those consumables, sign your life away to our vanguard, and maybe we’ll let you keep a fraction of the credits."

Director Raymond opened his mouth to speak, a distinct flicker of stress and frustration crossing his wrinkled face, but he quickly clamped his jaw shut under a sharp, warning glare from the Vice Leader.

Hide observed the micro-interaction, and a low, mocking chuckle escaped his throat.

It was pathetic. He had expected a high-stakes corporate negotiation, but this was nothing of the sort. This wasn’t a prominent agency exercising administrative leverage.

This was a parasitic extortion racket.

The Green Horn Agency’s active numbers were plummeting, their domestic revenue was tanking, and they were actively staying afloat by physically threatening and leveraging an unawakened businessman who couldn’t defend his own assets.

It was the exact same ecosystem Hide had grown up around in the grimy, forgotten alleys of the lower district of Area 17. Thugs with slight physical enhancements backing weaker people into a corner to extract protection money. The only difference here was that the thugs wore tailored designer suits, had superpowers and drank expensive wine.

And if there was one thing Hide was exceptionally good at, it was dealing with such insecure exploiters who thought a little bit of mana made them gods.

Hide leaned back comfortably in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, his lips curving into a lazy, razor-sharp smile.

"You know," Hide said, his voice entirely deadpan, carrying a tone of absolute dismissiveness. "I walked into this building expecting to see a corporate monolith. Instead, all I see is a group of low-tier parasites huddled around a baseline human’s wallet, desperately trying to bleed him dry before the top syndicates notice you’re standard-grade trash."

The Vice Leader’s expression instantly froze, the lazy amusement vanishing from his face as a dark, dangerous vein pulsed along his temple. "What did you just say, you little lower-quadrant rat?"

"Are your ears failing you along with your active agency numbers?" Hide tilted his head, his blue eyes flashing with a cold, intentional malice. "Look at you. You’re the Second Commander of a failing branch, and your entire business model relies on extorting an old man who builds walkie-talkies and training grid relays. You’re not an Extermination Vanguard. You’re just a glorified street gang with a tax registry."

"You arrogant little piece of—"

"I’m not finished," Hide cut him off cleanly, completely ignoring the volatile physical mana beginning to spark around the Vice Leader’s fists.

Hide broke eye contact with the tilted commander and looked straight at Kai’s father. Raymond was staring at him in a mixture of profound shock and silent dread.

"Director Raymond," Hide stated calmly, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. "I’m turning down whatever garbage contract this dwindling agency is trying to force on me. Because within the next few weeks... I am going to open my own independent Extermination Agency."

Beside the doorway, Kai—who had been quietly lingering near the administrative boundary—completely short-circuited, his jaw dropping in pure, unadulterated disbelief.

"And the moment my registry clears," Hide continued, a cold, sharp grin spreading across his face as he gestured loosely toward his friend, "I am making Kai my Vice Leader and Chief Spellcaster."

Raymond’s eyes widened significantly. "Mr. Volter... you have no idea what kind of world you are stepping into. An independent agency without massive capital backing or S-Rank defense guarantees will be crushed by the major sectors within a month."

"That’s where you come in," Hide leaned forward, resting his elbows on the black-glass desk, cutting off the Vice Leader’s presence entirely. "Your company runs the infrastructure loop components for half the training grounds in this sector. You have the technical logistics, the hardware, and the hardware distribution rights. But you lack power. You’re currently acting as a cash cow for an agency that uses fear to extract your hard-earned revenue."

Hide’s blue eyes locked onto Raymond’s with a terrifyingly steady, ancient weight. "Work with me instead. Back my new agency with your logistical tech, provide us with custom communication gear and hardware development, and in exchange? I will guarantee your absolute safety. I will personally tear down anyone who tries to threaten your board or extort your family. And unlike these clowns... I actually have the strength to back up my word."

"Guar... Guarantee our safety?" Raymond murmured, his voice trembling slightly as the sheer audacity of the eighteen-year-old kid’s proposal hit him.

"HE HAS HELD HIS TONGUE FOR FAR TOO LONG!"

A deafening, explosive roar shattered the atmospheric lounge.

The Vice Leader was well past his absolute limit. His face was completely contorted into a mask of pure, murderous rage. To be bypassed, insulted, and treated like an irrelevant, parasitic street-rat by a talentless lower-block rookie inside his own corporate stronghold was a humiliation his ego couldn’t survive.

BOOM!

The crystal wine glass in his grip violently shattered into a cloud of sparkling shrapnel as a massive, volatile torrent of physical purple mana erupted from his body. The sheer pressure instantly warped the air, cracking the ancient timber flooring beneath his boots and violently blasting the heavy leather chairs backward.

"I am going to rip your tongue out of your throat and bury your corpse beneath the foundation of this building!" the Vice Leader screamed, his center of gravity dropping as he blurred forward into a lethal, high-velocity lunge.

A condensed blade of pure, pressurized physical mana materialized over his forearm, slicing through the air straight toward Hide’s neck with the unstoppable force of a high-tier executioner.